Looking to get started on the long road to health

That is a huge question and if you want the right answer for you I would suggest getting a persoal trainer. In short strokes you need to eat right, at least 3 regular meals evenly spaced throughout the day; get in your cardio and weight training but also give yourself enough time to recover after your workouts. The more intense your workouts the faster you will see improvements, but don't try to kill yourself right off of the bat. Ease in to it. Remember, some exercise is better than none. Don't get discouraged and don't obsess over what your scale reads. Also, get plenty of sleep. 7 to 9 hours a day at least, and I mean quality sleep if you are tossing and turning all night you are not getting the full benefit of your rest. Consistancy will be your key to success. You will have to change things around here and there so if at one time or another you stall don't fret, make some small changes and continue. There is a lot of great info here on this board as far as diet, exercises, supps, etc. Do some searches and I'm sure you will find the information you need.

Good Luck

Thanks for the info.

The personal trainers at my Gym are quite expensive, are the other routes I can take, or should I just buck up and pay?

OK here is another question. Based on my body I think I am between the Meso and Endo Morph. I am definitely a really thick Square/ Ruler frame. But my Bones are huge.

How many calories would be realistic for me per day? I had a Doctor once tell me to go for 1800, but I don't think I could survive on that low of a count?

Posted by: Mansquatch

How many calories would be realistic for me per day? I had a Doctor once tell me to go for 1800, but I don't think I could survive on that low of a count?

For your size, I think it's pretty safe saying 1800 is way low. Caloric intake is definitely a trial and error function of your fitness regimen.

I would compute what your current caloric intake is and go from there. Stay away from processed foods, fast food, sodas, and sugary foods. Stick to whole foods--lean meats, grains, dairy and veggies.

Like NeedSize said---make sure you are eating meals spaced apart--start with 3 or 4 per day. After you get a handle on the times and intake you are currently consuming work toward making healthy food choices and tapering down your calories---like I said trial and error.
Fitday.com and Calorie King are awesome sites that let you log your food per day and it computes your macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats).

CEM also has a forum for logging your food that members can look at, evaluate and encourage you during your journey to your goals. I emphasize what NeedSize said: Consistency!!

Good luck bro!!

wolf78

Great, thanks for the help. Any thoughts on supplements? I take a multivitamin, but due to my size and a prior bad experience I am will not go the Ephedra route. I am just asking for heart problems with that stuff.

Don't worry about supps right now. First get your diet, sleep, and workouts on tract. See how you progress. When you have specific areas that you want to work on then get into the supps but for right now, protein powder and a good multi-vitamin are really all you need. Get your cardio up and you can start looking to use cutting agents but for now just get started, everything else will fall into place after that. I promise.

OK, thank you again. There is a comfort in knowing where you are headed. Before I felt like I was just blindly working out while there was this whole other world of things going on that I had no clue about.

I still don't have much of a clue, but at least I have direction. Thank you.

Just a page from my own journal. I am 5'8" with a huge frame. I have been up to 350#, I started losing with a 2800 calorie a day diet and light exercise. As you lse the weight and exercise more and your diet gets under control you will find you will be able to eat more than you crave and still keep losing. It's a great feeling, bro. Congratulations on getting started. Call on us we are here to help.

Ok some questions on "consistency." When you guys say that, what exactly do you mean? (Sorry I work in an area of financie where interpretation is very important and it carries over into my life, much to my wife's annoyance.) Are talking about sleeping a steady number of hours at the same times each night? Are you talking about eating and working out at the same times on a set schedule.

Give me an idea here, please?

If you can manage that sure. A set schedule is always a good thing but few of us live in such a perfect world. Mostly what is ment is workout on the days you are ment to, get a good nights sleep every night if possible, eat your meals fairly evenly spaced throughout the day. Be strengent with your splerges and if you fall off for a meal or a snack or miss a workout...Forget it, get right back on your diet or routine. Noone is perfect but if you get in the habit of messing up then say oh well I'll get back on tomorrow, pretty soon you will start saying next week, next month, etc. Best thing to do is to make a promise to yourself to be dilligent in your efforts on all aspects of your training. And if you find that a promise to yourself is easy for you to break then make this promise to someone you would never want to disappoint like a daughter, mother, wife, preist, whomever but consistancy meaning staying with your program which does have some leighway is what is important if you want to succeed.

OK, that I can do. Life can and does get in the way. (This week is a fantastic example of that.) I was trying to make head and tails of what you are saying. As far as diet and meals, that is something my wife and I have both decided to work on together. It is nice having someone who is so supportive. Our biggest challenge is that she is a classic ectomorph and needs to eat a far different diet from the one I am on. We'll get there though.

The one supplement that I will say you may really want to look into getting is cyanocobalamin. It is a form of injectable b-12. It will do wonders for your energy levels. Even at one shot per week you will feel an amazing difference. CEM Store has pharmacutical grade for a great price. one dose is 1 mL and that will give you 1000 mcg of b-12. Don't worry about toxicity, for you to even get close you would have to inject the whole 30 mL bottle or more. It is not uncommon for people to inject everyday.

Anything for Achy Knees? I think most of the Ache is from my size, which I am working on, but anything to make my ski season better would be aprpeciated.

I've not used it personally but I am hearing great reviews of camphibolic. You can get it at the CEM Store as well. Check it out.