In my early years, I was complaining to my friend (a brother really), about how terrible I felt and how I was depressed and everything. He responded with something to the tune of “Well, it may sound silly, but trust me man, there are a few basic things in life that you must have down first before you even have a reason to feel good… Let alone normal!”
Fitness was one of those few things. Others were diet, sleep, etc.
What is special about fitness?
It is the one thing we have control over no matter what. Prison, War, 80-Hour Weeks, there is no excuse so long as you have food and water (even then). You can even get stronger and healther even on calorie deficets. Your physique is up to you.
Wherever you are right now, look down at the ground. See that floor area? That is all you need to get into the best shape of your life. And, you will love it.
Investing energy into exercise outputs more than was invested. The feeling you get is like a drug with only positive effects, both short and long term.
There is no question about it. Exercise will be your quickest way towards feeling not only normal, but better than normal. Great. Dedicate time towards getting into this habit. Then it becomes fun. Habitual. Addicting. You will love it. Do it every day. Do not ever skip a day. Keep your momentum. Hold onto like its your newborn child. Don’t let it get lost. A “rest day” should still involve light cardio at an absolutely minimum.
Keep it simple. Don’t waste too much time researching what to do. It is very obvious how to become healthy, we all know how.
Regarding weight training:
Warm up. Treat your muscles gently at first. Hardest exercise in the middle. Be able to do 15 reps of what your doing to surely avoid injury. Cool down.
Althoug I am not against them at all (I work out 1-2 times aday and am in the best shape of my life), know that you don’t even need a gym. You don’t need weights. You don’t need to go anywhere. Simply stand up and lift your arm up 100 times with proper posture. You will very likely get sore. That’s good. You will feel great too, and plus, those calories are actually going towards something useful now.
The average lifestyle of people in Western countries requires probably 1,400 only calories, if that.
2,000 is ridiculous for sitting on a couch or office chair. Yet, most of these people eat like they are preparing for war and famine. We live in the most prosperous time of known history on Earth. We do not need to store body fat. It ONLY hurts you in these current circumstances. There is a reason that in shape people are MUCH happier.
Simple and fun plan:
Your overweight:
- Move more, eat less
- Or, eat the same amount, and move way more.
Your skinny and want muscle (you should).
- Eat more, workout muscles.
You will soon get to the point where your body is begging for more food so it can grow those muscles. That’s the fun part.