Hello, I heard about this board thru a guy I work with.  Anyways, I am just shy of my 30th birthday and have been having a crisis.

I had never lifted weights until two weeks ago and I am clueless.  I am 5'10" tall and weigh 216 lbs.   I have no clue of my bodyfat but I have a keg for a stomach .  My whole life people have asked me if I work out and they always think I am lying when I say no.  I don't look any different than any other normal guy except my arms have always been pretty muscular.  

What do I do if I never lifted weights?

I have decided to get into decent shape and a fellow worker at my plant recommended working out.  We went on the first week and maxxed out (3 reps) on bench press, deadlift, and squat.  I did a max for one exercise one Mon, Wed, Fri, of that week.  I still hurt!!!!!!

He was surprised as I did 245 on bench press,  275 on deadlift (I guess that's what he called them, I just bent over and picked up the weight) and 235 on squat.  I probably could have squatted more, but I was REALLY sore still from Wednesday deadlifts.    Anyways, I know very little about diet, training, etc; and he seems very knowledgeable.  I don't understand a lot of what he talks about and his workouts are two hours a day 4-5 times a week.   I have a wife and two small children so I cant exactly spend that much time at the gym.

 I tried to ask him about diet and he said a whole lot of mumbo jumbo.  So here is my diet.  I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast with my son and maybe a banana and cup of coffee or a coke.  for lunch I may have a burrito and chips with a coke or Gatorade and a sandwich.  For dinner I may eat some hamburger helper or sometimes chicken helper.   I may have a coke there too. I drink at least six cokes a day, and sometimes kill a whole pack of cookies. 

 Anyways, I really want to change my look and become healthier because I also have some back pain and my teeth are rotting out of my head.   I get one cavity fixed and two more appear as if I pissed someone off.  

Like I said, I have always had people asking about how much I work out, and now its got me curious as to what I could achieve.   Any help would be appreciated.  I would love to send a picture, but I guess Bluto from Popeye would be a decent description. Ha, Ha!   I am a little embarrassed and hope I am not too much of a geek for posting such a naive question.

Dude, never try maxxing out at your stage of training. Being a raw trainee ,this is a surefire way to get hurt. The name of the game is sets and  reps, and getting into some type of training condition, should be one of your main goals. 

Your diet is not good at all ,and should be centered around lean protein sources, such as fish, skinless chicken breasts, tuna,& egg whites, with lean meat eaten a few times a week. Walking on a treadmill 5-6 days a week at a good pace, will help to get that gut down. If you must drink soda ,switch to diet coke. Eliminate junk foods immediately, and slowly add in the foods, above 5-6 times a day, with meals spaced out to every 3 hours or so, along  with veggies ,salads, and good complex carbs, such as oatmeal, yams, baked potatoes, and brown rice. 

Train on a split routine, about 4 days a week ,doing the entire body over the course of the four days. Start out light and go slow, you didn't get out of shape overnight ,and you won't get into shape overnight either. It takes time and patience. Drink as much water as you can throughout the day also. 

I'll help you out with a workout if you'd like! I know this is a lot to absorb, but just ask questions ,and people here will help you out with good solid advice. Your friend at work should never have let you go that heavy.

There are plenty of other good nutritious foods you can eat also, but these are the staples of most bodybuilder's diets. Here's a good beginner's routine.
Mon.-Legs:
Squats-4x10-12
Leg Press-4x 10-20
Leg Curl-5x10-15
Calf Raise-5x10-25


Tues.- Chest & Biceps:
Bench Press-4x 8-10
Smith Machine Inclines-4x8-10
Flyes-2x10-12 (light)
Barbell Curls-3x8-10
Seated Dumbbell Curl-3x 8

Wed.-OFF

Thurs.-Back & Traps:
Deadlifts-4x6-8
Lat Pulldowns-4x10-15
Barbell Rows-4x10
Barbell Shrug-3x12-15

Fri.-Shoulders & Triceps:
Seated Press-3x8-10
Lateral Raise-3x10-12
Bent-Over Laterals-3x 10-12
Skullcrushers-4x10-12
Pressdowns-4x10-20
You should only do two sets of each exercise for the first two weeks of training ,then do the full routine as written.

Do abs 3-4 days a week also. Start out very light and use good form    always. If you don't understand these exercises go to   < http://www.exrx.com >   or < http://abcbodybuilding.com >  for detailed descriptions of most basic exercises. 

I usually recommend that beginners train using machines at first but you sound like a big strong guy who could handle this but I repeat don't sacrifice form for weight on the bar. Go slow and do it right. Your friend may be able to help you out here hopefully. Good luck!!

At the risk of sounding corny, I'm going to say "proteins are the building blocks of muscle"...

Proteins are the things that your body uses to build new muscle tissue.  They are the 'Lego-blocks" of your muscle.  So make sure you take plenty of it.  1g of protein per lb of bodyweight is the accepted standard.  Don't need to go overboard and scarf down chicken breasts every 2 hours.  just make sure you eat enough, and eat a VARIED array of proteins... nobody likes living on eggs for 16 weeks.

Some good protein sources - lean beef, turkey, chicken, eggs, milk, cheese, shrimp, fish (esp. Salmon), protein powders, buffalo...

Oh.. and a word about protein shakes ( if you do buy them).. they are generally all the same.. just look for WHEY protein.. some claim to be more absorbable, some claim to have more glutamine-peptides... just pick a cheap one and use it.  they ALL absorb fast, your body isn't going to die because one protein doesn't digest as quickly as the rest.


Next up are fats... good fats from sources like (Essential Fatty Acid supplements, olive oil, fish oils ) are used by your body to produce testosterone and promote good heart health.  Salmon has plenty of good fats for you... which is why I recommended it so strongly.  

Combining foods and meal timing

Ok.. there are many variations, but as a rule of thumb, here's how you could go about organizing your new diet.

Now that we've covered the basic nutrients - carbs, protein, good fats, fiber... here's how to combine them.  You should try to eat at least 5-6 small meals a day.  This will keep your energy levels high and minimize the storage of fat.  Your body's metabolism is like the coal engine for a train.  the food is like the coal... you want to spoon it into the engine (your body)... every now and then to keep it running smoothly.. if you put too little, the engine can't run.. if you put too much, the fire will go out (and your body will store the excess food as fat).

I would suggest starting to slowly upping the number of meals you eat a day.  from 3 to 4 to 5... and so on.  

At each meal, always make sure you have some carbs, some fiber, some protein, and some fats.  You could combine it into a ratio of 40%carbs n fiber/40% protein/20% good fats.  You don't have to worry about adding fats (unless you also take a fat supplement) because most of the time the meat you eat already has fat in it.

So if you want to make things simple for yourself, every meal would look like this:

Brown rice - carbs
broccoli - fiber
Chicken breasts - protein
1 tablespoon olive oil used to cook the breasts - good fats.

every meal can be a variation of the sort.

The only EXCEPTION to the rule is your night time meal.  Before your go to bed, it's NOT a good idea to eat carbs because your body is not going to need the energy while it sleeps, and so it'll just store it as fat.  The solution is to simply eat veggies and meat before you go to bed.  or have a protein shake... this will make sure your body doesn't starve at night, but at the same time making sure your body doesn't store the calories as fat.

The other exception is after your workout... where you may choose to take in a protein shake/simple sugar drink.

Remember, you should adjust your meal size according to your goals and training needs.  If you are trying to lose weight, generally smaller portioned meals... but right now that you are just starting out, My advice to you is to eat clean, but to some extent to worry about the size of your meals... you need the energy to train and the calories to recover... once you get the hang of it you can adjust your food intake to fit your goals (build more muscle or start losing fat).  Also, I would suggest eating more, and if you feel you are getting a little heavy, just do some cardio like ski suggested. to burn off some extra calories.

Meal timing ~

Ok.. meal timing is just as important as food combination.  You should take into your account your work schedule and try to fit your meals into it. But as a general rule of thumb you want to try to eat every 3-4 hours...

Or another rule of thumb is to eat 2 meals in the morning, 2 meals in the afternoon, 2 meals in the evening.  You could cook all your food for the coming week and store it in Tupperware and bring it with you to work... and for goodness sake STAY away from the snack vending machines! j/k.

So bearing in mind the whole carbs/proteins/fiber/fats rule... you could eat rice/chicken/broccoli for every meal...which I personally like doing, but if you don't like the same food here are a couple diet suggestions... this diet is more for someone who isn't looking to drop fat quickly...since it's relatively higher in carbohydrates...also, this is a "bare-bones" diet...so bear that in mind.

meal 1: 0700:
protein n fats- egg n cheese omelet with ketchup
                   (optional: low-carb protein shake)
carbs n fiber -  1 bowl oatmeal, with artificial sweetener
                    1 banana
daily multivitamin

meal 2: 1030:
tuna n mayo, w/ lots of lettuce and tomato in WHOLE-GRAIN bread.

meal 3: 1330:
brown rice with spices,
ground beef
broccoli
[here's where your Tupperware comes in handy]

meal 4: 1630: pre workout meal
tuna mixed with mayo, served with some crackers

get off work 1730, arrive at gym at 1830, workout till 1930.

meal 5: 1930:
Protein shake
1 can coke
with plenty of water! since the caffeine in coke dehydrates you... and I'm even wincing as I type C-o-k-e  j/k...but I didn't want to take you cold turkey from having SIX cokes a day to ZERO....

meal 6: 2030
Brown rice
steamed fish (Salmon)
steamed veggies

meal 7: easiest meal of the day
celery sticks/ fresh broccoli bites
1-2 tablespoons natural peanut butter.
OR - 1 can tuna with mayo/miracle whip
OR - 1 protein shake with 1 tablespoon flax seed oil or any fish oil supplements.

As you can see, the carbs are pretty much from brown rice, and the proteins are usually from meat sources.  Again, the key word is WHOLE foods.  

A few more tips, if you're hungry, but are concerned about calories, make yourself a fresh salad... lettuce, tomato, olive oil and balsamic vinegar or fat free ranch dressing.  Or add more meat to your meals.

A lot of this involves trial and error to see what meals, what portions, what timing works best for you, so don't be afraid to experiment...

water, water and more water... I can't emphasize that enough..

Umm.. I guess that's about it... I hope I haven't come across as talking down to you or appear to insult your intelligence... I'm just going by the fact that I don't know you and don't know how experienced/inexperienced you may be....

SKI - your inputs?

best of luck in your endeavors... if you've got any questions, feel free to PM me or just post on this board.  Look forward to hearing your success stories!

I'd probably be typing it up in installments all week long! I hope we don't confuse "operator" too much and scare him away from a great lifestyle.