Hello, obviously I'm new here and honestly could use a little help. I'll try to keep the background brief so as not to waste ya all's time.
I'm a 33 year old male, I don't know my body fat percentage... It was last measured in college at somewhere around 70% more or less? But that was in 2007 or 2008, I can't remember... I do know that I have been sedentary for a long time, and that has left me obese. I'm about 5'7" (sometimes 5'8" don't know why it seems to vary so much) and 250 lbs. (now)
It's built up over more than a decade of neglect (depression is a hell of a thing) but recently (about a month ago) I decided that I wanted to get a little more healthy, and to that end I devised a two pronged attack that I thought was realistic; Eat Better, and Be More Active.
1. Eat Better: Every week I now eat 4 salads for dinner (rarely ate them before, If ever.). To make it easier and more realistic, 2 salads would be "Hard Core" and two would be "1/2 salads". The hard core ones consist of Greens (kinda what ever is on sale or looks good(lately it's been "super greens")), Mung bean sprouts (because I heard somewhere they were pretty good for you... and they add variety), carrots, radishes, and optionally I add broccoli, and either a small amount of onion or bell pepper. No dressing (I hate vinegar and mayonnaise, which form the base of like 90% of most dressings I have found). On the side of the salad and to give myself a kinda treat, I also have a soft boiled egg sprinkled with (probably too much) creole seasoning, and a minuscule amount of granulated garlic (not kidding, barely a touch). Half salads are basically the same with the exception that I remove the egg, trim the portion down to between 1/2 to 2/3rds and add a small portion of something I had left over (one week I had skirt steak fajitas, so i tossed in a few strips of steak). On 2 "no salad" days, I trim down the portions the best I can (not really all that good at guessing how much is a serving, but I'm doin my best) and reserve my left overs/unused portions for future half days. The last is a cheat day, what ever the hell I want in what ever portion I can manage (this is usually reserved for the day I visit my Mom or family who are way to good at making "terrible for me" good food!) I still try not to go wild on it, but I try harder not to worry about it as much as most days. Breakfast is usually frosted mini wheat and milk (yeah not the best but better than what it used to be) and once a week two strips of thick cut bacon halved and drained, and 2 scrambled eggs. I try damn hard not to snack, but if I do feel hungry enough to grab something I try to head off the cravings with a handful (6-8) of almonds (unsalted). And my vice... 3 Cherry Cokes a day, no more. I realize that I'll probably have to give it up at some point but... right now it helps keep me more on track to have them. And I try to have at least 1 glass/bottle of water in between each one. I also record what days I am doing or have done "salad days" on my calendar to help keep track of what and when. Ultimately I don't count calories, but I do try to be mindful of how much I take in.
2. Be More Active: Nebulous as always. But having failed MANY times before I had a thought, "It took me 10 years to get here. Day by day. I'll have to take it day by day till I can maintain better activity!" To that end, I started walking laps in my backyard. No stress, no real speed, just walk. The goal is; rain or shine, sick or feeling well, walk a minimum of 6000 steps, but aim for 10,000 steps a day. Most of the time I end up about 13k steps, but there are the occasional 15 or 17, and even one 20k!
Being unemployed and starting college in the fall, I've had plenty of time to just get up, go outside and walk for a while. I have to admit it's kinda nice to be out there with a head set on, listening to music and/or thinking.
For the last month, I've stuck to this routine. Walking an average of 13k steps a day (with a couple at 6.5 and a few 9s) and eating salads and cutting down on boxed/pre made food (bachelor chow) while outright killing my snacking habits. I have managed to lose 10 lbs and 3 inches off my waist! (lol just a little proud of that!)
I've even started "power walking" as many laps as I can (intro to cardio), I've tried jogging laps... but I barely last half a lap before I need to stop and rest a few seconds (my current track is about 270-280ish paces long)
I plan on keeping this up indefinitely or at least as much as I can. The only thing that never changes is that things never stop changing. OH, and as a side note; I have been avoiding weighing and measuring myself to prevent obsessing and preempt the "really? that's all?" sort of mentality. I'm trying to keep it to once a month so I can focus on the healthy habits I "GAIN" rather than the inches/lbs I "LOSE". Stay positive, right?
Ok, that's out of the way (man that was kinda long winded... sorry)
Now for the kinda weird part... I'm trans. I'm not on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy in case you were wondering) or anything yet, but it is in my plans. I honestly don't know how much that will affect my "workout routine" or even if I should mention it... but I figure it show's my "idealized body type" is a tad "left of center" for my gender.
Since I've managed to make it a full month on a clearly beneficial routine, I've been thinking about adding other "workouts" to "tone" and help burn fat in more targeted areas, but honestly I have no idea how much is too much, enough, or too little. I don't want to strain and hurt myself, but I'd like to keep my progress swift but manageable...ish, not to mention realistic for my current level of unfitness. I'd like a few outside opinions before I add anything as drastic as a "workout hour" or something. I have been thinking of adding some sort of squat or lunge routine, but again I have no idea what's even realistically doable for someone who's now at "one month off the couch" let alone if it would have the "desired effect" in the long run.
Sorry for the book above, I read the rundown of "Info we need to help you" and tried to hit everything, even the weird bits, in the hopes that I could get some Ideas on what to do from here, and I would also appreciate if anybody knows if more "feminine workout types" would have the same effect on a male body.
Thank you for your time and your patience
Botud
I'm a 33 year old male, I don't know my body fat percentage... It was last measured in college at somewhere around 70% more or less? But that was in 2007 or 2008, I can't remember... I do know that I have been sedentary for a long time, and that has left me obese. I'm about 5'7" (sometimes 5'8" don't know why it seems to vary so much) and 250 lbs. (now)
It's built up over more than a decade of neglect (depression is a hell of a thing) but recently (about a month ago) I decided that I wanted to get a little more healthy, and to that end I devised a two pronged attack that I thought was realistic; Eat Better, and Be More Active.
1. Eat Better: Every week I now eat 4 salads for dinner (rarely ate them before, If ever.). To make it easier and more realistic, 2 salads would be "Hard Core" and two would be "1/2 salads". The hard core ones consist of Greens (kinda what ever is on sale or looks good(lately it's been "super greens")), Mung bean sprouts (because I heard somewhere they were pretty good for you... and they add variety), carrots, radishes, and optionally I add broccoli, and either a small amount of onion or bell pepper. No dressing (I hate vinegar and mayonnaise, which form the base of like 90% of most dressings I have found). On the side of the salad and to give myself a kinda treat, I also have a soft boiled egg sprinkled with (probably too much) creole seasoning, and a minuscule amount of granulated garlic (not kidding, barely a touch). Half salads are basically the same with the exception that I remove the egg, trim the portion down to between 1/2 to 2/3rds and add a small portion of something I had left over (one week I had skirt steak fajitas, so i tossed in a few strips of steak). On 2 "no salad" days, I trim down the portions the best I can (not really all that good at guessing how much is a serving, but I'm doin my best) and reserve my left overs/unused portions for future half days. The last is a cheat day, what ever the hell I want in what ever portion I can manage (this is usually reserved for the day I visit my Mom or family who are way to good at making "terrible for me" good food!) I still try not to go wild on it, but I try harder not to worry about it as much as most days. Breakfast is usually frosted mini wheat and milk (yeah not the best but better than what it used to be) and once a week two strips of thick cut bacon halved and drained, and 2 scrambled eggs. I try damn hard not to snack, but if I do feel hungry enough to grab something I try to head off the cravings with a handful (6-8) of almonds (unsalted). And my vice... 3 Cherry Cokes a day, no more. I realize that I'll probably have to give it up at some point but... right now it helps keep me more on track to have them. And I try to have at least 1 glass/bottle of water in between each one. I also record what days I am doing or have done "salad days" on my calendar to help keep track of what and when. Ultimately I don't count calories, but I do try to be mindful of how much I take in.
2. Be More Active: Nebulous as always. But having failed MANY times before I had a thought, "It took me 10 years to get here. Day by day. I'll have to take it day by day till I can maintain better activity!" To that end, I started walking laps in my backyard. No stress, no real speed, just walk. The goal is; rain or shine, sick or feeling well, walk a minimum of 6000 steps, but aim for 10,000 steps a day. Most of the time I end up about 13k steps, but there are the occasional 15 or 17, and even one 20k!
Being unemployed and starting college in the fall, I've had plenty of time to just get up, go outside and walk for a while. I have to admit it's kinda nice to be out there with a head set on, listening to music and/or thinking.
For the last month, I've stuck to this routine. Walking an average of 13k steps a day (with a couple at 6.5 and a few 9s) and eating salads and cutting down on boxed/pre made food (bachelor chow) while outright killing my snacking habits. I have managed to lose 10 lbs and 3 inches off my waist! (lol just a little proud of that!)
I've even started "power walking" as many laps as I can (intro to cardio), I've tried jogging laps... but I barely last half a lap before I need to stop and rest a few seconds (my current track is about 270-280ish paces long)
I plan on keeping this up indefinitely or at least as much as I can. The only thing that never changes is that things never stop changing. OH, and as a side note; I have been avoiding weighing and measuring myself to prevent obsessing and preempt the "really? that's all?" sort of mentality. I'm trying to keep it to once a month so I can focus on the healthy habits I "GAIN" rather than the inches/lbs I "LOSE". Stay positive, right?
Ok, that's out of the way (man that was kinda long winded... sorry)
Now for the kinda weird part... I'm trans. I'm not on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy in case you were wondering) or anything yet, but it is in my plans. I honestly don't know how much that will affect my "workout routine" or even if I should mention it... but I figure it show's my "idealized body type" is a tad "left of center" for my gender.
Since I've managed to make it a full month on a clearly beneficial routine, I've been thinking about adding other "workouts" to "tone" and help burn fat in more targeted areas, but honestly I have no idea how much is too much, enough, or too little. I don't want to strain and hurt myself, but I'd like to keep my progress swift but manageable...ish, not to mention realistic for my current level of unfitness. I'd like a few outside opinions before I add anything as drastic as a "workout hour" or something. I have been thinking of adding some sort of squat or lunge routine, but again I have no idea what's even realistically doable for someone who's now at "one month off the couch" let alone if it would have the "desired effect" in the long run.
Sorry for the book above, I read the rundown of "Info we need to help you" and tried to hit everything, even the weird bits, in the hopes that I could get some Ideas on what to do from here, and I would also appreciate if anybody knows if more "feminine workout types" would have the same effect on a male body.
Thank you for your time and your patience
Botud
