Getting into shape goal

[Matte]

Just wanted to post my goal.  I'm trying to get into shape, I have been 40-60 lbs overweight since first year college and now I'm serious about loosing it.  Been one week of running everyday, going to expand on that next week.  I really let myself go chasing my wife, career, house, projects ect.  I am pretty mad at myself and have been for the last couple years.  24 is way too young to feel old, and I am weak compared to how I used to be.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has overcame weight when working.  I know I deserve a punch in the face for letting myself get like this.  Im overcoming an injury (can't discuss online due to it's unsettled) but This past week has been a first week allowed to be active and push myself.  I also have the docs word that I need this excereize.

[Hamster]

Congratulations. It does feel miserable going from being active to being out of shape and overweight. Same thing happened to me after an illness in college followed by years of intense studying/training for a professional program, marriage, etc.

It's excellent to have a goal, and I find weight loss to be like mustachianism. Know your goal, don't accept excuses, and track things diligently.

Other than just adding my cheer leading and support, here are my two cents. If it's been a while since you've done regular running, be careful going straight to daily running. Ease into it, mix it up with other exercises, and definitely throw in some strength training (check out "You are Your Own Gym" from the library if you don't want to spend on a gym membership or buy equipment). Especially if you're 40+ pounds overweight, doing enough running suddenly to burn significant calories may be more than your knees and ligaments can handle all at once.

Also, if you want to set a rate goal of weight loss (e.g one pound a week) and stick to a daily calorie deficit, I really found My Fitness Pal (free app on android and I believe iOS) to be a great help. It adds up food calories and subtracts exercise calories to help you stick to your daily calorie deficit. Helped me lose just over a pound a week for a couple months last year when I was about 20 pounds above my target.

If you have any interest in getting into endurance sports (running, cycling, triathlon, etc) I'd also recommend checking out "Racing Weight", or "Racing weight quick start guide" from the library, or even purchase. They are a bit more oriented toward helping people who are already into endurance sports to shed a bit of extra weight to get to where they'd ideally like to be. They really helped me set up an eating (and exercise) program to shed weight while getting in shape for a triathlon.

[Matte]

Thanks for the advice and support, and concern.  I have been stretching Alot the last few months so am just improving upon that.  I'm doing intervals as I have heard it is a much more effective way to train when starting out.  The logging is something that is new to me but have been doing for other reasons.I still work a reasonably active job, do hiking and lots of other things, just got frustrated at my diminishing ability to do them to the level I could before.  20 of those lbs are very recent too.  I'm excited to do this once and for all.

[frugalcalan]

I'm in the process of doing the same thing.  As of a few weeks ago I had lost 20lbs, but I'm probably up to 25 or more lost now (I don't have a scale, so I've been using one at a friend's house when I visit.  I was over there today, but forgot.  D'oh).

Good luck in your quest!  I know you didn't ask for it, but here's my advice based on a few things that have worked for me:

- If your problem is over eating, abstinence is easier than moderation.  For me, at least.  For example, at work there's a plethera of free, unhealthy snacks.  It's much, much easier for me to follow the rule of "no bagged snacks" than to follow a "two bagged snacks a week" rule

- Set yourself up for success when it comes to exercise.  For example, I hate running.  So if I were to try to force myself to wake up early (another thing I don't enjoy) to run everyday... that just wouldn't happen.  Instead, I started biking everywhere, including to work, and it's way easier for me to get in cardio.  I've done other things as well to make incorporating exercise easy for me

- www.MyFitnessPal.com  It's pretty easy to underestimate how many calories you are consuming.  Even if it's not something you want to do forever, I really suggest spending at least a few weeks tracking how many calories you actually consume.  If you have a smart phone, logging is super easy because they have a really lovely app

- Move around heavy objects.  I took a 5 week kettlebell class, and simply adored it.  I'm planning to get into starting strength soon

[The_Dude]

Myfitnesspal for the win!  This ap changed my world with respect to food and nutrition.  I began using it daily the last week in June.  I lost over 20 lbs and about 7% body fat on it in less than 3 months which motivated me to try p90x again.  I finished P90X yesterday (kept using MFP the whole time I was doing p90x too) and have now lost about 36 lbs and dropped my overall body fat from about 27% to about 13%.  I credit MFP for most of my success. 

[Mickijune]

Matte, I'm with you. My husband and I just started running last week. I ran three times last week. Lost about 2 lbs. My plan is to run  3 or more times a week. Eat less, of course. I want to lose another 25lbs total.

Let's do this!!!!

[Erica/NWEdible]

OK I'm in. Formerly kinda fat, then super fit, and now slightly chubby and ready to turn the up-trend around and get back into my old pants. Goal: down 10 pounds by Feb 4 (that's 8 weeks - should be doable). Will report in on progress every Monday.

[norvilion]

Could never really get into running too much, always made my throat or knees hurt even on the half mile run from my parking spot to my building (get to the office faster and don't have to pay company parking fees).  Pretty much gave up on it for a while after that before I realized that I didn't have to run to get good exercise in. Instead I started taking the stairs to my work space and occasionally taking the stairs in the middle of the day just to get a chance to get out of my seat. Also to work on muscle definition and core strength I've been doing different types of push ups when at the house, which has been working well since it usually takes just a couple minutes to do a few pushups then I can do that multiple times in a day.

Basic point is if you are having trouble sticking to one type of workout take a good look at your environment and see what you can do with it. My wife has wanted to be able to do solid pushups for a long time but just doesn't have enough upper body strength yet so we found a few variant pushups that are helping her push toward the goal (wall push ups -> hip-on-ground pushups -> knee pushups -> full pushups)

Also wife suggests having both long term and short term goals to help motivate you to keep on going. Sounds like you're making an awesome start!

[Paul der Krake]

I'm surprised nobody has mentionned swimming. It's probably the most complete workout out there, easy on the joints (no excuse for y'all old timers!), and great cardio.

Go in hard, come out wet.

[PJ]

norvilion, in this post ( https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/thinking-about-2013/msg42673/#new ) FitStash mentioned http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.ZDADPBl1.dpbs and when I looked further I also found http://twohundredsquats.com/index.html

These looked to me like a good place to start, so I'm committing myself, starting today!  Maybe they would be a good way to formalize what you and your wife are already trying to do?

[norvilion]

Many thanks, PJ. I'd seen the 100 push up challenge and took some inspiration from it but having heard the pacing tended to be a bit more intense than many can handle we're doing a bit of a variation on it. Currently after work about once an hour on an incentivised timer (virtual item available once every 60 minutes on a virtual pet site my wife and I play) we do a set number of push ups, planks, etc. The amount toggles between days- high one day low the next- and the number one rule with it is to listen to what your body is telling you. Fatigue is one thing, pain is a completely different ballpark. So far it's been working fairly well, only time will tell how quickly we can increase those numbers.

The 200 squats one I didn't seen before. Given that leg strength is vitally important to the field my wife is going into that could definitely be a good one to formalize into the routine. I wish you good luck in starting up the program, lets both do our best to stick to it and nab those awesome health benefits :D

[caligulala]

I'm also on the getting back in shape bandwagon. I'm still comparatively fit, but have a good amount of leftover baby weight to lose. My plan is:

-Use my fitbit to track at least 10,000 steps with a goal of 15,000 per day.
-Do the 10 week You Are Your Own Gym basic course.
-Do my lower and upper body stretching routines daily with extra focus on off days from YAYOG.
-Track calories on Myfitnesspal with a goal of 1 pound per week in loss.

I don't have a specific weight as a goal. Going to simply do the above and let those healthy actions determine the outcome. I think getting too focused on numbers is detrimental to my mental health. I enjoy doing all of the above, so I should be able to stick with it.

[GuitarStv]

While anything will work initially to start getting into shape, my experience has been that a combination of cardio and weightlifting will help you lose fat at a much more accelerated rate than just doing cardio/body weight exercises alone.  Muscle mass burns more calories even when you're not doing anything (which means you can eat more and not get fat) . . . and you will get noticeably stronger in a short period of time.

Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans, Military Presses, and Rows can all be done with just a bar and some weight.  Have a friend explain the motions to you, and make sure that you're doing the lifts safely.  A decent routine, two or three times a week doesn't have to take more than 30 minutes a time which is a big time saver as well.  Starting strength, or even a 5x5 routine with regular weight increases serve you well when starting out.

Once you've progressed past the beginner stage, most body weight exercises on their own (while good for endurance) are a poor method of developing strength.

[Russ]

Once you've progressed past the beginner stage, most body weight exercises on their own (while good for endurance) are a poor method of developing strength.

There is much more to bodyweight exercise that the simple pullup, pushup, situp, and squat. Once one has the strength for those movements, of course training them further only increases endurance. The entire sport of gymnastics, however, is built on bodyweight progressions which make these movements increasingly more difficult, allowing one to continue to build strength. See this chart (I'm pretty sure that's it, but I can't access it at work to double-check) for a fairly comprehensive set of bodyweight progressions. This post, by the author of the book from which that chart was pulled, explains the basics of bodyweight training much more thoroughly than I ever could, and I suggest you give it a read if you have some spare time.

[PJ]

Many thanks, PJ. I'd seen the 100 push up challenge and took some inspiration from it but having heard the pacing tended to be a bit more intense than many can handle we're doing a bit of a variation on it.

 

I'm not going to lie to y'all ... I can definitely feel the effects today!  Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to do the test, the initial day's exercise, and take a big walk with the dogs all in one day?  But at least it's only 3 times a week, so I should be good again by tomorrow!

[GuitarStv]

Once you've progressed past the beginner stage, most body weight exercises on their own (while good for endurance) are a poor method of developing strength.

There is much more to bodyweight exercise that the simple pullup, pushup, situp, and squat. Once one has the strength for those movements, of course training them further only increases endurance. The entire sport of gymnastics, however, is built on bodyweight progressions which make these movements increasingly more difficult, allowing one to continue to build strength. See this chart (I'm pretty sure that's it, but I can't access it at work to double-check) for a fairly comprehensive set of bodyweight progressions. This post, by the author of the book from which that chart was pulled, explains the basics of bodyweight training much more thoroughly than I ever could, and I suggest you give it a read if you have some spare time.

I'll give that book a try, it looks interesting.  I'm not entirely new to bodyweight related strength training and don't think it's useless BTW.  I've been pretty active in several different types of martial arts over the past fifteen years (Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu), all of which tend to favour many types of varied body weight exercises.  For me personally though, I've yet to have seen any faster way to gain strength than weight lifting.

The article you linked seems to at least partly agree with me on this "...since the legs are much stronger than the upper body they require weighted stimuli to make optimal progress."

I think that weight training is great for beginners to learn because it's relatively simple to progress.  "The complexity of progressions and the varying nature of many peoples’ ultimate goals make progressing in pure bodyweight work extremely difficult if you are not under the tutelage of someone who knows what they are doing and can offer correct progressions and tips on what to work on next." Sounds kinda like you need a dedicated personal trainer (or heck of a lot of time on your hands) to get long term benefit out of body weight exercises.

[Russ]

You're right, the movements used in bodyweight training are more difficult to figure out than those used in weightlifting, and you need to supplement with weight training anyway to target some muscle groups. You definitely don't need a personal trainer, but you do need to be willing to do some learning - no more learning than would be required for weightlifting though I think.

The big difference I see is that, since very few people do bodyweight training seriously, if a beginner asked an experienced weightlifting buddy about a bodyweight progression he'd probably have no idea what you were talking about, whereas if you asked him about good form for squats he might not be able to stop talking for ten minutes. Having that sort of encyclopedic knowledge available when you need it is gold, as opposed to having to read a 300-page book and sift through it again when you finally figure out what you really need to know. With weightlifting the knowledge can come when you need to and are ready to learn it, whereas learning about the advanced bodyweight stuff is a little more forced.

Anyway, the book is great, especially if you can find it used or at a library since it's pretty pricey new. There's a lot of great information on topics such as injury prevention and physiology that don't apply only to bodyweight exercises. My dad's next in line to read my copy, but if you're ok with waiting a couple months I'd be glad to mail you mine to borrow.

[GuitarStv]

It seems like the body weight progression is quite different than weightlifting.  With lifting, you learn all the form for your basic lifts in a couple days, spend a couple weeks/months fixing up your form, and basically only need to add weight from that point on.  There's very little that you need to be instructed on.  With the bodyweight stuff it seems more like you have to work on completely new techniques every couple weeks to make it work.

Either way, it does sound interesting.  Let me check my local library for the book.

[GuitarStv]

To get back to the thread topic . . . everyone who has a weight loss numeric goal (I want to lose X lbs), that's a noble idea, but it can be very demotivating.  You weigh a different amount in the morning than during the night, you weigh a different amount based on how much salt and water you've had over the last couple of days (I've cut 8 lbs in a day for wrestling tournaments).  Weight is also a pretty poor indicator of fitness.  When you start working out, many people gain muscle and lose fat with much improved fitness, and without much weight loss.  You can also be exactly in the middle of your target BMI and still be in poor physical condition.  Maybe a better way to approach the whole "getting into shape" problem is to focus on performance . . .

Something like:
- I want to be able to jog for X minutes without stopping
- I want to lift X amount of weight
- I want to bike for X distance several times a week

These goals are easier to measure and ensure that you're working towards fitness rather than just some 'ideal' weight.  Better for bragging rights too . . . only you can see what you weigh on the scale, but everyone can see how fast you're running when you whip past them on the street!

[PJ]

Reporting in that I have done my 2nd of 3 days for Week 1 of the program I've committed to.  Do people plan to use this thread for accountability purposes?  I'd be up for that if others are.  Otherwise I'll just use my own journal thread. 

[caligulala]

I'll check in here too, PJ. Still good on all of my goals. Upper body soreness from the first YAYOG workout is subsiding. The lower body/core workout yesterday wasn't crazy difficult, just a little sore there.

Managed to go to a birthday dinner and have a play date in the afternoon without going crazy over my calorie goal. I didn't exceed my weight maintenance number, just didn't make my weight loss goal for the day. That's fine. Planning on doing some extra walking today.

Have noticed that it is 100% easier to meet those calorie goals now that I'm not breastfeeding. I think waiting until baby stopped nursing to try to lose that extra weight was the correct choice for me.

[dragoncar]

Good for you!  I just lost the 40 lbs I packed on over the last few years.   Lost it in a few months doing low carb (worked for me, but everyone is different so I don't really believe in a silver bullet weight loss program).  It worked well for me because I didn't have to count calories -- I just wasn't as hungry.  I also started walking more and doing some weights so as to minimize muscle loss. 

[Crash87]

I recommend circuits and strength training. If you are new to strength training don't jump into deadlifts or squats right away, since poor form can easily lead to a hurt back. I tend to shy away from running as circuits and strength training workouts take less time and avid runners can have knee problems down the road.

As far as food goes. Figure out how many calories you eat in a day and start tapering down.

Good luck!

[norvilion]

Got around to doing the initial test for the 200 squat challenge. It looks like taking the stairs to my 9th floor office every day for the past few months has been rather beneficial. Still nowhere near the 200 mark but thinking I may want to start out on week 3 or something. Fairly happy about that but wow, those things can get deceptively tiring after a while.

Main thing I need to work on now is consistency. Been going out of the house many afternoons lately so completely forget to take time to do the exercises. Usually can remember at least one set a day, but may need to chain sets together to combat my occasional absent-mindedness.

[kythuen]

I can't let a "get into shape" thread pass me by without recommending a visit to http://marksdailyapple and/or http://robbwolf.com.  For most people, diet is about 80% of weight loss, and I can't recommend the paleo diet / primal blueprint diet enough.  I got serious about getting into shape last year about this time, and as of today I've lost 102 lbs.  I've still got a pretty long way to go to get to an optimal weight range, but I've been honestly stunned at how easy it's been so far. 

It's probably been easier for me than it would be for a sugar addict - I love sweets, but my true weakness has always been salty/savory.  And since on the paleo diet you get a lot of protein and fat, I never really feel like I've been deprived of anything.  (Plus, I "supplement" regularly with dark chocolate!  :)

I had to get serious because a) I found out I was gluten intolerant, and that 90% of my heartburn/stomach issues came from eating wheat, and b) because my knees and ankles had started to fail.  Cutting out gluten (and other grains) has made all the difference in my quality of life - no acid reflux, no indigestion, no stomach rumbling.  I used to be afraid to eat before going into a meeting - that's how loud my stomach could get. 

Without grains and with very little sugar it was like weight just fell off me the first few months. I never lost any strength or muscle.  I also had great blood work after 6 months - lowered triglycerides, higher HDL, lower LDL.  And my blood sugar dropped from a pre-diabetic HbA1c of 6.3 to a normal 5.1.  I do about half an hour of fairly slow stationary-biking in front of the TV on any night that I don't commute to work (3.2 miles round trip) - that's all the exercise I do.

My knees and ankles still give me trouble, but not nearly as much.  I have at least 100 more to go; I suspect I'll see some serious improvement in that area over the next year. 

Sorry if I come off like a missionary - I feel like I am one!  Everyone has a diet that works best for them, and paleo/primal may not be right for everybody, but it seems to work for a lot of people.  And a lot of people don't know it's out there.

[Matte]

Wow, thanks for all the posts of advice and support.  I'm down 7lbs since I started, keeping up going every day for at least 30 mins.  Feeling better too.

[mm1970]

To get back to the thread topic . . . everyone who has a weight loss numeric goal (I want to lose X lbs), that's a noble idea, but it can be very demotivating.  You weigh a different amount in the morning than during the night, you weigh a different amount based on how much salt and water you've had over the last couple of days (I've cut 8 lbs in a day for wrestling tournaments).  Weight is also a pretty poor indicator of fitness.  When you start working out, many people gain muscle and lose fat with much improved fitness, and without much weight loss.  You can also be exactly in the middle of your target BMI and still be in poor physical condition.  Maybe a better way to approach the whole "getting into shape" problem is to focus on performance . . .

Something like:
- I want to be able to jog for X minutes without stopping
- I want to lift X amount of weight
- I want to bike for X distance several times a week

These goals are easier to measure and ensure that you're working towards fitness rather than just some 'ideal' weight.  Better for bragging rights too . . . only you can see what you weigh on the scale, but everyone can see how fast you're running when you whip past them on the street!

Has to be both for me.  I can work out, run, lift, swim, etc.

But if I don't watch my diet, I'm still fat.  If I want to be truly healthy, I need to be at a healthy weight.  I cannot get there without calorie counting.  So while nobody can see the number on my scale, they do see the clothing I wear and notice that I'm still in my maternity pants (my baby is only 5 months old, I'm fine with that.  Took 2 years to lose all the weight with the first.  Won't all come off until I stop nursing).

[meadow lark]

Kythuen - wow!  Congratulations, that's amazing!  I'm a paleo convert too.  Down 61 lbs,  have 64 lbs to go.  Just started cross fit with my son.  My goal for 2013 is 2 workouts a week.  I also want to get a pedometer to track myself - I think that will be fun.  I ride to work most days, and I have an active job (nurse).  I also want to make a goal to sit on an exercise ball when I am at work at least half of one shift a week.  This is fun!