I need some serious help!

[NightNurse]

I am beyond out of shape and very tired of it!
I just joined a gym, but really have no clue what to do.
I am 5'6, 155 lbs, and need to lose oh 30 lbs.... .
Any tips, suggestions?

 

[Sassy69]

I am beyond out of shape and very tired of it!
I just joined a gym, but really have no clue what to do.
I am 5'6, 155 lbs, and need to lose oh 30 lbs.... .
Any tips, suggestions?

Hello NN & welcome! First, congrats on your new urge! And second, congrats on coming to a great place to help execute that urge! I recommend you spend lots of time reading stuff on this board, and you will find all sorts of great stuff on the Diet, and Training boards.

To start, can you give us a little run down on what sort of diet you follow, do you have any experience with training or cardio, any special limitations (physical, working schedule, etc.)

I guess in general, I would say start by making sure you are eating 5-6 small meals per day instead of 2-3 larger ones. Even though it seems that sometimes gym trainers don't know squat, since you just joined a gym, you should be able to get at least one training session w/ one of the trainers to set up a basic training routine & also to learn how to use the equipment. The best thing you can do for yourself is not be intimidated by the weights (and equivalently other people at the gym) and learn good form on your lifts. Once you have good form, then you will get results by slowly increasing your weights and also the intensity of your training sessions. If needed, build up to some regular cardio but don't feel like you have to hours & hours of it. Consider HIIT (high intensity interval training) once or twice a week - this involves whatever cardio you choose to do, but alternate with a fast period of say 1 min and then a slow recovery phase of 1-2 minutes, and repeat the fast / slow / fast / slow, etc. for 20 minutes. Actually - if you need a good introduction to "fitness", the "Body for Life" book is great in explaining diet & training as well as providing doable training & diet methods for beginners.

Please feel free to ask questions, but make sure to read lots of the posts on your own because you will probably find several answers already. You may also feel overwhelmed by the information, but take it slowly and all will fall into place. There is no single magic diet or exercise that gets you to your goal. It often takes a lot of work to try different approaches to see what works best for your body & your lifestyle. The point is to do whatever routine with consistency and intensity over the long term, and be patient. It does work!

 

[AngMc]

You have the exact same stats as me! And I also want to lose it. You know we can do it by Christmas if we try.

Will I is another matter. There are wonderfully helpful ladies on this board. Ask lots of questions. I would say first you have to eat every three hours, a clean diet. Clean as in hunter gather clean. Lift weights and the fat will fall. Always do cardio after weights, unless it is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. This is something I have never been able to do. I am not a morning person, so the thought of running at 8 is torture.

Ofcourse I am preaching what I don't practice. You will find the encouragment you need in/at this board. It is up to you to do it! Remember, at XMAS we could be skinny minnies........Ang

 

[Pamela]

The best thing I would suggest is not to make it too hard right off.
Cause I've noticed that people don't stick to a exercise program if it's to
hard.
Just try and doing some walking before work or after.
Then later when you start to feel a little more energetic, you can add some weight training. Which is very important!

And Diet is so important!!!
The more you read on the boards you will get a fill for what your suppose to be eating.

 

[NightNurse]

Thanks all ! My boyfriend has been lifting weights for years, so im going to ask him if he will come to my gym with a guest pass and show me what to do, as far as weights since i have NO clue whatsoever. Or am i better off finding a girl to show me? Is there a difference as far as what men and women should do?