this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2025
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Hi all,

I recently found out that as a part of my job I get access to a small gym in the building. I think it has your basic cardio equipment and some other stuff for building muscle (but small enough I don't think there is equipment to do stuff like dead-lifts or whatever in there).

I don't know anything about working out really, but I could stand to lose some fat, which draws my attention to the treadmill that they have. I am not so concerned about building muscle and everything that involves.

I have mostly neglected going to gyms for 3 reasons.

  • They are usually out of my way
  • I don't usually have the time
  • I don't want to spend what they charge

All three of these are now non-factors now that I have found out I have access to this one.

I would be using it twice a week as that is how often I am actually at the location.

So my question is, since it's not really something I have ever looked at - if I want to lose a bunch of fat, what do I do? I can try to diet first off, and I am glad to take suggestions on what worked for other people in that regard, but more so I just don't know how long or how fast I should run, what equipment is good for this otherwise, or really anything about using a gym.

Please note that the facility is self-serve and has no staff - they just have cleaners come in each day to clean it, the rest is up to you. I do not have the money to spend on something like a personal trainer, and the location doesn't offer such things as well given its self-serve nature.

Thank you.

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The easiest way to keep calories down is to meal plan with healthy ingredients. My usual routine that could be broken once in a while when I felt like it or went out was:

Breakfast: one bowl of Cheerios/corn flakes or unsweetened oatmeal.

Lunch: a large salad with whatever you want just not too much dressing (hint: using Tupperware to toss the salad lowers the amount of dressing you need) or tofu and broccoli sauteed in teriyaki sauce

Snack: whatever you want just don't go overboard with it

Dinner: a protein bar or protein shake

Combine that with 30 minutes cardio and another 30 of weight training five days a week.

I personally lost around 10 pounds a month. It takes a lot of dedication to keep it up though but you can see results in about two months to keep you motivated. Frankly this only worked because I was an onsite employee the whole time, working remote gives way more temptation to eat.