Hey, welcome to the forum. When I started out, I was a 210
pound 23-year old (just with opposite sex organs). This forum has a wealth of information for getting your plan started. First, like mal said, read the stickied threads under all the major categories on the home page to get the basics down. Those are the threads are that always are at the top. Here are a few things that I kinda overlooked in the beginning. It's all information you can find around the forum, but useful to know from the start.
If I could rewind, there would be a few things I would have done in the beginning differently. First, I would have taken measurements and pictures (painful, but you will be glad you did). Also, get a
body composition test to tell you what your
body fat % is today so you will have something to compare to later. Your local university should be able to do the most accurate testing for like $20-50. I'm not sure I would trust a local
gym or any scale that claims to give
fat%. It's an easy measurement to botch. Weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day, no more.
Second, I would have really taken a strangehold on my
nutrition from the beginning instead of just winging it. I probably lost some muscle because of my lack of knowledge at the beginning. Part of getting
nutrition down is really annoying/time consuming, but you will get the hang of it & it will be second nature after a short while. I use a website called fitday.com, but there are others that do the same thing. The site lets you enter foods you eat and it helps you track
calories and ratios of
fat/protein/carbs. No one can estimate
calories or carbs or proteins well. No one. Again,
no one. I thought I was the only exception, but when I started really tracking, I found I was off. If you cook a lot, it's harder, you will probably want a food scale (*shudder* I know that sounds so tedious). I cook basically zero, so it's not that bad for me.
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I'v put on the pounds as when he breaks out the bag of chips while we'r watching a movie...and Me: They'r just...SO close...Mmmm eat eat.
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I used to be the same way, binging on chips was my main weakness. Well...along with eating too much of everything, but mainly healthy foods. Quantity matters. A lot.
That's probably a pretty good daily calorie
goal for you. I calculated your BMR (calories you burn at rest each day) to be 1785 (estimate, of course). So with 0 exercise and that
diet, you would lose about 0.5lb a week. Exercise will speed that up quite a bit.
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I am doing brisk walking/joggin every evening. And some crunches.
But I don't feel that I am getting enough out of it.
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I find
cardio machines (ellipticals, bikes, etc) are much more helpful for getting good workouts. A good measure to determine if you are at the right intensity is to get your
heart rate up to about 140-160 and keep it there for about 20 minutes.
Cardio takes time to get into, so don't
stress if it takes you a while to get to that point or you fatigue after short workouts at first. The
body adapts quickly.
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I'm going to try out the gym i found tonight!!! Whee!
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Read the "Basic Lifts" stickied thread under "weight loss through exercise" to begin, but go through all those threads to figure out a resistance training program. It's an essential part of
weight loss. Women need to use heavy
weights too! No 1lb dumb bells!
Anyway, I hope some of this stuff helps you get started. Like I said, an enormous wealth of info is on this forum and you have hours of reading ahead of you. All my suggestions are just suggestions that worked for me. Each person is different & will respond differently, so listen to your
body & take everything you read with that in mind. Good luck and don't give up. -Marcus
