Need advice

corwinKB

I am coming back to this app after some time away. I honestly don't know what fitness information is true or not. So any help you can give is helpful.

Here is a short history or where I am at. First of all I have Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) so I have to limit my blood pressure primarily and limit protein and dairy consumption. I am prone to gout as well so I can only eat meat in small doses.

I've read the ladder 2 diet and forks over knives and I'm not convinced plant based is to go.

Also when I was younger I loved running and swimming at the beach so I'd love to lean up not bulk up.

Currently I work for the DNR in Michigan training for the MCOLES fitness exam so I can become a ranger. I spend most of my 40 hours each week on my feet doing maintenance and groundskeeping. So I get a ton of exercise.

I put off focusing on my fitness and weight while I focused on quitting chewig tobacco but now I'm finally ready.

I just have no idea where to start..

SueInAz

Read the Announcements at the top of the message board threads. There is great information in them for getting started. Start with this one: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1 and this one http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10097870/the-really-blunt-list-of-things-to-consider-when-losing-weight/p1

Baby steps are key. Don't try to change your entire life overnight or you'll likely end up frustrated and overwhelmed. Start out by simply logging everything you eat. Every single thing. Logging everything makes it easier to see where you can make simple changes that have a big impact. For greater accuracy with calorie counts, weigh solid foods using a kitchen scale and measure liquids that can't be weighed.

Start strength training as soon as possible. If you are eating at a deficit, you will not "bulk up" you will instead preserve more of the muscle you already have. In my opinion it's more important than doing cardio because it is much easier to maintain your current musculature than to build new muscle later. When we lose weight it is a combination of water, fat and muscle. If you're maintaining muscle then more of your loss will be from fat!

The measuring tape is a better tool than the bathroom scale for judging your progress. In addition to "Before" pictures, measure your chest, waist, hips, thighs and any other body part you want to track and start recording them in MFP now. When the scale isn't moving your body might still be shrinking especially if you're lifting weights.

Get yourself into the mindset that you're making a lifestyle change and its not something that you will eventually finish and understand that weight loss is not linear and you will lose pounds faster at the beginning than at the end.