Mumsnet Talk

I am 40. Totally unfit. Toyed with exercise for 3 weeks here, 4 weeks there occasionally in the past but nothing long enough to make any difference. I suppose because I have never been fit I find it hard to visualise myself as being able to be fit and can't imagine what it would feel like. Exercise and sport has never been a constant part of my life. So all you ex unfit MN-ers - come and motivate me and tell me how you have changed your life, fitness level, body,weight, health etc because if I am worried that if I don't change now I never will!

Banana I could have written your post, except I'm 43. Will watch the replies though!

You need to find something you genuinely enjoy- dog walking, swimming, Zumba- and then it is much easier. However, I am moderately fit, and although it's nice I'm not any thinner and my hair hates being washed all the time!

I hated exercise but I got tired of feeling rubbish about my body all the time. I started 30 Day shred last April and using MyfitnessPal after reading about them here and have not stopped working out since then.

I have done Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30 and 6 week 6 Pack and now I'm concentrating on weight training using Chalean Extreme dvds and building muscle, this is my 5th month using this dvd.

I absolutely love weight training now and have had great results. I was size 10/12 with love handles that looked horrid in jeans and now size 8 with great abs which I have never had before even before pregnancy.

You have to find something that you enjoy and will continue to do in the long run, the fitter you get you start taking better care of yourself and putting better food in your mouth.

You need couch to 5k in your life.

www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx

Just do it. Lifechanging is no exaggeration, but without any pressure or guilt. Totally flexible, forgiving, enjoyable, challenging but achievable.

<also watching thread>

I second couch25k...... I couldn't run 30 seconds before I started......and believe me, it's bloody addictive!

Once you start exercising then your body releases those feel good hormones. Get into a regular routines and you become a different person. Not just physically either!! Everything improves on the back of it, moods, eating habits, skin.....

Im 44 this year!! run 30 mins 3 times a week and shred too.

I keep starting Couch to 25 then stopping because I am a lazy bugger and make excuses - it's raining, my knees hurt etc. I LOVE it when I'm out there but it's the getting out there that's the problem. Any tips please? I can do three minutes running, one walking now - but then I give up for weeks and end up starting right back at the beginning again.

I think once you've done a month of it you see such an incredible change in your fitness that you don't want to stop and lose it again. For me that's a huge factor.

Also it depends on what motivates you to do it. For me, I'd had enough of being exhausted so I started running for the energy boost. I therefore don't feel guilty about having an extra day off, I have no targets to meet, there's no pressure. That just leaves me doing it because it makes me feel good. Which is psychologically perfect - I keep it up because I want to!

Log it if you can - I use endomondo's android app - which helps with motivation too.

Thanks Bugrit. I haven't got an i-pod or APPs or anything like that. I probably need to bribe myself with something - 3 runs in a week = a new book or something. Also, because I work full time, I find it hard to get home from work then go for a run, then get dinner done etc. I realise that sounds like an excuse...

It's always hard. I work PT but DH works shifts so much of my time off is spent responsible for the DC. Because I can vary which days I run, it's something I can get up early for or do after bedtime, and I can do ut anywhere, I find genuine excuses harder to come by than if I was attending an exercise class for example.

Also, any smartphone will play the podcasts, and if it doesn't have GPS just log it in a diary!

I was like this - did some exercise when I was in my 20s, then used having children as an excuse not to bother. Then one day, at the age of 44, realised I didn't want to be the kind of parent/grandparent who couldn't do anything physically active with their children/grandchildren (one day!), so booked in for an assessment at the gym, started off with a gentle 40 minute routine and gradually built it up to an hour and a half.

Apart from the feel-good endorphins, which make an enormous difference (I managed to avoid taking anti-depressants last year because I was able to return to exercise after a long spell of illness), I also lost about a stone and a half, toned up and generally had more energy and felt so much better about myself. I discovered I loved running and in under two years, went from standard couch potato to running a marathon.

I feel cross with myself that I didn't let myself realie the benefits of exercise but used family life as an excuse not to look after myself, but at the same time, perhaps I appreciate the benefits more because I came to it late.

Find something you enjoy, set achievable goals or targets, reward yourself (it's great to buy jeans in a smaller size!) and just think of all the good you are doing yourself. As for finding the time, I love early morning running and used to set the alarm and get up for a run while DH and DC were still asleep. I particularly liked the feeling of smugness because I had done some good cv exercise while everyone else was still asleep (hey! works for me!).Once you find a routine that works for you, it will all fall into place.

Good luck and enjoy!

realise - doh!

I was like that until I hit my mid 30's. My mum and dad inspired me to do something by doing the London 2 Brighton bike ride, I was amazed they could cycle 56 miles when I couldn't cycle more than a couple of miles. I started cycling, got into mountain biking and had a lovely summer pedaling the Downs. Then I started running and haven't looked back.

I've been running more than 2 years now, have done the London marathon and regularly run 30+ miles a week. I did the London 2 Brighton twice with my mum and dad as well. They are in their 60's

I love the feeling of strength I get from being fit. Plus, I love being outdoors so much and seeing the changing seasons. Sometimes I can be up on the Downs all by myself and feel like the only person alive, it's very liberating.

I am not an EX-unfit, yet. I started exercising at the beginning of the year and already feel fitter.
I started using exercise dvd's which I am getting bored of so have started swimming. Have been twice now and loving it. The first time I managed 32 lengths and the second 36. I am aiming at 50 eventually
I feel much fitter and slimmer having lost 7lbs now
Take one day at a time. The key is to find something that makes you fit that you also enjoy doing as a hobby. Swimming is definately for me, as is running for sweetest thing

Doyou thinktheysaurus (great name!) - I love being outdoors too. It's so much nicer than being in a gym, although I do that too at the moment to try and get some upper body strength and tone. We are right by the North Downs, so I can get into open countryside within a few minutes - whereabouts are you?

Sweetest, we're near the North Downs too

I am going to cancel the gym as I hate going (and it's half an hour from here). Instead, I'm aiming to do more fitness DVDs and go on the Wii.

I was an rigid exercise phobe married to an long term exerciser who used to be the fat kid in class. He often invited and encouraged me to go to the gym but for years I declined.

Several things got me to the point where I KNEW I wanted to improve my body, lots of little things, a couple of photos were shocking to me - how middle aged I was, and overweight. I had thought I was more like Jessica Rabbit, but no I was overweight. I found MN and heard about 30DS and in turn C25k. I had previously said to DH that if I could reduce my bust painlessly, free, and without risk I would do it in an instant. He had replied that I could. By running. One of my biggest drivers was wanting to be able to buy bras in my local town, instead I had to traipse an hour and a half to my 'local' Bravissimo.

All these little things added up so that I knew that this was it, the time had come and I was changing. DH was away with work and I started 30ds. I measured myself as recommended on here and ignored the scales. I cleaned up my diet and wIthin a couple of weeks I saw changes on the tape measure and I felt so much better. I was doing something for me and doing it well. As I saw quick results I truly found it easy to continue. I went on to six week six pack and at the end of that went on to c25k. I have maintained my exercise since, running three times a week and doing DVDs three or four times a week since. So I have maintained my weight and inch loss since. I take my gym kit on holidays and I think DH and I are of to Europe in may to run a half marathon together, just as an excuse for a weekend away.

I have lost 20lbs, around 4inches each, on bust waist hips. I have great legs except the top three inches but no one else sees them and respectable arms with no wobbly bingo wings. My fitness has increased no end and my pulse dropped from around 78bpm to around 56bpm which is fantastic! I am 44.

I still can't buy the bras locally but I have just started phase 2 of my plan which involves lifting heavier weights which I enjoy so I am hoping that will reduce them further. But, not blowing my out trumpet, with my clothes on I look great, I am slim and busty and my tummy looks toned (undressed it's a different story but as I say I am working on that).

My first reward was a hair cut and colour which I now maintain regularly. I am a regular poster on another thread you may have seen and we talk a lot about nail varnish. Using it is another boost and I also get a boost when people complement me on my nail and hands.

I was an exercise phobe for years. Now, I enjoy exercise and the feeling of smugness after I have done it. My body has changed from being a beaten up old 4wd truck and is now getting to be a sports car, whether I ever get to be a Lamborgini I don't know but it's fun trying.

I am South Downs SweetestThing. We are sandwiched between the sea and the Downs

Half a mile and a shocking great hill and I am on the Downs, it's lovely.

I think there is something really invigorating about exercising in the countryside. Coming back muddy and tired is a great feeling!

<<marks place>>

some inspiring posts here thanks. Its nice to know that others have been where I am now and have changed it and others want to do the same. It has never really bothered me and until the last year or so. I was always a bit overweight but not drastically and never really thought about exercise as something that was for me. Weight now is going on easier and off slower more recently and I am starting to feel like I am getting older! Aches and pains where I didnt have them before, easily tired for no reason etc. I have so little faith in my ability to start something physical and stick to it I think I need other success stories as my goal! So I cant just box myself off as an exercise is just not for me person as I have for my entire life to date!!

This is a great thread - and JelliBelli your post is particularly inspiring. If running will help me lose nork-weight that is a motivator in itself - I'm 32E and I hate them.

I haven't got a smart phone, or even an MP3 player - I just go out and dp tells me when I've run three minutes! In fact, if I go out this afternoon, it might even warm me up a bit - am sitting here shivering!

onesunnymorning2012, we are in Oxted, so luckily have a leisure centre practically on our doorstep :-) Let me know if you fancy meeting for a cuppa sometime.

Perhaps I should also have said that I am 5 ft 1', my BMI went from 28 to 23. I still am a 32F but it has reduced from a badly fitting (cup spilling over 34G.

I don' have a fancy thing either so I just used a cheap watch with a stopwatch, this programme from Bupa and this website to plot routes and find distances.

Good luck, you can do it, you just need to truly want to. If I can anyone can.