Another Newbie! :)

[housre]

Hi guys I'm a 21 year old student who has coped with stress through an unhealthy relationship with food. I know its important to break habits so I'm trying to get through this year without stress eating, which has been going well so far as I'm taking an easier year. And to stop eating out and getting take out (which I can't afford anyway but still do)

My weight loss plan is to have a healthy breakfast (overnight oats or toast because I still love carbs), 400 calorie Huel lunch (its a nutritional shake that's vegan so it makes me feel like a better person) and then a low calorie ready meal for dinner (with meat to balance out that vegan lunch ).

I am terrible at portion control and the hope is that I will get used to the portions for when I stop using ready meals.

I'm aiming for 1200 calories in meals so that I have 200 calories for snacks throughout the day (apples, nuts, etc.)

I would also like to start going to the gym (I've had a membership for 4 months and haven't gone once), but I REALLY REALLY hate exercise - I get bored, hate the burning sensation in my lungs and body and just the whole general experience of my bouncing tummy as I try to run on the treadmill. Any motivation would be much appreciated, I've followed a bunch of instagram fitness people, but still doesn't get me in the mood for that torture.

I'm also on fitness pal, so if you're on there just add me (Kyoko123) then we can motivate each other!

[benwl]

Sounds like you have a well thought out eating plan there

Have you thought of trying resistence training rather than cardio at the gym? You can still get the burning sensations in the body but it's good for getting the heart rate up and much less boring than running for ages on a treadmill

[housre in reply to benwl]

Thank you!! I hope it works

Have you got any good workout recommendations? For at home and the gym. I really hate cardio. I have done some online videos of circuits in the past, but I find it difficult to get a variation of ones I can actually do at my level and I have a short attention span so I get distracted halfway through ...

I literally have no muscle and would like to build on this too

Any help is much appreciated!

[benwl in reply to housre]

What you do at the gym depends to some extent on the machines available there. When you join you should get an induction on them.

I tend to start with 2 mins on the bike to warm up then I pick three machines for a set and do 4 sets with 1 min on the bike if I can find a free one and a minutes rest between them. For the first set I aim to do about 15-20 reps at low weight levels to warm up the muscles then increase the weights and reduce the reps. Second set would be about 12 reps, third 8 and final set 4-6.

There are also free weight options at many gyms, but I suggest you get a session with trainer to show you how to use them first.

At home I've been using this free app called army fit, which takes you through various body weight excercises like push ups and squats - I often get distracted at home so this really helps.

I've a friend who uses the book "high intensity interval training for women" which has lots of circuit ideas made from 30 second activities.

Last thing - remember that most of your weight loss will come through calorie restricting your diet and not through exercise (though excercise has a vast range of health benefits) so dont feel you have to rush into doing 500 calorie burning workouts right away you can take your time getting familiar with exercising and finding out what works for you.

Best of luck!

[housre in reply to benwl]

This amazing and so helpful! Thank youu!

I've been tracking the calories well so it should work out well

[Siouxie]

All sounds good housre - self-motivated with a healthy dash of determination. Well done.

[housre in reply to Siouxie]

Thank you!

[Hidden]

Hi housre and welcome to the forum.

We are currently going through some changes so please bear with us while this takes place.

Have you checked out your BMI on the NHS calculator? It might be worth doing this as it will give you a daily calorie allowance based on your height and weight as generally 1200 kcal is quite low for most people.

Next I would invite you to head over to the pinned posts section and read the Welcome Newbies post - lots of useful information in there for starting out.

We also run a weekly weigh-in which enables you to track your weight.

Looking forward to seeing you around on the forum and best of luck 🍀

Isou7000

[housre in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Hidden ! I'm currently waiting on a set of scales to be delivered so I'm not quite sure how much I weigh right now!

The 1200 is so I have some room for snacks, I'm aiming for 1400 each day.

Also I am a student and although I'm a 4th year and do not drink much, there are still quite a few nights where we socialise with alcohol and wine is very calorific so it should all balance out with or without snacks

[Hidden]

You're welcome.

Ok because you might find your allowance allows you to eat more than even 1400 😊

[housre in reply to Hidden]

I wish

[Hidden in reply to housre]

You'll be surprised and you have age as an advantage 😉