Keeping fit

I am curious as to how other people stay fit and healthy on the forums.

My fitness levels are not great at the moment so I am thinking about what I can do to get back into a routine.  My energy levels are very low so need to build something up gradually, but would like to get back into cycling again as I do miss it.

What about you?  What is your approach to health and fitness? 

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  • From my early 20s onwards, when I started distance running, I was obsessed with fitness.  I'd run every day.  I'd also never touch alcohol, drugs or 'unhealthy' food.  Later still, in my 30s, I took up cycling and became similarly obsessive about it, sometimes cycling to work and back every day (a 16 mile round trip).  Swimming, too, is something I enjoy - though only in the summer, and only in the sea (fortunately, I live close to the beach).  I can't stand swimming pools, with the chemicals and all the people!

    I'm not so obsessive about these things now.  I stopped running  - apart from the occasional jog - last year.  I still cycle a lot, though - and, as I said, swim a lot in the summer.  I'm 58 now, and I think all of those years of exercise have a) entitled me to a bit of relaxation, and b) left me with an overall fitness level that is higher than most for my age.  I can still run up 4 flights of stairs without getting winded, and my metabolism means that I don't put on weight.  I drink more now, though, and I'm not so worried about food.  I walk a lot.  I belonged to a gym for a couple of years, but was going every day and putting myself through it with a triathlon training regime... but I decided that it wasn't really healthy.  When you look at it, too - top class athletes don't necessarily live any longer than the rest of us.

    My main incentive with it (apart from improving my PBs in races when I was running) has always been stamina.  I'm not interested in gaining physical strength, or weight issues.

  • My main issue was losing weight, especially around the waist since my existing clothes were popping buttons.

    My main firm of exercise is walking and resistance walking where one walks uphill and gets beneficial effects when the legs physically hurt.

    I also eat less. And have become a calorie counter and I weigh myself obsessively. Keeping track with graphs of my weight on a computer.

  • Fitness trackers can help with this if this area interests you.  Data is easily tracked, logged and analysed so you don't have to worry about logging everything.  Despite my low energy levels and activity at the moment, I find the tracker helps me to be aware of what I am or should be doing and puts things into perspective.  I have a habit of pushing myself too much, so having data to quantify what I need to do or what I have already achieved helps.

    Have you found that the 12-week plan has helped to deliver noticeable benefits?

  • You have come a long way by the looks of it though and have really got a grasp of the healthy routine.

    You are not far off the normal range though and as long as you feel healthier for it, then that is all that matters.

  • Thanks, I'm still continuing.  But my BMI this morning was 26.6 which according to the NHS is overweight.  Their 'normal' range is 18.5 to 25

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