Beginner Fitness/Weight Loss Tips?

[Patamon]

Hi all! Sorry if something like this has been made already... I just wanted to share my own situation and get some tips from the cK community!

(Trigger warning about body image in case this is sensitive for anyone.)

Well, I'll just put it out there and say I am in the worst shape I have ever been in and want to change my lifestyle to be a relatively healthy, active person again. I lost myself in the past several years and honestly feel so pathetic that I am taking my body for granted. I barely enjoy anything social anymore and hate looking in the mirror/having my picture taken. It's made me so insecure and I'm just over it.

I've consumed so much information on losing weight that it is overwhelming and I do not know what to do to start.

Does anyone have examples of beginner workouts and/or diet tips that I can use to help ease into losing weight and getting fit?

It took a lot to reach out here, so thank you for reading this post and thanks in advance to anyone that has anything to share with me!

[Masterplayer44]

First off, let me say it takes a lot of courage to reach out, I know personally, as I am in the same boat currently. I was so overwhelmed for months that it made me not start because I was so paranoid on doing something wrong. Finding what works for you and your life/schedule is important, as well as setting realistic goals. What I learned is make sure you are in a caloric deficit and exercise. (Super genius level stuff, I know, lol kidding) But it is finding what motivates you, I needed to purchase one of those apps where I can workout from home (I don't like others looking at me working out anymore, used to be fine at the gym years ago but now with how much I've gained I'm not ready for that yet) and although you can totally find free exercises/routines on YouTube, I needed the motivation of "If I pay for it, it'll make me do it" I'm a stay at home dad who used to be very active with sports but since having back surgery 2 years ago I became a huge couch potato and am paying for it dearly now, and not being able to play as often with my 5 year old because I need to keep taking breaks was my final straw. As far as other things, mentally I think is the most important, to keep yourself going, take it day by day, don't beat yourself up if you miss a day of working out because you need a rest or feel tired or overwhelmed or anything, don't tell yourself "I'm not allowed to eat because I didn't work out today" be positive, that goes a major way with your mindset. Don't just look at the number on the scale, the number can stay the same after a week but if you feel better and can tell there has been a difference in the way you are moving day to day, focus on that. That's all I have for off the top of my head, I just started 2 weeks ago myself, also, sorry this is all jumbled together. Best of luck on your health journey and feel free to keep this thread going or DM me if you ever feel like talking more, especially in private rather than public, I totally get that.

Edit: Thought of something else.

Eating is important, making sure you are consuming protean with every meal will help keep you full, as you cut down on calories. As far as a calorie deficit, from what I have gathered, it is roughly your goal weight x 10 or 12 (depending on what information you use) = your daily calories. So for example if your goal weight is 200 pounds, then 200x12 = 2400 calories a day.

[Tyranitar]

Hey there!
I agree with you. There's a lot of information and is very easy to get overwhelmed.
I'm a very fit guy and I have been with a nutritionist for almost 5 years now, so I kind of now what works for me and what doesn't.
For me, weightloss is more about a calory deficit than exercise a lot.

What I usually do when starting to diet is to count my macros for a week.
Example.

Monday:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 3 pieces of ham, 2 slices of bread, 1 orange juice
Lunch: 250 pounds of chicken, 250 pounds of mashed potatos, 1 soda

With that you can have like an average of what you normally eat. After that, you can slowly substract carbs from your diet.
intead of 2 slices of bread in the morning, maybe just 1.
The key here is to do it veeeery slowly, so you don't really notice the lack of carbs. Maybe substract one or 2 portions of carb every 3 or 4 weeks.

It's pretty common to try to start avoiding ALL the carbs (like in the keto diet) but that doesn't work in the long run. you're going to feel pretty tired all the time.


Anyway, every body is different. This is what works for me and I wanted to share it with you.
Good luck!!!


PS. Don't weight yourself everyday, if you reaaally want to know your weight, do it every month or so.
PS2. Carbs are not the enemy. They give us energy to live. The enemy here is the calorie overload without proper exercise. (because calorie overload gives you muscle!)

[blommer]

Deciding to make a change is the most important step, and you've already achieved it!

I relate to your situation. I also found myself in the worst shape of my life a few months ago and decided to make a change.

For the past couple of years, I'd been struggling with an old injury to my ankle and at the beginning of this year I began a rehab program with a physiotherapist to address the problem, and she - very kindly - pointed out that a very large contributor to my pain is likely my increased weight (currently 20kgs overweight). So she got me started on a very easy running program to get my ankle accustomed to stress again, and I've subscribed to a meal box to make sure that I eat varied and healthy food regularly (the primary reason for my weight is the fact that I tend to replace meals with crisps and dip, lol - not a particular fan of cooking/mealplanning).

Apart from running 5km three times a week (to improve my heart and lungs) and changing my diet to incorporate less junk (and consequently less calories), I also make sure to walk at least 30k steps a day. And this helps me lose approx. 2kg every month.

The most important aspect - regardless of the type of exercise and diet you pick - is consistency!

[Politoed]

I struggle with this so much as a type one diabetic and having serve asthma.. I find for me starting small helps. Heck even house work like sweeping, you may not think its much but little steps!

[chii3d]

I know this feeling so well and I'm trying to get out of this slump myself. A couple things that got me started:

start small! Is there any exercise you don't mind doing? For me, I don't mind walking so I started walking every day. I started with a mile and it was hard, but I kept at it every day. Its been a few months and I can walk 3-4 miles easily and have lost weight. I play with my phone while I walking. Doesn't matter, my heart rate is still up and I'm still doing something physical.

Are there any healthy foods you do like? I personally love salad and I love chicken. Perfect, I just have to force myself to prepare it, which is really the hardest part because it's not convenient. Are there any bad for you foods you don't want to give up? You can still have them, like you have to enjoy living your life, just try to limit them to small portions, or once or twice a week. I will never give up fries and we just have to accept that some days we will be eating fries and that's okay.

Really, start small. Exercise in a way you don't hate and eat healthy foods you can tolerate. If you go too hard you are likely to just give up.

[Mawb]

Definitely start small, and slowly make things a habit rather than jumping right into everything. Food is/was my biggest issue. Just start with a slight incline and walk on the treadmill while being cautious about what you eat daily.
For example, cut sugar out (soda, juice, ect), be mindful of portion sizes (don't have to necessarily change anything at first, but just be mindful and start thinking of how much you are intaking when you eat).

Once you start to get into the grove of that, create a goal for yourself and build towards that from what you have learned, slowly implementing changes.

Oh, and most importantly don't beat yourself up if you miss a day of working out/eating something you enjoy once in a while. It's all about consistency, it's OK to slip, just start again the next day(s)/week.

I'm proud of you.

[Patamon]

@(you need an account to see links) - Thank you so much for sharing your story with me and opening up your DMs if I need. It seems like the consensus is definitely a calorie deficit, lots of protein, and getting movement in! I too struggle with going to the gym because I don't want people seeing me while working out. I know it's in my head, but I am more comfortable at home and I have a (usually empty) gym I can use if needed, so I will start there. I appreciate you mentioning not beating myself up as well, because I can be an all or nothing person and get discouraged easily. We are in this together! Soon you'll be able to run circles around your 5 year old!!

@(you need an account to see links) - I really appreciate someone in your place who is at a different level of fitness chiming in, the information you have given me is so helpful. When you lay out the meals like that, it does not seem so daunting to track what I am eating. I have tried to cut out carbs many times, and like you said, I did feel rather tired and became ravenous at the end of the day. I will keep this type of tracking in mind and slowly find what works best for my body. Thank you!!

@(you need an account to see links) - I'm so happy to see you found something that works for you <3 As you said, consistency is something I need to push myself toward. I've jumped all over the place so much when I should really make a plan and give it a fair shot for a while to see if it works for me. I've also pondered on trying a meal box for a while to see how that goes. Thanks for sharing your experience with me and taking the time to leave some guidance c:

@(you need an account to see links) - I have really bad asthma as well! I've been trying to get up and do chores for movement and it really does work! I get a little sweat going just from scrubbing the bathtub lmao

@(you need an account to see links) - Thanks for the helpful advice <3 From what I've been reading, I will surely start with small habits and increase the intensity gradually as I get used to them. Walking is definitely doable for me - I might also incorporate playing games like Just Dance because I love them and it seems like a fun way to get exercise in. I love salads, too and veggies in general so I will incorporate them and more protein into my diet

@(you need an account to see links) Ahh thanks for the encouragement I really appreciate it. I have a gym at my apartment so I think I will start by using the treadmill there with your incline suggestion and use walking as my first main workout and work up from there! Starting slow seems to be the key here so that I will do. ^^



Thank you to everyone who has responded so far! Coming back to read your posts gave me a spark of hope that I can do this and I'm not alone. ^^ I will likely come back to this thread with any updates after a while of putting these small changes to work!

[Cocobutter]

Echoing what others have said, one of the best things you can do is switching to healthy food choices! Don't starve yourself, or if you binge, don't beat yourself up - just choose healthier things instead when you can. Cheat days are good for your mental health also! I'm not informed on working out enough to give advice in that regard, especially with asthma I'd expect that's extremely difficult. I'd probably start small (slowly working towards good food choices) and maybe 10-30 minute stretches a day to get your body working in a way that won't cause an asthmatic episode.

And the most important thing to remember is you are enough and a wonderful person regardless of your weight or appearance. It's awesome to set goals for yourself (and I'm so proud of you for doing this and opening up!) but remember that loving yourself starts from the inside, not the outside!

You've got this, you're so brave to open up and start trying something new! I wish you all the best. c:

[Unown]

Like what many people said, start off small.

You don't have to make drastic changes. The most important thing to remember is to make small changes to your existing routine. Don't follow diet plans or exercise plans. The plan that works the best is the one that you enjoy along the way.
Drastic changes just lead to giving up easily and bouncing back harder than before because of revenge binging. I've been down that path and screwed up 6 months of progress before.

1. Go with a 30 minute walk every other night after work around your neighbourhood.
2. Slowly turn that into a 15 minute run after 1-2 weeks.
3. Swap 2-3 of your meals per week with healthy options or cut the portion in half
4. Fill your pantry with healthier snacks like nuts instead of chips (has to be things you enjoy still)
5. Find any sports/classes in your area that you might enjoy (yoga, dance, basketball, tennis etc) and join a class
- It's easier to stay motivated when you have people around and it'll help expand your social circle with people of the same interests
6. Continue to make more changes by cutting out unhealthy things and replacing them with healthier options
7. Slowly it'll get easier as you get fitter and more adjusting to the small changes

Remember, SMALL STEPS!!!