Good morning all! I have come to the conclusion that I need to change some things in my life to be healthier. This is my thread to allow me to track my progress and allow you guys to keep me accountable for making it happen.
I have vague goals at the moment, but will have them solidified by Sunday. I have a body fat caliper coming in tomorrow. This weekend on Sunday I will be taking my weight and body fat percentage along with a picture. I will post these once a week every Sunday. From these I will derive my goals. Right now I would ballpark my weight at 173 lbs at 5'10".
So far my vague goals are to loose body fat, yet to determine how much but I would like to get into the healthy range down near athletic, I believe that’s around 15% for a male my age, 31. I also want to become stronger, I have never had much strength, have been a stick most of my life until I have become more sedentary. I specifically want to focus on upper body strength as I have always had lower body strength. I want a more toned definition and more sculpted appearance.
How I plan to achieve this:
Change my diet, while I don’t have a bad diet now it could stand to be better. I don’t eat a lot of sweets or junk or sodas, but I do like food and a decent amount of it. Luckily I have a decent metabolism to take care of that. I like my carbs! That’s going to be the hardest part for me. I will be moving to a more paleo styled diet. I won’t be giving up dairy because this seems to be a gray area and frankly I don’t get the rational, plus this has been shown to lead to lactose intolerance. I will be eliminating grains and the low nutritional value carbs and replace them with lower GL carbs with more nutritional value; fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes. I will start off by allowing myself three cheat meals; one breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These can be at any point during the week. If that’s not enough I might move to a more 80/20 with six cheat meals. I will not be removing alcohol, let’s face it I just like it too darn much! I also only drink in moderation so that’s not a huge problem.
Exercise, I plan on lifting doing compound movements. Working individual muscles is for the birds, way too much effort for little gain. My current plan is low reps, high weight. Basic core work outs including squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench-press, pull ups, and chin ups. I will be going to the gym to lift MWF in the morning before work. I will be supplementing this with cardio on off days and the weekend, though I most likely will not start at an everyday cardio. The cardio might include swimming, elliptical, bike, brisk walk, hike, etc.
As I haven’t lifted in a long time and have no serious instruction, I will start off light, get my form down then start putting on the weight. I hope to have a day session at my gym with one of the staff showing me proper technique and form. I have also signed up for another online service that walks people from the beginning of all these elements through becoming proficient. One of the most frustrating parts about getting into fitness and lifting is everything assumes you have prior knowledge and an intermediate experience. The site mentioned above starts you off like you have never stepped foot in a gym before which is good. They assist with workout plans for a novice and move you up to an intermediate level.
Wow, this has been a really long initial post. Thanks for listening and I look forward to the journey!
I have vague goals at the moment, but will have them solidified by Sunday. I have a body fat caliper coming in tomorrow. This weekend on Sunday I will be taking my weight and body fat percentage along with a picture. I will post these once a week every Sunday. From these I will derive my goals. Right now I would ballpark my weight at 173 lbs at 5'10".
So far my vague goals are to loose body fat, yet to determine how much but I would like to get into the healthy range down near athletic, I believe that’s around 15% for a male my age, 31. I also want to become stronger, I have never had much strength, have been a stick most of my life until I have become more sedentary. I specifically want to focus on upper body strength as I have always had lower body strength. I want a more toned definition and more sculpted appearance.
How I plan to achieve this:
Change my diet, while I don’t have a bad diet now it could stand to be better. I don’t eat a lot of sweets or junk or sodas, but I do like food and a decent amount of it. Luckily I have a decent metabolism to take care of that. I like my carbs! That’s going to be the hardest part for me. I will be moving to a more paleo styled diet. I won’t be giving up dairy because this seems to be a gray area and frankly I don’t get the rational, plus this has been shown to lead to lactose intolerance. I will be eliminating grains and the low nutritional value carbs and replace them with lower GL carbs with more nutritional value; fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes. I will start off by allowing myself three cheat meals; one breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These can be at any point during the week. If that’s not enough I might move to a more 80/20 with six cheat meals. I will not be removing alcohol, let’s face it I just like it too darn much! I also only drink in moderation so that’s not a huge problem.
Exercise, I plan on lifting doing compound movements. Working individual muscles is for the birds, way too much effort for little gain. My current plan is low reps, high weight. Basic core work outs including squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench-press, pull ups, and chin ups. I will be going to the gym to lift MWF in the morning before work. I will be supplementing this with cardio on off days and the weekend, though I most likely will not start at an everyday cardio. The cardio might include swimming, elliptical, bike, brisk walk, hike, etc.
As I haven’t lifted in a long time and have no serious instruction, I will start off light, get my form down then start putting on the weight. I hope to have a day session at my gym with one of the staff showing me proper technique and form. I have also signed up for another online service that walks people from the beginning of all these elements through becoming proficient. One of the most frustrating parts about getting into fitness and lifting is everything assumes you have prior knowledge and an intermediate experience. The site mentioned above starts you off like you have never stepped foot in a gym before which is good. They assist with workout plans for a novice and move you up to an intermediate level.
Wow, this has been a really long initial post. Thanks for listening and I look forward to the journey!