Need a new direction
 

This is what I look like as of today:
http://www.freidproductions.com/imag...g/04-27-08.jpg(linked because of size)

This is what I want to look like in the future:
http://images.eonline.com/eol_images...lub.100506.jpg

I'm 18 years old, 5'6" and when I was 17 I used to be fat, excessively so. September of 2007 I weighed 210 pounds. Today I weigh 150-155 (it seems to fluctuate without changes in my diet). I still don't have the body I want.

To get to where I am today I did a few things. First, and I don't care what you say about the uselessness of this plan because it worked for me, I simply ate barely at all. Gradually, every week, I would lose 5-10 pounds and whenever I plateaued I would eat less. When I hit around 160, even eating under 1000 callories a day wouldn't help me lose weight. So, I switched up my plan. I started going to the gym nearly everday of the week (instead of the on/off style i did previously) doing cardio while eating 150-200 grams of protein a day while trying to keep fat consumption low and carbs under 30-40g if possible, total calories added up to 1500-2000. Doing this got me down to around 155. At this time I found out about HIIT and weight lifting. I started both of these mostly doing machines, and a really intense 20 minute eliptical workout with my hear rate keeping at a steady 160-180 during the HIIT.

Now I'm 150 on good days and still not where I want to be. I don't know what to change, what to add, what to delete from my routine. Before suggestions let me give an example of a few days of my routine.

Day A:
20min HIIT (not always possible as sometimes I just cant get the energy on 'A' days)
1 hour lifting (usually consists of, and excuse my informal terms, chest press at an incline, chest machine where your arms are stretched parallel to the floor and u keep them straight while bringing them infront of you so that they are perpendicular to your body with hands attached to the weighted grips, shoulder press machine, bicep curl machine, row machine with two different types of handles, squat smith machine i think its called, leg press, i do this exercise where I hold onto a 25 pound weight with both my hands and then left it straight up to my chin standing straight the entire time with the weight hugging my body)

Day B:
20min HIIT (again not always possible depending on energy from previous days workout)
Ab exercises (crunches, this thing where im on an inclinded bench and i stick my legs straight out parallel then bring my knees to my chest and then straighten my legs towards the ceiling, and a few other variations on the crunch)

Day C:
20min HIIT(this time I'm pretty much guarenteed to get it in)

In one week, i usually have 2 'A' days, 3 'B' days, and 2 'C' days spread out so that there are never two consecutive days of the same type.

My average day with my meal plan (and this stays the same through everyday pretty much) is usually consisted of this:

Wake up 5:30am
Meal 1(2 scoops of whey protein with 1/3 of banana, sometimes some frozen blueberries; a cup of zero fat greek yogurt (i love this stuff plus it has lots of protein for its low calories; maybe a 5-10 carrots; coffee) 6:00am
Meal 2(EAS Carb Advantage Protein Shake, 1/2 a cup of cold chicken cuts; maybe 2-5 carrots) 10:30am (forced to have meal2 this late cause of school)
Meal 3(Flax low-carb bread sandwhich with a cup of cold chicken cuts, or 7-9 turkey cold cut slices, or tunafish with very low-fat low-carb mayo "dressing" and a slice of low-fat swiss cheese (sometimes i use a low-carb whole-wheat wrap instenad of the bread); 5-10 carrots, or 2 pickles) 11:45am (again school forces it to be this time)
Meal 4(1/2 a cup of cold chicken cuts or 6 slices of turkey cold cuts or 6-8 slices of cooked ham cold cuts; a cup of zero fat greek yogurt; celery, pickles, or carrots, sometimes some low-fat swiss cheese) 3:00pm
WORKOUT @ GYM 4:00pm
Meal 5(whatever is for dinner as this varies alot, but usually chicken, or fish and some vegies or a salad on the side) 5:00-7:00pm


Now for what I want: to be ripped. I do not want to be huge, to bulk, to weigh more than what would be considered normal because of muscle. I want to be lean & mean. I want to have visible definition on all muscles, but not to be over muscular. I want to have a military marines body, a swimmers body, a navy seals body, if that gives you an idea.

I have no problem with changing my diet, I survived on 800 calories a day eating only a protein bar for lunch and whatever was for dinner I'm pretty sure I can survive any nutrtional plan you throw at me. And yes I will keep to it, I have zero intential of switching back to the person that I was. In fact eating for me now has become a fairly nonissue as far as cravings and mental stamina go.

As for the gym, I will try my best to uphold to any plan. With my current plan sometimes my legs end up feeling like a thousand pounds and I simply can not convince myself to get on the eliptical, so I guess I'm not all I can be in that area, considering mind over matter and all.

Today, just for kicks I decided to go on the treadmill (something I'm not really fond of. I was never into running, and my body isn't really built for being a good runner anyway, at least I dont think so). I ran an 8 minute mile, I think thats pretty good.

Anyway, hopefully I haven't dreared on too long :P

Please help.

Thanks much,
Michael

I decided to calculate my meal plan to decide what I'm actually eating. For today, which is an average school day for me and ONLY CONSIDERING MY FIRST FOUR MEALS (as dinner fluctuates and is not consistant to calculate, though i still keep up my healthy diet at dinner no problem), my nutrtion plan looks like this: CAL: 1180.66 FAT: 23.705g Carb(including those from fiber): 43.58g Prot: 196.66g

Hopefully this gives you guys a better idea for what I may need to change.

You need to increase your calories if you want to continue to lose weight. Also, to gain any muscle at all, you'll need to increase calories. Starving yourself isn't going to do shit at this point.

Have you read all of the stickies in the nutrition and fatloss forums?

Hire Brad Pitt's nutritionist.

LOLOL....

HAHAHAHAHA



but i agree with ross. in order to gain muscle you need to eat my man. you can lose weight by not eating this or that but you have to feed your muscles. just because you eat doesnt mean you are gonna get super huge. there are plenty of people whom have a smaller stature and are lean but eat like crazy. if you are eating more you are speeding up your metabolizm so you actually wont be getting fat/ huge or whatever you think, especially with the type of foods you are eating. instead of the cardio machines do you have a place where you can do some sprints?



real rap i def think your diet should be visited. you are getting enough protein but you are lacking in other areas. i cant give the best advice on what you should be eating but i can see that your plan aint the best.

i might not be the best to comment on this thread but just a few quick ones:

1) i have learnt that you have to learn to accept that your body is always going to look different from other peoples we are all made up differently and sometimes setting such a goal in stone (i.e. looking like brad pitt) is sometimes not the best way to go long term for motivation reasons
2) listen to these guys on here they really know what they are talking about they have given me so much invaluable advice that i am very greatful for.
3) i learnt a lot from reading the stickies in the nutritional and trianing forums and there is some great info there just spend some time going through it all its well worth a read there is a wealth of knowledge throughout this site

good luck

Well I think I'm ready to start my new plan, here is where I'm keeping everything logged. Let me know how it looks.



http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...?Owner=mcFreid

1300 calories below maintenance!? :smashfreakB: What is the point in going so low? There is absolutely NO REASON to do that.

Ok, just saw your notes at the top of the page. Try adding 1000 calories instead of 600-800. You're not going to gain any fat if you do that. The only possible outcome is that you could lose some fat. Maybe have some more energy, feel better...that kind of thing.

And that workout that you posted is no good IMO. Isolation movements suck for packing on muscle. If you want to look anything like that pic you posted, then you're going to need to do compound movements. It's 100 x's more effective.

Under the links to each exercise, 80% of them are compound movements no? If it isn't good can u suggest a workout that will tone me, but not bulk me. Remember I still want to lose weight, but also be toned. For this reason, the Rippetoe 3x5 doesn't seem ideal for me as all the descriptions of it talk about "a begginers way to BULK up" or something along those lines.