just starting need help bigtime

[steely dan]

heres my situation. Im just starting out and dont know anything so i need some advice please. Right now i am doing alot of bike riding in the morning (1-1/2 hours) to lose a little weight. I lost 20 pounds in 2 months. I also do sit ups and push ups,4 sets of each. I know nothing about diet and what i should eat. I do take xenadrine and drink plenty of coffee(im addicted)I eat oatmeal 1 hour before my ride and workout Can someone give me an idea what i should be eating. I also want some ideas on what other exercises i can do at home. I do plan to join a gym within the next year but want to learn before i get involved(any good books out there) Also i am 30 150 #'s but have lots of energy. One last thing,i was given a soloflex(I know it sucks) I can do chin ups and use the bench for incline sit ups, thats about it. I think this sight rocks, getting a lot of different ideas about whati should do and eat, i want to find something that will work for me, also my metabolism is good, i have results in the past 2 months from just bike riding alone, i am really serious about making this comintment! I hope one day i can look back at this and laugh, keep up the good work guys, thanks

 

[Phemomena]

Hi, and welcome to the boards...

looks like you've been reading around, so you should already have the idea (and hopefully already know how to use the search functionality )...

basically it sounds like you've made good progress... congrats on that!.. now what you'll want to do is add some muscle mass... muscle is metabolistic, which means that it will help burn fat... so get out there and start lifting.. the pushups/chins/soloflex (?) may be okay for starting out with, but i recommend getting free weights and/or joining a gym as well... start with the basic movements a 3-4 exercises per major body part, 2-3 per smaller part... start light and work up to heavier weights, learn correct form with the lighter weights and progress at a level that you'll be comfortable with... make sure all your lifts are done safely...

you don't need to wait to join a gym, get a trainer for a few sessions to show you the ropes if you are really uncomfortable, ask lots of questions, watch people who look like they know what they are doing... and as i said above, start light... don't worry about what other people are doing...

once you have the form down, make sure that you are lifting weights that fatigue your muscles in 8-12 reps... for 2-3 working sets (once you get the hang of things you can pyramid the weight throughout your set, play around with your routine and see what works best for you)

as for diet, eat clean unprocessed food, enough to support your activity... dieting doesn't mean starving yourself.. i eat more food now that i'm 'dieting'... eat lots of protein (chicken, lean cuts of beef, fish, egg whites), good carbs (oatmeal, veggies, brown rice, sweet potatoes etc), healthy fats (flax seed oils ect), you'll find lots of sample diets on the diet boards...

as for the cardio, you may want to check out Warlobo's 30+30 thread on the women's board (its a great post that gives some argument for cardio (60 min) on an EMPTY stomach)...


well, that's all for me right now, i'm exhausted.. time for bed...

good luck, keep working hard...