Well I've decided that posting to a forum may help motivate me to start living a healthier life.
EDIT
Me now: Male, 37, 6'-0" 204.25lbs, out of shap and not eating healthy....
History: I've always been a pretty athletic person who has worked out and stayed in good shape. I graduated high school at 145lbs which looking back was a very sickly look. I got married and became comfortable and started getting out of shape. At the age of 21 I believe I was 178lbs or so but I had lost any physique that I may have had at one time so I started working out. Got into great shape and started building muscle... became an addict for a while but as the family grew and things change I stopped. I laught thinking how some day I wanted to gain 10-15 lbs of muscle and be 200lbs. Well now that I'm 208 with no muscle I want to be back at 185. LOL So anyways I've been away from the gym and all the sports that I use to play... due to knee issues for 2 years or so. I'm tired of saying that I need to start eating better and start working out... only to hear myself say it again the next day... So this is where this thread comes in. I'm hoping if I just stick to something and have a place that I can go to and write about it that it might help me. I really don't expect this to be followed by anyone but it is a way for me to express myself...
So with that said my goal is 3 months: I want to see if I can transform my body in those 3 months. I plan on taking before and after pics so that I can see the difference if there are any. Not sure how the body will respond at 37... I doubt it will be the same as when I was 21... I guess my ultimate goal would be to get down to 185 - 190 lbs.
Tonight starts my first time to the gym... wish me luck...
jae
You can do it!!!! And congrats to you on your journey back to fitness. You were an athlete once and you are still young, I'm sure with a bit of discipline and dedication you can, and will achieve your goals sooner that you think. Keep it up!!!
Hey Bro, just wanted to throw some words of encouragement your way. I wish you the best in your fitness journey and goals and hope to see you keep this thread going. As long as you post here I will make it a personal goal to stop in and give my 2 cents at much as i can. Good look brother and hope to see you on the other side of the fence..
I seriously did not expect any replies to my OP but now that I see I have I wanted to say thank you for your encouraging words. I truly appreciate it. =] Because this aspect is new to me... any advice would be great...
So I guess I have to be honost if I want to see how well this whole thing goes... I officially weighed myself last night before my workout... I'm 204.25 lbs not 208. So I guess when I check my weight next time I can't start with 208... =[ It would look so much better starting higher than I actually am. =] So I will have to update my OP so that I'm not cheating. lol
Before I go into day 1 at the gym I figured I say a little something about how I use to work out and what my goals were when I was younger... Basically I would go to the gym and do zero min. of cardio and lift heavy weights to build mass. So you can probably all see where this is going... My goals are no longer to build mass but to lose weight/fat and become healthier. That means this is all completely knew to me and I will be learning as I go. So what I'm doing now might be the wrong thing but the more research that I do the more I will understand and correct/change my workouts.
So day 1 cardio:
10 min. stationary cycle
10 min. row machine
5 min. of stairs
I'm shooting for 20-30 min. of cardio to start with. I will increas duration as I'm able to. Have to admit I find cardio pretty damn boring but realize it is a very important part. You will probably notice that I will switch things up so that I don't get bored.. so that is why I have 3 exercises for 25 min. and not 1 for 25... this might be the wrong thing to do but any cardio is better than none at this point. =]
day 1 weight training: Did some research and feel that doing any excersises that work more than one group at a time is what I want. So I kept it pretty simple and light so that I'm not a complete wreck 2 days from now.
3 sets of 25lb dumbells bench press using a ball as the bench.(first time ever doing this and let me tell you... awesome... not only did I work my chest but my abs and legs were burning as well. Seems it works your core pretty good because of using the muscles to keep yourself balanced on the ball while pressing the weight) Big fan!
3 sets of 15lb dumbells shoulder press... again on the ball... again working more than just the shoulders.
I'm keeping my weight light and doing 12-16 reps with 30-60 sec. rest in between. I kind of want to keep the heart rate up during my weight training. Again I'm looking to burn fat and not build mass... As sad as this may seem, this was all I was good for. My abs and legs were beginning to cramp and I didn't want to push it so I called it a night. As it is right now my shoulders/chest are pretty sore. =] that good sore tho... Taking tonight off... Friday won't be a good day to get to the gym so I might just walk for a 1/2 while my son is at drums... Sat. I will be back in the gym...
Hey again bro, Glad to see your such an honest person about your weight =P lol cause it can only effect your results =P. Anyway about your cardio... it really doesn't hurt to do other types of cardio to get your time in.. In fact that is how i used to do it when i first started off when i was 337lbs. I too had trouble getting the time in and found cardio to be completely boring.. But i am fortunate to be blessed with a very creative mind and thought up a few ideas that helped me bump my 15 - 20 min of Cardio time up to 60 mins of Cardio a day! (not 30 - 45 BUT 60!!!) Which at 300+lbs i was shocked i could do. But its possible if your an advanturer in trying new things and have a positive attitude about it which judging by you actually being here your attitude seems to be in the right place. Well enough gab and on to how i worked out my cardio issues:
3 Steps of Awesomeness I use to motivate my Cardio Workout
Some of these steps take a little pre-workout day planning (especially Step 1)
Step 1: If you have an iPod i suggest that you do some tinkering on iTunes with songs you already have and set up a playlist of songs with the total accumulative time being your Cardio goal (I.E. Mine was 40 mins so my Playlist was 40mins) and form them into a actual playlist you can select from the playlist option on your iPod..
(If you have an ipod and are not familiar how to accomplish this if you post or send me a PM i would gladly walk you threw the steps for accomplishing this step.)
This helps with taking your mind off the actual time display on the machine your working out on and will usually abide the time pretty quick.
Step 2: It doesn't hurt to do other machines when doing cardio but using certain machines will benefit you more in the long run (for example Treadmill vs Fitness Bike both are extremely good machines but the treadmill will tone up your legs better due to more weight being applied from your torso) so try doing the machines that are usually harder to do 1st then go to a easier one to just keep your heart rate up..
I stared off Walking on the treadmill at a 3.0 Incline 3.5 Speed for 25 mins...
Then i would switch to the Elliptical machine ( the machine that looks like your skiing) for 20 Mins (sometimes 15 if my legs hurt to bad from the treadmill only draw back sometimes) and then 15 - 20 mins on the Bike ( which went by in a breeze...
Step 3: Cardio is boring if you are just going threw the motions... I noticed for me that when i would just get on a machine set the times and adjustments and just go i would get extremely bored often ending my workout on that machine earlier then intended..
Try making a Game out of it for example I personally am inspiring to be a US Marine I tend to run on the treadmill and think of all the insurgents my men and I have chasing us cause we have just extracted 2 PoWs out of a heavily guarded Insurgent camp. (Crazy i know but you should see my fat butt run when they are on my heels =P )
Its amazing what a little imagination will do during a workout.. and believe me it goes a long way... think of hobbies you might have that can inspire your creative mind to unleash the power of a great Cardio workout!
Well i think i have blabbed on enough and hope that you find use of all if not atleast 1 of those suggestions and can apply them in a effective way to make cardio not such a boring ordeal for you! And keep the post coming bro this community is a great place.. and after lurking around it for a year to see all the progress and inspiring things that go on here there is never a good reason not to post here! Well later hope you have a Great day and a good workout. Peace!
I had some personal things to deal with but now that they are taken care of I can get back on track. Today is Monday so my new plan is very simple...
(5) 30 min. cardio sessions a week. That allows me to miss (2) days a week for one thing or another. Drink (1) gal. of water ea. day. Eat smaller portions as well as healthier foods... GL to me.
I got married and became comfortable and started getting out of shape. At the age of 21 I believe I was 178lbs or so but I had lost any physique that I may have had at one time so I started working out. Got into great shape and started building muscle... became an addict for a while but as the family grew and things change I stopped. I laught thinking how some day I wanted to gain 10-15 lbs of muscle and be 200lbs. Well now that I'm 208 with no muscle I want to be back at 185. LOL So anyways I've been away from the gym and all the sports that I use to play... due to knee issues for 2 years or so. I'm tired of saying that I need to start eating better and start working out... only to hear myself say it again the next day... So this is where this thread comes in. I'm hoping if I just stick to something and have a place that I can go to and write about it that it might help me. I really don't expect this to be followed by anyone but it is a way for me to express myself...