Am I on the right track with getting back into shape?
Discussion
I'm just wanting some opinions of whether I'm on the right track, so I'll try and keep this brief.
Currently I am 33, male, 14 stone, 5'10", very unfit. I want to change this.
I can't join a gym as in temporary employment and most want me to sign 12 months contracts, also I hate gyms.
At home I have a set of dumbells which I can make up to approx 20 kg each.
So this is what I'm doing.
Diet: No processed food. Lots of fruit. Pretty much a "slimming world" plan. No takeaways, chocolate. Booze on weekends only.
Exercise: Cardio 3x a week. This is running outside for 30 - 45 minutes. I have to do about a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of running to walking as very out of shape.
Weights: I've been starting small. 3 sets of 10 compound type exercises that I can do in the flat with the dumbells. 3x 10 press ups. 3x 10 dumbell rows. 3x 10 squats.
I would like some suggestions for the weights if I'm doing it wrong. I will need to add more but at the minute I'm pretty unfit so need to start slowly.
Any comments? I'm determined to get back into shape this time, sick of feeling like crap. At the same time I'm not ready to give up my weekend socialising (I go out once a week).
Currently I am 33, male, 14 stone, 5'10", very unfit. I want to change this.
I can't join a gym as in temporary employment and most want me to sign 12 months contracts, also I hate gyms.
At home I have a set of dumbells which I can make up to approx 20 kg each.
So this is what I'm doing.
Diet: No processed food. Lots of fruit. Pretty much a "slimming world" plan. No takeaways, chocolate. Booze on weekends only.
Exercise: Cardio 3x a week. This is running outside for 30 - 45 minutes. I have to do about a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of running to walking as very out of shape.
Weights: I've been starting small. 3 sets of 10 compound type exercises that I can do in the flat with the dumbells. 3x 10 press ups. 3x 10 dumbell rows. 3x 10 squats.
I would like some suggestions for the weights if I'm doing it wrong. I will need to add more but at the minute I'm pretty unfit so need to start slowly.
Any comments? I'm determined to get back into shape this time, sick of feeling like crap. At the same time I'm not ready to give up my weekend socialising (I go out once a week).
My wife and I started trying to lose weight at the same time, so we had each others support which really did help.
I used MyFitnessPal.com to track my calories and help me reign in the bad eating. I also started running. Slowly slowly at first, but gradually building it up to a point where I was covering good distance and seeing improvements all the time.
Addressing the diet and exercising made the weight fly off, people who see you everyday start to notice and its a massive boost when they ask if you've lost weight. (Ask someone if they have lost weight and see them light up. It really does help when you are slogging your guts out.)
I dont drink a huge amount anyway, so cutting down on booze wasnt a huge problem for me. I also find I eat more raw veg instead of fruit as its less sugary. My tastes have changed, and although we still indulge in take aways etc once in a while, our general day to day diet is massively improved. I do however still eat bread, and I think this is why i'm struggling to get rid of the last bit of my fat belly.
As I mentioned in the other thread, i've been working towards this for 14 months, and on the 18th Nov, I take part in my first half marathon. I've lost nearly 3 stone in weight, and had to buy a complete new wardrobe of clothes. I'm 5'10", 35 years old, and 12st 2lbs.
We have young kids, and I work but everything i've done has fitted round our normal day to day lives, and I've never once joined a gym. I am fortunate that my commute to work is only 5 minutes though, so I get to run in the mornings when everyone else is sat in their car.
However, I do admit that I am weak in other areas with my strength and fitness due to concentrating on running, but I will address this next. One step at a time as they say.
I used MyFitnessPal.com to track my calories and help me reign in the bad eating. I also started running. Slowly slowly at first, but gradually building it up to a point where I was covering good distance and seeing improvements all the time.
Addressing the diet and exercising made the weight fly off, people who see you everyday start to notice and its a massive boost when they ask if you've lost weight. (Ask someone if they have lost weight and see them light up. It really does help when you are slogging your guts out.)
I dont drink a huge amount anyway, so cutting down on booze wasnt a huge problem for me. I also find I eat more raw veg instead of fruit as its less sugary. My tastes have changed, and although we still indulge in take aways etc once in a while, our general day to day diet is massively improved. I do however still eat bread, and I think this is why i'm struggling to get rid of the last bit of my fat belly.
As I mentioned in the other thread, i've been working towards this for 14 months, and on the 18th Nov, I take part in my first half marathon. I've lost nearly 3 stone in weight, and had to buy a complete new wardrobe of clothes. I'm 5'10", 35 years old, and 12st 2lbs.
We have young kids, and I work but everything i've done has fitted round our normal day to day lives, and I've never once joined a gym. I am fortunate that my commute to work is only 5 minutes though, so I get to run in the mornings when everyone else is sat in their car.
However, I do admit that I am weak in other areas with my strength and fitness due to concentrating on running, but I will address this next. One step at a time as they say.
Cheers for the replies.
Before I got made redundant, I used to work in the city centre, and so every day I used to drive to a quiet street on the suburbs, and walk the 3 miles into work, and then back again. This helped massively.
Now unfortunately I work 18 miles away from home so I've lost this opportunity.
I was perhaps thinking about doing similar, but walking to the train station to get the train to work instead. This would save me about £130 a month too (a train pass is £55 for 4 weeks, petrol is £200). Downside is it would make my commute about an hour longer each day... BUT... it would be an hour spent exercising rather than sitting on my arse on a bus on in the car.
Before I got made redundant, I used to work in the city centre, and so every day I used to drive to a quiet street on the suburbs, and walk the 3 miles into work, and then back again. This helped massively.
Now unfortunately I work 18 miles away from home so I've lost this opportunity.
I was perhaps thinking about doing similar, but walking to the train station to get the train to work instead. This would save me about £130 a month too (a train pass is £55 for 4 weeks, petrol is £200). Downside is it would make my commute about an hour longer each day... BUT... it would be an hour spent exercising rather than sitting on my arse on a bus on in the car.
+1 for using My Fitness Pal. I’ve found it to be a great educational tool. It’s quite simple really; you need to burn more cals than you’re putting in to loose weight. There can be quite allot of calories in fruit, a medium size banana for example will have around 150cals so you need to keep an eye on what you’re putting in, same goes for alcohol, a pint of Guinness has ~210 cals I could quite easily drink my daily calorie goal without thinking about it at the weekend.
My fitness is 99.9% cardio and most of that is running. I started off doing the NHS couch to 5 k and in less than a year was doing my first half marathon in a reasonable time for a fat lad. I like running as I travel with work allot and all you need is a pair of good trainers, suitable attire and the will to step out the front door.
It really is at least 90% of what you’re putting in your body that gets results you can do hours of exercise but if a good diet isn’t there results will be slow or non-existent.
Set yourself realistic goals, the old adage of ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’ applies. If you have bad day and fall off the wagon don’t let this turn into 2 bad days and so on. Set yourself realistic goals that you can stick to. Take measurements of your waist etc for a better reflection of how you’re doing rather than getting on the scales every day. Try not to weigh yourself more than once a week.
I’m no expert but this is what I’ve learnt from my experience of getting down to 16 stone for 19.5 in 8 months.
Good luck! There’s a wealth of information and knowledgeable people on this forum who are a helpful bunch as well as there being the occasional c@ck you’ll chime in with an unhelpful comment but gladly they don’t seem to lurk too long…..
My fitness is 99.9% cardio and most of that is running. I started off doing the NHS couch to 5 k and in less than a year was doing my first half marathon in a reasonable time for a fat lad. I like running as I travel with work allot and all you need is a pair of good trainers, suitable attire and the will to step out the front door.
It really is at least 90% of what you’re putting in your body that gets results you can do hours of exercise but if a good diet isn’t there results will be slow or non-existent.
Set yourself realistic goals, the old adage of ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’ applies. If you have bad day and fall off the wagon don’t let this turn into 2 bad days and so on. Set yourself realistic goals that you can stick to. Take measurements of your waist etc for a better reflection of how you’re doing rather than getting on the scales every day. Try not to weigh yourself more than once a week.
I’m no expert but this is what I’ve learnt from my experience of getting down to 16 stone for 19.5 in 8 months.
Good luck! There’s a wealth of information and knowledgeable people on this forum who are a helpful bunch as well as there being the occasional c@ck you’ll chime in with an unhelpful comment but gladly they don’t seem to lurk too long…..
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