Fit in your 40's (with Pics)

I turned 44 this week. And sweet Jeebuz, that's a big pic...

_BlahBlah_BlackSheep_ wrote: »

I turned 44 this week. And sweet Jeebuz, that's a big pic...

Whoa! You look amazing!

43 here. Hope to be ready to show some results soon but it's nice to know we are all working hard in our 40's.

First pic age 42 - 180lbs and in the best shape of my life.

Second pic (the before) age 37 and 270 lbs

45 years old, 5'5, about 159 in the first pics, 151 in the second, so still technically "overweight." I run, lift weights (not as often as I should), and walk 2-3 miles a day when I'm not running. I was sidelined a couple weeks recently for a flare-up from my heel spur, but back to running again. I eat about 1800 calories a day Monday through Friday, then eat whatever I want on weekends. Not that I go crazy, but I don't log my food. Gives my brain a break from obsessing... I call it Maintenance Practice.

inquilter01 wrote: »

I like seeing all this motivation for 40-somethings. Unfortunately I have fallen into that trap of I'm older so it doesn't matter anymore. I hit it in my late 30's and am now 41. I have tried off and on to do something but that thought still comes back. Any thoughts on what finally made you realize that it didn't have to be that way?

That's how I felt at ~38. I thought, "Meh. I look fine for my age." And I did. I'm not a model or actress. How I look doesn't really matter. But then a series of little things happened. I had my 20th HS reunion and one of my classmates who was just like me (totally nonathletic) had just started doing triathalon stuff. (Hey, she's my age, if she can do it...) My older brother and my niece were doing 5k races together. (Hey, they're genetically similar to me. if they can do it...) And I got my naval pierced and my first tattoo on my stomach and I wanted to show them off. Then a friend of a friend told me about the Warrior Dash and ... I wanted to be a viking!!!

I started C25k and MFP, not even caring if I lost weight. I didn't think I would, because nothing else ever worked. But in six months, I was at my goal weight and jumping fire in the Warrior Dash. Another few months later, I was winning medals in 5k and 10k races. I took up weight lifting after that.

Since then, there's been times I lost my mojo, thanks in part to injury or depression or depression FROM injury, deaths in the family, times it just wasn't a priority, etc. Some would call me a failure, but if the worst thing I did after devastating loss was eat too much, that's a win in my book.

inquilter01 wrote: »

I like seeing all this motivation for 40-somethings. Unfortunately I have fallen into that trap of I'm older so it doesn't matter anymore. I hit it in my late 30's and am now 41. I have tried off and on to do something but that thought still comes back. Any thoughts on what finally made you realize that it didn't have to be that way?

For me it was 245lbs, and the realization that they guy who used to be active, was now another middle age guy getting fat. Blood pressure up, stress, and I was seeing the prospect of worse health problems ahead. I had become ashamed of who I had let myself become.