Okay, so you've read some of these articles, done your homework
and now your finally ready to begin a diet and exercise program.
But you still have this one same nagging question in the back
of your mind... 'Where in the heck do I start?'...
Being lost in midst of all of these variables is not a hard thing
at all. There is sooo much knowledge and guidelines out there
that sometimes we don't know how to put it all together. Well
today you are in luck!
Before we get into this let me make one thing clear! You are
doing the right thing! It is virtually impossible to know everything
there is to know about diet and exercise. If everyone waited until
they knew everything in order to get started no one would get
started. What we first need to do is to construct a plan. Our
plan will be simplified but will be enough to get you on the right
track.
1. Set your goal(s).
If you don't know what you want or what you are doing you will
be less likely to get where you want to go. You also will not
have the same determination as you could have. If you don't have
a picture of what you want in your mind you will be less motivated.
Here are some sample questions you can ask yourself. How much
weight do I want to lose? What exactly do I want to look like?
Do I want a smaller waist? Do I want bigger arms? What measurements
am I looking for? What sort of time frame am I looking at?
When you have done this it doesn't hurt to write your answers
down to some of these questions as a reference for later. We as
human beings can forget easily! Also, if you have to, record some
of your current statistics that relate to your questions like
measurements or your weight for example. Then you will have something
to compare to and your results can be measured more effectively.
Motivation aside, some will even take photographs of themselves.
They are also great for motivation as well. In the future I will
include articles on motivation.
2. Start to construct your menu along with the quantities.
For some this is the hard part since they don't know how much
or how little food to take. I will help you and give you a few
sample formulas. The most accurate guideline that I have found
(and actually have used) over the years is to multiply your current
bodyweight by 10. That's how many calories you should be taking
in for the day. Also remember that your true weight is when you
get up without any clothes on. So if you weigh 165 pounds for
example you would be able to take in 1650 calories a day. Try
it!
The second way to do it is to take a piece of paper and record
everything you eat for three days. Then after you do that get
a calorie counter and total it up for each day. Add them together
and then divide that number by 3. This will give you an average
of the number of calories you usually would take in. Now you then
subtract this number by 500 and that would be your caloric allowance
for one day. Neat huh?
