Very nervous, need a little advice/push

sew_lo

I'm a newbie here and to exercise. I have decided to really commit myself to getting fit, weight loss is a goal (I'd like to fit into my old clothes again) but my priority is to be a fit healthy person for the first time ever in my life and keep it as a life style.

I used to run on and off a couple of years ago, completed the mini marathon 3 times, however for the last year I've stopped even walking and just ate. Weight went up but it's the fact I'm so unfit that is what's really making me feel bad about myself.

Wow, I just ramble don't I?!

I have decided to join a gym, well the Markievicz leisure centre as it's really close to work and cheap. But I've never joined a gym before and I've no idea how, silly I know, do I call and make an appointment to join ? Do I just drop in and then make an app to come back for the assessment . I know it may seem a silly issue but I'm afraid of making an ass of myself and being too embarrassed to return.

I'm veggie and also looking for advice diet, I'm not the best at coming up with healthy dinners/lunches and snacks, (basically I have breakfast sorted!) :-) I live alone and I find cooking for one is diffic , so I cook for 3 and eat it all. :-) (I've looked at the sticky just if anyone has any veggie/solo shopping/cooking tips, they are very welcome)

Stats : 25, female, 5'6 and 137lbs, :-)

Thank you all in advance, apologies for rambling. :-)

cmyk

sew_lo wrote: »

Weight went up but it's the fact I'm so unfit that is what's really making me feel bad about myself.

First off, sewlo, the vast majority of people who go to gyms are in exactly the same position as you. Start slow, get the basics right and build your confidence from there.

sew_lo wrote: »

do I call and make an appointment to join ? Do I just drop in and then make an app to come back for the assessment . I know it may seem a silly issue but I'm afraid of making an ass of myself and being too embarrassed to return.

I've never been in the Markievicz centre so I'm not sure what sort of operation they have in place. Give them a call and explain your situation and I'm sure they'll help you out with regards pointing you in the right direction. Have a read of the stickies here on this forum and the nutrition thread too. If personal training is an option, a good trainer will run you through the basics and give you a good starting point, even for a once off session...you won't be short of options being based in the city centre either.

sew_lo wrote: »

I'm veggie and also looking for advice diet, I'm not the best at coming up with healthy dinners/lunches and snacks, (basically I have breakfast sorted!) :-) I live alone and I find cooking for one is diffic , so I cook for 3 and eat it all. :-) (I've looked at the sticky just if anyone has any veggie/solo shopping/cooking tips, they are very welcome)

Scrap the above then if you've read the stickies already. The same rules apply though, but obviously you'll have to work around things a little...in particular your protein intake. Are you lacto-ovo?

sew_lo

cmyk wrote: »

Scrap the above then if you've read the stickies already. The same rules apply though, but obviously you'll have to work around things a little...in particular your protein intake. Are you lacto-ovo?

I am. I eat a moderate to large amount of dairy, huge cheese fan. I also eat quorn, fake chicken & mince. Iron has never been an issue for me, I do get lazy and eat just carbs for dinner, I can't get enough of mash potatoes! :-)

Thank you.

Gummy Panda

If you have a the disposable income, hire a personal trainer to make you a program and diet. There would be several that would have experience with restrictive diets.

Zombienosh

Hey!
First of all, Well done on taking the first steps.
I don't know how the Markievicz Centre works but I'm sure you can call in for a "tour" a look around and sort of joining then and there. Also I don't know what the trainer situation is there, but usually you'll get a basic starter plan made up and maybe diet will be briefly discussed. (Based on my own experiences in previous gyms)

When I started out I was given some diet advice from various people and when it came to protein everyone was keen on meats. I'm a vegetarian, have been for a while and for me I had to do a lot of research and learning myself to make sure I could get just as much protein as any meat eater.

You'll have to learn to love (if you don't already):

Soya Beans*/Tofu/Soya Mince/Quorn Meats)
Beans - (kidney beans, butter beans, chickpeas, etc)
Nuts - Great sources of protein and great for snacks, things like Almonds are always in the shopping basket. Also peanut butter is a must.
Lentils - another great ingredient for dishes.
Quinoa* - This is probably one of the best sources of vegan protein along with soya beans as it is a complete protein, meaning it has all essential amino acids.
Dairy - another good source, cheeses, Cheddar/cottage etc.
Eggs - a lot of people just eat whites, but yolks are good too.
Avocados/Broccoli/Spinach/peas/hemp/asparagus - All good too.

To start with you should be able to get more than enough from your diet, further down the line you could also add protein shakes.

cmyk

sew_lo wrote: »

I am. I eat a moderate to large amount of dairy, huge cheese fan. I also eat quorn, fake chicken & mince. Iron has never been an issue for me, I do get lazy and eat just carbs for dinner, I can't get enough of mash potatoes! :-)

That may be the first port of call for you. Start sticking your daily diet into an online calorie counter and see what you're overall calories (and macros) tally up to. It may mean weighing and measuring for a little while, but most people eat similar foods and quantities on a daily basis so once you get an idea you can estimate it by glance.

I have no comment on the fake chicken/mince etc. as I know very little about it.

There's nothing wrong with dairy if you tolerate it, but bear in mind, the likes of cheese are predominantly fat, again no big issue, however it does pack more calories per serving than either carbs or protein, something else to bear in mind.

sew_lo wrote: »

Thank you.

You're very welcome. Any other questions fire ahead.

tmc86

sew_lo wrote: »

I live alone and I find cooking for one is diffic , so I cook for 3 and eat it all. :-) (I've looked at the sticky just if anyone has any veggie/solo shopping/cooking tips, they are very welcome)

Without re-iterating previous points on excersise and diet a simple solution to your problem here is to cook for 2 but instead of eating it all, save 2 portions for lunch/dinner the following day. It will be cheaper and you'll save time on the days that you don't need to cook. This saved time can then be used for exercise so there are no excuses! plus you'll have something ready to eat when you get back from the gym etc.

CMYK's suggestion of a calorie counter is very good advice and in order to start losing weight you need to work out what your daily macros are and then try to eat a deficit of calories daily/weekly.

On first glance, you should definitely try and limit your carbs particularly white carbs such as pasta, potatoes etc. Try to replace these with lots of green veg or if you struggle you can substitute with brown rice/sweet potatoes etc. I reckon if you cut out your starchy white carbs for a few weeks and concentrated on veg and proteins, you should notice a change quite quickly (coupled with a calorie deficit and execersise obviously).

Best of luck!

Thud

Zombienosh wrote: »

Eggs - a lot of people just eat whites, but yolks are good too.

do veggies eat eggs?

Bigus

Maybe start a simple bit of cycling to,get you going, no complications , no recurring fees, can be done covertly , it's a start and build from there, worked for me big time. If you start now at the weekends you could be flying by the spring and e long Eve's.

Zombienosh

Thud wrote: »

do veggies eat eggs?

Some do, lacto-ovo, which she said she is.

Ante9

1.How serious 'bout vegetarian r u?
2.There's no muscles without meat.And I don't mean big muscles,I mean muscles that burns fat.
3.What kind of body "do u own" - http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm ?
4.How serious about gettin' fit r u and what's u'r inside motives?

fatmammycat

Ante9 wrote: »

1.How serious 'bout vegetarian r u?
2.There's no muscles without meat.And I don't mean big muscles,I mean muscles that burns fat.

Yeah, all those non muscled horses and elephants are just wasting away on their crazy meat free diets. Seriously.:rolleyes:

Gummy Panda

fatmammycat wrote: »

Yeah, all those non muscled horses and elephants are just wasting away on their crazy meat free diets. Seriously.:rolleyes:

Didn't know they had the same digestive system as us

fatmammycat

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Didn't know they had the same digestive system as us

I never said they had.

Sangre

fatmammycat wrote: »

Yeah, all those non muscled horses and elephants are just wasting away on their crazy meat free diets. Seriously.:rolleyes:

Bro, do you even graze?

cmyk

Ante9 wrote: »

1.How serious 'bout vegetarian r u?

This is really not very helpful.

Zombienosh

As usual every thread that even hints at vegetarianism or veganism in this forum will lead to " you cant have muscles without meat bro"

JimmyCrackCorn

Hope this helps.

Best of luck OP. I can understand you being nervous, I was nervous also when I realised I had to do something.

I jogged at night, trained when the gym was quiet ect. But once you get into the swing of it it gets easier and easier....


Start Slow.
Every-time I tried to get fit before I expected to be fantastic from day one. I wasn't.

It takes time to get started and see improvements and I still find improvements slow and sometimes frustrating. But with time and effort you get there.

Start slow


Keep track of things.

• Weight
• Distance/PACE/Weight/Weight Lifted/Days you went to the GYM

Useful tracking tools I use:

• MyFitnessPal
• Runmeter/Runkeeper
• DailyMile
• An A4 Sheet of paper on the bedroom mirror with the months goals broken down by day
• Photos of reseeding beer gut, First one holding a mars bar (I ate it afterwards but thats just me)

Have fun doing it

Do what you enjoy doing.

If you like to run run.
If you like to do Yoga do Yoga.
If you like pole dancing do that.

As long as you work up a sweat and control your diet they will all do the trick.

Motivation:

For me it was a combination of being very unhappy at the size of my beer gut and having a goal to aim for. An extreme one but it was a goal.

The truth was it was a pub bet at 4:30am while blind drunk that I made stick.

It really helped that I had people around me to motivate me in a healthy competition. I told people I was going to do it and the less they believed me the more I was determined to do it.

I also had words of encouragement.

If you can rope people in to train with you and perhaps share lifts etc it makes it harder to get out of doing it.

If you have any buttons or stubbornness use it to your advantage.


DIET:

A healthy calorie controlled diet is Key....
You cannot out train a bad diet. Iv tried, you just can't it sucks.

There are healthy eating plans all over the internet and with Operation transformation and 100 other loose weight tv shows meal plans are everywhere.

MyFitnessPal was invaluable when I started out as it does almost everything for you.

The good news is you can still have the odd treats, you dont need to live on grass and twigs. There is plenty of scope to eat healthy with the odd treat.


GOALS:

Set Goals. Make them realistic but set them. If you miss them that's not a huge issue but you need to have them to move towards something.......

Iv missed more Goals than I can remember but only get disappointed if I slip backwards.

When you start out you will likely do what I did and set superhuman goals. In a couple of weeks you should have an idea of what a realistic goal is.

e.g Go running twice a week....
Got to Gym three times a week.....

Not..
Run 5k in first week if you were like me and couldn't manage 1k

Telling people your goals makes you more likely to stick to them


What i learned the hard way

See point 1. Start slow add little bits as you go....

Don't just completely change every aspect of your life overnight if you'll find it difficult to stick to and get disheartened.

Its more important to be consistent than to to go all out for a week then do nothing the next week..... Regular workouts work best.

Bad days happen. One day your on fire, other days you feel like you shouldn't have bothered.... It still counts as a regular workout Job Done......

Weighing scales mean feck all..... Iv been the same weight now for 6 months but I'm fitter leaner and don't have a beer gut. (Muscle is heavier than fat)

If your unsure of how to do an exercise ask someone qualified or find a reputable internet site for correct technique. Do not look at someone in the Gym using the machine before you so many are doing it wrong....

Do something, something even something small is better than doing nothing...

sew_lo

OK let's level the veggie discussion for another thread. I am veggie and shall be remaining so. For or against veggie comments are unhelpful and off topic. Thank you very much. :-)

Thank you so much for all comments, I've been working solidly all weekend so didn't have a chance to reply. But I've been walking everywhere and monitoring everything I eat and choosing the healthy option. Thank you all very much, I'm sure I'll have lots more questions in the coming days. :-)

JimmyCrackCorn

You can substitute meat not really an issue just planning.

Allot of folk here use supplements to up the level of protein in there diet.

Certain Cheeses and eggs etc can be used before hitting Whey......

Well worth a new thread...