[sambookaa]

I'm a 16 year old guy who is skinny but not muscular and I have absolutely no idea about gyms/workouts/diet etc. I'm going away on holiday in 6 weeks and want to get toned and build some muscle. I understand that 6 weeks isn't a long time and I'm realistic! So could anyone with experience give me some advice on how to achieve this? Thanks in advance!

[S-Gymer]

Most important things for gaining body mass if you are skinny is healthy carbohydrates (e.g. Pasta, potatoes etc) and the most important thing for gaining muscle mass is protein, such as meat and eggs.

If you want to bulk up avoid cardio such as running, and focus on muscle building exercises such as weights. Rowing is also good for all over torso muscles.

Avoid fatty or overly sugary things, they just make you put on weight in the wrong kind of way and make your skin awful! :')

Hope this helps! x

[Marsha2112]

Can someone tell me what I've been doing wrong - I go running every other day and have been genuinely eating less and better. I now stick to just the 3 meals a day, very few snacks and completely avoid chocolate/ice cream/crisps. I eat a lot of carbs but I always have and it seems I can deal with them fine, I've never felt bloated or whatevs. I have a pretty decent metabolism in that I can eat quite a lot (way over 2000cal a day especially when I was at school) and either stay at a constant weight or put it on slowly - over the entire 1st year uni I put on 3kg, and before then was constant 52kg for years. (am 5"1). But I've never lost weight. Ever.

The point is, been doing this diet for about a month, running for 6 weeks......and gained 2kg. Wtf?!?! How? What is going wrong here? I know you gain muscle but I really have not put on 2 kilos worth of muscle. Please help, this is ridiculous, I have friends who can go hungry for a week and shed pounds, and my weight either don't move or creeps up.

[sambookaa]

(Original post by S-Gymer)
Most important things for gaining body mass if you are skinny is healthy carbohydrates (e.g. Pasta, potatoes etc) and the most important thing for gaining muscle mass is protein, such as meat and eggs.

If you want to bulk up avoid cardio such as running, and focus on muscle building exercises such as weights. Rowing is also good for all over torso muscles.

Avoid fatty or overly sugary things, they just make you put on weight in the wrong kind of way and make your skin awful! :')

Hope this helps! x

thanks man great advice! x

[tooosh]

(Original post by Marsha2112)
Can someone tell me what I've been doing wrong - I go running every other day and have been genuinely eating less and better. I now stick to just the 3 meals a day, very few snacks and completely avoid chocolate/ice cream/crisps. I eat a lot of carbs but I always have and it seems I can deal with them fine, I've never felt bloated or whatevs. I have a pretty decent metabolism in that I can eat quite a lot (way over 2000cal a day especially when I was at school) and either stay at a constant weight or put it on slowly - over the entire 1st year uni I put on 3kg, and before then was constant 52kg for years. (am 5"1). But I've never lost weight. Ever.

The point is, been doing this diet for about a month, running for 6 weeks......and gained 2kg. Wtf?!?! How? What is going wrong here? I know you gain muscle but I really have not put on 2 kilos worth of muscle. Please help, this is ridiculous, I have friends who can go hungry for a week and shed pounds, and my weight either don't move or creeps up.

How many calories are you eating right now?

[Marsha2112]

(Original post by tooosh)
How many calories are you eating right now?

About 1500 at a guess? I have cereal for breakfast, a wrap/leftovers/pasta for lunch, and whatever my dad cooks for dinner. With about 200 calories max of snacks. I've realised I've kind of broken my diet every few days what with birthday cake, end of exam binge food, scones and 2 dinners on one occasion... but on a good typical day it would be as above.

[tooosh]

(Original post by Marsha2112)
About 1500 at a guess? I have cereal for breakfast, a wrap/leftovers/pasta for lunch, and whatever my dad cooks for dinner. With about 200 calories max of snacks. I've realised I've kind of broken my diet every few days what with birthday cake, end of exam binge food, scones and 2 dinners on one occasion... but on a good typical day it would be as above.

What cereal, wrap etc? Sounds like a high proportion of simple carbs. Cut them out and eat complex carbs (weetabix, brown pasta, brown bread etc).

[Sophie1985]

(Original post by Marsha2112)
Can someone tell me what I've been doing wrong - I go running every other day and have been genuinely eating less and better. I now stick to just the 3 meals a day, very few snacks and completely avoid chocolate/ice cream/crisps. I eat a lot of carbs but I always have and it seems I can deal with them fine, I've never felt bloated or whatevs. I have a pretty decent metabolism in that I can eat quite a lot (way over 2000cal a day especially when I was at school) and either stay at a constant weight or put it on slowly - over the entire 1st year uni I put on 3kg, and before then was constant 52kg for years. (am 5"1). But I've never lost weight. Ever.

The point is, been doing this diet for about a month, running for 6 weeks......and gained 2kg. Wtf?!?! How? What is going wrong here? I know you gain muscle but I really have not put on 2 kilos worth of muscle. Please help, this is ridiculous, I have friends who can go hungry for a week and shed pounds, and my weight either don't move or creeps up.

it seems like there are a lot of people in the same situation as you. I found this book The Smarter Science of Slim and it makes a lot of sense to me. Might be worth a read.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

It's the summer and I really want to work on my body.

I don't think I am 'fat' and I'm not overweight, but nevertheless I would like to look slightly better. My girlfriend doesn't have an issue with the way I look and doesn't have an issue with my body and doesn't really understand what I'm on it about, so 'transforming' my body is something I want to achieve for myself.

I would like my body to look something like this but slightly less 'musclely'- 6 pac abs etc doesn't really appeal to me: http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/...pg?w=500&h=837

I was really wanted some tips on how I begin, how many calories should I consume, what sort of diet I should go on and what workouts to do. I really don't want to be really 'musclely' just want to look quite lean and fit.

Thanks

[Supertoaster]

I've decided to try and lose weight as well...I need to My current fitness level is non existant, I am 6ft and weigh about 17stone.

I have just goined a gym and am struggling to find a plan or anything useful a novice such as myself can follow and carry out any special requirements (basically I don't know what I should/shouldn't be doing/how much of etc and would prefer to stick to machine use). Due to work and other things I can only go twice a week, 3 every odd week.

On the food side of things I have already started eating more healthily breakfast/snack/lunch-wise, but I fall at main meals, I am somewhat of a plain/fussy eater and dislike things that take a lot of preperation/cooking time, so I struggle here : /. I realise suggesting meals would be unreasonable with not knowing what I like etc, but anything like types of food/how much I should be eating and stuff would help


Any help will be appreciated

[Becca]

(Original post by Anonymous)
Hi,

It's the summer and I really want to work on my body. Currently my body looks like this: http://tinypic.com/r/15g6knr/6

I don't think I am 'fat' and I'm not overweight, but nevertheless I would like to look slightly better. My girlfriend doesn't have an issue with the way I look and doesn't have an issue with my body and doesn't really understand what I'm on it about, so 'transforming' my body is something I want to achieve for myself.

I would like my body to look something like this but slightly less 'musclely'- 6 pac abs etc doesn't really appeal to me: http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/...pg?w=500&h=837

I was really wanted some tips on how I begin, how many calories should I consume, what sort of diet I should go on and what workouts to do. I really don't want to be really 'musclely' just want to look quite lean and fit.

Thanks

(Original post by Sam_a225)
I've decided to try and lose weight as well...I need to My current fitness level is non existant, I am 6ft and weigh about 17stone.

I have just goined a gym and am struggling to find a plan or anything useful a novice such as myself can follow and carry out any special requirements (basically I don't know what I should/shouldn't be doing/how much of etc and would prefer to stick to machine use). Due to work and other things I can only go twice a week, 3 every odd week.

On the food side of things I have already started eating more healthily breakfast/snack/lunch-wise, but I fall at main meals, I am somewhat of a plain/fussy eater and dislike things that take a lot of preperation/cooking time, so I struggle here : /. I realise suggesting meals would be unreasonable with not knowing what I like etc, but anything like types of food/how much I should be eating and stuff would help


Any help will be appreciated

Read the stickies (in my sig or just at the top of the forum).

[Agenda Suicide]

Hi, I'm coming to this forum because it seems to have lots of users and everybody seems to really know their stuff.

For my own reasons I want to get myself fit and make my body toned and hopefully a bit more attractive. I am very slim and my body appears quite toned but that's only because I'm so thin I think.

I've not exercised properly or constantly for a while but I used to do a lot of swimming. Anyway I don't really know where to begin. I want to make my body a bit bigger and make it a bit more appealing.

I have plans run 5 mornings a week for about half an hour a morning. Mixed with this, some ab crunches and using some weights I've bought for home use.


Any advice/good running stuff I could buy/ any other things I could do?

Any help would be appreciated, I really have no idea about this type of stuff, thanks. Pos rep as always for the helpful ones.

[BKS]

Getting bigger is gaining weight which is about diet. I doubt you want to gain much so you probably don't want much calories excess for long but with so much running you'll likely need to eat a fair bit to make up for that

[Classical Liberal]

(Original post by Agenda Suicide)
Hi, I'm coming to this forum because it seems to have lots of users and everybody seems to really know their stuff.

For my own reasons I want to get myself fit and make my body toned and hopefully a bit more attractive. I am very slim and my body appears quite toned but that's only because I'm so thin I think.

I've not exercised properly or constantly for a while but I used to do a lot of swimming. Anyway I don't really know where to begin. I want to make my body a bit bigger and make it a bit more appealing.

I have plans run 5 mornings a week for about half an hour a morning. Mixed with this, some ab crunches and using some weights I've bought for home use.


Any advice/good running stuff I could buy/ any other things I could do?

Any help would be appreciated, I really have no idea about this type of stuff, thanks. Pos rep as always for the helpful ones.

You sounds like you are skinny fat. You do not carry around a lot of extra body fat around your guy however you don't have much muscle tone and you are probably out of shape when it comes to actual aerobic exercise.

Obviously without actual pictures and numbers it is a bit tricky to know what you should do. However it sounds like you could benefit from doing some proper resistance training rather than loads of running and crunches.

Have a good diet and don't starve yourself. Lift heavy with good form. Do the compound exercises like squats, bench, dealifts, rows, pull ups, chin up etc as you main exercises.

[NB_ide]

(Original post by Agenda Suicide)
Hi, I'm coming to this forum because it seems to have lots of users and everybody seems to really know their stuff.

[Marsha2112]

(Original post by tooosh)
What cereal, wrap etc? Sounds like a high proportion of simple carbs. Cut them out and eat complex carbs (weetabix, brown pasta, brown bread etc).

The cereal varies but now I'm eating muesli/fruit and fibre. The wrap is chicken caesar or similar. The complex carbs sounds like a good idea - I couldn't live on just meat and veg, though it looks like I'll have to. It's just so frustrating that I used to stuff my face at every opportunity and stayed at 51kg, and now I'm eating ONLY 3 decent sized healthy-ish meals a day, walking around the city and going running and it's having no effect on my body, if anything I've got podgier in recent weeks (57kg). Argh. The minute I fly home I'm starting a regime of wholegrains for breakfast, only salad for lunch, fruit/nuts for snacks and matching my mum portion-size for dinner. That's the main problem, my portions are bigger than everyone's in my family. Lunch is OK as I'll buy something, hence it's normal-person size, but dinner is like an all you can eat.

[shorty.loves.angels]

(Original post by Marsha2112)
The cereal varies but now I'm eating muesli/fruit and fibre. The wrap is chicken caesar or similar. The complex carbs sounds like a good idea - I couldn't live on just meat and veg, though it looks like I'll have to. It's just so frustrating that I used to stuff my face at every opportunity and stayed at 51kg, and now I'm eating ONLY 3 decent sized healthy-ish meals a day, walking around the city and going running and it's having no effect on my body, if anything I've got podgier in recent weeks (57kg). Argh. The minute I fly home I'm starting a regime of wholegrains for breakfast, only salad for lunch, fruit/nuts for snacks and matching my mum portion-size for dinner. That's the main problem, my portions are bigger than everyone's in my family. Lunch is OK as I'll buy something, hence it's normal-person size, but dinner is like an all you can eat.

For a bit more progress it might be worth trying to throw veg in rather than salad where possible, try oats rather than muesli and maybe add a little fruit if you have to, why not put some protein in with your lunch? You'll be satisfied for longer and could avoid sugary snacks (fruit and nuts are both fairly high in carbs). If you're eating the right foods, portion sizes won't make a huge difference.

What type of lunch are you buying? Anything in a packet (sandwiches/ wraps etc) probably have a lot of carb based dressing and are obviously simple carbs. Perhaps prepare wholegrain rice/ pasta with no carb based dressing rather than have these, if that is the case.

[Moonlight_]

Is it possible to lose 2 stone in 3 months by working out 3 times a week and eating around 1,250 calories?

[Moonlight_]

(Original post by Sam_a225)
I've decided to try and lose weight as well...I need to My current fitness level is non existant, I am 6ft and weigh about 17stone.

I have just goined a gym and am struggling to find a plan or anything useful a novice such as myself can follow and carry out any special requirements (basically I don't know what I should/shouldn't be doing/how much of etc and would prefer to stick to machine use). Due to work and other things I can only go twice a week, 3 every odd week.

On the food side of things I have already started eating more healthily breakfast/snack/lunch-wise, but I fall at main meals, I am somewhat of a plain/fussy eater and dislike things that take a lot of preperation/cooking time, so I struggle here : /. I realise suggesting meals would be unreasonable with not knowing what I like etc, but anything like types of food/how much I should be eating and stuff would help


Any help will be appreciated

Joined a gym but also unsure of routine

[Supertoaster]

(Original post by Moonlight_)
Joined a gym but also unsure of routine

I have decided to try the couch to 5k thing http://www.c25k.com/. It's 3 days a week and only 30min so I guess I'll just do what ever else I feel like while i'm there