Starting Out

[vga518]

I'm an Ectomorph and I'm also underweight for my height and age. What are some tips and advice you can give to me as someone just starting out with no experience or idea. Joined a gym and it's a whole new experience for me and it has me a bit overwhelmed.
My Stats:
Height: 5'9 1/2
Weight: 139 lbs
Neck: 14 2/3
Shoulders: 43 1/2
Upper Arm: 10 1/2 unflexed
Forearm:9 1/2
Chest: 34
Waist: 31
Thigh: 20
Calf: 13 1/2
I have 3 goals in mind aside from just being healthy and feeling good about how I look. My 1st is to enter my weight bracket 150-160 lbs. My 2nd is to push to 180 lbs. M 3rd goal is to see how I look and feel and maybe push to 200.
Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

[brent]

Be friendly, try stuff out. Remember, the bug guys were where you are once, and will generally help you out if you show respect. Always clean up your weights. Get 9+ hours of sleep to recover. Get enough protein & calories to grow. The list is endless.

[vga518]

Thanks for the advice.
I decided to keep a log with my currents stats, goals and for future stat updates. I was also thinking of using it for a food/ calorie log but I don't know how to do one of those. Also what else would be important for me to keep a log of?
Any advice is again greatly appreciated!

[inflated]

If writing things down helps you, by all means make a food diary--not a log of calories its easier to do and as you get more knowledgeable about proper diet you can see what needs to change. Have a trainer put together a good workout for you that fits your goals. Eventually, you will need to learn about which exercises work best, which diet is best etc, don't rely on others for all of this with more knowledge you will be your best coach.

[brent]

Writing out logs is great, and makes an excellent reference later on, but it gets old quickly. Log as little as possible for as long as possible. Same goes for exercise: start out not doing much, slowly build it up over a few moaths, and keep it up long term!