REALLY need a new start

PaintingDreams

I feel like right now is the time to start. I keep putting this off. I graduated a year ago and in that year I have gained 30lbs. I now weight 194lbs. I have disgusting stretchmarks, and I'm NOT HAPPY. I don't know how to eat healthy. I've never done any cooking. I eat a lot of take out. Unfortunately I suffer from insomnia and I'm hoping that adding exercise to my day will help me actually go to sleep before the sun rises. I honestly have no idea where to start and it's just going to keep getting worse. I was homeless for a while and now I feel that I can finally do this now that I'm back on my feet. I've decided for my realistic goals I will walk my dogs every day for half an hour and I want to learn how to eat healthy and control my eating habits. I love to snack. Especially at night because I'm awake and bored. I have my mom for support who also wants to lose weight with me. So if any of you out there could just point me in the right direction, I'm ready to do it. Recipes, beginners exercises, how much water I should drink a day, anything like that. Once I get used to walking some more I will be attempting the Insanity workout. So if you have tried it and you got great results, I would love to hear more about it! Thank you for taking the time to read this.

dwhit90

We can work on it together, I am like you I have been dealing with having to get out of the military, so I put on a good 40lbs and and now weigh around 188lbs. We can partner together because I plan on attempting Insanity as well just at slower pace because of bad knees.

FrauHaas2013

First of all, congrats to you for wanting to start!!! If you use the "search" tool, you'll find all kinds of threads with answers/suggestions to all the questions you just asked. And don't fret about being a snacker - you just might need to tweak your snacks a little bit to stay under your calories is all! I eat every 2-3 hours from when I get up until an hour before I got to sleep and snack a lot at night, too!

I weigh alot more than you do, but in the month I've been on MFP, I have been very successful. You get out of it what you put into it. Choose your friends wisely, read and educate yourself everyday, and practice self-discipline. You can get there - we're all on this journey together!!!!

jakeyuma

Hi Painting Dreams,

I would like to sujest the following progression. It was developed by an aquaintence of mine from Beachbody motivation group. this man has made a huge change in his life and has a great transformation. I am not sure on your ability but I sujest:

Bridge (included below), Power 90, T25, Insanity

I am active on the T25 support group on MFP if you want to join. No need to be on T25 just a good place for daily accountability and place to ask questions and motivate each other.


From: KeptMan
I typed up the program I "made up" 3 years ago when I was too sick, too fat & and on too many meds to even do a modified power 90. I will paste in the first few months of it. It took me through my first 40 lbs, got me off meds and able to do Power 90. It's "sick-fat guy" friendly. This is EXACTLY why I wrote it all down - for someone like your co-worker to benefit from!

I call it: Bridge (because it was my bridge to Power 90). I use my own words for modified moves I had to "invent" when I couldn't do actual stuff (like push-ups & squats, etc . . .). Let me know if any of them confuse you!

I hope this help - it saved my life!

Pre-workout warm up for first 16 weeks:
Chair seated hamstring stretch (30 seconds)
Chair seated lower back stretch (30 seconds)
Standing wall quad warm-up (30 seconds)

Post-workout warm down for first 16 weeks:
Chair seated hamstring stretch (1 minute)
Chair seated lower back stretch (1 minute)
Standing wall quad warm-up (1 minute)

Weeks 1-4, Phase I Nutrition Lesson: Don't drink your calories
Week 1: Walk 5 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph
Week 2: Walk 6 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph
Week 3: Walk 7 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph
Week 4: Walk 8 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph

Weeks 5-8, Phase II Nutrition Lesson: If it grows, eat it first!
Week 5: Walk 10 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph
Week 6: Walk 11 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph
Week 7: Walk 12 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph
Week 8: Walk 13 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3 mph

Weeks 9-12,Phase III Nutrition Lesson: drink a pint of water before getting out of bed & right before going to bed
Week 9: Walk 15 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.1 mph
Week 10: Walk 16 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.1 mph
Week 11: Walk 17 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.1 mph
Week 12: Walk 18 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.1 mph

Weeks 13-16, Phase IV Nutrition Lesson: add 1 protein drink to daily food
Week 13: Walk 20 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
Week 14: Walk 21 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
Week 15: Walk 22 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
Week 16: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph

Pre-workout warm up for weeks 17 - 32:
Standing Shoulder Press with no weights or super tiny weights (20)
Chair seated hamstring stretch (45 seconds)
Chair seated lower back stretch (45 seconds)
Standing wall quad warm-up (45 seconds)

Post-workout warm down for weeks 17 - 32:
Standing Upper-body twist (5 each direction)
Chair seated hamstring stretch (1 minute)
Chair seated lower back stretch (1 minute)
Counter Assisted quad stretch (30 seconds per side)


Weeks 17-20, Phase V Nutrition Lesson: Have one cup of fresh vegetables with every meal
Week 17: Walk 20 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
Week 18: Walk 21 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
Week 19: Walk 22 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
Week 20: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph

Weeks 21-24, Phase VI Nutrition Lesson: have one cup of brown rice, lentils or quinoa with one meal a day
Week 21: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
+ 5 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 5 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 2 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 22: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
+ 5 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 5 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 3 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 23: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
+ 5 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 5 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 3 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 24: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.2 mph
+ 5 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 5 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 4 X Straight Arm Counter Squats

Weeks 25-28, Phase VII Nutrition Lesson: don't eat one hour before going to sleep
Week 25: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.3 mph
+ 6 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 6 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 6 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 26: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.3 mph
+ 7 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 7 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 7 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 27: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.3 mph
+ 9 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 9 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 9 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 28: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.3 mph
+ 10 X 24" Counter Push-ups
+ 10 X 12" Counter Dips
+ 10 X Straight Arm Counter Squats

Weeks 29-32, Phase VIII Nutrition Lesson: have one cup of fresh fruit with one meal a day
Week 29: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 10 X 30" Counter Push-ups
+ 10 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 10 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 30: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 11 X 30" Counter Push-ups
+ 11 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 11 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 31: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 12 X 30" Counter Push-ups
+ 12 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 12 X Straight Arm Counter Squats
Week 32: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 13 X 30" Counter Push-ups
+ 13 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 13 X Straight Arm Counter Squats


Pre-workout warm up for weeks 33 - 36:
Standing Shoulder Press with NO or little weights (20)
Arm circles (5 each direction)
March in place (30 seconds)
Standing hamstring stretch - toe touch (45 seconds)
Seated wall chair (15 seconds)
Plank (20 seconds)

Post-workout warm down for weeks 33 - 36:
Standing Upper-body twist (5 each direction)
Hanging hamstring stretch (1 minute)
Wall Assisted quad stretch (30 seconds per side)
Standing behind the back clasp Shoulder Stretch (30 sexonds)


Weeks 33-36, Phase IX Nutrition Lesson: begin tracking calories eaten & calories burned (buy a Heart Rate Monitor)
Week 33: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 10 Knee Floor Push-ups
+ 15 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 15 X 2 finger Counter Squats
Week 34: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 11 Knee Floor Push-ups
+ 15 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 15 X 2 finger Counter Squats
Week 35: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 12 Knee Floor Push-ups
+ 15 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 15 X 2 finger Counter Squats
Week 36: Walk 25 minutes per day. Minimum pace 3.5 mph
+ 13 Knee Floor Push-ups
+ 15 X 15" Counter Dips
+ 15 X 2 finger Counter Squats

Matt_C_195

I just recently completed a round of Insanity and loved it. Well, honestly I would curse my way through the workouts in the beginning - was hard to even finish a warmup! - but I loved the feeling of accomplishment and the results I was seeing over time.