No Clue

[rketterman]

Obviously I'm new here and I'm clueless as to where to go from here so I'll just start with introductions

My name is Richard. I'm 27 years old and I'm overweight. This has caused some health issues that I've been told time and time again will go away if I lose weight with diet and exercise. I have high blood pressure(since I was 13) and asthma(since about 11). I've been coming to NF for a few months, reading articles and perusing the forums just to get an idea of what I could expect here.

Over the years countless doctors have told me that everything would fix itself if I worked to lose weight. It never really hit me until earlier this year when I went to the E.R. with chest pains. It was scary to say the least. After the bill was paid off I decided I would put some of that money to use with a gym membership so after a little research I joined a gym that met my needs (open and staffed 24 hours) and started working with a trainer. While I feel great when I go to the gym I haven't really been seeing results. That's when it hit me that my diet needed an overhaul. I didn't realize just how bad it was. My trainer has offered to help but I feel like this is one thing I NEED to do myself. I've done diets (atkins, low cal, etc) with other people telling me what to eat and when. I find that when I hold myself accountable on a daily basis I do better. And if others are telling me how to eat I often cheat when they aren't looking.

This isn't just for a diet or exercise though. It's for any aspect of my life. Self accountability is important but having someone (or a group) to answer to is also helpful. I'm ok on a day to day basis with answering to myself but long term goals I generally have to have someone to check in with. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway...my goals are pretty straight forward:

1. Lose weight (start small but ultimately at least 50 lbs)

2. Eat Healthier (like I said my diet needs overhauled)

3. Have a more fulfilling life (I love to travel and enjoy the outdoors but I don't take the initiative to do it)

4. Make it past 30 (which some doctors in the past have told me could be hard)

This seems like it's the kind of place for me. I enjoy games, movies, books, and all the wonderful thing the modern world seems to revolve around.

Now I'll stop rambling

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Good intro, welcome to the rebellion! This is a good place for support and ideas. You have some good goals, and you are wise to realize how much diet affects weight. What are you doing with your trainer? I'm finding that what works for me is a combination of strength training on MWF and I work on T,TH on getting up to where I can run 2 miles without stopping. The best workout for you is one you both enjoy and will keep doing.

[rketterman]

I've been doing strength training 3 days a week and interval training 2 days with 2 days of rest. I typically go in on days that I work so that I don't have to make a special trip out but I think I'm going to have to change that a little. There is no real pattern to the days I work out my rest days are random due to my work schedule and it can be confusing sometimes. Working in a restaurant I can't have a set schedule so I'm just going to start making a set schedule for my gym days if I can.

[Laureleye]

Not rambling - good intro. This is the place to be all right. I'm not crazy about the gym myself, so I'm doing body-weight workouts. I started doing that twice a week, two intervals a week, and one walk a week. I have bad knees, so I need to start off a little easier. Your take-away from this should be to start where you need to start. Glad you joined and I wish you success.

[wesb1898]

What type of strength training. Body weight (gymnastics) stuff and barbell workouts are your best options. Machines are best left as elaborate seating during rest periods. As for cleaning up your diet, a lot of the NF community is Paleo or Primal. I was in a very similar sounding situation as you when I came upon nerd fitness. I cleaned up my diet with a Primal mindset and haven't looked back. The biggest thing to realize is you are not doing a fad diet or workout scheme. You have to make life changing habit changes, which it sounds like you are wanting to do. This community will be there to congratulate your successes and kick your ass when you need it. Welcome to the Rebellion.

[rketterman]

I do use SOME machines on occasion. My trainer feels the same way about them. They just don't give you the same workout as barbells and body weight does. I've been doing squats, bench presses, pull downs, dead lifts, rows, lunges, dips, etc.

The whole fad diet vs life changes has been by biggest problem. I've done fad diets in the past that worked well but I couldn't stick to them. I've been looking into paleo and it makes sense to me. It also seems to fit my lifestyle. Working in a restaurant can have it's share of obstacles but with a culinary background I like the challenge of creating new foods that fit what I'm trying to do with my life.

My absolute biggest problem is the fact that my wife is the complete opposite of me. She is small and can eat just about anything without gaining an ounce. She hates vegetables unless its a starch or in the form of a chip (I'm convinced that she would be straight up carnivore if chocolate, peanut butter, and junkfood weren't 3 of her 4 food groups). She loves pasta and we have it at least once a week. She doesn't want to change her diet so I'm wondering if Paleo would work for her as well. She has no need to lose weight or get in shape so could she still benefit from paleo meals at home? When I've done low carb in the past it was so hard because she is a carbavore (yeah so much for carnivore theory).

[wesb1898]

She can definitely benefit from a Paleo diet. Paleo isn't just for weight loss. More energy, better sleep, less heartburn. The list goes on and on. As for having different meals, it is actually pretty easy to 'normalize' a Paleo meal.

For instance:

Make a spaghetti meat sauce. She gets noodles, you eat a double helping of just the thick, hearty sauce. And have some broccoli or a salad.

Make stir fry. She get rice, you just eat the good part (that's the stir fry, btw).

She wants a baked potato. You eat a baked sweet potato.

It sounds like your culinary knowledge is such that kitchen creating will be easy for you.

As for machines, the lat pull down isn't THAT bad. It has its uses for sure. Just stay away from hamstring curls and leg extensions and such. I threw up in my mouth a little typing about leg extensions.

[peacekeeper]

I completely agree with Wesb. Fad diets are short term solutions to a long term issue. Do not think of paleo as some kind of "diet". Paleo is nothing more than eating foods that are natural and unprocessed. Do not over think it. I love pasta!!!!! What I do for spaghetti is make a tomato sauce and then use a spiral slicer to make noodles frome zucchini. It is awesome!! I was also a big fan of potatoes, sweet potatoes are paleo and delicious. There are so many food options that are healthy and natural. Common sense is really all you need for the most part. Stay away from fast food, processed food, junk food. I had great luck with tracking everything I ate as well. I used myfitnesspal. It is free. I counted calories. Losing weight is just a matter of burning more calories than you take in. If you do not keep track of what you are eating, it is difficult to see where the problem is. I hope this helps. Keep it simple:adoration:

[wesb1898]

OMG!!! Spiral Slicers FTW!

[peacekeeper]

By the way, my wife is not eating healthy with me. It makes it hard, but stick with it. My wife is still supportive but still eats tons of junk food. I feel your pain.

[peacekeeper]

OMG!!! Spiral Slicers FTW!

Amazon.com has the spiral slicer I bought for$ 30. I love it!!

[Lydieboo]

My absolute biggest problem is the fact that my wife is the complete opposite of me.

I often wonder what will happen when I get into a relationship and am still eating paleo, so I'll probably learn more from you than you will from me. But as a newbie on the paleo diet (2 weeks for me) I would say the most important thing is to not look at it as a "diet." We've changed that word in our culture to mean a temporary patch to fix something before we go back to "normal" eating.

But "normal" eating is completely unhealthy. (Great example, I binged on some "healthy" wheat-flour cookies last night and it made my stomach massively unhappy today. I haven't had an upset stomach in 2 weeks until I had a wheat item.) Not to mention un-natural in the literal sense.

I'm not a marriage counselor, but a great way to get your wife onboard is to sit down and have a talk with her about how important changing your eating habits is to you. Even if she chooses not to change her habits, she can show that she cares about you by supporting your making that change. Even though you can't force her to be healthier, you can ask her to be involved by supporting your being healthier.

I'm really excited to see your results. Remember, though, it's a process, not a destination, and while achieving great results in 10 months sounds simple, that's 300 days of making one decision at a time. I know you can do it!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

It sounds like you have an awesome trainer who actually knows what he or she is doing and has you doing great exercises. You also have the basics of the workout down, just find a way to control what you eat so that it works for you.