Beginning at the beginning

[beanie]

Greetings to everyone,

I'm glad to have found this board. Since last night, I've already picked up a good article on nutrition. Today already has a lot more calories in it than yesterday.

So, I hope no one minds if I use this thread to track my progress. I started working out yesterday.

I'm 33 years old, 6' 2.5" and I weigh 160 pounds. I haven't worked out in five years and it's been since football in high school (when I maxed out at a whopping 175 pounds) that I worked out seriously and consistently.

But I'm not in high school anymore. I sit at a desk for 8-10 hours a day and my chiropractor's mad at me because every three months she has to give my back an overhaul. So it had to stop. The sedentary life must end. Or I'll be in the hospital getting my back operated on in five years.

So I would like to gain weight and look bigger, but this is really about health. It doesn't help that I've chewed tobacco for 25 years, drink coffee like a fiend and beer like a college student. Enough is enough.

Last night, first workout: I spent 30 minutes on this ski/stairclimber thingy. Worked up a nice sweat and my legs had that nice burn like when you're bouncing around some black diamond moguls in Tahoe. Then I did a few back exercises. There's that one where you're climb on it, you're parallel to the floor and bend from the waist. I love that one. Stretches out my back nicely. Did some rows and that one where you pull the bar down behind your neck. Also did a bunch of crunches; I've always liked those, too. A light workout, to be sure, but my first one in a long time and I didn't want to overdo it. Then I bought one of these post-workout drinks with 1,070 calories in it. Wow!

Tonight is my meeting with the trainer, where I'll get all evaluated and everything and, hopefully, set on the right path.

Supposedly, I'm supposed to be eating 3,050 calories per day if I want to gain some weight. It's about 2:30 pm and I'm up to 2,060 today. I ate the yolks with my eggs, but the rest is good stuff: peanut butter, OJ, Vitamin Water, bananas, and turkey and swiss cheese sandiwiches on whole wheat bread. Not bad for a guy who's gone days living on only the four basic food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and nicotine...

Happy health,

beanie

[1more]

mate, good to hear your making some positive lifestyle changes, youll feel much better for it!

[adriana]

all the best of luck to you !!

good for you for taking the bull by the horns ( ) and doing this for YOU !!!

all the best,

adriana

[beanie]

Thank you both for the encouragement!

Looking at my post again, I put 160 for my weight when it was actually 150-155 (two different scales gave me two different weights). Today, I weighed in at 157.

At the end of week one, I'm feeling pretty good. I got over 4,000 good calories each day this week, which was more than I was shooting for, but I thought it would be harder than it was. Most of my thought right now focuses on diet because, as a newbie, my training isn't all that complicated: full body, three times a week.

I'm adding in vitamin and amino acid supplements for this week, along with protein shakes for breakfast instead of scrambled egg whites (boy, that got tedious in a hurry, both in terms of preparation and having to wolf down 8 eggs and a piece of toast every morning.)

I've hated tuna all my life, but when I looked at all that protein, I got over it pretty quickly--just throw a little lemon juice into the mix and everything objectionable about canned tuna disappears. Also got over my hatred for lowfat milk. And cottage cheese is pretty good, too. As a matter of fact, each day, I enjoy these lighter foods more and more, especially with the knowledge that they are helping. I don't feel beached at the end of a meal.

I find myself looking at food differently now. Instead of ruminating about what I want for dinner, I think about what I need. Food becomes fuel instead of entertainment. Not that this former cooking school student won't entertain himself with food on occasion, but this makes day to day living a lot easier. I can save my decision-making brain cells for other things.

My new motto, courtesy of Dave Draper: "train hard, never doubt and turn up the volume if you feel the urge...."

Thanks again for the support...

beanie

[beanie]

After my a week of getting comfortable in a gym again, I started to use an Introductory Program I found at davedraper.com. Here it is:

MID SECTION & AEROBIC WORK
10 minutes of cardio,
followed by Crunches & Leg Raises


LEGS
Leg Press (3x15) [180 lbs, 180 and 270)
Leg Extension (3x15) [about 50 lbs, I forget now]
Leg Curl (3x15) [30, 40 and 45]

CHEST
Incline Dumbbell Chest Press (3x12) [20 lbs each set]
Dumbbell Pullovers (3x12) [15 lbs]

BACK
Wide Grip Pulldown (3x12) [60 lbs]
Row Machine (3x12) [60 lbs]

TRICEPS
Triceps Press Machine (3x12) [30, 40 and 45 lbs]


BICEPS
Standing Dumbbell Curls (3x12) [15, 20 and 25 lbs. last set not completed]

I'm going from memory on the weights, but will begin writing them down, so I can track them.

I didn't really like the dumbbell pullovers. They felt awkward. I think I'm going to substitute dumbell flys, just because I'm familiar with that exercise and am confident I can do it.

In general, the workout felt better than last week's where I was using all machines.

According to the program, I really only need to be doing one or two sets in my second week, but I thought I'd try for three each anyway. The only sets I didn't finish were the last set of the leg extensions and the last set of the curls.

beanie

[beanie]

Yeah, I like the dumbell flys much better...

[adriana]

you're doing real good !

oh how much i love Dave Draper's workouts !!!! i've done two of them and enjoyed them completely. i'll probably re-do the 6-day fat burner again after my current program.

his workouts are solid and you can progress from one workout to another in time. i highly recommend going into the gym with a little notebook. it's very very helpful from workout to workout.

keep up the good work and enthusiasm

adriana