Time to stop being lazy.

DJ0B
DJ0B Posts: 4
edited November 10 in Getting Started
Hi All,

Trying to lose weight, currently around 12st 10lb. Over the last weeks I have quit drinking and smoking.

MFP seems like the right thing for me, the stats and logging keep me motivated.

Whilst also losing weight though, I want to get some fitness going, been pretty lazy for many years and I used to eat so much food. I am surprised I am not bigger. Eaten a lot less over the last few days and have felt pretty good, but strangely cannot sleep, I am guessing due to quitting the Smokes and Drink.

Any suggestions on how I should go about this. I want the weight loss, but I want to get fit incl some (not too much) Muscle gain and tone.

How can I mix a bit of Cardio with Strength gain, alternate days etc?

I try read up on this stuff, incl diets etc. So many different ways to do it, not sure where to start.

Cheers!

Replies

  • Bauer911
    Bauer911 Posts: 3 Member
    I would start with alternating walking and jogging. Warm up with a five minute walk and then try to jog five minutes then wLk one minute then jog five again. Keep this up for 30 minutes a day your first week and increase your times from there weekly. Make sure you have good sneakers. As for the muscle you don't even need weights or equipment. Good old fashioned push ups, crunches / sit ups, tricep dips on a park bench? The point is to move more and i prefer using outdoors when possible to get that fresh air and nature. It is good for your soul.
    Congratulations on quitting smoking, don't look back, that's awesome!
  • ashbash830
    ashbash830 Posts: 19 Member
    We are pretty much in the same boat.
    I do strength exercises but I do more reps each time, too.
    I am not as concerned with muscle gain, so cardio is number one. However I have noticed I am getting more toned since I've started working out.
    I do things such as dips, dead lifts, calf raises, crunches, squats, etc depending which day it is.
    I do 14 reps for each set with about 40-50 pound weights. All of this for an hour each day, three days a week.
    It is strength but also cardio.

    Your main thing is going to be setting up a diet. After figuring out your diet, then look for an exercise routine. You can lose weight with diet alone.
    Before I started working out, just with a 1,200 calorie diet I lost 15 lbs.

    Another thing I did that I believed helped me want to eat healthier is doing yoga. I'd do a 40 minute session and feel amazing afterwards.

    Good luck. :)
  • DJ0B
    DJ0B Posts: 4
    Thanks Bauer911!

    I started at the gym, doing as you said and alternating the Jogging and walking. Will keep at this as it does seem to be working.

    I will give home workouts a go also, live near plenty of places to go.
  • 52cardpickup
    52cardpickup Posts: 379 Member
    Couch to 5k is an excellent starting program for cardio. It mixes walking with running, and gets you to a point where you can run further/faster. There are plenty of variations of it (I love Zombies! Run!). For strength training, if you have access to a gym or weights at home, Starting Strength/Stronglifts 5x5/most free programs on bodybuilding.com are excellent places to start. If you don't have access to weights just yet, You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning are both great places to start doing bodyweight exercises.

    The most important element, though, is diet. Congrats on quitting smoking!
  • DJ0B
    DJ0B Posts: 4
    Thanks ashbash830!

    Yeah, I have had Yoga mentioned to me a few times, could be a good choice. I am going to have to lookup the various workout names, I have no clue haha!
  • 52cardpickup
    52cardpickup Posts: 379 Member
    52cardpickup wrote: »
    Couch to 5k is an excellent starting program for cardio. It mixes walking with running, and gets you to a point where you can run further/faster. There are plenty of variations of it (I love Zombies! Run!). For strength training, if you have access to a gym or weights at home, Starting Strength/Stronglifts 5x5/most free programs on bodybuilding.com are excellent places to start. If you don't have access to weights just yet, You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning are both great places to start doing bodyweight exercises.

    The most important element, though, is diet. Congrats on quitting smoking!

    ETA: There's probably no reason to drop down to 1350 calories a day. The best suggestion I have is to use a calculator like iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ to figure out how many calories you burn in an average day.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    52cardpickup wrote: »
    Couch to 5k is an excellent starting program for cardio. It mixes walking with running, and gets you to a point where you can run further/faster. There are plenty of variations of it (I love Zombies! Run!). For strength training, if you have access to a gym or weights at home, Starting Strength/Stronglifts 5x5/most free programs on bodybuilding.com are excellent places to start. If you don't have access to weights just yet, You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning are both great places to start doing bodyweight exercises.

    The most important element, though, is diet. Congrats on quitting smoking!

    +1

    Gratz on quitting the smoking & drinking! There's a lot of calories saved just by doing that.

    Also, if you start to do some weights or weight bearing exercises like resistance training, a great way to maintain your heart rate (cardio) is to minimize the rests between sets.

    Best of luck to you!
  • DJ0B
    DJ0B Posts: 4
    Thanks all! I will check out the Couch to 5k also, sounds like what I need.
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