SapphyMike

Since I split with my gf I've been pretty much wallowing in my own self pity, so I need to stop and put my energy into something else.

I am joining a gym once I move to Sheffield, but will also be taking advantage of the gym my work has as well.

I am 5ft10 and currently weigh approx 17st. Most of this is on my stomach.

I am 32 in just over a week and now is the time that I need to sort myself out so that I dont have too many long term problems, etc.

My diet is shocking.

Food:

No fruit
No veg
Chicken (usually processed unless I cook some fresh, which isnt often)
Frozen chips
White bread
Brown bread
Smoked Ham
Peanut butter
Chocolate
Crisps
Take aways (pizzas, burgers, chicken kebabs)
Sausages
Bacon / gammon / pork (usually processed)
Baked Beans (sometimes)
Curry's
Rice (with curry)
Beef (rarely and usually processed)

Drinks:

Mainly no added sugar fizzy drinks
Energy Drinks (bad bad bad)
Decaffeinated coffee with 2 or 3 sugars and no milk
No added sugar fruit juice cordial
Strawberry Milkshakes
Beer
Amaretto
Water

I dont drink much alcohol these days, maybe 2 cans a week.

The times I eat arent good either, which I know I HAVE to change. Its harder with the type of work I do though. I do 2 days then 2 nights then 4 days off.

I rarely eat breakfast. When I do its either Toast (white bread) with low fat margarine or Cornflakes (2 tea spoons of sugar) or Frosties (no extra sugar) with semi skimmed milk.

I then eat lunch between 11am and 3pm on a work day (I work 6:30am to 6:30pm) which consists of 2 brown breadcakes with either low fat margarine and smoked ham, or full fat peanut butter, 1 to 3 chocolate bars and a pack of crisps. I sometimes have a sausage sandwich at 9am as well.

For Dinner (tea if you're ooop north ) I have frozen chips and processed chicken (shit basically).

When I work nights, I get up, dont eat, go to work, have the same lunch as I do on days around midnightish, get home between 8am and 9am and then go to bed until I wake up and can be arsed to get out of bed (depression, gotta love it) and then eat a shitty tea as mentioned.

So essentially thats my diet.

I know that I need to introduce more fruit to it, and I intend on doing it a few ways;

I like Bananas and Oranges (Mandarins / satsumas / tangerines mainly).
I like Strawberry Flavoured foods, but not strawberries themselves
I dont mind Apples

I am going to start eating more bananas and and oranges and apples, including them in my daily diet in place of chocolate and crisps.

I am also going to start making my own smoothies so that I can include strawberries.

I am going to start

I am quite unfit, but always choose to take the stairs rather than lift (even though my knees complain about it) but after 3 flights I can often be a bit breathless / heart rate increased, so I know I need to sort this.

My idea re the gym was to do something like this;

Day one: Chest
Day two: Legs
Day three: Arms
Day four: Rest
Day five: Cardio
Day six: Back and Shoulders
Day seven: rest

Or something like that.

I am planning on taking:

Whey Protein supplements, sometimes mixed with a banana
Creatine supplement, 5g daily, 12 weeks on 1 week off.

I am currently taking Omega 6 fish oils and Multivitamins.

Goals - Would like to lose some weight but this isnt important if I turn my excess fat into muscle. I do not want to be some muscle bound person, I just want to look good and feel healthy and fitter.

When I start going to the gym properly I will put all my stats down on this thread and use it as a diary and a reminder of why I am doing this. Not sure about pics as I am quite conscious about how I look.

Any advice, help, encouragement etc that can be offered I would appreciate greatly.

I do not have a lot of willpower, but I am utterly determined to do this.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any advice / help / encouragement.

mercury grey minter

Well done on making the decision to sort your life out but this plan seems doomed to fail.Too much change too soon,more likely to fail.
I would start with changing your diet(cut out all the shit and eat healthy,mix this with cardio.ie:
Cycling
Swimming
Walking/running.
All can be done at the gym.

I would concentrate on dropping a few pounds before starting the weights and high intense diet.
Once you have lost a couple of stone your body will be an ideal base for toning and defining a decent and healthy body.
Don't run before you can walk.
Goodluck.
Keep us posted with pics if that helps your motivation.

SapphyMike

Thanks for your reply MGM.

I arent a fan of cycling as it really buggers my knees up (my left knee cap isnt attached properly to my knee) so I can end up with fluid on it if I do too much. I was at one point walking 3 miles a day with the dog, but sadly he isnt coming to Sheffield with me, but I'm gonna make more of an effort to take him for longer walks when I am back in Hull.

I wanted to take up running last summer but I didnt, mainly because of my ear problem.

Swimming I have to be careful with - I have an ear operating planned shortly and may need grommets fitting, and getting water in my ears will make the problem worse.

Reading this back to me makes me look like I'm making up too many excuses. I think I am.

But, that has to stop and I will start by doing these things down the gym..

I will keep this thread updated. May not be daily for now, but I'll do it regular. I want to see a change in me and my behavior before I really cannot be bothered to do so.

I may do pics at some point, but as I said, I'm quite conscious of how I look, especially since I piled on alot of weight when I was younger and ended up with stretch marks over alot of my body .

newstuart

I was 18 1/2 stone 2 years ago and now 14. There is no easy answer in my opinion.

Everyone is differnet and has different views but in my opinion Eat less and move more its that simple

For exercise start walking a few miles daily increasing it each day, then try to jog some of it.

When i was a bit fitter i joined a bootcamp (running around a local park doing basic army style training , lots of press ups, lunges , burpees etc) and lost 2 stone in a few months

Fir diet cut out shit its that simple. Think non processed food, no white bread, rice or pasta - clean basic healthy raw foods cooked yourself. Do a few days worth at a time if you cant be bothered to cook everyday and heat it up.

Get creative with salads and chicken for lunch
Poached eggs and bacon for breakfast
Chicken and veg for tea (cook in a bag sauce pouches are dead simple, chuck a load of veg and chicken in it, bung it in the oven and eat it
Snack on carrots, chicken, fruit etc
Drink water with a drop of lemon or something in it instead of shitty drinks
I have a blow out night once a week and eat / drink what i like which keeps me on track

Most of all though you have to want to make it happen

Good luck

SapphyMike

im deffo gonna change my diet. Im just finishing whats in my freezer now and then gonna start eating more fresh food etc.

newstuart

You have already spent the money on the food, why spend the time/ effort trying to burn it off. Keep the best bits for your treat night and bin the rest and get yourself down to a market in the morning for some cheap fresh decent food. Seriously , there is always an excuse to hold you back if you let it

Better yet, grab a backpack and walk to the market, two birds one stone

SapphyMike

Theres not much left in the freezer, Ive not shopped for a few weeks. Just been out for a mile walk with the dog.

My excuse for not going to the market tomorrow is because I'm packing all my shit together as I move house soon..

newstuart

Can u not pack later on in the day / evening ? surely sorting your health is more important ?

Point being you need to put this at the top of your list and stick to it if thats what u want

SapphyMike

It is high on my list, and I intend on pushing it more when I move, but I'm moving city, not just moving house and as my lease is up on my house soon, I need to get my shit sorted asap. Got the gardens to sort, garage to empty, house to get cleaned, shit to throw etc.

SapphyMike

Still havent done anything yet about this. My sleeping patterns are all over at the moment. I'm not getting to sleep while 7am/8am, and then waking up at tea time.

Currently on a run of 4 night shifts as well so not much chance of doing anything.

I move house on May 1st. I'll be making a start for sure then.

One of the changes I will be making will be biking into work. I work 3 miles from where I live. Its quit down hill on the way to work, up hill all the way back...

newstuart

Sure you will find the time when your ready mate.

As i have found, there is always a reason to put it off you just have to decide how much of a priority it is.

As an example, i am a account manager and travel 40,000 a year working 50-60 hours most weeks, my wife runs her own business and we have 2 young children so believe me we are busy.

My wife got up at 5:30 this morning to spend an hour doing the Insanity dvd workout and i am just about to do an hours bootcamp session before driving from Newcastle to Manchester for a meeting thus afternoon getting cleaned up and changed into a suit at a motorway service station on the way.

Granted today is a worse day than usual but when you get into it you will not want to miss a day

Best of luck

SapphyMike

Cheers mate.

Ill deffo be getting myself sorted out. I just have a more pressing priority at the moment, needing to get the house sorted to give back to the landlord so that I get my Ł500 bond back! Gonna be changing my diet when I come off these next 3 night shifts (already started with small changes, but at the weekend it's whole sale changes).

SapphyMike

Ok, got weighed today.

15st 11.

I've cut out eating the shit in my fridge and freezer and giving whats left to my family for bbq's.

I'm quite large framed anyway, so what do you reckon is a good target weight? at 13/14st?

Aforbes88

Just hit weights hard!!!!

Burn more fat in a 45 minute iron session than any 45min cardio session and you burn fat for longer after you put the weights down!

Always get my clients hitting weights