Beginner needing serious weight loss !!

[nicolepiazza]

I'm overweight and have decided TODAY that today is the day I want to change my lifestyle. No more laziness or unhealthy eating. I was wondering if someone could give me some tips on how to make a workout plan or make one for me because I DO NOT know what i'm doing at all. Any helpful thoughts or suggestions would be seriously appreciated! <3333


-Nicole

[nicolemc]

Congratulations It's great to here that you are looking to take control and make some positive changes in your life.

A great place to start on this forum is the stickies. They cover pretty much all the basics and answer the majority of questions beginners might think of. THere are lots of great routines ou there already and there is no need for you to make a new one. New Rules of Lifting (for men or women) and Rippetoe's Starting Strength supply great programs for those who are beginners and those who are familiar with weight lifting.

The key to 'getting in shape' is to eat well and lift heavy

The Nutritional section on the women's forum has great stickies to help you determine how many calories fats and proteins you should be eating and they also have some great meal plan suggestions.

[nicolepiazza]

Congratulations It's great to here that you are looking to take control and make some positive changes in your life.

A great place to start on this forum is the stickies. They cover pretty much all the basics and answer the majority of questions beginners might think of. THere are lots of great routines ou there already and there is no need for you to make a new one. New Rules of Lifting (for men or women) and Rippetoe's Starting Strength supply great programs for those who are beginners and those who are familiar with weight lifting.

The key to 'getting in shape' is to eat well and lift heavy

The Nutritional section on the women's forum has great stickies to help you determine how many calories fats and proteins you should be eating and they also have some great meal plan suggestions.

Thank you so much!! i'll be sure to check out the stickies :] eat well and lift heavy huh? never heard it put like that before haha, it's great and quite inspiring ! Yea, I felt like it was time to take charge. I really feel that everything up until now has been quite out of control, I mean.. I'm 19 and i'm 260 pounds, it's the heaviest i've been in my entire life. And it sucks. I feel like, I really need to make this change for myself, the road i'm heading down is really not one I want to experience. So I got the name of this website from a friend who is worried about me and my weight, today, and said ok :] time to do this!

[mariia]

Go for it ,girl!You will get great advices here for sure!Now...stop talking, go train!

[crouton]

Welcome

Definitely read the stickies in the nutrition section. This will help you figure out your calorie needs and help you get a diet set up. You'll also need to make some changes in your current diet, such as eating wheat breads instead of white, drinking more water, giving up soda or sweets or fast food meals and eating more at home.

For a workout plan, I started with the 12 week video trainer plan on BB.com. I like these plans because they are well made, offer a good split, and have good instructions. You can also buy the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. It has a good workout plan as well and has a lot of information on the realities and myths of lifting for women. There are a lot of well made plans on BB.com depending on the split you want.

Do you plan to join a gym? If so, ask for an orientation of the gym floor and ask how to use the equipment. One thing I also do is try out the exercise at home before going to the gym. It sounds funny, but I will watch a video on BB.com or on You Tube or look at pictures in a book and then try out the exercise for form first.

Good luck!

[euco09]

Congratulations on making such a good decision and if you are patient and work hard it will probably be one of the best decisions you could ever make! I'm not an expert but in my experience here are my few tips that I wish I would have known/ understood/ applied a lot earlier.

-First of all and most importantly, listen to what the girls have to say on here and do it! Obviosly some of the advice won't be spot on but it won't take you long to figue out who knows what they are talking about

- Be Patient!!!!!!!!

-Diet is the most important thing and is mostly what will determine how good your weight loss results are.

Good luck and enjoy :-)

[Debbie]

I'm overweight and have decided TODAY that today is the day I want to change my lifestyle. No more laziness or unhealthy eating. I was wondering if someone could give me some tips on how to make a workout plan or make one for me because I DO NOT know what i'm doing at all. Any helpful thoughts or suggestions would be seriously appreciated! <3333


-Nicole

Even though mine goes for a comeback, I am glad to see another member who made the same decision as I did.

Thanks everyone for the tips! I'll make sure I devour them all.

[SydneyAtlas]

Bravo on "taking the bull by the horns". euco09 gives great advice here...

Congratulations on making such a good decision and if you are patient and work hard it will probably be one of the best decisions you could ever make! I'm not an expert but in my experience here are my few tips that I wish I would have known/ understood/ applied a lot earlier.

-First of all and most importantly, listen to what the girls have to say on here and do it! Obviosly some of the advice won't be spot on but it won't take you long to figue out who knows what they are talking about

- Be Patient!!!!!!!!

-Diet is the most important thing and is mostly what will determine how good your weight loss results are.

Good luck and enjoy :-)

I find patients to be the hardest part. When I first posted on here, I was told I dont need fitness friends to do the change I want. Well that maybe true, Its nice to have fitness friends on here or in daily life to talk to and bounce ideas off of.

Again, congratulations on your decision. And never give up, even if you have a bad day or don't think its working dont give up. Im learning this too, its so easy to fall back into are old habits so never give up on the change you want to make and you will make it..

[Debbie]

^^ When reading this message and I also thought that patience is the greatest challenge.

It takes being there to understand how it goes and grow stronger, I guess.

Today I went running again (I restarted last week for the first time since March) and it is quite to lose one's patience when after running 10km fine, I can't get to 3.5km these days.
I have been there and I know the way to get back on track. When it comes to diet however, I am a little more lazy and have to build myself confidence first.

I am glad I (re)joined it here. It feels great to get home after work and read all the great messages and tips posted here.

You are all awesome!!!

[hmcarter2007]

I'm overweight and have decided TODAY that today is the day I want to change my lifestyle. No more laziness or unhealthy eating. I was wondering if someone could give me some tips on how to make a workout plan or make one for me because I DO NOT know what i'm doing at all. Any helpful thoughts or suggestions would be seriously appreciated! <3333


-Nicole

I am really happy for you. You at least realize that getting into shape is a lifestyle change. Some people just don't get that. You came to the right place. I am still a novice myself but there are great women with great advice on this site!!!

[nicolepiazza]

wow i'm so thankful to all of you guys for your encouragement, the advice you have given me has helped me in my change so far! And I think you'll be proud to hear that eating well and patience has helped quite a bit

now I actually had a question [not sure if anyone will see this] but while i was at the gym the other day a man gave me some advice, he said, " If you want to lose weight, a good thing to do would be to walk after every meal. One of my friends lost 240 pounds, while still working out and eating right, but the biggest help was walking after meals."- Is it true? and it is rather difficult to seriously walk after EVERY meal, I mean, there are alot things I still need to do, so I don't know!

> my question:: I go to the gym every other day and do about 30 minutes of cardio, would it really help alot to walk after at least one meal a day? Like say after dinner, when My day is basically done...

-thanks <3 Nicole

[discdoggie]

wow i'm so thankful to all of you guys for your encouragement, the advice you have given me has helped me in my change so far! And I think you'll be proud to hear that eating well and patience has helped quite a bit

now I actually had a question [not sure if anyone will see this] but while i was at the gym the other day a man gave me some advice, he said, " If you want to lose weight, a good thing to do would be to walk after every meal. One of my friends lost 240 pounds, while still working out and eating right, but the biggest help was walking after meals."- Is it true? and it is rather difficult to seriously walk after EVERY meal, I mean, there are alot things I still need to do, so I don't know!

> my question:: I go to the gym every other day and do about 30 minutes of cardio, would it really help alot to walk after at least one meal a day? Like say after dinner, when My day is basically done...

-thanks <3 Nicole

Hi! I was wondering how you were doing.

To the question, no. What matters is your total deficit. As in, burning more calories than you consume. And that can be done any number of ways. One long walk or run, or cutting calories in your diet, or a combo of both.

Actually, what you or (or don't eat!) is going to be the biggest factor in your success in fat loss. Good luck in your journey.


After re-reading your question, I want to edit. IF you add the walks on non-workout days in addition to your workouts, then yes, theoretically you'd burn more calories overall. UNLESS those walks cause you to eat more. Then it's a scratch or worse.

[jagadzie]

You have such a great attitude. I'm glad you're off to a good, strong start! No, you don't need to exercise after every meal- that sounds... Annoying. All that matters is total cals in vs total cals used (burned) in a day. When you burn them in relation to meal times matters not.

[christic2001]

I'm overweight and have decided TODAY that today is the day I want to change my lifestyle. No more laziness or unhealthy eating. I was wondering if someone could give me some tips on how to make a workout plan or make one for me because I DO NOT know what i'm doing at all. Any helpful thoughts or suggestions would be seriously appreciated! <3333


-Nicole

Congratulations on the decision to change your life! I have been there girl! Actually, I have been everywhere! lol. I have been average. I have been the anorexic girl... and then because I screwed my body up so bad from severe starvation (120 calories a day!!!!) and a personal tragedy, I have been the 236 lbs girl! My advice... DONT EVER GIVE UP!!!! Change is possible! If you fall off the wagon, get right the heck back on it! Put in your mind that NOTHING will stop you from reaching your goal, and you will get there!