Breaking the cycle of bad health
Discussion
I think I'm pushing my heaviest weight ever, feel like crap, tired and stressed all the time etc.
I am massively addicted to sugar and love eating nice big stodgy foods!
However, I still can't motivate myself to break the cycle - eat better, get out their and exercise etc.
I managed to turn it last year for a while, but feel of the wagon, and can't get restarted.
How do you break the cycle and get moving in the right direction again?
I am massively addicted to sugar and love eating nice big stodgy foods!
However, I still can't motivate myself to break the cycle - eat better, get out their and exercise etc.
I managed to turn it last year for a while, but feel of the wagon, and can't get restarted.
How do you break the cycle and get moving in the right direction again?
Always harder to motivate yourself, you got anyone you can diet /train with? Explain your concerns to your partner and get him/her involved? See if a mate wants to join a gym with you? Start a club or a class locally? Even an online community can provide much needed drive to keep going when your motivation suffers, download Strava and Myfitnesspal and start the couch to 5k program (there's PH discussions for both) and build up to going along to a Park run near you which are friendly and welcoming.
tI get all of the benefits (especially the sex!) and know I’m getting to the point where I seriously need to do something, but the thing which holds me back is really simple: I feel like I like crap food and beer more than I want to be healthy. For that reason, I feel destined to fail.
If I could turn that in my head I’m sure I could do it, but I need to genuinely make myself want it and just can’t get in the right head space this time.
I do respond well to ambitious goals so have been thinking of setting one.
Please someone give me a kick up the arse!
If I could turn that in my head I’m sure I could do it, but I need to genuinely make myself want it and just can’t get in the right head space this time.
I do respond well to ambitious goals so have been thinking of setting one.
Please someone give me a kick up the arse!
At christmas I signed up tough mudder style thing taking place on April 15th - with a group of work colleages.
Since then i've dropped from a whale-esque 22 stone to a hippo-esque 19st 10.
Having something their to motivate me has made all the difference.
I have pretty much stopped the beer and cut down on the food. However i haven't banned myself from anything - if i want junk food i'll have it, if i want a beer i'll have one. This approach means i don't consider it falling off the wagon, I used to be mega strict on diets, had one bad day and that spiralled into a bad week. (which ended up being a bad year or 5)
Tied to this i've started doing a fair bit of exercise & try to do something every day;
Go the gym once/twice a week - luckily one of the colleagues is a good mate & knows his gym stuff so is really good to go with.
Run 3/4 days a week - only 3.5km only 20 odd minutes
Do stuff around the flat - favourite is 1 push up & 1 squat, 2 push ups 2 squats etc through all the way to 10 of each.
Since then i've dropped from a whale-esque 22 stone to a hippo-esque 19st 10.
Having something their to motivate me has made all the difference.
I have pretty much stopped the beer and cut down on the food. However i haven't banned myself from anything - if i want junk food i'll have it, if i want a beer i'll have one. This approach means i don't consider it falling off the wagon, I used to be mega strict on diets, had one bad day and that spiralled into a bad week. (which ended up being a bad year or 5)
Tied to this i've started doing a fair bit of exercise & try to do something every day;
Go the gym once/twice a week - luckily one of the colleagues is a good mate & knows his gym stuff so is really good to go with.
Run 3/4 days a week - only 3.5km only 20 odd minutes
Do stuff around the flat - favourite is 1 push up & 1 squat, 2 push ups 2 squats etc through all the way to 10 of each.
Just think of the benefits. You will look better, feel better and live longer. You will be fitter, stronger and more useful in general. If you have kids just think of them, what more motivation could you need! If your a single man then looking better = pulling more women. Sorted. Now stop eating crap and do some training. Life's to short 
BenjiS said:
Douglas Quaid said:
BenjiS said:
A good mate died at 40 of a heart attack in October leaving three kids under the age of 6.
That worked for me.
Was he fat? Did he look unfit or was it a surprise to everyone?That worked for me.
Turned out he had huge blockages around his heart, so the attack was massive and instant, and completely out of the blue.
I’ve been a runner for a number of years now but injuries over the last two has meant the pies have piled on and I’ve been drinking too much. Having two young kids myself, his death was the final kick up the arse I needed to cut down on the food and begin training again.
Would still rather have my mate around though.
No different to many others though.
bw1981 said:
I get all of the benefits (especially the sex!) and know I’m getting to the point where I seriously need to do something, but the thing which holds me back is really simple: I feel like I like crap food and beer more than I want to be healthy. For that reason, I feel destined to fail.
If I could turn that in my head I’m sure I could do it, but I need to genuinely make myself want it and just can’t get in the right head space this time.
I do respond well to ambitious goals so have been thinking of setting one.
Please someone give me a kick up the arse!
In my experience I found it best to not make massive changes, otherwise you end up treating it like a diet and it's easy to fall off the wagon and go back to your old ways. If I could turn that in my head I’m sure I could do it, but I need to genuinely make myself want it and just can’t get in the right head space this time.
I do respond well to ambitious goals so have been thinking of setting one.
Please someone give me a kick up the arse!
A key to it is to find some nice meals that you enjoy eating that are also pretty healthy. You may scoff, but the Wife has plenty of slimming world recipe books which have plenty of great recipes. Tonight for instance we're having a kofta curry with yoghurt and mint. Healthy and very tasty.
I tend to restrict the beer and rich food to Friday and Saturday nights. I'm pushing 40 and find that I feel rough in a morning if i've had a couple of pints and a big meal the night before. It spoils my sleep and means i'm tired in work the following day. I've accepted that i'm not in my 20's any more and don't need to have a few drinks every night. Once I made that link between poor diet and me feeling tired, it became much easier to stick to it.
I've lost 2 stone since last year, and hoping to lose another during the course of this year. This is all through reasonably healthy eating and cutting down on the beer, no exercise other than daily dog walking.
Good advice by Ian a few posts above.
You sound exactly like me in many respects (in the past), so I can tell you what works for me.
As said, start small, and make small but sustainable changes
If you currently do no exercise, start by walking 30 minutes a day. If 30 minutes a day is too much, then start by doing it every other day, and build up. Walking is underrated. Get off the bus earlier or park further away from work / shop entrances. Do a few bodyweight exercises too. If you can only do 1 press up, do it. A couple of days later, do 2, etc etc. Work up to doing more, gradually.
Find healthier alternatives to the things you like to eat. If you're anything like me, many foods that self-styled health fanatics eat are utterly vile, but as said there are some healthy and good alternatives. For example, I love kebabs, so instead I buy flame grilled chicken tikka chunks from M&S, cook a burger and chop it up, make my own mint sauce and have a small naan - the saving in calories compared with a take away is massive. You can find substitutes for most junk food.
Alternatively, practice portion control. I.e. eat what you like, just eat less. I love chocolate. Instead of eating a whole chocolate bar, just eat a piece or a couple of pieces. Some people find this easier said
If you drink, then try and cut down - even if you just have 1 or 2 nights a week off the drink - 2 nights a week is still 104 days a year off the drink, nearly 3.5 months. The amount of calories you save from this alone over a year is MASSIVE. Not to mention the benefits of drinking less - and I say that as someone who bloody loves a drink. I had to cut down as it was making me fat, depressed and unhealthy. I still drink what I like (within reason) on a weekend.
Even just these few changes alone will make a huge difference, while not being so drastic and so depressing you won't stick to them. Finally, if you do slip up, don't be hard on yourself. Just get back to it as soon as you can. DON'T GIVE UP!
Forget diets, these are lifestyle changes that need to be done forever, and will be a piece of piss to stick to with even a modicum of will power. If I can do it, anyone can. I am fair far from being any kind of fitness fanatic but I know these things work. I am actually a very lazy man so I always look for the easiest ways to any given goal, and fitness and "healthy eating" are no exceptions!
You sound exactly like me in many respects (in the past), so I can tell you what works for me.
As said, start small, and make small but sustainable changes
If you currently do no exercise, start by walking 30 minutes a day. If 30 minutes a day is too much, then start by doing it every other day, and build up. Walking is underrated. Get off the bus earlier or park further away from work / shop entrances. Do a few bodyweight exercises too. If you can only do 1 press up, do it. A couple of days later, do 2, etc etc. Work up to doing more, gradually.
Find healthier alternatives to the things you like to eat. If you're anything like me, many foods that self-styled health fanatics eat are utterly vile, but as said there are some healthy and good alternatives. For example, I love kebabs, so instead I buy flame grilled chicken tikka chunks from M&S, cook a burger and chop it up, make my own mint sauce and have a small naan - the saving in calories compared with a take away is massive. You can find substitutes for most junk food.
Alternatively, practice portion control. I.e. eat what you like, just eat less. I love chocolate. Instead of eating a whole chocolate bar, just eat a piece or a couple of pieces. Some people find this easier said
If you drink, then try and cut down - even if you just have 1 or 2 nights a week off the drink - 2 nights a week is still 104 days a year off the drink, nearly 3.5 months. The amount of calories you save from this alone over a year is MASSIVE. Not to mention the benefits of drinking less - and I say that as someone who bloody loves a drink. I had to cut down as it was making me fat, depressed and unhealthy. I still drink what I like (within reason) on a weekend.
Even just these few changes alone will make a huge difference, while not being so drastic and so depressing you won't stick to them. Finally, if you do slip up, don't be hard on yourself. Just get back to it as soon as you can. DON'T GIVE UP!
Forget diets, these are lifestyle changes that need to be done forever, and will be a piece of piss to stick to with even a modicum of will power. If I can do it, anyone can. I am fair far from being any kind of fitness fanatic but I know these things work. I am actually a very lazy man so I always look for the easiest ways to any given goal, and fitness and "healthy eating" are no exceptions!
Identify activities you have enjoyed in past or new ones you might enjoy. Do you like cycling, five a side, hiking in the hills? If an activity is enjoyable and social you are far more likely to stick with it. Relying on will power / self-motivation to get you to a gym you might not enjoy visiting is a tough one. Would you consider a personal trainer?
The hardest part of a new regimen is the first few weeks, where you don't see much in terms of results. But once you start reaping the benefits and feel improvements to your health, you get become determined to carry on and keep improving.
Food wise, you don't have to give up those meals you enjoy, instead find healthier recipes. My mum has Tom Kerridge's latest, which gives lower calorie recipes for comfort food / pub lunch type meals, if that's your thing.
The hardest part of a new regimen is the first few weeks, where you don't see much in terms of results. But once you start reaping the benefits and feel improvements to your health, you get become determined to carry on and keep improving.
Food wise, you don't have to give up those meals you enjoy, instead find healthier recipes. My mum has Tom Kerridge's latest, which gives lower calorie recipes for comfort food / pub lunch type meals, if that's your thing.
Weight watchers is a good shout. The diet is simple to follow and geared towards healthy foods. You have the support of your local group and since you need to face the scales each week it’s not that easy to fall off the wagon. Plus it’s 90% women!
I started lifting 2 years ago and that has dramatically changed what I eat and my health in general is much better. My brother in law swore he would not do weight training but after seeing the change in me started 3 months ago. He looks 5 years younger already!
I started lifting 2 years ago and that has dramatically changed what I eat and my health in general is much better. My brother in law swore he would not do weight training but after seeing the change in me started 3 months ago. He looks 5 years younger already!
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