man, i can only lift 5 on each side with 8 reps or something. and thats a struggle

A few of my friends have used personal trainers and they always start you off using the machine equivalent first - e.g chest press machine for a few weeks with a steady weight increase, before moving to the real deal.

You could try that if your feeling self conscious as people cant tell what weights your using, then drop the peg to the bottom when you finish

As Guido says no one cares what weight or reps your doing anyway, you might see someone doing reps with just the bar because they have just finished 5 heavy sets or something and there will always be someone stronger than you at the gym! Just try and keep your form strict and dont pile the weight on too fast, you will pick up bad habbits that are hard to shake off. Low weight increasing steadily and strict controlled reps to begin with.

to make you feel better king_kong, I used to be a rake, I started off with 2.5kg a side a couple of years ago
train consistently and try to eat well. as crackajack said don't eat junk, because it's difficult to get rid of after.

These diets are crazy, I lost 4 stone last year 6-7 months, just reduced my calories by about 500 and a bit of exercise, I think chicken and snack-a-jacks were my saviours.

no i'm not xs. i'm a m/l and weigh about 72 kg

thanks soulti, it does make me feel better

everyone has to start somewhere, he'll probably be up to 15kg/side by christmas if he goes consistently and eats properly

Beginners always have the fastest gains once they get going.

^ lol.

there's a pic of me somewhere on my laptop, I must be 8.5 stone, I'll put it up if I can find it.

fucking hell, there's a blast from the past.

I give it 2months.