Need to excercise, Contradicting Advice, Where to start?

Pivot Eoin

Hey everyone,

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes time to respond here.

So I want to WANT to excercise and go to gym, but I don't know how to GYM, hydrate, fuel properly. Can someone give me some pointers?

My aim is to lose weight, not bulk up. I'm 6'3", 250lbs. Want to get back down to about 210.

Everytime I go to Gym, I end up working out for 2 hours, hurting for days and not wanting to go back. I realize now this is the complete wrong approach.

What/When should I eat?
Do I need protein powder?

Thanks again. E

Eoinbmw

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Hey everyone,

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes time to respond here.

So I want to WANT to excercise and go to gym, but I don't know how to GYM, hydrate, fuel properly. Can someone give me some pointers?

My aim is to lose weight, not bulk up. I'm 6'3", 250lbs. Want to get back down to about 210.

Everytime I go to Gym, I end up working out for 2 hours, hurting for days and not wanting to go back. I realize now this is the complete wrong approach.

What/When should I eat?
Do I need protein powder?

Thanks again. E

When you say hurting do you mean DOMS from weight training?
That will pass with a regular weight programme 3/4 days a week.

Pivot Eoin

Eoinbmw wrote: »

When you say hurting do you mean DOMS from weight training?
That will pass with a regular weight programme 3/4 days a week.

Not sure what DOMS is tbh. Can you recommend somewhere I can find a good weight programme?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

delayed onset muscle soreness

Eoinbmw

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Maybe you could offer some advice then?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

marialouise

The pain you're describing happens after beginning new exercises. So if you go 3-4 times a week, it starts to hurt less and less. 2 hours is also way too long in my opinion, 1 hour or so is plenty but it depends on the quality not quantity.
A mixture of cardio and resistance training will help you maintain muscle and lose fat. Cardio is any of the activities which get your heart rate up (walking, cycling, etc) and then weight training helps your muscles to stay strong, and also as your muscles continue to recover after the gym session, you continue to burn bodyfat so don't neglect the weight training! A personal trainer in your gym might come up with a programme for you?

What to eat: What are you eating at the moment? Try and make small changes, like swapping fizzy drinks for water, cutting out sugar in your tea, or reducing 2 biscuits to 1 for example. The nutrition is probably more important than the gym, you could lose most of the weight without ever working out, simply by following a good nutrition plan!
In general you should aim for meals which balance protein, fats and carbohydrates, and which come from whole food sources as opposed to processed. 
Protein: meat (try for leaner cuts like chicken fillet, turkey, steak without the fat, lean mince etc and not processed hamburgers or breaded chicken for example), fish (cod, tuna, salmon, prawns etc), eggs, greek yoghurt.. Protein powder is just another way of getting protein, but you can get protein from all of these foods too, so you don't need it necessarily.
Healthy fats: Avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, seeds...
Carbohydrates: Oats, potato/Sweet potato, Brown rice, quinoa, etc. These are the things we tend to overeat on and portions of these should be monitored.
Try to limit junk food, sugars, takeaways, that sort of thing, and instead opt for some of the foods listed above. Eat plenty of vegetables to fill you up, eating healthy shouldn't leave you hungry! My dinner might be a chicken fillet or steak, 1 sweet potato and then half a plate of vegetables, it's very filling and not high in calories.

In time, you can start to track your calories using "MyFitnessPal" which is an app and a website. You type in your current weight and height, and then your goal which might be 1lb a week or so, and then it'll tell you how many calories to eat in a day. You can use a digital food scales to weigh your food at home and then you'll know how many calories you're taking in. This isn't necessary right away, just try and make small healthy lifestyle changes and then see how you go. Don't rush anything, it takes time.

Nutrition is a really broad subject, but really important. Here's a helpful and simple website:
https://authoritynutrition.com/healthy-eating-for-beginners/

I'm not going to recommend an exercise programme as that's not my forte, but I strongly recommend you just start going for a walk every day and then take a look at what your food intake is before you try and come up with a serious gym programme.

Water: Aim for maybe 2.5 litres a day? Anywhere from 2-4 litres is probably okay, it's really hard to do 2.5 every single day so start there (I have a flask which I refill so I know how much I've gotten through for the day).
When to eat: Whenever you want. Try not to go too long without eating as getting really hungry isn't fun and can lead to overeating later in the day. 3 meals a day never worked for me, then I tried 6 meals a day and it was a bit too much. Now I do like Breakfast, a small snack, a big lunch, a big snack, a late dinner and maybe something small before bed. 
Plan ahead. Stock up on good foods at the start of the week, maybe cook a few dinners or lunches in bulk and bring them with you in lunchboxes so you always have something yummy and healthy with you for when you haven't got access to decent food, or when you're too tired to cook.

Sorry for the long answer!!

First Up

Pivot Eoin wrote:

So I want to WANT to excercise and go to gym, but I don't know how to GYM, hydrate, fuel properly. Can someone give me some pointers?

Talk to one of the personal trainers in your gym. Most places offer an assessment and will suggest a balanced programme that suits you.

You shouldn't need to ask in here about advice on diet issues; the internet is full of it.

Pivot Eoin

marialouise wrote: »

Sorry for the long answer!!

No apology needed, great reply.

I'm not a complete noob, I am actually quite aware of what nutritional eating is, I've been down at 210 quite recently but a few years working like a MOFO on a computer and travelling led to this weight gain.

I was more referring to if there was anything specifically to eat (Like a banana) like 1-2 hours before, what to eat straight after etc... eating around a workout programme.

I've just never been a Gym head, and am trying to get into it more to have success, but by no means do I wanna be a meathead or Instagram Motivator douche, probably some of this has put me off the idea before. But realize most people are of course just going to be cool normal people.

Thanks all for the replies, keep em coming.

GalwayGrrrrrl

If you want to start weighlifting two popular programmes are Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rules Of Lifting (for men or women). If weightloss is your main goal focus on your diet primarily- weightloss is 80% diet 20% exercise.
Have a chat to the instructors at your gym first- they may be able to write you out a programme and they'll show you the safe way to use the equipment. Start light and not too long and gradually build up your weights and time to minimise soreness and reduce risk of injuries. Good luck.

marialouise

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

... working like a MOFO on a computer and travelling led to this weight gain.

I was more referring to if there was anything specifically to eat (Like a banana) like 1-2 hours before, what to eat straight after etc... eating around a workout programme.

Sorry if my post was a bit basic so! Ok well you've acknowledged what led to the weight gain, so knowing what food choices to make even when sedentary or very busy (what to shop for, what to pick when eating out, meal prep) is really important to change, otherwise you're fighting a losing battle that the gym won't fix. 
About peri-workout nutrition, the internet is full of advice on this. VERY general and completely variable guidelines might be: 
Pre-workout: slow release carbs for energy (oats, sweet potato), protein to help maintain and repair muscle (meat/fish, whey powder if you like) and fats to prolong/delay digestion of carbs (coconut oil, salmon as your protein, nuts, nut butter). This can be anywhere from 30 mins - 2 hrs before your workout depending on how you feel. Some people like to eat just beforehand, some people feel sick if they eat too close to a workout. Anyway eating right one day before a workout won't change much either, if you've eaten really well all week then you should be finding enough energy for the gym, if you've eaten rubbish all week then one meal isn't magically going to give you energy or gainz. 
Post-workout: A bit of protein to help repair the muscles and then carbs! Some might say fast-acting carbs (those carbs with sugar basically), some are fans of the slower release ones, I don't want to tell you which is for you or which is right. Read up on it and see which you prefer, some people like a meal of chicken, sweet potato etc, others want a bowl of coco pops. This should be quite soon after your workout within 30mins if you can manage it, within an hour is fine. Try not to leave it go too long anyway. 
Bodybuilding.com (as one example) has loads of articles on nutrition and training plans so if you feel like doing some of this research yourself it will help you understand *why* those foods are important at those times and then you can make your own choices instead of randomers like me suggesting what you should eat before the gym!