New To Exercising and MFP

jaredsmith83
jaredsmith83 Posts: 11 Member
edited October 1 in Introduce Yourself
Hi all! My name is Jared! I'm a 28 year old male from Southeast Missouri! I'm a radio DJ by occupation, but I'm a fan of life and everything that it has put in front of me. I have a wonderful girlfriend, great group of friends and most importantly, a loving family.

I've recently become motivated to lose some weight. I became fairly inactive after high school, as many people do. Indulging in college parties, eating late, eating HORRIBLY, and just all around throwing caution to the wind as far as my health and fitness went. Now that I've grown up a bit, I've realized that I should take control over things like that. So I am now working on eating better, working out and being more active and just all around trying to start a new, healthier lifestyle. At the moment, I'm easing into it bit by bit, so that I don't do too much too fast and risk burning myself out like I have before. I've tried crash diets, trying to get back into running how I did when I played basketball in high school only to hurt myself in the process. So with those failures in my mind, now I'm setting out to become a more fit person and hopefully back down to that weight I was in high school.

As of my weigh-in this morning, I was 217 pounds. My ultimate goal is 170 pounds. I'd like to see myself dropping around 8-10 pounds a month, roughly. At the moment, my workouts consist of using the Kinect for my Xbox360 with the Your Shape fitness game. That's helped me get into a regular routine. I'm an avid gamer and I think that's helped me so far. Along with that, I also do things such as pushups, situps, and I'm going to start a jogging regimen after that. I am a bit limited with my budget, so for the time being I'm not able to join a gym, although I would love to eventually.

There is the brief "here's who I am and what I want to do" so if anyone has a comment/suggestion/word of encouragement, I would absolutely LOVE to hear it. I'm a sponge now, wanting to soak up every bit of information that I can in my quest to get fit. Thanks for letting me tell my story and I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Replies

  • sonyume
    sonyume Posts: 7 Member
    Don't stress about not being able to join a gym. They're very cool, don't get me wrong, especially when they come with a trainer. I used to have a membership that included a monthly meeting w/ personal trainer and nutritionist. So yeah, cool when possible. But you've already listed tons of options which is awesome!! I'd say you're off to a great start. You could also add jump rope & jumping jacks to your push-ups and sit ups to get a fuller body type routine and some cardio. Simple moves that can pack a decent punch in a short amount of time. And of course jogging is great. So - consider yourself encouraged! *smile*
  • laursey
    laursey Posts: 307
    Congrats on making the commitment to yourself and finding this site. It is fabulous and the people here are so encouraging.
    My advice would be change the settings so you can track your sugar and sodium intake. This has helped me a lot. Fruits are high in sugar, but it's good sugar. I try to make sure I limit other forms of sugar.
    Also, given the limited budget, there's a ton of great videos, P90X, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. You could rent them from the library, buy them, or you know there's other ways to get them ; )
    The other piece of advice from my previous experience is you need to combine healthier eating with exercise. I've done both by themselves and haven't had any success. But the combination of the two is life changing and the benefits, more energy, happier, are awesome!
    Good luck!

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  • njfitnessgirl
    njfitnessgirl Posts: 281
    Don't stress about not having the funds to join a gym. I'm in the same boat. I jog about 4 times a week and I just do my runs outside. Since I have kids I do my runs early before they get up or after they go to bed like around 8ish. As for my weight training, we invested some money into P90X. I've also purchased from amazon some jillian michael videos. My husband regularly does P90X which is a total body workout in itself that you can do right in your home. All you need is some weights and either a pull up bar or bands and you're good to go.

    So there are ways to get in some great workouts without having a gym membership. Good luck and feel free to add me as a friend for motivation.
  • eminem16
    eminem16 Posts: 9
    I think you can do it. Never give up! :happy:
  • TheShelterCat
    TheShelterCat Posts: 160
    Welcome aboard!!! Like others have said, although having a membership to a gym helps, it's not necessary to get fit. Walking, jogging, running can all be done outside and for the bad weather, there's loads of great dvd's you can do inside. I'm currently doing Jillian Michaels 30 day shred that I bought at Walmart for $10 and it's kicking my butt! All you need for it is a set of hand weights and some floor space.

    Good luck!
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