New to exercise - Need advice

[Slim Col]

Hi,

I'm a 28 year old male (5'11") and I've been overweight since 1996, but over the past few years my weight has slowly crept-up to 18 stone. Being this grossly overweight is deeply embarrassing and being a fat bloke totally doesn't suit me. The reason I'm so overweight is due to a lack of activity and lots of carbohydrate-heavy vegetarian foods, such as potatoes, brown rice, pasta, curry, bread, dairy produce, very little fruit and moderate amounts of sugar. Oh, and rather too much alcohol, although I'm planning on cutting that out altogether (I never knew how many calories are in one pint of beer!).

You get the picture.

So recently I decided to take action. Only a few days ago I went out and purchased a 2nd-hand, York Magnaforce exercise-bike. On the first day I did 5KM (on the display) until I was totally beat. The next day I did 7KM. Yesterday I did 10KM until I virtually fell off the bike, and today I did 16KM pretty easily. TBH I could have done another 5-10. All sessions were on the resistance level of 5 out of 8 (8 being the hardest). The electronic display for today's workout registered a total calorie burn of 365. Heck, that's gotta be like a whole meal. thusfar I'm quite proud of my progress.

Obviously I'm doing this to lose as much weight as possible (my target is 11.5 stone) and I'd love to hear any advice from people who've been at this a while. Is there anything I should watch out for, either with the exercise or diet? I'm planning to do a minimum of 8KM/20mins of exercise per day. That's a minimum. I'm planning to work-up to 20KM/1hour or more every day. Should I take time-off every now and again? Any advice specific to using exercise bikes?

Probably a million other questions I can't think of right now!

I love my new exercise bike: I can have a workout whilst watching American chopper.

Anyway, it's great to be on the forum and any help is much appreciated!

 

[CoachCrimson]

You measure weight in stones, volumes in pints, distances in kilometers, and you watch american chopper... where in the world are you from???

Lol, cultural barriers aside (im just joking around as it is), riding an exercise bike may not be the most efficient form of exercise, but if its the one you will actually do, its still by far the best. If you look forward to hopping on that bike for sessions of american chopper, then by all means stick with the bike riding! maybe someday when youve gotten closer to you goal you might consider some more intense activities. I would like to suggest that you focus on two important factors of your exercise. I know what its like to watch the distances and such fly by, it makes the cardio fun and interesting, but the real measurements of a good workout are time spent exercising (which you are minding), and i think most importantly of all, your heart rate.

I would also like to suggest that you consider resistance based weight training at some point in the near future. In my humble opinion, i feel that the benefits of weight training are as important as the benefits of cardio. Plus, it is extra calories burned as well.

Here comes the bomb i hate to drop: nutrition is more than half the battle. exercise is great, and is definitely neccesary if you want to be healthy all-around, but good nutrition is a must no matter what. unless you want to stay unhealthy and unhappy.

Stick around and read up, ask questions if you cant find the answers yourself on this forum. Ive only been on this particular forum for a few days myself, but have already witnessed a wealth of knowledge in these vaults.

 

[myspare]

From the UK I guess. We measure distance in miles but our close cousins (???!!!) in the continent use km's so it wouldn't be surprising to find that on an exercise machine.

CoachCrimson is spot on, a good exercise regime is one that combines cardio and weights. I exercise six days a week, three of each.

 

[TomO]

Probably a million other questions I can't think of right now!

I love my new exercise bike: I can have a workout whilst watching American chopper.

Anyway, it's great to be on the forum and any help is much appreciated!

To get you started in your journey, you may want to take a look at this Index of WLF "Keepers", an indexed list of postings that contain some of the best info available here.

 

[Slim Col]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yes, I am from the UK.

CoachCrimson: I understand that nutrition is very important. There's no point working-out if you're still eating like a pig. As of a few days ago I've begun purchasing nutritious foods; lot's or fruit and green-leafy veg' + nuts and dried fruits. No more pizzas for me (I hope )

CoachCrimson + myspare: I'm agoraphobic which prevents me from going to the gym and I'm not really looking to build muscle-mass anyway. Also, I live in a small apartment and I simply don't have the room to man-handle a barbell in my living-room. It would be a squeeze at best. Besides I thought that weights only built-up the muscles under the flab, making you weigh even more. Guess I was wrong.

TomO: Woah, that's some list. I'll have a look at some of those threads later.

 

[myspare]

CoachCrimson + myspare: I'm agoraphobic which prevents me from going to the gym and I'm not really looking to build muscle-mass anyway. Also, I live in a small apartment and I simply don't have the room to man-handle a barbell in my living-room. It would be a squeeze at best. Besides I thought that weights only built-up the muscles under the flab, making you weigh even more. Guess I was wrong.

Muscle tissue is active tissue which consumes calories. Also weight training gives you a metabolic boost, so you burn more calories in the hours after the session. It's all about making your body burn more calories, which is a healthier way of establishing a calorie deficit than simple dieting.