Help! trying to get in shape!

[kibbles]

So ive been lurking your forums for a long time now, even applied on my NE druid a while ago (during Naxx days) so im fully aware of how most of you guys are, which is why Im asking for your advice.


Im a fatass, plain and simple cant sugar coat it (no pun). But I want to start losing weight and getting in shape. I have a few obstacles tho.


1-I drink way to much soda, i recently bought a water thing and get the 5 gallon jugs delievered to my house, Ive only had 3 sodas in the past week but its like a withdrawl almost. Gatorade is good, but I hear conflicting things on how good it is.

2-I have 2 roomates, but none of us cook and they live off fast food but they never gain weight, so the temptation for that Taco Bell or In-N-Out burger doesnt go away as easily

3-I dont know what to buy food wise, I can go to a store and think "fruits and veggies are nice and snack foods are bad" but it ends there and I really dont know what else to get.

4-The apartments I live in has a gym/weight room I can go to, I was going to a 24 hour fitness but one time I woke up early to go meet a trainer, didnt eat breakfast and passed out at the gym and woke up with a bunch of ppl over me and it was kinda embarassing. I never went back.


anything that can help me out Im open to listen to try. my budget is also semi flexible

[Kold]

1-I drink way to much soda, i recently bought a water thing and get the 5 gallon jugs delievered to my house, Ive only had 3 sodas in the past week but its like a withdrawl almost. Gatorade is good, but I hear conflicting things on how good it is.

Don't bother with the Gatorade. While it's good for hydration during intense workouts or endurance sports, you shouldn't drink it normally throughout the day as it's just a bunch of empty calories like soda. Get used to drinking lots of water and green tea. Propel, Crystal Light, etc. all make little packets that you can dump into a bottle of water to add a some flavor and vitamins. They usually only have 5-10 calories so are much better than juice, soda, or Gatorade. I use the Propel Kiwi Strawberry ones myself.

2-I have 2 roomates, but none of us cook and they live off fast food but they never gain weight, so the temptation for that Taco Bell or In-N-Out burger doesnt go away as easily

Goals are achieved through sacrifice. You don't have to give up the fast food entirely, but you want to make sure your diet is 85-90% clean at least. When you do have cheat meals, don't go overboard with a supersized value meal with a huge soda. Just get a burger, small fries, and a water to keep the calorie count down. Keep your meals under 750 calories. Your body isn't really going to need more than that at once.

3-I dont know what to buy food wise, I can go to a store and think "fruits and veggies are nice and snack foods are bad" but it ends there and I really dont know what else to get.

Fruits/Veggies (any)
Lean Meats (turkey, chicken, tuna/fish, beef)
Whole Grains (100% whole wheat breads, wraps, or pasta, although pasta in moderation)
Low-fat Dairy (milk, cottage cheese, string cheese, yogurt - i stick to organic yogurt as most brands are loaded w/ excess sugar)
Oatmeal (normal oatmeal, not the sugar-laden instant oatmeals)
Healthy fats (olive oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil, natural peanut butter, nuts)
Eggs
Protein Powder

While that list may seem short, there are a million ways to mix all those ingredients into various sandwiches, pastas, smoothies, and other tasty meals. Be creative. Eat 6-8 small meals a day. That's basically a meal/snack every 2-3 hours. Initially you won't have to really count calories. Just eating the foods on that list while working out should give you a lot of results. Down the line, you may need to optimize your calorie intake if progress stalls.

Here's the Men's Health ABS Diet food list which is pretty good as well.
http://www.absdiet.com/uof/absdiet/flas ... lseye.html

4-The apartments I live in has a gym/weight room I can go to, I was going to a 24 hour fitness but one time I woke up early to go meet a trainer, didnt eat breakfast and passed out at the gym and woke up with a bunch of ppl over me and it was kinda embarassing. I never went back.

So eat before you go to the gym and don't force morning workouts if you're not a morning person; just do it at night. Your body likely prefers an afternoon/night workout anyway. Find a workout and stick to it. Consistency is key. Men's Health magazine always has some fairly simple workouts that are good for beginners. Just find something simple initially. Lift 3 days a week, do cardio another 2-3. For cardio, don't do 40 minute treadmill runs, do HIIT: takes less time and burns more calories - google it. You can adjust your workout down the road once you find out what you like, but your goal now should be to find something you can stick with.

[NJL52]

Pretty weird that I find better training information on a WoW guild forum then I do from the many trainers and recreationists I've talked to at my gym.

You ask what HIIT is to one of those 400 dollar per hour "professional" personal trainers and they will tell you it's some sort of karate class.

[Geeman]

What most people don't know is kold is actually Magnus Samuelson. True story.

[kibbles]

Thanks for the response kold, im shopping around and am going to start mixing around to see what I like best and helps me out.

question tho, any replacements for dairy, anything but cheese gets me really sick and soy milk doesnt sit well either. Can i keep the diet off string cheese alone? or is there any other substitute?

[Kold]

You can manage without dairy. It's just a good source of calcium/protein. Not mandatory. Calcium aids in weight loss, among other things, so make sure you get it from another source at least.

[greekrefugee]

Yar. Throw in a good multi-vitamin. http://www.puritanspride.com is where I shop, but there are a ton of good places. I developed a mild lactose intolerance, and was using lactaid for a while, but it actually seemed to go away now that I've been getting back into shape. I use milk when I make shakes, and in cereal, and it doesn't bother me anymore. Who knows. Gaining a lot of weight and leading a sedentary lifestyle really wreaks havoc on your body, so you'll notice a lot of changes as you eat better and shed the weight.

[Scopar]

I always tell people, if you don't like gyms (or have never been in one), find an aerobic sport.

I've never in my life ever been overweight, even when playing wow for ungogly hours. My metabolism isn't that great either. I don't pay any attention to what I eat. But I'm *always* playing some sport. It's exercise + fun, unlike gyms for people like me.

[kibbles]

ok so a lil update on me, and looking for input if im doing this right, this is a typical work day for me

Wake up-Noon-Take 1 multi-vitamin and 1 calcium pill thing plus a banana or an orange/1 piece of toast

2pm-get to work, another banana or fruit (apple, orange, etc)

5pm-Lunch time at work usually a piece of chicken made the day before grilled, lightly seasoned and some whtie rice

8pm-Light snack, mixed nuts or another banana

midnight-come home from work, piece of toast, another vitamin/calcium

12:30 work out for an hour or so, mainly cardio.

1:30-3:00 am a lil wow, do the dailies, snack on another piece of fruit.

3:30 sleep.


my non work days I usually do a lighter work out at 4:30(gotta be done before raid) and then again a light work out at midnight

[greekrefugee]

I like to do: wake up meal-snack-meal-snack-meal-snack bed at 3 hour intervals, with 6 hours of sleep (optimal). My morning and evening meals are typically full shakes (fruits, nuts, peanut butter, whey, milk, etc). My afternoon is my big meal, typically made the night before, or I'll cook something fancier and get a few days out of it. My snacks are pretty much anything: fruit, *good* granola bars, nuts, pb&j, bread (whole wheat w flax seed) and hummus, cheese and olives, whatever. I find that alternating the snacks and the meals works best, as I'm out and/or on my feet a lot, so 6+ hours w/out a meal can be a pain.

[kibbles]

for meals, what should I be looking at? Im so used to eating heavy that im still kinda hungry after a meal, 1 grilled chicken breast + rice isnt a lot. I also find myself watching the clock just to get that snack in even at work im on the forklift more than Im stacking pallets or anything.

I know this going to be tough for me, but im so tired of being the fat ass =/. Anything to speed up the weight loss and get healthy :| :|
myspace.com/thedevilisrising

[Milu]

cutting soda out completely does wonders for the body, making sure you drop that habit would be number one.

diet is good, but without the exercise you aren't getting the full benefit from your time. try to stick to cardio (running, swimming, biking, racquetball, etc) as many times a week as you can.

lifting tends to build muscle mass, which might not be a bad thing either, you should consider lifting a couple times a week to at least tone.

your body will feel so much better and it will really push you to keep on going!

[kibbles]

My job consists of a lot of heavy lifting, Air Cargo for Delta Airlines. I have plenty of muscle, im not worried about that, its more my gut and my man boobs

[Anthaya]

Do simple stuff. After all my years of wrestling I learned you mainly lift to get power then you do aerobic and basic stuff to get in shape. Why not try doing pushups, situps, work up how many pullups you can do, varying crunches to work different parts of your abs, etc.. Pure physical strength is one thing if that's what you want. But you could try a median. Personally I do pushups mid raid when I die to trash . For my aerobic workout I play racquetball everyday. Find something you can do that you enjoy like scopar said. Have some kind of sport that you can do solo, or if you have a friend(s) that will do it with you then sure. That's the main reason why I started playing racquetball. 80% of the time I'm in there solo just playing myself, or the wall if you wanna say that, and usually I fluctuate between going really intensely to going really light to catch up and relax. Maybe, if it's available, spend some time in the sauna. It's apparently really healthy to spend some time in there every so often.

[greekrefugee]

http://www.crossfit.com

Read it, read ALL of the FAQ at least once it. Download the free issue of their journal that covers their overall aim, and basic fitness.

If you're getting that much lifting as part of your job, then i would focus on diet (and by diet i mean the quality of what you eat, and not necessarily "x diet"). You sound like you're burning a lot of energy at your job, so if you find yourself being hungry an hour before a snack or meal is due, eat a more for your snacks. You have to listen to your body, and if you try and change your diet drasticly, while your job requires physical labor, you will hurt yourself. The shift to good eating will help, and you will start using up your fat stores for energy while you're working. Gymnastics and yoga will increase your flexiblity, overall health, and will help burn fat, and also strenghten stabilizer muscles, which will increase your overall physical performance. Sprint drills will burn fat like a mofo. Even elliptical, bike, stairmaster machines at a gym will help with that.

Your body will get into "ruts." So with so much physical labor at your job, I'd focus on mixing up manageable aerobic exercises and diet, let your body adjust, see what the results are, and then take it from there.