Howdy Reddit! I'm starting the "INSANITY" workout today. Any health or workout tips?
I'm 6'0, about 160lbs, and 19 y/o. I've always wanted to be in better shape. I've always been marginally athletic but have never spent a day of my life in the weight room. Although I'm not going to have one of the "Look reddit! I lost 350lbs" stories, I'd still like some pointers on how to be fit and overall healthier.
I'm always tired. I sleep for like 12 hours sometimes and still wake up tired. Feel sluggish but I'm not fat. I just want to feel better and be healthier.
I know that diet is just as important as the workout itself so I've already started. I've cut sodas and alcohol from my diet completely and was wondering if there was anything else. Also, I've always found that eating healthy is significantly more expensive than going to taco bell 4 days a week. Any advice on how to eat healthy without breaking the bank as well?
EDIT 1: So I just attempted to take the Fit Test to "benchmark" myself. I could only make it through the first 3 exercises with sub-par results. Then I went outside and threw up. Any more suggestions?
tl;dr Any tips on how to be healthy and get in shape?
Posted Jun 19, 2010, 7:45 PM UTC · edited
I have 4 words for you, I hope you remember them: cut DOWN, not OUT. You're in much better shape than I am/was when I started. I was 220 & 5'5" when I started working out, I'm now down to 176ish and want to lose another 20lbs of fat, hopefully by the end of the summer. All I did for diet was count calories. eat alot of protein; some of the wight I lost was actually muscle, which obviously isn't good. I also restricted ALOT of food I enjoyed, which really wouldn't have been bad in moderation. I started getting cravings, and gave in to them, and starting binging, and then throwing up. I did it 2-3 times a day for the last month and a half I was at school. I'm back home now...I still do it but maybe once, twice a week; yeah, I know its still bad. Obviously I have no idea what you're willpower is like; but please please don't try to get REALLY fast results, its unhealty, both mentally and physically. Also, get a scale that measures bodyfat/muscle mass etc. There're some cheap ones on Amazon, I got one for 30 bucks. Good luck man!
That's awesome! Keep up the good work and thanks for the words of encouragement. My will power is pretty lacking, what did you do to improve yours? Or did you?
I kind of did, but I'm still working on it to be honest. No matter what happens, always keep your endgoal in mind, and remember that you WILL reach it if you try hard enough. ALWAYS remember that goal, it is what will get you through when you feel like throwing in the towel. I actually typed them out, and look at them once in awhile. If you get food cravings, listen to them, but don't give in. craving pizza? have a slice or two, but not four or five. TBH, I'm still not really at that point yet. my parents ordered dominos a few days ago, I ate five slices, then chucked them up...but then the next day I had one, and was able to stop. Then the next day I went to a chinese place I by my house I used to go to before I went to college with my cousin, got some general tzo's chicken (best general tzo's I've ever had is from that place) I ate most of my order, and then chucked it up. Later that night, I microwaved the leftovers, then threw them out after staring at them for awhile. I considered it a victory. Today I took a doughnut out of the box (my mom bought some plain ones a few days ago-still-190 calories, mostly saturated fat) I looked at it, then put it back. Victory. keep in mind that in order to win the "war" of being healthy, you must win small "battles" with yourself every day. It felt damn good eating just that once slice of pizza, throwing away the rest of that chicken, and putting that doughnut in the box. One thing I'd also suggest is to always have good tasting healthy food available at all times when you get hungry, so you don't resort to eating snacks. I LOVE LOVE LOVE stir fry, its very healthy too..just chicken, veggies, and meat...oh and siracha...LOVE siracha....find what works for you, replace crappy food with tasty healthy stuff. Oh yeah, eat oatmeal. I hated it at first but now I love it. Omlettes too...I make mine with eggwhites..I put some turkey bacon and pepper jack cheese in there...really tasty. In general though, I keep it simple. If you want to eat something,ask yourself "how healthy is this"...if its really healthy, gorge yourself. If its kinda healthy, have some. if its not very healthy, have a little bit so you don't go nuts. I've gotten to the point where I no longer want fast food like taco bell/BK etc...I used to love the stuff. IMO its a matter of making sure you go crazy more than anything else...listen to your cravings, but don't give into them
Mmm. Stir Fry. Sounds delicious. And my problem always has been that I can win the little battles for a while and then eventually either slowly stray away from the little victories or just give up altogether, not only in dieting/exercise but most aspects of my life. It's a problem that I need to work out and I thought that this might be a good place to start. Who knows? It's good that you can win those little battles, but at the same time you have to remember, that day you ate 5 slices, well you'll need to win a lot more than 1 small battle to work on balancing that out.
It's good to know that I'm not solo on this venture, even if it is with someone on reddit who I didn't know before this thread :D
Any advice on eating healthy, but still not breaking the bank. I've always found that healthier food always seems to be far more expensive than everyday "fatty" foods. I don't exactly have a bunch of money at my disposal so that's something I also have to factor in.
I'm also afraid that if I listen to my craving's, I'll just eventually cave. So I've been doing my best so far to stay away from things that I KNOW are bad for me. Soda's. Alcohol. Canned junk. But at the same time I'm not really sure what is and what isn't good for me on a lot of foods.
lol I dont count eating five slices because they come back up (terrible, I know), I still count it as one or two though, just to be safe. cutting out the stuff you know is bad is def a good place to start. I cut out Soda as one of the first things I did. I don't drink too much, maybe once every other weekend at college (but I get absolutely fucking hammered, off liquior though,I think I probably consume less calories in total than if I drank beer, but still,alcohol isn't too good for one's metabolism anyway haha). I honestly can't help you in your search for cheap healthy food, unforutunately. I live at home with my parents, and my mom always goes out and buys me fresh veggies and fruit, so I can at least have that. She's always on the lookout for sales though, I think she also buys veggies and stuff from those sellers on the street (I live in NYC).
Good food is pretty easy.
Find a good web site for healthy eating. Look up proper serving sizes for various things, then calculate how many servings you're supposed to have for your age and size.
Most vegetables are unlimited - you simply can't get fat eating broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, green beans, lettuce, kale, chard, onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, eggplant, etc. So eat as much of these as you want, raw or cooked.
Fruit is really good for you but has more sugar and calories than vegetables, so don't exceed the recommended number of servings per day.
Lean protein is your friend. Cut off fat and remove skin from any type of meat or poultry or fish, and broil, braise or bake it rather than frying.
Whole grains are much better than refined grains. Eat brown rice, whole wheat bread or pasta, quinoa, oatmeal, etc.
Beans are great cheap sources of protein, especially when combined with whole grains.
Dairy is ok if you stick to low fat or nonfat.
... I do occasionally give in to my cravings, but I adjust everything else I'm eating that day to allow for the extra calories. Life is too short to completely give up a few treats.