@grandpa4 In the beginning, I was extremely un-dedicated. Lol. It was all trial and error.
I went to the gym, didn't know what I was doing - stumbled around and probably looked like a fool. Eventually I found some machines that I looked forward to doing (e.g. hip adductor, leg press). When I was on those, I would scope out others in the gym and watch their sets. After a couple of weeks, I would incorporate some dummy-proof free weights (e.g. bicep curls). Eventually, I found that I liked free weights and the post-workout burn it gave me. So, I started incorporating more every week. At this point (March) I was starting to develop a routine. By the end of that month, I had almost entirely abandoned machines and was doing strictly free weight exercises with some accessory machine work if I felt that I didn't get a "good" workout. This I think made the most drastic difference in my form: free weights require much more stabilization and focus.
By April, I was seeing evident improvement and tried stepping up in weight each week. I did researh on my diet because I was doing everything I thought I needed to be doing (heavy lifting, eating to build muscle, protein supplements, sleep, etc.) but still had that god damn tubby belly! I cut out processed carbs, processed frozen food (oh how I loved my Lean Cuisines), veggies that make you bloat (kale, cabbage, broccoli), and drastically reduced sugar.
It's now 2 weeks into May and through a mixture of fumbling around and eventual research, I found what works for me. The hardest part was finding my way in the beginning and convincing myself not to give up when I wasn't seeing progress. This subreddit helped me through it!
