Thread: Noob with some questions and my story

Wanted to say hello, and that I love the info on this site. Good info for newbies like myself.

A little about me...I'll make a long story/struggle short.

I used to be fat at 235lbs at 6'2 when I was 24. I also smoked 2 packs a day. Didn't care what I ate or when I ate it. I stopped the smoking and started running and eating the right foods staying within or under 3k calories/day. Did the couch to 5k program. I run every other day now. Been doing it for about 17 months. Recently I got too skinny I guess lol. I now weigh 165 at 6'2. So, I started reading on building muscle and figured I might as well put my total gym elite to work along with an exercise ball. I been doing workouts on the total gym and taking in about 140g of protein per day to build some muscle. I now love working out and eating the right foods. I feel a lot better and my body seems to be thanking me. I'm not sure on my body fat percentage yet.

It's been a long journey that has finally paid off. Now I'm on to step 2 I guess you can say.

This is my workout routine now...
Run every other day. 3 mile straight run and then run on and off for 30 minutes. 3 minute run, 2 minute walk for 30 minutes. Do a 15 minute cool down walk and it all ends up equaling around 7 miles and about 900-1000 calories. On my running days I take in a lot of carbs to fuel me.

Once done running I do the routines on the total gym from the booklet that came with it. I could sit here and explain these but it would take hours lol. Then I do 4 sets of 25 ab workouts on the ball. The total gym also gives me around 6 sets of 25 for abs, and 5 sets for arms and legs.

My diet is mostly high protein. I eat whole grain rice, bread, low fat cottage cheese, oatmeal, egg whites, low fat milk, whole grain pasta, apples, bananas, protein shakes 3 times a day, peanut butter, fish, a protein shake with milk before bed, and take a multi-vitamin. Usually adding up to around 2,000-2,500 calories per day.

Anyways, here I am now. 2 months into the total gym. My stomach is starting to take some tone. Is this a good sign of abs? lol. Am I running too much? Should I do the total gym and abs almost every day or is every other day fine?

welcome bro

I feel ya, i also have had a similar journey,

its a great site with lots of knowledgeable dudes

If you get a chance come check out my log, link is in my signature always happy to have another bro along for the ride