Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

Yep yep. People here like to deliver lectures about diet/skipping meals ("intermittent fasting") etc and will even encourage people NOT to exercise to help control their appetites or just because. Yeah no.

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

As a previous long term hard core athlete, I’m going to tell you that your thinking is off,probably because you’ve never struggled with your weight. You can’t BE a hardcore athlete without paying attention to your nutrition and diet. Injury and illness would end your goals pretty swiftly.

Aside from that, having been in that world, I’m going to tell you that a huge proportion of middle aged hardcore athletes have eating disorders (orthorexia being predominant), body dysmorphia, and exercise compulsions (anxiety over a lank day in their workout logs).

PP hit the nail on the head- you can exercise all day long, but if you’re not paying attention to, and cleaning up, your diet, you’re seeing minimal returns for hard work, especially in terms of weight loss.

Same boat. I realized I gained 40 pounds over the last 4 years. I would start to exercise and be better about eating, but invariably something always got in the way - got sick, got injured, went on a trip, whatever minor thing would give me an excuse to stop.
So just before New Years I decided enough. Particularly realizing I gained 40 pounds over 4 years.
I’ve lost 15 pounds so far (5 weeks in now).
1. I track everything I eat. And stay under my calorie goal. I use my fitness pal to track food and calories, and Fitbit to track exercise/steps. They sync up so my fitness pal pulls in the calories I’ve burned on Fitbit.
2. Greatly decreased carbs and sugars. Increased vegetables. Stopped snacking (my big weakness). Decreased alcohol. Used to drink 1-2 glasses of wine each night. Now just one glass a week. Decreased amount of creamer in my coffee.
3. Exercise - I use Jillian Michaels workout videos. I recommend starting with beginner shred workout video before trying anything like ripped in 30 or 30 day shred. These are all on Amazon. You can sign up for the FitFusion channel to get these. I exercise 5 or 6 days a week. Plus go on walks.
Good luck!

I really like Moms into Fitness (Lindsay Brin) - streaming workouts, and has a free trial period to see if you like them. She has some beginner workouts and regular workouts also have modifiers.

For yoga, I like Yoga with Adriene on YouTube - her 30 days of yoga type programs are free and good for beginners.

I also agree with just going for walks - gets you moving, you get some sun, and for me can be a great stress reliever.

If you have any interest in jogging, a couch to 5k or learn to run program is also a good way to build some fitness.

Good luck!

Dear OP,

Your post touched me as I too am at a point in my life (mid-40s) where a relatively inactive (not meaningful body movement) and sedentary lifestyle is showing on my body. It started with noticing the scale tipping higher into an overweight range where I used to be comfortably at the mid range of normal weight without much thought or effort. I am constantly thinking about self improvement, but I excel in philosophy (a wonderfully positive way of saying overthinking) only - not enforcement or achievement. Merely thinking I can be more healthy and active wasn't enough to inspire me. But something snapped in me a few months ago. My reasoning aligned with a plan, and I was ready to become serious an apply hard work to my goal.

Rethink the Narrative. I can relate to the sentiment about being discouraged because you aren't going to have the same body you once did. It will take a while to realize that not only is trying to be your former self an unrealistic goal, it is a toxic one. If you tell yourself that your former self is your standard, and that you will never be what you once were, you have already convinced yourself of failure before you start. Don't go down this thought path. Before you tackle the logistics of getting back into shape, it's helpful to do some soul searching for positive and attainable reasons for getting into shape that have nothing to do with the body you once had (and not even the body you will have) and have everything to do with the body you currently have. For me, instead of accepting gradually deteriorating health, I decided to shift to a positive goal of healthy current and elder living and modeling good habits and options for my kids (but ultimately for myself).

It's difficult to stay in a positive mindset and so easy to give attention to the nasty things we tell ourselves that keep us comfortably but depressingly in a state that we don't want to be in. It's easy to submit to the negative notion that we won't be as fit as we were once upon a time, so why bother.... It takes active work to question this mindset. Meditation helps me think about it in order to overcome it. I don't like when I go down a negative thought spiral, and I have been training my brain to notice when I do, question why I do it and ask myself what is the positive spin on this thought process. I call the training "Choose Option B". Option A is the initial negative thought that inevitably makes its way into my head and tries to set the narrative that leads to failure. Once I am actively aware of it, I try to pause it and seek the positive way to look at it--the Option B. Then I choose Option B. Here are some examples that I experience often

- Option A: The opened bag of chips in the pantry is calling me at 10:00pm, and I really want it. Option B: I will be grateful tomorrow if I leave the chips where they are or throw away the temptation. Enjoy a cup of tea, and read an enthralling book.
- Option A: Despite clean eating and steady workouts, the scale did not go down, and I may as well quit. Option B: Take an honest look at recent food intake, adjust where necessary, and look to other achievements that kept the scale from going higher than it is at this moment. Unwanted metrics are not a reason to stop trying.

Food I'm not sure what your eating habits are to know if eating is a source of your being out of shape, but it helps to track food, eat healthy options, stop eating after dinner, and not conflate boredom or emotions with hunger. I have found that when I don't keep a reasonably accurate log of my food, it shows up on my scale, so tracking helps me. I am on the WW green plan and try to stay in my daily point allotment without using extra weekly points or fit points. The WW app keeps me accountable and is user-friendly for ease of motivation. If I can check Twitter for a minute, I can add a meal to an app. I stopped consuming red meat (cuts down the points), and I am foregoing added sugar for the month of February. I am limiting fruits to 2 per day--they are tempting zero-point options, but they don't help my weight loss.

Activity Getting in shape is hard work. Full stop. It doesn't come easy, it isn't always fun, negative talk loves to scream during workouts, and if you are going to achieve your goals, you have to commit. It helps to find something you enjoy doing and a community to help with accountability and support. Start for short periods a couple of times a week, and build in time and frequency from there. Pick an activity that you love to do or that motivates you to get in shape, and allow yourself positive mantras and upbeat music to quiet the negative talk telling you to give up or stop. I have a basic workout standard for the week: TRX 3xs a week for 30-40 minute programs. I aspire to add one or two 30-minute rowing machine workouts a week and one yoga video a week (I love beachyogagirl). I used to spin 3xs a week, and then my favorite instructor left and then the studio near my house closed down. Now I work out exclusively from home with the TRX, rowing machine and various weights. My mantras include "pay your dues", "this is meant to be hard," "you can do anything for one minute"...you get the picture. I blast Michelle Obama's spotify workout playlists and have curated my own playlists based on upbeat, sexy and positive songs that drown out my negative thoughts. And speaking of sexy, feeling sexy is a huge motivator for me. I don't know why, but when I work out and get in touch with my body moving, I just feel sexier about my body. I'll take it.

Other Added Benefits Once I started tracking my food and working out, other added benefits started to fall in place including increased water intake, sleeping longer hours, focusing less on mindless phone usage, meditating more, and thinking about meditation A LOT and applying it to moments when I am otherwise not actively meditating. I'm more forgiving of myself when I look in the mirror, put on an outfit and when eating food. These are small shifts that become noticeable over time.

And speaking of time, getting back in shape will take a while. It will be frustrating that results you want don't appear as quickly as immediately as the comfort of sitting on the couch or the gratification of eating a donut in the office. This is where the positive and butt-kicking narrative is most important. I have been living through everything I discussed above for almost 3 months. I am down 10 pounds with 15 more to go before I hit a normal BMI range and 30 more to go before I hit my dream weight. I am not sure I'll get to the dream weight, but I am staying the course today. I'm positive that the plan will change with time, trial, error and success. I actively make room for positivity and forgiveness.

My advice is purely based on my experience, and we are all different. But I read myself in your story. You are currently enough, and every experience in your life has prepared you for the moment you are in. I wish you well in your journey.

The biggest trick is find an exercise you somewhat enjoy. If you like to walk, then start with walking. But if you hate walking, do something else. Walking is not that effective and not worth it if you hate it. Do you have time to sign up for a regularly scheduled exercise class? Sometimes having a set time can help motivate.

Make sure to add lots of stretching. As I get older, stretching has become essential to avoiding pain and injury.

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

You are wrong. Exercise makes you fit, dieting (meaning eating healthy and normal portions) makes you lose excess weight.
As long as you are eating junk and too many calories, you will never lose weight, no matter how much you exercise.

It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

" walks, walks, walks "

You got to have a hilly route to walk or else you plateau too soon.

Diet diet diet, cut down on junk food and desserts, not eliminate it from your diet. Eat one cookie instead of three, eat a small cup of icecream instead of a big bowl, and do it consistently

Anonymous wrote:Long daily walks. Watch your diet like a hawk. Once you start losing weight you will be motivated to start working out. Basically it’s diet diet diet.

and walks, walks, walks

Pick one to tackle first. I suggest you first progressively get into shape. Anyone can do it. I have done it DOZENS of times. Losing weight is much more DIFFICULT and it is not at all a sure thing. Do not set yourself up for failure by setting your heart on losing weight AND KEEPING IT OFF.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've tried several things but so far what's working is a program that combines intermittent fasting, carb-cycling, and macro-tracking. While it focuses on whole foods, it's not restrictive. Comes with 30 minute workouts which you can do or not. I like the structure and accountability and the fact that it's working!

NP. Can you name the program to help the rest of us?

It's called Faster Way to Fat Loss. I was skeptical because it seems like a MLM but so far I've been impressed - it stacks habits each week so the first week, all you focus on is eating whole foods and start increasing your fasting window from 12:12 to 8:16. The second week you start start tracking macros. The third week you start carb-cycling, etc. It is 6 weeks and isn't cheap at $199 but if you sign up with a good coach and actually implement the tools you learn, I have found it to be worthwhile. Hope this helps!

Start by taking walks.

Is there a pleasant pool or gym you could join that’s a nice experience to go to?

You are probably eating too
Much. Are you eating for pleasure? Try to introduce alternate pleasurable activities in your life to replace eating for pleasure. Read a book, go for a bike ride, go to a museum. Before you eat anything ask yourself “am I truly hungry?” If the answer is no, don’t eat it. Also drink a lot of water. If you feel hungry drink some water first to make sure you aren’t mistaking thirst for hunger.

Anonymous wrote:I've tried several things but so far what's working is a program that combines intermittent fasting, carb-cycling, and macro-tracking. While it focuses on whole foods, it's not restrictive. Comes with 30 minute workouts which you can do or not. I like the structure and accountability and the fact that it's working!

NP. Can you name the program to help the rest of us?