Hello everyone!
I found this site just trying to find some exersises to do with this ball thing I bought, which is being used more as a chair then anything else ..yea i know great start! but everyone on this site seems so nice and informative and very supportive of eachother..

Basically to make this short a sweet.. I used to be active, in shape, played softball tennis, yadda yadda.. never been bone thin but never excessivly over weight either.. which is were at 21 I am now.. I know this has everything to do with dropping out of sports, becomming lazy, sitting around and letting the genitcs of everyone else in my family catch up to me.. not working out.. yadda yadda..

So I spazed the other day when I was going through my closet and saw my homecomming dress from HS and was like I have to try this on.. yea no couldnt even get the thing over my gut.. not a pretty picture.. Then to make matters even worse.. one of my best friends is getting married next october, she asked me to be her maid of honor .. what kind of dress does she want? the same kind I cant fit my overly huge butt into anymore..

With confidence in myself I know I can get myself back into shape.. I started weight watchers which Im having huge issuses with because I always forget to add up my points or figure out points, or sit with my friends when were out and try to figure out how many points this has, and I can do this if I want but its 5 points.. I went and rejoined my gym, and am contimplating getting a personal trainer, just because I know my form for squats and what not will not be right, its been a long time since Ive done anything with weights.. only thing I like is I get two sessions for free... and I think I could possibly have him set me up with a routine .. and some correct lifting information and how to do correct reps/sets .. I go in next tuesday to get my body fat test thing.. yay odd guy grabbin the fat at my sides.. its a dream come true .. LOL ..

Sorry for the long intro of myself.. I guess I can break it down even more.. to A) I want to be able to play a game of softball without dying on the field.. B) learn how to eat healthy and not have to sit there and count points to do it.. just know.. this is healthy this is not.. done and done.. and I want to have confidence in myself again.. just very hard to be upbeat and peppy when the first thing you think is these people dont like me because Im fat.. C) learn how to correctly use the gym.. not just go and plop myself on a tredmill for 30 mins and go ew im sweating and go home.. *yes i went through that stage*

I'll be more then happy to answer ne questions ne one has for me..
~joey~

oh just because.. im 5*3 and at about 215 and I want to loose about 70lbs (which is 145..which i think if i remember the chart i read.. thats still over weight but i dont want to be bone thin)

Welcome! This is a great place... just read...read and read...
The gym is a great start! and you've got a great set of goals.. but the first step is always the hardest.. So maybe before tuesday you can start walking around your block ? ..

welcome to this wonderful forum. Hopefully you will learn alot just as I am.

Congratulations on deciding to make a change! Next October is a whiles away, so you have enough time to really make a drastic transformation if you put your mind to it - but you have to start now. If you want to drop 70 lbs of fat before next october, you're going to have to average around 1.3 lb/week. This is definitely doable, but the longer you wait to get started in earnest, the more modest you're going to have to make your short-term goals. Every week you put it off is going to shorten your time window.

Of course, the big thing here is that you change your lifestyle. Don't diet. Diets don't work. Change what you eat - permanently. Don't think of next October as the end of the road - think of it as a goal hanging in front of you that you're going to chase and eventually catch, and after you catch it, you'll keep running to the next one, and the next one, the "journey of life," et al.

First things first - no alcohol. For a lot of people, this is the most severe prohibition you're going to run into, but I think it's the most important. Alcohol will stop your weight loss dead in its tracks for as long as it's in your system. It will cause you to put on more body fat, even when eating the same number of calories from regular food wouldn't. If you want results, which are totally possible (look at all the pictures on this site if you don't believe me - by and large, these people aren't asking you to buy anything, it's very unlikely they're bsing you), you have to get rid of the booze entirely until you hit your weight loss goals. If you're not willing to do this, you might as well not keep reading on, because it isn't going to work if you're not at least 99% committed to this first principle.

Second things second - read the sticky thread. The guide for Nutrition for Weight Loss is what you need to read. It'll give you all the information you need to get started planning in earnest.

Here's the good news - you don't have to do a crazy amount of very difficult exercising in order to lose body fat. You should pick a cardio plan and go for it. Read the boards to see the strengths and weaknesses of the two dominant plans people here use, early morning cardio at a low intensity before breakfast, and High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. You should start doing some resistence training, which means lifting, You already sound into that, which is good. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to neglect your lifting. It helps so so so much.

Here's the bad news - at least 80% of this is going to be diet, and at least 80% of that is making sure you don't eat too much. It's very important to know what type of foods are healthy and promote good body composition, but if you can't cut down your portion sizes and control them, you won't lose weight. At some point, you're going to have to count calories, only if it's just to build yourself a "food strategy" that will help you not have to count calories every day.

Reading what you've typed, I'd say something you should get used to is planning your meals in advance. You don't want to be counting calories and choosing what to eat when you're hungry. You want to do that when you're not hungry, so you'll do it rationally and be able to stick to it.

And, of course, the two big weapons against hunger and binging

1. Drink tons of water

2. Eat six meals a day rather than three

But that's all in the sticky thread.

Read the sticky threads and get a good idea for how this is all going to work. Then, the people on this board'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have. Good luck! You can definitely do it!

Thanks for the welcomes! and yes I have started walking, went an swam a few laps last night since.. I cant drink and well thats all my friends do anddddddddddddd after about n hour at the bar drinkin water I was startin to get pissy so I left.. lol .. but even that was fun.. I love swimming and its great the gyms empty at time..

So last night was my first night of no drinking what so ever.. and yea its odd.. but I found I can drink water like nothing, and Im not tempted to go get a sprite or a sobe outta the fridge if I have water near me already ..

Today I got up took my dog for a walk on the mile trail by my house, poor dogs passed out on the floor.. haha hes used to runnin a few laps in the yard and comming in an going to sleep .. went to the store bought some "healthy" food. made my own section of the fridge, and had my mom take all of the crap food out of my sight.. cookies and crap that my dad eats (how he stays so skinny!) are all in his room, so I wont just go in the kitchen at midnight and start eating them..
AND .. my dad started at the gym too.. to be supportive and whatnot, I thought it was kinda cool, at least when I dont feel like going Ill have someone at home pushing me to go...

Petebdawg- I think the plannin meals in advance is a great idea at least at work I wont be like .. well I didnt make a lunch today so I'll just buy something.. It should work for the better.. plus I'll know ahead of time what Im eating.. makes point counting a lot easier .

Thanks again everyone! im off to go read more posts :claphigh: