Skinny-fat dude needs help starting

isaac12345_54321
isaac12345_54321 Posts: 3
in Motivation and Support
Hi All!

I am a 24 yr old skinny fat dude whose belly has been steadily growing farther than he'd like. Here are some pictures. Apologies if they are unpleasant - http://imgur.com/a/3laNi

I would like to start to fix this situation however I am not sure where to start, for setting up nutrition or an exercise regime? I have however set up my macros with the help of http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/. They are as following -

GRAMS per day Carbs - 251.2 Protein - 138.6 Fat- 55.4 Fiber - 28 - 35 Total - 2058
GRAMS per meal Carbs - 62.8 Protein - 34.7 Fat - 13.9 Fiber - 7 - 9 Total - 515

So,

1) Are these macros fine given my body composition?

2) What type of exercise should I start with? Body weight or normal isolation ones. I prefer body weight as I assume they work all the minor and major muscles instead of just the major ones.

3) I would like to substitute the protein content of one of the four meals suggested above with a protein shake. Which ones are good considering ingredients, cost, environmental friendliness,etc?

Thanks in advance! :)

Replies

  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
    1) Don't worry too much about your grams per meal. I would increase my protein intake during the day. If you're skinny-fat you want more muscle & muscle comes with protein.

    2) Do big full body compound lifts. Look into Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5.

    3) Lots of good protein shakes out there. Avoid the ones with soy as a protein source as it can increase estrogen production. Remember that an egg has 1 g of protein per 11 calories (approx). With any alternative protein source, I want at least that amount or it's silly.
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    Like vorgas said, worry less about fine-tuning your macros at this point and more about eating at a moderate calorie deficit. If you want to do body weight exercises, there a number of resources on the Web -- Google "convict conditioning". Whey protein is what you want if you're going to supplement for muscle growth. There are plenty of good ones out there. I use Body Fortress because I like the taste and it's available at my grocery store. I've found that you can get better deals buying online than at places like GNC or health food stores.

    Good luck!
  • isaac12345_54321
    isaac12345_54321 Posts: 3
    A deficit? From what I have read one of the problems with skinny-fat is the adequate calories.
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    A deficit? From what I have read one of the problems with skinny-fat is the adequate calories.

    Not sure where you read that. "Skinny fat" is really two problems: relatively little lean body mass and some excess body fat. The best remedy for the former problem is weight training and adequate protein intake, and the remedy for the latter is to eat at a moderate calorie deficit. Often, men will choose to attack the lean body mass problem first -- starting a weightlifting regimen and eating at a caloric surplus (the "bulking" phase), and then switch to a caloric deficit to shed body fat (the "cutting" phase), while still lifting weights and maintaining adequate protein intake (to prevent catabolism, or muscle tissue breakdown). Others may do the opposite, and some will do both simultaneously (see "carb cycling").

    Skinny-fat isn't really a problem of inadequate calories. If you didn't have surplus calories, your body wouldn't store them as fat. The main problem is too little protein and not enough weightlifting.

    Good luck!
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    Eat more (particularly protein) and lift heavy. You will gain some weight (this is good) and focus on building muscle -- THEN, as you gain, you will reach a point and cut back a little and go for a SLOW (maybe pound per week) weight loss... Repeat this cycle. This is called a BULK and CUT... As you bulk, you put on muscle (you will add a little fat too but that is what the cut is for)... Then you will lean down again during the cutting phase.
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
    1) Are these macros fine given my body composition?

    2) What type of exercise should I start with? Body weight or normal isolation ones. I prefer body weight as I assume they work all the minor and major muscles instead of just the major ones.

    3) I would like to substitute the protein content of one of the four meals suggested above with a protein shake. Which ones are good considering ingredients, cost, environmental friendliness,etc?

    1 - Probably, just remember protein is king and the most important one to hit. Not sure what you are trying to do (bulk, cut, re-comp) as you didn't say what settings you provided the calculator so can't really comment on calories. I'm sure they are OK though, because that calculator is used frequently.

    2 - Body weight vs isolation is not a valid comparison - apples vs oranges as they say. It is compound vs isolation and you want to focus on compound movements. Body-weight is just how you provide the resistance. You could use free weights instead, for example. If you have access to a barbell that would probably be best but body-weight is fine too as long as you use a good program. Something like "You Are Your Own Gym" is a good one or "Convict Conditioning".

    3 - Really any whey protein that gets most of it's calories from protein. Just look at the label and make sure protein is the primary ingredient.
  • isaac12345_54321
    isaac12345_54321 Posts: 3
    Right! Unfortunately,because of a recent injury after my visit, my doctor's advised me to not do any isometric exercises for another month so I'll keep to 20 minute jogs(three times a week) at the moment.

    So I will be focusing on setting up a meal plan, one that not only meets my macros but also releases strength slowly. Would really appreciate some help on that.

    I am currently living in India, so finding good quality/hygienic non-vegetarian food is hard and expensive. So I am thinking of mixing it up with vegetarian, non-vegetarian and protein powders.

    So lets start with breakfast ideas!

    1) 3 boiled eggs(with yolk) with 2 slices of whole wheat bread(toasted) - Calories -362 Carbs- 26 Fat- 17 Protein-24 Fiber - Not available.

    2) 2 x French Toast(http://www.muscleforlife.com/healthy-breakfast-recipes/) - Calories: 368 Protein: 30 g Carbs: 38 g Fat: 11 g

    3) Greek yogurt with oats, protein powder, seasonal fruit slices - Just thought of this recipe so unmeasured

    4) Breakfast Pita wrap(http://www.muscleforlife.com/recipe-of-the-week-breakfast-pita-wrap/) - Pita replaced with roti as pita is unavailable Calories 452 Protein 31 grams Carbohydrates 49 grams Fat 20 grams

    The first thing that will prop up is that apart from number 4, I am not meeting my per meal calorie intake which is 500. Any ideas on light additions to meet the 500 mark? Also, I am quite a bit away from my carb target as well.

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