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Workout beginner seeking advice to lose inches, build muscle/endurance

@SaiBot: that thing about doing aerobics until you're nauseous sounds a bit... unhealthy, but the other information is all good stuff. Thank you.

Well getting out of the comfort zone forces your body to adapt, that's probably what determines/separates good results from excellent results. But doing cardio until you feel nauseous it's terrible for me, i really hate cardio.
 
Welcome to Elite. I think Thandie and QT are hitting all the right notes for you. Follow what they say and you will achieve your goals in no time! I am big on telling people that 85% of their results come from what they eat. The smallest changes can lead to the largest results.
Keep asking questions and you will learn more and more and be where you want to be in no time!
Best of luck :)
 
Yeah, that's just what I was looking for. Thank you, perfect answer! I just needed to know what "good" carbs and "bad" carbs were.

Then I seem to be on the right track: the first thing I bought when stocking my dorm before leaving for school was a TON of tuna fish. I eat that a ton. And yes, I have a meal plan, but can also transfer meals to a market in the dining halls at which I can buy my own food. It's limited, but I'm almost sure they have all of those things there. Freshmen can't own cars on campus, so I can't drive to Wal-Mart, but I can get stuff uptown. It's just a matter of doing so. ;)

I feel for you dorm food can be a very tricky thing. Hopefully they have some healthy options in the meals. My dorm had a salad bar which is always a good option lots of veggies cottage cheese and typically some hard boild eggs to. Try to avoid the salad dressing of course some them have almost as much calories as dam cheese burger.
Also be very aware of portion control that will go a long way a good eyeball for the size of piece of meat/chicken your eating is the palm of your hand try to keep your carbs to about and equal portion fill up on leafy greens have as much as you like. If you in doubt of something simply ask here and one of us will let you know what the best option would be.
 
Thanks thandie! And nah, disagreement is fine by me! I'm just going on what I've heard. I've always been moderately interested in becoming a better athlete and healthier person, but from that standpoint, I don't know a huge deal about proper nutrition.

Though can I ask you what the difference between a carbohydrate and a complex carbohydrate is? I thought complex carbs were things like rice and stuff. I'm not sure...?

Also, with the way my schedule at college is, there's probably not a convenient or affordable way for me to eat that many meals a day... I'm only allotted so much money and/or meals a week. But, saying that is like making excuses. I will look into getting food in my dorm that adheres to smaller meals (which I figured I'd ask about eventually: yet another thing I've heard bodybuilders mention when I used to work at GNC).



Hmm, thanks for checking that out for me! I've checked my BMI numerous times over the years and I've been down to 23% at one point, and the highest was 27%. So I know that I'm in a "comfortable" range, but I'd of course like to bring that down to maybe 20% or something around there. I'm perfectly content knowing that I'll never be "small" or "thin." :)

Scales suck, but I've learned from my mom to "not let them rule my world," like you've said. Hell, half the time I don't even check my weight because if it stays the same, I'll think, "I haven't lost any weight! Oh no!" and get discouraged.

Sorry it took me so long.
Complex carbs are, as you said, Brown rice, vegetables, sweet potato, couscous, millet, quinoa, etc.
Simple carbs are sugary refined carbs, which you don't want.

When in doubt, keep it simple and whole foods. Meaning things that are grown, not manufactures. Read the ingredient in things made. The more ingredients, the worse it is. For instant, what ingredients are in broccoli, or asparagus or brown rice? Just that! broccoli, asparagus and brown rice.
 
Well good, that's most of what I've been eating. superqt, the only salad dressing I eat is a bit of low-fat Italian. It's boring without ANYTHING. :eek: I also did manage to find some huge tubs of low fat cotage cheese at the dining hall markets, so I'm glad about that! (And though I shouldn't, I've found a way to smuggle grilled chicken breasts out of the dining hall... haha).

SaiBot, I hate cardio too, but just last night, I found a way to overcome some of my roadblock when I worked out. Sounds stupid, but I had so much fun and burned so many more calories by bringing a book with me to the gym. I just set it on the ledge on the treadmill, and ran for about 20 minutes, walked for 5-10. Instead of running like hell the whole time, and focusing on "how much time I have left" since I hate to run, I just read my book to get y mind off what I was doing. I was sweating like CRAZY but it didn't seem so bad. ;) I didn't feel nauseous, but afterwards/today my lower legs are simply KILLING me!
 
Just a quick update:

Thank you everyone so much for the simple and easy to follow advice. I've never been this pumped up about improving myself before (and I always try to do that ;)) It's the first time in my life that I'm enjoying cutting back, since there is a certain pleasure in moderation as opposed to indulgence.

I've been improving my workouts. Now I can finally run for 25-30 minutes straight, and I don't mind it. Slowly but surely, I'm finding some exercises (lifting, that is) easier. The first week after I started to eat minimal carbs (I do think I'm one of those carb intolerant people), and a ton of salads/cottage cheese, I went to the gym to check my weight, andI dropped 7 pounds! It's likely water weight, and I'm more concerned with inches, but that's got to mean something.

Yay for good advice!
 
SaiBot, I hate cardio too, but just last night, I found a way to overcome some of my roadblock when I worked out. Sounds stupid, but I had so much fun and burned so many more calories by bringing a book with me to the gym. I just set it on the ledge on the treadmill, and ran for about 20 minutes, walked for 5-10. Instead of running like hell the whole time, and focusing on "how much time I have left" since I hate to run, I just read my book to get y mind off what I was doing. I was sweating like CRAZY but it didn't seem so bad. ;) I didn't feel nauseous, but afterwards/today my lower legs are simply KILLING me!

It doesn't sound silly at all, I do anything to keep me from getting bored on cardio sessons, books, magazines, favourite music, whatever. When doing interval training I can keep my focus though, alternating 2 minutes medium and 40 secs max intensity and i was oofing and poofing lol.
 
OMG cardio is the worst. It works. I just loath it!

Right... I know it works. It's just one of those things that SUCK to do. Though I must say, I've noticed I'm starting to overcome that barrier about running. Once I get off my butt in the dorm and head over to the gym, that's half the battle.
 
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