After a good cry and reading through what ya'll have said, I feel much better. I think I spent way too much time yesterday overloading my brain with info. I was seriously on this forum for over 10 hours yesterday (up until almost 3 a.m.) reading threads,sitckies,journals.... Deep breaths and hearing what ya'll have just said about doing what works at first ...but not staying there is sooo helpful. Thanks a bunch.
That's a lot of reading. If you spent a lot of time in the stickies... you've got entirely too much 'Steve' in ya... and that sounds worse than it's intended, lol.
Here's an important thing to keep in mind, always, as you travel down this journey of health and fitness. Don't get sucked into the extreme mentality that many fitness articles and professionals will lead you to believe. There are VERY few black/white, either/or, right/wrong factors in this. It doesn't work like that.
The only time these extremes pop up is when you're doing something that will obviously lead to injury.
Beyond that, simply jump in and get started. Don't lose the hunger or stop the pursuit for knowledge. As you begin working out consistently, you'll see improvements. You have to. Anything above and beyond what your body is used to will cause improvement. As you progress physically and mentally you will surely find approaches that work best for you. It's a never-ending process of learning and trial & error. That can't be stressed enough.
So many people come in here and read about what ideally should be happening. It's rare when what's ideal is also what's real. The reality is this: Novices can't be expected to do everything optimally.
i) they aren't familiar with what's optimal
ii) they aren't ready for what's optimal
The bottom line, as noted above, is starting. Be confident. Be smart. If something doesn't seem right, don't do it. And ask questions. Be flexible in your thinking and your approach.
