Wake Up Call Says Lose Weight!

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SamuelC

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Hello everyone. I decided to post here in hopes of getting any insight into moving towards my goals. My goals are to lose weight of course! About a year ago I fell victim to a herniated disc which forced herniated material to press against my sciatic nerve. Needless to say it as the worse few months of my life. In the end it came down to my doctors telling me that it could have been anything that caused the problem, but they really wanted me to look into losing weight. As it stand snow I am 6'1'' and weigh about 275 lbs. Yeah I know, I'm a big fella, always have been. It was adorable as a kid, chubby cheeks and all, as a teenager I made a heck of a lineman, but now as I am aging I am realizing that I am not happy with my own image. I have my degree, the girlfriend, the kid, the dog, but I am not happy with the me I see in the mirror. So I started hitting the gym, zumba three days a week, cutting the fast food, cutting the soda, cutting sugar in general. I have seen some results, muscles peeking towards the surface and such, but in terms of the gym, I really have no idea what I should be doing.

I look at the machines, I lift til I cant lift anymore, I keep track of my weights, but I do not feel like I am diversifying like I should. I was wondering if anyone had any workout plans that they feel would be good for someone still a bit new to the gym. Again my goals are really to lose weight and just over all better health, but remember... I try to stay away from exercises that might injure my back.
 
It sounds like you are on the right track! Diet is totally critical to losing weight and cutting out the junk is the way to go. Think whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible.

The thing with the gym is that you need to find what you like as you are more apt to stick with it. There are others here who are better qualified to talk with you about weights and weight-lifting. For a good calorie burn, it's tough to beat cardio. Your zumba class is an excellent choice - fun and lots of movement.

I had a nasty back injury in 2008 and it took me 2 years to fully recover. During that time, I found that treadmill work was pretty hard on my back, but I could use elipticals without causing pain. Overall, what I learned from the experience though was that my core was weak. It's a common problem, and well worth addressing as ideally, your core strength supports your body in every activity. Without it, you can re-injure yourself with a simple bend over and pick the kid/dog action.

You might google core strengthening exercises. I find a really simple and short morning routine keeps my back in good shape and my core strong so that I can do most any activity:
1. on hands and knees, arch your back in a cat stretch. Return to flat back and repeat several times - this is a gentle warm up. Do not curve your back down such that your stomach it headed toward the floor - that isn't a direction your back should get used to going!

2. Still on hands and knees, swing hips side to side (slowly) so that your hip and shoulder gently curve toward one another. This is another gentle warm up to awaken the spine.

3. Still on hands and knees, place a rolled towel or yoga block under one knee. Tighten your core and lift the lower hip up to the level of the elevated hip, or higher. Repeat 15 times then switch sides.

4. On your back, tighten your core, lift your hips to a bridge position, then lift one leg and hold. Work into this (if necessary), by first lifting just your heel and holding. Switch sides. Then over time, lift your leg. It's important to keep the core tight, hips level side to side, and your butt off the floor! Switch sides a few times, I usually hold for a count of 8.

5. Either before or after #4, I do some pelvic tilts and bridge raises.

6. A few times a week, for a better core workout, I do planks. Front planks and side planks, each side. Be sure your core is engaged! I stay away from crunches and situps - not necessary for good abs, and I find planks give me a better workout with far less risk of back injury or aggrevation.

For any other workouts you do (weights, cardio), really focus on engaging your core and over time, your chances of another back injury will go waaaay down!
 
You are on the right track. Just a little ignorant but, get a trainer maybe who will guide as to what exercises will be more beneficial for you. Have a trainer for a while and once you are familiar with the exercises you can do it yourself.
 
Sounds like you have taken a step in the right direction. Similar to you, I've always been heavier than I probably should have been and it really started catching up with me over the last couple of years as I've reached my early 30's.

I'm by no means an expert but I am currently working on my own transformation and trying to become the best version of myself; I've lost 50lbs over the past 3 years (I'm 5'8 and went from 225lbs to 172lbs), 20 of which were lost over the past few months now that my discipline is at its best. I don't think I've ever weighed below 180lbs since my teenage years.

I started by getting my diet on track; I've cut out sugar, processed foods (especially those containing high fructose corn syrup and other really unhealthy genetically modified ingredients), processed meats, white bread/flour, soda, fast/junk food, etc.

I keep my metabolism fueled by eating several times a day and aside from maybe 1 day/meal per week, my diet is very clean. (lean proteins, complex carbs, healthy fats, fruits/veggies)

One thing that has worked for me is meal preparation; as an example, I'll spend just over an hour on Sundays prepping food for the next few days so that I can conveniently 'grab and go' during my busy work week. This has helped me ensure that I always have food available to me....not just any food but healthy food. I never need to depend on fast food or a quick unhealthy snack - I know what I'm eating, I prepared it.

In the gym, I'm taking a slightly different approach than what I used to do in my college days. My weightlifting regime is purely functional in nature; I work my entire body during each session - one day I do 'pulling motion' exercises while the next session, I do 'pushing motion' exercises. I've decided to take this approach because I really just want to recondition my entire body and I want to take the most balanced approach. I'm not trying to get huge and buff, I just want to get fit.

On my days off from weights, I do high-intensity interval training (HIIT). You can look it up but here's a simple example:

5 minute warm-up
Sprint for 30 seconds
Brisk walk/light jog for 30 seconds
(repeat the last 2 steps 10 times for a total of 10 minutes)
5 minute cool down

You don't need to start off with 10 reps of the high/low intensity; you can start with 5 and work your way up, as an example. Also, you don't have to run/jog - you can do this with most cardio exercises. Just look it up and see if you find anything that you'd like to try.

I just started doing this a few weeks ago and it's significantly more effective (for me) than the usual 20-30 minute moderate intensity cardio, specifically from fat burning and endurance perspectives.

Again, this is just my story and things that have worked for me. I'm not a professional but all of this is resulting in me feeling/looking the best I ever have in life.

Good luck in your journey!
 
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