Brand new to being healthy.

jasonhoneycutt

Hello all. This is my first post/comment/etc. Within the last couple months I've been eating healthier. The first month wasn't exactly healthy, per se, just healthiER. But over the last month it's been borderline healthy, with the last 10 days being, at least in my opinion, healthy.

I am...

35 years old
Male
5'11"
163 lbs.

God blessed me with a high metabolism for roughly the first 30 years of my life, the last 5 years I have been steadily inching closer to skinny-fat. I decided a few weeks ago that was going to change.

I have gone from an annoyingly/extremely picky eater to just a somewhat picky eater in that time. I really think my taste buds have changed.

Instead of 100% of my snacks being chips and cookies, they're now predominantly yogurt, cashews, or some kind of healthy chips, with the occasionaly regular chips or cookies because I am not a robot.

Instead of eating no fruit (you read that correctly) and only the starchy-type vegetables, I now eat pineapple, watermelon, the occasional glass of V8 Fusion (the 100% juice kind). And vegetable wise I now eat edamame, along with corn, green beans, pinto beans, baked beans, and potatoes if you count that. So still not that good, but better.

Instead of chicken strips or burgers or pizza for about 70% of my meals, I now eat grilled chicken or grilled shrimp or sliced ham or sliced turkey about 70% of the time.

Instead of 6 pops a day (I know, ridiculous) and no coffee, I'm down to 2 pops a day and added 2 cups of coffee.

My macro breakdown is 40% CARBS, 30% PROTEIN, and 30% FAT. I'm staying almost exactly at 2,000 calories a day. My 10 day average is about 1,990 calories.

My questions to you folks who have been doing this much longer than I have, and who have more knowledge about this stuff than I do. Is do you think for someone my size, who wants to stay my size, but obviously replace fat with muscle, from a dietary standpoint am I doing enough?

Then from an exercise standpoint, I do about 10 minutes of weights, 3x a week. Mostly using a kettlebell or 25 lb. dumbbells. Then for cardio I do burpees and/or stair climbers for about 10 minutes, 2x a week.

So my follow up question is should I rev up the exercise?

Thanks for any feedback. I probably did not give all the necessary info, and I'll be happy to provide any necessary info that I may have missed to "help you help me".

Thanks in advance,
Jason

littleancientheart

"enough" exercise is super relative.

for instance, if you have zero experience at exercising, any amount of exercise will likely benefit you. however, if yo want to see real change and you're looking for something to help you with consistency, consider doing a program - like an at-home program or one at your local gym or ymca. i don't like to go to the gym, so i stick to at-home workout programs. i personally have done p90x and t25, both are Beachbody programs and they have helped me see results. in between, i've tried different weight lifting routines that i usually find online.

I think you could benefit from something like that if your main goal is to change your body composition (i.e. more muscle and less fat). everybody has their own opinions about diet, but generally speaking, to build muscle most sources seem to recommend 0.8-1 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day - so a high protein diet, with moderate carbs and fat. it sounds like you're doing good in this respect, so keep up your heathy diet substitutions and maybe think about a more regimented workout routine.

Above all, have patience! it won't happen overnight. give yourself at least 4-6 weeks before you reevaluate, so you have a chance to see if things are actually working. Good luck!

nxd10

I was also super blessed until 30, slowly got skinny fat, and then slowly gained a pound a year for 20 years. Then 10 in the last before I lost.

You made a GREAT decision not to do that.

Exercise makes a huge difference. Start with walking. Just like your meals. Start by parking the car far away in the parking lot, doing stairs instead of elevators, make sure you get up once an hour and walk around the office. Then take a walk after dinner or during lunch or before work. Half an hour or an hour. Just do it every day without fail.

Then you might even do something like the NY Times 7 minute workout http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 or Nerd Fitness. You can do it at lunch or when you get home or in the morning.

Once you start moving you'll figure out what you like to do. The more you move the better it feels.

jasonhoneycutt

Just bumping this so maybe others will see it and have answers for you.

Thanks

jasonhoneycutt

"enough" exercise is super relative.

for instance, if you have zero experience at exercising, any amount of exercise will likely benefit you. however, if yo want to see real change and you're looking for something to help you with consistency, consider doing a program - like an at-home program or one at your local gym or ymca. i don't like to go to the gym, so i stick to at-home workout programs. i personally have done p90x and t25, both are Beachbody programs and they have helped me see results. in between, i've tried different weight lifting routines that i usually find online.

I think you could benefit from something like that if your main goal is to change your body composition (i.e. more muscle and less fat). everybody has their own opinions about diet, but generally speaking, to build muscle most sources seem to recommend 0.8-1 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day - so a high protein diet, with moderate carbs and fat. it sounds like you're doing good in this respect, so keep up your heathy diet substitutions and maybe think about a more regimented workout routine.

Above all, have patience! it won't happen overnight. give yourself at least 4-6 weeks before you reevaluate, so you have a chance to see if things are actually working. Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear I'm getting enough protein. Perhaps I need to up that percentage a little though and slightly cut back the carbs.

And the patience comment is definitely 100% accurate, glad to hear it. Thank you.

jasonhoneycutt

I was also super blessed until 30, slowly got skinny fat, and then slowly gained a pound a year for 20 years. Then 10 in the last before I lost.

You made a GREAT decision not to do that.

Exercise makes a huge difference. Start with walking. Just like your meals. Start by parking the car far away in the parking lot, doing stairs instead of elevators, make sure you get up once an hour and walk around the office. Then take a walk after dinner or during lunch or before work. Half an hour or an hour. Just do it every day without fail.

Then you might even do something like the NY Times 7 minute workout http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 or Nerd Fitness. You can do it at lunch or when you get home or in the morning.

Once you start moving you'll figure out what you like to do. The more you move the better it feels.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I like your ideas of little changes over time making an impact. Appreciate the link too. Thank you.

VeryKatie

I think, if you're looking to build muscle, you might want to look into a lifting program such as Stronglifts 5x5 or 3x5 (free online). What you're doing is a good start, but might not get you where you want to be.

tsimblist

I think, if you're looking to build muscle, you might want to look into a lifting program such as Stronglifts 5x5 or 3x5 (free online). What you're doing is a good start, but might not get you where you want to be.

+1

I was just going to say that and then saw she got it out first.

Also, look at the book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe.

greenstar25

First of all, good for you that you made the decision to change to a healthier lifestyle! As far as nutrition goes, you have to educate yourself, the more you read, the more you know! Take babysteps so you don't get overwhelmed. If you want to make a huge improvement in your diet, get yourself a good blender and start making "green smoothies". They are so easy to make and so delicious. Consuming green leafy vegetables every day is so important. You could start with a beginner smoothie: 1 cup cold water, a big splash of orange juice, a handful of spinach, a handful of frozen mango and approx. 1 frozen banana (depending on how sweet you like it). Try it! Eventually you could move on to other leafy greens, like kale etc.
About exercise: I would argue that 20. min 4-5x weekly is the absolut minimum, more is better. But start slowly and gradually increase.
8 months ago I couldn't even run for 5 min., now I run an hour. If you do it consistently, you automatically get better without even trying. Also, for motivation, I would check out www.bodybuilding.com and go to the motivation/transformation/male transformation site.
Good luck!

melimomTARDIS

you sound like you are doing great! Eat in a way that makes ya feel good!

I base my day around starches, add lots of vegetables ,a few servings of fruit, and then work in a healthy treat, like frozen yogurt or nuts.

I drink lots of water, and eat lots of fiber.

I keep my fat low for medical reasons. I dont feel well on the 30 percent recommended here.

Added to this basic plan- I walk to do most of my errands, and to a long walk with my dog at least 3 times per week.

Hornsby

I think, if you're looking to build muscle, you might want to look into a lifting program such as Stronglifts 5x5 or 3x5 (free online). What you're doing is a good start, but might not get you where you want to be.

+1

I was just going to say that and then saw she got it out first.

Also, look at the book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe.

Are you doing enough? Maybe, but you definitely should add a heavy lifting routine. I don't think kettlebell exercises will get you where you want to go.

Laura3BB

Foodwise it looks good to me!
For exercise I don't know though - I only walk a lot and cycle a bit, don't do weights myself.

Good luck!

jasonhoneycutt

Thank you to everyone who replied. A really nice community here. I will be taking ALL of this advice in to account as I decide to make changes and get better at all of this.