Little help here..

[Confidence]

Im finding eating correctly to be a pain in my butt.. I cant seem to eat for what I am trying to do and the more I read the more confused I am about what I should be eating and how much of it. I am 5'4" 155 lbs ~16% B/F (calipers). I know I need to lose some b/f but I also want to put on more muscle mass.. from what ive read you cant cut and put on muscle at the same time? Its seems to be either one or the other. Id like to be 150-160 7-8% b/f... few years back I was 140 at 7% and I loved the look but wanted more size. Over the years I worked out less and ate like crap and now im trying to start back over. I elminated cokes and sweets from my diet and also the higher fat easy to cook stuff like taquitos and pizza bites. What exactly should I be doing? I train 4 days a week one body part each week and do cardio 3X a week for 20-30 min. Its also hard to eat right at work as my meals have to be quick.. usually tuna kits, bannas, smart one Tv dinners, protien shakes, hard boiled eggs ( eat the yolk?). Thanks for any clarification on all of this.

[pal]

Yea lotsa people (including myself) find it hard to have to find good stuff to eat, just outta the blue but if you do there is a grocery list on this forum somewhere so if you have to go and grab something look at the list and grab something. Another problem that I've noticed is that you don't wanna take the time to go and cook (or boil) a chicken breast, or some fish so you can just grab a pizza pop and cook it up for 2 mins and there you have a meal right there, that's why i've taken some time out each night (That i'd just sit around and watch tv or hang out) and created all the food for the following day (except for protien shakes and tuna and that easy stuff), I just cook up my chicken, cut my veggies and then store em in the fridge. There's many things you can do, another thing that I like to do is make jerky, there's many awesome recipes for all types of food on here, just look around. About your routine, you workout 4 days a week, and then cardio for 20-30 mins for 3 days, that doesn't look bad. You might wanna lighten up the cardio a bit or lose it to 2 days and have 5 days of working out, because on a bulk its alright to have some cardio to maintain good cardiovalascular system but to much of it could cut into your calories. I think your best bet is to get a planned diet and then follow it.

[Confidence]

Your exactly right.. ive become lazy. Its so easy to eat bad and require much more effort to eat good. In the begining I had so much motivation.. I was 125lbs lifting a max of 120 on the bench press but lifting with someone who was way bigger motivated me big time. I got up to 150 benching 300 about 2-2.5 years after I started and for some reason after that I just let it all go. Dumbest thing I ever did.. I look in the mirror now and just get sick. So Im trying to find that motivation I used to have. Ive always had to eat to bulk.. but now my b/f is so high I cant eat like I used to. Ill check out that grocery list. Try to get off my lazy a$$ and cook some food up at night liked I used to..

[pal]

Yea man it's all about motivation, I feel you too, I may not have half the experiences as lotsa people here (seeing how i'm 15) but i've had some experiences and different ones, too and I know that it takes alot of willpower and motivation to bodybuild, powerlift or actually do almost anything, but it takes even more to bodybuild! It's a tough sport to do, and thats what makes it rewarding. But yea if you like watching movies and stuff to motivate you, try all of the Rocky's (personally, I think they are the best motivation), Pumping Iron, The Unbeleivable or any other bodybuilding movie! Just start getting on top of it soon and soon enough you'll see gains (or losses, if bodyfat)!!

[Confidence]

I have Pumping Iron on DVD and Arnold: The Education of a bodybuilder in paperback. Ill probably start reading that book again.. I read it once and it was good motivation for me. Its either that or stare at my self in the mirror and see how fat I am.. Its a wierd feeling to be glued to a mirror for years and then all of a sudden im trying to avoid them lol. Ive never been good at counting my calories or any of that.. I just always ate clean and ate a lot. I wish I had gotten started when I was your age.. I was 20 befor I started lifting. I did catch up to my freinds who were lifting in highschool tho.. being short made it easy for me to bulk up.

[desperad0]

yeah bulking is kinda hard...i think it would be easier to cut for me cause i use to LOVE eating but now im so sick of it haha

[ChrisH19]

If the sport of bodybuilding was easy, everyone would be in great shape. No one wants to do the work, but everyone wants to get to the end. Thats what make us bodybuilders unlike everyone else. We are willing to do everything and that much more to reach our goals. Just sit down sometime and relax and talk to yourself, I know that sounds weird but it works. Ask yourself what you really want to achieve. Once you set your mind on your goal, don't stop for anything until you get it, and im sure once you get there you will want more. If eating is the problem for you, just stop and think about your goals and it will drive you to eat all that you need to reach that goal. Motivation is a big part of this sport. Find little things that motivate you, and go from there.

[Confidence]

Yeah.. Im more motivated now that I see how bad ive let my self go.. I used to be motivated because of how good of shape I was in.. its funny how things like that change. Just gotta get my diet under control.

[ChrisH19]

Nutrition is like 80% of bodybuilding. Get your diet in order and you will be back to your old self before long, and feel so much better about yourself. We are one big team here, we will keep you motivated!

[Confidence]

Thanks.. ive been to a lot of forums but what amazed me the most about this forum was that it wasnt full of a$$holes and people actually help.