Starting Out & Lots to Lose

[Nats]

Im trying to register for some programs that the gym I attend offers - Just wondering if any ladies have suggestions on good start-up kinda classes. This is my first gym, and I have ALOT of weight to lose...They offer yoga, pilates, lots of low impact cardio blast kinda stuff...spin classes, torque classes...Kickboxing and cardio kickboxing...

Thank you

[Chantalemma]

Try YOGA it will tone up some muscles and it is a great start.

[Nats]

Try YOGA it will tone up some muscles and it is a great start.

Cool, thanks.

Have you any experience with pilates?

[stroutman81]

Honestly, I'd experiment. See what you like and dislike. Also what your body agrees and disagrees with.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, honestly anything that gets you active consistently will help. There's nothing magic in any one class.

And you might know this already, but the vast majority of your success is going to come from proper nutrition... so if you haven't accounted for that yet, I'd spend a lot more time worrying about that than which class you're going to sign up for.

[Nats]

Honestly, I'd experiment. See what you like and dislike. Also what your body agrees and disagrees with.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, honestly anything that gets you active consistently will help. There's nothing magic in any one class.

And you might know this already, but the vast majority of your success is going to come from proper nutrition... so if you haven't accounted for that yet, I'd spend a lot more time worrying about that than which class you're going to sign up for.

Oh my gosh! The wealth of knowledge!
I probably shouldnt have said ALOT, I dont want to lose ALL the fat I have...I have specific targets in mind...and yes, Im looking for a complete lifestyle makeover so I have already begun changing my diet/nutrition routine...Thank you!

[LanaBear]

I track everything on the Livestrong website. You can sign up for a free account, but I track everything I eat/drink and my fitness. I started doing it, not to lose weight, but out of curiosity. It is very very informative once you see it out in front of you and will give you more motivation to change.

Regarding fitness, do what feels right to you to start. Maybe try something low impact at first to get used to it and work up from there. Get on the treadmill and walk for 30 min. You don't want to push it too hard if you are just starting out, it could do more harm than good.

[stroutman81]

Oh my gosh! The wealth of knowledge!

As much knowledge I have with health and fitness... test me on something else and I'd fail in a second, lol. I had to get someone to help me jumpstart my truck the other day, lol.

I probably shouldnt have said ALOT, I dont want to lose ALL the fat I have...I have specific targets in mind...

And that's quite fine, in my opinion. It's a matter of opinion and what makes you happy.

and yes, Im looking for a complete lifestyle makeover so I have already begun changing my diet/nutrition routine...Thank you!

Great. If you're looking for any pointers or have any questions, just ask.

I'll note that one of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they start this process is a rigid dieting mentality. They forget that first and foremost this is about calories. Sure, the foods that comprise said calories is also very important for health.

But people tend to get so rigid about what foods they're eating... so much so that they forget the importance of calories.

This rigid mentality also sets them up for failure more often than not. Due to the restrictive nature of their food choices, they inevitably cave. It seems to establish this all-or-none mentality. This plays out when they do cave. They'll eat a cookie or two, which doesn't ruin their nutrition. But the mindset says, "Whoa, I caved and blew it. I might as well eat the whole box now and start fresh tomorrow or next week or whatever."

It can't be like this if your results are going to be permanent. We need to adopt habits that aren't torturous... things we can maintain for a lifetime.

I have my clients ask themselves, "Could I see myself doing this forever? "

If the answer is no... it's probably a good idea to reassess some things.

Just some stuff to be cognizant of as you dive in to this lifestyle.

[stroutman81]

I track everything on the Livestrong website. You can sign up for a free account, but I track everything I eat/drink and my fitness. I started doing it, not to lose weight, but out of curiosity. It is very very informative once you see it out in front of you and will give you more motivation to change.

Yea, some people love this. Some hate it. I suggest trying it out, too. If it's not for you that's fine.

I don't use livestrong.

I use fitday or calorieking.

They all do similar things though... good advice.

[LanaBear]

Yea, some people love this. Some hate it. I suggest trying it out, too. If it's not for you that's fine.

I don't use livestrong.

I use fitday or calorieking.

They all do similar things though... good advice.

Yeah - some coworkers use fitday and love it. It all depends on what you want.

Some people don't like to track, I don't blame them, it takes dedication.

Also, to OP, I recommend WATER WATER WATER. I average about 110oz a day, never anything less than 96oz, but I work myself into oblivion during my workouts most times. But it will help with your weightloss too.

[LanaBear]

Also, Nats, I've got an excel template that I keep updated with weight and measurements, that way I can keep an eye on myself and if I see any fluctuation in it, I know something is going on. But I've built it so that it will also graph your weight and measurements, etc. after you input the data. Again, visualization with me is big.

If you can't tell, I'm big on tracking, but if you want to try it, send me a PM and I'll figure out a way to send it to you.