Getting in shape

[FolkFanatic]

Okay, i've never been in shape. In fact, i'm down right lazy.    Couple that with my thyroid issues (clearing up) i shot from perfect size or OVERsize in a few months time. Which sucked.

Now I've been trying to loose weight in prep for starting T (doctor agreed last week that it wouldn't hurt and the transition actually gave me the will to start) and i'm looking for some easy at home (and did i mention easy?) workout routines that i could start to help with my weight. Anything that would work pre or during T.

I don't necessarily want muscle (though it would be nice), i just want to start losing the fat. If i had to choose, i would choose burning the fat.

About four weeks ago I started a healthier diet, cut calories and soda and i'm down about six pounds. So, a good start but i need to tie in exercise. Any suggestions?

[LordKAT]

walk, it don't matter where, around the block till you memorize every crack or find a nature trail

[Silver]

Run two miles a day. Running is great for losing weight pretty quickly. Plus you get leg muscles.

[Lachlann]

Yep, cardio is pretty much a good idea. Running, walking, swimming, etc...

[Quicksand]

have you considered trying HIIT (high intensity interval training)?  What you do is you don't have to work out long, but you do it so strenuously that it beats you up.  Bad.  It's great for kicking your metabolism into high gear, and it won't require much of a time commitment, but it's probably easier if you have a trainer or a HIIT partner, since finding the motivation by yourself can be difficult.  You can find routines online pretty easily, if you're interested

[fdfge]

or start small and do a few 10 pushups
or as many as possible..gradually you will get stronger and then u do mpre and mpre
pushups are great because they work your abs chest and arms and at the same time get your heart going so you have a bit of cardio in there as well

[k_tech]

coming from someone how has also battled thyroid problems for almost a decade, i understand how tough it can be to get going as far as exercise goes. the big thing is to start slowly.
taking a walk around your neighborhood or a park is an easy way to get started without overdoing it. i've found that setting a huge goal right away just sets you up for failure. so walk, and then each week, walk a little farther. if you want to try jogging as your endurance builds, that's good too. personally i hate running. however, i've found bicycling to be a great form of exercise and is also great for clearing one's head. it's also easier on the joints and there's not a bunch of stuff bouncing around, if you get what i mean.

but whatever you choose, keep it simple and start small. hope this helps. good luck.

[Lachlann]

coming from someone how has also battled thyroid problems for almost a decade, i understand how tough it can be to get going as far as exercise goes. the big thing is to start slowly.
taking a walk around your neighborhood or a park is an easy way to get started without overdoing it. i've found that setting a huge goal right away just sets you up for failure. so walk, and then each week, walk a little farther. if you want to try jogging as your endurance builds, that's good too. personally i hate running. however, i've found bicycling to be a great form of exercise and is also great for clearing one's head. it's also easier on the joints and there's not a bunch of stuff bouncing around, if you get what i mean.

but whatever you choose, keep it simple and start small. hope this helps. good luck.

Exactly, you want to ease into it otherwise you may get fed up and give up on your goal. But don't do it too slowly, try upping the bar a little bit each week.

[tekla]

I like the 'start easy' idea myself, particular when people who have been exercise junkies and gym bunnies tell others to try running.  I'm sure that if as you say Okay, i've never been in shape. In fact, i'm down right lazy then running two miles might as well be swimming the English Channel.

Just start by walking, and keep track of both the distance and time - you can vary going for one or the other as a way of increasing both strength and stamina.

I like biking also, check out any of the low impact stuff, the high impact like running and jogging, if you are not used to doing it, and are over your 'healthy' weight will be brutal on you.

Find someone else to do it with, it makes it much harder to skip, and they can help give you motivation. 

Also you might want to check out some action lifestyle/job.  Most of the people I know who were not in shape, and somehow found their way to getting into shape - not by going to a gym, or starting some program on their own, but by getting on in some construction crew, some loading deal, some physical job that forced them into it because they were forced to do it everyday.

[myles]

I like the 'start easy' idea myself, particular when people who have been exercise junkies and gym bunnies tell others to try running.  I'm sure that if as you say Okay, i've never been in shape. In fact, i'm down right lazy then running two miles might as well be swimming the English Channel.


OK that cracked me up but is so true. When I started losing weight I started out by walking, then was riding my bike (was walking for over an hour or 2 before I switched) then started to go to the gym after doing this for a while.  Just start out slow especially if you have never really been in shape. If you run out and try and start running and doing push ups you are very likely to get discouraged.
Myles/Andrew

[tekla]

Yeah, as anyone here who really does it and keeps with it will tell you, the key is not to set aside time, but to incorporate it into your life.  That's why people get into shape so fast at some jobs, its almost like boot camp.  There are lots of ways, but the one that works for you is the one you dig.  For me its bike riding, walking and doing shows (loading a 53 foot semi by hand is one hell of a workout). 

[Ryuu]

I'm gonna follow this topic as I need advice on this too, not just losing weight, but getting in shape in general. It's always annoying when girls and boys get separated in PE, and I want to go with the boys, but know that I'm not even fit by female standards. :/

[tekla]

I want to go with the boys, but know that I'm not even fit by female standards

You'd find out pretty quick that Darwin was dead on.  Male PE is basically a combination of sports lust/porn, survival of the fittest, and revenge.

[Ryuu]

I want to go with the boys, but know that I'm not even fit by female standards

You'd find out pretty quick that Darwin was dead on.  Male PE is basically a combination of sports lust/porn, survival of the fittest, and revenge.

Huh? -_-'

[Lachlann]

Well, I can sympathize with the PE thing. Testosterone does build muscle and density, but everyone has different levels of strength. To actually build muscle, it's a lot harder as a girl than as it is as a guy because of the lack of testosterone obviously, however that doesn't mean you can't get stronger than the average woman.

Same approach, start off with light training. You want every day after an exercise on a major muscle group for your muscles to rest, so make sure you get good sleep and eat right so they can grow. Diet is extremely important, I don't mean eating less, I mean eating right. This is how I did it:

Monday:
chest, triceps, calves

Wednesday:
back, biceps, shoulders

Friday:
thighs

You can break this up to up to 5 days, just as long as you don't do two big muscle groups on the same day. You can even mix in some cardio if you want. Just start light.

If you don't want to bulk up but get stronger, don't worry, pre-T you'd have to really work at it and take supplements. If you do want to bulk up, still start light because the biggest mistake you can do is overwork yourself and then you have to let your muscles rest and by that time you might not have the motivation to keep at it.

[tekla]

Huh? -_-'
More boys were hurt by people (really hurt bad too) who didn't like them in PE classes then in all the school/after school fights.  PE is very brutal in a lot of places, and in an all-male school (which I went to) it takes on the atmosphere of open warfare, and some of the stuff that goes on would, in wartime, be called an atrocity.

I'm sure there are quite a few MtF people in here who could tell you what it's like to be one of those last 5-10 people picked for team sports in high school.  These were the same guys who pretty much were hating on you 24-7 as it was, and often in no small part its because they were not the 'jock' type that is so revered, and now, you're not only going to go out and demonstrate what a ->-bleeped-<-ing physical klutz you are, your going to get to do it on their team and keep them from the most awesome awesomeness of winning some game in gym class - which was pretty much the high point of their life as it was, and you just blew it for them. 

It REALLY sucks to be those guys. 

[Ryuu]

Huh? -_-'
More boys were hurt by people (really hurt bad too) who didn't like them in PE classes then in all the school/after school fights.  PE is very brutal in a lot of places, and in an all-male school (which I went to) it takes on the atmosphere of open warfare, and some of the stuff that goes on would, in wartime, be called an atrocity.

I'm sure there are quite a few MtF people in here who could tell you what it's like to be one of those last 5-10 people picked for team sports in high school.  These were the same guys who pretty much were hating on you 24-7 as it was, and often in no small part its because they were not the 'jock' type that is so revered, and now, you're not only going to go out and demonstrate what a ->-bleeped-<-ing physical klutz you are, your going to get to do it on their team and keep them from the most awesome awesomeness of winning some game in gym class - which was pretty much the high point of their life as it was, and you just blew it for them. 

It REALLY sucks to be those guys. 

Wow, that sounds horrible.
I go to a kind of alternative school, and I've never seen stuff like that. Guess I'm lucky - I've heard the horror stories about "normal" school, but I was homeschooled till March so I've never been in one.

[Lachlann]

Hah, while it was annoying to be stuck with girls I kind of liked it because of the reasons Tekla stated. In fact, that's one of the things I'm grateful to have growing up as a 'girl'. But who knows if it'd be different if I were born with the correct anatomy... still, brutal. That's something I need to get used to.

I always felt being seen as a girl was a safety blanket to most violence.

[Silver]

I like the 'start easy' idea myself, particular when people who have been exercise junkies and gym bunnies tell others to try running.  I'm sure that if as you say Okay, i've never been in shape. In fact, i'm down right lazy then running two miles might as well be swimming the English Channel.

Well of course you build up to the mileage. In my defense, I was rather lazy and running was the only thing I was motivated enough to stick with.

Hah, while it was annoying to be stuck with girls I kind of liked it because of the reasons Tekla stated. In fact, that's one of the things I'm grateful to have growing up as a 'girl'. But who knows if it'd be different if I were born with the correct anatomy... still, brutal. That's something I need to get used to.

I always felt being seen as a girl was a safety blanket to most violence.

Agree, some of the things guys do to each other are vicious. Although I still don't like the reason for my exclusion.

[tekla]

Ya know, just about everywhere else - like after school - you could at least run, try to get away, try to find a good place to defend yourself - but not in Gym.  You had to be there, and there was no where to run too.  And where girls are cruel too - no doubt about it.  Boys tend to act out with physical violence, and when they don't have enough, they form packs to attack in mass (which of course, we call 'teams' in PE).