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okay so here is the deal, being between jobs at the moment i have had plenty of time to figure out what i want to do with my life i remembered that when i was fifteen i got sent a combat infantry information DvD and managed to dig it out. now i think i really want to join up but here is the problem.

i am 20 years old about 6ft4 and weigh a little over 20 stone. i'm huge. i need help getting rid of the fat and building muscle and fitness, i have very little of either. thats the problem with spending the last few years working with computers. anyway, i would like to lose the weight in the shortest time possible which wouldnt be very quickly given my size but any help and suggestions would be great.

also there is only one person in my family who thinks its a good idea, my uncle was in the army years ago but a couple of weeks after his passing out parade he injured his back. the rest of my family more or less laugh at me which is one reason i want to join up i think i need to prove myself to get a little respect. i think its because everyone sees me as a lazy fatso.

so yeah my ramble aside give me some help will you. i have searched the forum and was frankly confused by all the information.

Ok mate I can give you a bit of info from my updated pack (yours maybe out of date now..not sure though).

Start eating healthy- 5 fruits or veg a day.

Cut down or out fatty foods, chocolate and sweet type items.

Start using a Trainng Program, I recomend this one for your situation- http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/trainin ... rogram.htm

or

http://www.armyfit.mod.uk/

As you progress through the program you will notice your weight going down aswell as muscle building.

thanks Tom, i have started eaiting healthy cutting down on the fatty and suger filled foods, i tried not taking suger in my tea but i cant drink it like that, disgusting. so i settled on one suger. also i ahve started avoiding snacks most of the time and if i need to snack i have an apple or banana (cant eat oranges kind of nasty)

its not the eating part that i find difficult its the exercising part, being so unfit it is very difficult and i cant walk or run outside or go to the gym because i am sensitive about my weight. is it possible to get to a reasonable level of fitness without running around outside? that way i can get to a state where i am not ashamed to be seen running down the street..

I think everyone is worried about looking a like prat when they first start running, so don't think it's just you.

When I decided to join up, I started by running at unusual hours, where there are fewer people around. Perhaps you could do the same?

If you weigh 20 stone, and haven't exercised for a while, it may be a good idea just to start by walking briskly for a few miles each day though.

Regards
T_T

Hey there hope I can be of some use here... anyways firstly if you re over weight you will want to loss a good amount of fat before trying to gain muscle. At the early stage of training (I.E. just starting out) you can lose fat and gain muscle but only a small amount, no great gains.

There are loads of ways to go at this but I found slowly lowering the calories take in and eating "clean" is the best way. try making a food diary of everything you eat then look at ways to cut the calories ,try cutting between 250-500 cal's a day. personally I find this is a good steady amount, swap all chocolate, crisp, sweets etc for a piece of fruit or some type of dried fruit and nuts (not salted or dry roasted! ) cut all pop and drink plenty of water, a few pints of semi-skimmed milk and maybe a fresh fruit smoothes or something fresh like that in the morning.

Don't be afraid of fat's as you need them just as much as proteins and carbohydrates just try sticking with unsaturated fats (nuts, olive oil, fish oil etc) as these will lower cholesterol.

As for training slowly up the amount of over all exercise you do week by week. a good way to start to gain cardio vascular fitness is to do a run/walk mix run of as long as you can at a good pace then when you can't go much further slow down an do 2-3 minuets quick ish walking to get you're breath back then start again. Maybe start with two run's a week and progress up to 3-4-5 maybe more run's a week as and when you feel physically ready to do this.

Try and get involved in sports as much as you possibly can (anything works! cricket ,football ,squash ,boxing ,tennis, swimming, cycling ,rugby etc) but don't go over loading you're self with exercise to fast take it slowly and keep on adding on.

As for strength and building muscle. I think circuit training 3 times a week would be ok. of course more if you can cope with that. no need to get complex just pick 5 exercises (E.G. press ups, sit ups, burppy, skipping (jogging on the spot if you have no rope) and dorsal raises) the do 30 per exercise and go through this circuit for as long as possible this is only an example have a play around and find what works, use the tinter net to find hundred of different circuits.

I’m not going to comment on weight training as I’m not overly knowledgeable but it’s worth looking into as it can aid/supplement fat loss and muscle building just don’t go overboard .

and get plenty of rest and sleep!

check these post out for some more detailed help


AJtothemax's post on fat loss and muscle building (very good)

http://www.mfat.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14159

a post I did a while back (might have some useful information in... I HOPE )

http://www.mfat.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0

yes, yes I am blowing my own trumpet

one last thing... get out there (as you are doing by posting this) and find out information for you're self don't take my word for it I’m young and by no means experienced this is just going off things I have read and found out my self.

hope I’ve helped a wee bit and best of luck if you want to get where every you're going you will

Stokey

thanks for all the advice, i have just bought a nice new pair of trainers ( i didnt have any lying around because i like big work boots) and a tracksuit (wont wear it yet because its a little tight on the chest (shows off my man boobs, but i will keep it when i get rid of some of this excess fat)

i have convinced my mate to take up tennis with me a couple of times a week so thats useful.

i cant believe how quick this kind of snuck up on me without me realising i used to be pretty fit i would walk 10-15 miles a couple of times a week cross country and that kept me pretty fit, i nearly had a heart attack when i jumped on the scales, i knew i was big but that was a shock.

TheFish wrote:thanks Tom, i have started eaiting healthy cutting down on the fatty and suger filled foods, i tried not taking suger in my tea but i cant drink it like that, disgusting. so i settled on one suger. also i ahve started avoiding snacks most of the time and if i need to snack i have an apple or banana (cant eat oranges kind of nasty)

its not the eating part that i find difficult its the exercising part, being so unfit it is very difficult and i cant walk or run outside or go to the gym because i am sensitive about my weight. is it possible to get to a reasonable level of fitness without running around outside? that way i can get to a state where i am not ashamed to be seen running down the street..

Oh ok good, eating properly will enable your body to sort it self out and improve. If you are a bit cautious about runing with your weight etc like Tartan_Terrier said run at hours when less people will be about like 6.00am, I look dodgy when I run nearer the end when im nackered but I dont give a f**k what people think its you trying to get fit and its you who has a goal they want to get to not them. If you stil cant get into running yet do some Press Ups, Sit Ups and all that sort of stuff what Stokey_14 recomended and that will help your weight loss alot quicker.

If you weigh 20 stones I wouldn't start running just yet, the impact on your joints would be quite severe especially as you've not been active for some time.

Swimming would be an excellent way of getting a good cardio workout without putting a lot of strain on your joints and as the water holds your body weight its a great exercise for fat people.

Now I know you say you don't want to going to the gym as you are sensitive about your body, so I'm assuming you'd be even less inclined to go swimming BUT if you are serious about achieving your goal then you have to confront the situation head on.

Yes, people may stare but so what, don't let anyone dictate to you where you can or can't go!

A gym would have some very useful pieces of equiptment you could use to safely exercise and burn of those unwanted calories. You can use things such as the Cross trainers and rowing machines, steppers and ski machines, all these would only have a minimal impact on your joints and that is important for someone of your size.

I know it's easy for me to say "get your arse down the gym" but it is necessary if you're to achieve your goal and I realise it will take a LOT of guts and courage to walk in there for the first time but if you join the Forces you're going to have to show a lot of guts and this would be an excellent test of your metal.

People can only put you down if you let them, put on a brave front and keep your goal in your mind at all times and use it as your focus to drive on your training and I'm sure you'll find that once you get use to going you'll find that most people at the gym wont give a damn that your overweight.

If I was you I'd try your local council gym, they're cheaper and tend not to be as snobbish as expensive ones.

Good luck mate, you've got a huge mountain to climb but remember if you have the right determination you can do anything you set your mind to.

just get yourself down the local banana gym nice friendly enviroment and you'll be surprised at the amount of people you'll meet there that are also trying to lose weight.

all in all i take my hat off to you (if i had one on) because it takes alot of balls to admit and do something about the problem. best of luck keep us posted

Mate don't worry about the gym I was a bit anxious you'll find most people will be supportive as we're all trying to improve out fitnesses, give it a month or so and you'll be amazed at the difference.

Ask the instructors for help they'd be happy to trust they're there to help you get fit not make you feel fat.

Also if you don't like one gym go somewhere else

Well its been more than a year since I last posted and I will admit I have not really been trying for sometime, I don't remember the point when I basically gave up but I'm back at it again.

Had a visit to the recruiters again a couple of months back because I was in town and bored and got my motivation back.

Anyway I am now down to 260 lb on the nose so quite an improvement on before, playing basketball now which is fun and seems to be helping a lot as well as doing sit ups and that kind of thing, still greatly lacking in upper body strength so no push ups yet but I'm working on it.

I have found setting a deadline has worked really well, I gave myself until my birthday to get to a reasonable level of fitness which is now a little more than 8 months away and the recruiter thinks this is plenty of time at the rate I'm going at the minute.

Anyway thanks again for all the posts and if you're in the north east and feel the ground shaking its probably just me trying to get this flab off.

Good luck with it!! never give up!! you will do it so stick to it