45 and getting depressed
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Wow, Just read your powerfully post.
You rock.
Have a splendid 4th..
JoAnna0 -
I'm 50. I get up at 4:20 to make it to the gym before work. Is it easy? No. But, motivation only gets you started, dedication takes you to goal. You have to commit to it! You CAN do this, so don't allow anything to give you the excuse to stop.0
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Love the name, MrBungle, that is!
Omg I just now noticed that. Bungle fan here too.
Sorry off topic. Carry on.0 -
Exactly what she said vvvv okay, except I'm 51 ;-) BUT I feel 45 now! Anyhow, exactly what she said vvvvI'm 45 also. I hated to exercise but started with just walking 20 minutes a day. I used MFP and logged EVERYTHING I ate. I was surprised how many calories I was actually consuming a day, much more than I thought. The weight started to come off, slowly. As I saw my body changing, I became more motivated and started running. But it was a slow process. Some days I still have to force myself to run or exercise but I ALWAYS feel better afterwards. You can do it! Just be patient with yourself. Oh, and I set small goals, 5lbs. When I lost 5lbs I would set another goal of 5lbs. Looking at the big picture was too overwhelming.0
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All your posts are great. Thank you for all of them. No offense taken at all. I am reading and re-reading, even though I am at work. I'm a perfectionist and i know I expect a lot out of myself and when I don't do what I expect it really makes me mad; just not enough to do something about it. Thank you Thank you Thank you0
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Hiya, I am 42, 5'2 and currently 207lb's. I have lost 24lb's. I was an exercise phobic hated anything to do with it. I have been fat for over 20yrs I have had 3 children and 3 C-sections. I have a horrid apron as well :ohwell: I would love to have a tummy tuck too.
Beginning of June I asked my hubby to take me out for a run/walk and get me moving to lose the weight. Day one we ran between two lamp posts not even 30 seconds running and then we walked 2 mins. We repeated this for 2.5km's. 5 weeks on we do 2 circuits so 5km and I can run for 2.5k of it.... I walk a bit then run again. I am amazed at how fast things have progressed, if someone told me that I would be doing this 5 weeks ago i'd of laughed. We both work so my alarm goes off at 5.45 i'm out the door for that run/walk at 6am. I want this so badly I couldn't care if I had to get up at 3.30!! I do 2 days then rest a day. Funny thing is doing it first think in the morning makes me feel energised and sets the day up really well.
GOOD LUCK, make time for yourself to get to where you want to be and those around you should support you, once there you can juggle it a bit more but sometimes you have to be a bit selfish with these things x0 -
Procrastination is sometimes not about "lazy" or "making excuses" - a lot of times procrastination is due to not wanting to face deep seated fears and negative emotions. We have a natural "fight or flight" response to stress - and overwhelming emotions like feeling overwhelmed, guilty, angry etc. can trigger that response. Recognizing that gave me the inner fortitude to overcome it.
A LOT of this is a mental practice and some people struggle with platitudes like "just do it" ... If it were that easy we'd all just get off our *kitten* and do it. The truth is, for many of us a weight loss and fitness journey is also a path back to emotional health and dealing with other issues that we've buried with food.
Ignore those who make you feel guilty by making it seem like you're just "making excuses" - We tend to do that when we feel sad and overwhelmed.
That being said, discipline is not the same as punishment. Discipline comes from a place of empowerment and it tends to snowball. Ever noticed how apathy and procrastination snowball into a habit? The good news is so can motivation and determination.
One day at a time - Set small, realistic goals at first. Say - lose five pounds and track everything I eat - once you reach those challenging, but highly attainable goals, add on. The next month start a form of exercise, or make it a goal to try a few types of exercise to find something that you feel you might be able to enjoy. Then increase goals from there - make it a competition with yourself. Everyone loves the feeling of success and winning. You get those feelings routinely by constantly accomplishing new, small goals that lead progressively to the larger goals.
In January, I got winded running up a flight of steps for example. In Feb. I decided I would walk 100 miles that month - I made 85 and felt incredible. In March, I started to jog a bit between walks - A few weeks ago I slowly ran my first 5k without stopping. If my first initial goal was run a 5k when I couldn't run up a flight of steps - I'd have been overwhelmed by that and put it off, or made excuses - because it wasn't realistic, but breaking it down into steps made it possible and I feel better than I have in years.
Make reasonable goals, stop beating yourself up and focus on what you want to gain, more than what you want to lose 0 -
I read your post and the main theme seems to be procrastination. You say yourself you know WHAT to do, just not how to do it and stick with it. Getting away from motivation, how you should eat, how you should work out.......I am going to give you the advice you asked for on "taking advice".
A friend posed this to me a few years ago when I was really down and depressed. Procrastination is based in fear. Think through if you are procrastinating on the things you want (need) to do or are you truly putting off the results of those actions you are procrastinating about? Want to start a new business? Well if you do A, B, and C and have a business....then it is going to take a lot of work and risk to keep a business going, people will depend on you, the business could fail, you could owe a ton of taxes, you could make more money than you literally know what to do with.....the list is endless.
What was asked of me when I was procrastinating on EVERYTHING in my life that would lead to a sense of happiness......was I afraid that I would do all of these things and still not be happy? It was thought provoking and an eye-opener for me.
Sometimes it is painful......but you have to dig deep.0 -
Just wanted to say GREAT post.
Thanks for the great idea.
LewI'm 45 as well & one thing I did to motivate me to work out was I had my wife take a "before" pic, with my shirt off, in all my chubby glory.
I printed it up, put it on my fridge & said "This doesn't come down until I get under 200 lbs."
My wife HATED it...but it worked & within 3 months I had taken that **** down.
You simply HAVE to work out once you're over 40...or you;re just going to doom yourself to being fat for the rest of your life.0 -
Hi neighbor, I live pretty close to you. I think focusing on one thing helped me the most. Tracking my calories. I felt so darn happy and relieved when I ate my allotted calories for a week straight that the exercise just happened naturally because I felt motivated! Best of luck to you, you're gonna do great! :flowerforyou:0
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There will always be a million reasons not to exercise. Find the one reason that makes you do it. Until then, you're not ready. Good luck.0
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I'm 45 as well and have spent the past 2 years making changes to get to my goal. It wasn't always easy and I often had to do things I didn't want to do. But my desire to get fit and healthy outweighed all my excuses. I don't think permanent change can come without that mindset.
One of the things I had to do was become a morning person. Getting up at 5am to exercise is now a deeply ingrained habit. I sleep hard and wake up naturally at that time. I see you saying "I don't get up early enough to exercise" but what I hear is "I don't want to get up any earlier than I already do." I get that, you're tired. But exercise can help you sleep better. Getting the weight off gradually helps with things like snoring and apnea, which can prevent you from your full rest. Getting up earlier and getting in a half hour walk or cardio video might make other things easier too. You've already started your day with a healthy activity so you won't want to eat too much and negate all that work you did.
Look at the areas of your life where you're really successful. Your work, your parenting, how you keep your home, a hobby. Look at the way you justify doing those things, how you make sure you schedule time to do them correctly, the way you feel when you've done a good job with those activities. Then apply those feelings to your exercise time. Find your motivation. Then set an appointment with yourself to get the work done. Because you have to keep your promises to yourself just as much as to other people.
Sorry. Too wordy. Short version: just do it. Sorry, Nike. 0 -
Wow - there's a lot of good advice here - and not a lot of negativity - which is nice!
As someone else said - you have to WANT this.
You have to want to change your live - really, really want it - because it means you will have to make changes.
Change - of any sort - is difficult - we all know that.
But - this is for YOU - for your health - for your family - so it IS worth it.
I look at it this way - MILLIONS of people spend HOURS watching TV every night - take ONE of those hours and be active - start small - walk - even if it's around your block a few times.
Next - look at what you're eating. Is it a lot of fast food and/or junk food? Are you eating chips, candy, junk like that? None of that food is good for you OR for your family - so start cutting back on it. buy fruit for snacks - grapes, mellon - so you can grab that instead of the chips, candy, etc.
LOG everything you're eating so you can see where your calories are going - this is an eye opener - and why I love MFP.
Once you start doing these thing - on a daily basis - you'll slowly start to see results - and you'll see that it's worth it to keep going -
That YOU'RE worth it!0 -
I am 44 and used to say the same thing. I just don't have time. BUT here's the thing...if anyone treated your child or your grandchildren the way you are treating yourself you would come at them with both barrels.
If what you say is true then you seem to give away a lot of your life to other people. Time to take back. Take the time you need to do some exercise that you like. It may take a while to find it. Don't buy the food you can't eat. Its not gonna kill everyone around you to eat healthy.And say no to other people. Treat yourself the way you treat everyone else because this is it. One chance and at 44/45 the window for getting where we want to be is closing quickly.It gets harder every minute you wait.0 -
I'm 47 and although I have a `BMI of 24 and am 5 ft 8 inches I still have a waist measurement of 38 inches. It's very depressing and as I've had early menopause (40) this hasn't helped. It's tough but persevere and you'll get there. I'm in a slump at the moment but it will get better. Please add me.0
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Most of the advice given so are is good.
Just want to add that I didn't get motivated to lose weight until my doctor showed me my lab results. The result were not good. At that point, I knew if I didn't turn it around I'll be just another statistic. Whatever advice you take to heart, stick with it 100%. Good luck0 -
I'm 45 as well , take baby steps if you don't feel like working out well ... don't !! but make a commitment to just walk for 30-45 EVERYDAY , and keep close track of what you eat and I promise you you will see the good changes in your mind and body
Once you feel ready get on one of those 30 mns workout ( they are plenty out there )
you need to want this !! you need to start somewhere !!0 -
I am 52 and was 0.5 lbs. away from 200 lbs. in January. I didn't want to join the 200 lb. club so I started logging my food and working out. When I got out of obese range I started lifting weights, I am now 12 lbs. away from my goal. Coming up with reasons why you can't won't get you anywhere, and your health is in jeopardy.All your posts are great. Thank you for all of them. No offense taken at all. I am reading and re-reading, even though I am at work. I'm a perfectionist and i know I expect a lot out of myself and when I don't do what I expect it really makes me mad; just not enough to do something about it. Thank you Thank you Thank you
Here are 3 simple things you can do and start losing:
1. Log/measure/weigh your food, no way to know what you are eating if you don't.
2. Don't eat full TDEE, that is the calories needed to maintain not lose, you must eat TDEE minus a deficit, without the deficit you are not going to lose any weight. It should be TDEE -20%, but you can't know if you are really eating TDEE -20% unless you do step 1.
3. Get up and more around more, all the time, wherever you are.0 -
I too have been with MFP on and off. Now I hit a high weight and have gained 25 pounds back and here it is swim suit weather. I am trying to do more walking, watching what I eat and logging again, I have written off fast food since that has been my weakness. Find your weakness and write yourself a goal. Just one. Also maybe you could go for walks with the grandchildren, I bet they would love it! Just don't sit down, that seems to be my downfall, I sit I eat, probably what I should not be eating. Good luck and stay on top of it for yourself, you deserve it and so do your kids and grand kids , they will be so proud of you! DIN DIN Club, do it now, do it now. 0
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Once you make a commitment I think you'll be able to count on support here - but the core of it originates with you not anyone else. Either you decide it's time and you get dedicated or you don't and you make excuses (been there done that myself)
Exercise will help, but you don't need to make it crazy, or even go to a gym. You need to be serious about eating at a deficit. that means weighing all solids/ measuring all liquids that pass your lips. you can start out with a pretty high daily goal due to your size and lose just doing this. Exercise can just be walking more than you are currently. I am down 40 pounds since January, all I've done is eat at a deficit and walk. I walk a lot. as in 6-10 km a day. My pace is much faster now than when i started
Every day that goes by and every pound that comes off/inch that disappears will be more motivation to keep going. . It doesn't need to be complicated because it isn't. It just takes time. You didn't get to this weight overnight and it won't go away over night0
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