new to NF, new to fitness, very ignorant.

[final]

Hello NERD FITNESS!

 

                    I`ve come to NF to interact with like-minded people (as opposed to web pages) about fitness, and seek out advice.

 

                    (This is typically the part of the post where I would NORMALLY give you the necessary run-down on any pertinent information.  Much like a person posting their PCs system specifications on a site concerning computer issues.  The truth is I know so LITTLE about fitness, that I do not even know what constitutes "pertinent information".  I know so little, that I do not even know what questions to ask.  The most I know to tell you is that I am male, 27, and have a tall and skinny body type. So not much more than you would get in one of those old school AOL chat rooms.) 

 

                    On January 1st I set out to quit smoking cigarettes and to quit drinking alcohol. So far cigarette free (since jan 1).  I had quit before for a short time long ago, but regressed back into cigarettes due to a number of external factors.  I am happy to say that this time (jan 1- feb 17), I was able to eliminate ALL external factors.  In terms of alcohol, I quit straight up on a mere decision for a solid 30 days.  I was under the impression I was an alcoholic.  But I think those alleging that may have been mistaken.  I quit alcohol up to the beginning of this month.  By this time, I had discerned that having the occasional drink or two under my own rigid terms and rules was a much stronger position than simply running as fast, and as far as I can from booze (which is what I did with cigarettes). At this point, I have only purchased one bottle of my favorite liquor.  Which serves as little more than a pre-bedtime night cap on nights where I have trouble sleeping.  That bottle is still around.  I like it to sit around for days on end.  Because in doing so it shits all over the faces of my so called friends who were completely unsupportive about quitting.

 

                    Skipping forward.   After having accomplished these two goals with RELATIVE ease as compared to my own expectations, I am ready and willing for more.  At the beginning of this month I felt some solidarity in my goals.  Around two weeks ago I decided to make the plunge into an overall lifestyle change, geared toward my own overall health and well being.  I thought that having a background in biology, and knowing how to do proper research would give me an edge. I, WAS, WRONG.

 

                    After over two weeks of overall research, with a focus on 'where to get started' I can safely say that not only did I not only find what I was looking for. But that I am actually less sure of my knowledge concerning health and overall fitness than I was when I started looking.  After two weeks of sifting through an endless array of supplements, diets, exercises, pills, regiments, and so on and so forth I knew that I was not getting anywhere.  If anything, I learned that what I DID know might not be true to the degree I had thought.  So after two weeks I was more confused than I was when I started.  I could not even hit the floor and start doing basic calisthenics without being unsure that I was being productive, or perhaps even doing harm.  If I have found anything truly solid in my two weeks of delving into the world of fitness and health, it is that the field of health and fitness are riddled with ever-diverging ideas and methodology which can only serve onlookers and potential health-nuts with an array of ways to waste time and money.

 

 

                    I know this is just an internet forum.  I know that few if any here are fitness experts.  I know that the people here can not give me some prefabricated set of answers on how to look like superman (in short I have no delusions or unreasonable expectations of anything concerning fitness and health advice from complete strangers).  All I am looking for at THIS point is where I should get started (which for all I know, is like asking you for the holy grail).  I just spent the last year sitting in an office chair in front of a computer, learning programming languages and being really nerdy.  I know I am out of shape.  I am not overweight in terms of body mass index.  I have just been really inactive physically.  I have yet to set any fitness goals because of my lack of a frame of reference for what is realistic within any given amount of time for myself.  All I KNOW I want to do is go about some sort of routine to improve myself physically.  I can at best estimate that most of my major muscle groups are atrophied to at least some extent.  Beyond that statement I would be speaking outside the bounds of my knowledge.  

 

                    This thread on this site is my first attempt to appeal to the collective experiences of ACTUAL people that have no vested interest in a product or method.  My hope is to get some kind of response that is at the very least, more conducive to the advancement of my knowledge than the maelstrom of word salad I have been wading through for the last two weeks.  Like I said I don`t expect a path to greatness, just something a bit more personal and insightful than the endless barrage of nonsensical things on the internet that ultimately want to sell me something.

 

 

A response from someone with a pulse would be nice.

 

 

 

[Pherales]

Morning!

 

I'm definitely no fitness expert, but welcome to the rebellion!  And congrats on the things you've already accomplished so far this year.  Giving up smoking is my next major lifestyle change, so we'll see how that one goes.

 

My first suggestion would be to read as much as you can around here.  So many people are either just starting out with fitness or got their start here it's not funny, so a lot of people can relate to your position.  The Beginners Fitness and Weight Loss section is great to start with.  A lot of good questions and answers there.

 

Figure out exactly what it is you want to achieve at the end as well.  For example, a runner is generally going to have a much different progression path to a weightlifter.  If you figure that out, then whichever guild your end goals are in line with can always help answer more specific questions about how you get started.  There's a very solid community here of people helping each other as best they can.

[MariahSnow]

Good morning and welcome to the Rebellion!

 

Congrats on quitting smoking! I've seen many people in my life struggle with quitting for years, quit for a few months, and fall back into it. So stick with it! As for the alcohol, everyone seems to have an opinion about what you do with your life, whether it's alcohol, diet, fitness, etc. Don't listen to them, listen to yourself and your body. I personally don't drink a lot of alcohol because it makes me feel like crap the next day. Other people, like my boyfriend, can drink a 6 pack and feel fine the next morning.

 

Now, about the fitness. The internet is riddled with "hot tips" and "best way to lose weight". Luckily, it sounds like you are trying to bulk up a bit instead of lose weight, so you can ignore that side of it. I haven't read any "bulk up" information lately, but I know that it probably involves eating like a 6-egg omelet every morning, drinking a gallon of whole milk a day, etc. Some of that just isn't practical. If you have a background in biology and you have a scientific mind, use that! You'll be able to tell when something is BS because it just won't make sense biologically. I'm a huge science nerd, and I apply that to my fitness. Set goals that are measurable and are controlled by one variable. So maybe for the first couple of weeks, just work on changing your diet and keep note (even if its just a mental note) about how you feel. Then you could start adding Beginner Bodyweight Routine and keep track of changes, like how many reps you can do each time, take pictures, etc. Make it like an experiment - observable, measurable, repeatable. 

 

At the end of the day, follow the simplest rules you can find. I'm a fan of Michael Pollan's diet plan: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." This sums up eating only real food, not processed. Controlling your portion sizes. And basing your diet off fruits and vegetables. It doesn't have any gimmicks. It's not a strict regulated plan where you need to ingest 50g of carbs within 30 minutes of working out and count how many grams of protein you get each day, etc. 

 

So you asked for some real-life experiences, tips, etc and that's actually the reason I'm responding. I'm 5'11 (depending on who you ask) and 155lbs. I've been this weight since I was 16. I ate burritos and tater tots daily in college and weighed 155lbs. I switched to vegetarian 3 years ago and still weighed 155lbs. I recently gave up vegetarian and still weigh 155lbs. About 4 years ago I started endurance running. At first it was just cardio a few times a week, but I got sucked into 10k's, half marathons, and last fall I was training for a marathon. I've done HIIT. I joined a bootcamp run by a retired Navy SEAL (which was just like Basic Training). Throughout all of this, I weighed 155lbs. So you can see a trend. From what you said, it seems like you might have the same issue. Check out Steve's article on hard-gainers. So basically it seems like whatever I do to my body - eat like crap, eat healthy, never work out, run 30 miles a week, my body stays the same. Since Jan 1 I have been weight training almost exclusively. I tell my friends I'm working out like a dude: 10 mins on a cardio machine to warm up, and then weights for 45 minutes. I've seen more changes in my body and strength in these 2ish months than I've seen in 4 years of whatever else I was doing. The training program I'm using started with following workouts from this blog and then I've catered my workouts to what I want to work on. For example, I really want to do pullups and one of the exercises that helps build up back strength is dumbbell rows, so I make sure to include those in my workouts. I'm also currently working on my pushups, so I always do some kind of chest exercises: bench presses, chest flyes, etc. I also have a glute-quad misconnection (I was told this by a Dr), so I always work on squats and lunges and really engaging the glutes.

 

I hope this was helpful. Sorry it was long. Set some goals like: 20 pushups in a set, post them up here, and we'll do what we can to steer you in the right direction!

[hearthsinger]

Mariah gave you some great advice. I'm a "loser" and not a "gainer" right now simply because I'm still considered obese and I'd like to take care of that rather than bulking up (though strength training can help with that. I digress). The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to start small and STICK to a plan. If you like the Beginner Bodyweight Routine, then make a pact that you'll stick with it for a month. Do the same for your diet. A lot of people love Paleo around here. Personally, I didn't choose that, but people here have found great success with it. I would say to start out, just look at where you can clean up your diet. Just don't overwhelm yourself. Make this sustainable! Month by month, you can change more and intensify your workouts. Can't wait to see how your journey progresses!