Fitness noob?

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doppleganger613
doppleganger613 Posts: 7 Member
edited December 2024 in Introduce Yourself
Hey there. 44M, looking to get in shape before retirement. Huge jock as a kid and teen, so I didn't care too much about nutrition, and I now find it a steep learning curve. Finding self motivation for solo workout really hard, especially after a day at work on my feet. Goal is to lose 50lb by 2021.

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,129 Member
    Well, the weight loss part is almost entirely about calories, so the solution is usually about eating. (Nutrition is important for health, energy level and satiety, so it's important . . . but the calories drive weight.)

    As far as fitness, I think the magic is to find something you so much enjoy doing, that you actively want to do it. For me, that's rowing (on-water when I can, machine when I must). But it can be any form of added movement, especially to start. Sometimes people think exercise has to be miserable and exhausting to be "good enough" (and a background as an athlete in younger life, with intense workouts, can feed into that myth). It's just not true.

    Anything that challenges your body a little has fitness benefits. Anything that increases movement burns extra calories. Not just gym stuff or sports, but gardening, carpentry, dancing, birdwatching, whatever.

    If you don't enjoy solo workouts, consider group classes, or meet-ups for hiking (or biking or birdwatching or whatever). Join a same-age team or league of some kind (lotta people liking pickleball now, but there are a bunch of choices in the world, sometimes even in pretty rural areas through community programs).

    At around age 48, just out of pretty arduous cancer treatment (chemo and the whole nine yards), I joined a rowing team. I was still obese at the time. (And I didn't have your athletic history, BTW: Bookish kid here.) I was pretty close to a physical wreck, frankly.

    Rowing literally changed my life, in diverse ways. Within a couple of years, I was competing in masters events. (In rowing, "masters" means people over age 27, not "experts" ;) ).

    Now, at 64, I'm still rowing, and routinely active in other ways. And, having found MFP about 5 years ago, I've been at a healthy weight for 4+ years.

    You can do this. If a non-athletic, hedonistic aging hippie type woman can do this, you can totally do this. Focus on what you can control, and find the fun.

    Best wishes! :flowerforyou:
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