Hello! feel like this is my last shot

sweetcurlz67

You're never "too old" to lose weight. I didn't start until I was 45, others have been older. Start with workouts you can do & be consistent. Incorporate a healthy diet. I will also recommend strength in addition to cardio.

Best of luck! :drinker:

Alex

These are the threads that make me so proud of our community! You can do this and there are so many people here who can help support you.

ihad

Thanks to everyone who responded with helpful advice and ideas. I will certainly take them to heart and will also look at the links and suggestions. Thank you all!

This is a great start.

You can do this, and even if you fall down at some point, it's not you last shot. Keep working at it. Start slow - you don't need to suddenly become an athlete, just be MORE active. Start making better diet choices and become more aware. Keep improving. Get some momentum, build some better habits, and soon you'll surprise yourself.

ihad

A little more about the exercises.

When I started. I couldn't do more than 15-20 minutes. So that's what I did. As my fitness improved, I ramped up the workouts and really started enjoying them. I look forward to them now. In a busy life, they are the time you invest in yourself. Know that you're worth it.

Deipneus

My only advice is not to raise the bar on what success means. Just get a little better every day. If you don't exercise at all, then a lap around your house is progress. Then two laps. I'm serious.

traceywoody

Check out this website. Walkathome.com. Its not like walking at all. She gets your *kitten* moving.

This. And....it is NEVER too late. I am 49 in a couple of months. I have been "on a diet" since I was in my early teens. I have gained weight, lost weight, regained weight, but I will never give up. My ticker is in Kilos, but I have lost over 50 pounds since January. It is NEVER EVER EVER your last shot unless you are dead! You've got this. C'mon.....you CAN!!

ETA: I do not consider that I am on a diet now. This is my way of life. Permanent change. I see you have so much that is positive in your life, a great job, a great partner...just keep adding to your positives. You are a successful person!

SunofaBeach14

When I started I was somewhere around 260 pounds, had virtually no muscle on me, and could barely walk up a hill without getting seriously winded. My asthma was a constant reminder of how out of shape I was, and I was too embarrassed to walk into a gym as I had no clue what to do in there. I had worked for too many years sitting at a desk and eating away the stress. I started walking and bought some dumbbells until I got up the courage to join a gym. I still remember panting after 5 or 6 minutes on the elliptical, but I also started lifting weights. I now lift and I run, have been at it now for 5 or so years, and it has made all the difference. Start with what you can do and slowly push yourself to do more. Just find something that you enjoy, change your mind and do something else, but just keep at it. There's no need to rush as you have the rest of your life.

Calliope610

18 months ago, I was 50yo, 232lbs, and got winded walking up the three steps to my front porch. I was sick and tired of being sick, tired, sore and fat! I was ready to make a change.

Not huge change, mind you. Little change, like walking around the block, about .3 miles. It probably took me 20 minutes, but I did it. I did it again the following evening. In a short time, I was walking 1/2 mile, then 1 mile. About 4 months in, I was walking 2 miles/day in 30 minutes. And I had lost about 20lbs.

I now walk 4-6miles 2-3x/wk and I started to lift weights. I have lost 54lbs (have 20-40 to go). I am healthier and HAPPIER than I have been in a very long time.

All it takes is a decision to make some (small) changes, then "Just do it"!

ETA: And when I was so sore those first couple of days, I just remembered what my brother told me long ago. "Pain is weakness leaving the body." I no longer wanted to be weak; I wanted to be strong, fit, healthy.

SherryTeach

It is possible to make eating healthy and getting fit into an enjoyable hobby. I used to never cook and saw it as a loathsome chore, but I've found that it is possible to make an interesting hobby out of find and making low calorie but delicious food. Same with exercise. I'm somewhat competitive by nature. I got a fitbit and started tracking my steps. Then I wanted more steps so I started getting on my treadmill more often. Then I bought a fitness trampoline and and HRM to monitor my calorie burn. I've been a faithful food logger for over two years. I don't see any of this as a burden and the difference in my health and well-being is remarkable.

But doing this out of desperation? Often not likely to work. I'm 20 years older than you and I'd hate to go into any endeavor thinking it was my last shot. I've got a lot of years to go, I hope.

Snip8241

This is not your last shot , but if you choose to start slowly it could be the last time you say that. The advice here is sound. Get in the pool, walk, do water aerobics. Everyone has to start somewhere.
We have all been stiff, sore, tired whatever. The bottom line is you will feel those things, you are challenging your body. Think of those feelings as good...your body is changing.
You can complain and whine, or you can be proud of yourself and smile
It sounds as if you'd rather be proud.

nicailyzee

This is truly the first step in making everlasting changes. MyFitnessPal is a great resource for help and great advice look at how much you have gotten so far. You speak of you wonderful boyfriend have him support you by doing exercises at home at first if that does not work change. Keep changing until you find what works. This is my third journey to loose weight and I will not give up on being a better me and that is different for everyone here. You cannot accept anything being your last. If you failed a test would you give up. If you fell would you sit there no you don't give up. Believe me this is not easy and you will have days when you are not in the mood but when you start to push through those feelings and ignore them you know that you are on the road to good things. Push through your feelings and know that you are worth this being one of many shots!

JeralynSh

You're going to hate what I have to say.

Walking! I'll be 50 in 2 months. I was in your shoes. I WAS sick. No, I'm still sick. It isn't fatal, but there is no cure. BUT I wasn't going to let that stop me. So I started walking. A little at a time. First it was on my treadmill in front of the tv. (It was a great way to turn off my brain and forget I was exercising. :laugh: ) And I would hurt the next day. But the day after, I was back at it. And I found that the more I did it, the less I hurt. And I was moving faster. One day, my husband stood in the doorway and watched me. I had no idea why he was just staring at me. Once my half hour was over, he said, "Did you realize you were jogging that whole time?" No, I hadn't. But the next day, I was aware of what I was doing and realized that he was correct. He started seeing the changes before I did. (He is now exercising, too, by the way.)

I'm now doing 5Ks every Sunday. I've done half marathons and even a few marathons on my treadmill. I'm running for miles at a time a few times a week outside. I'm slow outside, but it works for me. I'm a few ounces away from the magic number of 30! For a small woman, that's a lot.

We're eating better (lacto-ovo-pescatarians - we still eat dairy, fish & eggs, but no other meat), he's running with me, and we BOTH look and feel fantastic. Not to pat the 2 of us on the back or anything, but my husband and I do not look our ages anymore. I've knocked off 20 years from my looks and added 20 years to my lifespan.

You need to believe in yourself. You can want it as much as possible, but if you don't have that belief, you're defeating yourself before you start. You CAN do it. I'm proof that it can be done. There are a lot of women here who are proof. And you know what? We're all in your corner. This is a very supportive place - well, except for the occasional troll - but don't mind them. Listen to the rest of us. You can take your time trying different things until you find something that you like and works for YOU.

sue_stef

you are not "too old" to lose weight

what kind of exercise or moving you do does not matter so long as you do it

the biggest thing you do to lose weight is
portion sizes
not the type of food
but how much of it

the type of food matters IF you have a disease like diabetes then you need to pay careful attention to carbs and sugars and sodium

if you are overweight but otherwise healthy just eat less of the foods you love and move more
start out small with whatever exercise you are doing
if you are walking (it is what I do)
do not start out walking 5 mile hikes and thinking that your body is going to be OK with that
it won't you will hurt for days and not want to do it again
like others suggested water exercise is great
I walk I started out walking 30 minutes a day
then I got a fitbit and now I move all the time
I started this journey on December 2nd 2013
in that time I have lost so far 75lbs
I'm 43 diabetic with high blood pressure
I also have 5 kids
if I can do it anyone can

oceanbreeze27

I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. But you know what? A lot of people -- regardless of their ages -- have felt the same way. Many of them used it as the kick in the butt they needed to get on the path to fitness. I was quite young when I started my fitness journey but felt much the same way you do. I always tell people I started out with Richard Simmons and a treadmill. There are aerobic videos out there specifically designed for people who aren't quite ready to exercise on their feet. You may want to investigate that option. The first step is to GET MOVING. It doesn't matter what you do -- movement burns calories and shrinks fat cells!

Harsh truth: Fitness takes sacrifice. I wish I could tell you there is an easy solution that requires minimum effort and still allows you to eat all you want but I would be lying. Measure how badly you want it. Then act accordingly, knowing you're not alone on your journey.

Good luck! )

MonsterToBe

I'm 43, and a couple of years ago I had plantar fasciitis so badly that I had a handicapped parking permit. Walking as a form of exercise was out of the question. I was diabetic, though, and desperately needed to get my weight under control to keep the disease from worsening. I bought a FitDesk (look on Amazon) and would pedal on it while being online or watching TV. I knew I'd need to get into lifting weights to reach my health goals, but I couldn't even start safely while my feet were still so injured. At first I could only stay on the bike for 5 minutes at a time, so I'd get on every time there was a commercial break, or every time I came back into the room. The time added up, and I started to be able to stay on longer at a time, and once I was able to do half an hour on the bike I started walking for 5-10 minutes, and slowly built that up in the same way. Between that and tracking what I ate, and scouring the internet for recipes that were both delicious and healthy, I was able to lose the 25 lbs I needed to in order to begin lifting, and my diabetes is now under diet and exercise control. Losing that weight took the strain off my feet and I no longer need cortisone injections in my heels or custom orthotic inserts in my shoes.

What worked for me may not be what specifically will work for you, but the approach is the key. Be creative. If there is no form of exercise that you can do that you already enjoy, then borrow a page from my book and find a form of exercise you can do in bits here and there while doing something else that you do enjoy, and slowly build it up. If you progress slowly, you won't have multiple days of pain after exercising, but you will find that you can do more and more with what feels like the same amount of effort. Don't push yourself so hard you actually hurt. The key is to do more than you had been doing, and every day do just a little more than you did the day before... even just 10 or 15 seconds more. Pushing yourself to the point where you hurt will, as you already know, just make you want to quit. Keep it light so that the next day you still feel fine, and just keep doing more, and before long you'll be surprised at how much you can do and how unexpectedly good it can make you feel!