Finally made the decision to do something about my fitness/weight

zootfloot

zootfloot

zootfloot

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Joined
24 Nov 2005
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Skelton in Cleveland
As the title suggests, i have finally made the decision that i really need to start looking after myself in a better way.

Up until i was about 21-22 years old i was reasonably fit, playing football, circuit training, kickboxing and a manual job all meant that i just didnt have chance to put weight on.

From the age of 15 till about 23 i was a nice trim 12.5 - 13 stone with very little body fat and some decent definition (for someone who didnt weight train)

Anyways, after most of my friends moved away and circumstances changed etc i basically stopped exercising altogether, and eating all the wrong types of foods.

This leads us to the present day, i have a wife, 2 kids and an office based job which take up most of my time, add to that a persistant problem with my back (which is slowly getting better after 2 years on and off), i am currently weighing in at about 19stone or 260+ Pounds and 6ft 2" tall (which i find shocking but many people say i dont look like i weigh that much)

I really do not like myself being like this, i feel lousy most of the time, the wife and i eat a lot of take out type food or go out for dinner with the kids simply because it is easier (but obviously not healthier)

Now normally i would just say **** it, im joining the Gym and watching what i eat and that would be it, but i have tried that before, i really dont think the Gym is the place for me, tbh i tend to feel quite self consious when i am there so go once or twice and never go back again.

Also the Gym might not be ideal due to the back problem, so i was thinking about things like swimming a couple of times a week, walking a good distance a couple of times a week and maybe as i lose some weight look into something more along the lines of the Gym.

I am not looking to tone up or build muscle, i am simply looking for an easily manageable system where i can steadily lose and then maintain weight and basically feel better about myself.

Whats your thoughts chaps?
 
I made a similar decision a few years ago and I find it much easier to build my fitness into my day than to have to make time for it. As a result most of my exercise comes from either cycling too and from work or running to the train station.

If it's part of my day then I'm more likely to do it.
 
Your diet will be absolutley necesary to nail first.

Simple fact: to loose weight you need to create a 'calorie defecit'. You need to be burning more calories than you put in. The allowance for a bloke is 2500 per day, if you eat this and maintain said weight, eat 2200/2300 and your weight will begin to drop. Add some exercise in burning more calories and you'll easily be into a 4/5/600 calorie defecit.

Post up your diet. Be honest, all the crap you eat, fizzy drinks, booze, treats the lot.

Cut out the fastfood and have meals out as a cheat meal once a week/fortnight.

Eating less more often speeds your metabolism as it's constantly digesting food. Also the more lean body mass (muscle) you have, the more calories you burn at rest (without having to do anything!). So some light resitance work to build some muscle will help. Don't worry you're not going to turn into a tank over night.

You say you have a bad back. What exercise can you do other than walking? running? cycling? rowing?

Exercise releases chemicals in the brain which make you feel good and can become a little bit addictive. If you don't get hooked on them, feeling more alert, healthier and looking better should be enough motivation to get you to stick at it.

Some members here have made some remarkable transformations, see if you can find any of their threads.
 
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Its all about forgetting what others think about you. Don't worry about what other people think, its about what you want and you need to be willing to do what ever to get the results you want.

Many people who start the gym are small and feel little and as though they don't belong and vis versa . Forget this, get your head on track and as long as you keep to it, you will be getting results in no time.

Swimming is an excellent way to lose weight and tone up, all the while increasing fitness so its a great place to start. Saying that IMO by far the most effective way to go is weight training.
 
Buy a bike, cycle a lot and eat healthily. Cycling is non-impact so you can do it for ages even when you are heavy, and its self motivating to eat properly because losing weight makes hills easier!

Worked for me - 235lbs to 170lbs in about a year or so. Got a 100km race on Saturday which I wouldnt have dreamt possible when I was fat and lazy.
 
When you start exercising from an exercise free lifestyle, the biggest gains to fat loss and strength will come in the first month or so.

If you want to loose the fat then plan. Get the diet worked out, make sure it is feasible and fairly easy to stick to then put it to one side. Get the exercise routine worked out. Weights are good and could help with the back (depending on the condition) by strengthening it if you are careful. I have had a bad back and been off work for 3 months in the past hardly able to stand let alone walk and now I am deadlifting 100Kg and squatting around 85Kg. I am not particularly muscular by any means and only around 6 months in to training.

Swimming will be great but you need to push yourself rather than just doing the equivalent of taking a stroll up and down the pool, jog or run to keep with the analogy.

Hill walking is good. The up and down of the slopes modulates the intensity and is what a lot of running and cross training machines aim for.

Cycling is great for all the reasons others have mentioned.

Once you have everything set then have a 'D-day', take a starting snap however self conscious you may be. It is a great way to track progress and provide motivation. Use a calorie tracker, either one of the many websites like The Daily Plate or just in a spreadsheet.

On D-day start the exercise. Start slow for the first week or so but ramp it up as you get more used to the exercise. The harder you can work the last two weeks the more fat you will loose in this 'golden' period. After the loss starts to slow down and your body has adapted to the extra fitness demands you can settle in to a more standard routine and settle in for the long haul. Safe fat loss takes time and effort and dedication.

Don't start out like a mad man and hurt yourself. Take the first week or two to get in to it. Work hard in the last two weeks to maximise fat loss potential.

If you do not do some sort of weight training either at the gym or at home then you will most likely loose muscle as well. Having a sensible high protein diet and even just doing sit-ups and push ups and stuff like that if you must stay away from the gym will help protect against that.

After the first month you can look at the gym again with your new found confidence.

Have fun and good luck.

RB
 
zootfloot said:
Now normally i would just say **** it, im joining the Gym and watching what i eat and that would be it, but i have tried that before, i really dont think the Gym is the place for me, tbh i tend to feel quite self consious when i am there so go once or twice and never go back again.

Also the Gym might not be ideal due to the back problem, so i was thinking about things like swimming a couple of times a week, walking a good distance a couple of times a week and maybe as i lose some weight look into something more along the lines of the Gym.
Click to expand...

just started going to a gym, so know how you feel, part of it i put down to liking the feel of the gym and the owners, so i think if your not comfortable with that then you will have problems, just keep looking and hopefully you'll find a place you like.

any idea what the problem is with your back, might be a gym or similar could sort some excercises to strengthen it etc if that would help.

if you've got a back problem be careful with the walking, especially if its on hardish ground, got back into walking before looking for trying for the gym and it played merry hell with my knees for a bit (even with proper footwear).

aside from that good luck, hope you get something sorted, and don't forget to keep posting as you go, plenty of people around here to encourage you on :).
 
All good advice guys, thanks very much.

The problem with my back is actually a large sack of fluid which has built up behind my spine, its pushing on the spine and causing nerves to become trapped.

Fortunately the sack of fluid has shrunk in size by about 15% in the last 3 months so it is steadily going away but at the current rate i will be looking at the end of next year till it has completely disappeared.

With regards to what i eat, i would say it goes something like this....

Monday to Friday

Breakfast - 2 slices of Toast with Low fat Flora
Cup of Coffee with 2 sugars and semi skimmed milk

Lunch - Bowl of Muesli, fruit and fibre or similar

Dinner - usually something like Spaghetti Bolognese
Beef Dinner
Fishfingers and oven chips
Take away Pizza/Kebab/chinese/indian

I dont snack at all, but i do drink 4 or 5 cups of coffee a day, and i also eat bread with my evening meal, usually 2 or 3 slices of white sliced dependant on what we are eating.

Weekends

Breakfast - Bacon/sausage sandwich
Coffee

Lunch - Sandwich, something like ham and coleslaw or beef and mustard

Dinner - Takeaway,(pizza,kebab indian or chinese)


As you can see, i dont have the healthiest diet in the world, but i am capable of cutting out the takeaways which i think will make a huge impact into my calorie intake per week.
 
Dump the Musli, it's stacked full of sugar. A lot of foods that are listed as low in fat simply replace the fat with sugar.

You are better off with porridge with a little bit of honey.

Dump the sugar in your tea / coffee.

Stop the takeaways, oven chips, and prepared meals.

Stop with the white bread.
 
As above.

Get some fruit into your diet too. It's good to snack on healthy things and as I previously mentioned it will keep your metabolism going.

There's god knows how many calories in a takeaway. A healthy properly prepared meal is very easy and a lot cheaper too! The £5-10 for pizza will buy you a weeks worth of meat.

Fajitta's are one of my favourite foods, quick, easy and fun. Served with a bowl of mixed veg it's spot on.
 
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