Want to be fit in my forties

[Derbyshirelady]

I ache, my knees hurt, I'm at least 3 stone overweight. Used to be fit (pre-kid when I had time, and money for personal trainer).

I've lost all my confidence, but must do this.----

Any inspirational stories welcome!

No inspirational stories, but cheering you on!

I’m about to start trying to get fit. Again.

What exercise will you do?

Thanks Bifs!

We've got an exercise bike in the garage so planning to start with that and once more confident go back to the gym. I used to do interval training on the bike with my trainer and almost liked it.

Almost.

What's your plan?

I'm in my 50s not my 40s, but am trying to get fit again. Home exercising.

Mini trampoline
Weights
Kettle Bell
Squats

I follow YT exercise vids - put them up on big TV screen and get going.

Trampoline, I just put on my favourite tunes and bounce around.

I do 50 squats every morning. Then a few more whilst waiting for kettle to boil.

I'm not a lover of exercise tbh, I do it because I have to. I don't want to be creaky with a crap figure. So I tend to exercise in short bursts or 10-15 minutes morning afternoon & evening, every day. I also watch my carbs intake, as that's my downfall.

It's hard to stay motivated at home but I try.

It does seem to work.

Are you interested in gym...? A friend has been going and after just 3 months she's looking great

Hopefully this might help a little.

I'm 48 now. Used to be super-fit when I was younger 20s - late 30s), even competed in a fairly hardcore sport at international level. Then I had a relationship breakdown, my career became very demanding and I fell into bad habits. Next thing I'm 5 stone overweight (I'm a horrible emotional eater) and beyond out of shape. I made various attempts to sort myself out but the failed for different reasons (trainer moved gyms, I changed jobs, etc)

So in May this year I finally got my sh*t together. Hallelujah! I started training (with a trainer - that I knew from when I was fit and younger) 3 mornings a week before work. It was miserable. Physically I was useless and mentally I was furious with myself for having let myself get into such a fat old mess. I knew consistency was key though so no matter how bad I felt, I never missed a session. My trainer works me hard. Because he knew me from my pre-fat days, he knew what I was capable of and he pushed me hard (for example, in my first session he had me doing deadlifts within the first few mins).

That was 6 months ago. I'm now almost 4 stones lighter and 100x fitter. My love for exercise is back! Now I'm working on building strength and power rather than for weight loss. I still see my trainer 3 mornings a week but I also do 1 or 2 (pretty brutal) circuit training classes a week. And I walk everywhere. And eat healthily 99% of the time although I did have 4 glasses of wine when out on Thurs eve and had a brownie after dinner tonight (which means I'll work extra hard at circuit training tomorrow morning).

My biggest learning over the past 6 months has been that the things that I thought were happening to me because I was getting old were actually happening to me because I was FAT! I feel like a new woman. And I don't have bingo wings anymore (here was me thinking I got them because I was in my 40s...rather than I was fat!)

I've posted on MN throughout my (several stone) weightloss and start of exercising. I went from flabby sloth to half marathon runner in a couple of years - and I was about a decade older than you.

I won't bore you with the whole story. So will distill it to the 3 things that were key for me:

MFP, C25K, Parkrun

I lost 2 stone via exercise and watching what I eat when I was 41yo.

I still go to the gym 6 days a week and love it. Do quite a bit of weights, run, spin, BodyPump.

I feel so much better.

I second everything Hundred says. I hit 50 last year, was over 97kg and stairs/hills/everything was hard. I joined a gym and started treadmill walking . After about 7 months of building myself up to a reasonable speed and duration, I was inspired by some ladies I encountered on MN and started logging food in January using My Fitness Pal. Three months (and -2.5 stone) in, I got a fitbit. By April I was walking fast enough that I was breaking into a jog, so I started running a minute at a time (and puffing like a steam engine for about ten). Gradually the jogs got longer.

This morning I was 60kg. I'm size 12, at target weight (BMI 21), and went to a local Parkrun to do 5km in half an hour. I'm 51.

Gym three times a week, rowing, elliptical, treadmill (run/walk), bikes, various weight machines and kettlebells. I too have a PT, who is helping me find my core muscles (which went AWOL thanks to pregnancy and a CS and I never got round to finding them again) and we're getting there.
Oh, and unlike Hundred, I've never been particularly active or fit and loathed running at school. Perhaps because it was hard. Never realised that after a few months of regular effort it suddenly isn't as hard and becomes fun. I could have been enjoying this for 30 years - but better late than never!

So go for it Derbyshirelady.

ps love the name. Am also one!

I was the same, I was nearly 42 and overweight and unfit. I decided on a whim one day to do the couch to 5k. That was back at the end of February 2014.

Fast forward 4 and a half years and I’ve run a few 10k’s, four half marathons and a marathon. I’ve joined a running club and lost three stones. I’m now fitter at 46 than any other point in my adult life.

Can’t recommend the couch to 5k enough.

Fab! I’m going back to yoga and spinning.

I feel much better mentally when I exercise too, I just prefer slobbing on the sofa watching Netflix.

Just noticed your username . We can do this!

I had been very fit as a teenager/ young mum but when l got too old for team sport l dropped everything except a daily walk. Roll on to MID50s! I took up circuit training. 3 to 4 times a week. I am a new woman. I love it. I feel young again and my dcs are so impressed. It has given me so much energy and confidence. And l have lost weight but best of all toned up.
Go for it. It will seem tough at first but its not only for weight, your whole mental health will improve. Now l find myself running to places eg at a meeting will swifly run back to the car. Its liberating!

Three months before I turned 40 I signed up with an online boot camp to lose some weight and just get into good habits. I thought if I don't do it now it will only get harder with age. That was 7 months ago and it's totally changed my life. I lost 12kg (wasn't exactly overweight before just a bit round), I exercise 6 out of 7 days, i love healthy food (I'm now doing whole food plant based I guess you would call it), I hardly drink alcohol now. It all sounds now I'm quite the party pooper but I'm having so much fun trying out new exercises and recipes I don't miss junk food at all.
What really helped me was the constant contact to my fitness and nutrition coaches (could what's app them all the time, even today) and we had a what's app with 9 other women who were doing the same Programme where I could support. Best decision of my life!!!

How was the exercise bike yesterday, OP, And how long will you be using it for today? Do you know about Zwift?

Oh wow - such lovely messages! Thanks so much everyone and big shout to the local ladies!

Must say did not make it onto bike last night night as had wine whilst watching Strictly

Today is the day! Got the fear, especially being in pain afterwards having not done anything for ages.

Life has got in the way - got a three year old, another one en route (via adoption - not adding a pregnancy into the mix!). I just don’t make time for myself anymore and if I do it’s sitting on the sofa in a tired heap.

I missed a 20 yr reunion last week as I couldn’t face people seeing me.

Very inspired by everyone’s stories. Thank you.

Looking at Zwift now - thanks lljkk

I'm in my forties and did c25k a couple of years ago and this year decided to lose weight due to high risk of developing diabetes. I've now lost 3 stones due to mfp and run 2 half marathons and blood sugar is now normal. I'm the fittest I've ever been and wish I'd done this years ago!

Done 30 mins on the exercise bike today. Just had to haul myself into bed due to stiff legs, but feeling inspired and have eaten better today as a result, and no wine tonight, don’t fancy it.

This is a thread for me. Back later. Yes. This is excellent.

Hundred

What an excellent post.

I'm 40. I could kick my own 20 year old butt so easily it would not even be funny. You can do it!
Besides the usual cleaning up the eating and moving more, do weights. You can totally change your body if you build your muscles.

Mid 40’s, lost 3 stone last year with ww... this year I’ve started parkrun, circuit and netball. Loving the social side, hoping fitness carries on improving.... eatting is a bit out of control of the moment!!

We can do it

Well done Derbyshirelady, what a great start! I was actually thinking about you this morning when I did a stint on an exercise bike after my circuits class. 6 months ago I would have struggled to do even 15 mins on a bike. So you've made a fabulous start.

Now just hang in there and get into a routine and you'll soon start feeling and seeing the changes. And if you have a bad day, don't allow it to knock your confidence or tempt you to give up. Just keep going and you'll get there. There will be bad days (we all have them) but someone told me years ago that it's pushing through those bad days that really helps you to make the gains. I repeat that to myself on those mornings when I've had hardly any sleep and/or feel like sh*t and would rather be back in bed than in a gym. And the good days make up for it.

And thank you Ohio

Well done Derbyshirelady! If you're feeling a bit achy today, the best thing really is to get moving again, even if just a walk to get the blood flowing to all those tired muscles.

I'm definitely fitter in my 40s than I was in my 20s, and there's definitely room for me to do more, but life needs to be balanced! I started my fitness 'journey' about 4 years ago as I slid towards turning 40. I started to see a PT to give me a kickstart (and a kicking), and I haven't looked back. Once exercising weekly became my normal, I started adding more in. I trained for a 10k run in my 40th year, and now as I edge towards 44, I get tetchy if I'm not doing something. So I still see the same PT, fortnightly now. I go to a circuits class weekly, yoga weekly, and then might go for a run (4-5k, running's not really my thing), or do a Fitness Blender session at home. We have a treadmill at home, and DH has just bought a spinning bike, so even during the long winter months, we can still exercise at home, no excuses. If I do no 'proper' exercise one day, I'll definitely go for a walk, even if it's on the treadmill.

This has been a long process, I've never been someone who naturally enjoys exercise (I do now to a degree, although my natural instinct is to stay nice and warm under the duvet!), but you've made the first step to making positive changes to your life. Good luck!

I also have an Apple Watch which really helps motivate me too, if that's an option. Mine is tied into my health insurance, so the more I move, the better benefits I get (free cinema ticket a week, free Starbucks coffee a week, free Apple Watch, free Amazon Prime, reduced BA flights etc etc etc).

True, i also feel much fitter than in my 20s when I never did any sports. Before I started I woke up every morning with stiff joints and a hurting neck, now I'm in no pain at all!
I just wish I'd done this years ago

I'm 39 today. I'm at least 2.5 stone overweight, having never lost my baby weight after my last DC (who is 3 next month). I recently started C25K, currently on week 4 and can feel myself getting fitter. I decided this morning I am giving myself the next year to get fit and lose weight so that I can start my forties as I mean to go on! Good luck Derbyshirelady!

^^