[RemedySB]

Hi this is my first post after lurking around for abit and really liking the help that others were getting from you guys. I'm looking to loose weight and get into some sort of shape. I'm 20 years old, 5'5 and weigh 200 pounds so i know i have some serious work to do. If you guys could set me in the general direction of the things I should be eating, how i should be working out and things of that nature it'd be appreciated. TIA for whatever help you can offer.

[Condition1]

How are things going so far? As far as your current diet and work out routine? Supplements and such?

[drummaboyzl]

at this point in time of his body i wouldn't worry about the supps as much as i would the diet and routine.

right now you should really focus on getting cardio into your routine i would suggest 4 days of cardio a week minimum. that will help burn a bit of that excess fat off.
secondly i would focus on your diet....try and take in 6-8 SMALL meals a day that contain minimal amounts of simple carbs....stay away from fats sugars and sweets and focus on whole grains and proteins as your majority.
eat lean steak, fish, chicken, tuna as your main things
milk (has a bit of fat), nuts, oats, eggs are good snacks

i cant tell alot about you yet because you have not told us about you but from your stats i would guess your metabolism isn't all that great and your more of a mesomorph body type (easy put weight on hard to take it off).
start by cutting your caloric intake to 2000-2500.

[babywifey]

I wouldn't suggest staying away from all fats. Healthy fats such as natural peanut butter, nuts, olive oil, unsweetened coconut and avocado are amazing for you- even when you are trying to loose weight. They will help you balance a healthy diet of carbs (primarily you should stick carbs that are fiber- such as vegetables) and protein (lean meats). It is fats like canola oil and hydrogenated fats that you want to stay away from. Eating healthy fat will not make you fat unless you eat too much. That is how eating healthy goes all around.

[RemedySB]

Thanks for the info so far. About myself, I'm pretty much starting from ground zero. My diet is pretty horrible, I work graveyard at a grocery store so my day pretty much consists of going to work at 10pm grabbing something from the frozen food section and eating it for lunch, getting home around 7am, going to bed and waking up around 4 eating something quick and doing it all over again. I plan on starting to go to the gym in the morning when i get outta work. Should i just be doing cardio? Or should i be lifting to?
I know right now I'm sounding pretty horrible, but thats why I'm here. I'm ready for a change and need some help in doing so. So if you guys need to know anyhting else to help you help me, let me know. Again thanks in advance.

[babywifey]

I would suggest that you do a mix of both cardio and weight lifting. The weight lifting will help you gain muscle while loosing fat. If you search around the forum you will find some good info for people like you. In the "cutting" section you'll probably find some stickys that will help you out.

If you don't find anything there try T-Nation.com and search "meltdown training". You could do some steady state cardio like jogging for now and eventually work your way up to interval cardio (sprints).

Hope that helps a little.

[drummaboyzl]

lift and do cardio bro.
and when i say lift that doesn't just mean upper body...that means legs too

[striking]

Great advise here!

If you have the ability to choose foods from your job to eat grab some healthy things. I know it can be hard but if you must prepare meals when you get home from work and have them ready for the next day. That way when your at work you can quickly snack on healthy meals.

Running and lifting will get your metabolism back in the picture and help get it running from that point on eating healthy and keeping up the work out you will loose that weight!

[EasyEJL]

if you work at a grocery store, you have access to all sorts of stuff. look at the south beach diet fresh wraps + salads, those are nice and pretty healthy.