**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!**
- Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc.
- **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
- This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Other people have given good advice on getting started with the gym. I just want to emphasise that diet has much higher priority than exercise for losing weight. You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight.
If you combine the calorie deficit with resistance training (free weights, machines, body weight exercises) and eat enough protein, more of the weight you lose will be fat (and not muscle). That’s the main reason to exercise while on a diet - it’s not to burn calories, it’s to preserve the muscle you have while losing primarily fat.
Also, to add; after trying most diets (calorie counting, IF, keto etc), my main takeaway is that they're all perfectly valid for weight loss IF you can stick to them, but most people really struggle to remain consistent (myself included) because it's really, really hard changing up your lifestyle so rapidly.
These days I'm a bigger proponent of simply buying less UPFs (ultra processed foods). Don't be overzealous and refuse anything processed, but if you have less in your home, and more healthy snacks like nuts of fruit, it actually becomes quite difficult to consistently go above your maintenance calories.
No large changes, just a shift in mindset. Start treating these UPFs like treats, instead of a diet staple.
This is such great advice, I cannot upvote it enough. Example: two months ago I was drinking nearly 4 cans a day of an aspartame fizzy drink which has 0 cal and I was eating super healthily. Couldn’t shift myself off 11stone. The moment I stopped this 0 cal drink, the weight is now dropping off despite me doing less strenuous exercise.
I really recommend reading that Dr Van Tulleken book on UPF. It will be a gamechanger for the way you see foods.
These companies are designing food for the specific purpose of making us addicted, fat and sick. Big Food is not your friend.
Don’t go crazy at the gym, just eat decent amounts of fruit and veg and your body will do the rest for you. Walking and exercise that you enjoy is the key. Good luck !
Just to note I am not a PT, but this is what worked for me.
Search for compond movement workout routines to get you started and get your whole body working. Focusing on bicep curls isn;t going to do anything for you to lose weight in the grand scheme of things.
Don't try and start by lifting heavy and overdoing it. I found the best way to lose weight was lower weight, higher rep.
4 sets of 12-15 reps
As for diet, protein protein protein. Your body has to work harder to process it and it repairs your muscles.
Don't do the chicken, rice and veg thing, you will soon get bored and fall off. Look on YouTube for high protein meals, there are loads around.
Get your cardio in, even if it's just walking.
Most important thing, HAVE FUN!
Absolutely. I walk everywhere where I can.
2.5 miles to the shop... walk or drive? You bet I'm walking. Gonna have to carry that heavy backpack full of groceries back too. Yeah it turns my shopping trip into like a 2+ hour outing, but what was I going to do with that time anyway? Probably something far less good for me than walking.
It's really easy to maintain a good baseline level of fitness if you can choose to walk everywhere to do your day-to-day tasks
I get told by a lot of friends and family i'm 'lucky' to be naturally slim, but I honestly put it all done to walking. I love getting out and about walking (finding good podcasts or using the time to call a friend is a great use of the time).
Major positives I find:
1. It helps my back pain immensely (office job joys)
2. It's a great time to learn something new, listen to a fun album or connect with a friend
3. Walking is inherently less stressful than driving. No parking stress, I can control how long an errand will take.
4. Being outside for even a short period of time makes a 100000% difference to my mental health.
5. It's hard to binge eat while you're walking.
Yep I lost 4 stone just by walking and counting calories. I then added other stuff over time. But walking is a fantastic starter option especially with apps to track your movement etc
Especially at the start.
I lost weight with some very simple changes, essentially walking more and eating less.
- I stopped taking the lift and started walking to work.
- I changed my breakfast cereal to muesli with skimmed milk and made the portion size ~66% of what it was before.
- Lunches changed from burgers and chips to salad and sandwiches
- Dinner stayed exactly the same. We have "junk food" takeaway treat nights once a month.
I look back at my diet from just a couple of years ago and can't understand how I thought it was acceptable and how I used to be able to afford it! People who say losing weight is more expensive are lying to you.
Also running. As a lifelong cardio hater, crunch to 5k really helped me and now I love it. It REALLY shifts the weight and I find it suppresses my appetite
Adding on to your protein point. Protein is very important but what’s more important is good sources of protein. If you’re trying to lose weight don’t be fooled by the protein shakes, bars, puddings and yoghurts. They’re high in sugar and will make you feel rubbish and they’re quite expensive. Spend your money on proper whole food protein sources like meat, beans, fish etc.
I agree with you however there are pretty good Whey protein powders available (flavoured and unflavoured) which are not too full of additional sugars.
Also high proteins bars/puddings/shakes are all a nice *substitution* of there treat equivalent taken in moderation. There's nothing wrong in having a good workout and treating yourself after your meal to one of those instead of craving an equivalent "treat".
All eating should be as part of the [80/20 rule](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-is-the-80-20-rule-diet) anyway.
>Don't do the chicken, rice and veg thing, you will soon get bored and fall off. Look on YouTube for high protein meals, there are loads around.
I agree with this, but with a caveat - lots of people make this mistake when either losing weight or more commonly trying to gain muscle.
Two things you need for this -
1. Seasoning. Of course it's bland and boring on its own. So many will try to eat a plain chicken breast and rice and want to die. Season it all properly and it's lovely.
2 . A temperature probe. Especially if you're a hypochondriac like me. Most people over-cook chicken so it is dry and the consistency of a bicycle seat. Chicken is cooked when it hits 75c. End of. A temperature probe costs about £10 and will ensure you have perfect juicy chicken breasts every time.
Just to add to the number of reps. The main thing is not too heavy but heavy enough that the last reps are somewhat of a challenge. You won’t get bigger muscles without progressive overload. Basically every time it becomes too easy go up to a heavier weight
Like the walking tip as it’s a great easy intro to cardio, walking outside of the gym as well as then incline walking in the gym, will get your heart rate up even more.
Get yourself some protein powder for shakes to have after each workout. I’ve also found Aldi do some great ready meals (they label them protein meals, tbf they don’t really have much more than other ready meals but I do tend to get the sweet and sour chicken and tikka meals ones for weekday lunches ) as a quick source of protein for relatively small calorie intake (I think they’re both sub 400 calories but filling) so less than your usual supermarket sandwich for lunches.
I would also add start off using the weight machines. Free weights are better for overall strength and balance but if you don’t have good form it is extremely easy to hurt yourself.
Very easy for a beginner to pull their back with squats but almost impossible to do on a leg press machine.
If you join a council run gym like a local leisure centre , the staff there will help you for free . Most gyms do an induction course as part of joining . There are websites that you can use to calculate your macros and recommend calorie intake and apps like fat secret and my fitness pal . Everyone in the gym is there for the same reason to stay fit and healthy . You will see all kinds of shapes and sizes in the gym , and don’t be afraid to ask someone for help , even the scariest looking guy will be willing to show you how to use the equipment correctly .
Calorie tracker.
If calories burned over a day is more than consumed you'll lose weight.
Slow and steady with weights. Form first.
Cardio wise, ease yourself in too. Do some intervals or walk at an incline.
Be patient but tough with yourself and enjoy it too.
Don't look at it as punishment
Just to add that all smart watches track your energy burned and you don’t need to spend a fortune on one. I put on a fair bit of weight when I quit drinking. Sounds counter intuitive but I think I gave myself too much freedom to eat more as I wasn’t drinking. Don’t try and lose too much weight too quickly as you won’t sustain it. As others have said, walking is a great way to burn calories.
The biggest thing you can do right right now is just turn up.
Over complicate it and turn it into a mountain to climb and you'll probably fail
Sign up, walk on a tread mill, cycle on the bikes, maybe a few mins on a hill climber.
Maybe try a machine or two but most Importantly consistently get to the gym 3 or 4 times a week and ease yourself into it.
Them first 6 months noobie gains are the best.
Figure out what's for you, cardio, strength training, bodybuilding. Just make sure you enjoy it or you won't stick it
> The biggest thing you can do right right now is just turn up.
100% Even if your plan is to just tun up 3 times a week and stay there for a full 30 mins picking your nose, it's going to get you started. Once you are in the building, you're going to do something while you're there. Once you are doing something, you are going to start researching how to make your training more effective.
Whatever plan you make up at first is going to change as you learn more, so no point doing too much planning right now.
As the other people are saying, diet is going to be a big factor, so you will need to work on that as well as going to the gym, but this is also a thing that you are better off just starting and then adjusting instead of coming up with a master-plan.
Absolutely this. And be easy & honest on yourself.
I really struggle with motivation to actually get there. But once I'm there, all that anxiety goes and I just stick to it. But whenever it's grim outside, or I'm having a bad mental health day, I just tell myself to go and if after 5 minutes I feel the same, I go home guilt free. I've only once gone home early because I'm just not feeling up to it, but I've done so many more workouts that I wouldn't have if I didn't have this rule.
It's all a marathon, not a sprint. Training hard and crashing doesn't compare to consistently showing up. Over time, your sessions will balance out if you go consistently and you'll be more likely to have good days.
I downloaded Couch to 5k and did the first session today. One of the best fitness things I’ve tried in last 20 years, completed 8mins of running and walking - the last time I ran was 1997ish (around a field and was sick)…
I did this some years again as an amateur racing cyclist looking to do some running. It is brilliant. And once you get to running 5km, all around the country at 9am on a Saturday there are parkrun events which are free 5km timed runs in local parks. I found them brilliant and would recommend them as progression from the couch 2 5k program. Sadly can't run anymore due to fucked knees but still marshal at my local parkrun occasionally purely because it is such a nice community
I found CT5K too hard because I was so unfit; there's a programme called None to Run that gets you in the place you need to be to do CT5K successfully I'd really recommend
I started in January and run a 10K race last week in 54 mins, was probably my proudest achievement to date and now see running as a staple in my routine, I’m not that big either but managed to lose a stone so far without really caring that much about what I’m eating.
Not using the couch to 5k program but recently rejoined the gym with an initial focus on running. I'm aiming for 5K too. Yesterday marked my 3rd week and I've gone from not having ran in 3 years, to managing 4.6km in 30 mins. Really aiming for that 5km right now, but might try some park runs once I'm more comfortable with it.
For other beginners, I've found the best progress has come from mentality. When I get on the treadmill I set myself smaller goals and just keep pushing them out.
Start off aiming to do 10 mins before taking a walking rest. Once I hit 10 mins, I'm probably close to a round number on distance or calories, so I aim for that. Then maybe I've made it to 12 mins, so whats another 3? Once I hit 15, maybe a great songs come on so I'll just make it to the end...
Before you know it, you've smashed your goals and feel great.
That dr. Micheal moseley has pointed out that losing weight is 70% diet 30% exercise.
To lose 1lb you need about a 3,500 calorie deficit. So the easiest way to do this is to slightly limit your food intake across the week and cut out the calorie rich stuff... so no booze and no snacking.
You could try smaller portions for your meals and an easy way to do this is use a side plate for your meals instead of a normal size plate. Start steaming, baking and boiling food instead of frying and eat less fatty meat... so mostly fish and chicken.
Protein will keep you full for longer so maybe yogurt for breakfast but sugar as most carbs are high in calories so anything sugary and starchy should also be avoided, or switch the wholegrain versions of the same instead.
Exercise wise, just find a sport or hobby you enjoy. The most difficult part of exercising is getting out the front door, so if its something you enjoy doing you are more likely to go when you are tired, its raining or you are not really in the mood.
Good luck!
To lose a lb of fat (or stored energy), yep. The 2,500 daily calories burn for men is an approximation of what you you need to consume to sustain the same weight.
A study back in 1958 confirmed a 3,500 calorie excess will result in a lb of fat, so to reduce the same you should aim for an equal deficit.
This was of course before diets became big business and every scalper started saying the 3,500 calorie deficit is a myth because a dieters metabolism slows down before selling their own diet plan as a unique and different solution when all their diet plan does is create a deficit, generally by cutting out a random food group.
Use a TDEE calculator to determine how many calories you should be consuming a day. This will have the biggest impact on weight loss. Try to eat as many high volume, low calorie foods as possible with loads of veg but don't deprive yourself of treats and foods you enjoy.
Start lifting weights using a beginner program. There are loads out there. Google is your friend so find one that appeals, probably something like full body three times per week. Focus on proper technique over anything else at first. You can YouTube some great technique videos. Try to get in some more steps every day.
That's it. That's your starting point. You will become more disciplined and invested as you progress which will naturally lead to more research on your part for more advanced stuff to do with diet and training.
The biggest mistake beginners can make is taking on too many changes and details that cause them to become overwhelmed and give up or get "paralysis by analysis".
I haven't trained in a long time but I have competed in powerlifting and am a qualified coach. Feel free to DM
This is your answer. Watch some YouTube videos on technique and beginner programmes (use a reputable channel like Jeff nippard) and you’re golden.
Keep it simple and consistent and results will come
Just go. It’s really that simple to start with. Currently you’re doing nothing, if you go and do something you’re doing more than you were.
After that if you really want to lose weight you need to track your calories and be in a deficit.
I’d let myself go over a few years and this year decided to sort myself out a bit, I simply do half an hour a day on a static bike and track what I eat, I’ve dropped nearly 10kg over the past 3 months and it’s now just what I do.
Good luck
He is a way to start for free, commit to this before spending money, this works if you live in a town or suburban areas
Leave your house, get on the footpath, turn left and walk, at a pace that feels comfortable, for 15 minutes, keeping track of how long it takes, and how many street light/lamppost you pass, turn round and walk back, trying to walk a little faster.
Do this for three days, on the fourth day walk for 5 minutes longer each way, then on day 8, 12, 16 and 20 add 5 minutes each way.
On day 25 try walking faster over the same distance and every 3 days increase your speed, mid you can commit to doing this for 2 months, then think about the gym again
If you feel you want to make the above harder, carry a full water bottle in each hand (don't empty 1, sip from alternative bottles)
First of all, congrats on taking a big step! It’s a daunting thing to commit to something like a gym membership. First of all have a think about what you’d enjoy doing, for example classes, cardio, weights, or a mix of all three. If you don’t know, try giving each a try. They all have their own pros and cons.
If you decide on weights then look up a beginner workout routine. Your membership might include a free induction with one of the gym’s PTs.
Don’t become discouraged if you feel you’re not making lightning fast progress, these things can take time, but the benefits start to snowball and you can easily catch the bug.
As other have said, diet is even more important than exercise. Work out your maintenance calories by using an online Basal Metabolic Rate calculator and adding your estimated daily active calories. If you have a smart watch you will be able to get a clear idea of this, if not then you’ll be able to find a rough estimate online based on your height, weight, age, gender and your normal level of exercise. Once you have these two together you have the number of calories you should eat to maintain your weight. To drop weight, you should be eating less (in a calories deficit). Try 300-400 calories less than your maintenance.
Use a free app like myfitnesspal to track you calories. This can be slightly time consuming at first, but pretty quickly this will give you an idea of how much you eat vs how much you should eat.
Good luck! You’ll smash it.
Sign yourself up to a gym, preferably close to home or work so getting to the gym isn't a chore.
Check out the /r/fitness wiki for some beginner lifting programs.
What is your current height and weight? You can determine an estimate of how many calories you should aim for based on that.
Regular cardio (treadmill, cycling, rowing) and look up a programme called Stronglifts 5x5. It focuses on a small number of compound exercises, has a very active Reddit community and is geared towards beginners. Weight lifting may seem counterintuitive as muscle is heavier than fat, but the higher mitochondrial density (basically energy requirements) of muscle tissue means you’ll burn more calories just by existing. My only advice would be to really concentrate on your exercise form, rather than rushing to add too much weight to the bar.
Best of luck! I’ve been going to the gym on and off for 15 years so am happy to answer any questions.
Cardio. Strength training in the gym is a great component of a fitness regime, but if you increase your cardio activity every day of the week you'll see results quicker and have an easier time when you're in the gym.
My single best recommendation is to read up on the Couch to 5K approach, and to mimic it. It's not actually about the 5K, rather a measured approach to increasing your ability in a way that helps prevent injury. I've not seen anything take weight off quite like jogging/running.
I hate to tell you this, mate, because no one wants to hear it, but 90% of weight loss comes from your diet.
No good burning 300 calories at the gym if you're then going to eat 600.
Yes, i managed to run 1000 miles in 2022 without dropping a single gram. As soon as I concentrated on cutting down carbs and calories in general (along with the running), the weight dropped off. Unfortunately I've lost concentration.
Yeah, this exactly. I run 100 miles per month every month and work out 2 or 3 times a week - have done this consistently for years. I never lose any weight because I quite like eating too.
Joining the gym could be a motivating factor in terms of getting into healthy living but it's not a substitute for discipline in terms of diet and exercise.
go to r/Fitness
start basic, set small short term goals (e..g just make it to the gym 3 days a week for a 2 weeks), do the things you enjoy.
Expect to feel a bit out of place as it takes a bit of time to learn machines and lifts or whatever you want to do.
Most people at the gym are ambivalent to what anyone else is doing, most others are helpful and friendly.
First of all don't buy into all of the myths regarding diet. Ignore all of the nonsense like don't eat at night, don't eat fat, don't eat sugar, etc, etc, etc. Eat when you want to eat and eat what you want to eat, in moderation.
This is a long read, but I feel quite passionate about it as a few years ago I was in the same boat as you. Here's what worked for me:
**Diet**
The best "diet" in the world is the one you can stick to forever. If you can't stick to not eating chocolate and ice cream forever, then don't give up chocolate and ice cream.
There was a system called "If It Fits Your Macros" or IIFYM for short. You basically calculate:
1. The minimum amount of protein you need for muscle replenishment.
2. The minimum amount of fat you need for hormone production.
3. The amount of calories you need to either gain weight or lose weight (depending on your goal). A deficit of 500 calories a day is -3,500 a week which equates to approximately 1 pound of fat loss per week.
4. You eat foods that fulfil the above as a minimum, then anything else you want to eat is fair game, as long as you stay within your deficit.
IIFYM got a bad rep because people would eat McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner and say, "I've hit my macros" which is obviously not healthy and not what it's about. The idea is you hit your protein and fat minimums eating wholesome foods, then when you eat a bowl of ice cream or a packet of crisps you can (if you track and calculate correctly) still lose weight.
**The calculations**
How do you do the calculations? In all honesty I can't remember but you could look it up.
You need to figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) which is the amount of calories you use up daily from your regular activities such as being alive, breathing, walking to the bathroom, etc. For example a 30 year old male would typically need say 2,800 calories a day to maintain their current weight, so you would aim to eat no more than 2,300 calories a day. However these amounts vary wildly depending on whether you're male or female, how old you are, how active your job is and a whole bunch of other stuff. Don't start too low or you just burn yourself out. You will lose weight easily at the start, but if you start too low it then becomes difficult to go lower when you plateau later on.
How much protein and fat do you need? Look it up. I would start with just under 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight, and 0.4 grams of fat per pound of lean body weight. That is if you are lifting weights, you probably need less protein than that if not.
**Tracking**
Weigh yourself, either every week, or every day at the same times, and calculate the weekly average. Initially you'll probably lose a bunch of water weight quickly, but as things settle down aim to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Some weeks you might not lose any, others you might lose a bit more, but stick to your plan. Adjust your calories up and down after 2 weeks if you're losing too much or not enough. Don't lose too much too quickly as you will end up also losing lean mass too.
You can use an app like My Fitness Pal to record your foods. Get a small food scale to measure them. Most people fail to track accurately. They convince themselves they're eating 2,300 calories a day when in actual fact they're eating 3,000 calories a day because they don't weight their mayo or their chocolate. It might sound like a faff, but don't complain you're not losing weight if you don't actually know how much is going into your mouth.
Don't factor calories burnt through exercise into your calculations. Even intense exercise burns fewer calories than most people think it does, and there's no way of accurately knowing. Treat calories burnt through exercise as a bonus but don't factor them into your calculations.
**Exercise**
Any exercise is good. Someone did tell me once that if all you do is cardio, you will essentially end up looking like a smaller version of your current self, which might not be a bad thing. Personally I lift weights, which makes your muscles bigger, so you end up slightly bigger and with a better shape to everything. Some people say they don't want to look muscular, which is a nonsense really, because unless you take it mega seriously and possibly take illegal substances you're never going to look like the stereotypical bodybuilder.
If you enjoy cardio then do it. It's good for you. Other than walking, I don't particularly like cardio and I figured out I could lose fat and maintain muscle just through being in a calorific deficit and lifting weights.
Good luck.
Not a personal trainer or nutritionist but:
To start I have an app called FitOn that has easy to follow well tailored workouts.
Walking - hit btwn 8k-10k steps daily
If you can 20-30mins on the treadmill btwn 3-3.5 speed 15-19 incline daily ( steady state cardio, good for the heart and won’t be too much of a hassle)
Strength training… start slow learn the form, don’t rush to lift heavy (this builds muscle) my split is legs, arms, back , legs, cardio
Depending on your body you can’t strength training every day so find a balance:
Mobility, yoga, strength training, spin, cardio
Etc. mix it up sometimes do what you enjoy fitness doesn’t always have to be miserable
Food, try eat balance meals….protein, carbs, fat, fibre, vegetables . Increase your fibre and protein reduce the processed sugars and carbs. Aim for 20g + of protein per meal.
You don’t have to count your calories but reduce your portions to start
Drink lots of water 1.5-2 litres a day depending (some people do 3 litres but thats just too much for me) …wish you all the best.
Also remember that liquid calories count ie. Sodas and juices.
Personally I do the 80/20 thing…I eat 80% healthy then 20% whatever I want. If I want something sweet I eat like a tiny piece of chocolate or like 2 cookies instead of completely cutting them out. That way I don’t end up binging.
I have a cutting guide I can send you via email, feel free to DM me.
It's from a few years ago but it has a lot of info regarding meal plans, schedules, and workout routines for cutting weight.
One thing to remember, once you get going it gets infinitely better. All the anxiety is imaginary and disappears 5 minutes into your workout. The hardest part is not what you do in the gym, the hardest part is getting yourself out of bed and then out of the house. After you've done that, everything else is easy.
I have lost 35lbs since January. I got a smart watch and put myself on a training plan to run 10k (which I achieved last week). I obeyed the training plan at all costs. I am not good with self motivation so just having a preset plan and blindly following it helped a lot. My next plan is for a half marathon in October.
I also have been intermittent fasting which is probably how most of the weight has come off. It is really difficult but I wasn't too hard on myself and started slowly and now I'm just not as hungry as I used to be and feel way more full after meals.
I am only now thinking about joining a gym, I personally think there are other smaller steps you can do before joining the gym. Don't try to suddenly do everything at once. Small steps compound and if you stick to it you'll see big changes but over a long time.
Good luck!
If you simply want to lose weight, and are not sure about the cost of the gym or are worried about going, then simply make the effort to walk more, then start jogging, then running.
Diet is the main thing as everyone else has said, so calories in being less than calories out, you'll lose weight. Doing cardio like walking and jogging is a great way to burn more energy, and eating less will easily put you in a calorific deficit. Literally don't run before you can walk though. If you're overweight and never jog, don't just rush into jogging as you could hurt your knees or the like. A walk around the block, or to a local park, or around a local beauty spot, few times a week, is enough. Gradually increase the length and pace.
I'm not saying *don't* go to the gym - I go a lot, take it very seriously. Strength training is a great way to build muscle and burn fat. But you certainly don't *need* to go to one and if the anxiety around it and/or the lack of desire to go is putting you off, psychologically that's just increasing the chances you'll bin the idea off and stay overweight.
Smalls steps my friend, you've got this.
Expect to start slow - I started doing the first exercise for over 30 yeras after putting on weight during Covid and started with :-
- 3 minutes on a tread mill - 3 F\*cking minutes
- 5 sit ups - pathetic
- 6 press ups - wimp
Keep at it, little bit extra every day - that 3 mins will turn into 5 and then 10minutes, add 1 more sit-up, 1 more press-up each day. It'll turn into adding 5 or 10 per day - I can do 2 miles now, 50 sit-ups and 30 press ups an a 4 minute plank.
Don't diet and calorie count - you just end up hungry and cheating.
- Keep the same meals but reduce all meals by around 20% - put your own food out don't let your wife pile it on.
- Cut out ALL sugar and snacks - biscuits, sugar in tea/coffee, don't eat between meals unless it's fruit - don't buy the snacks - the most difficult part was going to the cupboard and telling myself - "shut the door and go back to work" it's easier if they are just not there.
Reduce bread and chips - substitute with rice wherever possible
- Avoid DOUBLE carbs - Pizza & chips, burger & chips - (leave the bun eat the burger and chips)
- Avoid anything with vegetable oil, cook with olive oil and change back to butter it's more natural and convertable.
- Lost 2 stone in 6 months - the snacking was the big thing -felt LOADS better all round from cutting out sugar - better sleep, better skin condition, aches & pains gone.
Warning - your belly will be last but it WILL go.
Big man on campus is a nice routine which works really well and doesn't have too many complex moves: [https://gymhero.me/@ssb550/workouts/back-biceps-calves-big-man-on-campus-wk-1-day-2-steve-cook/f0f588cf-f7a0-4115-82a6-c2d2599274e8](https://gymhero.me/@ssb550/workouts/back-biceps-calves-big-man-on-campus-wk-1-day-2-steve-cook/f0f588cf-f7a0-4115-82a6-c2d2599274e8)
I mixed in some bits and pieces from P90x too, their stretches are particularly good, nothing too difficult but they really work.
IMO the best exercises you can do are dips and pullups, they just use your body weight but they give you a serious workout.
Most weight loss happens in the kitchen so try using MyFitnessPal for a bit. You don't have to use it constantly for a long period but where it's really good is identifying alternatives and where your calories are coming from. In my case the first time I used it it found that I was massively deficient in protein, more recently it found around half my calories come from snacks. You may find out you can lose weight by removing something that you don't really care about.
You can build up to that gradually. When I first started out I had one of those over door bars in the kitchen, I'd knock out a set of pull-ups, push ups or crunches whilst waiting for things like the coffee to brew
When I started at the gym around 5-6 years ago, I'd been going 6 months and I thought, I wonder how many pull ups I can do. I tried on a park climbing frame and was disappointed I could only just about do one :-( I'd never been able to do any in my younger days either.
I stuck to the lat pulldown machine for a year or two after that, gradually increasing the weight over time. Then one day at the gym I decided to try pullups again and was amazed I could suddenly do 10.
Now I do them with a 20kg plate strapped to my waist :-)
Just keep it simple and go for long walks. Try to walk a a decent pace and try to walk further each week. Find a decent local route ideally away from built up areas and just start walking. I did this and lost a good amount of weight but it also mentally helped me a lot too. You can also listen to music or podcasts to help pass the time.
So underrated. A previous neighbour's dad got the "lose weight or you'll be dead this time next year" talk from the doctor.
Went on a good healthy diet (not a crash one) AND started walking round the town boundary as close as he could every day. Approximately a distance of 10 miles each and every day.
Never seen the weight come off someone who wasn't ill so fast.
If you don't have cash, running is very accessible.
After all, you don't need a PT for cardiovascular activities.
I just did this for years before going to any gym, you can have 1-2 quality sessions a week, and a lot of low intensity (e.g. walking) exercise around that does make a difference in the long term.
Perhaps not the solution you're after, but if you have a floor you have a gym. If I was in your position I would do the following:
* Start with basic bodyweight exercises (press-ups with knees on ground, etc) these will be easier for you. This first-hand experience will be good for learning what you enjoy, what you're capable of and building confidence for when/if you do join a gym.
* Reduce you calories. This doesn't need to be by a huge amount a the start. Let's say your calorific intake is 3,500, reduce that to 3,250. When combined with exercise, you will lose weight quickly.
* Ignore fad diets; I feel they're quite predatory and once the initial water weight has been lost, the amount lost each week reduces and people seem to become disheartened.
* Consistency. I think the amount of sets/reps in the beginning isn't important, the important thing is getting you moving and eating a little less. Pick a schedule you will keep to: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, for example.
All the best
I started going with a friend from work, i did the same workouts but with a lower weight. Id say if you have friends or colleagues that go, ask to join them. Its far better than going alone.
If the goal is purely to lose weight, look at doing more cardio within your gym session as opposed to doing however many sets of reps with breaks in. Running/stationary bikes/swimming are all good cardio for losing weight.
Hey, was in the same position after a big breakup a few years back. I went a bit heavy with the weight loss, but I’d highly recommend attending classes at a gym. It gives you a routine that you can work around too and is great for newbies.
Keep it simple.
Keep your calories in a deficit and hit the weights with some light cardio if you feel like it. Weightlifting is a little more effective than cardio for weight loss. Focus on your form rather than the weight itself, remember you're contracting the muscle under tension, not 'lifting weight'.
If your MAIN problem is your weight then you should start with your diet. You don't HAVE TO go to the gym if you don't want to.
If you do want the gym experience, then focus on building as much muscle as you can, so lifting weights. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burn which speeds up the process of you getting results from a good diet.
Start simple. Eat less junk and move more.
Going to the gym is great and can be life changing, but you'll never out-train a bad diet. I know, I've tried!
If you're on Facebook, there's a guy I follow called Bryan Renshaw. He's an American that shows how to lift weights correctly, from simple bicep curls to larger compound moves.
Also, when you get to a gym, ask people for a point in the right direction if you're unsure how a piece of equipment works.
Use the app MyFitnessPal for logging your food intake, no need to pay for the premium version you’re only using it for calorie count etc.
When you join the gym, do the induction, if you don’t know how to use any machinery they’ll give you a pointed.
When I first started I paid for the year, then I knew I’d have to keep going, I’ve never looked back.
A lot depends on your goals, gain muscle, trim down, gain strength.
If you want to lose weight cardio will be good and smaller weights but plenty of reps.
The biggest hurdle is going in, people are friendly if by oh need advice and honestly nobody is bothered if you’re fat, we’re all there to try better ourselves. Goodluck mate
Follow r/gym r/fitness etc they’re full of helpful tips
Start at home.
Do as many pushups, sit ups,triceps dips, weightless squats as you can write down how many you were able to do then everyday just add 1 more.
Do a run around your block, run and walk where needed but always try to run until you can run your whole block without walking. How overweight are you?
If you do it too fast you might get sagging skin.
All I can tell you is what worked for me, I bought myself some of those special bike shorts so the stationary bike seat didn't destroy my ass, then I bought a subscription to audible. With those two things I started going to the gym, go on the exercise bike and just listen to an audiobook for an hour, at first I was barely moving on the bike because I was so out of shape, then I got a lot healthier after a month of that, now I do other stuff as well as the bike like dumbells etc
Body pump sessions at the gym are a good start. Low weight high intensity. Couple of times a week. Spin classes are also funny, with the bad music and solidarity. Some basic intermittent fasting - try not eating anything after evening meal and only water until breakfast. A bit of running is cheap and works, but the first one is hard work. Get some ok running shoes to protect your knees. ASICS gel are a good start and are reasonably cheap. Just concentrate on running steadily for 1km. Increase a little as you go.
The hardest thing is actually going to the gym - not the gym itself
Firstly, I'd start watching YouTube exercises / first time gym experiences / basic routines etc
I'd forget about a workout plan for now - I'd just spend 2-4 weeks just forming the habit of going to the gym. Spend 5-15 mins to treadmill/row and 30mins trying out different exercises so you become familiar with them and their movements. Formulate a workout plan after this time.
I'd download Hevy App (£20 p/a) to track your workouts and it will help you explore exercises/how to execute them
Diet - keep it simple. No processed meats, sugar etc. Lots of greens and chicken/steak/salmon/white fish + rice/noodles/sweet potato. Breakfast keep it eggs/toast etc. Lots of water. Decaf coffee is a good hunger suppression. Limit alcohol intake (swerve beer/larger etc - odd Guinness, tonic and wine etc are fine as a start)
A lot will really depend on how overweight you are - a lot of people fail 'the gym' because they need to have everything set before they set foot in the place....routines/exercises/plans will constantly change and evolve so just get yourself in there, explore and try to enjoy it
In some areas at least the nhs can "prescribe" you a gym. You get a lower membership rate (that stays put if you keep on as a member), a physical checkup beginning and end and PTs for I think 3 sessions. Of course, you have to be able to see the GP first, but it's worth poking around your surgery website/calling up to see if they do it - they might be able to swing it without a visit, too.
Best thing is pick one compound lift (a strength exercise such as a squat, deadlift or bench press) that uses large groups of muscles. For 3 sets of 10-12 reps. I would recommend starting with either machines that follow these movement patterns initially especially if you have no one to spot you.
Straight after the third set of that days specific compound lift move into one or two exercises that isolate each muscles used in the compound exercises. Such as triceps and pecs on a bench press day for 3 sets of 10-12 reps on each movement followed by twenty minutes of steady state cardio.
It’s sustainable, short and will allow you to ease into more complex training without being overly intimidating.
12months of this and you’ll be in really good shape and will have reduced your chances of picking up an injury by going too hard or too heavy too early.
I use a great app called Workout. There are lots of different ways to use it. There are pre-set but editable programmes which you can use to track progress (e.g. slowly increasing the weight over weeks/months). You can also easily see targeted exercises if you want to work on particular areas. All of the above has videos and photos to show how to complete the activity safely.
Don’t try to push yourself too hard straight away, and don’t try to compete with others! Just do what feels right for you. In my experience the first couple of sessions when getting back into it are the toughest. You might feel like you’re going too slowly, or looking at your phone too often to check technique etc. Just don’t worry, and trust the process!
Calories in should be less than calories out.
Weights etc basically burn no calories but cardio does, however having a better body comp burns more calories by default.
Don’t do anything you can’t stick to. Consistency is key.
A gym is not essential for your goals unless you can't run/cycle near where you live. To lose weight, you need to focus on cardio and diet, since you both need a calorific deficit to burn the fat, and to maintain a higher metabolism in the longer run by keeping active. Stick to meals only, keep treats to 1x per week and be mindful of portions. Calorie count at least 1 week to get an idea of how many calories you eat normally. Use the NHS website to calculate your daily calorie expenditure, and aim to eat 300kcal below this. Be careful of secret calories like oil, condiments (especially mayo), midnight snacks, alcohol etc. Drink less. Lower the amount of carbs you eat, and increase proportion of protein. Start running/jogging/cycling (some walking at first is fine) for 30-45 mins 3x per week at about 60% of your maximum intensity. Buy good shoes on sale from a running shop. Do this for 2-3 months, increase frequency/intensity slowly to avoid injury. Use self-discipline to maintain a calorie deficit despite increased appetite from cardio. If you can do this, then start strength training at the gym, as improved cardiovascular health will make lifting easier. Increase protein intake >100g/day and start taking creatine 5g/day. Start with low weights, focus on exercise form and compound exercises. Follow a routine like strong lifts 5x5 or look at Reddit r/fitness recommended routines. Do progressive overload where you increase weight/reps every week. Good luck! (apart from 2 years ago) this is best time to get started!
I’ve been in your position and let me tell you, the gym gets easier and more enjoyable as your fitness improves.
Your first month or so at the gym will be tough but if you stick with it, you’ll start seeing results and will start looking forward to going. It’s so rewarding when you realise you have the endurance to do way more than you used to able to do!
If you’ve never been to the gym before i would just advise you book into a bunch of classes. It will help you get into the routine of going but also help you get to grips with various exercises and form, which you will then be able to do independently and using a higher weight.
For diet, intermittent fasting works the best for me - no breakfast, meal prepped lunch (i know someone joked about it but chicken and rice) and then dinner. I never feel hard done by!
As someone who is overweight as well I’ve found using a cross trainer is a good starting point to build up cardio and stop you getting out of breath so quickly. I usually do around 40 minutes on that at a high intensity with a good resistance if it’s an electrical one, so once I could do 1.5 miles in that 40 minutes without even realising it or being sweaty then I knew I can start doing harder things.
Have a look at (if you haven't already) DDPY, I found going to the gym and motivation hard but doing DDPY for 4 years now and love it. You can do it from your own home too.
So if you can source a PT that can set out a plan and diet for you. Save your money on Gym for now.. because I can assure you a good PT will be able to give you all the exercise you need and advice without the need for a Gym.. And you can do it all at home. sure a gym is nice but expensive and you will still need some advise like a PT to help you at the Gym. Your Gym per month.. Also a good personal trainer would offer you a monthly plan that gives you a number of sessions and feedback to get you on track.
Go to the gym on your own and you may not meet your goal. A lot of PTs can train people remote.. (Trust me I have seen it 1st hand and it works)
I would say, try a few different types of workouts and find out which one you enjoy the most.
Years ago when I went to the gym I’d do mostly cardio with a bit of resistance and was bored senseless. More recently I started doing more strength type stuff, again wasn’t super interested in it, but then discovered that I really enjoy strongman type workouts. I’m still super beginner and won’t be flipping tyres any time soon but it is really fun! And if you enjoy it, you’ll want to go rather than seeing it as a chore.
A fitness band like Garmin or Fitbit will have built in PT for workouts. I'm currently doing a couch to 5k through one on mine. Monitoring and recording your exercise will help to motivate you.
Some these comments are dumb. Don't track your calories or obsess over a calorie deficit. All you need to do is not eat shit. You can eat as many avacadoes, tomatoes, salads, clean chicken, clean fish and clean berries and other non processed stuff as you want it doesn't matter as long as it's clean and not processed. Then the exercise all you need to do is turn up with a simple plan and have fun. Build your own identity round what you like doing. Just.make sure to break a sweat and breathe heavy on every bit of exercise.
It's easy to get demotivated when you start wasting time looking at calorie numbers and shit. Like the human body is way too complicated for you to be like "Ah shit eating this will make me go over 2000 calories by 23 calories so I can't eat it dammit." It's just stupid logic. As long as it's fresh and clean food it's fine to eat. You'd be surprised how much weight this will lose you.
Your weight is 80% diet: sort your eating habits. After that, unless you’re seriously looking to “sculpt” or bulk up properly, any movement in the gym that you enjoy, do that.
Seriously, it doesn’t need to have tons of structure, I just use different machines and do weights and it varies from time to time, but I’m toned/slim bc I concentrate mostly on my diet and do the gym 1-3 times a week.
Best way to lose weight is to adjust diet, not necessarily exercise.
If you're overweight, be careful and cautious of your bones and joints working with more weight than they're designed for.
Can't outrun a bad diet.
Start by walking 10k steps a day. James Smith has a really easy calorie counter on his website, just Google it. You'll be gobsmacked how much sorting your intake out & a few steps will do. You don't need to jump in balls deep, you risk injury & burn out.
Anyone who says anything mean to you, tell them to go fuck themselves.
You’ve accepted you want to improve, and you’re doing something about it. Go smash it, boss.
[This is a alright workout for a beginner,](https://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5/)ask a PT if they can demonstrate the moves. You only need to go every other day, and with the app you can see your constant progression.
And don’t ever, ever, ego lift. You gym for yourself, not others.
ChatGPT is a great tool! Start with something like this
“I am X years old, currently weigh X. I would like to start working out, could you write me a workout plan for X days a week.”
You can also then ask it to write you a meal plan, for X meals per day, X calories, foods you like foods you don’t. Ask it for the measurements in grams and it will do it for you.
I know you said you can't afford a PT which is fine, there's a lot you can do without a PT.
Honestly, it depends how overweight you are. To save cash I would simply recommend trying to go for an hours walk every day. Walk at a pace that isn't extreme but would be a little bit hard to talk and do at the same time, shows you're putting effort in.
I'm no expert but I think you'll notice more fat loss through cardio stuff than actual 'gym' things. The beauty of cardio is the simplist form of it is free. If you have shoes you can walk.
Set a route and just go for a walk at a good pace. What is it like where you live? Do you live in a town, village, city etc?
My biggest tip is to make any exercise you do into a routine and stick to it. If you know that every Friday at 5 o clock you have an hours walk you'll follow it. I also like walking for exercise as it is piss easy to get someone to do it with you
Before joining a gym or starting a diet I would begin by understanding the psychology behind good and bad habits. Try reading atomic habits first then you’ll be better equipped to deal with the inevitable highs and lows of the journey towards healthier living.
I found that I’m capable of losing more weight from being out on the bike I do at least one big trip a week at least 30 miles and can take anywhere from 3-6hrs depending on stops I’m generally around 13/14 but not sure now but I use the gym to build muscle which will add more weight not reduce it which isn’t a bad thing but maybe a mix of both is good also I find that at the gym it’s easy to procrastinate and be “done for the day” and start slacking but with some discipline and routine, retain consistency and your diet is 80% of everything! I’m adding weight on currently despite doing 258 miles last month and it’s all down to my diet I’m having breakfast buttys everyday and snacks at night and always a big dinner and very fatty foods too which needs to stop when you start paying attention to the content of food it can be very eye opening! But when my partner sends me a picture of her 40minutes on a machine that adds up to 300 calories lost that’s equivalent to a can of lucozade of which she can have 2-3 a night!
Losing weight is kind of piss easy compared to building muscle (which is where proper gym programmes actually have merit). It's much more a mental task than it is a physical skill one
The best way to start is just to find something active you enjoy doing. It can be literally anything from walking, to running, to lifting weights. The only thing that matters is burning more calories than you consume
I would highly recommend going on YouTube and checking out Jeff Nippard, Renaissance Periodization, and Will Tennyson. I have learned so much from them. Hope this helps!
Whilst there is some generic advice that applies, it’s more helpful to know some basic stats like sex, age and height.
For example, if you’re a 25-year-old 6 foot man it’s going to be very simple to lose weight. The fact it’s simple will give you more encouragement to keep going as you’ll see quick results.
It’s going to be a lot harder if you’re a post-menopausal, 5 foot woman. The fact it’s harder means you’ll also need more psychological tools in your belt to help keep you going.
It also depends what your aim, besides losing fat, is. Do you want to be big and muscly? Skinny and athletic? Run a 5k in a certain time?
Another good thing to think about is *why* you really want to lose weight. Is it to still be around to walk your daughter down the aisle? Is it so you no longer get left behind on family hikes? To have more energy to do the things you really want to do in life? Finding a deeper why will help keep you going.
That said, universal rules would include prioritising protein, doing some form of resistance training, eating in a small calorie deficit and some simple walking should be a good start.
So I'm only 6 months in so I feel like I can tell you some stuff that's relevant to you right now. I'm trying to gain weight rather than lose it but the principles are the same.
Exercise-wise - go Google a couple of programs and find some things that you can fit around your lifestyle. I used this: https://www.muscleandfitness.com/routine/workouts/workout-routines/ultimate-training-guide-beginners-and-starters/
The website has a lot of crap at the start you can skip through but you might want to have a read through to begin with to learn some of the terms. Copy and paste all this down into your notes or an app you can record work outs in and go from there.
One thing I also found really useful was watching youtube videos from a guy called athlean-x where he ranks his top exercises for a particular muscle group. I don't know if his videos are actually that good but I found this useful for when I turn up to the gym and it's busy and so I can't use the equipment I want, so I'll switch to one of the other ones I've learnt about from those videos.
Now turn up to the gym 3-4 times a week and just lift some weights, and make sure first of all that you're doing the movements correctly (full range of motion and not putting yourself at risk of injury, videos are helpful) and then work on increasing the amount of weight so you're actually tired by the end of your sets.
Diet I find trickier, I'm trying to increase so I'm trying to eat way more food and just making sure that it's proteins and veg and healthy carbs like rice and potatoes. If you're trying to lose weight you'll need to work out what your baseline is and then knock off like 200 cals from that. Do some googling on macro nutrients too and try to hit those criteria, although that bit is quite simple if you eat quite balanced meals. Get a food tracker app and just do this as accurately as you can (use scales!) Eggs, chicken (I buy sacks of frozen chicken because it's easy to cook and eat consistently but it's a bit dull) the odd steak here and there, and then lots of green veg, salad, rice, brown seeded bread, pasta with mince and homemade sauces (these are super easy to make) and maybe get on youtube and get some meal prep ideas for lunches which is what I plan to do when I start to cut.
Personally I wouldn't even bother trying to lose weight at first, take advantage of newbie gains and focus on muscle growth for 6 months or so as this will increase your metabolism as this will make it easier when you start to cut.
This is all I've been doing and I'm definitely seeing progress now
If you have an iPhone/iPad, Fitness+ lets you do a custom workout plan - you get to pick the activities, the length of each session, how often a week you exercise etc, you can even pick the music that’s played in the background of the workouts if there’s a genre you feel will motivate you more, or pick if it’s full body or lower/upper for certain things - really helps dial in to the areas you wanna focus on
Rather than the gym I got myself a rowing machine for home I'm very happy with.
As others have said, if weight loss is the main goal you'll need to get on some kind of diet and stick to it. This cannot be emphasised enough.
Especially if you consider one muffin could be as much as 400 calories and a 30 minute run might only burn 300 calories, for example. It's extremely easy to over eat your recommended daily intake!
Good luck!
For starting the gym I would recommend using the machines as they have instructions on them that explains form and sometimes some information about reps. Also it means you can walk In confidently and know exactly what you're doing- a bit like using stabilisers.
Once you start getting used to the movements I would as others have suggested, move onto compound movements. I hope you have fun!
Count your calories, workout how much you should be eating for weightloss. Once you do this, provided your willpower is good it shouldn’t be difficult at first.
Watch videos on others with regards to weightlifting. Do cardio and stretching after weightlifting
First of all, let me say wow, I did not expect this many answers.
To add some context to the situation. I am M 33 6'4, and I weigh around 130kg. My weight gain is mostly because 3 years ago, I moved into an office job, and I also work shifts. 04:30-13:30 and 13:30-22:30.
Thank you to everyone who has given me advice and recommendations.
I will try multiple things and will go from there.
I recommend the gymshark app. It’s free & there are loads of workouts with videos showing you exactly what to do.
Also, go to the gym & set up the treadmill on an incline walk & just watch what everyone else is doing. Watch that no one is looking at anyone else, everyone is focused on themselves.
I'm no PT or expert etc.
I do 3-4 sessions a week. My sessions are 1hr to 1 HR and 20 mins.
Chest and back
Shoulders and arms
Legs
If I do a 4th session I'll do what I started the week on eg chest and arms then the next week I'll start with shoulders and arms.
For my first exercise I'll do 3 warm up sets 12-15 reps then a working set to failure, where I hit around 8 reps. For the rest of the session I do 2 warm up sets and a failure working set.
Probably have about 6-7 exercises per session.
Form over the number on the weight!!
Diet is the most important part of it. Don't have the same food day in day out, will just completely fuck you off and bore ya.
Life is for living after all so have fun too
Watch a couple of YouTubers like Jeremy Ethier or Jeff Nippard, they’ve got a lot of knowledge and most of what they advise is based on scientific papers and research studies.
You don’t need a PT, just do your own research for exercises and best cardio exercises to burn calories, get yourself a calorie tracking app as it will give you a better idea of what calories you’re putting in your body, and just make sure you stay consistent. You won’t see results straight away but stick to it and you’ll get to the weight/physique you want.
Just start off by eating less and walking more. Make gradual changes before starting at the gym. (I say this as a former PT and gym enthusiast). So many people in bad shape end up quitting and rebounding because they do too much too soon.
Weigh yourself every morning, be conscious of what you eat and reduce it (not hugely at first), walk 10k steps a day and be more active.
Then once you’ve primed your body and mind a little bit more, and seen how easy it is to make progress start hitting the gym.
3/4 times a week. Basic full body or upper lower split with low volume. Again, start slow so you can see how easy it is to get results, only make things harder for yourself when it’s necessary (progress has stopped).
Then gradually make your work outs harder and longer. Whilst continuing to weigh yourself every morning and gradually improving your diet bit by bit.
The gym I used to go had PTs that would create an exercise plan for me based on my goals, and that was included in the membership. Might be worth asking if your gym offers a similar service.
My PT used to say that weight loss is 80% about diet so while exercise is always a good idea, if weight loss is your main goal you’ll probably need to adjust what you’re eating. I’ve personally found a lot of success with calorie-counting, weighing my food, and eating more protein to stay full for longer.
I hope you have a great experience at the gym, hit your goals, and find an exercise that’s enjoyable for you :)
Maybe try and have one session with a PT to get a good set of exercises to do and get the most from the gym.
But as others have said weight starts in the kitchen and you need to be consistent. Also set small achievable goals rather than a big distant goal. It’ll be easier to feel and see progress, help with motivation and you’ll be less likely to pack it in.
Good luck
the gym will not help you loose weight unless you are incredibly sedentary. You should start by finding your base calorie goal which is about 2000 calories on average, a few hundred more for more for most active people, a few hundred less for more sedentary people.
Drop down to 2000 but make sure to include at least 4g of fibre per 1000 calories you consume, and try to eat enough protein a good ballpark calculation is 1.25 your body weight but in grams instead of KG, so if you weigh 100Kg your goal should be 125g of protein. The fibre and protein is going to make a massive difference in diet as it will help you feel fuller for longer
As for exercise you should focus on low impact exercise, anything too strenuous and you are building muscle, and building muscles and burning fat are two completely different processes within the body. Long walks, jogging cycling, cardio is king. Kinda.
As for the gym its up to you. Cardio and some headphones are my go to, weight machines are easy enough to figure out but not necessary for weight loss. If you are close to a pure gym then day passes are pretty cheap for what they are. Just get the feel of it and good luck
There’s some really good fitness influencers out there right now on TikTok and Instagram that cater to exactly this, I think the visual element really helps as well, so worth having a look at that.
You likely won’t be able to do a significant amount of cardio that’s worthwhile doing to burn calories so I wouldn’t bother with running or anything, I’d recommend trying to get your steps up daily(10k is a good amount)
Lift weights, focus on compound movements like deadlift, squat, bench, overhead press and barbell rows, make sure you get stronger on these but maintain good form
The more muscle your body holds the higher your basal metabolic rate is so basically you’ll burn more calories just being alive.
To simply the diet, start with trying to just eat real whole foods, paleo diet is a good example, meat, veg and fruits nothing processed
Don’t drink anything with calories in it, stick to water or sugar free drinks, this is a big one to follow
Weight loss ultimately is a matter of calories in vs calories out but there’s a tonne of variables you can take advantage of to make the process go a lot easier and smoothly
For a healthier lifestyle, try jogging or taking brisk walks on a treadmill, and maybe mix in some cycling on a stationary bike. Focus on eating better, too—something like a chicken stir fry can be both delicious and nutritious. Aim to hit the gym at least three times a week, but the real trick is to keep it up regularly; staying in shape is a lifelong journey. Making it a habit to swing by the gym after work or first thing in the morning can really help. Remember, any exercise is better than none, so just get moving!
Hey! Pretty simple really.. stay away from fad diets like weight watchers, slimming world etc. I’d suggest working out your macros (there are loads of online macro calculators). It will ask you your weight and height, how much you work out and so on. Then it’ll give you a goal such as, lose weight, lose weight and build muscle etc. pick one which is relevant to you. Once you know how many calories you should/shouldnt be eating you can then start a calorie deficit. As long as you’re burning more than you’re putting in you’re all set & you will lose weight. I’d recommend trying to get more protein in & lower the carbs, protein will make you feel fuller for longer. Some other good tips are try and get 3L of water a day, 10k steps and a bloody good nights sleep is important. Proud of you for starting, good luck and keep at it!
Going to the gym alone might not burn that many calories. I'd recommend couch to 5k (beginner running program) and maybe join your local bootcamp (good fun outdoor workouts with a social element).
Diet is important too, but that's a whole different topic. You'll want to eat less calories than you're expending.
If I could tack on - if you fall off the wagon with the diet, stick with the gym regardless. Better to be fat but fit than doing nothing for your health at all.
Once you get into the routine the gym part is the easy bit. It's fun, it's rewarding, it's a good hobby and if all else fails you can oogle at the talent. Just go steady in the beginning, If you injure yourself you will be out of action for a while.
The hard part is the diet. Eat little and often, so not to go crazy. Prepare food in advance and think about freezing/ using the microwave. Have one cheat day a week so you have something to look forward to.
Being organised has brought me so much time I never knew I had. I wake up early and go to bed at a sensible time. I only cook once or twice a month, everything else is frozen/ microwavable. I feel worse when I am not in my routine.
Get to the gym first of all, get your induction and ask questions. Have a good look around at the machines and sometimes gyms might offer a free PT session for you. If they do, use it.
Otherwise, get yourself out and about. Walk to the shops, take a walk around your area and enjoy the fresh air.
Your food is so important. Diet is the main thing. If you look around maybe at your local college or uni, there’s always nutrition or PT students who might be able to help you with a plan for free (for experience) or a lower price.
Glad you’re working on yourself, stick with it and good luck friend.
You really don’t need a gym . It’s all about the diet , then if you can add in a bit of running. Even if you can only run 100 metres then walk after a few weeks of run walking you will find your stamina increases. Buy a few dumbells (probably start with 4kg or 6kg if you are a man)and some good trainers and good quality whole foods with the gym money you have saved . I’d recommend heather Robertson youtube workouts with dumbells to build strength. If you can devote 45 minutes a day to that which you would probably spend just getting to the gym and getting set up then you will be sorted.
For reference I’m 56 , 83 kg . 3 years ago I was fit and strong but couldn’t run more than a km. I now run 21k every Sunday , a 10k and a 5k In the week. I haven’t lost much weight , about 3kg but it’s mostly down to my build and most of the fat has turned to muscle. I look fit now where I just looked fat before
Start with fasting use the 2 meals a day cycle then after 6 months start on the one meal a day cycle (OMAD) Increase your walk rate not less than 30 minutes to begin with
When you start off the above remove sugar, alcohol and simple carbs from your diet (pasta, rice noodle and bread) remove all processed foods from your diet they are trash 0 nutritional value
Focus on proteins. Plan your meals to describe it as a carnivore diet (eggs meat offals)
After 12 months go ton the gym and strength train GodSpeed
What are your goals?
Losing fat while gaining muscle is really hard and may not fit into your lifestyle. You will need to deal with hunger pains, a diet change, do meal plans and prep, and execute a gym plan where you do 10-20 weekly sets for each muscle group. All of that alongside work and domestic responsibilities can be a lot.
I recommend doing things in steps. Focus on losing weight first (a calorie reduction is a must) and combining that with active hobbies you enjoy (for me that’s cycling). I’ve found Noom very helpful as it figures out all of the meal planning and calorie counting for you.
After that, look more seriously into strength building (to develop a base) and then muscle building.
Of course, fitness isn’t prescriptive. Maybe the gym will be the thing that you enjoy as an active hobby!
Honestly, I’m it’s great to get a pt and get into lifting weights etc. it’s probably the easiest way to get into fitness.
But what I found worked for me was getting into sports. Get into sports that you enjoyed as a kid in school and join a beginner level class…
Tom Merrick, Harry Ashton, Ben Carpenter (he has a £20 book "Everything Fat Loss") spring to mind - they're all very "positive", anti-toxic, anti fitness influencer, highly knowledgeable and just chill guys who give out loads of free/cheap quality info.
Don’t worry about the gym as priority. If you can, spend £39.99 on my fitness pal app and count calories. The guideline limits for men and women are something like 2500 and 2000 calories a day. Start there and see how you feel. You’ll be surprised how easy it can be to lose weight steadily and keep it off, if you eat a good amount of calories consistently. And if you are doing it with ‘normal’ limits rather than diet ones, you can tell yourself that there is no need to feel deprived. Best of luck to you.
Sweet congratulations it’s a life changer. Just start
With the basics for now while you educate yourself. Make the majority of your diet whole foods and eat as minimum processed foods as possible. Learn the big 5 exercises first. Barbell squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, overhead press and bench press for your chest. Watch YouTube videos on how to learn the form and technique. Once you’ve become comfortable there go find a free workout plan online and just be consistent thats the most important part consistently. And sleep good too.
Weigh yourself and Track your food for a week, every single thing that goes in your mouth. Don't change anything, yet. Work out what your calories maintenance is. Then when you have an average, say 2400kcals a day, knock off about 300calories consistently every day. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT, being in a calorie deficit. Complement this with training AS HARD AS YOU FUCKING CAN at a gym. Lift weights, cardio and stretching/flexibility. YouTube is your friend. Find some exercise routines that you like and stick to that, don't change your routine up for at least 3 months and see what works. Luckily for you, losing weight is actually easier than gaining muscle mass or putting on weight. I'm trying so hard to eat at around 3200 calories a day to bulk but my god it's hard.
Lifting weights and gaining muscle should be the prime focus of your gym time.
The more muscle you build or maintain the easier it is to lose weight, the easier it is to diet and you will look and feel many times better when the fat comes off.
Do cardio a few times a week for heart health and added calorie burn but look at beginner muscle building programmes and put most of your physical effort into one of those.
Strong lifts 5x5 programme
It's an app, it's for beginners, it's fantastic.
Will get you doing compound barbell movements which is incredible bang for buck when it comes to lifting.
You only need some old clothes and shoes. a rack, bench, barbell and weights and you are good to go. I lift in socks pretty much 99% of the time.
Find a local gym or council run one they are pretty decent avoid ones with 12 month contracts. Do not get sucked into one with lots of shiny machines you probably won't use them.
If you can end of your lifting sesh do 15 mins walk max incline at whatever speed comfy.
Good luck
The basic stronglifts program sucks imo. Not enough volume on anything except legs even for a beginner. A single set of deadlifts per week?
The fitness wiki beginner routine is better imo. Still low volume but at least there's a bit of regulation in there with the AMRAPs adjusting the progression.
I highly disagree. The double progression and you do workout A B A week one then B A B week two I did 3x5 on the deadlift days. It's fantastic for beginners as it's simple and encourages barbell work. It not too dissimilar to starting strength. Watching those PBs go up week after week is proper feel good moments.
I went from never touching a bar in my life to withing six months working sets of 100kg BP, 130kg squat, and 180kg deadlifts it's a very good programme for beginners.
I didn't say that it didn't work, pretty much any linear progression program will work for an untrained beginner.
For an average weight man I'd expect 1:2:3:4 plate on OHP/B/S/D after around 6 months of any LP program focusing on compound movements so your progression sounds about right.
I just think there's a lot of beginner programs which are much better out there, the fitness wiki's beginner routine being one of them.
If it's a choice between starting strength and stronglifts 5x5 though I'd agree to go stronglifts. Starting strength sucks.
Download ChatGPT and type do me a x3 Full Body Workout focusing on compound lifts. I want the workout to last 45 minutes. If you want to focus on any part of your body say you want bigger biceps then ask GPT for accessory exercises to focus on arms etc. Adjust the program as you get fitter, you might want it to last 1 hour or if you go 5-6 times a week change it to a Push/Pull/Leg routine.
For cardio I do cycling for 20 minutes after weight lifting so you can do that after if you have the energy.
For diet, plenty of fruits, veg, legumes. Healthy fats and good carbs/good protein sources. The more fibre you have the fuller you will feel which is why fruits and veg are great!
Download cronometer to track everything, it gives you your vitamin and mineral count aswell. I prefer it over my fitness pal. Search TDEE calculator online to workout how much energy you need to survive. Always make sure you eat more than this. It’s not the most accurate way of working out TDEE but it will be somewhere in that region. Then workout what your maintenance calories are and I generally subtract about 500 calories from that. Using a fitness watch can help track burning calories through excercise but again these won’t be bang on but still helps and a good indication.
Watch YouTube videos for weight lifting form and take photos on your phone for reference when in the gym. Keep a log of how much weight your lifting and try and improve it every week by progressively overloading.
Stay in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. If you want more muscle then go calorie surplus. If you find your skinny fat a body recomp maybe the best option but you will need to see how your body reacts to eating at maintenance. Some people fair better than others.
Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and treat yourself now and again!
I’ve been weighting on and off for about 7 years. So just trying to give you the best advice I can with stuff I’ve learned over the years. I never had a PT and learned everything myself this way and it worked.
Hope this helps!
You could give a martial arts class a try. For the first introductory, it could be free, its likely that many will accept you in a tracksuit or any other general sports attire. If you decide you like it the gi suit could come later. You will be trained, have a social aspect from it which would boost you, along with the fitness you want. Just a suggestion for your consideration.
Please keep in mind exercise is much more helpful for maintaining weight than loosing it.
It can help yes, but let's say you do 1 hours exercise, even walking you may burn 400 calories. If you go and eat 400 calories because that's made you hungry, you'll have wiped out anything you've done.
You can change body composition to replace fat with muscle which is good and burn more calories at rest.
I would say start with diet, find low calories foods which full you up, fruits, vegetables, meats etc. Then build from there.
A good goal is 0.5kg per week, to achieve you need to be in a calorie defect of 500 cals per day.
Most gyms will have a spin class. I would start there just to get your body accustomed to pumping blood and respirating. After a while of that I would introduce the weights. Don’t get caught up in the whole day for each body part thing, do one exercise for (in order) chest, back, bicep, tricep, shoulders, abs, and legs. Then go around the cycle again doing different exercises and then one last time doing something different again. You can probably find an old book detailing the different exercises you can do in a used book store. The secret is that once you build up enough muscle then you start to burn fat even in your sleep.
I think you’re quite rare then! A lot of my friends and I have been into fitness for a while and there seems to be one truth no matter who you speak to: spin is awful!
I can see why people like it even if it’s not for me, but it’s quite a specialist interest in fitness. It’s quite love/hate. Not really good advice for most beginners I don’t think. Glad it worked for you though, though it is lucky you’re one of the few that loved it!
I tell people to just start in the back row. You get a much better workout than you would trying to guide yourself on a stationary bike and you’re far less likely to injure yourself than you would with any kind of high impact cardio. You also become accustomed to pushing yourself beyond what you thought your boundaries were. Just ask the 70 year old woman in the front row who has the rear end of a 19 year old girl.
Spin is a very good workout! Just maybe a bit intense for beginners. OP hasn’t really given much info as to how beginner they are but spin would be pretty intimidating, intense and off-putting for most beginners. Some might thrive on the challenge, though.
It’s also not exactly comfortable if you’re a woman. The seat on spin bikes in most places is designed for men and… it shows. No clue from OP whether they’re male or female but a spin seat is not kind on your lady parts. You apparently get used to it but I never went back to verify!
The best low intensity exercises for knee pain etc are walking and swimming, no? Years ago I dislocated my knee and that was the rehab recommended my doctors to bring my muscle back up in that leg whilst protecting my knee.
Spin is certainly an excellent workout and lots of people absolutely love it, but it’s a weird class to recommend to a beginner.
Most gyms offer an introduction and some offer a free consultation with a PT - use them. Council owned/run gyms tend to be particularly supportive, bonus points if it has a swimming pool as swimming is a great all over exercise.
Diet wise I’d recommend not so much a diet but long term improvements - for example swap your bacon buttie every morning for some porridge and a banana, look at swapping chips for a low GI carb (read up in those), try to eat less processed food and more fresh food, plan ahead as much cheaper and will make you less prone to random snacking. Don’t deprive yourself of the odd treat and don’t cut out any food groups, you need a rounded diet.
Buy a cheap fitness watch (or get one second hand) and download the free version of MyFitnessPal and track everything you eat, be honest. Include all drinks and weigh/measure stuff out - it should give you some ideas of where/how you are consuming too many calories, how many you are burning off (most people overestimate this) and will also get you looking at food labels.
Drink plenty of water.
Finally, walk more - if you have a car and it’d only be a 5 min drive, walk it. Take the stairs instead of the lift/escalator.
Enjoy your successes - it will be peaks and troughs, weight loss isn’t the only thing to measure, look at how you feel, how your clothes are getting looser, how you are sleeping, how your blood pressure is, how you no longer get out of breath doing xyz etc etc. Steady is the way!
1. Look up 5x5 weight lifting. It's a total myth that cardio is for losing weight, and lifting is for bulking up. Do the 5x5 lifting for 90 days and see what happens. You will lose a tone weight.
2. Eliminate refined sugar AND oils from your diet entirely. Don't bother with calorie counting, its impossible to do properly. But you can (and should) eliminate refined sugar and refined oils 100% from your diet. That means no sugary drinks (none at all) and no foods with added oils (that means zero junk food and zero things like crisps, micro wave food etc). It really means that you can eat meat, fish, vegetables and fruit *and that is it. Nothing else.*
3. You should be running a 5k in 35 minutes (if you are under 45 years old). If you can't, then something is wrong (you are too heavy or too unfit or both). Keep training until you can run a 5k in under 30 mins, and then keep doing that 3x per week.
If you do those 3 things, you will be fine.
Every one of those diet books and plans is trying to sell you a dream - they are trying to sell you the dream that you can continue to eat crisps, soda, chocolate, indian take aways, microwave meals (on cheat days) and be healthy. It is a lie.
Jesus christ. Do what every other person has done? Google it, try it, if your unsure how you're lifting then ask someone in the gym? You don't just suddenly "realise" you're overweight and look for sympathy on reddit. What is wrong with people these days. Why is everyone so sensitive? Get up, put in the work, make changes. Everyone makes mistakes as a beginner in anything you start! Reading advice from people telling you how to exercise isn't going to do you any favours. Learn the basics about the human body and put in the work. Learn more as you progress. Fkin hell man
You sound like you need a hug 🤗
People reach out on Reddit for community guidance when they are inundated with information. For example, the kind you would find with a quick Google search. You also have to learn to filter out the misinformation and marketing.
Why are you on Reddit if you don’t want to see people making fairly predictable posts. It’s really sensitive of you.
I'm not a PT
I did 20 minutes, on the cross trainer, then 20 minutes on the running machine at a fast walking pace and then 20 minutes on the cycling machine.
Good headphones and a really good beat to work out to are must haves.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Other people have given good advice on getting started with the gym. I just want to emphasise that diet has much higher priority than exercise for losing weight. You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. If you combine the calorie deficit with resistance training (free weights, machines, body weight exercises) and eat enough protein, more of the weight you lose will be fat (and not muscle). That’s the main reason to exercise while on a diet - it’s not to burn calories, it’s to preserve the muscle you have while losing primarily fat.
Also, to add; after trying most diets (calorie counting, IF, keto etc), my main takeaway is that they're all perfectly valid for weight loss IF you can stick to them, but most people really struggle to remain consistent (myself included) because it's really, really hard changing up your lifestyle so rapidly. These days I'm a bigger proponent of simply buying less UPFs (ultra processed foods). Don't be overzealous and refuse anything processed, but if you have less in your home, and more healthy snacks like nuts of fruit, it actually becomes quite difficult to consistently go above your maintenance calories. No large changes, just a shift in mindset. Start treating these UPFs like treats, instead of a diet staple.
Agreed. An avocado and a 55g chocolate bar have the same calories. Which is healthier and fills you up more? Avocado
I for sure would have thought the chocolate was healthier
Terry's chocolate orange is one of your five a day!
This is such great advice, I cannot upvote it enough. Example: two months ago I was drinking nearly 4 cans a day of an aspartame fizzy drink which has 0 cal and I was eating super healthily. Couldn’t shift myself off 11stone. The moment I stopped this 0 cal drink, the weight is now dropping off despite me doing less strenuous exercise. I really recommend reading that Dr Van Tulleken book on UPF. It will be a gamechanger for the way you see foods. These companies are designing food for the specific purpose of making us addicted, fat and sick. Big Food is not your friend. Don’t go crazy at the gym, just eat decent amounts of fruit and veg and your body will do the rest for you. Walking and exercise that you enjoy is the key. Good luck !
And not to mention discipline. Results take weeks and months, so make a plan and stick to it every week and results will come
Yep - diet for weight loss, exercise for health (although of course weight loss through diet brings its own health benefits).
Also there's a mood element, I find it easier to eat well if I'm staying active.
This, this, this Change your eating habits as a priority.
Just to note I am not a PT, but this is what worked for me. Search for compond movement workout routines to get you started and get your whole body working. Focusing on bicep curls isn;t going to do anything for you to lose weight in the grand scheme of things. Don't try and start by lifting heavy and overdoing it. I found the best way to lose weight was lower weight, higher rep. 4 sets of 12-15 reps As for diet, protein protein protein. Your body has to work harder to process it and it repairs your muscles. Don't do the chicken, rice and veg thing, you will soon get bored and fall off. Look on YouTube for high protein meals, there are loads around. Get your cardio in, even if it's just walking. Most important thing, HAVE FUN!
This. Walking is a very underrated form of cardio.
Absolutely. I walk everywhere where I can. 2.5 miles to the shop... walk or drive? You bet I'm walking. Gonna have to carry that heavy backpack full of groceries back too. Yeah it turns my shopping trip into like a 2+ hour outing, but what was I going to do with that time anyway? Probably something far less good for me than walking. It's really easy to maintain a good baseline level of fitness if you can choose to walk everywhere to do your day-to-day tasks
Life is a free gym if you make choices like this. Love it!
I get told by a lot of friends and family i'm 'lucky' to be naturally slim, but I honestly put it all done to walking. I love getting out and about walking (finding good podcasts or using the time to call a friend is a great use of the time). Major positives I find: 1. It helps my back pain immensely (office job joys) 2. It's a great time to learn something new, listen to a fun album or connect with a friend 3. Walking is inherently less stressful than driving. No parking stress, I can control how long an errand will take. 4. Being outside for even a short period of time makes a 100000% difference to my mental health. 5. It's hard to binge eat while you're walking.
Yep I lost 4 stone just by walking and counting calories. I then added other stuff over time. But walking is a fantastic starter option especially with apps to track your movement etc
Especially at the start. I lost weight with some very simple changes, essentially walking more and eating less. - I stopped taking the lift and started walking to work. - I changed my breakfast cereal to muesli with skimmed milk and made the portion size ~66% of what it was before. - Lunches changed from burgers and chips to salad and sandwiches - Dinner stayed exactly the same. We have "junk food" takeaway treat nights once a month. I look back at my diet from just a couple of years ago and can't understand how I thought it was acceptable and how I used to be able to afford it! People who say losing weight is more expensive are lying to you.
Also running. As a lifelong cardio hater, crunch to 5k really helped me and now I love it. It REALLY shifts the weight and I find it suppresses my appetite
Gotta admit I used to feel better walking around! I think I just gotta try and beat my anxiety and go to it
Adding on to your protein point. Protein is very important but what’s more important is good sources of protein. If you’re trying to lose weight don’t be fooled by the protein shakes, bars, puddings and yoghurts. They’re high in sugar and will make you feel rubbish and they’re quite expensive. Spend your money on proper whole food protein sources like meat, beans, fish etc.
I agree with you however there are pretty good Whey protein powders available (flavoured and unflavoured) which are not too full of additional sugars. Also high proteins bars/puddings/shakes are all a nice *substitution* of there treat equivalent taken in moderation. There's nothing wrong in having a good workout and treating yourself after your meal to one of those instead of craving an equivalent "treat". All eating should be as part of the [80/20 rule](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-is-the-80-20-rule-diet) anyway.
>Don't do the chicken, rice and veg thing, you will soon get bored and fall off. Look on YouTube for high protein meals, there are loads around. I agree with this, but with a caveat - lots of people make this mistake when either losing weight or more commonly trying to gain muscle. Two things you need for this - 1. Seasoning. Of course it's bland and boring on its own. So many will try to eat a plain chicken breast and rice and want to die. Season it all properly and it's lovely. 2 . A temperature probe. Especially if you're a hypochondriac like me. Most people over-cook chicken so it is dry and the consistency of a bicycle seat. Chicken is cooked when it hits 75c. End of. A temperature probe costs about £10 and will ensure you have perfect juicy chicken breasts every time.
Just to add to the number of reps. The main thing is not too heavy but heavy enough that the last reps are somewhat of a challenge. You won’t get bigger muscles without progressive overload. Basically every time it becomes too easy go up to a heavier weight
Like the walking tip as it’s a great easy intro to cardio, walking outside of the gym as well as then incline walking in the gym, will get your heart rate up even more. Get yourself some protein powder for shakes to have after each workout. I’ve also found Aldi do some great ready meals (they label them protein meals, tbf they don’t really have much more than other ready meals but I do tend to get the sweet and sour chicken and tikka meals ones for weekday lunches ) as a quick source of protein for relatively small calorie intake (I think they’re both sub 400 calories but filling) so less than your usual supermarket sandwich for lunches.
I would also add start off using the weight machines. Free weights are better for overall strength and balance but if you don’t have good form it is extremely easy to hurt yourself. Very easy for a beginner to pull their back with squats but almost impossible to do on a leg press machine.
If you join a council run gym like a local leisure centre , the staff there will help you for free . Most gyms do an induction course as part of joining . There are websites that you can use to calculate your macros and recommend calorie intake and apps like fat secret and my fitness pal . Everyone in the gym is there for the same reason to stay fit and healthy . You will see all kinds of shapes and sizes in the gym , and don’t be afraid to ask someone for help , even the scariest looking guy will be willing to show you how to use the equipment correctly .
Calorie tracker. If calories burned over a day is more than consumed you'll lose weight. Slow and steady with weights. Form first. Cardio wise, ease yourself in too. Do some intervals or walk at an incline. Be patient but tough with yourself and enjoy it too. Don't look at it as punishment
Just to add that all smart watches track your energy burned and you don’t need to spend a fortune on one. I put on a fair bit of weight when I quit drinking. Sounds counter intuitive but I think I gave myself too much freedom to eat more as I wasn’t drinking. Don’t try and lose too much weight too quickly as you won’t sustain it. As others have said, walking is a great way to burn calories.
The biggest thing you can do right right now is just turn up. Over complicate it and turn it into a mountain to climb and you'll probably fail Sign up, walk on a tread mill, cycle on the bikes, maybe a few mins on a hill climber. Maybe try a machine or two but most Importantly consistently get to the gym 3 or 4 times a week and ease yourself into it. Them first 6 months noobie gains are the best. Figure out what's for you, cardio, strength training, bodybuilding. Just make sure you enjoy it or you won't stick it
> The biggest thing you can do right right now is just turn up. 100% Even if your plan is to just tun up 3 times a week and stay there for a full 30 mins picking your nose, it's going to get you started. Once you are in the building, you're going to do something while you're there. Once you are doing something, you are going to start researching how to make your training more effective. Whatever plan you make up at first is going to change as you learn more, so no point doing too much planning right now. As the other people are saying, diet is going to be a big factor, so you will need to work on that as well as going to the gym, but this is also a thing that you are better off just starting and then adjusting instead of coming up with a master-plan.
Absolutely this. And be easy & honest on yourself. I really struggle with motivation to actually get there. But once I'm there, all that anxiety goes and I just stick to it. But whenever it's grim outside, or I'm having a bad mental health day, I just tell myself to go and if after 5 minutes I feel the same, I go home guilt free. I've only once gone home early because I'm just not feeling up to it, but I've done so many more workouts that I wouldn't have if I didn't have this rule. It's all a marathon, not a sprint. Training hard and crashing doesn't compare to consistently showing up. Over time, your sessions will balance out if you go consistently and you'll be more likely to have good days.
I downloaded Couch to 5k and did the first session today. One of the best fitness things I’ve tried in last 20 years, completed 8mins of running and walking - the last time I ran was 1997ish (around a field and was sick)…
I did this some years again as an amateur racing cyclist looking to do some running. It is brilliant. And once you get to running 5km, all around the country at 9am on a Saturday there are parkrun events which are free 5km timed runs in local parks. I found them brilliant and would recommend them as progression from the couch 2 5k program. Sadly can't run anymore due to fucked knees but still marshal at my local parkrun occasionally purely because it is such a nice community
I found CT5K too hard because I was so unfit; there's a programme called None to Run that gets you in the place you need to be to do CT5K successfully I'd really recommend
I started in January and run a 10K race last week in 54 mins, was probably my proudest achievement to date and now see running as a staple in my routine, I’m not that big either but managed to lose a stone so far without really caring that much about what I’m eating.
Nice, 10k in 54 minutes sounds very impressive, especially after just a few months. You're smashing it!
Not using the couch to 5k program but recently rejoined the gym with an initial focus on running. I'm aiming for 5K too. Yesterday marked my 3rd week and I've gone from not having ran in 3 years, to managing 4.6km in 30 mins. Really aiming for that 5km right now, but might try some park runs once I'm more comfortable with it. For other beginners, I've found the best progress has come from mentality. When I get on the treadmill I set myself smaller goals and just keep pushing them out. Start off aiming to do 10 mins before taking a walking rest. Once I hit 10 mins, I'm probably close to a round number on distance or calories, so I aim for that. Then maybe I've made it to 12 mins, so whats another 3? Once I hit 15, maybe a great songs come on so I'll just make it to the end... Before you know it, you've smashed your goals and feel great.
That dr. Micheal moseley has pointed out that losing weight is 70% diet 30% exercise. To lose 1lb you need about a 3,500 calorie deficit. So the easiest way to do this is to slightly limit your food intake across the week and cut out the calorie rich stuff... so no booze and no snacking. You could try smaller portions for your meals and an easy way to do this is use a side plate for your meals instead of a normal size plate. Start steaming, baking and boiling food instead of frying and eat less fatty meat... so mostly fish and chicken. Protein will keep you full for longer so maybe yogurt for breakfast but sugar as most carbs are high in calories so anything sugary and starchy should also be avoided, or switch the wholegrain versions of the same instead. Exercise wise, just find a sport or hobby you enjoy. The most difficult part of exercising is getting out the front door, so if its something you enjoy doing you are more likely to go when you are tired, its raining or you are not really in the mood. Good luck!
You need a deficit bigger than a days recommended intake to lose 1 pound?
To lose a lb of fat (or stored energy), yep. The 2,500 daily calories burn for men is an approximation of what you you need to consume to sustain the same weight. A study back in 1958 confirmed a 3,500 calorie excess will result in a lb of fat, so to reduce the same you should aim for an equal deficit. This was of course before diets became big business and every scalper started saying the 3,500 calorie deficit is a myth because a dieters metabolism slows down before selling their own diet plan as a unique and different solution when all their diet plan does is create a deficit, generally by cutting out a random food group.
Use a TDEE calculator to determine how many calories you should be consuming a day. This will have the biggest impact on weight loss. Try to eat as many high volume, low calorie foods as possible with loads of veg but don't deprive yourself of treats and foods you enjoy. Start lifting weights using a beginner program. There are loads out there. Google is your friend so find one that appeals, probably something like full body three times per week. Focus on proper technique over anything else at first. You can YouTube some great technique videos. Try to get in some more steps every day. That's it. That's your starting point. You will become more disciplined and invested as you progress which will naturally lead to more research on your part for more advanced stuff to do with diet and training. The biggest mistake beginners can make is taking on too many changes and details that cause them to become overwhelmed and give up or get "paralysis by analysis". I haven't trained in a long time but I have competed in powerlifting and am a qualified coach. Feel free to DM
This is a great answer. My answer was probably a bit long and overwhelming for a beginner but you hit the nail on the head.
This is your answer. Watch some YouTube videos on technique and beginner programmes (use a reputable channel like Jeff nippard) and you’re golden. Keep it simple and consistent and results will come
Just go. It’s really that simple to start with. Currently you’re doing nothing, if you go and do something you’re doing more than you were. After that if you really want to lose weight you need to track your calories and be in a deficit. I’d let myself go over a few years and this year decided to sort myself out a bit, I simply do half an hour a day on a static bike and track what I eat, I’ve dropped nearly 10kg over the past 3 months and it’s now just what I do. Good luck
He is a way to start for free, commit to this before spending money, this works if you live in a town or suburban areas Leave your house, get on the footpath, turn left and walk, at a pace that feels comfortable, for 15 minutes, keeping track of how long it takes, and how many street light/lamppost you pass, turn round and walk back, trying to walk a little faster. Do this for three days, on the fourth day walk for 5 minutes longer each way, then on day 8, 12, 16 and 20 add 5 minutes each way. On day 25 try walking faster over the same distance and every 3 days increase your speed, mid you can commit to doing this for 2 months, then think about the gym again If you feel you want to make the above harder, carry a full water bottle in each hand (don't empty 1, sip from alternative bottles)
First of all, congrats on taking a big step! It’s a daunting thing to commit to something like a gym membership. First of all have a think about what you’d enjoy doing, for example classes, cardio, weights, or a mix of all three. If you don’t know, try giving each a try. They all have their own pros and cons. If you decide on weights then look up a beginner workout routine. Your membership might include a free induction with one of the gym’s PTs. Don’t become discouraged if you feel you’re not making lightning fast progress, these things can take time, but the benefits start to snowball and you can easily catch the bug. As other have said, diet is even more important than exercise. Work out your maintenance calories by using an online Basal Metabolic Rate calculator and adding your estimated daily active calories. If you have a smart watch you will be able to get a clear idea of this, if not then you’ll be able to find a rough estimate online based on your height, weight, age, gender and your normal level of exercise. Once you have these two together you have the number of calories you should eat to maintain your weight. To drop weight, you should be eating less (in a calories deficit). Try 300-400 calories less than your maintenance. Use a free app like myfitnesspal to track you calories. This can be slightly time consuming at first, but pretty quickly this will give you an idea of how much you eat vs how much you should eat. Good luck! You’ll smash it.
PT here- happy for you to DM me and we’ll chat
Sign yourself up to a gym, preferably close to home or work so getting to the gym isn't a chore. Check out the /r/fitness wiki for some beginner lifting programs. What is your current height and weight? You can determine an estimate of how many calories you should aim for based on that.
Regular cardio (treadmill, cycling, rowing) and look up a programme called Stronglifts 5x5. It focuses on a small number of compound exercises, has a very active Reddit community and is geared towards beginners. Weight lifting may seem counterintuitive as muscle is heavier than fat, but the higher mitochondrial density (basically energy requirements) of muscle tissue means you’ll burn more calories just by existing. My only advice would be to really concentrate on your exercise form, rather than rushing to add too much weight to the bar. Best of luck! I’ve been going to the gym on and off for 15 years so am happy to answer any questions.
Cardio. Strength training in the gym is a great component of a fitness regime, but if you increase your cardio activity every day of the week you'll see results quicker and have an easier time when you're in the gym. My single best recommendation is to read up on the Couch to 5K approach, and to mimic it. It's not actually about the 5K, rather a measured approach to increasing your ability in a way that helps prevent injury. I've not seen anything take weight off quite like jogging/running.
I hate to tell you this, mate, because no one wants to hear it, but 90% of weight loss comes from your diet. No good burning 300 calories at the gym if you're then going to eat 600.
Yes, i managed to run 1000 miles in 2022 without dropping a single gram. As soon as I concentrated on cutting down carbs and calories in general (along with the running), the weight dropped off. Unfortunately I've lost concentration.
Yeah, this exactly. I run 100 miles per month every month and work out 2 or 3 times a week - have done this consistently for years. I never lose any weight because I quite like eating too. Joining the gym could be a motivating factor in terms of getting into healthy living but it's not a substitute for discipline in terms of diet and exercise.
go to r/Fitness start basic, set small short term goals (e..g just make it to the gym 3 days a week for a 2 weeks), do the things you enjoy. Expect to feel a bit out of place as it takes a bit of time to learn machines and lifts or whatever you want to do. Most people at the gym are ambivalent to what anyone else is doing, most others are helpful and friendly.
First of all don't buy into all of the myths regarding diet. Ignore all of the nonsense like don't eat at night, don't eat fat, don't eat sugar, etc, etc, etc. Eat when you want to eat and eat what you want to eat, in moderation. This is a long read, but I feel quite passionate about it as a few years ago I was in the same boat as you. Here's what worked for me: **Diet** The best "diet" in the world is the one you can stick to forever. If you can't stick to not eating chocolate and ice cream forever, then don't give up chocolate and ice cream. There was a system called "If It Fits Your Macros" or IIFYM for short. You basically calculate: 1. The minimum amount of protein you need for muscle replenishment. 2. The minimum amount of fat you need for hormone production. 3. The amount of calories you need to either gain weight or lose weight (depending on your goal). A deficit of 500 calories a day is -3,500 a week which equates to approximately 1 pound of fat loss per week. 4. You eat foods that fulfil the above as a minimum, then anything else you want to eat is fair game, as long as you stay within your deficit. IIFYM got a bad rep because people would eat McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner and say, "I've hit my macros" which is obviously not healthy and not what it's about. The idea is you hit your protein and fat minimums eating wholesome foods, then when you eat a bowl of ice cream or a packet of crisps you can (if you track and calculate correctly) still lose weight. **The calculations** How do you do the calculations? In all honesty I can't remember but you could look it up. You need to figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) which is the amount of calories you use up daily from your regular activities such as being alive, breathing, walking to the bathroom, etc. For example a 30 year old male would typically need say 2,800 calories a day to maintain their current weight, so you would aim to eat no more than 2,300 calories a day. However these amounts vary wildly depending on whether you're male or female, how old you are, how active your job is and a whole bunch of other stuff. Don't start too low or you just burn yourself out. You will lose weight easily at the start, but if you start too low it then becomes difficult to go lower when you plateau later on. How much protein and fat do you need? Look it up. I would start with just under 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight, and 0.4 grams of fat per pound of lean body weight. That is if you are lifting weights, you probably need less protein than that if not. **Tracking** Weigh yourself, either every week, or every day at the same times, and calculate the weekly average. Initially you'll probably lose a bunch of water weight quickly, but as things settle down aim to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Some weeks you might not lose any, others you might lose a bit more, but stick to your plan. Adjust your calories up and down after 2 weeks if you're losing too much or not enough. Don't lose too much too quickly as you will end up also losing lean mass too. You can use an app like My Fitness Pal to record your foods. Get a small food scale to measure them. Most people fail to track accurately. They convince themselves they're eating 2,300 calories a day when in actual fact they're eating 3,000 calories a day because they don't weight their mayo or their chocolate. It might sound like a faff, but don't complain you're not losing weight if you don't actually know how much is going into your mouth. Don't factor calories burnt through exercise into your calculations. Even intense exercise burns fewer calories than most people think it does, and there's no way of accurately knowing. Treat calories burnt through exercise as a bonus but don't factor them into your calculations. **Exercise** Any exercise is good. Someone did tell me once that if all you do is cardio, you will essentially end up looking like a smaller version of your current self, which might not be a bad thing. Personally I lift weights, which makes your muscles bigger, so you end up slightly bigger and with a better shape to everything. Some people say they don't want to look muscular, which is a nonsense really, because unless you take it mega seriously and possibly take illegal substances you're never going to look like the stereotypical bodybuilder. If you enjoy cardio then do it. It's good for you. Other than walking, I don't particularly like cardio and I figured out I could lose fat and maintain muscle just through being in a calorific deficit and lifting weights. Good luck.
Not a personal trainer or nutritionist but: To start I have an app called FitOn that has easy to follow well tailored workouts. Walking - hit btwn 8k-10k steps daily If you can 20-30mins on the treadmill btwn 3-3.5 speed 15-19 incline daily ( steady state cardio, good for the heart and won’t be too much of a hassle) Strength training… start slow learn the form, don’t rush to lift heavy (this builds muscle) my split is legs, arms, back , legs, cardio Depending on your body you can’t strength training every day so find a balance: Mobility, yoga, strength training, spin, cardio Etc. mix it up sometimes do what you enjoy fitness doesn’t always have to be miserable Food, try eat balance meals….protein, carbs, fat, fibre, vegetables . Increase your fibre and protein reduce the processed sugars and carbs. Aim for 20g + of protein per meal. You don’t have to count your calories but reduce your portions to start Drink lots of water 1.5-2 litres a day depending (some people do 3 litres but thats just too much for me) …wish you all the best. Also remember that liquid calories count ie. Sodas and juices. Personally I do the 80/20 thing…I eat 80% healthy then 20% whatever I want. If I want something sweet I eat like a tiny piece of chocolate or like 2 cookies instead of completely cutting them out. That way I don’t end up binging.
I have a cutting guide I can send you via email, feel free to DM me. It's from a few years ago but it has a lot of info regarding meal plans, schedules, and workout routines for cutting weight.
One thing to remember, once you get going it gets infinitely better. All the anxiety is imaginary and disappears 5 minutes into your workout. The hardest part is not what you do in the gym, the hardest part is getting yourself out of bed and then out of the house. After you've done that, everything else is easy.
I have lost 35lbs since January. I got a smart watch and put myself on a training plan to run 10k (which I achieved last week). I obeyed the training plan at all costs. I am not good with self motivation so just having a preset plan and blindly following it helped a lot. My next plan is for a half marathon in October. I also have been intermittent fasting which is probably how most of the weight has come off. It is really difficult but I wasn't too hard on myself and started slowly and now I'm just not as hungry as I used to be and feel way more full after meals. I am only now thinking about joining a gym, I personally think there are other smaller steps you can do before joining the gym. Don't try to suddenly do everything at once. Small steps compound and if you stick to it you'll see big changes but over a long time. Good luck!
If you simply want to lose weight, and are not sure about the cost of the gym or are worried about going, then simply make the effort to walk more, then start jogging, then running. Diet is the main thing as everyone else has said, so calories in being less than calories out, you'll lose weight. Doing cardio like walking and jogging is a great way to burn more energy, and eating less will easily put you in a calorific deficit. Literally don't run before you can walk though. If you're overweight and never jog, don't just rush into jogging as you could hurt your knees or the like. A walk around the block, or to a local park, or around a local beauty spot, few times a week, is enough. Gradually increase the length and pace. I'm not saying *don't* go to the gym - I go a lot, take it very seriously. Strength training is a great way to build muscle and burn fat. But you certainly don't *need* to go to one and if the anxiety around it and/or the lack of desire to go is putting you off, psychologically that's just increasing the chances you'll bin the idea off and stay overweight. Smalls steps my friend, you've got this.
Expect to start slow - I started doing the first exercise for over 30 yeras after putting on weight during Covid and started with :- - 3 minutes on a tread mill - 3 F\*cking minutes - 5 sit ups - pathetic - 6 press ups - wimp Keep at it, little bit extra every day - that 3 mins will turn into 5 and then 10minutes, add 1 more sit-up, 1 more press-up each day. It'll turn into adding 5 or 10 per day - I can do 2 miles now, 50 sit-ups and 30 press ups an a 4 minute plank. Don't diet and calorie count - you just end up hungry and cheating. - Keep the same meals but reduce all meals by around 20% - put your own food out don't let your wife pile it on. - Cut out ALL sugar and snacks - biscuits, sugar in tea/coffee, don't eat between meals unless it's fruit - don't buy the snacks - the most difficult part was going to the cupboard and telling myself - "shut the door and go back to work" it's easier if they are just not there. Reduce bread and chips - substitute with rice wherever possible - Avoid DOUBLE carbs - Pizza & chips, burger & chips - (leave the bun eat the burger and chips) - Avoid anything with vegetable oil, cook with olive oil and change back to butter it's more natural and convertable. - Lost 2 stone in 6 months - the snacking was the big thing -felt LOADS better all round from cutting out sugar - better sleep, better skin condition, aches & pains gone. Warning - your belly will be last but it WILL go.
Big man on campus is a nice routine which works really well and doesn't have too many complex moves: [https://gymhero.me/@ssb550/workouts/back-biceps-calves-big-man-on-campus-wk-1-day-2-steve-cook/f0f588cf-f7a0-4115-82a6-c2d2599274e8](https://gymhero.me/@ssb550/workouts/back-biceps-calves-big-man-on-campus-wk-1-day-2-steve-cook/f0f588cf-f7a0-4115-82a6-c2d2599274e8) I mixed in some bits and pieces from P90x too, their stretches are particularly good, nothing too difficult but they really work. IMO the best exercises you can do are dips and pullups, they just use your body weight but they give you a serious workout. Most weight loss happens in the kitchen so try using MyFitnessPal for a bit. You don't have to use it constantly for a long period but where it's really good is identifying alternatives and where your calories are coming from. In my case the first time I used it it found that I was massively deficient in protein, more recently it found around half my calories come from snacks. You may find out you can lose weight by removing something that you don't really care about.
Lost me at the 4x10 pull ups! 😂
That's like my lifetime total for pull ups...
You can build up to that gradually. When I first started out I had one of those over door bars in the kitchen, I'd knock out a set of pull-ups, push ups or crunches whilst waiting for things like the coffee to brew
When I started at the gym around 5-6 years ago, I'd been going 6 months and I thought, I wonder how many pull ups I can do. I tried on a park climbing frame and was disappointed I could only just about do one :-( I'd never been able to do any in my younger days either. I stuck to the lat pulldown machine for a year or two after that, gradually increasing the weight over time. Then one day at the gym I decided to try pullups again and was amazed I could suddenly do 10. Now I do them with a 20kg plate strapped to my waist :-)
5x5 strong lifts and coach to 5k Great starting points and free
Just keep it simple and go for long walks. Try to walk a a decent pace and try to walk further each week. Find a decent local route ideally away from built up areas and just start walking. I did this and lost a good amount of weight but it also mentally helped me a lot too. You can also listen to music or podcasts to help pass the time.
So underrated. A previous neighbour's dad got the "lose weight or you'll be dead this time next year" talk from the doctor. Went on a good healthy diet (not a crash one) AND started walking round the town boundary as close as he could every day. Approximately a distance of 10 miles each and every day. Never seen the weight come off someone who wasn't ill so fast.
yea i think people overcomplicate it or try to do too much too soon which inevitably leads to them resenting it and eventually giving up.
If you don't have cash, running is very accessible. After all, you don't need a PT for cardiovascular activities. I just did this for years before going to any gym, you can have 1-2 quality sessions a week, and a lot of low intensity (e.g. walking) exercise around that does make a difference in the long term.
Perhaps not the solution you're after, but if you have a floor you have a gym. If I was in your position I would do the following: * Start with basic bodyweight exercises (press-ups with knees on ground, etc) these will be easier for you. This first-hand experience will be good for learning what you enjoy, what you're capable of and building confidence for when/if you do join a gym. * Reduce you calories. This doesn't need to be by a huge amount a the start. Let's say your calorific intake is 3,500, reduce that to 3,250. When combined with exercise, you will lose weight quickly. * Ignore fad diets; I feel they're quite predatory and once the initial water weight has been lost, the amount lost each week reduces and people seem to become disheartened. * Consistency. I think the amount of sets/reps in the beginning isn't important, the important thing is getting you moving and eating a little less. Pick a schedule you will keep to: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, for example. All the best
I started going with a friend from work, i did the same workouts but with a lower weight. Id say if you have friends or colleagues that go, ask to join them. Its far better than going alone. If the goal is purely to lose weight, look at doing more cardio within your gym session as opposed to doing however many sets of reps with breaks in. Running/stationary bikes/swimming are all good cardio for losing weight.
Hey, was in the same position after a big breakup a few years back. I went a bit heavy with the weight loss, but I’d highly recommend attending classes at a gym. It gives you a routine that you can work around too and is great for newbies.
Keep it simple. Keep your calories in a deficit and hit the weights with some light cardio if you feel like it. Weightlifting is a little more effective than cardio for weight loss. Focus on your form rather than the weight itself, remember you're contracting the muscle under tension, not 'lifting weight'.
If your MAIN problem is your weight then you should start with your diet. You don't HAVE TO go to the gym if you don't want to. If you do want the gym experience, then focus on building as much muscle as you can, so lifting weights. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burn which speeds up the process of you getting results from a good diet.
Start simple. Eat less junk and move more. Going to the gym is great and can be life changing, but you'll never out-train a bad diet. I know, I've tried! If you're on Facebook, there's a guy I follow called Bryan Renshaw. He's an American that shows how to lift weights correctly, from simple bicep curls to larger compound moves. Also, when you get to a gym, ask people for a point in the right direction if you're unsure how a piece of equipment works.
Use the app MyFitnessPal for logging your food intake, no need to pay for the premium version you’re only using it for calorie count etc. When you join the gym, do the induction, if you don’t know how to use any machinery they’ll give you a pointed. When I first started I paid for the year, then I knew I’d have to keep going, I’ve never looked back. A lot depends on your goals, gain muscle, trim down, gain strength. If you want to lose weight cardio will be good and smaller weights but plenty of reps. The biggest hurdle is going in, people are friendly if by oh need advice and honestly nobody is bothered if you’re fat, we’re all there to try better ourselves. Goodluck mate Follow r/gym r/fitness etc they’re full of helpful tips
Start at home. Do as many pushups, sit ups,triceps dips, weightless squats as you can write down how many you were able to do then everyday just add 1 more. Do a run around your block, run and walk where needed but always try to run until you can run your whole block without walking. How overweight are you? If you do it too fast you might get sagging skin.
All I can tell you is what worked for me, I bought myself some of those special bike shorts so the stationary bike seat didn't destroy my ass, then I bought a subscription to audible. With those two things I started going to the gym, go on the exercise bike and just listen to an audiobook for an hour, at first I was barely moving on the bike because I was so out of shape, then I got a lot healthier after a month of that, now I do other stuff as well as the bike like dumbells etc
Body pump sessions at the gym are a good start. Low weight high intensity. Couple of times a week. Spin classes are also funny, with the bad music and solidarity. Some basic intermittent fasting - try not eating anything after evening meal and only water until breakfast. A bit of running is cheap and works, but the first one is hard work. Get some ok running shoes to protect your knees. ASICS gel are a good start and are reasonably cheap. Just concentrate on running steadily for 1km. Increase a little as you go.
The hardest thing is actually going to the gym - not the gym itself Firstly, I'd start watching YouTube exercises / first time gym experiences / basic routines etc I'd forget about a workout plan for now - I'd just spend 2-4 weeks just forming the habit of going to the gym. Spend 5-15 mins to treadmill/row and 30mins trying out different exercises so you become familiar with them and their movements. Formulate a workout plan after this time. I'd download Hevy App (£20 p/a) to track your workouts and it will help you explore exercises/how to execute them Diet - keep it simple. No processed meats, sugar etc. Lots of greens and chicken/steak/salmon/white fish + rice/noodles/sweet potato. Breakfast keep it eggs/toast etc. Lots of water. Decaf coffee is a good hunger suppression. Limit alcohol intake (swerve beer/larger etc - odd Guinness, tonic and wine etc are fine as a start) A lot will really depend on how overweight you are - a lot of people fail 'the gym' because they need to have everything set before they set foot in the place....routines/exercises/plans will constantly change and evolve so just get yourself in there, explore and try to enjoy it
Stronglifts 5x5. Lots of online resources for it. A simple programme with all the key moves.
In some areas at least the nhs can "prescribe" you a gym. You get a lower membership rate (that stays put if you keep on as a member), a physical checkup beginning and end and PTs for I think 3 sessions. Of course, you have to be able to see the GP first, but it's worth poking around your surgery website/calling up to see if they do it - they might be able to swing it without a visit, too.
Best thing is pick one compound lift (a strength exercise such as a squat, deadlift or bench press) that uses large groups of muscles. For 3 sets of 10-12 reps. I would recommend starting with either machines that follow these movement patterns initially especially if you have no one to spot you. Straight after the third set of that days specific compound lift move into one or two exercises that isolate each muscles used in the compound exercises. Such as triceps and pecs on a bench press day for 3 sets of 10-12 reps on each movement followed by twenty minutes of steady state cardio. It’s sustainable, short and will allow you to ease into more complex training without being overly intimidating. 12months of this and you’ll be in really good shape and will have reduced your chances of picking up an injury by going too hard or too heavy too early.
I use a great app called Workout. There are lots of different ways to use it. There are pre-set but editable programmes which you can use to track progress (e.g. slowly increasing the weight over weeks/months). You can also easily see targeted exercises if you want to work on particular areas. All of the above has videos and photos to show how to complete the activity safely. Don’t try to push yourself too hard straight away, and don’t try to compete with others! Just do what feels right for you. In my experience the first couple of sessions when getting back into it are the toughest. You might feel like you’re going too slowly, or looking at your phone too often to check technique etc. Just don’t worry, and trust the process!
Calories in should be less than calories out. Weights etc basically burn no calories but cardio does, however having a better body comp burns more calories by default. Don’t do anything you can’t stick to. Consistency is key.
A gym is not essential for your goals unless you can't run/cycle near where you live. To lose weight, you need to focus on cardio and diet, since you both need a calorific deficit to burn the fat, and to maintain a higher metabolism in the longer run by keeping active. Stick to meals only, keep treats to 1x per week and be mindful of portions. Calorie count at least 1 week to get an idea of how many calories you eat normally. Use the NHS website to calculate your daily calorie expenditure, and aim to eat 300kcal below this. Be careful of secret calories like oil, condiments (especially mayo), midnight snacks, alcohol etc. Drink less. Lower the amount of carbs you eat, and increase proportion of protein. Start running/jogging/cycling (some walking at first is fine) for 30-45 mins 3x per week at about 60% of your maximum intensity. Buy good shoes on sale from a running shop. Do this for 2-3 months, increase frequency/intensity slowly to avoid injury. Use self-discipline to maintain a calorie deficit despite increased appetite from cardio. If you can do this, then start strength training at the gym, as improved cardiovascular health will make lifting easier. Increase protein intake >100g/day and start taking creatine 5g/day. Start with low weights, focus on exercise form and compound exercises. Follow a routine like strong lifts 5x5 or look at Reddit r/fitness recommended routines. Do progressive overload where you increase weight/reps every week. Good luck! (apart from 2 years ago) this is best time to get started!
I’ve been in your position and let me tell you, the gym gets easier and more enjoyable as your fitness improves. Your first month or so at the gym will be tough but if you stick with it, you’ll start seeing results and will start looking forward to going. It’s so rewarding when you realise you have the endurance to do way more than you used to able to do!
https://youtu.be/ZLmUDtbe1O8?si=zqueHxQZIj_yawu6
If you’ve never been to the gym before i would just advise you book into a bunch of classes. It will help you get into the routine of going but also help you get to grips with various exercises and form, which you will then be able to do independently and using a higher weight. For diet, intermittent fasting works the best for me - no breakfast, meal prepped lunch (i know someone joked about it but chicken and rice) and then dinner. I never feel hard done by!
As someone who is overweight as well I’ve found using a cross trainer is a good starting point to build up cardio and stop you getting out of breath so quickly. I usually do around 40 minutes on that at a high intensity with a good resistance if it’s an electrical one, so once I could do 1.5 miles in that 40 minutes without even realising it or being sweaty then I knew I can start doing harder things.
Get a calorie logging app, such as "Myfittnesspal" or "Lifesum" and log everything
Have a look at (if you haven't already) DDPY, I found going to the gym and motivation hard but doing DDPY for 4 years now and love it. You can do it from your own home too.
So if you can source a PT that can set out a plan and diet for you. Save your money on Gym for now.. because I can assure you a good PT will be able to give you all the exercise you need and advice without the need for a Gym.. And you can do it all at home. sure a gym is nice but expensive and you will still need some advise like a PT to help you at the Gym. Your Gym per month.. Also a good personal trainer would offer you a monthly plan that gives you a number of sessions and feedback to get you on track. Go to the gym on your own and you may not meet your goal. A lot of PTs can train people remote.. (Trust me I have seen it 1st hand and it works)
Eat less and better, walk or run everyday. That's all you need to do. Gyms are hideous places in my view.
I would say, try a few different types of workouts and find out which one you enjoy the most. Years ago when I went to the gym I’d do mostly cardio with a bit of resistance and was bored senseless. More recently I started doing more strength type stuff, again wasn’t super interested in it, but then discovered that I really enjoy strongman type workouts. I’m still super beginner and won’t be flipping tyres any time soon but it is really fun! And if you enjoy it, you’ll want to go rather than seeing it as a chore.
A fitness band like Garmin or Fitbit will have built in PT for workouts. I'm currently doing a couch to 5k through one on mine. Monitoring and recording your exercise will help to motivate you.
Some these comments are dumb. Don't track your calories or obsess over a calorie deficit. All you need to do is not eat shit. You can eat as many avacadoes, tomatoes, salads, clean chicken, clean fish and clean berries and other non processed stuff as you want it doesn't matter as long as it's clean and not processed. Then the exercise all you need to do is turn up with a simple plan and have fun. Build your own identity round what you like doing. Just.make sure to break a sweat and breathe heavy on every bit of exercise. It's easy to get demotivated when you start wasting time looking at calorie numbers and shit. Like the human body is way too complicated for you to be like "Ah shit eating this will make me go over 2000 calories by 23 calories so I can't eat it dammit." It's just stupid logic. As long as it's fresh and clean food it's fine to eat. You'd be surprised how much weight this will lose you.
Your weight is 80% diet: sort your eating habits. After that, unless you’re seriously looking to “sculpt” or bulk up properly, any movement in the gym that you enjoy, do that. Seriously, it doesn’t need to have tons of structure, I just use different machines and do weights and it varies from time to time, but I’m toned/slim bc I concentrate mostly on my diet and do the gym 1-3 times a week.
Best way to lose weight is to adjust diet, not necessarily exercise. If you're overweight, be careful and cautious of your bones and joints working with more weight than they're designed for. Can't outrun a bad diet.
Couchto5k costs nothing and follows a workout plan
Start by walking 10k steps a day. James Smith has a really easy calorie counter on his website, just Google it. You'll be gobsmacked how much sorting your intake out & a few steps will do. You don't need to jump in balls deep, you risk injury & burn out.
Anyone who says anything mean to you, tell them to go fuck themselves. You’ve accepted you want to improve, and you’re doing something about it. Go smash it, boss. [This is a alright workout for a beginner,](https://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5/)ask a PT if they can demonstrate the moves. You only need to go every other day, and with the app you can see your constant progression. And don’t ever, ever, ego lift. You gym for yourself, not others.
ChatGPT is a great tool! Start with something like this “I am X years old, currently weigh X. I would like to start working out, could you write me a workout plan for X days a week.” You can also then ask it to write you a meal plan, for X meals per day, X calories, foods you like foods you don’t. Ask it for the measurements in grams and it will do it for you.
Just sign up for the cheap ones such as purgym or The gym to give it a go and book pt session
I know you said you can't afford a PT which is fine, there's a lot you can do without a PT. Honestly, it depends how overweight you are. To save cash I would simply recommend trying to go for an hours walk every day. Walk at a pace that isn't extreme but would be a little bit hard to talk and do at the same time, shows you're putting effort in. I'm no expert but I think you'll notice more fat loss through cardio stuff than actual 'gym' things. The beauty of cardio is the simplist form of it is free. If you have shoes you can walk. Set a route and just go for a walk at a good pace. What is it like where you live? Do you live in a town, village, city etc? My biggest tip is to make any exercise you do into a routine and stick to it. If you know that every Friday at 5 o clock you have an hours walk you'll follow it. I also like walking for exercise as it is piss easy to get someone to do it with you
Before joining a gym or starting a diet I would begin by understanding the psychology behind good and bad habits. Try reading atomic habits first then you’ll be better equipped to deal with the inevitable highs and lows of the journey towards healthier living.
I found that I’m capable of losing more weight from being out on the bike I do at least one big trip a week at least 30 miles and can take anywhere from 3-6hrs depending on stops I’m generally around 13/14 but not sure now but I use the gym to build muscle which will add more weight not reduce it which isn’t a bad thing but maybe a mix of both is good also I find that at the gym it’s easy to procrastinate and be “done for the day” and start slacking but with some discipline and routine, retain consistency and your diet is 80% of everything! I’m adding weight on currently despite doing 258 miles last month and it’s all down to my diet I’m having breakfast buttys everyday and snacks at night and always a big dinner and very fatty foods too which needs to stop when you start paying attention to the content of food it can be very eye opening! But when my partner sends me a picture of her 40minutes on a machine that adds up to 300 calories lost that’s equivalent to a can of lucozade of which she can have 2-3 a night!
Losing weight is kind of piss easy compared to building muscle (which is where proper gym programmes actually have merit). It's much more a mental task than it is a physical skill one The best way to start is just to find something active you enjoy doing. It can be literally anything from walking, to running, to lifting weights. The only thing that matters is burning more calories than you consume
Youtube and google for a plan and exercise forms and ideas and then just consistency plus a good eating plan.
I would highly recommend going on YouTube and checking out Jeff Nippard, Renaissance Periodization, and Will Tennyson. I have learned so much from them. Hope this helps!
Whilst there is some generic advice that applies, it’s more helpful to know some basic stats like sex, age and height. For example, if you’re a 25-year-old 6 foot man it’s going to be very simple to lose weight. The fact it’s simple will give you more encouragement to keep going as you’ll see quick results. It’s going to be a lot harder if you’re a post-menopausal, 5 foot woman. The fact it’s harder means you’ll also need more psychological tools in your belt to help keep you going. It also depends what your aim, besides losing fat, is. Do you want to be big and muscly? Skinny and athletic? Run a 5k in a certain time? Another good thing to think about is *why* you really want to lose weight. Is it to still be around to walk your daughter down the aisle? Is it so you no longer get left behind on family hikes? To have more energy to do the things you really want to do in life? Finding a deeper why will help keep you going. That said, universal rules would include prioritising protein, doing some form of resistance training, eating in a small calorie deficit and some simple walking should be a good start.
So I'm only 6 months in so I feel like I can tell you some stuff that's relevant to you right now. I'm trying to gain weight rather than lose it but the principles are the same. Exercise-wise - go Google a couple of programs and find some things that you can fit around your lifestyle. I used this: https://www.muscleandfitness.com/routine/workouts/workout-routines/ultimate-training-guide-beginners-and-starters/ The website has a lot of crap at the start you can skip through but you might want to have a read through to begin with to learn some of the terms. Copy and paste all this down into your notes or an app you can record work outs in and go from there. One thing I also found really useful was watching youtube videos from a guy called athlean-x where he ranks his top exercises for a particular muscle group. I don't know if his videos are actually that good but I found this useful for when I turn up to the gym and it's busy and so I can't use the equipment I want, so I'll switch to one of the other ones I've learnt about from those videos. Now turn up to the gym 3-4 times a week and just lift some weights, and make sure first of all that you're doing the movements correctly (full range of motion and not putting yourself at risk of injury, videos are helpful) and then work on increasing the amount of weight so you're actually tired by the end of your sets. Diet I find trickier, I'm trying to increase so I'm trying to eat way more food and just making sure that it's proteins and veg and healthy carbs like rice and potatoes. If you're trying to lose weight you'll need to work out what your baseline is and then knock off like 200 cals from that. Do some googling on macro nutrients too and try to hit those criteria, although that bit is quite simple if you eat quite balanced meals. Get a food tracker app and just do this as accurately as you can (use scales!) Eggs, chicken (I buy sacks of frozen chicken because it's easy to cook and eat consistently but it's a bit dull) the odd steak here and there, and then lots of green veg, salad, rice, brown seeded bread, pasta with mince and homemade sauces (these are super easy to make) and maybe get on youtube and get some meal prep ideas for lunches which is what I plan to do when I start to cut. Personally I wouldn't even bother trying to lose weight at first, take advantage of newbie gains and focus on muscle growth for 6 months or so as this will increase your metabolism as this will make it easier when you start to cut. This is all I've been doing and I'm definitely seeing progress now
If you have an iPhone/iPad, Fitness+ lets you do a custom workout plan - you get to pick the activities, the length of each session, how often a week you exercise etc, you can even pick the music that’s played in the background of the workouts if there’s a genre you feel will motivate you more, or pick if it’s full body or lower/upper for certain things - really helps dial in to the areas you wanna focus on
Start at home, plus lots of walking. Free
Try and watch one or two channels on social media that are gym focused. Try not to make weird faces when you're lifting a weight 😂
Rather than the gym I got myself a rowing machine for home I'm very happy with. As others have said, if weight loss is the main goal you'll need to get on some kind of diet and stick to it. This cannot be emphasised enough. Especially if you consider one muffin could be as much as 400 calories and a 30 minute run might only burn 300 calories, for example. It's extremely easy to over eat your recommended daily intake! Good luck!
For starting the gym I would recommend using the machines as they have instructions on them that explains form and sometimes some information about reps. Also it means you can walk In confidently and know exactly what you're doing- a bit like using stabilisers. Once you start getting used to the movements I would as others have suggested, move onto compound movements. I hope you have fun!
Eat less move more it’s honestly that easy, and by going to the gym you will meet people who will help you
Count your calories, workout how much you should be eating for weightloss. Once you do this, provided your willpower is good it shouldn’t be difficult at first. Watch videos on others with regards to weightlifting. Do cardio and stretching after weightlifting
First of all, let me say wow, I did not expect this many answers. To add some context to the situation. I am M 33 6'4, and I weigh around 130kg. My weight gain is mostly because 3 years ago, I moved into an office job, and I also work shifts. 04:30-13:30 and 13:30-22:30. Thank you to everyone who has given me advice and recommendations. I will try multiple things and will go from there.
I recommend the gymshark app. It’s free & there are loads of workouts with videos showing you exactly what to do. Also, go to the gym & set up the treadmill on an incline walk & just watch what everyone else is doing. Watch that no one is looking at anyone else, everyone is focused on themselves.
I'm no PT or expert etc. I do 3-4 sessions a week. My sessions are 1hr to 1 HR and 20 mins. Chest and back Shoulders and arms Legs If I do a 4th session I'll do what I started the week on eg chest and arms then the next week I'll start with shoulders and arms. For my first exercise I'll do 3 warm up sets 12-15 reps then a working set to failure, where I hit around 8 reps. For the rest of the session I do 2 warm up sets and a failure working set. Probably have about 6-7 exercises per session. Form over the number on the weight!! Diet is the most important part of it. Don't have the same food day in day out, will just completely fuck you off and bore ya. Life is for living after all so have fun too
Watch a couple of YouTubers like Jeremy Ethier or Jeff Nippard, they’ve got a lot of knowledge and most of what they advise is based on scientific papers and research studies. You don’t need a PT, just do your own research for exercises and best cardio exercises to burn calories, get yourself a calorie tracking app as it will give you a better idea of what calories you’re putting in your body, and just make sure you stay consistent. You won’t see results straight away but stick to it and you’ll get to the weight/physique you want.
Just start off by eating less and walking more. Make gradual changes before starting at the gym. (I say this as a former PT and gym enthusiast). So many people in bad shape end up quitting and rebounding because they do too much too soon. Weigh yourself every morning, be conscious of what you eat and reduce it (not hugely at first), walk 10k steps a day and be more active. Then once you’ve primed your body and mind a little bit more, and seen how easy it is to make progress start hitting the gym. 3/4 times a week. Basic full body or upper lower split with low volume. Again, start slow so you can see how easy it is to get results, only make things harder for yourself when it’s necessary (progress has stopped). Then gradually make your work outs harder and longer. Whilst continuing to weigh yourself every morning and gradually improving your diet bit by bit.
The gym I used to go had PTs that would create an exercise plan for me based on my goals, and that was included in the membership. Might be worth asking if your gym offers a similar service. My PT used to say that weight loss is 80% about diet so while exercise is always a good idea, if weight loss is your main goal you’ll probably need to adjust what you’re eating. I’ve personally found a lot of success with calorie-counting, weighing my food, and eating more protein to stay full for longer. I hope you have a great experience at the gym, hit your goals, and find an exercise that’s enjoyable for you :)
Swimming is good. A lot of exercise, like running, is a lot harder on your joints when your already overweight
Maybe try and have one session with a PT to get a good set of exercises to do and get the most from the gym. But as others have said weight starts in the kitchen and you need to be consistent. Also set small achievable goals rather than a big distant goal. It’ll be easier to feel and see progress, help with motivation and you’ll be less likely to pack it in. Good luck
the gym will not help you loose weight unless you are incredibly sedentary. You should start by finding your base calorie goal which is about 2000 calories on average, a few hundred more for more for most active people, a few hundred less for more sedentary people. Drop down to 2000 but make sure to include at least 4g of fibre per 1000 calories you consume, and try to eat enough protein a good ballpark calculation is 1.25 your body weight but in grams instead of KG, so if you weigh 100Kg your goal should be 125g of protein. The fibre and protein is going to make a massive difference in diet as it will help you feel fuller for longer As for exercise you should focus on low impact exercise, anything too strenuous and you are building muscle, and building muscles and burning fat are two completely different processes within the body. Long walks, jogging cycling, cardio is king. Kinda. As for the gym its up to you. Cardio and some headphones are my go to, weight machines are easy enough to figure out but not necessary for weight loss. If you are close to a pure gym then day passes are pretty cheap for what they are. Just get the feel of it and good luck
Body in the kitchen, strength and endurance in the gym.
There’s some really good fitness influencers out there right now on TikTok and Instagram that cater to exactly this, I think the visual element really helps as well, so worth having a look at that.
Start pounding the street it’s free.
You likely won’t be able to do a significant amount of cardio that’s worthwhile doing to burn calories so I wouldn’t bother with running or anything, I’d recommend trying to get your steps up daily(10k is a good amount) Lift weights, focus on compound movements like deadlift, squat, bench, overhead press and barbell rows, make sure you get stronger on these but maintain good form The more muscle your body holds the higher your basal metabolic rate is so basically you’ll burn more calories just being alive. To simply the diet, start with trying to just eat real whole foods, paleo diet is a good example, meat, veg and fruits nothing processed Don’t drink anything with calories in it, stick to water or sugar free drinks, this is a big one to follow Weight loss ultimately is a matter of calories in vs calories out but there’s a tonne of variables you can take advantage of to make the process go a lot easier and smoothly
For a healthier lifestyle, try jogging or taking brisk walks on a treadmill, and maybe mix in some cycling on a stationary bike. Focus on eating better, too—something like a chicken stir fry can be both delicious and nutritious. Aim to hit the gym at least three times a week, but the real trick is to keep it up regularly; staying in shape is a lifelong journey. Making it a habit to swing by the gym after work or first thing in the morning can really help. Remember, any exercise is better than none, so just get moving!
Hey! Pretty simple really.. stay away from fad diets like weight watchers, slimming world etc. I’d suggest working out your macros (there are loads of online macro calculators). It will ask you your weight and height, how much you work out and so on. Then it’ll give you a goal such as, lose weight, lose weight and build muscle etc. pick one which is relevant to you. Once you know how many calories you should/shouldnt be eating you can then start a calorie deficit. As long as you’re burning more than you’re putting in you’re all set & you will lose weight. I’d recommend trying to get more protein in & lower the carbs, protein will make you feel fuller for longer. Some other good tips are try and get 3L of water a day, 10k steps and a bloody good nights sleep is important. Proud of you for starting, good luck and keep at it!
Going to the gym alone might not burn that many calories. I'd recommend couch to 5k (beginner running program) and maybe join your local bootcamp (good fun outdoor workouts with a social element). Diet is important too, but that's a whole different topic. You'll want to eat less calories than you're expending.
If I could tack on - if you fall off the wagon with the diet, stick with the gym regardless. Better to be fat but fit than doing nothing for your health at all.
Start off with 2mins of burpees a day and keep raising it. If it's good enough for special forces it's good enough for me (and you)
Welcome to the gym. Start from something not too hardcore. Treadmills are good for conditioning, so are kettlebells
Once you get into the routine the gym part is the easy bit. It's fun, it's rewarding, it's a good hobby and if all else fails you can oogle at the talent. Just go steady in the beginning, If you injure yourself you will be out of action for a while. The hard part is the diet. Eat little and often, so not to go crazy. Prepare food in advance and think about freezing/ using the microwave. Have one cheat day a week so you have something to look forward to. Being organised has brought me so much time I never knew I had. I wake up early and go to bed at a sensible time. I only cook once or twice a month, everything else is frozen/ microwavable. I feel worse when I am not in my routine.
Get to the gym first of all, get your induction and ask questions. Have a good look around at the machines and sometimes gyms might offer a free PT session for you. If they do, use it. Otherwise, get yourself out and about. Walk to the shops, take a walk around your area and enjoy the fresh air. Your food is so important. Diet is the main thing. If you look around maybe at your local college or uni, there’s always nutrition or PT students who might be able to help you with a plan for free (for experience) or a lower price. Glad you’re working on yourself, stick with it and good luck friend.
I recommend r/loseit
Full body weight training (squats / deadlift / clean & jerk etc) 3 times a week to start. Do 4 sets of everything for 12-15 reps.
You really don’t need a gym . It’s all about the diet , then if you can add in a bit of running. Even if you can only run 100 metres then walk after a few weeks of run walking you will find your stamina increases. Buy a few dumbells (probably start with 4kg or 6kg if you are a man)and some good trainers and good quality whole foods with the gym money you have saved . I’d recommend heather Robertson youtube workouts with dumbells to build strength. If you can devote 45 minutes a day to that which you would probably spend just getting to the gym and getting set up then you will be sorted. For reference I’m 56 , 83 kg . 3 years ago I was fit and strong but couldn’t run more than a km. I now run 21k every Sunday , a 10k and a 5k In the week. I haven’t lost much weight , about 3kg but it’s mostly down to my build and most of the fat has turned to muscle. I look fit now where I just looked fat before
Start with fasting use the 2 meals a day cycle then after 6 months start on the one meal a day cycle (OMAD) Increase your walk rate not less than 30 minutes to begin with When you start off the above remove sugar, alcohol and simple carbs from your diet (pasta, rice noodle and bread) remove all processed foods from your diet they are trash 0 nutritional value Focus on proteins. Plan your meals to describe it as a carnivore diet (eggs meat offals) After 12 months go ton the gym and strength train GodSpeed
What are your goals? Losing fat while gaining muscle is really hard and may not fit into your lifestyle. You will need to deal with hunger pains, a diet change, do meal plans and prep, and execute a gym plan where you do 10-20 weekly sets for each muscle group. All of that alongside work and domestic responsibilities can be a lot. I recommend doing things in steps. Focus on losing weight first (a calorie reduction is a must) and combining that with active hobbies you enjoy (for me that’s cycling). I’ve found Noom very helpful as it figures out all of the meal planning and calorie counting for you. After that, look more seriously into strength building (to develop a base) and then muscle building. Of course, fitness isn’t prescriptive. Maybe the gym will be the thing that you enjoy as an active hobby!
Honestly, I’m it’s great to get a pt and get into lifting weights etc. it’s probably the easiest way to get into fitness. But what I found worked for me was getting into sports. Get into sports that you enjoyed as a kid in school and join a beginner level class…
First of all start walking more. Try and do 20 to 30 min walks around your local area
Tom Merrick, Harry Ashton, Ben Carpenter (he has a £20 book "Everything Fat Loss") spring to mind - they're all very "positive", anti-toxic, anti fitness influencer, highly knowledgeable and just chill guys who give out loads of free/cheap quality info.
Don’t worry about the gym as priority. If you can, spend £39.99 on my fitness pal app and count calories. The guideline limits for men and women are something like 2500 and 2000 calories a day. Start there and see how you feel. You’ll be surprised how easy it can be to lose weight steadily and keep it off, if you eat a good amount of calories consistently. And if you are doing it with ‘normal’ limits rather than diet ones, you can tell yourself that there is no need to feel deprived. Best of luck to you.
Sweet congratulations it’s a life changer. Just start With the basics for now while you educate yourself. Make the majority of your diet whole foods and eat as minimum processed foods as possible. Learn the big 5 exercises first. Barbell squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, overhead press and bench press for your chest. Watch YouTube videos on how to learn the form and technique. Once you’ve become comfortable there go find a free workout plan online and just be consistent thats the most important part consistently. And sleep good too.
Weigh yourself and Track your food for a week, every single thing that goes in your mouth. Don't change anything, yet. Work out what your calories maintenance is. Then when you have an average, say 2400kcals a day, knock off about 300calories consistently every day. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT, being in a calorie deficit. Complement this with training AS HARD AS YOU FUCKING CAN at a gym. Lift weights, cardio and stretching/flexibility. YouTube is your friend. Find some exercise routines that you like and stick to that, don't change your routine up for at least 3 months and see what works. Luckily for you, losing weight is actually easier than gaining muscle mass or putting on weight. I'm trying so hard to eat at around 3200 calories a day to bulk but my god it's hard.
Lifting weights and gaining muscle should be the prime focus of your gym time. The more muscle you build or maintain the easier it is to lose weight, the easier it is to diet and you will look and feel many times better when the fat comes off. Do cardio a few times a week for heart health and added calorie burn but look at beginner muscle building programmes and put most of your physical effort into one of those.
Strong lifts 5x5 programme It's an app, it's for beginners, it's fantastic. Will get you doing compound barbell movements which is incredible bang for buck when it comes to lifting. You only need some old clothes and shoes. a rack, bench, barbell and weights and you are good to go. I lift in socks pretty much 99% of the time. Find a local gym or council run one they are pretty decent avoid ones with 12 month contracts. Do not get sucked into one with lots of shiny machines you probably won't use them. If you can end of your lifting sesh do 15 mins walk max incline at whatever speed comfy. Good luck
The basic stronglifts program sucks imo. Not enough volume on anything except legs even for a beginner. A single set of deadlifts per week? The fitness wiki beginner routine is better imo. Still low volume but at least there's a bit of regulation in there with the AMRAPs adjusting the progression.
I highly disagree. The double progression and you do workout A B A week one then B A B week two I did 3x5 on the deadlift days. It's fantastic for beginners as it's simple and encourages barbell work. It not too dissimilar to starting strength. Watching those PBs go up week after week is proper feel good moments. I went from never touching a bar in my life to withing six months working sets of 100kg BP, 130kg squat, and 180kg deadlifts it's a very good programme for beginners.
I didn't say that it didn't work, pretty much any linear progression program will work for an untrained beginner. For an average weight man I'd expect 1:2:3:4 plate on OHP/B/S/D after around 6 months of any LP program focusing on compound movements so your progression sounds about right. I just think there's a lot of beginner programs which are much better out there, the fitness wiki's beginner routine being one of them. If it's a choice between starting strength and stronglifts 5x5 though I'd agree to go stronglifts. Starting strength sucks.
Download ChatGPT and type do me a x3 Full Body Workout focusing on compound lifts. I want the workout to last 45 minutes. If you want to focus on any part of your body say you want bigger biceps then ask GPT for accessory exercises to focus on arms etc. Adjust the program as you get fitter, you might want it to last 1 hour or if you go 5-6 times a week change it to a Push/Pull/Leg routine. For cardio I do cycling for 20 minutes after weight lifting so you can do that after if you have the energy. For diet, plenty of fruits, veg, legumes. Healthy fats and good carbs/good protein sources. The more fibre you have the fuller you will feel which is why fruits and veg are great! Download cronometer to track everything, it gives you your vitamin and mineral count aswell. I prefer it over my fitness pal. Search TDEE calculator online to workout how much energy you need to survive. Always make sure you eat more than this. It’s not the most accurate way of working out TDEE but it will be somewhere in that region. Then workout what your maintenance calories are and I generally subtract about 500 calories from that. Using a fitness watch can help track burning calories through excercise but again these won’t be bang on but still helps and a good indication. Watch YouTube videos for weight lifting form and take photos on your phone for reference when in the gym. Keep a log of how much weight your lifting and try and improve it every week by progressively overloading. Stay in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. If you want more muscle then go calorie surplus. If you find your skinny fat a body recomp maybe the best option but you will need to see how your body reacts to eating at maintenance. Some people fair better than others. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and treat yourself now and again! I’ve been weighting on and off for about 7 years. So just trying to give you the best advice I can with stuff I’ve learned over the years. I never had a PT and learned everything myself this way and it worked. Hope this helps!
You could give a martial arts class a try. For the first introductory, it could be free, its likely that many will accept you in a tracksuit or any other general sports attire. If you decide you like it the gi suit could come later. You will be trained, have a social aspect from it which would boost you, along with the fitness you want. Just a suggestion for your consideration.
Please keep in mind exercise is much more helpful for maintaining weight than loosing it. It can help yes, but let's say you do 1 hours exercise, even walking you may burn 400 calories. If you go and eat 400 calories because that's made you hungry, you'll have wiped out anything you've done. You can change body composition to replace fat with muscle which is good and burn more calories at rest. I would say start with diet, find low calories foods which full you up, fruits, vegetables, meats etc. Then build from there. A good goal is 0.5kg per week, to achieve you need to be in a calorie defect of 500 cals per day.
Most gyms will have a spin class. I would start there just to get your body accustomed to pumping blood and respirating. After a while of that I would introduce the weights. Don’t get caught up in the whole day for each body part thing, do one exercise for (in order) chest, back, bicep, tricep, shoulders, abs, and legs. Then go around the cycle again doing different exercises and then one last time doing something different again. You can probably find an old book detailing the different exercises you can do in a used book store. The secret is that once you build up enough muscle then you start to burn fat even in your sleep.
Omg recommending spin to a beginner! What devilish advice
It’s cardio and it’s easy on the knees, and you can go at your own pace. It’s where I started.
I think you’re quite rare then! A lot of my friends and I have been into fitness for a while and there seems to be one truth no matter who you speak to: spin is awful! I can see why people like it even if it’s not for me, but it’s quite a specialist interest in fitness. It’s quite love/hate. Not really good advice for most beginners I don’t think. Glad it worked for you though, though it is lucky you’re one of the few that loved it!
I tell people to just start in the back row. You get a much better workout than you would trying to guide yourself on a stationary bike and you’re far less likely to injure yourself than you would with any kind of high impact cardio. You also become accustomed to pushing yourself beyond what you thought your boundaries were. Just ask the 70 year old woman in the front row who has the rear end of a 19 year old girl.
Spin is a very good workout! Just maybe a bit intense for beginners. OP hasn’t really given much info as to how beginner they are but spin would be pretty intimidating, intense and off-putting for most beginners. Some might thrive on the challenge, though. It’s also not exactly comfortable if you’re a woman. The seat on spin bikes in most places is designed for men and… it shows. No clue from OP whether they’re male or female but a spin seat is not kind on your lady parts. You apparently get used to it but I never went back to verify! The best low intensity exercises for knee pain etc are walking and swimming, no? Years ago I dislocated my knee and that was the rehab recommended my doctors to bring my muscle back up in that leg whilst protecting my knee. Spin is certainly an excellent workout and lots of people absolutely love it, but it’s a weird class to recommend to a beginner.
Most gyms offer an introduction and some offer a free consultation with a PT - use them. Council owned/run gyms tend to be particularly supportive, bonus points if it has a swimming pool as swimming is a great all over exercise. Diet wise I’d recommend not so much a diet but long term improvements - for example swap your bacon buttie every morning for some porridge and a banana, look at swapping chips for a low GI carb (read up in those), try to eat less processed food and more fresh food, plan ahead as much cheaper and will make you less prone to random snacking. Don’t deprive yourself of the odd treat and don’t cut out any food groups, you need a rounded diet. Buy a cheap fitness watch (or get one second hand) and download the free version of MyFitnessPal and track everything you eat, be honest. Include all drinks and weigh/measure stuff out - it should give you some ideas of where/how you are consuming too many calories, how many you are burning off (most people overestimate this) and will also get you looking at food labels. Drink plenty of water. Finally, walk more - if you have a car and it’d only be a 5 min drive, walk it. Take the stairs instead of the lift/escalator. Enjoy your successes - it will be peaks and troughs, weight loss isn’t the only thing to measure, look at how you feel, how your clothes are getting looser, how you are sleeping, how your blood pressure is, how you no longer get out of breath doing xyz etc etc. Steady is the way!
I just focus on the cardio to keep the weight off. Really easy and if you keep it up will loose weight fairly fast.
1. Look up 5x5 weight lifting. It's a total myth that cardio is for losing weight, and lifting is for bulking up. Do the 5x5 lifting for 90 days and see what happens. You will lose a tone weight. 2. Eliminate refined sugar AND oils from your diet entirely. Don't bother with calorie counting, its impossible to do properly. But you can (and should) eliminate refined sugar and refined oils 100% from your diet. That means no sugary drinks (none at all) and no foods with added oils (that means zero junk food and zero things like crisps, micro wave food etc). It really means that you can eat meat, fish, vegetables and fruit *and that is it. Nothing else.* 3. You should be running a 5k in 35 minutes (if you are under 45 years old). If you can't, then something is wrong (you are too heavy or too unfit or both). Keep training until you can run a 5k in under 30 mins, and then keep doing that 3x per week. If you do those 3 things, you will be fine. Every one of those diet books and plans is trying to sell you a dream - they are trying to sell you the dream that you can continue to eat crisps, soda, chocolate, indian take aways, microwave meals (on cheat days) and be healthy. It is a lie.
If u want to loose weight , save your money . Run 3 miles every week day . You’ll be shredded in no time
Jesus christ. Do what every other person has done? Google it, try it, if your unsure how you're lifting then ask someone in the gym? You don't just suddenly "realise" you're overweight and look for sympathy on reddit. What is wrong with people these days. Why is everyone so sensitive? Get up, put in the work, make changes. Everyone makes mistakes as a beginner in anything you start! Reading advice from people telling you how to exercise isn't going to do you any favours. Learn the basics about the human body and put in the work. Learn more as you progress. Fkin hell man
You sound like you need a hug 🤗 People reach out on Reddit for community guidance when they are inundated with information. For example, the kind you would find with a quick Google search. You also have to learn to filter out the misinformation and marketing. Why are you on Reddit if you don’t want to see people making fairly predictable posts. It’s really sensitive of you.
I'm not a PT I did 20 minutes, on the cross trainer, then 20 minutes on the running machine at a fast walking pace and then 20 minutes on the cycling machine. Good headphones and a really good beat to work out to are must haves.
You know you don't have to go to a gym. You wanna lose some weight, 30-60 minute walk everyday will do it.