Need advice on where to start

orestes

I am looking for advice on how to geenrally be fitter, but I have no idea where to start. I'm a guy who is 24 years of age, 6 foot tall, roughly 10 or 11 stone.

You might want to hold your breath for this bit, cos this isn't gonna make for pleasant reading. My diet is a disaster. I smoke about 15-20 a day, I drink about a 6-pack a night, I drink about 2 litres of coca-cola a day and I eat mostly oven-cook instant meals. Imagine the sterotypical Men Behaving Badly kinda thing, that's pretty much what we're talking here.

I was diagnosed with depression recently (I am NOT looking for advice on that here btw, but given the suggestions in the charter regarding giving the details of your situation I thought it was relevant as I am new to this forum), and I have been advised by to try and live a more healthy lifestyle. The thing is, I have no idea where to begin.

Do I quit drinking, quit smoking, join a gym, start eating salads, and start walking to work tomorrow?

I know I need to implrove my diet, and suggestions on how to do so would be greatly appreciated (apart from quitting smoking/drinking, they're pretty much a given), but what are the foods I should be trying to eat?

I also know that I need to get my arse in the gym and do some exercise, but I have no idea where to begin. I have been told that swimming is a good way to exercise, would that be better than treadmills and weights for example? Should I take up cycling? I know it is all dependant on the person in question, and I will answer any questions cos you guys know better than I do. Advice and opinions would be very useful.

Any and all advice is very much appreciated.

amacachi

Start by making a change or doing something that you enjoy, if ya do what I did and wreck yourself in the gym, leaving ya unable to move from the waist up for a week, you'll be far less likely to go back.

If you enjoy walking/running there's the Couch to 5k programme which is easy to understand.
If you enjoy football, play it.

Realistically the diet needs to change but how big a change you're going to make is down to you, check the stickies at the top of the forum for good info. Unprocessed, whole foods are what you're after.

Just keep things simple and ya won't go far wrong.

DeltaHotel26

Pick up a sport, as the previous poster said let it be something you enjoy rather than something you view as a chore. If any of your friends, family etc. play some sport go along to training and see what you think.

Having a social aspect to training/exercising is a great motivator. Tag rugby is an easy game to pick up, really well organised all over the country and great craic. There is a section to find a team if you don't have one. Good luck with the training.

Sammag

It's a no-brainer but cut out the junk food cr*p and start getting some decent fresh fruit and veg, lean meat and fish into you - try to eat the latter 2-3 times per week.
There's a load of things you can do to change your eating habits but you have to be committed to sticking to a new way of eating. It doesn't all have to be rabbit food and brown rice...
It also doesn't mean you can never have a kebab again, it's all about moderation.

Do you cook? If you do I'll send you some hassle-free, interesting recipes to improve your diet. Once you start eating healthy and eat less junk/sweets/sugar/fat, you'll crave it less.
Even though the aim is not to eat crappy food, it's very easy to make pizzas, burritos, kebabs, burgers or whatever at home which taste 50 times better than the mass produced commercial cr*p and contain a load less fat, salt and sugar... You just have to learn the basics of healthy, copped-on cooking.

What do you eat on a daily basis? Are you in a 9-5 office job? A bit of background on your daily life will help.

If you are going to take up a sport, it's the best time to try and kick the fags. I am in my early 30's (am female BTW) and until I moved to Oz I was a lazy, chain smoking, fairly big drinker.
I wasn't fat in any shape or form, but I was unhealthy. When I moved to OZ I totally changed my way of thinking. People here have a very different attitude to their bodies.
Sure there are a lot of fat and unhealthy ones but there's also a lot who aren't and I kept ending up looking at those ones on my way home from work, out of my car window with a fag in my hand whilst they jogged around the park looking all buff and healthy.

I decided 'that's it! I've no excuses anymore!' so I kicked the smokes and I found the easiest way was to take up a sport - in my case I started seeing a personal trainer. It's a fantastic way to keep motivated to stay off the smokes.
I now see her 3 times a week for an hour at a go, I jog 2 times per week (well i try, as I hate it but keeps my heart healthy and the feeling when you're finished is fab). I still enjoy a drink but I never touch the smokes, have zero interest and I feel like a different person to what I was 3 years ago. I've gained a massive appreciation for my body and can't fathom how I used to treat it. Sure, i still go out and get rat-arsed from time to time, but when I do, I treat my body with a bit of extra respect in the days following.

If I were you I'd say tackle the eating and fags first, in regards to the drinking, aim to give yourself at least 2-3 days alcohol free per week. Start off with one and work your way up to 3 over a 4-6 week period, realistically no-one needs to be downing booze on a Monday through Thurs, esp. a 6 pack every day, you're doing it probably because it's a habit to you. You'll be flabbergasted at how much better you will sleep and feel generally if you cut back even a bit on the booze.

I know you said 'don't mention the fags' but sorry mate, they are the first thing you should be looking at, as if not you're wasting your time making an effort to eat healthier and to get fitter only to stick one of those rancid things in your gob every 20 minutes. You're a young bloke, you're at the prime of your life, the longer you continue to live your lifestyle the harder it will get to stop and you only have to make small changes to kick start a difference.

Have you ever been into sports? If so what ones? Do you have a bike? Are any of your mates into a particular sport?

Just remember, the hardest part of all this is starting. Once you start, if you approach it the right way and educate yourself on what will happen to you and your body if you don't treat it with more respect, it all
becomes a heck of a lot easier than you originally thought. As you go along you set yourself achievable goals and you work towards them in stages.

slingerz

orestes wrote: »

I am looking for advice on how to geenrally be fitter, but I have no idea where to start. I'm a guy who is 24 years of age, 6 foot tall, roughly 10 or 11 stone.

You might want to hold your breath for this bit, cos this isn't gonna make for pleasant reading. My diet is a disaster. I smoke about 15-20 a day, I drink about a 6-pack a night, I drink about 2 litres of coca-cola a day and I eat mostly oven-cook instant meals. Imagine the sterotypical Men Behaving Badly kinda thing, that's pretty much what we're talking here.

I was diagnosed with depression recently (I am NOT looking for advice on that here btw, but given the suggestions in the charter regarding giving the details of your situation I thought it was relevant as I am new to this forum), and I have been advised by to try and live a more healthy lifestyle. The thing is, I have no idea where to begin.

Do I quit drinking, quit smoking, join a gym, start eating salads, and start walking to work tomorrow?

I know I need to implrove my diet, and suggestions on how to do so would be greatly appreciated (apart from quitting smoking/drinking, they're pretty much a given), but what are the foods I should be trying to eat?

I also know that I need to get my arse in the gym and do some exercise, but I have no idea where to begin. I have been told that swimming is a good way to exercise, would that be better than treadmills and weights for example? Should I take up cycling? I know it is all dependant on the person in question, and I will answer any questions cos you guys know better than I do. Advice and opinions would be very useful.

Any and all advice is very much appreciated.

Your very lucky cos I had the same diet as you, was the same age and height only 5 stone heavier!

farmchoice

this time last year mate i was in the same boat as you, only a bit older and therefore a few stone heavier. i did 2 things that change my life. i started doing a bit of cycling and then i gave up smoking and this ment i could do more and more cycling, as i got fitter i cut down on the fatty food and drink although i still drink a couple of nights a week. cycling is great because you can build up the miles at your own pace and you get out in the fresh ai,r it really make you feel great. this is the ideal time of the year to start and any bike will do to get going. in the long run though the fags have to go. when i was smoking i would struggle to cycle 4-5 miles within 2 months of quitting i could go 30 miles.

injured365

As everyone else has said to change your lifestyle as it is at the moment is going to be a long term thing. If you try to drop all your unhealthy habits tomorrow, you won't last. Its better to take it in stages. I would suggest your diet first, follow the advice given and try to eat and drink healthier. With your diet, some people might disgree with me, but i would suggest using the foods you eat now almost as a reward. Pick your favourite meal or snack and say, if you can go a week without using pre-prepared microwave or oven food, you can have that snack as a reward. Eventually i think you will find you won't even want that snack because of the fat or the sugar in it. As you are changing your diet, try to reduce the amount you smoke each day. Once you have your diet sorted then its time to quit smoking altogether. It's all about small steps but its important to realise when you have achieved something, set yourself goals and reward yourself for reaching these goals.

orestes

Cheers for the advice folks, very much appreciated.

I'm thinking a bike is the place to start and doing some cycling. Changing my diet is defintiely a priority along with dropping the smokes. I've never been into sport so I don't really know where to start with the team sport thing (I don't even understand rugby, let alone be able to play it ) and I was kinda put off them cos I didn't think there was a team in the world that would take someone who has next to zero sporting ability. Any ideas and suggestions for just recreational kinda sport would be really appreciated (I'm in Dublin and I'm a student in Trinity btw so have access to the sports centre there)

Khannie

holy sh*t@diet

Anyway....on quitting smoking. There's a forum on here somewhere. Allen Carr worked for me. I've never looked back.

As a general plan; I'd suggest taking it one thing at a time. Improve your diet first, then focus on quitting smoking (or maybe the other way around, fags are horribly expensive), then focus on getting fit. That approach may be rubbish, but lifestyle change is all about sustainability for me. If you change too many things at once I think it's easy to slip back into the comfort zone.

On changing your diet I'd suggest the following as starting points: Eat a decent breakfast every day. Start cooking dinner in the evening.

After you've settled into that, add some fruit in for snacks, etc. etc. etc. In general, try to avoid high GI foods (you may want to google that). Over time that can really impact how good you feel.

Lastly, don't cut out all the crap. A bit of deliciousness is good for the soul.

On booze: Just buy less. If it's not in the house you wont drink it. I wouldn't cut it out though. A bit of booze never killed anyone.

On fizzy drinks: Try replacing them with sugar free mi-wadi or just plain water initially. You may find yourself being hungrier, or having less energy. Get some fruit in if so.

On exercise: You asked if you should start walking to work tomorrow? Hell yes. I walk around 3K each way to and from work every day with a bag on my back and I used to arrive to work a sweaty mess when I was unfit. It's a great way to get started, totally free and a hell of a lot nicer than sitting on the bus.

Consider starting a log in the fitness logs section. I'd be really interested to hear how you get on.

Finally....GOOD LUCK!

Chucky the tree

orestes wrote: »

Cheers for the advice folks, very much appreciated.

I'm thinking a bike is the place to start and doing some cycling. Changing my diet is defintiely a priority along with dropping the smokes. I've never been into sport so I don't really know where to start with the team sport thing (I don't even understand rugby, let alone be able to play it ) and I was kinda put off them cos I didn't think there was a team in the world that would take someone who has next to zero sporting ability. Any ideas and suggestions for just recreational kinda sport would be really appreciated (I'm in Dublin and I'm a student in Trinity btw so have access to the sports centre there)

It's grand, most tag rugby teams are mixed so you certainly wouldnt be the only one.

While packing it all in at once and becoming a health freak over night is the ideal way to go, most people never last very long. I'd just try and give up everything gradually, your at a young enough age where you dont have to go cold turkey straight way. I'd definitly ditch the cigarettes straight away, as a part-time smoker they hammer your progress in the gym and you smell disgusting aswell. On the beer switch to budd/corrs light and just cut down on 6 a night, maybe switch to 6 bottles and go from there? Similiar to the coke, just go for a 500ml bottle of coke and a 500ml of water/lucozade/anything but coke. Soon you'll find you wont even want coke or just the odd can a week will do.

Cooking wise stuff like pasta/scrambled eggs are easy to make, a steak takes a few minutes on a pan. Try and get a decent diet going first, because when your off the smokes you'll probaly eat like a troopers, eeven more so if your excercising. Best of luck

MoonDancer

Just wanted to say good luck!! and well done for wanting to change the eating habits.
I've just started running & I'm a 20 a day smoker, so I'm just doing one thing at a time, I plan on quitting the smokes soon as I can't run that far without gasping for breath!!
You got some great advice here, just take it 1 thing at a time, the healthy eating will come along with the training as you get so much more energy from a proper home cooked dinner then the ready made stuff.
Cereal is great for breakfast, soup & a sandwich for lunch, and a home cooked dinner like spaghetti, chili con carne or stews, and yogurt & fruit for snacks.
Good luck & it's really not hard to stick to it, you can still have treats for yourself