Originally Posted by kalimus
When I first started, I just read every bodybuilding article I found. Eventually you start recognizing the things that are repeated by almost everyone, and I started going by that.
But if you want an easy way to really get started, there were a couple of things I started with that are easy rules. Then you can evolve from there.
First is setting your target calories. Pick the middle number between your target weight and your current weight. For example, 200 lbs currently, want to get to 170, so I pick 185. Next, eat 10 calories for every pound of that number. So I picked 1850 calories.
Then you want to eat about 50% of your calories from protein, 30% from carbs, and 20% from fats. Eat only lean meat (turkey, chicken, fish, and occasionally lean beef). For carbs, if it's white or NOT green, don't eat it. No white rice, white potato, white bread, white pasta, sugar (you get the idea). I eat only green veggies (spinnach, broccolii, romaine lettuce, asparagus). And then your fats you'll get from milk, nuts, whole eggs and etc.
There are a couple of free webistes to help you track calories and ratios. myfitnesspal is one and dailyburn is another. They will help you maintain a little bit of sanity.
Do that for about 2 weeks and see how much you lose. If it's more than 2 pounds per week, bring your calories up. If it's less than 1 pound per week, lower them. Make adjustments by around 300 calories (unless there is a drastic change in weight. Like if you lose 3-4 pounds a week, you might want to bring them up 500-600 calories instead.
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