Advice on a plan forward

NPNJ520

NPNJ520

New member
Hi everyone,

Really glad to have joined here...So ive fluctuated in weight my whole life but as a young adult it was way easier to lose the weight.. id put my mind to it.. jog until i drop and eat very little which always seemed to work lol.. Thats not working for me any longer as a 40 year old.. i gained allot of weight from 35-40 and i tried 3 times in that span to go on a diet following the same steps as i did when younger and they all failed miserably. I lost very little weight compared to what i did in that time frame in the past.. and what i think was a bigger problem is the motivations behind my weight loss have changed. when i younger looking good for girls and nights out and college were very strong motivators... now working and having a family those motivations dont work any longer and im searching for something that puts me in that zone that keeps me excited during a long weight loss process.

Just wondering has anyone else gone through a change in what motivates you to keep a diet going? if yes, what did ya do? .. also is there any tips that you all can give about what changes i should make as an older guy trying to lose weight.

Thanks all!

NPNJ520
 
With a family, you've got a built-in motivation! To keep up with them, to look good for them and most especially, to stay alive for them! (Don't know how much extra weight you're carrying, but it can be a real life-shortener.)
I'm not a guy, so I'll leave more targeted tips to those who are - there are plenty of older guys here - those who've already lost the weight, and those who are still working on it! Best wishes for your success. :)
 
Hi mate and welcome!

Firstly 40 isn’t old!

When I was in my teens and early 20’s I was very active; jogging, playing cricket, hitting the gym and cycling regularly. My reason for doing this was really about cricket. I played competitively and a high (not professional) level and wanted to remain competitive. Once work got in the way of cricket my training fell away and a serious injury occurred. I was out of it and just didn’t get back in. Years and years later I started walking as a steps competition at work. This lead to more and more walking then more challenging hiking and now I’m cycling every day and hitting the home gym 5 days a week.

My motivation started as competition at work but then once I got through the initial hard part and boredom of walking the streets at a slow pace for 2 hours a day I really started to enjoy exercise again. My motivation grew and grew. Especially once I became the pace setter on steep off road hikes! Now I’m honestly loving life knowing that I’m well and truly on my way to being close to my peak fitness level.

The main thing that I guess has helped me along is that while I’ve celebrated milestones along the way I’ve never really been trying to achieve anything, I’ve known the whole time that I’m losing weight and getting healthy but it’s more about enjoying life; getting under 100kg was a massive milestone for me then every 5kg thereafter down to 84 BUT my weight has increased to 87 now while still losing fat because I’m gaining muscle mass. My point here is you may find it helpful to set goals but keep them short term; for me the BMI calculators set my healthy weight at 67kg. If I set my goal at 67kg I’d be extremely disheartened by now and would have given up long ago. 67 is just not feasible for me unless I want to drop my muscle mass (which I don’t; I LOVE being the strong guy in small bulk).

Anyway I’ve rambled enough. To sum up I take my motivation from enjoying life and setting myself mini challenges along the way (my current one is making a particular hill climb on the bike easy). as To what motivates you ... only you can tell yourself that BUT keep your goals realistic and achievable.

Remember SMART GOALS...

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time based

MOST OF ALL THOUGH HAVE FUN AND ENJIY THE JOURNEY!
 
Welcome to the forum!

I think motivations change for many people as they go through life, which is pretty normal. It also becomes harder for most people to lose weight. Part of this is a loss of muscle mass over time, as well as hormonal changes (dropping testosterone levels, for one).

Finding an activity that you enjoy is one of the best ways to keep your activity level up. It really doesn't matter what the activity is, as long as it's getting your heart rate up! Building up muscle mass is important for overall body composition as well as increasing your BMR.

Have you thought about logging your food and/or exercise? Many of our members find this very useful - check out our Weight Loss Diary section.

Good luck and I look forward to reading about your progress.
 
Hey thanks for the replies!

i do like to walk and my son likes to walk as well.. maybe a long walk per day can be a good start. Ive taken this past week to read this forum and try and get myself a bit more knowledgeable on how to lose weight the right way.. im finding that the more i do this the more im targeting in on a date to try again. im definitely going to use the resources here track my food and exercise once i begin.

Thanks everyone,
 
I'm 51 and have tried diet and exercise for 40 years and just got fatter. I lost 130 lbs at age 50. Went from a 48-32 jeans to a 32-32. 4XL shirt to a medium in one year but it wasn't by doing what everybody had told me all my life, eat less and exercise more.

I lost the weight when I completely quit sugar, all grains, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. I don't cheat ever.

Learn what raises your insulin and stay far from it.
 
NPNJ520 said:
Hey thanks for the replies!

i do like to walk and my son likes to walk as well.. maybe a long walk per day can be a good start. Ive taken this past week to read this forum and try and get myself a bit more knowledgeable on how to lose weight the right way.. im finding that the more i do this the more im targeting in on a date to try again. im definitely going to use the resources here track my food and exercise once i begin.

Thanks everyone,
Click to expand...

That's great - being mentally ready and setting yourself up for success is awesome! Looking forward to seeing you around here!
 
R H Clark said:
I'm 51 and have tried diet and exercise for 40 years and just got fatter. I lost 130 lbs at age 50. Went from a 48-32 jeans to a 32-32. 4XL shirt to a medium in one year but it wasn't by doing what everybody had told me all my life, eat less and exercise more.

I lost the weight when I completely quit sugar, all grains, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. I don't cheat ever.

Learn what raises your insulin and stay far from it.
Click to expand...


wow thats awesome :)... was that with an exercise program?
 
NPNJ520 said:
wow thats awesome :)... was that with an exercise program?
Click to expand...
I do a lot of exercise now, mostly calisthenics type, but I didn't do any exercise, even walking farther than from the house to the truck, for the first 80 lbs or so. I didn't feel like it.

I only exercise now to feel good and I'm working on getting a 6 pack. My goal is to be the most fit man alive at 50 whatever. I'm now actually getting close to doing an L sit and fully suspended push ups. I can do a few pushups with just one toe down now because I have moved my balance so far back as to only be supporting a few pounds on that one toe.

I imagine the way a heroin addict feels after getting clean is pretty close to how I felt after getting off sugar. I would caution though that just like any addict, just cutting back on your drug of choice might help you for a while, but the only way to really quit and not wind up worse than before is to go cold turkey. You can use the artificial sweeteners to wean you off slowly, but don't use them as a substitute. If you get completely off both, food will even taste completely different in about 3 months. Everything will suddenly have flavor and lots and lots more natural sweetness to you. I eat frozen Raspberries right out of the bag now as a treat and they don't taste sour to me anymore.
 
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