Needing to lose weight

jaradthiele

I am overweight by a lot and need to start dropping some lbs. I have a gym membership but hate going when other people are there because I don't like people watching me. I have access to some free weights and some machines and some cardio equipment. I am very novice to this and just need help with getting a plan established. I have bad knees from the military so workouts with a lot of impact are out of the question. I have about 3 days a week I can go to the gym. I need someone to help me come up with a plan to follow as in what exercises or weightlifting routines I should be doing. I was thinking cardio, upper, lower for my 3 days. I just need someone to help me know what to focus on and what to not focus on for now. It would be nice to see something layed out like
1________ 3 sets of 15 resting 90 seconds
2________ 3 sets of 15 resting 30 seconds
Thank you in advance for the help!

Nicklebee93

If you're over weight the very first thing you need to do is cut calories. No amount of working out is going to help if you're constantly over eating.

Female: Don't go below 1,200 calories
Male: Don't go below 1,500 calories


First let me say you should be getting some sort of exercise everyday for 30 minutes at least. And you don't need to go to the gym, but walk, bike, swim, or something at least 30 minutes everyday! As for calories deflect i honestly don't recommend going the lowest you can for calories, i feel most people don't stay on a diet because they try to go to low to drop the weight the fastest they can and it becomes too stressful and they end up binge eating.

So for a female i recommend a 1,500 calories limit a day and a male a 1,800 calories limit.

As for working out: do a good 30 minutes of cardio and then do some strength training. This is up to you, you can try to do a full body workout or you can break it up into pieces.


SQUAT
Sets: 5 Reps: 5 Rest: 120 sec.
OVERHEAD PRESS
Sets: 5 Reps: 5 Rest: 60 sec.
BENCH PRESS
Sets: 4 Reps: 10 Rest: 60 sec.
SEATED CABLE ROW
Sets: 4 Reps:10 Rest: 60 sec.
DUMBBELL ROMANIAN DEADLIFT
Sets: 4 Reps: 10 Rest: 90 sec.
STANDING CALF RAISE
Sets: 4 Reps: 10 Rest: 60 sec.
TRAP-BAR DEADLIFT
Sets: 3 Reps: 15 Rest: 120 sec.

these are just different options -- you could name so many. You can try to google seach some. There are MANY great workout plans out there.

malibu927

Nobody's going to be looking at you. They'll all be in their own world.

A full-body progressive program will be better. Look up Stronglifts 5x5 to get a feel of what is involved in it. Add in cardio you like as well.

And as above, make sure you're in a calorie deficit first and foremost.

datsundriver87

Just gonna repeat what has already been said... Doesn't matter how much you workout if your diet isn't right your not going to see any changes, that being said stronglifts 5x5 is a perfect beginner program that will lightly introduce you into weights. Don't worry about people at the gym they don't pay any attention to you as long as you don't pay any attention to them. Cardio is the fastest way to lose weight as it will increase your calorie deficit way more than weight lifting but without lifting you will lose allot of muscle and fat. Just start off easy don't think you have to be lifting crazy or burning yourself out the first week and you will learn to love the gym and see results in no time!

jaradthiele

So does anyone have a link to a good diet plan? I have already started changing my diet but the more I read the more I get sidetracked and confused on what's good what's bad and what to stick with what's ok and what's not. So many plans and different approaches but none are really all that clear.

malibu927

There are no "bad" foods, unless they make you illor have spoiled. Focus on nutritious items primarily, but don't deprive yourself if you want a treat every now and then.