My first time gym adventures

mjn

That is the worst. My mind is sharp, but the body is just not willing.

Getting old sucks.

True Romance

Negative time Not going to the gym or eating better but having to keep buying new clothes. Summer time I needed all new shorts and tee shirts. Now I've just got out my autumn/winter gear nothing fits. Jeans hang off me like a wragg, fleece's are huge. Costing me a small fortune. Guess that's the price you pay for being a fatty

mjn

Donate all your old clothes to the local charity shop, make some fat bloke happy

True Romance

Stuff that going on eBay, got to try and get some money back. Will make a slim bloke happy

paulgreenwoodlad

What are your thoughts about cutting out carbs? Is this something that must be done to lose weight or will this give us less energy in the gym?

mjn

Don’t cut anything out......well except fake foods, like fake sugar and processed food, etc.

sim12

There is a real misconception on weight loss and carbs. What tends to happen is people will massively increase their protien intake and at the same time cut carbs, but also creating calorie deficit at the same time so a few months down the line they make the obvious assumption that cutting the carbs was the reason for the weight loss. Where as is said person has simply had a calorie deficit on a weekly basis in the first place the weight loss would still be the same.

As mjn says simply cutting out the rubbish from your diet will generally get the weight loss, I think most people would be shocked on just how many packets of crisps, choccy bars,beers, full fat fizzy drinks and then theres the new friend" Costa coffee", the sugar in them things is unbelievable.lol, that they consume on an average week without even realising.

True Romance

Not cut carbs, just use MFP app to track calories and make sure I'm in deficit on most days. Losing around 0.2 to 0.4 kg each week. Consistency in the gym and shedding excess weight seems to have given me more energy. Saying that due to going to London last weekend and picking up a new van I missed a complete week at the gym. Went back this morning and I'm aching all over. Still amazed how quickly you lose any progress you've made.

shodan

You can't cut carbs, carbs are in everything. You don't need to cut out any food group or macro or micro, but you may want to look at how much of what you are eating.
A teaspoon of ice cream wont have a negative effect on you but a litre of it each day will.
The occasional beer wont hurt you but drinking every day might.

It's all about the amounts and the frequency.

Personally I think people hear that carbs are bad (completely wrong) so they think they can cut them out because they also think that a carb is a food you eat. As in bread, potato and pasta is a carb. Completely wrong. They contain carbs and they also contain vitamins, minerals and other macros. The real kicker is that your body breaks everything down into sugar, but sugar is another conversation.. (same answer though, it's about how much and how often).
It all come down to the old adage, calories in and calories out.

True Romance

Guess now is a good time for an update due to many committing to joining a gym for the new year. My thoughts/experience for anyone starting off at the gym is;

1st, and no point sugar coating it, it's going to be hard. The first few days I was aching from head to toe. Felt like total crap and struggled to get out of bed. However by keep pushing on through the pain eased after a few days.

2nd, you need consistency. IMO at least 3 days a week at the gym. Get in a routine and stick to it. One week off and you'll notice fitness levels dropping off.

3rd, if you want to lose weight just going to the gym won't really help. You will need to count calories to reduce weight. Recommend "My Fitness Pal" app for calorie counting. This was the one thing that really got me to see where I was going wrong.

4th, and this is just me but doing gym classes rather than just on your own can be a great motivator. Working in a group with an instructor around to encourage, guide (and even sometimes shout) works great for me. No way am I going to walk out of a class full of people where-as just on the equipment by myself I soon get bored and interest drops off.   

5th, just go for it!

I'm around 10 moths in now and love it. My fitness has never been so good. Despite most of my team at work all getting colds I seen to have avoided these bugs? Feel much better, fatigue has massively reduced (was almost falling asleep at my work desk this time last year).

Happy New Year and good luck!