Turk Nowitzki wrote:After years of reading this thread and everyone's positive results while eating pizza or Taco Bell at 2 in the morning I finally decided to start doing something about my health. I weighed 223 at 5"11" in mid-March when I realized that things were starting to get a little out of hand. As of this morning I am at 188 and it feels really good. I've always been the farthest thing from a health nut so I'm pretty proud of myself. The ultimate goal is to probably lose another 15-20 pounds, maybe build a little more muscle.
For the first couple weeks I cut sugar completely and tried very hard to avoid carbs while making a point to jog/run at least 5 days a week. That was obviously effective but I realized pretty fast that I'm not a diet person. I try now to just eat two lighter, reasonably healthy meals(usually breakfast and lunch) and then pretty much whatever I want(within reason) for dinner, just not an obscene portion size. That seems to be working well enough. No soda and no fast food have been key too. Those two things have obviously been killing my weight/overall health for years. All basic stuff that is easy to do and really does work. Hell, I'm lazy as **** so if I can do it, anyone can do it.
Was wondering if anyone had a recommendations for a workout routine for someone who literally has never lifted a single weight in his life? I'm pretty much doing exclusively cardio right now. Luckily my job involves lifting somewhat heavy things on a regular basis so I think I built a little upper body strength that way, but not much.
I was someone that played a lot of sport, all the time, but i hit my late thirties and slowly started to wind back on the physical activity, yet the food intake didn't slow. As of last December I clocked in at 297 pounds (135kgs) (I'm 6" 2'). Last December something clicked, and i finally decided to do something about it.
I just started doing simple things (in my mind), and found it really easy to do. Probably because i had a shift in mindset. I cut out alcohol, fast food and soft drink completely, cut right back on pasta and rice, and ate a lot more seafood, especially tuna and salmon. Any dairy that i had had to be low fat or not fat. I also made sure that i didn't eat to late at night before bed, and I also now have a meal replacement shake every lunchtime. On top of this, i cut back on portion sizes when i do eat. I no longer eat to stuff myself stupid.
The other thing that i did was start walking. This is the only excercise that i do. No weights, no running, no sports, just walking. I do about two hours a day, which i incorporate into my commute to and from work, as well as an hour's solid walking in my lunch break, so i'm not taking extra time out of my day before or after work away from my family. It's amazing when you get as big as i was getting, that the right change in diet and simple excercise makes a massive difference, and the change is immediate.
I've been able to stick to it, and i even have chocolate, occasional fast food and other things now because i know what i can eat and how it affects my body. By weighing myself each morning and night, i can see how what i had eaten that day affects my body and weight, and you can easily draw your own conclusions over time about what to have and not have.
As of this morning i currently weigh in at 211 pounds (96 kgs), which is basically back to my 'playing weight', although my goal is to lose a few more. So that's over 80 pounds (38kgs) in six months, without hitting a gym, and without paying for a weight loss program or trying some fad diets. I just tried to use common sense with what i know, and it seems to work.
For anyone that is overweight, diet is the key. You can run until you are blue in the face, but if you haven't altered your diet in any serious way, then it won't make a huge difference, and you'll just end up getting frustrated.
