I picked that up because I wanted to ordain as a Buddhist monk.
Far out!
I need both. Fatty beer gut had to go, but so do my twig legs and arms.
Okay, so you want to do
two things: burn fat AND build muscle. Diet is still your #1 first thing to knock out of the park. I'm going to talk to you about diet and exercise both.
DIET
The way my bills are split, my roommate buys the food and it's all trash. Plus my beer consumption doesn't help...
This needs to end. The diet aspect isn't just sufficient for losing weight, it's
necessary. Not only that, it's necessary for building muscle as well. Every time you drink beer, you're drinking that instead of water/protein shake/milk etc. Every time you eat junk food, you're eating that instead of veggies. Garbage in = garbage out.
Allow me to hammer this point home:
if the calories you take in are low quality, then it doesn't matter if you keep the calories down, intermittently fast, and hit the gym every day. You will not build muscle, and you will not burn fat. You need to end the arrangement with your roommate YESTERDAY.
And this stuff doesn't
just make it harder to reach your goals. You're not
just losing opportunities to eat and drink the things you really need to get what you want. You're
paying for the privilege!!
For instance, I like Blue Moon. If I drink
less than 1 bottle a day, I could get by on a 6 pack each week. Let's say I find a great deal somewhere and I can get that for $7. That's $7 each week for beer. At the end of that year, I'm out $364. Instead of spending that $364 hurting myself, I could have saved it and bought some fitness equipment. $364 will get me a set of Power Blocks up to 50lbs each with cash to spare! I could invest in resistance bands, higher quality food, whatever! I could get a Phallosan! And all of this is a
very conservative estimate. Do the math for yourself and see how much
you're spending to make your life harder!
EXERCISE
Have you ever worked out before? An underlying assumption that I want to challenge is this 'lifting weights' bit. Depending on where you're at with your muscle development, as well as your
specific goals, you may not need that now or ever. Calisthenics can get you GREAT results, while saving time and money.
Speaking of specific goals, what are yours? Do you want to be big like a bodybuilder, or would big like a gymnast be fine? (You want to be Arnold or Bruce Lee?) More specific than that would be even better. (E.g. I want to be able to do 20 pullups, or I want to be 180lbs at 8% body fat).
I'm about 160 lbs, but my body fat is very low, so I look plenty muscular despite my smaller size. More of a Bruce Lee than a Schwarzenegger. If you want to get bodybuilder big, then weights are definitely in your future (though even then you probably won't need them to start out). If you just want to look cut and fantastic, though, you can do that purely with calisthenics. That saves you time and money. All you need is a doorway pullup-bar. $20. Work out from home.
I can give more specific advice and point you towards some good resources with more info.
It's hard to do leg workouts from where I got shot but I know I can do it.
You mean you've been shot in the leg and have an injury still?? If so, you need to talk to a doctor and a personal trainer who can review the specifics of your situation and give you advice. Don't gamble with your body!
Here are your IMMEDIATE action steps:
- Room mate does not control your diet. Make a new arrangement.
- Reduce or (preferably) eliminate alcohol. Water is your friend. This will also help keep your EQ top notch.
- Let me know about your specific goals and history.
EDIT: Also StillWant is on to something here. We have a forum just for bodybuilding, and this thread should proooooooobably be there. :D