Advice on going to a gym...

Adam95GT

New Member
Aug 14, 2006
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Burlington, NJ
know this is kind of stupid... but ive gained some weight... doing alot of work and stuff for school and sitting around playing video games... im 5'10'' and weigh 212 right now and would like to get back down around 190 at least... 185 would be awesome...

I have 2 days a week when i have an hour and a half between classes where i could go to the college gym...

anyone who knows me knows im not the gym type... i played soccer for 15 years and since i stopped 4 years ago ive gained 20 lbs...

Diets are a problem for me... im a very picky eater and eat like crap... only fast food pizza etc. ive never gained weight till recently i dont eat alot only usually one meal aday... i usually drink about 6 cans of soda a day...

Recently since ive noticed ive gained some weight i actually saw like 217 then stopped drinking soda and switched to diet... hard for me because i hate the taste of aspartame...

What should i take to the gym to not look like an idiot...

Im in a stable relationship and it would be nice to look better for her as well...

I know you guys will point me in the right direction... as soon as the cold weather is gone ill get on my mt. bike and start riding around again...
 
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It took me a while to get used to diet pop. Have your tried Pepsi Max? Coke Zero? Sprite zero? Diet Dr. Pepper? Those are some of my favorites.

What do you mean what should you take? Like equipment wise?



Diets are hard, really hard when in college. I try to just make healthier decisions rather than a complete diet change. Also, eating more meals throughout the day will make your metabolism work harder. At the very least, i would aim for 5-6 meals a day. More like constant snacking (healthy stuff tho lol) rather than 1 big meal.


Also, muscle burns calories. So consider working out to go along with cardio.
 
It took me a while to get used to diet pop. Have your tried Pepsi Max? Coke Zero? Sprite zero? Diet Dr. Pepper? Those are some of my favorites.

What do you mean what should you take? Like equipment wise?



Diets are hard, really hard when in college. I try to just make healthier decisions rather than a complete diet change. Also, eating more meals throughout the day will make your metabolism work harder. At the very least, i would aim for 5-6 meals a day. More like constant snacking (healthy stuff tho lol) rather than 1 big meal.


Also, muscle burns calories. So consider working out to go along with cardio.


I will have to agree. They even say 3 meals a day IS fine just within reasoning. Your first problem is junk food, and dont feel bad because I do slip a lot myself... Soda is HUGE. Each can is about 140 calories a day. Thats 840 calories right there. Which leaves you not too much room to eat without overloading your body. Water is your friend. When I go to the gym, I usually work my muscles anywhere from 3-4 times a week. And I will do every other day(Mon, Wed, Fri) example... And then on Tue Thurs and Sat I would do strictly cardio. On work out days I would do 20-30 min of cardio warm up... Just some food for thought... Im not an instructor just seems waht works best for me. Just make sure you change up your workout as your body will become immune to it after awhile.
 
I will have to agree. They even say 3 meals a day IS fine just within reasoning. Your first problem is junk food, and dont feel bad because I do slip a lot myself... Soda is HUGE. Each can is about 140 calories a day. Thats 840 calories right there. Which leaves you not too much room to eat without overloading your body. Water is your friend. When I go to the gym, I usually work my muscles anywhere from 3-4 times a week. And I will do every other day(Mon, Wed, Fri) example... And then on Tue Thurs and Sat I would do strictly cardio. On work out days I would do 20-30 min of cardio warm up... Just some food for thought... Im not an instructor just seems waht works best for me. Just make sure you change up your workout as your body will become immune to it after awhile.



x2

Vary your cardio workouts too. Keep your heart rate guessing on what its gonna have to do next.



Not sure if you have an iphone....but there are apps that count calories for you. I dont use it on a regular....but its a great tool to get a "grasp" of how terrible some stuff is for you lol. The one i use is "lose it!" It asks you your current weight, how much you want to lose and when you want to lose it by. Then it tells you what you should consume daily to reach your goal. Obviously working out lets you eat more.
 
Adam, I'm was in the same boat as you about a year ago I had gained like ten pounds from doing nothing but sit in front of my computer doing work all day. I have since been going to the gym 3 times a week to lift, and doing assorted random cardio in between when I have time (playing soccer, riding my bike, treadmill, etc.) I also eat better, and eat more frequently, just smaller meals. It is a very difficult routine to get into because of the fact that as college seniors we don't have much time to spare, so you have to think of it as "making time to be healthy", and that's what keeps me going. I "make" time for an hour every day to work out rather than only doing it when I have time, otherwise I would never do it. Good luck!
 
Step 1- Lose the soda all together or limit yourself to 1 can a day. It doesn't matter if its diet or not because there are certain ingredients in a diet soda that actually makes it harder on your body than regular. *that came from a nutritionist*

Step 2- Add at least 8 full glasses of water into the mix a day. It helps you in many ways and will not make you indulge yourself when your eating. Try drinking at least a full glass before you eat a meal also,it will prevent you from over eating.

Step 3- Spend a extra 10-15 minutes doing some type of exercise that will keep your heart up whether it be doing some stairs or just walking up a hill or something. Doesn't have to be extreme. Just something to increase your calorie burn.

Step 4- Eat small meals through out the day. Breakfast is the most important one because it initiates your metabolism for the day. (Remember when our parents use to say it kick starts your day) Well it does in a sense. Then continue to eat small snacks through out the rest of the day like say maybe some crackers like 4-5 of them or some grapes or maybe a banana. Then eat a medium lunch and snack afterwards too. ( The whole reason behind snacking all day is it keeps your metabolism running and burning calories when you keep ingesting some type of food and the healthier the better)

Also don't eat anything after 7 if you go to bed before 10.

8 if you go to bed around 11 and so on and so on.

You burn less calories in the evening due to your body naturally going into a resting mode.

Drink a full glass of water (maybe 2 depending on glass size) before you go to bed. Yes you will wake up having to pee your pants but it is good for you. It will detoxify your body and wash out the unneeded. Which normally gets stored as fat.

And think about this too water has no calories so when you drink it your not adding any, however it burns calories just drinking it. So theoretically your losing weight anytime you drink water.

Remember weight loss comes slow to some people and you wont see a change in the mirror instantly because you see yourself daily, dont get discouraged just keep it up and you will be fine.

You do not have to have 1 1/2 hours to get the extra work in to lose some weight just simple things will increase your burn. Walking a little further everyday (so park far away). Add some extra weight to a back pack,throw on some extra layers to sweat a little. Anything will help,try to limit your Sitting time at night behind a computer to 1 hour at max. And while your sitting down tighten up your abs for 1 minute intervals for about 30 minutes 1 on 1 off. It will also burn some calories and eventually help you with your core.

Just my .02 I have been in the marines for 5 years and helped many people lose some extra weight because they was close to being "over their weight".

My wife lost 4 pounds in the past 3 days doing simple things like this because she asked me what she could do.

Let me know if you have any questions. Or if you want a simple workout routine pm'd to you
 
And don't think just because you're drinking "Diet Pop/Soda" that its necessarily good for you. Along with the fact that aspartame isn't exactly the greatest chemical to saturate your body with, you still get that insulin spike from it similar to the one you get with normal sugars or glucose. That insulin spike is going to transport the calories from whatever you’re eating right to your ass if you’re not careful.
 
And don't think just because you're drinking "Diet Pop/Soda" that its necessarily good for you. Along with the fact that aspartame isn't exactly the greatest chemical to saturate your body with, you still get that insulin spike from it similar to the one you get with normal sugars or glucose. That insulin spike is going to transport the calories from whatever you’re eating right to your ass if you’re not careful.

Im a chemist...:D and im going to die of cancer anyway

But i cant drink only water... im not saying its perfect just saying its another option:shrug:
 
Im a chemist...:D and im going to die of cancer anyway

But i cant drink only water... im not saying its perfect just saying its another option:shrug:

There are plenty of options that are way better and taste better than diet soda/pop try drinking green tea or apple juice.

Another thing i found that helped when i stopped drinking soda was not drinking soda for like 4-5 days at all and then when you do give in to the craving you buy a cheap off brand one like super cola or something and drink it and you will hate the taste and eventually fool yourself into not wanting them ever.

I occasionally will drink a mt dew or dr pepper which are two of the worst ones you can buy. But its less than 1 per week most times.
 
Wow, you are my northern brother Adam. The joys of getting older.

Well, I'll give you my realist perspective. When I was working 6 days a week most of them 14 hours long sitting my ass in a cramped airplane all day, I got up to about 220lbs. When I got rid of that **** job, my goals were simple, I just wanted to look good naked. I switched to Diet Cola, and it grows on you after awhile. Now the regular coke tastes weird to me. I generally drink a lot of diet coke, which also can make you fat, but not as bad as the regular stuff. It also doesn't rot your teeth as bad. Now, I generally don't drink too much caffeine at work because it's a diaretic, which makes you piss and poop more frequently. Which is a pain when you are strapped into a jet all day. But I absolutely hate water, and the water they keep at work now is some of the worst tasting bottled water I've ever had. I found that if you get those little Great Value packets at Walmart, it makes a huge difference, and it's calorie free. I recommend, the "Rasberry Ice" and "Cherry" flavor. It's dirt cheap and it makes water drinkable. I'm not worried about cancer either. I smoke and drink all the aspartame I want. I call it my 401Kancer program, so that I don't have to save for retirement. I'm sure the spent jet fumes I hang around all day, combined with my spiking blood pressure caused by all the idiots I work with will kill me long before that stuff does.

Now here's what I did. I just started running. Five times a week, for about 3 miles. God did that suck for about the first 6 months. But I got over it, and now I enjoy it. I lost 40lbs in one year. Now I run on a treadmill about 3 times a week for about 35 minutes, and that's good maintenance, and a great way to kill time in the hotel without spending any money. I'm actually still losing some weight. Trying to get down to about 175lbs. Now I have to warn you about your joints though. When you are heavy and you start running, it makes all your joints hurt. Especially now that you are older. If you get one of those giant bottles of Glucosimine/Condroiden Joint stuff, that helps a lot too. Those are pretty cheap at Walmart too. If you are running, and your back starts to hurt, that means your core muscles are weak, and you need to do some crunches. So in summary, I eat basically what I want, I smoke, and drink lots of diet soda, and I run 3 times a week, and I lost 40lbs.

Kurt
 
I quit drinking soda on a regular basis several years back when it was believed that I was having kidney problems. I'll drink some soda if I get a fast food meal, but that's about it. Other than that I only drink water. It'd be best to cut out the soda completely rather than limit yourself to a certain amount per day. After a while you don't even miss it.
 
Remember tho Kurt he was trying to lose some weight with little amount of time to do things which is why i didnt even touch on running at all.

Running and drinking a ton of water will def shed some pounds fairly quick too if you are religious with the water.
 
i have time... its just im lazy and play video games when im not in class or researching... :nice:

but i know i need to get in better shape... just to feel better about my self...:shrug:

kurt i think im about to do what you do... i got a pair of running shoes ill probably go back to mountain biking as well...
 
Drink water and exercise at least an hour a day. You'll want to limit your total caloric intake to 1800, as that's a typical maintenance diet, or 1500 if you want to lose weight. I need to get off of my fat ass and start working out again. I'm up 34 pounds in 9 months, since I quit smoking. Yeah, I need to move around more, apparently. :eek:
 
Drink water and exercise at least an hour a day. You'll want to limit your total caloric intake to 1800, as that's a typical maintenance diet, or 1500 if you want to lose weight. I need to get off of my fat ass and start working out again. I'm up 34 pounds in 9 months, since I quit smoking. Yeah, I need to move around more, apparently. :eek:

Definitely that is quite a bit in 9 months. Some pregnant women dont even gain that much in 9 months
 
There are plenty of options that are way better and taste better than diet soda/pop try drinking green tea or apple juice.

Another thing i found that helped when i stopped drinking soda was not drinking soda for like 4-5 days at all and then when you do give in to the craving you buy a cheap off brand one like super cola or something and drink it and you will hate the taste and eventually fool yourself into not wanting them ever.

I occasionally will drink a mt dew or dr pepper which are two of the worst ones you can buy. But its less than 1 per week most times.

i completely agree!! although i will say i DO sneak a can of soda every now and again. usually if i go out to eat, however, i do grab a soda but limit myself. if i know im going out to dinner that nite, i wont drink soda all day and will splurge at that nights meal, reason being is because certain cities have some ****TY ass water that taste disgusting and there is just no lemon in the world that could cover up the ****ty taste. i know if anyone is from or have been to Rhode Island, they know Lincoln water is definitely not the greatest.