newstart2012
New member
Last post was deleted because I didn't give enough details I'm going to give it another shot!
Starting point:
When I started working out I was 161 and living an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle. I never cooked and only ate out which included a lot of fast food, and I never said no to sweets and would often find myself eating entire bags of candy. I also NEVER worked out and would get easily winded walking anywhere. I was also very weak and could barely even carry my laundry basket down the stairs to do laundry. So one day I realized I was unhappy and something had to change.
The changes:
First step for me was getting a gym membership. I was pretty scared to go in because i was so out of shape and clueless but once I was there the signing up for a membership the guy told me they were having a special on personal training. I agreed to sign up for 8 sessions and started immediately. This changed my life! I had no idea what I was doing and my trainer worked with me and taught me how to do things without hurting myself. Eventually when I was more comfortable with the exercises I started my routine:
Monday: Shoulders and Back
Tuesday: Biceps and Chest
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Cardio only
Friday: Shoulders and Tris/bis
Saturday: Legs and back
Before each workout I would do a bit of cardio. Usually I try to run 1-3 miles but some days I wasn't feeling it so I would walk on an incline or use the stairmaster for 10-20 minutes just to warm up. I love running but my body doesnt always seem to agree, so I try to listen when I'm feeling any knee or leg pain.
So after the cardio I would do at least an 40 mins weight lifting, my favorite is leg day so here is an example of one of my typical leg workouts:
Squats: warm up with the bar then usually about 5 sets increasing the weight after each set until I could only do about 3 reps. (recently I maxed out at 135 and this was really exciting for me)
Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 12
Cable glute kick backs: 7 sets of 15
Weighted walking lunges: 3 sets of 20
And then after weight lifting I try to do at least a bit of abs, usually I'll do variations of sit ups on the ab machine, hanging leg raises or i'll use the TRX bands.
So diet:
I have to cook all my meals because I have no self control when I eat out. Typically for breakfast I'll have a protein shake and a banana because I work early and am always running late. For dinner and lunch I'll usually roast a big tray of veggies and eat that all week with some protein (usually chicken or tofu) and I also eat a lot of fresh salads. For snack I like fruit and a healthy trail mix. For the first month or so I was really strict with all of this but now I realize that I love food and it's okay to cheat every now and then! But cooking my own meals has saved me a ton of money and the combination of everything has made me feel a lot better!
I'm still working on getting a little bit more toned and defined but I am so happy I made the changes and the hard work definitely paid off. I absolutely love working out and I feel amazing
Here are two progress pics (sorry for the awkwardness):
Starting point:
When I started working out I was 161 and living an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle. I never cooked and only ate out which included a lot of fast food, and I never said no to sweets and would often find myself eating entire bags of candy. I also NEVER worked out and would get easily winded walking anywhere. I was also very weak and could barely even carry my laundry basket down the stairs to do laundry. So one day I realized I was unhappy and something had to change.
The changes:
First step for me was getting a gym membership. I was pretty scared to go in because i was so out of shape and clueless but once I was there the signing up for a membership the guy told me they were having a special on personal training. I agreed to sign up for 8 sessions and started immediately. This changed my life! I had no idea what I was doing and my trainer worked with me and taught me how to do things without hurting myself. Eventually when I was more comfortable with the exercises I started my routine:
Monday: Shoulders and Back
Tuesday: Biceps and Chest
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Cardio only
Friday: Shoulders and Tris/bis
Saturday: Legs and back
Before each workout I would do a bit of cardio. Usually I try to run 1-3 miles but some days I wasn't feeling it so I would walk on an incline or use the stairmaster for 10-20 minutes just to warm up. I love running but my body doesnt always seem to agree, so I try to listen when I'm feeling any knee or leg pain.
So after the cardio I would do at least an 40 mins weight lifting, my favorite is leg day so here is an example of one of my typical leg workouts:
Squats: warm up with the bar then usually about 5 sets increasing the weight after each set until I could only do about 3 reps. (recently I maxed out at 135 and this was really exciting for me)
Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 12
Cable glute kick backs: 7 sets of 15
Weighted walking lunges: 3 sets of 20
And then after weight lifting I try to do at least a bit of abs, usually I'll do variations of sit ups on the ab machine, hanging leg raises or i'll use the TRX bands.
So diet:
I have to cook all my meals because I have no self control when I eat out. Typically for breakfast I'll have a protein shake and a banana because I work early and am always running late. For dinner and lunch I'll usually roast a big tray of veggies and eat that all week with some protein (usually chicken or tofu) and I also eat a lot of fresh salads. For snack I like fruit and a healthy trail mix. For the first month or so I was really strict with all of this but now I realize that I love food and it's okay to cheat every now and then! But cooking my own meals has saved me a ton of money and the combination of everything has made me feel a lot better!
I'm still working on getting a little bit more toned and defined but I am so happy I made the changes and the hard work definitely paid off. I absolutely love working out and I feel amazing
Here are two progress pics (sorry for the awkwardness):