Turning it around...

[steakbake]

Approaching 40 and starting to think it's now or never to do something drastic and haul myself into shape that will keep me going for a bit longer than I'm likely to get if I keep going the way I am!

A few years ago (maybe 5 or so) I was pretty fit, doing 10ks, wearing size 32 jeans and had a feeling of being pretty fit, flexible and looking good in a t-shirt. Fastforward a couple of stressful years, a leg reconstruction, falling of the tabs wagon (at least during the week), feeling in a rut at work and generally not keeping an eye on my health, I can feel the limitations of the end of my youth, a jeansize that nearly isn't on the roulette wheel and a fear of some of my poor lifestyle choices closing in on me.

Has anyone embarked on a life-changing episode of a healthkick? What worked best? What was the biggest obstacle? Anyone got some gems to share?

[Andy74]

Approaching 40 and starting to think it's now or never to do something drastic and haul myself into shape that will keep me going for a bit longer than I'm likely to get if I keep going the way I am!

A few years ago (maybe 5 or so) I was pretty fit, doing 10ks, wearing size 32 jeans and had a feeling of being pretty fit, flexible and looking good in a t-shirt. Fastforward a couple of stressful years, a leg reconstruction, falling of the tabs wagon (at least during the week), feeling in a rut at work and generally not keeping an eye on my health, I can feel the limitations of the end of my youth, a jeansize that nearly isn't on the roulette wheel and a fear of some of my poor lifestyle choices closing in on me.

Has anyone embarked on a life-changing episode of a healthkick? What worked best? What was the biggest obstacle? Anyone got some gems to share?

It's tough at 40 or thereabouts - I used to be able to get back into shape if I'd been lazy for a bit pretty quickly - a few runs, a couple of weeks of eating better and that was that.

I'm now still struggling to get the weight of from last Christmas, never mind this one!

I've been back at it though for the last couple of months but the results are really slow now - weight isn't coming off at all but shape wise and fitness wise I can see some change, just don't expect it to be as dramatic a change as you might have been used to.

Diet probably is the main thing, as they say, you can't exercise out a bad one. Then its about being active and measuring it. The key thing that I did was to buy an apple watch and to get competitive about meeting all the activity goals - if you can share activity with someone else and make that competitive then all the better.

It brings it home when you can do a 5k or 10 mile bike ride and still be less than halfway to your suggested goal - it needs work.

I think when you are active you start to see food as fuel and you also see it as how many steps or active calories you would need to cancel it out. I really look at the calorie and fat details now - don't be fooled by cereal bars and sports drinks and things, they are about as bad as mars bars! If you are going to miss chocolate look into nakd bars - they do a cocoa orange one for example that is one of your 5 day and tastes like eating a sweet.

The other thing I did was head along to that Decathlon sports shop and bought a decent amount of gear for all conditions so I was more inclined to cycle or run in the rain or cold. If I buy the stuff for the job I tend to want to use it.

Good luck!

[allmodcons]

Approaching 40 and starting to think it's now or never to do something drastic and haul myself into shape that will keep me going for a bit longer than I'm likely to get if I keep going the way I am!

A few years ago (maybe 5 or so) I was pretty fit, doing 10ks, wearing size 32 jeans and had a feeling of being pretty fit, flexible and looking good in a t-shirt. Fastforward a couple of stressful years, a leg reconstruction, falling of the tabs wagon (at least during the week), feeling in a rut at work and generally not keeping an eye on my health, I can feel the limitations of the end of my youth, a jeansize that nearly isn't on the roulette wheel and a fear of some of my poor lifestyle choices closing in on me.

Has anyone embarked on a life-changing episode of a healthkick? What worked best? What was the biggest obstacle? Anyone got some gems to share?

I doubt you'll find any gems out there SB!

A healthy balanced diet and regular exercise for you I'm afraid :greengrin

The main thing is that you've got to persevere with both. I find that routine is key, especially with exercise.

Stop going to the gym and it's a right ******* getting back in to again.

You could start by changing your username to something more healthy!

[Hibrandenburg]

I'm the wrong side of 50 and have become very sloppy with my training. Becoming a father didn't help because the extra workload means I've got less time and energy to spend on looking after myself. Working shifts isn't ideal either but somehow I will find my way back.

[snooky]

I put on a couple of stone in my 40's and at that time I was probably doing more exercise than I had ever done in my life (which wasn't much anyway, I grant you).
I used to like a pint or six in my prime but these days I'd struggle to drink more than two.

FWIW, one thing I have noticed is how my taste for food has changed from fish and chips/fried egg rolls/pies/steaks to cauliflower/broccoli/cabbage :wink:/soups, etc. It wasn't a deliberate change in diet - it just seemed to come about naturally.

[Greentinted]

Last year I, almost by accident and after many years of ill-health, slipped into a healthier way of life. In terms of body fat I dropped around 116lbs but it wasn't really about the numbers.
A lot of people asked me how it happened so, if you're interested, here's what I posted on my Facebook page:

Recently a good few people have asked that I post something here about my experience of last year and specifically how I ‘managed’ to lose the weight I did. It will do some good for folks in similar situations they said…maybe offer a bit of inspiration, so here goes. As usual with this kind of post, if you don’t want to read on, then, well, fair dos, dinnae. And before I continue, I am well aware that I’m no lifestyle guru type (hahaha – as if) or qualified nutritionist – but that’s kinda the point: the science of it isnae hard!
It is important that I acknowledge the fact that everyone has different reasons for being overweight and unfit. These happen to be mine.
Firstly, I didn't change things, things changed me.
A year ago I was in a s**t place. But I didn’t know. I had stopped caring…about anything and everything. I was going through the motions, killing time until time, as it does, would eventually kill me. I had developed ‘Fat-B*****d Disease’ (Type-2 Diabetes) and shrugged at it every day with my crap blood-glucose levels regulated with Metformin. My lifetime experiences with depressive illness have been well documented on this platform hitherto, but have only recently become something that no longer shames me. This was crucial. Being obese was a symptom of that and not really the issue.
I didn’t set out to lose weight. I didn’t ‘go on a diet’ – that phrase, loaded with connotations, many of them negative, when you think about it, is nonsense as irrespective of the sh***e we may or may not fill our bodies with, we are all always on a diet. And furthermore, to be ‘on a diet’ suggests something finite and if that is the case then it can never be permanent. The diet I had ‘been on’ up until then was killing me and it took a few extremely fearful moments for something inside me to kick my (not insubstantially proportioned) arse.
For years I had deluded myself, and others, by declaring that I was fat and happy, that I was meant to be big and fat (fat: a word that cuts deep if truth be told), that parking myself on a settee in front of the telly or with a book in my hand while eating all sorts of crap was just ‘the way I was’. Because that was all I had ever been.
I would find excuse upon excuse to perpetuate these delusions: my limited mobility, my lack of money (at times), the distractions of my life. But deep down, I ate sh***e and sat on my arse because I was unhappy. There was an emptiness inside – something that needed filled – hence my aim to ‘feel full’ (the language of over-eating – and drinking – is very prescient here), but all the crisps, sweeties, chocolate, pies, bread, cheese, pizzas, kebabs, chippies, etc were never going to satisfy me because that ‘hunger’ is merely a manifestation of something else. My relationship with food had become complicated to the point of addiction – a complication in itself as it is difficult to manage an addiction to something you vitally need. I would avoid weighing myself because I knew the readings would crush parts of me inside. I couldn’t look at images of myself and downright refused not only to look in a mirror, but to have one in my house. This classic denial even extended to my auto-suggesting that my need for larger clothes was solely an inevitability of circumstance and age…you get old, you get fat, right? Erm naw…you don’t. You allow it! It’s a choice; a bad one maybe but down to yourself. So I made other choices, but initially by chance.
In May last year I bought a pair of trainers purely because I liked the colour. They had robust and comfortable insoles which were very impact absorbent. For the first time in many years I could walk a wee bit more than the length of myself and so one day a particular circumstance required that I had no choice but to take a walk of around 8 miles in order to catch a train. Unbeknownst to me on that miserable Sunday morning I had found MY key to feeling better – and that’s the rub; it was my way – it won’t work for everyone – and I had (literally) stumbled upon something which enhanced my well-being.
I liked it.
A couple of days afterwards I walked into a shop in search of similar insoles for my other shoes and got to telling the story of the 8 mile walk and the wifie asked me a simple question - “will you keep it up?” I had no intention to up until that moment (it wasn’t a thing) but after mulling it over thought “why not, let’s see where this can go”, and so it began. But I stress, it was never about weight loss, it was about finding my personal way to feeling better. Fads and fashions never work and neither does trying to emulate someone who is not you, it is so important to find something that does it for you. I could never be arsed with swimming or cycling or going to the gym and I’m restricted in terms of playing most sports, but walking suited me. I could go wherever I wanted, I could change my mind on a whim as to where I went, I could take as little time or as long as suited me and when you're out and about, you're not eating. Crucially, almost obsessively, I did not measure.
Anything!
Getting bogged down with numbers suggests competition and what’s the point of competing when it’s all about your holistic self and ultimately becoming an improved version of that self for the rest of your life.
I stopped buying crap to eat and gradually replaced the comfort food with decent (but not necessarily expensive or tasteless – another myth born out of fat-b*****d denial) stuff. Fruit, veg, grains, white meat, seafoods and absolutely no rubbish. The hardest part was walking past all the sh**e I had previously bought from the vast array of cheap and cheerful comfort food sections. I had to educate and retrain myself. I learned about what was good, what was bad and what was indifferent. My body became more responsive and my mind became sharper. And I FELT better almost immediately.
The walking thing is only a small part of what happened to me, it was addressing the eating problem that was key. And, of course, staying away from measuring myself. I couldn’t care less if I walk 2 or 20 miles, I’m not bothered by what the scales tell me (although I do admit to becoming increasingly curious as time went by) and I only know what clothes size I am cos I have to, erm, wear them. I didn’t set unreasonable, if any, targets for myself. And most importantly, I realised that I genuinely enjoy the walking, it's never a slog, it's an adventure; one which I just cracked on with it quietly and slowly, fascinated that I could feel as good as I do.
Now I still wander about the toon in the same haphazard way and after my intended blow-out over Xmas and New Year the cupboards and fridge contain their usual so-called ‘healthy options’. The next step is to truly absorb that this is how it has to be if I want to feel as well as I can for as long as this life of mine lasts. I still have issues that need addressed and that’s the way it will always be, but I suppose I’m saying that if you can find a way to feel good about yourself and are prepared to meet the end result (however you perceive it) halfway, then that end result will go halfway to meeting you. I am as happy as I am shocked that I feel this way about a complete, and at first very scary, lifestyle change but I’m glad I do it. I think I am a more complete and better person (although the proof of that will live in the minds and opinions of others), I engage in a less acerbic way with people and I’m no longer as confrontational and defensive as I was (yes, I know) and all of that is not about ‘losing weight’ or going on a diet.
It’s my life.
If it makes a difference to anyone looking for motivation or even just a final wee prod, then yes, ok, I find I can dress the way I always wanted to, I can project the person I always was but was too self-conscious to be, I can walk, arm-in-arm along Princes St with a properly beautiful woman and not have my head cowed lest I be the dark-half of that cutting judgement, “what’s a good lookin burd like her dain wi that fat, ugly b*****d?” (well maybe just a wee bit). I can tuck my shirt into my trousers without worrying about the dreaded over-hang and I can eat in company, occasionally even in public now, because no longer do I feel I'm being appraised for who I am by what I'm shovelling into my face - something I was previously only, and often, too happy to do in private.
Finally, although I'm still toiling to come to terms with the strangeness of it, I can be me!
And I am as sure as I can be that I won't go back to being ‘him’. He who is not me and never really was.
And you can be you too…you will be what you will be if you will be what you will be! And that is ultimately what matters most.
Bottom line: stop eating (as much) sh**e and start moving your body around a wee bit. But most importantly - get your head, your inner self, your wholeness - call it what you want - as right as you can. As long as you are you and true to being you, and you find whatever it may be that is right for you, the rest will surely follow.
Simple.

[northstandhibby]

What might be a good way to start getting into the habit again Steakbake is buying a personal stepper for around £25 from Tesco or for less on gumtree. You can do it at home starting lightly and getting the heart-rate going again. Means you don't have to go to the gym if you're not up for going public and soon you'd be wanting to step it up a bit and maybe going for walks outdoors or just generally feeling more like being energetic. Maybe a good starting point for you if you'd rather begin lightly and in private to begin with.

glory glory

[steakbake]

Kinnell, greentinted - that's some effort. Starts off small steps. Incidental exercise seems to be a feature when you read stuff online: not just hammering it out at the gym but walking and making progress.

I've probably got around 3 1/2 stone to try shift. Off to the gym tonight to start some low impact stuff: cycling and maybe try fast walk/run and build up a bit of a sweat.

Sleep seems to be a major factor as well - getting enough of the right kind which drops insulin levels and keeps the cortisol stress hormone at bay.

I tend to find I'm all or nothing and it's going to need to be a mindset change as you'd mentioned, Andy - consistency is key. And the diet is crucial.

I've lost weight before after being in a really sedentary job and also found that as you get "there", the Scheidt you eat gets less and the motivation kind of maintains you.

I'll think about renaming myself something more healthy in due course or if things go according to plan, I'll maybe keep it as an ironic name, modcons.

Snooky - yeah, drinking is bad form. I'm really not much of a drinker at all and have for years been pretty much TT, but in the past few years have probably had more beers, even infrequent ones, than at any other time in my life.

North - they don't need to bring me out through the walls yet, but I have got some untouched weights I used to do which once I'm feeling a bit more flexible, will make an appearance in use rather than door stops!

It'll be hard yards, but that's been some great stuff to think over while I'm churning the k's out slowly on the treadmill.

[MSK]

What might be a good way to start getting into the habit again Steakbake is buying a personal stepper for around £25 from Tesco or for less on gumtree. You can do it at home starting lightly and getting the heart-rate going again. Means you don't have to go to the gym if you're not up for going public and soon you'd be wanting to step it up a bit and maybe going for walks outdoors or just generally feeling more like being energetic. Maybe a good starting point for you if you'd rather begin lightly and in private to begin with.

glory gloryAgree with that, although members of Fountain gym myself & Wife mainly use it for jaccuzi, swimming & steam room ( Wife goes to aqua aerobic classes) we bought one of those ab gadgets (as seen on tv😄) its great for a full core workout.

I have dumbells, kettle bells, curl bar & boxing pads & set myself a 20 minute workout each day with one day rest. I do rapid 30 second bursts with 10 second rest inbetween. I gave up smoking three years ago & cut my alcohol intake (particularly beer & lagers)

My weight yo-yos but recently I lost 3.5 stone quite quickly, that down to excercise, healthy eating & portion control. Better weather & I will ramp it up a bit by getting the bike out & hitting the innocent railway line.

Ive just signed up as a platelet donor having previously donated blood so now is as good a time as ever to get myself back into shape, at 50 😄

[heretoday]

I was given a high cholesterol reading in a blood test although I wasn't particularly overweight.

I got the level down by going for 3 mile walks twice a week, eating more fish and, I'm sorry to say, giving up three favourites - peanut butter, digestive biscuits and beer. There's also Benecol margarine and yoghurt drinks but they're quite pricey and it's debatable whether they work.

[Jim44]

Approaching 40 and starting to think it's now or never to do something drastic and haul myself into shape that will keep me going for a bit longer than I'm likely to get if I keep going the way I am!

A few years ago (maybe 5 or so) I was pretty fit, doing 10ks, wearing size 32 jeans and had a feeling of being pretty fit, flexible and looking good in a t-shirt. Fastforward a couple of stressful years, a leg reconstruction, falling of the tabs wagon (at least during the week), feeling in a rut at work and generally not keeping an eye on my health, I can feel the limitations of the end of my youth, a jeansize that nearly isn't on the roulette wheel and a fear of some of my poor lifestyle choices closing in on me.

Has anyone embarked on a life-changing episode of a healthkick? What worked best? What was the biggest obstacle? Anyone got some gems to share?

Stay away from the old Greggs' Steakbakes for a start.:greengrin Seriously though, while I've never been too overweight, I think my three or four games of golf (sometimes more) per week have kept me on an even keel, healthwise. I enjoy a wee bevvy like the next guy but regular exercise does the trick for me.

[Hibrandenburg]

Last year I, almost by accident and after many years of ill-health, slipped into a healthier way of life. In terms of body fat I dropped around 116lbs but it wasn't really about the numbers.
A lot of people asked me how it happened so, if you're interested, here's what I posted on my Facebook page:

Recently a good few people have asked that I post something here about my experience of last year and specifically how I ‘managed’ to lose the weight I did. It will do some good for folks in similar situations they said…maybe offer a bit of inspiration, so here goes. As usual with this kind of post, if you don’t want to read on, then, well, fair dos, dinnae. And before I continue, I am well aware that I’m no lifestyle guru type (hahaha – as if) or qualified nutritionist – but that’s kinda the point: the science of it isnae hard!
It is important that I acknowledge the fact that everyone has different reasons for being overweight and unfit. These happen to be mine.
Firstly, I didn't change things, things changed me.
A year ago I was in a s**t place. But I didn’t know. I had stopped caring…about anything and everything. I was going through the motions, killing time until time, as it does, would eventually kill me. I had developed ‘Fat-B*****d Disease’ (Type-2 Diabetes) and shrugged at it every day with my crap blood-glucose levels regulated with Metformin. My lifetime experiences with depressive illness have been well documented on this platform hitherto, but have only recently become something that no longer shames me. This was crucial. Being obese was a symptom of that and not really the issue.
I didn’t set out to lose weight. I didn’t ‘go on a diet’ – that phrase, loaded with connotations, many of them negative, when you think about it, is nonsense as irrespective of the sh***e we may or may not fill our bodies with, we are all always on a diet. And furthermore, to be ‘on a diet’ suggests something finite and if that is the case then it can never be permanent. The diet I had ‘been on’ up until then was killing me and it took a few extremely fearful moments for something inside me to kick my (not insubstantially proportioned) arse.
For years I had deluded myself, and others, by declaring that I was fat and happy, that I was meant to be big and fat (fat: a word that cuts deep if truth be told), that parking myself on a settee in front of the telly or with a book in my hand while eating all sorts of crap was just ‘the way I was’. Because that was all I had ever been.
I would find excuse upon excuse to perpetuate these delusions: my limited mobility, my lack of money (at times), the distractions of my life. But deep down, I ate sh***e and sat on my arse because I was unhappy. There was an emptiness inside – something that needed filled – hence my aim to ‘feel full’ (the language of over-eating – and drinking – is very prescient here), but all the crisps, sweeties, chocolate, pies, bread, cheese, pizzas, kebabs, chippies, etc were never going to satisfy me because that ‘hunger’ is merely a manifestation of something else. My relationship with food had become complicated to the point of addiction – a complication in itself as it is difficult to manage an addiction to something you vitally need. I would avoid weighing myself because I knew the readings would crush parts of me inside. I couldn’t look at images of myself and downright refused not only to look in a mirror, but to have one in my house. This classic denial even extended to my auto-suggesting that my need for larger clothes was solely an inevitability of circumstance and age…you get old, you get fat, right? Erm naw…you don’t. You allow it! It’s a choice; a bad one maybe but down to yourself. So I made other choices, but initially by chance.
In May last year I bought a pair of trainers purely because I liked the colour. They had robust and comfortable insoles which were very impact absorbent. For the first time in many years I could walk a wee bit more than the length of myself and so one day a particular circumstance required that I had no choice but to take a walk of around 8 miles in order to catch a train. Unbeknownst to me on that miserable Sunday morning I had found MY key to feeling better – and that’s the rub; it was my way – it won’t work for everyone – and I had (literally) stumbled upon something which enhanced my well-being.
I liked it.
A couple of days afterwards I walked into a shop in search of similar insoles for my other shoes and got to telling the story of the 8 mile walk and the wifie asked me a simple question - “will you keep it up?” I had no intention to up until that moment (it wasn’t a thing) but after mulling it over thought “why not, let’s see where this can go”, and so it began. But I stress, it was never about weight loss, it was about finding my personal way to feeling better. Fads and fashions never work and neither does trying to emulate someone who is not you, it is so important to find something that does it for you. I could never be arsed with swimming or cycling or going to the gym and I’m restricted in terms of playing most sports, but walking suited me. I could go wherever I wanted, I could change my mind on a whim as to where I went, I could take as little time or as long as suited me and when you're out and about, you're not eating. Crucially, almost obsessively, I did not measure.
Anything!
Getting bogged down with numbers suggests competition and what’s the point of competing when it’s all about your holistic self and ultimately becoming an improved version of that self for the rest of your life.
I stopped buying crap to eat and gradually replaced the comfort food with decent (but not necessarily expensive or tasteless – another myth born out of fat-b*****d denial) stuff. Fruit, veg, grains, white meat, seafoods and absolutely no rubbish. The hardest part was walking past all the sh**e I had previously bought from the vast array of cheap and cheerful comfort food sections. I had to educate and retrain myself. I learned about what was good, what was bad and what was indifferent. My body became more responsive and my mind became sharper. And I FELT better almost immediately.
The walking thing is only a small part of what happened to me, it was addressing the eating problem that was key. And, of course, staying away from measuring myself. I couldn’t care less if I walk 2 or 20 miles, I’m not bothered by what the scales tell me (although I do admit to becoming increasingly curious as time went by) and I only know what clothes size I am cos I have to, erm, wear them. I didn’t set unreasonable, if any, targets for myself. And most importantly, I realised that I genuinely enjoy the walking, it's never a slog, it's an adventure; one which I just cracked on with it quietly and slowly, fascinated that I could feel as good as I do.
Now I still wander about the toon in the same haphazard way and after my intended blow-out over Xmas and New Year the cupboards and fridge contain their usual so-called ‘healthy options’. The next step is to truly absorb that this is how it has to be if I want to feel as well as I can for as long as this life of mine lasts. I still have issues that need addressed and that’s the way it will always be, but I suppose I’m saying that if you can find a way to feel good about yourself and are prepared to meet the end result (however you perceive it) halfway, then that end result will go halfway to meeting you. I am as happy as I am shocked that I feel this way about a complete, and at first very scary, lifestyle change but I’m glad I do it. I think I am a more complete and better person (although the proof of that will live in the minds and opinions of others), I engage in a less acerbic way with people and I’m no longer as confrontational and defensive as I was (yes, I know) and all of that is not about ‘losing weight’ or going on a diet.
It’s my life.
If it makes a difference to anyone looking for motivation or even just a final wee prod, then yes, ok, I find I can dress the way I always wanted to, I can project the person I always was but was too self-conscious to be, I can walk, arm-in-arm along Princes St with a properly beautiful woman and not have my head cowed lest I be the dark-half of that cutting judgement, “what’s a good lookin burd like her dain wi that fat, ugly b*****d?” (well maybe just a wee bit). I can tuck my shirt into my trousers without worrying about the dreaded over-hang and I can eat in company, occasionally even in public now, because no longer do I feel I'm being appraised for who I am by what I'm shovelling into my face - something I was previously only, and often, too happy to do in private.
Finally, although I'm still toiling to come to terms with the strangeness of it, I can be me!
And I am as sure as I can be that I won't go back to being ‘him’. He who is not me and never really was.
And you can be you too…you will be what you will be if you will be what you will be! And that is ultimately what matters most.
Bottom line: stop eating (as much) sh**e and start moving your body around a wee bit. But most importantly - get your head, your inner self, your wholeness - call it what you want - as right as you can. As long as you are you and true to being you, and you find whatever it may be that is right for you, the rest will surely follow.
Simple.

One of the best things I've read on here. Thanks for sharing.

[Pete]

I was pretty overweight about a year ago so I took up jogging again. I was finding it really hard to fit it in though and my knee was also playing up. I also felt like I was putting it back on whenever I had a weeks break.

I stopped running, concentrated on my diet instead and have never felt better. Most days I have an omelette for breakfast, some meat and veg for tea and in between I have carrot pieces, berries and a Tupperware dish full of mixed salad. I've cut out bread and milk almost completely.

For the smoking, read Allan Carrs book. If it doesn't work, read it again.

Most of all, stop worrying about it and be happy. Paint a picture, learn the guitar...expressing yourself is underestimated. I know someone who is 38 and has recently been given months to live due to cancer which rams home how short our time here is.

[McD]

Last year I, almost by accident and after many years of ill-health, slipped into a healthier way of life. In terms of body fat I dropped around 116lbs but it wasn't really about the numbers.
A lot of people asked me how it happened so, if you're interested, here's what I posted on my Facebook page:

Recently a good few people have asked that I post something here about my experience of last year and specifically how I ‘managed’ to lose the weight I did. It will do some good for folks in similar situations they said…maybe offer a bit of inspiration, so here goes. As usual with this kind of post, if you don’t want to read on, then, well, fair dos, dinnae. And before I continue, I am well aware that I’m no lifestyle guru type (hahaha – as if) or qualified nutritionist – but that’s kinda the point: the science of it isnae hard!
It is important that I acknowledge the fact that everyone has different reasons for being overweight and unfit. These happen to be mine.
Firstly, I didn't change things, things changed me.
A year ago I was in a s**t place. But I didn’t know. I had stopped caring…about anything and everything. I was going through the motions, killing time until time, as it does, would eventually kill me. I had developed ‘Fat-B*****d Disease’ (Type-2 Diabetes) and shrugged at it every day with my crap blood-glucose levels regulated with Metformin. My lifetime experiences with depressive illness have been well documented on this platform hitherto, but have only recently become something that no longer shames me. This was crucial. Being obese was a symptom of that and not really the issue.
I didn’t set out to lose weight. I didn’t ‘go on a diet’ – that phrase, loaded with connotations, many of them negative, when you think about it, is nonsense as irrespective of the sh***e we may or may not fill our bodies with, we are all always on a diet. And furthermore, to be ‘on a diet’ suggests something finite and if that is the case then it can never be permanent. The diet I had ‘been on’ up until then was killing me and it took a few extremely fearful moments for something inside me to kick my (not insubstantially proportioned) arse.
For years I had deluded myself, and others, by declaring that I was fat and happy, that I was meant to be big and fat (fat: a word that cuts deep if truth be told), that parking myself on a settee in front of the telly or with a book in my hand while eating all sorts of crap was just ‘the way I was’. Because that was all I had ever been.
I would find excuse upon excuse to perpetuate these delusions: my limited mobility, my lack of money (at times), the distractions of my life. But deep down, I ate sh***e and sat on my arse because I was unhappy. There was an emptiness inside – something that needed filled – hence my aim to ‘feel full’ (the language of over-eating – and drinking – is very prescient here), but all the crisps, sweeties, chocolate, pies, bread, cheese, pizzas, kebabs, chippies, etc were never going to satisfy me because that ‘hunger’ is merely a manifestation of something else. My relationship with food had become complicated to the point of addiction – a complication in itself as it is difficult to manage an addiction to something you vitally need. I would avoid weighing myself because I knew the readings would crush parts of me inside. I couldn’t look at images of myself and downright refused not only to look in a mirror, but to have one in my house. This classic denial even extended to my auto-suggesting that my need for larger clothes was solely an inevitability of circumstance and age…you get old, you get fat, right? Erm naw…you don’t. You allow it! It’s a choice; a bad one maybe but down to yourself. So I made other choices, but initially by chance.
In May last year I bought a pair of trainers purely because I liked the colour. They had robust and comfortable insoles which were very impact absorbent. For the first time in many years I could walk a wee bit more than the length of myself and so one day a particular circumstance required that I had no choice but to take a walk of around 8 miles in order to catch a train. Unbeknownst to me on that miserable Sunday morning I had found MY key to feeling better – and that’s the rub; it was my way – it won’t work for everyone – and I had (literally) stumbled upon something which enhanced my well-being.
I liked it.
A couple of days afterwards I walked into a shop in search of similar insoles for my other shoes and got to telling the story of the 8 mile walk and the wifie asked me a simple question - “will you keep it up?” I had no intention to up until that moment (it wasn’t a thing) but after mulling it over thought “why not, let’s see where this can go”, and so it began. But I stress, it was never about weight loss, it was about finding my personal way to feeling better. Fads and fashions never work and neither does trying to emulate someone who is not you, it is so important to find something that does it for you. I could never be arsed with swimming or cycling or going to the gym and I’m restricted in terms of playing most sports, but walking suited me. I could go wherever I wanted, I could change my mind on a whim as to where I went, I could take as little time or as long as suited me and when you're out and about, you're not eating. Crucially, almost obsessively, I did not measure.
Anything!
Getting bogged down with numbers suggests competition and what’s the point of competing when it’s all about your holistic self and ultimately becoming an improved version of that self for the rest of your life.
I stopped buying crap to eat and gradually replaced the comfort food with decent (but not necessarily expensive or tasteless – another myth born out of fat-b*****d denial) stuff. Fruit, veg, grains, white meat, seafoods and absolutely no rubbish. The hardest part was walking past all the sh**e I had previously bought from the vast array of cheap and cheerful comfort food sections. I had to educate and retrain myself. I learned about what was good, what was bad and what was indifferent. My body became more responsive and my mind became sharper. And I FELT better almost immediately.
The walking thing is only a small part of what happened to me, it was addressing the eating problem that was key. And, of course, staying away from measuring myself. I couldn’t care less if I walk 2 or 20 miles, I’m not bothered by what the scales tell me (although I do admit to becoming increasingly curious as time went by) and I only know what clothes size I am cos I have to, erm, wear them. I didn’t set unreasonable, if any, targets for myself. And most importantly, I realised that I genuinely enjoy the walking, it's never a slog, it's an adventure; one which I just cracked on with it quietly and slowly, fascinated that I could feel as good as I do.
Now I still wander about the toon in the same haphazard way and after my intended blow-out over Xmas and New Year the cupboards and fridge contain their usual so-called ‘healthy options’. The next step is to truly absorb that this is how it has to be if I want to feel as well as I can for as long as this life of mine lasts. I still have issues that need addressed and that’s the way it will always be, but I suppose I’m saying that if you can find a way to feel good about yourself and are prepared to meet the end result (however you perceive it) halfway, then that end result will go halfway to meeting you. I am as happy as I am shocked that I feel this way about a complete, and at first very scary, lifestyle change but I’m glad I do it. I think I am a more complete and better person (although the proof of that will live in the minds and opinions of others), I engage in a less acerbic way with people and I’m no longer as confrontational and defensive as I was (yes, I know) and all of that is not about ‘losing weight’ or going on a diet.
It’s my life.
If it makes a difference to anyone looking for motivation or even just a final wee prod, then yes, ok, I find I can dress the way I always wanted to, I can project the person I always was but was too self-conscious to be, I can walk, arm-in-arm along Princes St with a properly beautiful woman and not have my head cowed lest I be the dark-half of that cutting judgement, “what’s a good lookin burd like her dain wi that fat, ugly b*****d?” (well maybe just a wee bit). I can tuck my shirt into my trousers without worrying about the dreaded over-hang and I can eat in company, occasionally even in public now, because no longer do I feel I'm being appraised for who I am by what I'm shovelling into my face - something I was previously only, and often, too happy to do in private.
Finally, although I'm still toiling to come to terms with the strangeness of it, I can be me!
And I am as sure as I can be that I won't go back to being ‘him’. He who is not me and never really was.
And you can be you too…you will be what you will be if you will be what you will be! And that is ultimately what matters most.
Bottom line: stop eating (as much) sh**e and start moving your body around a wee bit. But most importantly - get your head, your inner self, your wholeness - call it what you want - as right as you can. As long as you are you and true to being you, and you find whatever it may be that is right for you, the rest will surely follow.
Simple.


terrific effort mate, and thank you for sharing. Inspirational :aok:

[Holmesdale Hibs]

Greentinted - that's a great read and an unbelievable achievement, take a bow.

My peak unfitness was in 2002 when I was out of shape due to the student diet and lifestyle (booze and lack of time due to combining study and part time work). The turning point came when I was playing football and had was coughing, smoking and absolutely ****ed at half time. I was both both worried and embarrassed.

I ended up registring for the London Marathon to force myself to sort the fitness out. It was a massive struggle but I made it in the end and have been in decent shape ever since. For me, giving myself a target made the difference otherwise I'd lose focus.

More recently i joined a boxing gym which has taken my fitness up a notch and I'd recommend to anyone that wants to try something a bit different. I should have tried it sooner to be honest but I was a bit intimidated so went with a mate for the first time. Turns out it's not intimidating at all. I only do the circuits and haven't done any sparring but might give it a go one day. It's a great work out for the whole body and is more fun than just lifting weights.

Good luck with it all. Getting started is the hard part but once you get in to it then it becomes more effort to stop.

[Just Jimmy]

I'm the opposite. I'm 31 but I've always been skinny. I'm active and have an active job. When i was turning 30 i decided i was sick of feeling crap with no energy etc. I decided i was going to bulk up with the minimum goal of just feeling better physically.

I spoke to a mate who is a PT and he basically said don't half ass it. Fix the diet first. No gym until you've kept your eating plan going for 6 weeks solid. So i did. Binned fizzy juice and other crap and started eating solid carbs and high protein diet. 6 weeks later i started doing a programme of weights and cardio.

In just over a year I've gained 2 stone. I'm at the heaviest I've ever been. I feel better, i don't get ill as easy anymore and i generally feel good about what I've achieved but I'm now looking to get even fitter and I'm taking on cardio challenges etc.

It becomes a life style and whilst it's not easy it is incredibly rewarding.

Just don't be the guy taking pictures in the mirror at the gym 😂

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[ColinNish]

It's really easy to slip out of the gym/healthy eating routine. I'm trying to get back into it after a year of messing about and going to gym intermittently. They do definitely go hand in hand as when I was going to the gym every weekday it did make me think about not eating that chocolate bar or biscuit as why go to all that effort at the gym. One of my problems is I like to go to classes at the gym and with a recent house move I can't get to the morning class in time. But after reading this thread I have made my mind up to get back to it tomorrow.

[Colr]

Approaching 40 and starting to think it's now or never to do something drastic and haul myself into shape that will keep me going for a bit longer than I'm likely to get if I keep going the way I am!

A few years ago (maybe 5 or so) I was pretty fit, doing 10ks, wearing size 32 jeans and had a feeling of being pretty fit, flexible and looking good in a t-shirt. Fastforward a couple of stressful years, a leg reconstruction, falling of the tabs wagon (at least during the week), feeling in a rut at work and generally not keeping an eye on my health, I can feel the limitations of the end of my youth, a jeansize that nearly isn't on the roulette wheel and a fear of some of my poor lifestyle choices closing in on me.

Has anyone embarked on a life-changing episode of a healthkick? What worked best? What was the biggest obstacle? Anyone got some gems to share?

I lost 35kg last year, much of it over a sustained 3 month period.

It's cost me an entire new wardrobe of clothes!! I'm now the same size and weight I was at 28 years ago.

[steakbake]

I lost 35kg last year, much of it over a sustained 3 month period.

It's cost me an entire new wardrobe of clothes!! I'm now the same size and weight I was at 28 years ago.

Haha you legend! 3 months?? And at half a century - nice going!

[steakbake]

It's really easy to slip out of the gym/healthy eating routine. I'm trying to get back into it after a year of messing about and going to gym intermittently. They do definitely go hand in hand as when I was going to the gym every weekday it did make me think about not eating that chocolate bar or biscuit as why go to all that effort at the gym. One of my problems is I like to go to classes at the gym and with a recent house move I can't get to the morning class in time. But after reading this thread I have made my mind up to get back to it tomorrow.

Nice one - since starting this thread, I've been along to the gym yesterday evening and today. Plan to keep it up a few times a week, but morning works best because it sets you up, exactly as you say - no real temptation. That's what has worked for me in the past.

You also feel quite "clean" on the inside, which kind of knocks any temptation to reach for a ciggy with a coffee.

Also read a very good blog by a guy who found that his thinking changed after breaking into a gym habit.

He started to recognise how lazy he actually was after seeing how much effort it actually took to burn a 100 calories. His mindset changed to "I could have that bag of crisps, but I can't be bothered going to the effort of burning it off - so what would I rather have, the crisps and time at the gym or no crisps and time to do something else less punishing". I like that thinking.

[steakbake]

I was pretty overweight about a year ago so I took up jogging again. I was finding it really hard to fit it in though and my knee was also playing up. I also felt like I was putting it back on whenever I had a weeks break.

I stopped running, concentrated on my diet instead and have never felt better. Most days I have an omelette for breakfast, some meat and veg for tea and in between I have carrot pieces, berries and a Tupperware dish full of mixed salad. I've cut out bread and milk almost completely.

For the smoking, read Allan Carrs book. If it doesn't work, read it again.

Most of all, stop worrying about it and be happy. Paint a picture, learn the guitar...expressing yourself is underestimated. I know someone who is 38 and has recently been given months to live due to cancer which rams home how short our time here is.

(Sorry - multiquote doesn't work for me).

You are quite right. You can get totally tied up in it and at the end of the day.

I have read Allan Carr's book - it worked for me before. I've kind of found that feeling pretty fresh from having done some activity takes care of the work-day cigarettes.

Very much agree with your last comment. It's about other things in life, 'smelling the roses'. Easy to forget it and get drawn into the unimportant stuff, until something like that wakes everyone up from autopilot. Nothing is guaranteed or sure and I'm sorry to read of someone being so ill when so young.

[Colr]

Haha you legend! 3 months?? And at half a century - nice going!

For me it was dieting. When your overweight its hard going exercising anyway but I dropped down to 1800calories a day initially then right down to circa 800calories a day once I'd got used to that and the weight really dropped off.

I quit drinking (and the bad eating that accompanies it) and carbs. Breakfast is eggs or skyr yogurt, salad for lunch and meat/fish with veg for dinner.

I find after about 5/6 weeks I feel a bit malnourished so eased of for a bit before re-applying myself.

Once I was lighter I could enjoy running but only first thing in the morning in good weather. I don't think exercise helped me lose weight but it certainly made me feel better and I'll take the stairs wherever I can rather than a lift or escalator.

If you can get through the initial couple of weeks, the results encourage you to keep going.

Old clothes went to suitedandbootedcentre.org.uk

[Moulin Yarns]

Good luck Steakbake.

I am 60 and going to the docs for an MOT and I know my weight will be raised as I am about 12st 9lb. low carb or reducing calories is the way I will have to go.

[ColinNish]

I read Allan Carr's stop smoking book but would never get to the end of it coz it meant you had to stop smoking, lol.

Zyban tablets is what got me off the fags, think they're banned now but best thing i ever did. 10 years and counting. :)

[Pretty Boy]

Best advice I can give is if you have a slip up or 2, which will happen, don't think 'that's it, messed up, waste of time'. Accept it happens and get on with it again. There really is no magic cure, eat better and move more.

A couple of years ago I had let myself get in a bit of a state. Weight had sneaked (back) on. I followed the NHS couch to 5K running plan and cleaned up the diet. I'm now well into training for a marathon in May and have ran several 5, 10 and 12Ks in the meantime. Find an excercise you enjoy and stick with it.

I hear women in my work talking about plans and points and so on and it all just sounds over complicated nonsense. None of them ever seem to lose any weight and I think a lot of that is down to them being so obsessed with their diets that all they talk about is food so it's always on their mind.

For me I need the odd wake up call now and then. My girlfiends dad had a heart attack just when I started taking a bit more care off myself, he's only in his early 50s and it was almost entirely down to his lifestyle. I also have my own 1st child on the way and don't want to set a bad example and want to be able to be active and do fun stuff.

[Glory Lurker]

This is a fantastic thread.

[Smartie]

This is a fantastic thread.

It really is.

I'm in a bit of a rut. I've never been the slimmest, and carrying a few pounds (stone) too many really put paid to my amateur football career. That along with being pish at football.

I've always had the age of 40 down as being a bit of a landmark, and I'm 40 this October. I reckon you get away with murder up until that age, and from then on things start to catch up with you.

I need to start getting my act together and there have been many good points made on the thread, so thanks chaps.

[NAE NOOKIE]

For me it was the walking football ........ I hadn't played even 5 a sides for over 15 years and apart from a wee bit of hill walking I didn't take much exercise. On my first session at the walking football I didn't even last half an hour, I was stunned at how unfit I was.

Now nearly 2 years later I fit clothes that were too small for me back then and I play 3 x 90 minutes of walking football every week. Unfortunately I haven't been able to quit the fags and so my legs still suffer from the lack of oxygen to them which means I tend to cramp up at long tournaments. I still eat and drink as much as I did before, but at least I'm a bit fitter and a bit slimmer :greengrin

I think my point is that if like me you lack any form of self control or self discipline then team sports, especially a sport you love could be the way to go ..... it beats walking machines, jogging on your own and stuff like that hands down. I'm even considering trying yet again to at least cut the fags to the bare bones for a couple of tournaments we have coming up coz I don't want to let my team mates down.

[MSK]

On the same token, if any of you guys fancy slogging it out at the Holy Ground with fellow hibbies then I would recommend hibs Ffit football fans fitness programme. Run by volunteers it is a 12 week course split into food, nutrition & excercise. Most of the training/excercise is done in the changing rooms, around the pitch, under the East & South concourse area & occasionaly up & down the steps of the East stand.

The banter & support throughout the 12 weeks is brilliant & at the end of it you will most def see changes around your girth & of course also in your fitness levels.

The most recent intake was Jan but keep your eyes peeled for the next intake. A few on here have completed the course & would agree its a great 12 weeks.

[ColinNish]

Made it to the gym today. Well pleased with myself. 👍

[The_Exile]

A lot of us seem to be in the same boat, recognising the weights creeping on and we're perhaps not the healthiest but at least realising and wanting to do something about it. I piled a few stone on after I had issues with shin splints, stopped walking everywhere and started eating rubbish, went from 9 and a half stone and very lean to almost 14 stone with a fat-pack in 6 months! Took up cycling a few years ago and really hammered it last year, with that, stopping drinking, not eating so much rubbish the weight fell off me and I dropped back down to 11 stone within a few months.

I find it quite easy to cut weight but also seem to fall into a bit of a trough sometimes when the motivation escapes me during the winter. There's a cycling app called Zwift where you can ride up and down imaginary mountains from the comfort of your own home so that's this winters salvation hopefully! Thinking of investing into some cheap home gym equipment and trying to make exercising every day a habit.