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Personal Trainer/Weight Loss
SniperGuy
SniperGuyGamingRegistered User regular
SniperGuyGamingRegistered User regular
So I'm heading back to college tommorow, and I'd really like to lose some weight. We have an awesome rec center, but I have no clue how to use it. I understand that I can potentially get a Personal Trainer, but part of my dilemma is, I have the will to lose weight, but I often get distracted. Having a steady schedule of exercise (say, show up every day at 5 to work out) would be great for me. I believe a personal trainer can certaintly help with this, but can he help with setting up a diet? I also have a few somewhat embarassing health problems that result in heavy exertion being quite unappealing. That's why I like the idea of the rec center, it's indoors, so whatever I do won't be gladly on display for anyone walking about. This is mostly rambling, so let me boil it down.
Should I get a personal trainer, or is there a good plan I can follow for a diet and exercise? What exactly can a personal trainer do for me?
Should I get a personal trainer, or is there a good plan I can follow for a diet and exercise? What exactly can a personal trainer do for me?
SniperGuy on
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Sticking to it is up to you. In certain cases, some colleges have a plan where your meal plan will only purchase healthy choices and/or single servings, these are usually set up by concerned parents and it can help you avoid slipping. Still, it's going to be your will power that's important.
Some tips to get in shape are:
Stick to a schedule, but change it up every now and then to surprise your body. Get a wide variety of exercise so you work out your whole body, don't bore quickly, and can give certain muscles a break.
Lots of water, when you start working out, you'll feel really soar from all the lactic acid build up. Drinking water helps remove this and other wastes. Water also helps make you feel more full and helps flush away fat. Also, if you get dehydrated you'll start to cramp, get tired faster, and may have other health complications.
Several small meals during the day are better than 3 large meals. This will help get your metabloism going and help you digest food faster. Very important to eat breakfast. You should also not eat dinner after 8:00 at night, this is when our bodies start to get sedentary wether we are hanging out or getting ready for bed and food eaten after this time tends to go straight to fat.
Certain foods are really good for diets. Yogurt contains enzymes and bacteria that aid in digestion and metabolism. Celery can help fill you up and has "negative calories" (not literally), what this means is that you actually burn calories by digesting this food, more so than others and since it has no calories this is very good. High fiber foods such as apples, bran muffins, broccoli, etc will also make you more full, aid in digestion, and "flush you out". You can look up various options under "Healthiest Foods" or the like on the internet.
You don't need to go all out, all the time. Even doing something small like doing 10 pushups/10situps everytime you leave your dormroom (or anything that you might do several times a day) can help. Sitting in class or at your computer, you can do isometric exercises such as flexing the muscles in your butt and holding them while sitting or putting your palms together and pushing against each one with equal force. (You can look these up online)
Whatever embarrassment issues you may have over exercising in public, get over it. You need to put that aside. If you think someone is judging you by a medical condition you may have, think of what they think of you when they see you just walking around, get in shape. I had asthma as a child and would wheeze when I exercised, I also am a heavy sweater and have a tendency to get excess crotch and butt sweat (think about a guy running down the street who just looks like he peed his pants--that's embarrassing.), and as a kid I looked like I was doing the truffle shuffle when I ran. People are going to notice things about you no matter what you're doing. A little embarrassment while improving yourself sure beats a lifetime of embarrassment from doing nothing.
I encourage you to exercise in public and outdoors. If you feel embarrassed it will help you develop a thick skin and if you are good, you can channel those emotions into making you work harder and to stay determined.
Working out/exercsising can be fun and rewarding. There is nothing I love better after a crappy day than to put on my mp3 player and go to the gym and whale on some heavy bags or speed bags or to lift weights. To this day I still hate running, but it is the best exercise. After it's all over (especially running) all my stress is gone and I've got a little exercise "high". I sleep great (a great bonus for me since I have insomnia) and I wake up feeling energized and just great. As a side note, it'll take a while to get all the lactic acid out and work the kinks out of your body before you start feeling this, but once you do, you'll know what I mean.
Avoid supplements! Supplements should only be taken by those serious about fitness and you should consult a nutritionalist, personal trainer, and/or doctor before you decide to get into this level of self improvement.
As an example, I took a lot of creatine, drank a lot of protein shakes, and used some other muscle building/repairing supplements. I was putting too much into my body and not drinking enough water/spacing out the supplements enough. As a result, I developed kidney stones, and if you're a man that's the one of the worst pains you can ever experience. On a man's level, it's like childbirth to a woman. AND IF YOU CAN'T PASS THEM, YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW HOW THEY GET THEM OUT! A lot of these supplements can cause short term and long term health conditions as well.
I took some exercise science classes/nutrition classes while I was in college. If you want to get serious about taking care of yourself, register for some as an elective. It'll really help in self management.
Things I'd like to add.
There's nothing wrong with a protein shake or something like that. I think what lunar was trying to say was don't over do it.
For healthy foods, veggies and high fiber foods + water really help make you feel more full.
I think the main thing I'd like to add, is if you have problems staying dedicated, find a workout partner. This makes it SO much easier to stick with it as someone else is there to hold you accountable and encourage you.
This is not true, but eating this late is problematic because by 8pm you'll be really hungry and want to eat more.
A simpler method to make your you don't neglect anything is to always be doing full-body workouts with compound exercises. Varying the rep ranges and supplemental exercises is good, but the core lifts are pretty irreplaceable and effective.
Make sure that, even though you're trying to lose weight, you eat enough calories to support yourself. Otherwise you'll feel like shit and your body will try its best to hold on to the fat you've already got.
I post this in almost all of these threads, but this FAQ on the Something Awful forums is great for beginners and designed for, well, nerds like us. I know it mostly talks about gaining weight, but the lifting advice is just as valid for you.
Everyone starts as some little weakling that can't lift heavy objects. One of the reasons I love doing weights is that the effort you put in equals exactly how much you get out of it.
I was doing my bench the other day and realised I doubled my starting weight on the bench and I'm getting close to doubling my biceps curls too. That makes me feel good.
All I can say is don't worry that you don't resemble some kind of God (possibly Greek) if that's what you really want to look like and you apply yourself, that's what you'll end up looking like.
Satans..... hints.....
Better to learn how to do it yourself.
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm
Yes to drinking water. No, lactic acid isn't why you feel sore.
Fat is a function of total calorie intake, not time of day.
Are you tracking your calories, either in a journal or something like fitday.com? You should be.
Truth. The only thing you should add at this point is a multivitamin and *maybe* some protein powder if you don't get enough.