A Few Questions for a Newbie Diet (followed the checklist =] )

[imontie]

Hey there, I'm new to this forum but not new to working out. I am 18 years old and when i started hitting the gym at age 17, i was 285 pounds. I am now down to 220 but am totally stuck. My diet has never been good and I lost all that weight by playing about 2 hours of basketball 4 times a week. Now that I'm stuck, and have no muscle (aside from on my legs, which are huge from basketball) i have decided to get my diet in check and start lifting.

So here are my stats:

18 years old
225 pounds
6'0"
eating super s**tty as of now
not lifting
cardio 4 times a week
bf% = ?

I ordered some whey protein for pwo (and to use as meals throughout the day) and jack3d as pre-workout.

Here's what I'm thinking about doing for my diet (trying to stay parallel with the cutting diet thread that's stickied)

meal 1: 1/2 cup oatmeal and some kind of lean protein

meal 2: protein shake and lean protein

meal 3: vegetables

lift and basketball or stairmaster or running

meal 4: post workout protein shake (2 scoops?)

meal 5: 1/2 cup oatmeal, vegetables, lean protein

meal 6: protein shake with some flax seed


I have also ordered some multivitamins and fish oil capsules that i'll be taking whenever.

I haven't done much research on lifting routines or exercise routines so if someone could point me to a pretty good thread that would be good for my situation i'd be happy. I also know i'm on an anabolic steroid forum but i'm not even going to consider cycling that until i'm down to 200 pounds with my diet and lifting regimen in order.

short term goal: 200 pounds and be able to visibly see some good muscle mass in my shoulders arms and chest.

long term goal: single digit body fat

[maxwkw]

In my opinion if your eating is as bad as you say it is, simply choosing healthier foods will probably get you started. For your PWO shake, the number of scoops will depend on the kind of protein you got, and your total protein for the whole day. For your fish oil, take more than it says on the bottle. If it's pills take 6-10, if it's liquid go with a tablespoon.

[imontie]

Awesome advice, thank you