New to forum and looking for help and advice

[InitialsBB]

Hello all, new to the forum and looking for help and hoping for the kindness of fellow forum members.

Not sure if I should start out with the good, bad, and ugly about myself by way of introduction , but the basic info is I am a 49 year old male with some minor health issues, looking to get healthy and lose weight. Currently weighing in around 215 (6ft or a tad more), and currently have no exercise routine other than a 3 mile a night walk M-F. I work from home so I have access to cook my own meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would ideally like to lose about 20lbs in the next 6 months or so and I wish to do this as naturally as possible. I am a lost child in the woods looking for any help I can get! I do have some slight back/leg issues, so running/cardio is not always possible, but walking and hiking are on the table Any suggestion with nutrition or intro exercises? Thank you in advise and I hope to post more int he future with hopefully positive results.

 

[Lizard King]

Welcome to TID @InitialsBB

That seems like a pretty realistic goal, what does your current diet look like?
Just looking to lose weight or add some training/muscle in there as well?

 

[InitialsBB]

Welcome to TID @InitialsBB

That seems like a pretty realistic goal, what does your current diet look like?
Just looking to lose weight or add some training/muscle in there as well?

Currently I get up everyday and make myself breakfast which is usually bacon and eggs or some variation of that (breakfast burrito, piece of toast, etc) or perhaps a bagel with cream cheese. (colder months I sometimes do coddled eggs and some dark rye bread). For lunch I usually have a sandwich or a burger, or a chunky soup or stew. Dinner can be anything to be honest, although I usually stay away from carb heavy dinners as this affects my sleep. Occasionally I throw in a salad in there. I should also note that occasionally the wife and I go will go on a day trip and I'll be damned if I don't end up having a chicken fried steak at some cafe in the middle of Texas. Also not sure if it matters, but I also have a freezer of pork from my niece on my sisters ranch, so there's a good amount of that in the house. I am fine with cooking and actually enjoy it, so hoping perhaps I can work that in. Unfortunately not a fan of coffee/tea or some foods like legumes.

I would ideally like to lose the weight, but pretty open to weight training. I have a couple of 20lb dumbbells at home and there's a park with a small trail 2 houses down. I work from home, but I do have an office to go into that have a gym available. Ideally I'd like to amend my diet as I am sure it's probably not the best and find some reasonable means of exercise/weight training. I loathe treadmills however and found it easier to walk outside on a trail. I used to do weight machines, but again, the repetition of it would sometimes get to me and I would prefer to constructive work (last year I volunteered with a church to build a playground and a dog park, and got a good workout doing that).

Sorry for the information overload, but I am thinking it's better to give too much info than not enough, Please let me know if I need to elaborate on anything. Oh, I also don't drink sodas except for diet, and cut out beer (except for whiskey, which I drink in moderation).

 

[pincushn]

Doing the 3 miles a night is fantastic.
I think you would need to really look at your micros on what your eating. Adding a little light weights and dialing in your diet will be a game changer.
Losing 20 lbs should well withing reach.

 

[genetic freak]

Definitely a realistic goal.

Add in some weight training. You could do a full body workout 3x a week or do an upper body/lower body split 4x a week. I am sure you are not going to push yourself so hard you cannot recover. You do not need much. You could just get an adjustable bench and adjustable dumbbells up to 60 lbs to do pretty much everything.

Clean up the diet. If you cannot kill it, pick it or grow it, don't eat it. Pretty much everything found in the produce section, rice and oats are alright. You would be amazed at how much real food you can eat and not get fat. Most people start losing fat as soon as you get them off of processed and fast foods.

 

[Thrawn]

Welcome

 

[ncsports]

You are going to do well to accomplish this goal.
Don't be over zealous and try to change everything at once.

Small dietary changes are not hard to make.
Increase water intake
Reduce portions and cut back on big fat/carb meals
Keep up on the walking
Add in some full body compound moves, do them unilaterally when you can. (split squats, single leg deadlifts)
When lifting stay smooth and in control at all times with slow negative/eccentric portions of the movement (the portion when the weight is returning to the start position)

Ask a lot of questions if you are unsure. Plenty of people here are capable and willing to help.

 

[DaSarge]

Welcome aboard!
Read, read, read, and read.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Like others have said, your goals are totally realistic.
Not sure if your wife is supportive or wants to be involved, but it would definitely help if she was.
I mean, if you're trying to modify your diet and she wants some type of fast food for dinner every night,
well...you can see that's going to be a problem.
Also, don't bring home anything from the grocery store you shouldn't eat.
If it's in the house, you'll break down at some point and eat it.
And, remember...getting and staying in shape is a marathon, not a sprint.
Make some realistic short and long term goals, and go for it.
If you slip up occasionally (like we all do), don't beat yourself up over it. Just put it behind you and move forward.
Best of luck my friend.

 

[Glycomann]

Most of us at this board are pretty fit but has been a journey for all of us. I wish there was a few slogans that would fix everyone but the reality is it comes down to goals and execution. Combining those two elements with consistency in nutrition, training and rest are the three keys to getting and staying fit. Eat clean. That means stay away from processed foods. in other words if it comes strait out of the ground and into your kitchen it's probably OK. If it swims or has hooves or feet and processing includes butchering and or cleaning then it's probably good to eat. know your macros. Weigh your food. Protein and fats are indispensable macronutrients. Carbs are disposable. So they go up and down with activity. I'm close to your weight but a bit older. What I shoot for as a base is 200 g protein, 200 g carbs and about 80 g fats on average. That's right around 2200 kcals. If i work out it goes up 200 kcals. If I want to lean out it drops 500 kcals. I recommend you join a gym and pay for a trainer for a couple months to get the basics down. Get these things down and you are on your way.

 

[BD Cool]

Welcome to TID!! Lots of good info here... as others have said, read as much as you can. Good luck!!

 

[InitialsBB]

Thanks everyone for the positive affirmations and advice. I have several follow up questions, but might address those on different threads. I guess my plan is to continue with the walking, maybe get a few more dumbbells for some weight training and try and clean up the diet. I am going to do a "weigh in" tomorrow and try and track progress. I currently have 20lb weights, do anyone feel this is good for starting out or dies anyone have a different suggestion? I currently dont have the space for a bench, but perhaps i can arrange something if i can show that i can stick to a program

 

[pincushn]

Thanks everyone for the positive affirmations and advice. I have several follow up questions, but might address those on different threads. I guess my plan is to continue with the walking, maybe get a few more dumbbells for some weight training and try and clean up the diet. I am going to do a "weigh in" tomorrow and try and track progress. I currently have 20lb weights, do anyone feel this is good for starting out or dies anyone have a different suggestion? I currently dont have the space for a bench, but perhaps i can arrange something if i can show that i can stick to a program

IMO you dont need a bench at this time. Your wanting to trim down so 20lb weights will be fine. You can do a lot with just those alone. Start with a plan of something that you know you will stick to....even if its not a long workout. Just get in the habit of doing it. Once you start seeing progress you will want to do more.