Looking for general suggestions from (former?) non-exercisers

[ScottM6418]

Hello, all.

I'm just getting started, in some ways, and I'm looking for thoughts to help motivate me, keep things moving, and just general tips. I am a middle-aged (if I live to 100), 5'10" and weighed 250 lbs. at my heaviest. Health screeners told me I was "morbidly obese" and I have had some health issues that I've sort of made my mind up to try to address more with a fitness regime and less with pharmaceuticals.

I've never been coordinated/athletic AT ALL. I hated gym class with a passion--with a few exceptions. I did like some parts of weight lifting in high school, which we did for a short time. I took up walking a few years ago after my health started going south a few years ago (coronary artery disease, high BP, and recently diabetes diagnosis).

I've always been heavier than I wanted to be, though I WISH I were only has "fat" as I thought I was in high school. 

My Fitbit helped me to be aware of how much/little I was moving. I first sort of set an informal goal of 5K/day, thinking this is more than I was doing, so that was a reasonable goal for a newbie who tends to decide to work on exercise, overdoes it immediately, and quits. Gradually, I've increased this over time (current minimum weekly average goal is 8K, but I do closer to 9K at present). I live in a small city in the midwest, where there is virtually no public transportation and people park as close as they can to where they're going. (I don't.)

From Jan. to Aug. 2017, I've managed to drop 35 pounds (though my weight seems to fluctuate 10 lbs. on a regular basis on the same digital scale--is that normal?). 250 lbs was a wake-up call, but I'm down to 214ish. MyFitnessPal said that if I do what I did today, in terms of diet/exercise, I'd be down to 194 in 5 weeks. I think I'd also be dead. 🙂

I have a sedentary job at a nonprofit, but I decided that I would take 3 breaks a day during work and walk in a public area that's indoors and temp controlled, since I can do email, etc. from my phone while I walk. That helped me reach a goal of 5K while at work every workday. My main motivator originally was back pain from slouching over a computer for too long.

I'm usually cooking and goofing around at home most evenings--at least 4 days a week, and I rarely sit for more than a few minutes before getting up and fidgeting around, so getting to 8K on average was not too tough. (It takes me 5-6 sittings to get through a 30-minute Netflix show.)

I'm trying to kick diabetes (type 2). I have an awful family history with heart disease/diabetes. I am not on insulin, thank God.

After maybe a year, I'm down to 1 drug, and testing sugar every few days, and no problems. My endocrinologist says I'm a "perfect" patient and if I'm doing this well at my 6-month check up, I get to try no meds. He's also removed a couple of my other meds, so my handful of drugs has turned into only a few.

I joined a gym to see if that helped me work out more, and on a whim I agreed to sign up with a trainer for 30-minute sessions once a week for 3 months. So far, I've had one upper body workout (not bad) and one lower body workout (I thought I was going to die!). I'm too cheap to bail on the sessions, so I will continue to do what I can.

After taking a diabetes ed course, I'm tracking my food/drinks religiously on MyFitnessPal (more than 6 months) with a focus on lowering carbs first (diabetes, you know) and watching calories, sodium, sugar, etc. I also track my blood sugar, but less so now that I'm doing well and it's under really good control.

When MyFitnessPal subtracts exercise from my Fitbit, I'm doing relatively well. My wedding ring fell off the other day (losing weight) and I've downsized from 42 to 38" in jeans.

We eat out several dinners each week, but I'm doing okay at trying to limit the carbs and eat salads/veggies, etc. a lot more than I might have otherwise. I also switched from drinking light beer to drinking vodka and diet tonic when I drink. Still calories, but no carbs, at least.

I'm recording what my trainer has had me do to learn the exercises, and I'm generally going to the gym 4 times a week and doing a brisk walk on the treadmill/recumbent bike combo 2 days a week (30 minutes to an hour, depending upon my time available), 1 day of upper body (copying what the trainer had me do a few days before) and my plan is to copy the lower body thing from my second session today in a few days.

I'm doing well avoiding the most obvious carbs (breads, pastas, potatoes, etc., and not missing them as much as I did at first) but I'm still eating them some, but trying to focus on proteins and veggies more, so the carbs are more a little side item. I'm also pretty good about clocking portion sizes.

Frankly, I'm surprised I'm doing as well as I am, and I am kind of enjoying the gym (treadmill bit at least, going and listening to podcasts to pass the time). The good thing for me about the walking at the gym is that I seem to be a little motivated by other folks doing the same thing and I can't use weather as the excuse for not walking.

If my little rambling background story makes you think of things I should know or possibly do, please do share, especially if it makes paying for a trainer/gym membership and feeling like I sometimes to afterwards seem more worth it.

Thanks, and good luck to you!

Scott 

[Esya]

Scott, I think you are doing great that you can drop some medicine already. If you keep doing what you are doing you are looking at a healthier and longer life. A few tips that can help the motivation up:

1. Keep your eyes/mind on the long term goal. I think to be drugs free is an awesome goal to have.

2. Find ways to move that are fun to you and do not feel like a work out per se. Think about dancing, playing with kids in the family, walking pets etc.

3. When you struggle look at how far you have already come and you can feel proud/accomplished about that.

You do sound like the "perfect" patient indeed, keep up the great work.

[Mukluk4]

Stick out that trainer and do everything that he/she says even if it feels like you are going to die.  You'll get more gain out of those sessions than anything else that you are currently doing.

If 8K is easy to get, you need to increase your goal. If anything starts to become easy (walking, etc), pick up the pace. 

In short, eat right and work your **ahem** off.  

[MarciM]

@ScottM6418 Congratulations on the progress you have made, it's quiet an accomplishment and truly something to be proud of. Given that you work for a non-profit, I'm going to make a leap and guess you are motivated by helping others. If that's true, consider finding someone who could use some help/motivation and paring up with them. Sometimes the greatest motivation is when we are helping others and not thinking as much about helping ourselves. You might find you are inspired by helping other over come the same challenges you have. Be well and enjoy life!

[emili · Accepted solution]

Hey Scott.. I am three years shy of your middle age and I was never into fitness. I kind of sort of ate OK when the mood struck. And then one day three and half years ago, I decided that in full view of my life, my fitness and how I look were the only things I could control with 100% certainty. I had very high BP, my cholesterol warranted a serious talk with my doctor and I looked and felt like crap. The first thing was my diet. Not a diet to lose weight- a lifestyle change that would help my body get to a healthy weight and when I was ready, would agree to the torture I would be putting it through once I was at a weight where moving wouldn't hurt. So I lost forty pounds and then joined a gym. And I started biking and walking. Then I tried the stairmaster and the elliptical. Then I started boxing. Then I lifted weights. Today I run and lift and have 0 health issues ( aside from achy muscles and feet when I over do it). Congrats to you for the work you are putting in. Don't look at it as a "now" thing. It is a forever thing. Your body, mind and emotional state agree and will thank you...

[ScottM6418]

Thanks to you and everyone for the encouragement. I intend to continue. Though I'm going to ask my trainer to back off a TINY bit, as he pushed me too far on leg day. (It's Monday night and I can STILL feel Thursday's workout in my legs--more than a little). This weekend, I ALMOST couldn't walk up stairs at all--but i did and it hurt a lot, but I lived. I expect it to hurt for 2 days, but beyond that seems a bit much. I was also out of town from Friday through this afternoon (Monday), so I haven't been back to the gym, but I've kept my step average up near 8-10K, except for today, which involved a 6-hour car ride and I wasn't feeling well enough to go to the gym, but tomorrow after work, I'll hit it and try some leg work--just not as intense as Thursday.

[JenHarness]

What a journey! I think you're doing really good. I was never for exercising (I was always exempt from gym class) but after losing 65 lbs and taking everything back after my pregnancy, I started nearly 4 weeks ago to do exercise in my own home. Everyone, me included, is surprised because I always hated exercising. But I'm doing it every day for 30 min.

I already lost weight but everyday is a struggle. Eating well, doing those exercises, be scared of the scale. But I guess, it has to come from inside. I know it's stupid but I never felt so motivated. 

From here, I think you already improved so much in your life! If I had time or money, I would like to have a trainer because sometimes, I'm not that sure I know what I'm doing. 

I'm eating only bread as carbs (I'm French, we can't live without bread, I'm sure it's somewhere on our constitution) but if you succeed to have them and lost weight, well I'm admirative. 

It's really great to read a story like yours because maybe you're searching for motivation but you are inspiring for others, so thank you!