Fat and unhappy, 34 yr old Yoga/workout advice??

[Tre4ISU]

A big Sincere thank you to everyone who posted. I really appreciate it. I am going to take a lot of this advice and get at it, its time. My ,"Ill start working out when I get this weight" thought just kept getting bigger and bigger. Sick of feeling tired all of the time and losing confidence in my self. So, here I go, thanks again Fanatics!!

I'll chime in here:

I was in a very similar situation as you. I am 6'1-2 but I found myself weighing about 260 pounds about 1 1/2 years ago. I decided something needed to change. I had a friend at Anytime Fitness so I started going there. I lifted and did 30-45 minutes on the elliptical. I started eating better but more than anything, just less. I still don't eat perfectly. So after about a year of that maybe 3-4 days per week, I was down to about 240. That workout started getting boring to me and I found I wasn't able to really push myself in that environment. I decided to do Insanity. I am now under 215 lbs and look/feel a lot better. I am in so much better shape and probably am in the best shape of my life. I would highly recommend Insanity but I would do soemthing a little less intense first.

[MNCyGuy]

It is definitely a problem. I would have to be very creative if I didn't have a lockerroom with a shower at work. You say you currently have a gym membership. Is there a gym that you could switch to that is closer to your work? Then you can cycle to the gym, shower and change, and cycle leisurely or walk the rest of the way to work ready to start your day.

If not riding everyday, I would encourage taking in multiple changes of clothes when you are driving so you don't have to carry a whole bunch and worry about wrinkling everything.

One other thing is if you can find someone to carpool into work with you might be able to just ride home from work occasionally. You still have to change but don't have to worry about showering since you can do that at home. Changing in a bathroom at work isn't ideal but okay once in a while.

I have read about a guy here in the Twin Cities who has a 25+ mile one way commute and does a towelette wash at work before starting his day. I don't think there is any way that would work for me and apparently not for you.

The logistics can be hairy but if you can work it out it can be pretty rewarding. Don't forget the gas ($$$!) you save each time you don't commute by car.

Yea, something to think about anyway.

Even with the baby, I'm pretty optimistic about hitting the ground running this summer. It's just so much easier to doe stuff like eat fresh fruits/vegetables and get out for walks/bikets once the weather turns nice.

[VeloClone]

Diet-
1. Don't drink any calories. Cut out all soda and any other calorie filled beverages. If you drink more than 20-40 ounces a day this will probably be 5-10 lbs right here.
2. Avoid processed foods. Eating whole foods will help you to avoid eating useless calories and eating too much. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats is what you're looking for. Nuts and beans are also great.
3. Get in a routine and plan ahead. Plan your meals and snacks out for each week and stick to it.
Exercise-
1. Weight training is extremely underrated for losing weight. This is one of the best ways to lose fat. Lift 2-4 times a week.
2. Run/bike 2-4 times a week. Avoid doing cardio on the same days as you weight train. I would lift Mon/Thur and run Tues/Fri.
3. Enroll in a yoga class.
If you do these six things I guarantee you will lose 40 lbs in a couple of months. I should write a self-help book right?

It can be a good idea to do just enough cardio to get your pulse and metabolism up on weight training day right before you start your weight training. Studies have shown that your metabolism stays higher during your weight training if you do this rather than weight training from a cold start.

EDIT: Just make sure you don't get up into the anaerobic zone.

[Tre4ISU]

Diet-
1. Don't drink any calories. Cut out all soda and any other calorie filled beverages. If you drink more than 20-40 ounces a day this will probably be 5-10 lbs right here.
2. Avoid processed foods. Eating whole foods will help you to avoid eating useless calories and eating too much. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats is what you're looking for. Nuts and beans are also great.
3. Get in a routine and plan ahead. Plan your meals and snacks out for each week and stick to it.
Exercise-
1. Weight training is extremely underrated for losing weight. This is one of the best ways to lose fat. Lift 2-4 times a week.
2. Run/bike 2-4 times a week. Avoid doing cardio on the same days as you weight train. I would lift Mon/Thur and run Tues/Fri.
3. Enroll in a yoga class.
If you do these six things I guarantee you will lose 40 lbs in a couple of months. I should write a self-help book right?

Agree on the lifting. It takes muscle burns more calories than fat. More muscle=more calories.

[jakemcilroy]

I'm 34 and just finished 7+ months on weight watchers and lost 59 pounds (249 to 190). It takes discipline, you can do a variety of things to get workouts and it lets you eat out a lot.

If your a #'s person, it works really well. Its not for everyone but I had great success it. The best part is the convenience...you can add an "app" to your phone, even a scanner to scan bar codes and get the points.

PM me if want more details.

[Clone5]

It can be a good idea to do just enough cardio to get your pulse and metabolism up on weight training day right before you start your weight training. Studies have shown that your metabolism stays higher during your weight training if you do this rather than weight training from a cold start.

EDIT: Just make sure you don't get up into the anaerobic zone.

Exactly. I should have pointed this out. You should definitely warm up before lifting somehow, whether that be a dynamic stretching routine or just biking 10-15 minutes, but avoid running for an extended period or anything like that.

[Cyclophile1]

I have good news for you. You are still in your prime.

I spent a decade "off" from any serious exercise while we had our kids and was overly focused on career growth. That was four years ago when I turned 40. Around that 40th birthday, my brother (who is 18 months older) needed a heart valve repair and a good friend from college had quadruple bypass. It was a tap on the shoulder to get off my butt. I had lost a bunch of muscle in that decade and put on probably 30 pounds of bad weight. I decided I needed to get off cruise control and get myself back in shape.

I started with P90X at home because I didn't want to drive to a gym and struggle in public. I struggled through that P90X session doing the best I could to keep up. It was hard with a knee that had been reconstructed from an ACL tear and MCL strain from HS football. I started a second round of P90X and did much better the second go round.

On diet, I eliminated all alcohol, sugar sodas and drinks, fried food and ships of any kind. I began to reduce my portion sizes somewhat on my meats and high sugar content fruits and increase them on my non-starch vegetables and lower sugar fruits. I'm lucky in that I like most vegetables.

After six months and 2 sessions of P90X and a more reasonable diet, I had lost 20 pounds total - my estimate was 4-5 pounds of muscle built and 25 pounds of fat lost. I lost inches off my waist, and some from the legs and hips and built them in my chest and shoulders. That was a great place to start for me.

I later bought the Insanity from the same folks that market P90X, and liked the cardio in that quite a lot. Four a couple of years then I would do a mix of P90X with Insanity, but I found this to be quite hard on my reconstructed knee and have changed in the past year to more interval resistance training at the gym.

I have evolved to my own programs at this point and go the gym 5 days per week. I'm a big fan of high intensity weight and resistance training and find that I get a great total body workout when done at a quick pace to fatigue the muscle groups I am working on - this has eliminated the need to do cardio machines like treadmill, bikes, ellipticals or stairs (which I find very boring). I am adding a lot more strength now and keeping the body fat in check and it's much easier on my knee (which is good after two surgeries on it - no more knee surgeries!).

My advice is to get started and find out what kinds of exercise you enjoy and what your body can do. Try a variety of things from classic cardio, interval weight training, and some resistance work like plyometrics. You might just start out with a run-walk program where you walk 90% and run/jog 10% of the time and gradually work up to running for 30-40 minutes.

You may not need to follow a formal plan for your meals, if you can eliminate the empty calories that can dominate our modern diets like I did. If you find you need one, the Weight Watchers plans are reasonable and pretty foolproof. I would strongly suggest as you get into your exercise schedule that you get at least 4 liters of water per day and I highly recommend a recovery drink post-exercise (especially for those of us who are 20-something anymore - makes a huge difference). Make sure you do enough stretching - I liked yoga as a different thing early but I don''t do it as a workout any longer, only occasionally for the stretching benefits.

Remember: you can do it! Stay positive and only listen to positive voices on your fitness. Don't entertain negative voices and attitudes and stay focused on just doing what you can today - let tomorrow take care of itself.

Cheers

[Doc]

I always thought a good way for sedentary individuals to start exercising would be to get addicted to Angry Birds or Civilization on your Iphone or Ipad, and then only allow yourself to play the game while sitting on the recumbent exercise bike at the gym. You'd look like a loser, but you would probably ride that thing for 2 hours a night

[brianhos]

This ? http://www.facebook.com/BodyRock.Tv

Wow. I may finally work out.

I cannot believe you of all people had never heard of bodyrock. Go find the ones on you tube with zuzana.

[bos]

I cannot believe you of all people had never heard of bodyrock. Go find the ones on you tube with zuzana.

There is still some mystery left in my world. I live another day.

[stateofmind]

Don't forget to take measurements of the neck, biceps, calves, hips, and waist.

I'm doing ActivTrax at the Y in Ankeny. It is a terrific program, (FREE, with Y membership). You work with a Y staffer to set up the system, then you tell it the type of program you are looking for like whole body workout, strength/bulk, tone, weight loss, etc. Then you tell it how many days and how long to work out on those days. I walk in on my lifting days and the iPhone optimized website tells me how many reps, on what machine, how long to wait. I'm in and out in 45 minutes on my whole body lift days.

I have yet to lose any weight, but I did it for strengthening the right muscles to eliminate all of the silly injuries. It seems to be helping a ton in the areas I was very weak. I hated lifting before, but I LOVE this program.

[MNCyGuy]

I always thought a good way for sedentary individuals to start exercising would be to get addicted to Angry Birds or Civilization on your Iphone or Ipad, and then only allow yourself to play the game while sitting on the recumbent exercise bike at the gym. You'd look like a loser, but you would probably ride that thing for 2 hours a night

I have an old friend from high school whose wife/gf told him he couldn't play World of Warcraft anymore if he didn't get his health in check, so he set up a treadmill computer station specifically for walking/jogging the whole time he plays the game.

[RayShimley]

I have an old friend from high school whose wife/gf told him he couldn't play World of Warcraft anymore if he didn't get his health in check, so he set up a treadmill computer station specifically for walking/jogging the whole time he plays the game.

And they say cigarettes are addictive.....

[MNCyGuy]

And they say cigarettes are addictive.....

Any different than watching sportscenter on a TV at the gym while you run?

[nhclone]

Good news, at your current level of fitness, you'll see results very quickly.

1) Use an online calculator to calculate "maintenance" calories, the calories needed to maintain your current weight.

2) Aim every single day to eat 500-1000 less than that number. Recent studies show you can actually go quite low with your daily intake without sacrificing lean body mass (LBM), especially at higher body fat percentages. However, those number will have you losing 1-2 pounds per week, and you should remain fairly comfortable. If you are okay going a little bit lower, go ahead and do it initially.

For weight loss, stop here. Diet is the beginning and the end of your weight, and nobody can out-train a a bad diet. However, I assume you fall into the 99% who care what kind of body composition they have, so here are some reccommendations:

Training:
Lift and lift heavy. Cardio is great, and do as much of that as you want (within reason) but definitely lift weights. If you don't want to go to a gym, bodyweight exercises are fine. Don't worry about doing more reps, that essentially becomes cardio. Keep the reps below 15.

Nutrition:
Aim for specific macronutrition goals for protein. 90-100 grams of protein and 45 grams of fat are good minimums for a guy your size. Fill the rest of your calories with whatever you want. It's the amount, not the type, of food you eat that really effects your weight.
Don't worry about eating X times per day or between such and such hours. Those things are irrelevant.

Good luck and stick to it!