Some apply 1-2g per lb of LEAN body weight. Although from what I have read, past 1g per lb of body weight is unnecessary to see improvement in Muscle building. Of course everybody is different, so I am sure optimal protein intake differs as greatly as different training out there.

Of course, many more experienced taikos out there probably know better

Eh chill. You would be sarcastic sometimes too when you read the 3516th newbie asking about how the magical and miraculous use of supplements can 'shape body', 'increase muscle', 'gain/lose weight', etc without having taken time to search and read and understand the way you body build and sculpt you physique.

These guys help plenty of people here with good sound advice that regularly gets thrown back in their face for not being what the person wanted to hear oso.

There are thousands of resources that cover the basics of bodybuilding and explain the use/uselessness of whey/mass gainers, and it gets on our nerves when it is obvious no effort was put forth to spend a few measly hours to find that information.

You asked a stupid question, so you got some stupid answers. Being all defensive is not endearing any of us to assist you when your so new you don't even realize what the dumb questions are.

You don't need supplement to cut.

Do you know your body fat %? How did you come to the conclusion that 85-90kg is a good aim?

Find out your body fat %. Aiming for roughly 15% is a good goal.

Find out your daily caloric needs. Eat less than that by 10-20%.
*Learn about nutrition and manipulate your diet according to goals for best results

Train (find a simple, effective, sustainable program). I recommend reading the stickies-darklight has kindly posted a good effective beginners to advanced program.

Get enough rest. Sleep less than 6-7 hours a night consistently and you will almost definitely feel like shit and be more likely to fall of the band wagon.

Relax~ Stressing for fast results is a waste of time. You will reach your goals but it is going to take time.

Finally, if you really want supplements, I recommend a good multivitamin and high potency fish oil. You can consider extra vitamins like C, D or E but a good multivitamin and good diet should ensure you lack non of these micro nutrients.

Meh. At 6 feet tall, it depends on how much muscle you got hiding under that layer of fat. Assume you really are FAT at 30% bodyfat, that would mean you have a lean body mass of 84kg. This means 85kg might not be a realistic if you intend to maintain your current muscle mass. See if you can find a trainer or doctor with calipers to get a rough idea. If you arent too shy, you can post a pic in the progress thread and the sifus can give an estimate.

In the end, don't worry too much about the scale. No one sees it but you (and your doctor maybe). Aim for the 'look' you want.

Creatine and BCAA? There are mixed reviews. I suggest not wasting your hard earned money until your diet is great and you stick to it 90% of the time.

Some people swear by creatine, others find it didn't improve results that noticably. BCAA's might be something to consider but there has been no scientific studies proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that it actually serves to help. I have to wonder if there is a little bit of a placebo effect going on when consuming these products.

Mind you, I have not spent much time looking and researching those supplements as I have no intention of taking them. I prefer spending money on eating food

Honestly, don't get caught up with supplements when you are just starting. You are going to have to adjust to eating great, training right and resting enough. This will occupy enough of your time getting right.

Besides, as a newbie, your body will make great improvements with just those basics without the use supplements.

Keep it simple. Seriously.

Your wallet will thank you

??? You are eating too little! I am estimating your food around 1500 calories. Your pre & post workout is maybe 500-600 calories (700-800 if you are mixing the protein with milk).

That's not even your BMR. Im going to assume you are 25 along with being 6ft tall and weighing 120kg - Im getting a BMR of 2455 calories a day! You should try to make sure you never eat less than that because you cause more harm and unnecessary stress to your body.
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

If you are sedentary (desk job, no exercise), then you would eat 2900-3000 calories a day to MAINTAIN. Since you are exercising regularly (I assume lah), you can probably maintain at 3200-3300 calories easily.

You should aim to eat 2600-2800 calories a day MINIMUM since your goal is to lose fat.

Btw, rice is not the enemy. Personally, I like rice and I eat it over bread. Just make sure it fits your macros.

Take a few hours, and learn the basic importance of calorie intake and macros please. Diet is the most important aspect of fat loss. Period. Equip yourself with the necessary knowledge to achieve your goals.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.p...21703981&page=1
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.p...1#post724388791

This post has been edited by shadowz: Jan 6 2013, 04:34 PM

This is an all too common misconception.

Our bodies have a limit to how much fat it can oxidize a day. I repeat, there is a LIMIT to how much fat you can oxidize a day.

You can lose WEIGHT quickly by severely limiting your calorie intake but the amount of fat it burns is not increased. This is why you often see people who use VLCD (very low calorie diets) to lose weight fast become skinny fat: Their body breaks down muscle mass (and bone mass) too.

Dont get me wrong. Consuming low calories from time to time has been proven to be beneficial as studies have shown with the rise of Intermittent Fasting but doing so for extended periods of time actually compromises your Metabolism. Thus, when people attempt to resume a reasonable diet again, they gain back the weight very quickly-this time more fat than before. Yo-yo dieting is born!

You do NOT want to force your body to become efficient at living off as little calories as possible. You want to train it to oxidize fat more efficiently when you need it to utilize its energy stores.

How do you do this?

You exercise regularly (weight training & cardio), you eat well, you give your body everything it needs in terms of Macro & Micro nutrients.

Atheletes have been shown to utilize almost 100% fat when needing to tap into energy reserves because their bodies have become efficient at utilizing it rather than holding on to it, thanks to a good balance of eating and training. I will see if I can find that link again, it was very interesting and informative.

Do not get sucked into the whole 'eating less and less and less, training more and more and more' to get results more quickly because in the long term, you are resigning yourself to having the unenviable task of undoing the damage you have done to your metabolism.

If you DON'T like eating a good amount of food everyday and this sounds like a great idea to you, then by all means - eat as little as you can, lose weight (not just fat...) as fast as you can, then enjoy not having to eat more than 1600-1700 calories a day to maintain your weight.

I personally want to train my body to maximise muscle mass, utilize fat reserves when needing energy and have a roaring metabolism because I love eating food.

Enjoy the process of learning. There is alot of information (true and false information mind you) out there to absorb. Our bodies are very amazing works of art.

**Found one of the links I read previously:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/fat-burnin...s-as-fuel-40844

The Summary was:
Higher fat oxidation rates during exercise are generally reflective of good training status, whereas low fat oxidation rates might be related to obesity and insulin resistance. On average, fat oxidation peaks at moderate intensities of 50-65%VO2max, depending on the training status of the individuals(2,8), increases with increasing exercise duration, but is suppressed by carbohydrate intake. The vast majority of nutrition supplements do not have the desired effects. Currently, the only highly effective way to increase fat oxidation is through exercise training, although it is still unclear what the best training regimen is to get the largest improvements. Finally, it is important to note that there is a very large inter-individual variation in fat oxidation that is only partly explained by the factors mentioned above. This means that although the factors mentioned above can influence fat oxidation, they cannot predict fat oxidation rates in an individual.

This post has been edited by shadowz: Jan 6 2013, 05:54 PM

I just loooooove escalation~

You do NOT have a good reason to be defensive as you claimed earlier. You should accept that as a newbie coming on here with NO EFFORT put forth whatsoever to learn the most basic information that others may mock you. And then you put forth no endearing responses to encourage understanding and sincere appreciation for those that might educate you.

Anyway, they answered your question and got the message across didnt they? Hahahahaha

Like I said, there are thousands of resources available at your fingertips. You were the one who made the choice to come here empty handed then get all puffed up about how we are arrogant and sarcastic.

Boo hoo.

Guess what. Plenty of these men and women are arrogant bastards but they earned the occasional right to be such with their time, sweat and effort. They have probably made mistakes, taken time to further educate themselves and kept on trekking even as they might have been laughed at for stumbling.

There was nothing wrong with your question at all. However, their statements were also not out of place because it was TRUE. It was not false. They made the statement you knew next to nothing and you don't. But for whatever reason you feel all defensive because we were apparently supposed to cuddle you and be all 'Ohhh someone who knows nothing, how wonderful' and we didn't.

And no, I wasn't trying to be helpful as in answering your question. Like I said: It was a stupid question.

I was trying to bring to your attention how your immature defensiveness and unearned pride is not going to win you any esteem or favours here.

I suggest you go educate yourself so any further questions you might have in regards to bodybuilding will be less likely to be met with oh so hurtful sarcasm and mockery

P/S: Great way to thank alien for actually taking time to answer your question. Such wonderful behaviour for us to follow. Such humility! Such modesty! I am awed~

Because we loooooooooove receiving your words of wisdom