I'm a 22 year old woman who has gained a lot of weight in the last four years. I used to dance competitively in high school and was in pretty good shape. I've always been muscular, and at 165 pounds I feel great and fit, although that may seem high for height (5'2"). However in freshman year of college I shattered three bones in foot and tore a tendon, and that stopped me dancing while I healed. The problem was that I never got started up again. I'm now 250 pounds and not at all happy. I need to get back in shape and stop steadily ballooning. But I've never worked out before, and I don't know what I should do. Gym equipment intimidates me, but I'm willing to confront it and get life back.
Does anyone have any tips as to what exercises I should be doing, and the number of calories I should be eating? I read somewhere that I should be eating 1300/day in order to lose somewhere around 1.5 lbs a week, but I've been tracking what I eat and that seems no less than I normally consume. I'm aware of the fact that at a certain amount of calories, a body goes into "starvation mode," but I don't know what that number is for me.
Here are eating habits:I love to eat. I absolutely love food, and have always had issues with that. I'm not a doughnuts or chips person; it's more about cheese and portion sizes. However, I don't eat breakfast ever, and although I know that that's a must for getting your metabolism started for the day, I'm not ever hungry until I've been up for 2-4 hours. I'm also in college and a night owl, so I'm up late and getting up late as well.
As far as exercising, I have a full gym at disposal here at school, with all kinds of machines. When I drop some weight I'll be starting up dancing again, but as for right now it would be a little unsafe for me to do what I used to do. I'd love it if someone could give me tips about how to drop weight in a healthy and controlled way, so that I can make a life change and continue it throughout life.
Thank you!
Need Help!! Getting Started
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Re: Need Help!! Getting Started
Hi there, good to have you here 
.
I want to tell you that I'm proud to see your positive attitude and applaud you for talking about things, that must be quite difficult to recant. You showed a little strength, heart and courage in your words, but also some beauty to what you said, which looked very heart-felt and touching.
I'll post something below which that I post sometimes for people and has been slightly modified, so it should be good for you to get started with.
This is something I posted some time back, it may be of interest to you.
Any other questions feel free to ask.
Breakfast
Option 1.
Bowl of Whole-grain Cereal and scrambled Eggs, (2 Egg Whites + Yolk)
Option 2.
A bit of Chicken, a small portion of Nuts, (excluding higher carb ones like Cashews, Chestnuts and Grapenuts), + Apple. Give the Apple 10-15 minutes to digest to improve digestion.
Snack
Option 1.
Portion of Turkey + Orange
Option 2.
A few Peanuts, some Chicken + Raw Carrott.
Lunch
Option 1.
Beef Sandwich with trimmings, I.E. Tomato, Lettuce, Cucumber etc.
Option 2.
Bowl of Chicken Soup, + Pot of yoghurt.
Snack
Option 1.
Turkey + Cashews
Option 2.
Ham + 2 large Tomatos
Dinner
Option 1.
Pork + Mashed Potato.
Option 2.
Chicken and Mushroom with a small portion of Rice
Option 3.
100g Halibut + Broccoli
Snack
Option 1.
Beans on Toast
Option 2.
Ham Sandwich, no trimmings.
Easy on the bread with both options.
You could add a few things to certain meals, like Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper. Parsley, Mustard, Herbs, Garlic.
As for the training you could do a schedule something like this.
Day 1. Weights
Day 2. Cardio
Day 3. Weights
Day 4. Day off
Day 5. Cardio
Day 6. Weights
Day 7. Day off.
Cardio days you're looking at interval training for 30 minutes a time or maybe something like Sprints or HIIT.
For weights you can then do a TBT where you're hitting every muscle group 2x with 8-10 repetitions per set. Usual things like Squats, Deadlifts, Chins etc etc, but a Gym instructor should be able to sort that out for you.
Hopefully that all makes sense.
.I want to tell you that I'm proud to see your positive attitude and applaud you for talking about things, that must be quite difficult to recant. You showed a little strength, heart and courage in your words, but also some beauty to what you said, which looked very heart-felt and touching
.I'll post something below which that I post sometimes for people and has been slightly modified, so it should be good for you to get started with
.This is something I posted some time back, it may be of interest to you.
Any other questions feel free to ask.
Breakfast
Option 1.
Bowl of Whole-grain Cereal and scrambled Eggs, (2 Egg Whites + Yolk)
Option 2.
A bit of Chicken, a small portion of Nuts, (excluding higher carb ones like Cashews, Chestnuts and Grapenuts), + Apple. Give the Apple 10-15 minutes to digest to improve digestion.
Snack
Option 1.
Portion of Turkey + Orange
Option 2.
A few Peanuts, some Chicken + Raw Carrott.
Lunch
Option 1.
Beef Sandwich with trimmings, I.E. Tomato, Lettuce, Cucumber etc.
Option 2.
Bowl of Chicken Soup, + Pot of yoghurt.
Snack
Option 1.
Turkey + Cashews
Option 2.
Ham + 2 large Tomatos
Dinner
Option 1.
Pork + Mashed Potato.
Option 2.
Chicken and Mushroom with a small portion of Rice
Option 3.
100g Halibut + Broccoli
Snack
Option 1.
Beans on Toast
Option 2.
Ham Sandwich, no trimmings.
Easy on the bread with both options.
You could add a few things to certain meals, like Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper. Parsley, Mustard, Herbs, Garlic.
As for the training you could do a schedule something like this.
Day 1. Weights
Day 2. Cardio
Day 3. Weights
Day 4. Day off
Day 5. Cardio
Day 6. Weights
Day 7. Day off.
Cardio days you're looking at interval training for 30 minutes a time or maybe something like Sprints or HIIT.
For weights you can then do a TBT where you're hitting every muscle group 2x with 8-10 repetitions per set. Usual things like Squats, Deadlifts, Chins etc etc, but a Gym instructor should be able to sort that out for you.
Hopefully that all makes sense.
Re: Need Help!! Getting Started
Did you enter your values in the fit tracker to see what your recommended calorie intake is if you where to loose weight?
Even though you don't eat breakfast try to eat a small 0% fat yoghurt - Chobani for example. Boss Man gave you a great regiment you should try to follow! I just started a 30 day challenge called Top Shape 30, maybe that would be something for you in case you don't want to go to the gym. It basically helps you get kick-started - and starts on the first of every month.
Good Luck & Keep it Up - You can do it!
Even though you don't eat breakfast try to eat a small 0% fat yoghurt - Chobani for example. Boss Man gave you a great regiment you should try to follow! I just started a 30 day challenge called Top Shape 30, maybe that would be something for you in case you don't want to go to the gym. It basically helps you get kick-started - and starts on the first of every month.
Good Luck & Keep it Up - You can do it!