Kick starting metabolism?!?

[ClickClackBOOM]

Hello everyone. I need some advice on how to kick start my metabolism. I know every body is different but I can't eat a simple sweet without seeing it instantly added as extra weight. I wrestled in high school and did some unhealthy cutting, and I think that is where I messed up my metabolism. Any ideas, suggestions or advice?

[--->>405<<---]

welcome to the forum click

1. stats: age weight height bf%

2. u say u wanna kickstart ur metabolism.. what do u really want to do cut bf%?

[ClickClackBOOM]

I'm 24, 5' 8", 180, and according to tape I should be around 18%. I think my percentage may be a little lower but regardless, yes I'd like to cut. I've been lifting for a couple years now including cardio. I think my diet may be off or metabolism is off. Maybe even both.

[--->>405<<---]

chances are its more ur diet and not ur metabolism.

read sticky: dieting 101: cutting

this will give u an basic understanding on how to cut properly. once read u need to figure up ur TDEE and then create a caloric deficit. once u have the deficit u come up with a macro split (i prefer 60/20/20 pro/carb/fat) for cutting and from there post a proposed diet including total cals and macros along with meal times and workout times, amt of days lifting as well as amt of cardio u plan to do per week including duration.. (i suggest 5-6days per week 45mins in the am fasted or PWO)

[gbrice75]

Depending on what your diet has looked like over the past few years, you very well could have slowed your metabolism. How many calories have you been eating per day, in general?

Exogenous assitance aside, there really is no 'kick starting' your metabolism other than to look at your diet and training routine. If you weren't exercising at all, i'd tell you to exercise to kick start. But since you are already doing that - the question is - how good is your plan? Based on your stats (no offense) and the fact that you're here for help (good choice!), my guess is it's not very good.

Post up a typical day's diet and your weekly workout/cardio routine - we can help sort you out for sure and get you on fire!

[ClickClackBOOM]

I'm pretty sure it's my diet. But here's what my eating habits the past year has looked like. It's difficult to eat how I know I should, being on a military installation and paying for the dining facility automatically leaves me very little to purchase food outside, so I'm stuck with what they serve. Breakfast is pretty consistent but dinner is where my diet lacks. For breakfast I'll have 2 eggs (scrambled, omelette, or hard boiled) with a meat (bacon, ham or sausage), grits, and fruit. Sometimes I'll get oatmeal or granola cereal instead of grits. I usually work through lunch but try to 'snack' lightly throughout the day. Dinner is a cluster**** though. Dining facility is only open for 1 1/2 hour and they serve shit. I try to get a salad and veggies in for dinner but the greens are limited. If I miss the hours I have to resort to the other food sources on post which is mostly fast food and the lesser of the evils consist of subway. Any advice for dinner or any other meal?

As for my workouts, I lift 4 days doing chest & biceps, legs, shoulders, and back & triceps in that order. I will do 20 minutes of a light jog (about 7 mph) before I lift. On my off days I'll do a 40 minute jog (varying between 6-9mph) then some core workouts. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we do pt in the mornings with my unit, but this varies from push ups and sit ups to a 5k run with no real consistency on intensity.

[ClickClackBOOM]

Work outs are a muscle group per day. I.E. chest on Sunday, legs on Tuesday, shoulders on Wednesday, and back on Friday. Sometimes days get mixed up a bit depending on schedule and anything I'm voluntold for.

[--->>405<<---]

If u read the cutting sticky u should have. A better idea of food choices. Ur gonna have to count cals and macros if u want predictable results. Looks like ur entire diet needs doing/re-doing

From wat u posted u eat i would guess its ur diet and NOT ur metabolism. Fruit and fat for brkfast = sugar and fat. Subway isnt much better if at all..

On phone rite now at gym. Will type more later. Ur gonna have to make good food choices with wat u have..

[ClickClackBOOM]

Just got done reading the cutting sticky. It was extremely helpful. Going to read the other stickies so I can start figuring out when and what I'm going to eat. I knew something was off in my diet, glad I came to ask y'all. Will post again with what I came up with for any suggestions soon. Again thank you for pointing me in the right direction!

[ClickClackBOOM]

So through my calculations it's telling me my TDEE is 1100 calories/day. Broken down to a 40/40/20 that puts me at 111 grams of proteins and carbs and 24.4g of fat.
Which means:
Breakfast: 70g of carbs, 20g of protein, and 6g of fat.
Brunch: 10g of protein, 11g of fat.
Pre-workout: 30g of protein, 20g of carbs, and 2g of fat.
Post-workout: 50g of protein, 20g of carbs, and 6g of fat.

Something like this should be acceptable? I guess I'll give it a try for 3 weeks and see what happens. Is that daily caloric intake to low? Seems low but I'm also 18%bf lol

[--->>405<<---]

Def too low! Ur math is wrong!

I get ur BMR at @1800cals. If i were u id run @1900cals at 60/20/20 pro/carb/fat.

Limit ur complex carbs to pre/post workout. About 45g per meal and have green veggies in every other meal.

Split ur protein evenly thru every meal.

Should put u around:
285g pro
95g carbs
42g fat

Get ur cardio in am fasted or post workout for 45mins 5-6days per week.

[ClickClackBOOM]

Yep, overlooked the formula a bit and was trying to convert on the go, on my phone without paper and pencil. Im on top of it now and understand what your saying. Again thank you for the help. I'll give this a try for a couple weeks and adjust accordingly!

[GirlyGymRat]

welcome! keep us posted on your progress.

[ClickClackBOOM]

Got a notebook and I'm taking notes. Today I'm eating how I normally do and writing down the information for all the foods I can here on post. It's already becoming very apparent where I've gone bad. But, I am aware now and can change my eating habits. Thought it was going to be hard to meet my goal, but turns out ive been eating more calories then my TDEE with to much carbs and fat and falling short on protein. Not really sure what to expect after adjusting my diet, but I'm excited to find out!

[MuscleInk]

Got a notebook and I'm taking notes. Today I'm eating how I normally do and writing down the information for all the foods I can here on post. It's already becoming very apparent where I've gone bad. But, I am aware now and can change my eating habits. Thought it was going to be hard to meet my goal, but turns out ive been eating more calories then my TDEE with to much carbs and fat and falling short on protein. Not really sure what to expect after adjusting my diet, but I'm excited to find out!

Congrats, that's an awesome start!!! If you don't have a scale, I recommend getting one to weigh your food. Something that has helped me out tremendously is using spreadsheets. I enter every meal in a spreadsheet and record the macros. At the bottom of the sheet I total the macros for the day as each meal is entered and the differential between my daily goal and current total is indicated. This way I can adjust each meal (up or down) to stay within my predetermine guidelines. It's made a huge difference and helped me avoid falling short or going above target macro values.

I hope you post your success story on this board. Far too many people blow off the importance of nutrition and it aggravates the hell out of me!!! Lol

Keep up the spectacular work and you'll see phenomenal results bro!!!

Cheers

MI

[ClickClackBOOM]

Y, that's pretty much what I'm doing in my notebook. I'll definitely get a scale as soon as I can for weighing my foods. Once I get my daily diet dialed in it'll be easier to maintain my goals. I ultimately would like to get stronger and leaner, but I know that the right nutrition and dieting comes before the workouts. Gotta get that straight first before I get in-depth with the workout sessions! Again, thank you everyone. Will keep this post up to date with my progress!

[MuscleInk]

Y, that's pretty much what I'm doing in my notebook. I'll definitely get a scale as soon as I can for weighing my foods. Once I get my daily diet dialed in it'll be easier to maintain my goals. I ultimately would like to get stronger and leaner, but I know that the right nutrition and dieting comes before the workouts. Gotta get that straight first before I get in-depth with the workout sessions! Again, thank you everyone. Will keep this post up to date with my progress!

Proud of ya man. Stick with it!!!

[ClickClackBOOM]

So, I think I have the diet down. Here's what it looks like, it's a tad bit harder to do with the crappy food I'm supplied with but;
Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 2 slices of bacon, a cup of oatmeal made with water, 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese
Lunch: medium salad with a meat (either ham & turkey or grilled chicken) a couple cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a 1/4 cup of cheese and no dressing
Snack (around 1500): some slices of lunch meat, turkey and ham
Pre-workout: 1/2 a grilled chicken and a banana or apple (along with pre-workout supplements)
Post-workout: a protein shake mixed with water, and 1-2 cans of white albacore tuna mixed with mustard.

I take a multi vitamin (animal pak) twice a day. Been staying away from milk (which sucks), but got some organic, unsweetened soy milk to get me that fix every now and again. Changed my cardio to after my workout (instead of before) and amped it up to 35-45 minutes. I'm already seeing some results, although slight. Gonna give it a couple more weeks. How long should I stay on this cutting cycle before I go back to a bulk? I still lift like I'm bulking, but try to get a day in where it's light weight, high reps.

Also, another question. Gonna be doing a field exercise here in a couple of weeks and I don't think I will have access to a gym. Anyone know of some good workouts to do? I could probably make shift weights, just wondering if anyone knew of some good exercises for such an occasion.