53 and lost exercise and diet motivation

mandie_dunning

Hi Everyone.
Can anyone share tips on how to get motivated. I was doing ok. Exercising quite a bit - 4 hours of MMA and and hour with a personal trainer, who is my MMA coach, per week. Have now missed the last 4 classes. I've just lost the plot. I know how to eat well, trying to eat low carb to shift some fat round my middle but struggle with lack of energy sometimes. Any advice gratefully received. Mandie

MichelleSilverleaf

Find out why you're struggling with your energy. Make sure you're eating enough, go see your doctor just to be safe and rule out any medical issues. Do away with the idea of motivation. Discipline, build the habit. Discipline is what carries you through the times when that mythical unicorn called motivation disappears.

csplatt

On this site, you will hear that KNOWING you are in a calorie deficit is more important than how hard or often you work out or whether you are eating “well” or low carb. Can you make your food diary public so we can comment on whether your food logging looks precise?

csplatt

Also, how long have you done MMA? Maybe you are bored and need to try something new?

sijomial

"trying to eat low carb to shift some fat round my middle but struggle with lack of energy sometimes."

Maybe the low carbs are contributing to your lack of energy? (It would for me so I keep my carbs high.)
Maybe your deficit is too high contributing to your lack of energy? (I can't sustain a loss of more than 1lb a week while exercising hard for long without my exercise performance hitting a wall.)

Do remember that any and every combination of macros will result in fat loss in you are in a calorie deficit, low carb is a choice not a necessity.

Personal experience was that age 53 was very much my start of getting back in shape as I felt I had to decide how I would approach old age (that was my motivation). Either fat, light exerciser, fairly sedentary or try and improve all aspects as best I could. Lost my excess weight, got fitter than ever, do more exercise than ever, more active. I used one of those whizzy whizz machines at my gym recently and it gave my metabolic age as 44 despite me being 59 now. Probably a load of rubbish but it made me smile and reinforced my efforts were worthwhile.

TavistockToad

mandie_dunning wrote: »

Hi Everyone.
Can anyone share tips on how to get motivated. I was doing ok. Exercising quite a bit - 4 hours of MMA and and hour with a personal trainer, who is my MMA coach, per week. Have now missed the last 4 classes. I've just lost the plot. I know how to eat well, trying to eat low carb to shift some fat round my middle but struggle with lack of energy sometimes. Any advice gratefully received. Mandie

don't do low carb if it leaves you low in energy? you just need a calorie deficit to shift fat.

mandie_dunning

Thank you everyone for your replies. The low carb thing is what causes the lack of energy. I've had blood tests and nothing abnormal showing although it did say high risk diabetes but my doctor seems to class that as normal and is not concerned. Ive been doing mma for 2 years now. I do need to mix it up a bit. I'll look for alternatives. Ive had a good long chat with my personal trainer tonight which has helped me a great deal. I'm away this weekend for my daughter's hen do. As soon as I'm back I'll start logging my diary and make it public for you guys to critique.

girlwithcurls2

Another vote to mix it up and try something new. Different things work for different people, but I tend toward group classes. My other trick is that I have lots of different things to do for a workout: swim laps, lift weights, water cardio class, running, hiking... There are days when I am not motivated (most of them) and if I'm REALLY not feeling it, I might do a different activity or go for a walk. I don't and cannot skip. Every day that you show up is one more bit of discipline building. Pretty soon, not going is just not an option. Also, if there's something new or fun, you're more inclined to do it.

One last thought I heard somewhere here on mfp- motivation is rarely a predictor of how your workout will go. This has proven itself true more often than not for me. Just go. It might be great!

bkogut12

Personally I don't believe in a "one size fits all" diet. The keto and low carb "does not" work for me. Short term it's ok for a few days but then I start to feel deprived and go nuts eating everything. I stay on the perameters that have been set for me on the my fitness pal, and though I may loose slower I have more success. I love exercising so I'm not sure how to tell you to get motivated except that I feel so much better afterwards. Good luck!