Working on getting in shape

[powerpc127]

Hey everybody!

My name's Peter and I just joined. I've used some forums before, but never to get in shape. I've always considered my fitness a very personal journey that I never really shared with anyone, but I'm hoping that in joining this site I can be held much more accountable for my workouts and can bounce ideas and questions off of some other people. I'll tell you my story if you care to read it, but I'm doing it mostly to assess where I am and where I want to go. Feel free to skip to the end unless I fascinate you or something.

[rant]

 

Out of high school I took a year off and worked in a restaurant a few blocks from my house. I subsequently ate restaurant food quite a bit. In my free time, I also played a lot of video games. Thus, I gained plenty of weight without realizing it. I was never fat before then, but I was never really fit either. I remember eating dinner with my grandmother that winter after 6 months of fattening up and she watched me finish a large pasta dish, then eat someone else's unfinished meal. She, herself about 300 pounds, told me that if I kept eating that way I would get fat. After looking at myself in the mirror a few days later and weighing in at 210 lbs (I'm 6'2"), I finally took it to heart and started to get healthy.

I began simply with dietary changes. I eliminated sweets from my diet, cut way back on meats and carbs, and ate a mostly fruit and vegetable based diet. I plateaued after losing 20 lbs while still not working out, and then decided to get some cardio as well. I started by jogging anywhere I needed to go, but not going out of my way to get exercise. Eventually I picked up cycling, and by the end of the summer I was riding every day and had lost 35-ish lbs. At my lowest, I reached almost 160 lbs., but had next to no upper body muscle mass.

 

I continued cycling daily during my first semester of college, but sort of fell off after that. Having a buffet style meal three times a day at school did not help my fitness, especially after the quality of the vegetables got so bad that I stopped eating salads. I also started drinking, and now I can put down booze as well as any frat star (though I keep it to weekends). Every finals rush my diet would go right out the window as well, and I would order way more pizza than I care to admit so I could keep studying. Not to mention my caffeine of choice was mountain dew. I tried several times to get a gym routine worked out since I had free access to one through my school, but my workload would always get in the way. Every year I would gain 5 or 10 pounds at school.

 

[/rant]

I'm currently 6'2" (that's not changing) and around 200 lbs, but I don't weigh myself often. I have one more semester of school to go this fall, and I'll be graduating in the winter. Seeing as this is my last summer break, my goal is to push myself very hard for the next three months, and then continue working out as much as I can fit into my schedule once I start my final semester. I'm trying to focus more on strength training using bodyweight exercises and less on losing weight and overdoing cardio. However, I do want to burn a lot of fat these next few months.

I currently work out three times a week doing squats, planks, and push ups. I also go for pretty long bike rides a few times a week (the number changes based on the weather). Any advice on incorporating more strength training into my workouts would be appreciated, as it's still a pretty new idea for me. I'll leave my introduction at that for now so I can scope out the boards a bit. I can't wait to get to know you folks and get myself in awesome shape.

[Shakeel_R]

First of al welcome. And second of all, kinda familiar situation. 

 

It is all in the mind, as long as your mind is to it, you can do whatever you want. 

[Yraen]

Welcome to the Rebellion Peter. It wouln't hurt to add pull ups or some other back exercise to your routine to avoid imbalance.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome aboard, you have some good goals, realistic and attainable.  I would recommend the beginner body weight workout to start with.