Hey everyone! Well I have a question! I'm 19 and I'm not in the best shape at all..but I want to be! I'm not all that overweight and I'm not toned at all. I'm around 5'7 and about 145 :o About 3 years ago I was hospitalized because I had mono and at that point I weighed around 160-165 and I lost a lot in the hospital! I got out after about 3 weeks and I remember coming home and trying on some of my jeans and was blown away when they fell off! I didn't know how much I had lost since my scales were messed up but I had a check-up at the doc and I had got down to 116 :spaz: But the problem was I had lost weight but I wasn't able to exercise so it was all flabby stuff! I've gained some back now and I want to take control before it gets out of hand! But, I live in a very small town and there are no gyms or anything around here to join. So....what should I do???

Most important for fat loss is diet.

I recommend cutting out all beverages to start, and drinking only water. Then, replace some of your higher fat meats with leaner meats. Next, replace white breads and pastas with whole wheat variety, and try to eat more fruits and vegetables instead of refined grains. Eventually, cut back on extraneous fats and sugars, and replace more of your meats with beans and fish.

For gaining muscle, all you need for the first few months is a set of dumbbells. Try them out, you'll need something that you can lift for no more than 12 repetitions - probably between 2 and 5 kg.

You can do a circuit training with bicep curls, bent over rows, upright rows, crunches, lunges, squats, lateral raises, supermans, tricep dips. For cardio, you pick walking, jogging, biking, roller blading, skipping, exercising to a video tape....

guava makes some great suggestions and getting your diet under control is extremely important. The only thing I can say in this area would be to start an account on http://www.fitday.com and start tracking what you eat. Before you know it you'll be eating all the right stuff.

Here's a few ideas to start working out.

1. Get a couple 5lb. hand weights and go for a walk. Don't leave you hands hanging at your sides when walking with the weights. Make sure you move those arms. Work yourself up to about three miles per walk and do it 3 or 4 times a week.

2. Get some of those workout tapes. Like Pilates or yoga or some kind of Denise Austin tape. My wife does these sometimes and they're actually kind of fun.

3. You could get a stationary bike or an eliptical trainer to use at home.

4. Get yourself a bench and some dumbbells and then go to bodybuilding.com to search their workout database for a workout that fits your needs. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workoutdatabase.htm

5. Lastly, you could hire a trainer that you comunicate with over the internet. Like Pam Brown: http://www.pam-brown.com/

Good luck and keep us posted! :tu:

Oh wow! Thanks yall! I don't really eat all that much so could that cause a problem? But when I do eat meats and things like that I only eat chicken and lean meats! I can't stand fatty stuff...ewww! I don't exercise all that much! I have a stairstepper that I use sometimes but I'm getting a treadmill next week since I hate walking at the park! I'm gonna give all the things yall said a try! Thanks so so much!