Hi there!!

[whitneyacrouch]

Hello all! My name's Whitney!! I'm brand new to the site, and blogging and/or message board-ing aren't my thing, so forgive my lack of literary flair :] I was just sitting here (on the couch, watching the Ricky Jervais show, being lazy) with my puppy dog and stumbled upon a Pinterest post about Spezzy, and my jaw dropped. I WANT to do that!! Only a few problems..

A) I'm afriad I won't know how. I have a lot of friends who go to the gym (mostly men) but all they ever do is walk in, go stright to the arm-related machines, and leave. They rarely touch a free weight or do any leg work. As you can imagine, they look like a man version of one of those 1980's barbies. You know.. the ones that look like upside down triangles? Crazy. I suppose I'm a little afraid of going in there and doing something incorrectly and either hurting myself (trust me, I could manage that easily), or looking like a complete idiot. Especially surrounded by those big, tan men who walk around with their chests all puffed out. And unfortunately, I think the free weights are smack in the middle of them all, sad and unused.

I will admit up front that I may or may not be kinda lazy. Sometimes. Okay, I am. And I hate it. I want so badly to be the person who always has energy and gets things done.. But I always end up the one on the couch. But I am committed to changing that, because, for god's sake I'm only 21. Shouldn't I have all the energy in the world? I know there will be tons of setbacks though. I suppose knowing that upfront and not letting that ruin my focus is a start.

C) I need to get control over my eating habits. I'm a huge foodie.. But in a mostly unhealthy way. (I saw somewhere on here where Steve mentioned Chipotle. My FAVORITE food in the world). But I also love pasta and potatoes and everything else that doctors probably frown at. I think this will be one of the biggest challenges I face. But I know that if I want to live a long, healthy life that I ought to start making these changes early on, so they don't turn into serious problems later. I guess thats not something you think about when you're 21? Either way, it ought to be.

How did this turn into a rant?? I guess I'm concerned about more than I thought. Is it too late to start the challenge?

I read what Steve posted about goals earlier and I'm working on writing those now.. trying to make them hard enough to motivate me, but not so difficult as to discourage me. I'll get em soon!!

Anyhow, I'd appreciate any and all help and advice. I'm a newbie to the game, and have no idea what to do!!

Thanks :]

[Bumblebee4]

Welcome Whitney!

As a fellow foodie I feel your pain but keep in mind that you don't have to give it all up cold turkey. Some people do and that works for them but for most of us, a slow progression works best. I love potatoes in any way shape or form but I want to be in great shape more so I skip them a lot now. And I love love love sweets. Like I used to eat apple pie for breakfast with coffee if it was in the house. But now I can turn all of those body wrecking foods down 80% of the time knowing that I'll allow myself a cheat meal on the weekend.

And the more paleo I go the more awesome recipes I am finding. Food that looks like it should be in a 5 star restaurant. Nom nom!

[Morrigainz]

Welcome!

The best thing you can do for the weights is just DO IT. I know it's intimidating, especially with all those crazy meatheads in there, but you can do it! And no one will care what you look like, because they're all too busy admiring themselves and flexing in the mirror.

Check out some of Steve's articles on weight training. Also check out the Barbarian Strength forum for pointers. Just start. You'll figure out what works and what doesn't, and learn to tweak workouts to your ability. It is overwhelming at first...but you can do it!

Many people like Stronglifts or Starting Strength. I'm following New Rules of Lifting for Women. There are lots of programs out there to help you!

Also lots of people here.

[So Late So Soon]

When i first started going to my gym i was nervous about looking like an idiot too but after about a week of doing free weight stuff this old man , later found out that his name is Jerry and had recently turned 79, who was in incredible shape came up to me and said "I've seen you in here a lot lately and you are the only kid I've seen who's more concerned about form than lifting a lot of weight and I respect that." Then as i was leaving the gym i bumped into him again and he said "I can tell that you are new to lifting so let me give you a bit of advice don't worry about what those meat heads in there think, when you and them are my age you'll be the one who can still bench press 200 lbs." needless to say that was my greatest gym moment to this day.

Sorry about that story but what i'm trying to say is that don't worry about looking like an idiot because the people who are too busy looking at what you're doing aren't the kind of people i'd want to know and I assume you wouldn't either. Oh and Welcome to NF don't be afraid to ask questions!

[timelovesahero]

As a fellow lazy person and a guy who loved to eat crappy food (anything with melted cheese or icecream), I offer my two cents. (1) If you are like me, the laziness stems from or is exacerbated by daunting long term goals. Cumulative small goals are easier. For example. A 30 page paper can be daunting, but by breaking it down in your mind to six 5-page papers that you tackle one at a time, and it becomes more manageable. Same with working out. When I first started working out, it was easy to give up when my goal was lose 20 pounds. It is so much easier to keep working out when I my goal is now "do 30 minutes of cardio then weights." I still want to lose those 20 pounds though. (2) The more I forced myself to eat healthy and limit crappy foods, the more I craved healthy foods. I no longer have unquenchable desire for Brownie Ice Cream, but I do want a salad right now.