Honestly, I’ve spent the last two years of biweekly therapy to work through lingering low level depression about my life. Now that I’m in a much better place mentally, I find I have the bandwidth to tackle my physical health.

I first started with looking for opportunities to build in exercise - biking to work instead of driving to the metro, going to the weightlifting class at the gym at work - and it has built up from there. Next I started working with the personal trainer at the office gym one-on-one once a week (truly the only thing that motivates me to go into the office 2x/week), and meeting my friend for yoga at my neighborhood studio (having a buddy who is also committed is making a huge difference). I’m now exercising nearly daily because it feels good.

I recently started working with a nutritionist and that has been incredibly helpful in getting my to recalibrate how I’m approaching food. I get very clear guidelines and it’s helping me get back to appropriately sized portions. The weekly accountability has been huge, as has been the trouble-shooting obstacles that are preventing me from eating better consistently. My hope is that by the end of the eight week session, my taste buds will have adjusted, I will have a broad base of recipes to rely on, and I will have found solutions to the logistical challenges that come with trying to eating well consistently. Basically, I worked first to feel better emotionally, and I let go of the idea that I had to do it by myself and I just reached out to others for help.

^^ALSO - I hope you’re doing better now, illness-wise! Sorry for the multiple posts

^^forgot to say: and hopefully after 3 weeks it’ll start to feel easier or more like a habit, and you’ll be able to keep it up for the most part.

Start with just one thing, like “nothing but water after XXpm.” Pick a time that is a challenge, but still realistic. Do it for 3 weeks. I especially like this one bc you’ll sleep better, automatically be drinking more water and so maybe will see some improvement in skin, building in some intermittent fasting, cutting down on alcohol, and you’ll feel proud of yourself for the discipline….without having to plan for all of those separate things individually.

Anonymous wrote:I agree, start with hiking or vigorous walking. There is literally no barrier to entry. It's good for you, meditative, non-competitive. The more you do, hopefully your self-esteem and energy will improve.

Yes! And listen to audiobooks or even better, some feel-good walking meditations while doing it!

I keep hearing it’s important to build muscle at this age. That helps with this stage of life and helps you burn calories.

I work out just a few times a week and focus on certain muscles. I love my butt and legs and I love how they help with balance better than before.

Before this I was massively underweight which is just as bad as being overweight.

To get to my target, I used an app and ate the recommended number of calories. I treated it like a job.

Good luck to you, OP!

Start small. You can't boil the ocean. Pick one thing to work on, i.e. drink more water. Set a reasonable goal, do it consistently and then add in more.

The problem comes when you try to change everything all at once. It's overwhelming and recipe for failure.

My baseline for health is in this order:

1) Sleep 7+ hours.
2) Drink 64+ ounces of water
3) Eat 3 solid meals each day with at least 24grams of protein at each meal.
4) Walk 10K steps each
5) Strength train 3 times per week