I'm about to start my diet tomorrow. I'm also signing up for the gym. I'm trying to get myself motivated so I thought that by sharing my "before" pictures, I could sort of embarrass myself into not giving up once I get started. lol.

Okay, here is your warning. These pictures are NOT pretty. There is fat, cellulite, stretch marks, the whole enchilada. Please keep minors away!!! lol.


PICTURE 1: Front Profile
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/1350/hpim1594sr1.jpg

PICTURE 2: Side Profile
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4337/hpim1591dz5.jpg


Awful pictures, right? Well, I'm really going to try to tone up my body in the next two months.


My Stats:

Age: 23
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 158lbs
Short Term Goal: To lose 20lbs in the next 2 months
Long Term Goal: To lose an additional 15lbs in the next month
Goal Weight: 120lbs


Diet Plan:

Eliminate all junk food from my diet (candy, soda, chips, ect).
Eat 3 times a day, with 2 snacks in between (nuts or fruits)
Drink at least 5 bottles of water (20FL OZ)

Exercise Plan:

Not really sure on this one.... I'll know once I get to the gym tomorrow. It will probably be something like this:


Treadmill: 1 hour
Situps: 500
Squats: 100
TaeBo (Beginners Vid): Once a day
Weights: I want to include weights but I need to see what equipment will be available to me.

I basically intend on being at the gym every day for about 3 hours. I may do one hour in the morning, then two hours in the evening, to spread them out.



Does anyone have any gym tips? Is there such a thing as exercising too much?


Thanks for any input you can provide. :-)



*

good luck! yes you can excercise too much, don't overdo it, it depends on alot of factors like how much you eat, your metabolism etc etc.

Thank you!!!

When I first began I planned out a whole list of things I was going to do. Like walk for an hour, do aerobics and situps, this, that, etc... It turned out that I could not do it, it wore me out. lol.

Just see how much you can do, and I agree with Nemesis adjust your food intake accordingly.

Some tools for you.

Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople - Lets you figure out how many calories you need, diet/menu plans, helps you count calories and exercise, and soooo much more. All for freee.
FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal
Calorie Counter Database - Free Online Diet Program

Good luck!! Starting a journal would probably be really beneficial to you too, if you haven't done so already.

Three hours at the gym a day is huge! I mean-if you have the motivation for it then go for it! But you may find it can get unrealistic- in terms of motivation and time constraints. Don't be discouraged if you start to find that is too much. I try to include a lot of exercise in my daily activity- As in I walk everywhere, go up the stairs instead of lift, go the long way etc. It's a great way to cram in more exercise.

Also- Take a day off from the gym once a week to let your muscles rest. And ALWAYS stretch.

I ended up doing 2 hours at the gym and then an hour at the park. But yes, it was very difficult! I think realistically I could keep this up for a short time, but long term wise, 3 hours for exercise is a lot.

And the stretching, oh my god, yes. I am SO sore today, and that is with stretching! I need to stretch a lot more next time I guess.


PS: Thanks for the links!!

Daang - I am hoping to look like your before pictures in my after pictures!

Good luck on achieving your goals! But don't be too hard on yourself!

yeah i reckon my goal is to look as good as that in my after pics too lol

Getting sore is a good thing, it means you've broke your muscles down, give them time to heal and grow before using them intensely. The recovery process and lean muscle that grows from strenuous exercise burns additional calories. I don't know if anyone will agree with me here but 35 pounds is a lot to lose in three months, that's almost 3 lbs a week. I tried to lose a lot quickly but hit so many plateaus that I decided to eat the best I could and up my cardio.

I third that.

AWESOME me and you will start around the same time. Im about 6'5" 250 lbs right now. i was 6'5" 220 8 months ago. i slacked real hard. traveled to spain,london, moroocco, and mexico. i let that discourage me from my diet. But now i gotta work double time. good luck to the both of us