So, despite having a gym membership since last June, its only been about the last 2 and a half months that I've actually made a 'serious go' of going to the gym 3-4x a week.
My routine started off as a simple "20 mins of cardio, then head home", but as my body got used to getting to the gym, the routine has now turned into
- 10 mins cardio (warmup) - weights - started with 2 weight exersizes, now upto 4-5 per workout - another 30 mins of cardio (intense, burn around ~500-550 calories) - situps - exersizes my chiropractor gave me to improve my back - stretching - then 15-30 mins in the Sauna
My diet all around hasnt changed too much - I figure I'd never stick to a 'diet', but I am trying to make healthier choices in my eating.
ie: if I had a slice of pizza for lunch, I dont need pizza again for dinner the day after kind of thing. Snacking on apples / bannas / other fruits instead of sandwhiches and candy bars, adding more salads and vege to my meals instead of filling up on fatier things, drinking more water, and cutting out sugary pops and juices (for awhile, I was drinking loads of juice that actually had more calories and sugars than a can of coke) -- so pretty much, just small but maintainable changes in my diet.
The primary goal of my working out is to improve the health of my back, which is starting to pay off - my back doesnt get sore nearly as often, and when it does get sore its generally not as bad, and feels better much faster. Before, if my back acted up - I'd be in pain for upto a week after, now if it acts up, I just take it easy for a day and good the day after.
In terms of other changes, I've dropped about 15-20 pounds -- down to 220 on the scales, the last time I weighed myself before this, I was around ~237 (and think I had gained more weight between that, and working out again).
I've also dropped around 2 inches off of my waist, some pants I had bought at around this time two years ago now fit again (for awhile, I couldnt even get the button done up on them) -- they are still a tad snug, but wareable -- but when I lost weight that time, it was from doing drugs / partying / not eating right, so once I stopped partying like that, all the weight just flew back on and then some. Now, I'm losing the weight in a healthy and maintainable way 
I've also noticed that my man-boobs are starting to diminish, not that they were ever massive before -- but its nice starting to see them flaten out and look more man-chest like than man-boob like (still a ways to go), and my love-handles are starting to get smaller also.
My plans for sort of continuing this trend are going to be
- Start splitting up my workouts into upper body / lower body days. I've just been adding a new machine once every week or two, and now I'm upto doing 5 machines per workout which is starting to feel a bit long and I cant afford that much time at the gym per workout. So, going to probably scale it back to 4, but alternate between upper body / lower body days. mon/fri = upper, weds/sat = lower.
- Continue improving my diet. For the longest time my diet was pure meat & carbs --- chicken, rice, pasta, beef and bread is all I ever used to eat. I have an issue with veg that makes me gag when I eat them, but starting to get over this and introducing more salads and veg into my diet, and also starting to eat more fish again. Continue to snack on apples/etc intead of junky stuff.
My all around goal is a 'general improvement of health' -- not really looking to get ripped, or have rapid weight loss or to get buff, but simply to feel healthy and be more active. I want to continue on a path of this being a maintainble thing - something that is easy to keep up with as a life-style change as opposed to a "fuck, I want to lose 20 pounds, lets crash-diet and hit the gym 7x a week"
I'm sure I could of gotten better results then I have now if I was going to the gym 7x a week and on a strict diet -- but that'd go against what my long-term goals are as I know I couldnt maintain that on a day to day baises.
Soon, I think I will also start trying to get swimming once or twice a week as my time-table permits, and try getting to a yoga class here and there to help round things out a bit more.
But all in all --- feeling great, and its now at the point where if I miss a day at the gym, my body gets all figity like "Hey, what are you doing? why arnt we being active today" -- and going because I /want/ to go, not because I feel like I should go, its a great feeling.
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I think that all your plans, including the swimming and yoga, are good. You will learn, as you try new things, how your body reacts and decide what's best to do and what is expendable.
The one suggestion that I have is to learn about exercises that are similar to using machines, but not machines. For example, if you are doing chest press machine, you can do pushups instead. Beleive me, bro. Pushups are much better. You could also try using DB's or bench press. See what you like best. For me, bodyweight is preferable. You will realize that there really isn't any need to use machines at all. It's better ot have a full range of motion. There are other benefits, too, but the most important one is how effective the exercise is.
-------------------- Smoking my hobbit leaf... Please keep in mind that I am just a human being. Please read my posts carefully and interpret their meaning for yourself.
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