I stumbled upon this excellent blog post on <a href="http://www.fatstevefitness.com/">Fat Steve's Fitness Site</a>.
I think it is really useful and wanted to share it with all of you (with permission of site owner):
A few years ago I was out of shape, overweight and generally unhappy with my appearance. I’d tried loads of exercise programs but could never stick to them, and my diet was probably leading me to an early grave! By following a few simple rules I managed to turn my life around, and in this article I want to explain how you can too.
Like many people, I’d always dreamed of being in shape. I spent a lot of time thinking about how my life would be different if I had a great body. I’d be more confident, healthy and, who knows, maybe even have more luck with the opposite sex!
Unfortunately for me, I never had the motivation to follow through. There was always some reason not to start. A few examples were “I don’t have time to go to the gym regularly”, “I don’t have enough money for a membership,” “cooking healthy food takes too much time” and even “I don’t have the right genetics to look good!” None of these excuses were so major that I couldn’t overcome them – they were simply convenient lies that I could tell myself to avoid hard work.
When I finally decided it was time to change my diet, lifestyle and – by extension – my entire outlook on life, I was still plagued by self doubt. I’d never been a confident guy, but I was at my heaviest and my self-esteem was at an all time low. If you’re in a similar position, I promise that you can make a real difference to the way you look, and probably quicker than you think! If I can do it, you definitely can too.
There were a couple of problems I had to overcome before I started. I was convinced that the guys at the gym would secretly be laughing at me if I worked out in public. At the time, going to the gym just wasn’t an option. I also wasn’t sure that I could keep up a healthy diet. I loved pizza (and still do!), and the thought of going without chocolate everyday gave me the chills. Even so, I’d finally come to realize that I didn’t have to solve all my problems straight away – I just had to get started.
Working Out At Home with Body Weight Exercises
The solution for me was when I heard about body weight exercises. If you haven’t heard of them, body weight exercises are performed without weights. Pushups are a good example. The great thing about body weight exercises is that you don’t need to go to the gym, and they’re highly effective at building muscle and helping you to lose weight, as long as you stick to the right diet (more on that later).
If you’re intimidated by the gym, or just don’t have time to go regularly, a body weight workout is perfect. There are several advantages to this type of workout. The first is that most bodyweight exercises are compound exercises. This means that they work multiple muscles at the same time, so you get a lot more “bang for your buck.”
Other bonuses are that you don’t have to wait for machines to be free or share barbells with “gym rats.” You also don’t need expensive equipment at home – although as you progress you may want to buy a set of dumbbells.
Here’s an example of bodyweight exercises that I’ve used with great success. You can make your own routine using these exercises, but try to hit all the major muscle groups – don’t just focus on your upper body.
Pushups – when you start you’ll probably only be able to do a few pushups, but it’s one of the best exercises for building chest and arm muscles. Make sure you keep your arms slightly wider than shoulder width apart, and try to slowly increase the number of reps over time.
Squats – Squats are painful and definitely not fun, but are one of the most important exercises. Your hips should be slightly further than shoulder width apart when you start, and your feet should point slightly out. Squat down until your thighs are at a 90 degree angle with the floor, and then come back up.
Lunges – another great exercise for your legs and glutes. When you lunge forward, don’t let your body slouch forward.
Planks – you’ll learn to hate planks, but they’re important for building muscles in your core. To do a plank, simply lie in a pressup position but rest on your elbows. Keeping your back straight, hold this position for as long as possible. Try to get to a minute – it’s not easy!
Burpee – this is the ultimate bodyweight exercise. In fact, you could probably just do burpees and get in great shape. Start standing, then squat down and jump your legs back into a pressup position. Do a press up, get back into the squat position and finish with a star jump. That’s one rep!
You shouldn’t forget about cardio exercise. I didn’t have any exercise equipment at home when I first started, so I tried to go on a short run twice a week. If you happen to own a cross trainer or exercise bike you could use that too.
Simple Diet Tips
I knew that diet was going to be the biggest hurdle for me to lose weight, so I focused on simple diet tips that I knew I could stick to. Here are a few things that worked well for me.
You should start calorie counting so you know exactly how much you eat on an average day. I didn’t like the idea of counting calories, but after a few weeks of sticking to 2000 calories per day I started to notice a real difference in my weight. Make sure you record everything though – it’s easy to forget the butter on your toast or the biscuit you ate during your break.
If you’re struggling to stay away from snacks, allow yourself one cheat day a week. My cheat day was Friday, and I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted on that day. This helps to “reset” your willpower, and also means you don’t have to give up the foods you love completely.
If you have a bad day, don’t get disheartened! Getting in shape is a lifetime commitment – one bad day isn’t going to make or break your dieting efforts. I had a simple rule for both dieting and my exercise program that allowed for mistakes but stopped bad habits – never let yourself eat badly two days in a row, or miss two workouts in a row.
I think the most important thing when trying to get in shape is to keep everything simple. Don’t worry about taking diet supplements, advanced exercises or “fat burning” foods. The advanced stuff can come later once you’ve sorted out the basics.
