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Newbie Poster Seeking Advice Anonymous
Hey there folks.

I am 5 feet 2 inches tall and currently weigh 200 pounds. I am desperate to lose weight, but as I am also out of shape, I have NO idea where to begin. I know I need to diet and exercise, but exactly what to do from there eludes me. I don't have a strict timeline I'm shooting for, but I know it will help me both physically and mentally (Severely depressive and prone to anxiety).

Any advice on how I can begin? I am not a troll, I swear, I just have no clue where to go from here and need all the help I can get.

Picture is, sadly, related.
>> Anonymous
>>127084
GB2/endor/ damn Ewoks on my /fit/
>> Anonymous
Go get fitted for a running shoe.

Drink a gallon of water every day. Start running. Make sure you stretch before and after.

Good luck.
>> Anonymous
i've been where you are

sign up for a gym, ask the time of lower attendance (so you won't get self-conscious in front of too much people) and go hit the elliptical and light lifting. do this for some weeks while MANTAINING -not raising a bit- your current food intake and when you get used to exercise start a diet.

it will help lots. better sleep quality and boosted self-confidence will do wonders.
>> Anonymous
If you have the cash moniez, consult a personal trainer and work out a low-impact regimine. No offense, but you're way too fat for your height to do running, or even light lifting.

Once you drop some pounds and strengthen your joints a little, then you can step it up. BE PATIENT, you have a lot of weight to lose, and it's going to take a long time (especially if you're female).
>> Anonymous
Stop eating sweets, drinking soda, and eating fast food/fried foods. go on a vegetarian diet, go to a local nutrition store that sells good wholesome foods and talk to someone who works there, they can help you out.

VEGETARIAN VEGETARIAN VEGETARIAN!! and stick to jogging/running/walking routinely, form the habit!! keep a journal to log progress, you'll see improvement in no time if you eat healthy. Apple Cider Vinegar helps too, look it up.
>> Anonymous
>>127423

Do not go on a veggie diet. Just eat a well balanced MEAT eating diet.
>> Anonymous
OP here. Thanks for the advice so far, I REALLY appreciate it. Now here's another question: would drinking tea more often help? I don't use sweeteners in my tea (and avoid soda like the plague, the acid irritates my stomach too much)and I currently drink about 3-5 cups per day, sometimes more if I'm out and about, both herbal and standard black.

And yeah. I'm not monstrously orca-whale fat but I've discovered the hard way that I can't go from what I am now directly to running for miles(weak health in childhood to fat ass at present doesn't make that much of a surprise) As much as I hate it, I know I'll have to be gradual.

And if it has any major impact on which areas I should focus on first, yes I am female. There is a part of me that would love to be as thin as the girl in this picture, but another part of me that says "this is unhealthy and unreasonable."

Lastly but not leastly, I'm broke and currently unemployed, so gyms are out of the question. Am I utterly boned or are there things I can still do?
>> Anonymous
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Edit. Sorry, brainfarted. This was the picture O meant to share.>>127515
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
So you want to work out.

There are three very basic components: Exercise, Diet, and Rest. Regardless of gender, weight, height, whatever, you're going to want to do all 3 of these properly if you want to lose weight, bulk up muscle, tone, anything.

Exercise burns calories and builds muscle. You obviously burn more calories if activity is more strenuous, but keep in mind that if you're just starting out sprinting for a minute burns less calories than keeping up a jog over a half hour. Exercise builds muscle by making miniature tears into your muscles (this causes soreness), which are mended and rebuilt after exercise, during rest.

Two main types of exercise: Cardio, and lifting. Cardio is designed to burn calories, while lifting generally builds muscle. Any cardio works - as long as your heart rate's up and you go as long as you can, you're building up stamina. These exercises are roughly equivalent, depending of course how much effort you put into each:

60min Recumbent Bike
60min Jogging, flat surface
60min Weighted Powerwalking, inclines
30min Jogging, inclines
30min Normal biking
30min Aerobics
20min Jump Rope
20min Running, flat surface
15min Running, inclines
15min Jumping Jacks
15min High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Keep in mind you can easily mix and combine these workouts for an overall better burn based on your own shape.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
Now that your heart rate is up, you can go into lifting. Look up an anatomy or a basic fitness book to get an idea of how your muscles work. Muscles are only 'exercised' by contracting, which is why all muscles are paired. When lifting, you have to work out both muscles in a pair and keep it balanced, or else you can have one of those fuckups where you're hunched over because your trapezius isn't strong enough to lift your bulked up pecs.

Before lifting, do some quick stretching. Stretching will reduce soreness and reduces the chance of a full muscle tear, especially if you don't know what you're doing.

Find a bunch of combination exercises (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm) with free weights, and combine those into a workout with isolation exercises based on what muscle group you want to focus on. Push-ups and pull-ups are the standard for full-body exercise. Squats, full situps or crunches work as well. Lifts are divided into sets of 'repetitions', where you can do (for example) three 'sets' of 15 'reps' of a bicep lift. Generally you want to gradually increase your total amount of reps as you get stronger. If you're looking to bulk up, increase the amount of reps in a set while either decreasing the number of total sets you do or using heavier free weights. To tone and lose weight, increase sets and decrease reps/use lighter free weights.

Now after you've worked out, you need to rest. Your muscles will be sore, sore muscles do not build if you keep working them out. Muscles need time, protein, and carbs to mend all those small tears I mentioned earlier, so lifting again within the next 12 hours is a waste of time and can damage your muscles.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
The ideal workout schedule for most people is a daily cardio exercise to get your heart rate up and burn calories, followed by stretching. After stretching, do weight lifting every *other* day to tone muscles or bulk up. If you're not sore and tired, you can at least do some cardio that day. STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE. Missing a day leads to missing the next day leads to slippery slope leads to weighing 400 pounds and benching 90. You can NEVER AFFORD TO MISS A WORKOUT.

Finally, diet. There is quite frankly no need to fuck around with hippie food or any of the 'low fat' 'low carb' garbage you see. Cut out all junk food and fast food, cook things yourself or at relatively healthy restaurants, and most importantly WORK OFF ALL YOU EAT. You can chow down on steaks every day as long as you do enough exercise to work it off, i.e. don't overeat. Stay away from fried stuff, fast-food, HFCS (sodas in particular). Chow on steaks, healthy burgers, fruits, vegetables, rice, mashed potatoes, whatever.

Happy working out, and remember ultimately it's willpower that loses weight, this is just a guide to using it. Ideally, you'll have a friend or significant other giving you some motiviation, either by insulting your fat ass or giving you treats.

And remember, this is a general guide. Some people will tell you to lift before cardio, some people will tell you to use barbells exclusively or machine circuits. All I'm saying is that this worked for me, and I used to fit the profile of most anons. It may not work for you, the best workout would be something tailormade by a personal trainer.
>> Anonymous
Wow,we're the same height. Power to the little people! I used to be pretty big too at 175lbs. I've lost 35, still abit to go on the road to healthiness! The only thing I'd add is remembering to STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH. I hated lifting weights and I barely started doing it...now I love the results. Do weight lifting earlier, haha. A female trainer at my gym said you should stretch before and after working out a muscle, something about making them longer and leaner. Also remember with girls it's about low weight-high reps.
>> Anonymous
>something about making them longer and leaner
Something about pseudo-science and magic
>> Anonymous
>>127543
no, it's about high weight low reps.
>> Anonymous
>>127084

I don't know if it's ok to link to another thread in fit, but this guy, whilst he sounds a bit manic, maybe has a point, I don't know. If there's even a bit of truth in it (there is a graph) then maybe worth knowing?
Thread is:>>127494
>> Anonymous
>>127587

I know you meant well linking this, but to be frank, religion doesn't have crap to do with why I'm fat. And while I'm willing to accept the possibility there may be some sort of God, I'm not going to rely on him/her/it to do for me what I need to do for myself. It's up to me to take the steps to get healthy.
>> Anonymous
>>127601

Ok, fair enough, it's good to see you are determined and responsible so I'm sure you'll achieve your goal.
>> Anonymous
I know you want to lose weight, OP, but do you also want to gain muscle mass and be strong? Also, are you heavy-set bone structure-wise?

If that's the case, then the picture might be a little too lean for you. I would set your initial target weight to 140 lbs, and then see how you feel about yourself. You wouldn't be thin, but you'd be healthy.

Also, do NOT use BMI as a indication of your health.