I’m in my 50’s need tips to get started. Keep focused.

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I’m single 13 yrs. I spend most my time alone. I can’t seem to get started and keep focus.
Anyone lost like me. I want to be fit. I believe I am experiencing disassociation from trauma.
I’m not sure I can do this alone. Any advice would be helpful.

Replies

  • brennerrobert110
    brennerrobert110 Posts: 2 Member

    Hey Teresa! I’m new here and excited to start my muscle building journey with you all. I used to go to the gym regularly, but I’ve been off track lately and have put on quite a bit of weight. I’m ready to turn things around, stay consistent, and would love your support and motivation. Let’s crush our goals together any tips, encouragement, or workout ideas are greatly appreciated! 💪🏼✨

  • willlafriu
    willlafriu Posts: 41 Member

    Weight loss is all based on mind control. Your thoughts of actually getting up and doing the works. To loose that weight. Once you start . Don't give up. Push push push. Push your self to sweat alot. Try working on those calorie burn goals. 300 to 600 a day or a week depending on the motivation of your mind set. Drinking lots of water. If pushing yourself to sweat and soaking. drinking protein shakes. To cover a meal. Alcohol can be a no no. And put on weight. So stop drinking alcohol or limited to a drink. Figure out your bad eating habits. Try to avoid stressful eating. And those bad eating habits. Eat casually Healthy meals. Know that fruits are your best friend and can feed you that sugar. Vegetables are even a greater friend. Carbs are great for energy to do cardio. Protein is great if you're looking to lifting weights. There are foods you could eat to help burn fat faster. Limit your serving size. When i felt hungry and wanted to snack i worked out. Burning those calories to able to eat that snack. I don't eat tomatoes nor mayo. I replaced mayo with avocado. Guacamole. Taste good and better than mayo with the right spices. However once you start this journey don't give up. Im 41 single and alone also. But I learned you can only motivate yourself. I can't motivate you no one on here can. It all based on that brain that carries those thoughts to write what you thinking. If you can take your brain and focus on this weight loss goal. You will succeed. Trust me. Your mind is more powerful than you think. Brain connection to the spine. Sending out electricity to the limbs of your body to move. Your mind is what decides what you eat. Along with what healthy foods to eat to help with wait loss. Focus on this 5 to 10 pounds in a month. To loose that body fat. Don't give up on that goal. And push yourself and that mind to get up and go workout.

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,129 Member

    I hate those "be disciplined, work super hard" kind of plans, personally. YMMV. They may work for some people, but not me.

    I like @NotForJustNowForever's post above a lot, though.

    My context: I'm widowed (since age 42), live alone since, was overweight/obese and pretty much an inactive lump for most of 30 years, until advanced cancer diagnosis and full bore treatment that started shortly after widowhood (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, 7.5 years of a related drug regimen). I was diagnosed as severely hypothyroid soon after cancer treatment, too.

    I gradually started getting routinely active in my late 40s to get back strength/energy after the cancer treatment. The first was just a gentle community education yoga class a couple of times a week, and it evolved from there. Eventually, I found a sport I love so much I'd do it even if it wasn't good for me, but it was and is.

    Fitness improvement was a big quality of life improvement. Still, I stayed fat for another dozen years, because it's easy to eat back the exercise calories even from working out fairly intensely 6 days most weeks. Finally, at age 59, I had to face the fact that my health wasn't what I needed to be, despite having a lot of indications of good physical fitness (low resting heart rate, good endurance, competitive pace for my demographic, etc.). At that point, I committed to weight loss, losing 50 pounds in a bit under a year. I've been at a healthy weight for 9 years since, now age 69. The weight loss was another big quality of life improvement.

    The combination, now, of healthy weight plus still active, that's gangbusters. So many things are easier for me at 69 than they were at age 45. Small positive changes, gradually over a period of time, can add up to surprisingly good long term outcomes.

    I'm not some kind of special person. I'm basically a hedonistic, undisciplined aging hippie flake with a limited motivation/discipline budget. I figure that if I can get those improvements, most more-sensible grown-ups can do it, if they set their mind to it.

    Easy every single second? Of course not. But the logistics were simpler than I ever expected, and the process was doable if I kept chipping away gradually in a positive direction.

    I can't speak to trauma disassociation, I'm sorry to say. If that's a big part of your situation, therapy might be ideal. There should be no more stigma in seeking therapy when struggling with thinking patterns than there is in calling a mechanic when the car is making funny noises we can't figure out on our own. That's why professionals like that exist.

    I think you can achieve your goals, if you can find a way to commit to making improvements in your eating and activity habits. It doesn't necessarily need to be some big radical, miserable thing. It wasn't that for me, and I think it wasn't that for quite a few folks here who've also been long-term successful. It can be much less dramatic - more boring, even - than that. I think it requires that commitment, plus some persistence and patience. If you start to see some small successes along the way, I think that will feel empowering, and help you keep going.

    I'm wishing you success, sincerely!

  • Trying4the9thtime
    Trying4the9thtime Posts: 9 Member

    I agree with Ann.. Small, gradual changes over time leads to changes of the whole 'you'.

    All or nothing to me would be a short path to failure and frustration.

    Know that you're human and not a programmable machine. Good days, bad days, weeks and months happen to most of us.

    It's the keep trying part that keeps us in the game in the long run.

    Perhaps just take one month and log food. Next month try one form of exercise. If you don't tend to like that, the following try a different form??? At least for cardio. If you are considering strength type activities, then a more structured plan may be necessary? Then again some people like to find yt videos and work along to those.

    Find what works best for you and on your own terms.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,765 Member

    I got mad. Not mad at myself because I was fat mad. Mad at myself for sabotaging my future mad.

    Mad made me want to take control. Control helped me with discipline and create habits. Motivation comes and goes.

    As I told the girl at the desk when I walked into the gym this morning,” I ain’t feelin’ it today”. I went on to do a cardio muscle class and swim a mile in the pool.

    If I relied on motivation, well,it wasn’t gonna happen. I never would have even bothered getting into the car. But discipline, habit, they kicked in

    I sort of liken it to what my trainer told me about ball slams. “Think of the person who makes you the maddest and take it out on them with the ball.”


    Weight loss was that way for me. A great big helping of I’ll Show You.

    Ironically, as I lost weight, I got happier, less mad, and nicer, if truth be told. But the habits stuck. 👍🏻

  • 9zgnq89pct
    9zgnq89pct Posts: 1 Member
    edited May 20

    I chose 5 foods I knew I could eat daily for the long term, then built my meals around them since I know their nutrition. I switch in something different when the mood strikes. I also added 30 min walk, distance didn’t matter, it was more about creating a habit. 50 lbs later the meals are a habit too. The less thought you put into it the easier it is. ( my meals are stir fry, Asian chicken salad, eggs and toast, soup and oatmeal)