Advice for newbies- things I wish I had known starting out

Nobody at the gym is judging you. Do not be afraid to work out in public. This is about you, and feeling ashamed of your body is useless. Rock your journey, smile at everyone you see, find your confidence, and most important, fake it til you make it.

THANK YOU TO THE OP!! but ^^^THIS is what I needed to hear today!!

I just joined a gym last week (it was my 30 pound non-food reward...yes a few pounds early because they had a sign up special & my husband said just do it!) any ways going in I feel so intimidated and awkward so THANK YOU!! When I go today I'm going in like I know what I'm doing!!

Does decaffinated hot tea count as water?

This will spark a huge debate on here, there are different camps of opinion on whether it counts or not! :laugh:

My own personal opinion is, if you drank the cup of hot water and then in the very next moment you ate a tea bag, you would of course still count the water so, yes. your tea counts. In my opinion.

Thanks so much for all this wonderful helpful advice, I am still finding my way, and what works for me and what doesn't. I have been tracking for about 3 months now and I am slowly improving my quality of food. I was never a "terrible" eater but there were definitely places I could improve .

That being said----
My advice so far

1) Do IT FOR YOU. In the end, if you are losing to please someone other than yourself, you will fail.
2) DRINK WATER... I drink 4-5 16.9 oz bottles of water a day at work, I also have 2-3 glasses at home, as well as some hot decaffienated lemon ginger tea at night smtms.
3) LIVE! You cannot deprieve yourself all the time, just try sticking to the actual serving size rather than the whole pint of ice cream.
4) Breakfast breakfast breakfast... when I skip.. I eat like a PIG at lunch. Never skip it.
5) Finding exercise you ACTUALLY enjoy is uber important (yes, I just said uber)....

I welcome any and all friends.. I love the support as I do not have a lot of it at home other than my husband.. my friends "say" they want to work out w me or walk and then never do. I have a lot to lose... over 50 pounds. I am 5'4'' at 207 right now. My heaviest was 221 last year before I ever knew about this site. I walk regularly and I am currently doing Jillian's 30 day shred.

Good luck on your journey everyone!

Nobody at the gym is judging you. Do not be afraid to work out in public. This is about you, and feeling ashamed of your body is useless. Rock your journey, smile at everyone you see, find your confidence, and most important, fake it til you make it.

So very true! It is a personal journey and when you get halfway there the whole world opens up! Never lose hope there will always be challenges. So go face them head on! Keep your face to the sun!

Great advice! My hubby loves that you mentioned dandelion

-When the gym gets boring- go for a walk outside. Work out your maths- your stride and your time, and calculate what 10,000 steps is- so for 50cm, 10,000 steps= 5km or an hour walk.
- buy a small sippy bottle around 330ml- its much easier mentally to drink it all

My top 7

1. Realize that this is a lifestyle change and not a quick fix. Yo-yo diets don't work, and people usually gain the weight they lost right back. My advice is to really make a lifestyle change and to start small. And keep progressing as time goes by. There is no point in working out 4 hours a day, only to have a bad diet and gain it all back and do damage to yourself. Just eat healthier and move at least 30 min a day to start.

2. Do cardio and lift weights. I just started p90x 2 months ago and wish I had picked up a pair of weights sooner. I love what it is doing to my arms! Imagine how much fat and inches I could of shed by now if I had started a year ago, instead of just doing cardio 6 days a week. Now, I do 50% /50% and love it!

3. Be honest with yourself when it comes to your diary, food measuring and calories burn. you could always invest in a HRM, food scale or other items. It is good to keep track of what your doing, that way if you have a bad week, you could just look back and repeat a good week you had last month.

4. Do something you love, try something new! Your body can get use to the same routine faster than you think. Go hiking, swim, dance, do your favorite workout video, bike, go running. But keep changing things up with things you enjoy.

5. Do not freak out if you gain some weight after starting a new workout. It's normal, your muscles usually retain water to repair themselves in the beginning, so give yourself time to adjust to the new routine. Don't give up after seeing a gain, trust me, keep going! Don't become scale obsessive. Put the scale away and take out the tape measurer.

6. Surround yourself with positive people. I love working out with my bf, and he really pushes me when I need it. Workout with friends if you can, time passes by much faster when you workout with friends. And the journey is easier when you surround yourself with positive people.

7. Reward yourself! You just completed the couch-2-5k program, get yourself a high five and some new running shoes. Perhaps a magazine subscription after you shed your first 10 lbs. Small gifts keep you motivated.

Wonderful post not really a newbie but I still enjoyed reading it

Don't get discouraged when you hit a plateau. I'm going thorugh that now. Some days I say screw it, this isn't working, and end up eating like crap. I gotta stop doing that. I know eventually I will blast through this thing.

I will be re-reading this thread a lot! Very encouraging. Thank you!

Awesome!! I will save this to read again and again.

Me too!

Thanks everybody!

Good advice, very helpful. Thank you!