Nem member, lots of questions

Hey everyone. I'm kinda new to this whole vegan lifestyle. I'm actually a vegan only the last 6 months, but I do plan on keeping it. My major problem though is that I used to be obese (135kg) and after a major weight loss (I lost about 70 kg, and I now weight 64kg) I decided it's time to deal with the rest since until now I was like I can't move, how am I suppose to exercise? Well now that's not a problem and I want to take the exercise and eating habbits as seriously as possible. Now that I achieved the weight that I want and the eating habbits, I want to deal with the exercise. Since I'm a total noob around those things though I hope to solve all those questions that I have in here, and with your help to achieve my goal.

I'm glad I've joined you

Hey Nandia,

Congratulations on your weight loss. So now you are looking to get into improved shape but do you have an idea of what you would like to achieve?

I am pretty new to this forum myself but I am sure if you search around there would be some beginer programs. If you are completely new to weight training then a good place to start could be the book "Starting Strength" to learn some of the most important lifts. It would probably be a good idea to get a trainer or train with friend who can help to teach you the basics of strength training and weight lifting.

Exactly what you said! I want to improve my shape but I have no idea about the how. I've read a few threads around here but it seems like chaos to me. I literally don't know where to begin from and unfortunately there are no friends involved in such things....

I've thought about getting a trainer but the prices are a bit too much for me, so I wanna see what I can achieve with my own research around the internet

Thank you very much for your congrats, and your advice about the book. I will check it out

Hi! Welcome and congrats on the weightloss and lifestyle change!

Do know that you should expect to need some tweaks and changes to your foods as you progress on the fitness path.

So you say you're a total newb in this area, but don't worry, start slow and grow just like we all do.

First up, suggest you find and write down your top goals. They should be achievable and measurable. Get a journal because you'll want to capture not only where you are at the start, but also log your progress, your struggles and track your progress. I'd recommend taking some before pictures of you both standing in natural relaxed poses (front, back, sides, etc.) and maybe some flexing pics too. Then get out a measuring tape and measure your main areas...shoulders, chest, waist, hips, biceps, quads (thighs). Write ALL that down. You can repeat in 90 days just to see where your progress has been and where you're struggling still.

Next, need to just get started. If you're totally new to working out, good idea to start with the basics. These can include:

- cardio: start with walking, as briskly as you can, pick a good goal and then push to do 1% better each week. If you have a way to measure distance, try to map out a 1 mile distance. Can be around the block, can be a down-and-back loop. Time yourself. If that's easy, after a few times try upping the distance/laps. You want to go briskly to get your heart and breathing rates up.

- cardio pt 2: Now add in some other things, jumping jacks for example, run in place. Some things you can have as a backup when the weather is bad. Also, these things you can mix into your other exercises to raise and maintain the intensity.

- body weight training: lots of things you can do without any equipment at all just using your body weight. Make a list down a piece of paper and you should be able to track your reps for several days in columns on the paper. Start out with basics. I'll list a sample set for you:

standard pushups:

wide pushups:

military pushups:

close pushups:

chair squats:

ski squats:

close-wide squats:

chair dips (front grip):

chair dips (side grip):

overhand pullups (if you have a bar to use somewhere)

close-grip overhand pullups:

reverse grip pullups:

wide-grip overhand pullups:

....

A few pointers: for pushups, you may not be able to any or many. That's okay. Start out trying, on your toes, when you can't do any more, you can drop to your knees. Still keep your hips inline with your shoulders. Down and up. I like to keep track in my journals by using () around the reps done on my knees. So for example, standard pushups I might write down 10 (3) meaning I did 10 on my toes, and finished off with 3 on my knees.

Likewise with pullups. Might not be able to do any completely. But you can put a chair underneath so you can use your feet to help you. You'll want to struggle with the pull ups, so don't make it too easy!

Planking: Another basic one, great for strengthening your core. Here too you can start on your knees for the first week or so. Position is like a pushup, but instead of supporting your weight on your hands, you will be on your toes and elbows. Elbows under your shoulders, stay on your toes, keep your back straight, don't let your hips sag down. First week or so, your goal is 60 seconds. You might only get 15 or 30 seconds at first. That's okay. Write it down. Keep track. The time will go up.

Yoga: If you don't have any yoga videos and/or can't take classes, you should be able to find some nice workouts online, like on youtube. Might think that this is just stretching and easy, but some of the most intense body sculpting workouts I've done have been yoga. Look for both poses and for balance/stretch routines. Lots of warrior positions, upward/downward dog, and similar will absolutely define, shape and strengthen your shoulders, arms, back legs, and core. Plus will help with your overall balance and flexibility.

Other things you can add in:

crunches

bicycles/flutter kicks

squat kicks

All this you can do with no equipment. And as you get stronger you can just keep upping the reps until failure (can't do any more reps). Eventually you should be able to score some basic weights to add resistance to the exercises.

Let me know if you have other questions. Will be back to share more if I can think of other things to get you started.

Welcome to the forum Nandia, this is a fantastic community here and really one of a kind. If you need anything please just ask, otherwise welcome to the board and I'll look forward to seeing you posting more. Already some useful posts in this thread which is a good thing!

Feel free to have a look through everyone's training journals, that's often a great source of motivation and inspiration as well as being a good place to start. Cheers MF.