Hello!

[Zithoxpadeq]

Hello everyone! I am completely new to Nerd Fitness, but have seen some incredible results from the members. My ultimate goal is to lose close to 200 pounds. I currently weigh 450 pounds and want to be around 260. I've begun to eat less and eat healthier. Two days ago I started exercising and learned just how out of shape I am. I am working on a blog to keep track of everything that I do, eat, and somewhere to vent my frustrations. By using Excel spreadsheets, I'm attempting to micromanage my life and control every little thing in order to help, it's very important to me that I am able to get all of this weight off and get in shape. I can't wait until I am a success story and able to post after pictures!

[thegingerdances]

Hello, and welcome!  You've got a long journey ahead of you, but rest assured--lots of Nerds here have achieved similar goals or are working toward them! You can do this!  Keeping track of food and movement is a really important step.  What kinds of exercises are you doing?

 

Congrats on getting started!  Without the first step, the journey can't begin.  

 

[Zithoxpadeq]

39 minutes ago, thegingerdances said:

 What kinds of exercises are you doing?

So far, I've just been using either the treadmill or the Level 1 A/B exercises on NF. However, I bought a battle rope and a sandbag and will be incorporating those into my routines as well.

[Jaelinn]

Hello!

 

It seems you've got your work cut out for you! You can do it!  It's good to see that you have already taken action! Remember Steve's immortal words that "diet is 80-90% of the battle". Don't exhaust yourself by trying to do too many things all at once, but take small steps to improve your health gradually! Consider checking out the challenges, the beginner ones are nice and achievable, and great for building confidence. 

 

Good luck! 

[thegingerdances]

21 hours ago, Zithoxpadeq said:

So far, I've just been using either the treadmill or the Level 1 A/B exercises on NF. However, I bought a battle rope and a sandbag and will be incorporating those into my routines as well.

That sounds awesome!!  Jaelinn's excellent advice applies to incorporating new routines into your fitness.  I got a little overenthusiastic with my first fitness attempts and couldn't climb the stairs to my fourth story apartment for three days--whew!  I learned to start small.  Still, if you want to try something new because you're passionate about it and love doing it, go for it!  If it's sustainable, fun, and healthy, then enjoy it.  Good luck!  

[Zithoxpadeq]

I appreciate everyone's advice. Believe me, I need all the help I can get.

[Igaduma]

200 pounds... That is quite an objective

Do you have any short term goals?

Small victories help you to stay motivated...

[Zithoxpadeq]

2 hours ago, Igaduma said:

200 pounds... That is quite an objective

Do you have any short term goals?

I know... I am hoping it's not as bad as it sounds lol

I'm trying to set up little goals and some loot, but find myself lacking a lot of ideas. Most of my goals are to be minus a certain amount of weight or being able to do certian things I can't, like a pull up or to be able to run a set distance without stopping.

[Igaduma]

those are perfectly fine as goals.

you could also make goals like "don't drink soda for a week".

 

btw, do you walk?  I use walking to spend a lot of calories.  It's gentle on the knees.  Personally I can keep going FAR FAR longer when walking than when running.  It does (obviously) take a lot more time though.

[Traxex]

9 minutes ago, Zithoxpadeq said:

Most of my goals are to be minus a certain amount of weight or being able to do certain things I can't, like a pull up or to be able to run a set distance without stopping.

 

Hopefully without sounding insensitive, those are huge goals at your current weight. Some people at your goal weight can't do one pull up. 

 

I encourage you to refresh yourself on the idea of SMART goals (most commonly defined as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) and to take your goals and break them into teeny tiny pieces. Then focus on one piece at a time.

 

Maybe something like this would be a better idea of good goals. Remember, if they sound too easy, they are good goals to set. You want them to be achievable! 

• Eat at a 500 calorie deficit at least 4 out of 7 days this week. 
• flexed arm hang (or hollow hold if that's your level) for 10 seconds at least 2 days this week. 
• Go for a 10 minute walk at least 2 days this week.
• Stretch for 5 minutes at least 3 days this week. 
• Do the dishes after dinner at least 4 nights this week. <-- my own personal bear. I hate dishes.

The reason I like to set goals like these for myself are because:

1. they leave room to grow. if I nail 4/7 days then the next week or challenge I can aim for 5/7. then 6/7. 
2. another example of growth: 10 seconds FAH turns into 20 seconds. Flexed arm hangs turn to weighted flexed arm hangs, turns to pull up negatives, turns to chin ups turns to pull ups. 
3. They are goals spread across a variety of topics. Diet, exercise, personal life. You become more well rounded.
4. not only can you complete these goals, you can surpass them. Which feels great. Did the dishes 5 times instead of 4? You just surpassed your goal. Woot! 

 

Well that got long quickly. Sorry about that. But Hopefully you found something useful in my rambling <3

[Zithoxpadeq]

8 minutes ago, Igaduma said:

btw, do you walk?  I use walking to spend a lot of calories.

 

I do. I have a treadmill at my house that I use. Once it gets cooler out I would like to go outside and walk.

 

9 minutes ago, Lifter5 said:

 

Hopefully without sounding insensitive, those are huge goals at your current weight. Some people at your goal weight can't do one pull up. 

 

I worked on setting up little goals to encourage myself and that will help me reach the bigger goals. I know that there are a lot of things that I will never be able to do because of my size (height/broadness, not just weight), but I would still like to push myself as hard as I can to get to the point where I can make a decent attempt. I also found a lot useful in your rambling lol

[K_man]

Hello and welcome to the community Zithoxpadeq! I can see from your posts that you are quite excited to get your fitness underway and that is great. You have already got a lot of sound advice from the community about short term goals and not being able to out run your fork etc. etc. It sounds like you got a decent at home setup for working out, thats a good way to get results without spending a ton of cash on monthly memberships. 

 

I think that for someone in your situation keeping track of everything in spreadsheets can be a great idea, but don't obsess over the details, remember that spread sheets are great for showing long term trends not immediate results. Also have you came across the 4-week challenges? there will be a new one starting up soon, I think you should join it. The time duration is perfect for making routines and it is encouraged to pick small achievable goals in these challenges. I think this could help you with building good habits, and is also a great reward system. Looking at peoples past challenges is also a great way to get ideas.

 

That is my opinions, hopefully they help!

 

 

 

[Igaduma]

14 minutes ago, K_man said:

not being able to out run your fork

In dutch we have a saying "ieder pondje komt door het mondje" which roughly translates to "every pound enters through your mouth".

Your mouth is *the* place to fight your weight.

[Altamarie]

These are some intense goals and I wish you the best of luck with them!

I agree with what a lot of other Rebels are saying find small goals to keep you motivated even if it just breaking up the weight loss into chunks and getting loot for every 20lbs or something. Good to hear changes are happening and we are all here to help 

[thegingerdances]

Small goals are awesome!  Gaining weight was REALLY hard for me when I couldn't eat, and so tracking pounds ending up being really stressful.  It was much easier to set goals that I could achieve, whether or not my body was responding the way I wanted to: eating x number of meals a day, going up the stairs so many times a day, going for walks after every meal.  Those goals were much easier to celebrate and ended up helping me in my weight gain goals!  I'd recommend setting goals for things like doing x number of Level A/B workouts a week, going for walks every day, and eating so many vegetables a day.  

 

Anyway, good luck!  Ask us if you have any questions or want any advice (clearly, we have plenty).  Again, we're celebrating you as you start your quest!