need a "talking to" about exercise 50-60 yo

ImKaren768
ImKaren768 Posts: 19 Member
edited November 20 in Fitness and Exercise
I know all these young people are active. I didn't find the category for even less then sedentary when I set up my profile. I'm 59 and have no desire to exercise. BUT, my weight loss is slowing done. So nag me, tell me I can do it...mostly tell me how you get moving!
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Replies

  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
    Please don't stereotype me. I'm 57 years old and I'm more active than 20 and 30 year olds I work with.

    As far as me I just enjoy it. I can scream and rant and Rave at you all I want but it's going to do me no good. You have to find your own personal why of why you want to do it. Once you find that why the exercise is going to be easy and you're actually going to look forward to it.

    As far as me I never want to go f****** back to where I was before. Pardon my language but that's the way I feel about it. Oh and just to take away some excuses double hip replacement and arthritic knee that needs to be replaced and an arthritic shoulder that needs to be replaced eventually. I'm more active and physically fit than I was 20 years ago. Find your why and like the commercial says just do it
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I understand that you have no desire to exercise. Do you have a desire to get up off the toilet? Do you have a desire to fix your own food when you want it? Anything you do, everything you do, uses muscles. As you age, your unused muscles atrophy, and they're not there anymore and you can't use them to do anything. You lose your balance, fall, break your hip, get confined to a nursing home and your family will neglect to visit you. I'm not even exaggerating. The only person who ever will care about you is you and if you don't then having a username account at myfitnesspal isn't going to do you any good when you're stuck on the toilet and your LifeAlert button is in the bedroom.

    So get some exercise while you still can.

    I have a couple of dear friends who are happy, healthy, and past 90. They still take walks together.

    Yep, the nursing homes are busting at the seams with people who can't get off the toilet Maybe if they would have been doing some exercise the last 20-30 years it would not be an issue and they would still be at home.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    ImKaren768 wrote: »
    I know all these young people are active. I didn't find the category for even less then sedentary when I set up my profile. I'm 59 and have no desire to exercise. BUT, my weight loss is slowing done. So nag me, tell me I can do it...mostly tell me how you get moving!

    I'm 50 ... so I'm still one of "these young people". My husband is 62 ... I still think of him as pretty young too.

    We're both active and have been for years. We met on a long distance cycling event in 2003, and have spent our lives cycling long distances together. :)

    Cycling long distances is my main motivator for keeping my weight down. It's a lot more work to haul extra weight up the hills!

    And it's fun! We've travelled and done events in various parts of the world, and met interesting people and have seen lots of things.

    I'd rather do that than to sit in my house all the time. Boring!!
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    edited August 2017
    ImKaren768 wrote: »
    So nag me

    i can't be bothered :p i can't even muster the motivation to nag my best friends, so nagging a total stranger over the internet . . . nah.

    however, you probably can do it unless there's some kind of physical limitation. and even then you can probably do something else. personally, i don't know if being nagged about anyone to do anything has ever had the slightest effect on me, but if you seriously want other people to take over the accountability and the credit for you getting active, the most effective move would probably be to pay some trainer to call you every couple of days and beak at you about whether or not you've done whatever it is.

    for me, an easier path was to block out other people so i could hear my own voice talking to me. it figured out some stuff that i not only like doing, but i actually wanted to do even though i didn't want and still don't want to do 'exercise' as a generic concept in its own right.

    in that sense, i've been active one way or another for ages, but i still don't 'exercise' :tongue: i'm just a couch potato who likes to ride bikes and lift weights.
  • hcolligan
    hcolligan Posts: 75 Member
    We can all nag you until we are blue in the face but unless you want to exercise it would be pointless.
    I was sedentary and obese until, at 51 I felt I needed to take control of my life. I lost 73 lbs and started exercising. I can now run 10k and am doing Insanity and will get back to lifting when my shoulder injury heals. I'm in the best shape of my life and loving it!
    Find the best time of the day for your exercise and do something you enjoy ( walking, dancing, cycling whatever YOU want to do) For me it was exercise dvds before work as I had no energy and too many distractions after work.
    I want to live a long healthy active life and not be stuck in a nursing home unable to move.
  • Lesley2603
    Lesley2603 Posts: 119 Member
    I was 57, the only exercise I had was walking to work, uk size 20 and growing. Was starting to have difficulty getting in and out of the bath and experiencing hip and knee pains. Then my son announced his wedding and my first thought was I didn't want to look like this in his wedding pictures. Long story short, I joined gym hired a trainer and for a few weeks thought I was going to die and my trainer was the most sadistic person ever, then I realised I was starting to enjoy my sessions, weight was dropping off and I could move easier. I am now 59, working out at least 4 Times each week and walking between 4 and 7 miles each day. Am now uk size 8 or 10 and am determined to be able to do a pull up beforeI am 60. And my confidence has grown in every area of my life, I can dance without worrying what people think, I can go on the biggest fairground rides. Go exercise there is nothing to lose and a whole new life to gain
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    just do it
  • Titanuim
    Titanuim Posts: 331 Member
    Only you can choose the person you want to be as you get older. Fit, active and independent as you go into your 60's and 70's or keep on doing what you are doing and let the rest of your life be one of diminishing opportunities.

    Being in your 50's and never being interested in exercise does not necessarily mean that is the person you have to be for the rest of your life. Start small and do often is the best advice that anyone can give.

    Or just say it is too hard and you don't like it and then you can just spend the rest of your life getting sicker and slower and being dependent on unreliable people for the rest of your life.

    Just for the record your "young people are active" is just a big pile of denial. I am 45 and am fitter and more active than most people I know. It is not easy at first - but then guess what, it gets to be easy and then you look back at your old life in disbelief.
  • Alpha12
    Alpha12 Posts: 251 Member
    Don't think of being active and moving as "exercise". Find an activity you DO like (walking, dancing, yoga) and do it every day consistently. You'll be amazed how good and alive it makes you feel.
  • minniestar55
    minniestar55 Posts: 350 Member
    Lots of great advice & info here. I agree with them! I work out 6 days a week, combinations of cardio & strength with some Pilates reformer thrown in. I'm over 50, in really good shape, & manage my physical issues (a bit of arthritis in left knee, shoulder impingements, degenerative disc in my neck), feel terrific. I have long gray hair, wear my skinny jeans, watch the 20-somethings whine @ bootcamp class, watch women younger than me gain more & more weight, use walking sticks, eat crap, never move & get sick all the time. I'm not a saint by any stretch of the imagination, but living a long, healthy, active, productive life is what I want. Sitting & complaining, making excuses & justifications, is not. Nobody else can motivate you; people like those in this thread are too busy living a healthy life to spend time nagging you. Think about the quality of life you want, & then get off the sofa a get it.
  • CarlydogsMom
    CarlydogsMom Posts: 645 Member
    OP, I hope this thread inspires you because it sure does for me. Several posters I recognize from being long-time MFPer's who always give great insights, advice, and stories worth thinking about. But we're not going to nag because we know it's really all on you. Make the decision and do it; or don't. It's your life.
  • npane
    npane Posts: 22 Member
    Walk!
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I'm a little younger than you. Nine months ago, at the age of 44, I lost the roulette spin and developed an obesity-exacerbated condition. Basically, because my legs had to carry too much... me... the veins in my lower legs collapsed (refluxed) and my lymphatic system got a bit crushed, leading to cellulitis, lymphedema, and a weeping wound on my leg that required daily nurse visits and multiple courses of antibiotics over a 10-week period to treat. (The one that helped the cellulitis didn't help the lymphedema. They tried a couple of others before finding the right one. And then it took three courses of that right one).

    Treatment prescribed? Compression stockings and weight loss.

    But what got me to start exercising? Reverse psychology. See, when I had that weeping wound, the doctors told me to stay off the leg as much as possible. Keep it elevated. Don't walk. Take a taxi to the office six blocks away. I hadn't been exercising much, but I still loved to walk (even if I generally 'rewarded' myself with a Chipwich or potato knish afterwards, negating the calorie burns). By the time the vascular surgeon confirmed that it was not only safe for me to walk again but vital... I was champing at the bit.

    My condition is treatable, not curable. But I am doing what I can to avoid future flare-ups. This is weight loss. This is exercise. This is my life quality on the line. Oh, and P.S.? I kind of like what it's doing for/to my body.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Walk, walk, then walk some more. Build up gradually, add 5-10 min per week. Visit a nursing home. If that doesn't motivated you, I don't know what will
  • MissMaggieMuffin
    MissMaggieMuffin Posts: 444 Member
    ImKaren768 wrote: »
    I know all these young people are active. I didn't find the category for even less then sedentary when I set up my profile. I'm 59 and have no desire to exercise. BUT, my weight loss is slowing done. So nag me, tell me I can do it...mostly tell me how you get moving!

    For me, 'how to get moving' is acceptance that it is up to me to take responsibility for my health - both current and future. And, for me, that means doing the very best I can to be healthy - losing the weight I need/needed to, making healthy but not restrictive food choices, and gaining/maintaining the best fitness level I can.

    I also am 59 and will be the first to tell you that doing all of that is no guarantee. I am recovering from major surgery to address a health issue that was totally unexpected and outside of my control. However, I firmly believe that my fitness prior to that surgery was, and continues to be, a huge factor in my recovery. Moving forward, no plans to be 'old'!
  • brentopia
    brentopia Posts: 113 Member
    I'm going to turn 60 in two months. I was in truly terrible shape two years ago when I determined to lose weight and start progressive weight training. I love it - it makes you feel and look good. This may sound negative... but If you depend on being nagged by others in order to get your act together - you probably never will. Do this for yourself - because YOU want to improve your life. Take charge and just DO IT! You can accomplish more than you think.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Thank you for this thread. I'm a 66-yr-old couch potato who is just getting her mind around the idea of becoming fit through exercise. I shouldn't be "mobility impaired" at my age!
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    @ImKaren768 Please click this link and don't let age define you and don't use it as an excuse.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10585399/70-lbs-down-67-years-old-weight-lifter-and-gym-rat-lots-of-pics#latest
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
    ImKaren768 wrote: »
    I know all these young people are active. I didn't find the category for even less then sedentary when I set up my profile. I'm 59 and have no desire to exercise. BUT, my weight loss is slowing done. So nag me, tell me I can do it...mostly tell me how you get moving!

    Nah, nagging doesn't work. You've gotten excellent advice in this thread, but it's up to you to make the decision, and then follow through on that decision.

    I'm 58 in 2 weeks and the only thing that's even slowed down my workouts have been the rotator cuff surgery I'm rehabbing from now (still doing lower body weight exercises with the docs blessing though) and the staff infection I had last year - that stopped me dead in my tracks for 3 solid weeks due to the antibiotics I was on, too ill to exercise.

    As others have said, I run circles around the younger folks at work and still play sports with nieces and nephews in their 20s.

    So, how long do you want to feel like you do? :)
  • bluets2011
    bluets2011 Posts: 241 Member
    If you are on Facebook check Adriana Miranda in her 60's and for me I role model of where I want to be in her age :-)
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