Advice you wish someone had given you when you started...
Ok, I'm a lurker! I never thought I'd be one because I have the biggest mouth in the entire world, but now I'm finally posting!
So, I've just started lifting a few weeks ago (on the machines because I have no idea what to do with the free weights, yet). And I've started changing my diet but don't expect to be full swing until April 1 (I have to finish reading BFL).
My first day at the gym, I smacked myself in the head on a machine! I was adjusting the seat and wack! right in the noggin! I felt like everyone was staring at the fat girl (silly imagination).
But I thought I'd ask you guys, if you had any advice that you wish someone would have given you when you started (I already got that protein powder does a number on your digestive track, thanks for the warning!).
I should have believed what EVERYONE here on this forum and at L&S said:
-throw away your scale. The scale lies.
-take a 'before' picture, and take more pictures every four weeks. You can't 'see' changes unless you can take a step back now and then.
-as Ilene said, this is the rest of your life. April 1 is not the first day of your BFL Challenge, it's the first day of your new life
-it doesn't matter how fast your changes happen (see above)
-the worst thing you can do to your body is not eat
-the second worst thing you can do to your body is eat the typical North American diet
-some day you'll forget it's your free day until it's almost dinnertime
Welcome and please come post on the weekly thread — you may notice that many of us are fairly “mouthy” also! Congrats on starting with the machines — they are a good place to begin, but eventually you will want to use the free weights for some exercises, although there always is a place for machines (for example, assisted pull-ups and lat pull downs, to name two that I used today).
Hmm … advice I can give to someone who is just starting — I assume you mean both starting in the gym and starting to eat differently (though I see you have already lost 22 pounds — cool!).
The Gym
— try not to be self-conscious. Everyone else so busy concentrating on what they are doing (or admiring their biceps in the mirror) that they aren’t paying any attention to you. I KNOW that you feel like “the fat girl” — I did too and I felt like a fish out of water. But stick it out and soon you will feel at home and just sashay right into the free weight area with the hunks like you have every right in the world to be there, because you DO! And if people do notice you, they will only be thinking positive things of you for being there and working to change yourself.
— if you can’t do a particular exercise at first, don’t give up. Try it again after you have lost a little more weight. I could not do either squats or lunges until I had lost quite a bit of weight due to balance problems. I couldn’t do a push-up or pull-up to save my soul. Keep trying. Every time I walked in the gym, the first thing I’d do is go over to the assisted pull-up machine and try to do one pull-up at, say, 100# of assistance. Once I could do that, I’d shoot for 90#, and when I got that, then 80# etc. It’s very motivating to see an improvement.
— don’t compare yourself to anyone else, whether it’s the amount of weight you can lift or the amount of weight that you lose. One of the great things about weightlifting/bodybuilding is that you only compete against yourself and you do it every time you walk into the gym.
Food
—- never let yourself get too hungry. You do have to eat (the right foods, of course) to lose. You won’t lose any faster by skipping meals.
— eat a high-quality carb and protein meal within an hour of working out.
— no food group is your enemy, except for sugar (though technically not it’s own food group, it was for me!) Avoid added sugar at all costs in everything that you eat. Don’t fall into the diet food/low-fat food mentality where fat is replaced with sugar and/or a “treat” is OK because it is low in “points” (but is nutritional garbage).
— plan ahead and be prepared. Write down menus for the next day or week and make sure those foods are cooked, portioned out, and ready to eat. When you are hungry, you will want to eat NOW and you need to be sure you can grab the right thing so to avoid the temptation to grab junk.
Other
—take photos and measurements every four weeks. And perhaps keep a journal — a thought journal, not just a food journal.. You WILL want to go back and remember. This is the beginning of your new life and you won’t want to forget a moment.
—- get rid of your fat clothes as soon as you outgrow them (except for one outfit). You will never need them again. But try not to buy a lot of new stuff because you may find yourself going through size a month. Do buy some nice gym clothes, though; you’ll be spending a lot of time in them! And good gym shoes are a must.
— have fun! This is for the rest of your life and you’ve got to love it to be able to keep it up!
The same thing happened with me, Deb! Last winter I found a pair of Ralph Lauren black velvet jeans in the clearance rack, marked down 75%. They were an "8" which at that time was skin-tight on me. I could zip them but couldn't sit down in them and would never had worn them in public. But I loved them and had to have them at that price. So I bought them and hung them on my closet door. Exactly ten days later, I tried them on, thinking that they might fit and they were TOO BIG! I couldn't believe that I could change that much in ten days!!! I wore them once or twice and then gave them away. Lesson learned!
This one thing could have saved me plenty of time and heartache.
You ARE going to stumble or fall, but the easiest thing to do is to learn from it and don't beat yourself up about it!
There were many times when I ate something bad that I shouldn't have and I agonized for days over it. Not worth it! Dust yourself off and try again!
Welcome to the board and don't worry about people at the gym. Everyone is new there at one point....****, I have done some stupid stuff there and it was only two weeks ago. I have been going to that gym for over 2 years now! It happens!
Jamie
Jamie -- you know, yours might be most valuable advice of all. It's not all or nothing -- it's for life and we do mess up. The important thing is to analyze what happened, learn from it, and then put it behind you. My WW "diet days" were doomed when I when "off-plan" even once because then it was a license to quit for the rest of the day or the week, or forever, until I rejoined and started the cycle all over again.
And re gym mishaps -- about a week ago, I walked into the circular end of a 45# bar on the squat rack (right at temple level for us short people) so now I have a nice donut-shaped bruise (circle inside of a circle) on the side of my forehead. It happens to all of us (at least to all of us klutzs!)
Oh you guys are sooooo awesome... I have learned so much from reading the above....
Meg -- I roared laughing about your bruise in the forehead because something similar happened to me about a month ago...but I got it on the side of the head... IDIOT!!! Or once I fell off the tread mill.... OMG if I you could see me now, I'm laughing so hard at myself, because I just got a visual of myself when I fell off that treadmill, about 4 years ago....
,,,and those $%#@ WW days I will NEVER go back....
Such great advice girls, I am inspired once again....
Everyone is right on with what's been said so far. My 2 peennies..
This WILL take planning. More than you know, at first. Planning in the kitchen. Planning in the gym. Planning for the unexpected. But let not your heart be troubled, my new Sister in Steel! It can be done. It helps to write everything down. Your workouts especially - write them down. Plan the exercises. Write down the weight you used, and that way you'll have a road map of where you've been.
Take Glutamine. Just the cheap stuff. Plain 'ol glutamine works fine. It's for muscle soreness. Just shoot it in a small glass of water.
Water - drink it. By the gallon! Buy a bottle and take it with you wherever you go.
DO NOT let anyone come between you and your health. If friends don't understand - you need to make a decision - don't say anything further to them, or not hang around them anymore. This is a hard one.
Read the thread about "Supplies you CANNOT live without"
Now, about those too big pants! I am hoping that's the case with me! I bought a pair of lime green linen pants on sale for 99 CENTS the other day. I want to wear them to Easter Brunch. They are a smidge too tight. But I'm hopin by Easter they won't be! I could not pass them up.
I'm new here to and don't have alot to offer as of yet but my one note would be, if you fall 'off', just get back up, don't spend any time beating yourself up for a slip whether it be a bad meal/snack or a missed workout. Get right back at it.
Good luck and I look forward to seeing more from you here.
Advice you wish someone had given you when you started...
Buy a bottle and take it with you wherever you go.
