Is Starting Strength right for me?

[WaffleBox]

Howdy folks! New member here, and I only recently discovered the existence of Starting Strength. I'm hoping that I can tell y'all a little about my background, situation, and goals, and get some feedback on whether Starting Strength would be a good fit, plus a couple of other questions.

About Me
Age: 30
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 142
Body Fat: Somewhere between 12-16% (My Tanita scale goes between 12-15%, and the digital calipers they used at my gym said 16.1%)
Strength level: Approx. kindergarten girl

Goals
Let me be clear that goal number 1 is to look good naked. Goal 1b (and closely related) is for my body to be large enough that my head doesn't look so gigantic (see pics below). What do I mean when I say look good naked? Think Taylor Lautner in the later Twilight movies. For those of you not girly enough to have watched them, here is what I mean:



That's about as big as I would ever like to get, and I don't expect abs like that. In terms of numbers, I think my goal is to end up around 160 lbs and 10-12% body fat, subject to change once I see how I look with those stats.

That having been said, if I am going to put a lot of time and effort into getting some muscles, I would very much like them to be more useful than just eye candy. I do want to be able to pick up some heavy stuff and stuff.

My Current Fitness Regime
The goal of my current fitness regime is fat loss with a secondary goal of minor strength building. I started off at 147 and around 18% body fat, and have progressed to where I am now. My goal was to get to 135 then switch my focus to muscles to progress toward my final goal.

I would describe myself as mostly a runner. I've been a middle distance runner on and off since college (mostly off). I had a couple of flings with P90X over the past 3 years or so, but finished prematurely both times. My current exercise schedule consists of three types of workouts.

Weight routine (done entirely on machines - yes I know):
Back
Chest
Biceps
Triceps
Shoulders
Upper legs/glutes
Lower legs
Abs
Repeat that whole cycle again for a total of 2 exercises per body part, 1 set per exercise. I vary the particular exercise I do as much as possible but follow that order every time. I lift as much as I can such that I get close to failure at 8-10 reps. I also do 30 seconds of jumping jacks between each lift to burn more calories and keep my heart rate up. I have seen reasonable progress in the amounts I am able to lift, but that is expected given that I started off with only enough muscle to brush my teeth.

Sprint intervals:
I started off a couple months ago doing 20 seconds sprinting, 40 seconds slow jog repeated 12 times. I worked up to 18 times, then switched to 12 intervals of 30 seconds sprint, 40 seconds slow jog. Moved up to 18 of those then switched to 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds jog. That is where I am at currently. I am working my way toward 18 intervals of 40 seconds sprint, 20 seconds slow jog. From there I might increase the length of the intervals, but maintain the ratio of 2:1.

Long runs:
Run. For a long time. I do between 10-15 miles at around an 8:00 pace.

Schedule:
Monday: Weights
Tuesday: Sprints
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday: Sprints
Friday: Weights
Saturday: Long run

Nutrition
I'm a vegetarian, and a complicated one at that. I don't like tofu or seitan or tempeh or any of the other high protein meat substitutes that vegetarians often eat. I also don't really like eggs. I do love cheese though!

I eat around 1900 calories a day spread across 5 meals. It comes out to about 50% carb, 30% fat, 20% protein. I'm willing to consider doing Half-GOMAD but probably not the full thing. I understand that will make my progress take longer. I just don't like milk enough to be able to do a full gallon every day, and I'm at peace with that fact.

Questions

1. Based on my situation and goals, do you think Starting Strength is a good fit for me?
2. Should I continue my current plan of dropping fat until I reach 135 lbs, or start focusing on strength now?
3. Is half-GOMAD my best bet for bulking up once I get to that phase, or do you have other nutrition suggestions?
4. I've never touched a barbell in my life. Should I hire a trainer to teach me the lifts, or will that probably just teach me wrong?
5. I'd like to keep running (at least the sprints) once I switch my focus to strength. Is that okay, and if so, should I do the sprints on the same day as strength training, or the days in between?
6. Would doing the yoga routine from P90X on Saturday instead of my long run be useful or detrimental?

Thanks so much in advance for reading all this craziness and giving me your thoughts!

Gratuitous and hilarious pictures:

[melody]

Not sure if srs?

[WaffleBox]

Not sure if srs?

Quite. While I do enjoy a good troll now and then, I never spend that much time on one.

[Damian]

I laughed out loud at that first picture of you. Your head really is hilariously huge.

1) Yes SS is a good fit for you. (Any real weight training is)
2) You can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Start lifting now.
3) I don't know what to tell you on your diet. Your restricting yourself so much by being a vegetarian, especially not eating high protein. Weight training can take you pretty far by itself, you can definitely reach your goal of 160 @ 10% (which you will not like). Make sure to eat more than you are right now and the rest will take care of its self.
4) Don't over-complicate things. It's lifting goddamn weights, its not hard, save your money for drugs.
5) I would recommend just the sprints. Right after weight training or on off days, again this is not brain surgery don't over-complicate it.
6) The yoga routine from P90X is actually fantastic, they also sell pants at Macy's for just that! They make your bum look real plump for the boys at school.

[borzoi06]

These are all admirable goals, especially more so due to the popular culture references to pretty bodies in teenage vampire movies. Who wouldn't want a body a lonely young girl could adore? Seriously, though, that is a pretty fantastic fantasy. I would honestly be more concerned with your diet than with your specific training routine if your goals are to be both ripped and thin. And don't sell yourself short, man. Get those abs. They do look good.

So, since you are a vegetarian you obviously care about the calories you consume to the point of possibly annoying the people you eat with. That may be the price you pay for your health but stick with it if you want that Lautner body. I would recommend you add a few more calories to your diet, though. At least bump it up over the 2000 calorie mark while you're "bulking" to get the muscles bumpin'. I totally get not liking the tofu, tempeh and the like because they do taste a bit bland. But good on you for the cheese. You can get a lot of quality protein from cheese. So spread that shit over everything. All five, 400 or so calorie meals should have some cheese. Stay away from that canned stuff, though. I hear that's not as protein dense. And if you don't like regular milk you could always just go with soy milk. You could do something like GO-SO-MAD, or gallon of soy milk a day! That actually sounds more badass than GOMAD anyway. Obviously, if the GO-SO-MAD calories are interfering with your 2000 calorie diet then you could just auto regulate your intake to adequately adjust. Just think, though: Lautner may not train legs or be monster strong, but he also doesn't look like he weighs 135 pounds. Probably closer to your 160-ish goal.

Finally, Starting Strength, as prescribed, may not be for you. But that doesn't mean you can't apply some of the awesome benefits from creating your own variation for a Lautner-like physique. But you need a break, man! 7-days a week will wear you out quick. I'd recommend dropping one of your sprint days but just doing that after one of your weight days. That way you still get your sprints in, but you also get a break. And stay away from the squat rack. That shit will beef up your mid-section and blow up your ass to the point where you won't be able to fit into those skinny jeans anymore. Not good for the aesthetics. A regular leg press is all that is needed here. Just once a week or so. Then add in some leg curls, leg extensions and calf raises to target those muscles specifically. You don't want them to blow up, but you DO want them to pop! Just don't forget the barbell for benches. That's a pretty goddamn serious staple in any bro's workout plan. That's as close as you might want to get to the Starting Strength original template, though. If you're already familiar with the machines in your gym, just keep hitting those but don't neglect the bench. I would do something like this:

Monday: Bench and machines for the chest and tris
Tuesday: Sprints
Wednesday: Legs (like above)
Thursday: Sprints
Friday: Bench and back and bicep specific machines; Also: sprints
Saturday: Long Slow Distance running
Sunday: Rest, because you've earned it

Then, you would repeat all the above, of course. Keep us posted on your progress. It would be interesting to see how a Starting Strength variation can transform a person who's dedicated enough to incorporate their own spin on the program for taylor'd goals.

[DCMusic]

Jesus Christ.

[f4thpathway]

Not sure if srs?

Shirley

[borzoi06]

Shirley

Don't call her that ;-)

[Kyle Schuant]

This is all so wrong on so many levels I don't know where to begin.

[f4thpathway]

Don't call her that ;-)

She likes it when I'm bad.