Introducing myself and my goals

My name is David and I'm 19 years old, Currently a college student and weight about 115kg. Needless to say, something has to be done. I had my moment about a week ago when I Just woke up and realized I don't want to live like this anymore, these should be the best years of my life and I'm currently depressed because of my weight and it has lowered my self confidence incredibly. So a week ago I started my Journey. My goal is to get down to 95 kg by April and ideally 80 by September. I've signed for the gym and have/aim on going 4 times a week and I'm doing 45 mins of cardio and 30 mins of weight lifting. On top of that I'm eating healthier and trying to lead a less sedentary lifestyle. Any advice would help and will be greatly appreciated. Anything from how to lose weight to how you stayed motivated throughout your weight loss journey.


I'm 185 cm and my fitness goal is to be able to street Dance/ break Dance
Also I'm in no rush to lose weight and can alternate my weight loss goals if you guys think that's hard to achieve, I want to lose my weight in a Healthy Way and keep it off. So if you have alternate goals that you think are more realistic I wouldn't mind doing that.

Replies

  • katisabanana
    katisabanana Posts: 185 Member
    welcome here!
    it's a beautiful community really, full of support.
    feel free to add me. :)
    we got this.
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
    Awesome! Welcome!
    Ok, question one. What are your FITNESS goals, not just your weight goals? You talk about living a less sedentary lifestyle, which is wonderful, but leading to what? Do you want to run? Lift? Fight? Dance? Climb? Compete? Start your training with a fitness goal in mind and it will seem much less like an uphill slog. If you choose weight lifting, you can see your lifts get heavier even if your scale weight stalls for a bit. If you are a runner, you can shave a few seconds off your mile time. Multiple metrics should mean that something is getting better most of the time.
    Feel free to add me if you need motivation or science-based advice.
  • Rachelc1992
    Rachelc1992 Posts: 246 Member
    Good on you, taking the first step is the hardest :)!
    I'm 29 years old & I have just restarted! I'm the biggest I've ever been, but on a mission to change it.

    Well done! And I hope you get lots of support on here. I've found lots of good receipes and when I'm struggling reading success stories on here really helps! Reading that other people are struggling helps too, as it makes your feel your not failing :)

    Feel free to add me! I'm only on day 2 so new to this too! x:smile:
  • sarwatf
    sarwatf Posts: 60 Member
    You don't say how tall you are in your profile ( and so its tough to judge how much excess weight there really is at 115 ) ... but although I have never had that amount to lose , even allowing for a young metabolism it sounds like ambitious targets to me -- ie losing ~ 1/3 of your bodyweight in less than a year? My only advice would be don't set targets that you may find incredibly tough to meet especially when you are studying , as it is likely to demotivate you. Whenever I have tried to drop a few kilos unless there is a specific event that i need to "look good" for , in the grand scheme of things I wish I had obsessed less about whether it took an extra month or two to get there.

    Edited to add - Ian-stuart said it better -- add fitness targets as well so that will act as motivation if /when scale stalls.
  • DavidG789
    DavidG789 Posts: 28 Member
    Hope I answered all your questions
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
    Those are aggressive weight loss goals, so I wouldn't hold myself to them exactly. Start making progress. Lift the weights to build muscle mass, but I would limit my cardio to about 20 minutes of warmup and HIIT or Tabata work. I think you will find that style of cardio burns the fat off much more efficiently, though the effort expended in that shorter window is sometimes soul crushing. Work in bodyweight stuff (push ups, pull ups, divebombers, flexibility work. Things that contribute directly to the dancing goal. Track your workout progress either here or at a site like Fitocracy so you can see progress even when the weightloss slows. Make sure you are eating enough to further your fitness goals and don't short yourself just to achieve a faster weightloss.
  • hannahjennaway
    hannahjennaway Posts: 2 Member
    Good for you! I´m in the same position. 19 years old and I think about my weight everyday. I figure, if its always on my mind and I know I need to change and give my body what it needs, why don´t I? Hope you do great!
  • ktob
    ktob Posts: 12 Member
    Hello! That's a great message you've posted and I love that you're starting now, not next week, or next month, or next January!! The "my fitness pal" tools and community will be invaluable on your journey. Embrace them! Remember your goals and find out what keeps you motivated. Find exercise classes or DVDs that you enjoy so that it's fun and less of a chore. I love the Jillian Michaels DVDs but find what works for you. Gym is good too of course. When exercise gets hard, I psych myself up in my head (you look a bit mad if you do it out loud!!) but it really helps! Honestly. Half the battle is with your head rather than your body.

    I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Let us know how you get on! :):)
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
    Targets are aggressive and the scale will not your best friend at least at the beginning of your journey.
    You have way too much fat and probably not enough muscles to be able to use a scale accurately... fat will go down, muscles will go up and your weight might not move making it very frustrating!

    First of all - Be Patient - take monthly measurements (arms, chest, waist, hips), use the mirror as a tool and if you really have / want to, get fat measurements taken (twice a week to ensure your calories / macros are acting the way they are supposed to).

    You are a big and tall boy - you are looking into working out - make sure you get your calories and macros established and worked on properly. Don't think that a 1200 calories salad and chicken diet will lead you anywhere - you need carbs - proteins and fat to achieve any and all goals!!

    Good luck - email if you want / need to!