I Need Help! (Advice for Out of Shape 40 Year Old)

[WillBrink]

I do want to add one incentive for exercise: all the diet and supplements you take are very much only part of the story.

My new motto is: there's no pill like the pill called "exercise."

I'm borderline diabetic with high cholesterol, although neither is high enough to warrant medications.

The doctor told me to start walking at least three miles a week. For reasons I won't get into I had slacked off over the last year even doing ranch work and it showed.

As soon as I started back into my hiking regimen all my numbers dropped by several points. I could not have done that on diet and supplements alone.

There's no pill like the pill called "exercise."

Diet and or supplements without exercise is a waste of time in my view. This seems as "no duh" as it gets to me, but I lost count of people who have said stuff like "I'll start exercising after I lose the weight" and so forth. There's a long list of obvious reasons why regular exercise is a key component of successful fat loss (vs weight loss as a hint...), but frankly, people already know it even if they don't wanna deal with it and I can't be bothered to convince them at this point in my life.

[brickboy240]

Find an exercise or activity you LIKE to do. That way, you will do it better, do it more and it will not seem like exercise...but fun.

For me, it is the mt. bike. I'd be a big fat porker if it were not for my 4 bikes. LOL What started as exercise turned in to a hobby, passion and something I love to do. The fact that it burns calories like a mother is a plus.

If you don't like lifting weights (I do...and do that as well) then you will not stick with it, think it is fun or look forward to it.

Find a physical activity you like to do and losing weight will not be a chore and will become a part of your lifestyle...not just something you do x numbers of times a week and dread.

[thebarracuda]

Find a workout buddy. It can even be dog if you want.
My friend is 45 and was tired of being the big guy. So we started lifting weights together. Its been good for us both. We hold each other accountable and we dont miss workouts. Ive lifted for years alone, but I appreciate the change. And he's learning quick and making big strides.

[usmcvet]

Goal setting has been helpful for me. Be realistic. Set short, medium and long range goals and evaluate and change them ass necessary as time passes.


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[MegademiC]

Dont think you are stuck in a gym.
You can get in shape doing isometrics outside.

I trained for a tough mudder doing circuits at a local HS track.
400yd run, push ups, pull-ups, situps, army crawls, smurf-jacks, superfrogs, etc.
Keep your heart rate up for 45 mins. Mix it up.

You can also go to the gym, weight lift and mix in cardio.

Just some thoughts - start slow set goals. Dont look at the scale daily if its discoursging, or at all. Take pics and the mirror will show progress.
I track my weight weekly. Eat clean - lots of great food you can cook thats healthy.
Track macros. Be sure to get enough protien!
Once tou start to see and feel results, it will likely boost motivation.
Starting is the hardest part, IMO.

[chuckman]

My wife looked at me last night and said, out of the blue, "do you want to start going to the gym?" At first I thought she meant this as a couples thing, but then she made it clear that she was NOT going. I'm not quite sure how to take that but that's for another discussion.

Anyway, I'm turning 40 this year and I'm out of shape. I'm 6'2", 245ish and I could easily get winded on a few flights of stairs. So I'm here looking for some advice on a workout routine. I don't need to bulk up and look like Arnold in his heyday and I don't need to be able to run a marathon but I'd like to be somewhere in the middle, build some muscle and some stamina. I know a LOT (ok, probably most) of it is going to start with what I eat. That part is a little easier for me to understand but I'm lost when it comes to when and how I should workout to achieve my goal. I think I get a discount at my local YMCA so that'll probably be where I go.

Any help would be appreciated.

Where do you live??

[officerX]

Where do you live??

KY....

[Greentimber]

The most beneficial tool I’ve found for lowering and maintaining weight is the My Fitness Pal ap. If you put good data in you’ll be rewarded with a solid picture of your eating and exercise performance. I like RunKeeper to track exercise & it syncs with MFP. Without these two you’re not really going to have a realistic view of what you’re putting into your mouth and what you’re burning off. It’s pretty surprising to see just how easy it is to overeat when you’re accurately tracking calories. There is a little bit of a learning curve in the beginning, but you can pretty quickly get to where you can eyeball the food on your plate and accurately say “that’s a half cup of green beans and 5oz of chicken.”

Set a goal and the ap will help guide you towards it.

[officerX]

Well, I've made a little progress. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app and have been using it for about 1.5 weeks now. I'm drinking about 120 oz of water a day (up from next to 0), I've almost cut out soda completely (still have 1 every other day or so, as long as it'll fit into my calorie budget, down from 6+ a day), I've tried to cut out most bread, pasta and potatoes and have replaced them with fruits and vegetables. I'm down 3 pounds for the first 7 days. I know most of that is because I stopped drinking so many Cokes. The hard part is that I'm hungry pretty often and I have very little self-discipline, but I'm trying.

I haven't started any of the exercise yet, I know I need to. I'll probably hold off on the gym membership until I get my cardio together. Which won't be fun during the winter months. I plan to start with the walking and other things I can do from home.

[usmcvet]

Excellent. Eat more green veggies when you’re hungry.


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