Newbie Intro / Couple of Questions

[jcook793]

Hi all!

 

Quick background on me.  I've been "a little overweight" most of my adult life (I'm in my 40's now).  Every few years I've done calorie-counting diets to get things back in line, but as is always the case with those things, it doesn't stick.

 

A little over a year ago my wife and I made a major lifestyle change.  We sold our house and cars, threw our dog into a rental car and moved from a quiet suburb in the midwest out to live in downtown San Francisco.  This has resulted in a more healthy life in many ways.  Since we have no car, we easily walk over 5 miles per day on average and our dog loves it even more than we do!

 

We both lost weight initially, but that reached a plateau.  About six weeks ago I started doing the Paleo diet and I really love it.  I originally thought I would do it for a few months like the old calorie-counting diets.  But then I ended up loving the food and I can see myself doing this for the long haul.  I stumbled on NerdFitness today when I was reading up on criticisms of Paleo and this post reflected exactly how I think about it.

 

And then I started reading up on NF and I really like the idea.  I'm definitely a nerd, but was never really into RPG games.  So I'm still on the fence about joining up...

 

Now that I am walking around a lot more and my diet is in check (I don't cheat with food, but beer is a weakness that I need to work on more), I feel better than ever.  But I want to level up!  I've been interested in strength training, but I have zero knowledge about it.  So I have a few questions:

1. I read that it's important to have a specific goal, but I'm having a hard time coming up with one.  Maybe something like "30 minutes of strength training 3 times per week for a month"?  But that's a time-based goal and not achievement-based...  I dunno.
2. I don't know where to start with strength training at ALL, if you assume that I have never even lifted a weight then you are fairly close to the truth.  I saw this old blog post which looks interesting, but I have an old knee injury which limits me in some activities.  Basically I need to avoid any impact exercises - running and jumping jacks are completely out.
3. If I decided to join NF, should I consider starting the six-week challenge (tomorrow!) right away?  Or just wait for the next one?

 

Sorry about the long, rambling post!  But I had to start somewhere .

[Yraen]

Welcome to the Rebellion. As for your questions,

1. If a time based goal works for you then go for for it. You should set goals that you can obtain. It's about what works for you, not other people.

2. You can modify the workout if you need to. If running and jumping jacks are out of the question then don't do them. Find exercises that you can do, and that you enjoy and do them a lot. Just make sure to work every muscle group.

3. It's up to you. If you feel like it would be a good idea to join then join. If you think you should wait then wait. Also it's perfectly fine to join a challenge a bit late.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions just ask.

[jcook793]

Thanks for the reply!  Appreciate the answers, that's helpful.