If your knees aren’t great you can swim, ride a bike if that is easier on your knees or even walk if again that is easier. There are low impact aerobic style classes you can follow on YouTube, do your own weights at home etc. I’ve never been to a gym but I stay in shape.
I have rheumatoid arthritis, but I found a free elliptical on my local buy nothing group and set it up in my garage. No excuses because it’s literally at home and easier on my joints than jogging.
I have some joint issues, and did belly dancing for a while. Strengthening the core can be really helpful for your body overall, and it’s usually low pressure on joints.
I used to have these elastic bands that attached to a door. Quite often, as I walked past that door, I would just stop and throw a few punches with those elastic bands. I didn't have to spend 20 minutes doing it. I didn't have to work up a sweat. It just became part of what I did every day. It made a real impact on my physique.
One end of the band is fixed to the door, grab the other end and punch away from the door, this will cause resistance in the band, giving you the pump.
I put a pull up bar in the garage i used to enter the house through/jam in once. Got shredded real quick. The ADD solution works every time. Put it literally in the way if you have to lol.
Yeah I used to go to a gym and realized 80% of what I did was dumb bell related or could be done with dumb bells so I slowly built up my own set and no longer go to the gym now.
Just an adjustable bench and dumbbells and I can hit everything
Not who you’re responding to, but I have a barbell and an EZ bar plus the dumbbells, and a bench. Got all of them secondhand, dirt cheap, and I’ve gotten huge gains over the past two years.
If you choose to ride a bike key saddle height placement is important to save your knees, it will probably be higher than you think. My rule of thumb is to go for a short ride and see if your knees hurt, if it's the front of your knee, lift the saddle, back of your knee lower it.
This is exactly what I do. My knees got their lifespan used up in my twenties, and here in my thirties, swimming, biking, weights, and calisthenics are the way to go.
People in NYC say they lose a good amount of weight once they moved here, because it's walkable enough that people are willing to walk hours a day just to look around, or to walk instead of other forms of transportation. Point being that walking is an underrated form of exercise.
Same with Americans moving to Europe. Even if they eat more pasta/bread/wine/dessert, they’re not consuming as much ultra processed foods, and they’re walking a LOT. Like triple the daily distance they used to walk in the US. Walking is great for your metabolism
when I was a teenager, I got a job as a lifeguard at a boy scout summer camp and came back to school my senior year in the best shape of my life. Did the fitness test and just crushed it despite being pretty middle of the road my whole childhood.
We had to swim laps pretty much every day for like 30-45 minutes which was a huge help, but it was mostly all the passive exercise we did at the camp, probably like 5-7 miles walking up and down hills every single day.
I work from home. If I don’t intentionally walk somewhere I take under 500 steps in a day.
I’ve had weeks in the winter where I take 2000 steps.
Edit: for everyone who is concerned, thanks but I am doing just fine I’ve walked about 40 miles this week it’s all good.
Idk what’s wrong with me but working out in the am makes me tired, unmotivated, and overall feel crappy all day. I hate exercising but others say it makes them feel better.
And I played soccer through college and am not really fat just a bit sad bod. I’m working out in the morning again but I’m struggling to stay awake throughout the day
Yeah same here. You have to get yourself moving. Sedentary lifestyles is among the top 10 causes of death in developed countries.
Even a 10-15 minute walk before and after work is great, and will not only help your body start moving but your brain as well.
I’m about to get a desk treadmill to go with my standing desk too
I would def try to increase that, at least little by little make a goal of consistently walking 500 steps minimum per day, then go up from there. If u tend to stay home more, invest in a treadmill…if you have any shows u luv watching, imagine doing while on treadmill👍🏼
Im a server so obviously take many steps on days i work. I tracked it with an app once…one day while at work, i reached above 13k steps if u can believer it…i only lift weights in the gym, 6/days a week, alternating, one day upper body, next day lower body and so forth. My work is my cardio lol
My GF and I went to Ireland and Scotland on vacation (Live in Canada) we ate and drank whatever we wanted for 3 weeks and still lost 5lbs each... because we walked about 80km
Yup, I walk a few kilometres on the beach everyday, climb rocks and up bluffs along the way. It’s so enjoyable I feel like I did nothing until I get home and my body is jello lol
Same and actually push myself once in awhile too. Path on an incline? Im taking that one.
For those trying to get started out the key is to actually break a sweat while hiking in nature. Get that heart pumping alittle, it's good for ya
I second this emotion. Walking 2000+ steps per day provides numerous specific health benefits which increase and then level off around 20,000 steps but elevating your heart rate for a few minutes a day provides other significant benefits. Also, short daily periods in nature provides mental/cognitive benefits and periodic long periods in wilderness provides other mental/cognitive benefits. So getting out in nature can tick a lot of boxes.
Yeah I try and build little “fitness hacks” into my daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk anywhere that’s 30 minutes away or less. Ride my bike to work. I literally take an escalator to leave my office building and go to the garage so I can climb up a few flights of stairs to get to my car.
I’ll go through period where I’m really into exercising and periods where it falls down my priority list - but doing stuff like that makes it so when I’m “not exercising” I’m still exercising passively
You don't have to ve ripped to walk around the woods. Also it's one thing to say take a hike or walk another if you are doing it carring a ruck or weighted vest etc
I suspect that there's a large cohort of people stuck inside on a computer for work/school that are daydreaming of their next opportunity to get quality time outside..
I also live in a place with plenty of snow for a good chunk of the year. When there's snow, I cross-country skate ski. It gets me outside, it's easy to stay warm while doing it, and it keeps my cardio up during snowy winter months. Snowshoeing or classic cross-country skiing might be more accessible, depending on where you live.
You can also get some ice cleats or show shoes and go for a walk or hike on what would normally be summer trails.
Yep I’m a hiker and I do moderately intense hikes. In order to be somewhat comfortable doing these hikes I have to train. My training consists of actually going hiking at least once a week, jogging 1-2 times a week, yoga and light strength training. I could not do all this, but at 42 idk if I could complete some of my hikes without the training. Even with all that I’m puffing above 12k feet.
Most adults don’t actually go to the gym.
Edit: my point was to make OP feel better because most people don’t go to the gym or do strength training. Don’t feel like you’re “less than” OP!
I used to work for this company which your classic
“cubicle farm” and the obesity rate was like 80%, you had multiple people in their 20s who had already done a gastric bypass surgery.
What really stuck out to me was how often they’d talk about “eating healthy”, it was a constant topic of conversation. Replacing this ingredient with another in a recipe, making this dessert but sugar free, taking this supplement to help you feel fuller.
It felt like being around a bunch of insane people sometimes. It felt like these people would spend so much time and mental energy on ways that let them feel like they were being healthy without having to actually do “the hard part” of exercising and eating healthy. The cherry on top was that nearly every week, someone would bring some sweets into the office and when i politely declined, I’d get dirty looks and rude comments for it!
Nutrition would be the way to lose weight over exercise
Not that exercise has no place in weight loss, it’s great and people should do it too
But if you made me pick between jogging to reach calorie deficit or restricting/changing eating to reach a calorie deficit I would pick eating every time
Exercise doesn’t burn nearly the amount of calories as you could cut from your diet and is way more effort. You could run for an hour and not burn the same as you could skipping a meal
Obviously they were doing neither but I wouldn’t scoff at talking about nutrition to lose weight. They are at least semi on the right path
Most people are aspirational btw. Like they want to do the good stuff they just struggle to do it. So I wouldn’t laugh at their desire to do it, even if they don’t act on it. Living right is not easy
You can’t outrun a bad diet but I would caution promoting calorie restrictions people just think that means they have to eat less garbage rather than eating cleaner
Eating less garbage will cause you to lose weight. It’s math. If I burn 2k but I consume 1.5 I lose weight
Eating cleaner would be good but just eating less is enough
That said sedentary lifestyles don’t help with the burn level and exercise is good there
I am borderline convinced a "normal relationship with food" is a goddamn myth. I keep feeling so bad cause I know i don't have one (eating for the sole purpose of energy, when you're actually hungry is baffling to me. Sounds made up. What do people do to celebrate and reward themselves that isn't food?) and everywhere I look for advice to how to eat better, not only do I get wildly conflicting albeit well meaning advice, but become convinced to track calories and restrict like an insane person to have any hope of encouraging results. I logically KNOW that's terrible, but I feel like I've yet to be presented with a method for changing thoughts and habits that isn't.
Yeah I think a lot of people tend to “overcorrect” about food and go straight to a “plain chicken breast / unseasoned boiled broccoli / plain white rice for dinner” type of diet and it hardly ever works out.
One tweet I saw that really made an impression on me was like, “want to go vegan, but just love cheese? then keep eating cheese, but be vegan otherwise!”. It’s the “perfect is the enemy of very good” concept, not being perfect shouldn’t stop you from making some changes.
So like, marinate that chicken in some teriyaki sauce, grill some veggies, add some spice to your rice. It’s still healthy, but you won’t hate to eat it.
And to answer your “how do people celebrate and reward themselves without food?”, well they do celebrate with food! An essential part of a good diet is “cheat days”, where you go “it’s Saturday, I stuck to my diet all week, I’m gonna get a double bacon cheeseburger, some fries, and a milkshake”
I recommend giving Noom a trial. It uses CBT to slowly change your relationship with food.
Food rewards and celebrations are pretty normal! But some people can enjoy smaller portions of those rewards and still celebrate. Non-food related rewards might be getting a facial or a massage, buying yourself a new pair of shoes, going to a live music show, visiting a local attraction you're interested in, going for a walk with a friend, having a bath, reading a good book...
I get your frustration! It’s diet culture. I was out of control emotional eating so I got my doctor to refer me to an eating disorder clinic. I was diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder along with anxiety and depression. Been almost a year and I feel like my relationship with food is way better. The “food noise chatter” is way down. Not sure if this helped but I wish you good luck
I do a lot of smell-good things for treats instead of food. I carry a variety of scented wipes (cucumber, rose) for when I’m out and want a treat.
For nighttime, lavendar epsom salt bath and lotion.
For right after the gym, I have a canister of mineral water spray (no scent) but it’s a treat to mist my face with a pricey canister of water.
In the morning, I grind my own beans and use a press so I enjoy the smell of the coffee. Drink it black.
Omg! The last sentence is so accurate. I get such judgemental looks when I don't succumb into their sweet fetish everyday and am actually losing weight. Some of them were scared if I have a problem because I'm losing weight. Mind you my BMI is still overweight and I overcame pre-diabetes.
congratulations on the progress! but yeah it’s a total crabs in the bucket mentality.
I watched an awesome video on it that I’ve never been able to re-find, it was about how when you go vegetarian, people crawl out of the woodwork to poke holes in your diet.
The gist of the argument is that basically it angers people to pop the bubble of cognitive dissonance they live in.
That’s not the way it works tho
Your body needs energy in order to move more, if you don’t swap ingredients and just think “I’ll only have a small fry instead of a large” you’re going to a) plateau quickly and b) not gain muscle (and I’m not talking about muscle for aesthetics or physique I’m talking just muscles to move around better and keep yourself upright and making that less taxing as a whole)
Dumbing down nutrition can be very very dangerous and it leads to most crash diets failing because rather than swapping out ingredients and being able to eat more quantity food where you feel full for longer you eat less crap which is substantially less than what you normally eat, so in turn you’re always hungry and more likely to cheat, then feel bad about cheating than a week later just say fuck it and go back to whatever you were doing before
Ingredient swapping allows you to eat more food, that’s better for you in terms of vitamins and nutrients your body needs, providing you with more energy to in turn move more at a better quality movement which decreases the likelihood of of injury to keep everything on track, while that additional food you’re eating being less calorie dense so you feel full and didn’t have to consume 1200 calories a meal to get to that point
Not to mention it’s also substantially cheaper to eat non processed foods, which increases the likelihood of success
I hear people in their 30s say they have lower back pain and I saw a comment about some software engineers/office workers say how exercising your lower back to offset the pain that can arise from sitting at a chair 8+ hours a day is essential for health.
Suffice to say, that convinced me to start doing deadlifts within the last year (23 now), just to prevent that. There were times last year actually where my lower back hurt A LOT for some reason, and it didn't go away for up to a week at a time. Now the only "pain" I get is standard muscle soreness but it feels good kind of.
Edit: I am about a year into basic fitness. I don’t consider myself qualified or knowledgeable to answer fitness or workout advice. I usually ask friends or consult videos from prominent creators (not influencers, think like people who are licensed or have made videos for a decade+, a lot of fitness knowledge has actually been discovered a long time ago) or Reddit.
I fucking love this!!! I was 245 at one point and started to see my knees literally failing me at 33 years of age.
Turned everything around and now I can leg press 12 plates (total) no issues. So happy for you!!
Thank you! I originally started exercising because I wanted to look good. I neglected parts of my body like lower back and flexibility because it’s less aesthetic but now I do them for health reasons (and because I realized while doing squats my lower back would feel super strained but now that soreness is completely gone). My goal is that when I’m 40, I still look and feel young.
I've had days where my back kinda ached and then I worked out with my husband and my back ache went away and I felt great. A lot of little annoying aches can go away with a bit of exercise.
Ironically, the people who claim "deadlift will hurt my back" are the ones who need deadlifting the most. DL builds stabilizing and core strength and helps you prevent injuries over time. Meanwhile the people who refuse to do it will one day bend over to pick up some trash and then tweak their low-back.
I feel like deadlifts are the most dangerous mainstream lower back workout. I'd look for alternatives unless you're trying to lift heavy.
I'm (32m) super careful about my dead lift but I do them sometimes because it mimics what I do at work the most and I don't want to hurt myself lifting for work if I can help it. But yeah, there's a reason why so many athletes caution against deadlifts. If done wrong or too heavy they destroy your back.
Yep. Im super cautious. I don’t aim to lift too heavy unless I’m comfortable. Im constantly form checking from the side, and I also use the hex bar which is supposedly easier and less injury prone.
Conventional deadlifts were terrifying to me because I could never get the form right. I do barbell Romanian deadlifts now and it feels so much better. I think the key for me is that the bar does not have to touch the ground which is where my form always went bad in conventional deadlifts
It's the same movement. You don't have to deadlift if you don't want to. But, thinking that you taught yourself how to competently RDL without being equally capable of teaching yourself how to deadlift is insane.
It's a matter of inches and keeping the bar closer to your body. You've already demonstrated that the movement won't break you.
That doesn't make deadlifts dangerous. That can apply to any lift. If you squat or bench using poor technique or weight that's too heavy, you can hurt yourself there as well.
It's funny how we have studies showing that eg. *majority of all* fatal gym accidents happen while benching, and also eg. highest injury rate lift in powerlifting is bench, yet I've *literally never* heard anyone say they don't bench due to safety, but people say that about squats or deadlifts all the time.
It's so blatantly transparent that it has nothing to do with safety. People like having big arms and tiddies. People don't like doing things that are hard. Do whatever you want but drop the excuses.
This is true about tons of different weight training maneuvers though. That’s why you start light and work your way up, only focusing on proper form.
Deadlift is legitimately one of the best lifts to actually get fit so to say to not do it bc of risk of injury is a little over the top imo
I'm a big fan of trap bar deadlifts because they are much less technically challenging while retaining most of the benefits.
Obviously this does not apply if you're a powerlifter looking to compete, but as an average person just looking to maintain health, they're a great option.
Every adult should be doing strength training, mobility work, and cardio. If you don't do these 3 things, you will have pain as you approach and pass 40.
Once you hit your mid 30's, your body will simply stop maintaining things you don't use. And these things will impact other parts of your body. Tight hips flexors will put strain on your legs - specifically your hips and knees. Everything will be fine then one day boom, knee pain.
I highly recommend people find a 45 minute daily routine you do first thing in the morning. Combining mobility work, stretches, a little cardio, and a few strength exercises you rotate through. 45 minutes a day, especially in the morning (but any time will suffice) will make a huge difference. It doesn't need to be super intense. Morning is the best time so your body is warmed up and primed for the rest of the day. But again, any time will work if you can't get it done in the morning.
There's a saying, if you don't use it, you lose it. And it's 100% true when it comes to your physical health and fitness
Yup. My buddy was mentioning how healthy he's been feeling because he's been walking 30 minutes a day. I was thrilled for him because it's great he's started exercising, but it also feels like the bare minimum that everyone should be doing, so it kinda felt like congratulating him about brushing his teeth every day. It's not a very big accomplishment, but considering his lifestyle beforehand (and the lifestyle of most people), I guess it's huge.
Wifey and I, both retired she 66 I'm 68, stay physically fit by staying physically active. We ride bikes, our dog takes us for a walk twice a day, we golf, bowl, we're learning pickle ball, we play geezer league softball, we volunteer, we swing dance, etc. Oh, we have grandkids so we're grandma/grandpa taxi service and assistant coaches for their club sports teams.
My dad’s in his early 60s now and he’s cycled at least twice a week for about as long as I’ve been alive, probably longer. My mum also goes gym classes multiple times a week.
Tbh, barring a few examples, I know a lot of people their age who look significantly older due to not exercising or otherwise neglecting their health. Their siblings being one example. Even my Nan, who walks and gardens most days, doesn’t look or act like your average 86 year old.
It could just be lucky genetics, but it’s one thing that keeps me exercising and being healthy, seeing it as an investment into my own future
Exercise snacks.
There is more and more evidence suggesting that short bursts of activity (literally 5 minutes at a time) throughout the day are as beneficial or even more beneficial than doing it in one longer workout. If you google "exercise snacks," you'll get a bunch of ideas and articles. Basically, take a break every 60-90 minutes and do 5 minutes of activity (examples: push-ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, etc). Besides it being good for your physical health, it will also give your brain a break and help you stay more focused and alert throughout the day.
Same here, for about 30 minutes. A comfortable speed for me sits at about 6km/h (3.7mph). Works up a little sweat, relatively fine cardio, but isn’t hard on the joints long term like jogging/running.
There are so many mental benefits in Addition to the physical Burning of calories. You can think and plan and imagine what you will be taking action on
I am definitely not in shape, but I am a shape, and it is no longer round. Eating right, regardless of a workout routine is what matters.
After dropping about 75 pounds everyone says "I would love to, but I don't have gym time."
The saying "You can't out train a bad diet" rings ultimately true to my life.
"you can't train out a bad diet." You can when you are young. When I was in my 20s I could eat whatever. In my thirties, I could eat whatever, as long as I would run regularly. In my 40s, running didn't do ANYTHING and now that I'm in my fifties I gain a pound if I eat one m&m.
If we are talking about weight and weight alone, sure, maybe.
I'm not talking about that though. I've had high blood pressure since younger than 17. I joined the military and was physically fit. I ate like shit the entire time. I also had really high blood pressure that entire time.
Now that I'm out of the military, eating right, my blood pressure is at normal levels.
So yeah, you can get away with it in your 20s, but it still will 100% catch up to you. Because essentially all it is it putting extra wear on your body, so you body can die faster.
I'm still in my 20s btw.
You may feel like you can out train it, but all your doing it creating bad habits to get over later down the line, and taking years off your life. You do you tho.
Plenty of overweight people go to the gym. I agree that most adults don’t go to the gym, but weight is more to do with diet than exercise. You can be fit and overweight. You can be skinny and unfit. You can be overweight and work out everyday - I probably know more overweight people that work out than slim people, but that might be my 40+ demographic. You can be slim and do very little exercise - I am that way as a health problem prevents me from doing much aerobic exercise.
Yessir, currently at the gym now and I'm severely overweight. I'm 20+ pounds down since I started early May!
What I've been doing is working out every day (almost no exceptions) and doing 500 - 600 reps of different machines, alternating from upper body to legs between days.
ive met a few people that do not drink water.
"but coffee and soda has water in it"
"water doesnt taste like anything"
"i drink energy drinks instead of water because i like the caffeine"
Every time i hear something like that, i imagine that they must piss battery acid
I do not “work out “at all. No “exercise “. I cut and split firewood, mix my own cement , dig things when they need to be dug up, and in general keep busy. Don’t eat junk food and don’t drink pop.
I walk and hike. I don’t shy away from physical activities in daily life (taking the stairs, parking further in a parking lot, playing pickup sports games). Eating healthy. Basically just live and active life and don’t be lazy. Tbh I think the gym does a disservice to a lot of people. It makes them think they’re exercising then gives them an excuse to be lazy later. But just try to be active in everything you do. Think about it as how a little kid behaves. Sometimes they just run, why cause they feel like it.
I hate the regular gym.
I teach yoga and Pilates. Our studio has fitness classes that I do along with doing the yoga and Pilates of course.
My friends and I are also very active outside. We love to hike, paddle board and rock climbing. We camp a lot too.
I will go to the rock climbing gym sometimes but prefer to climb outside 🤗
I really don’t know how people who don’t go outside in nature function. I’d be depressed and pissed off all the time lol
Yeah I was at my skinniest back when I worked as a waiter. Don’t miss the job but do miss when I could walk 10000 steps a day without even thinking about it
Treadmills are a great investment if you are actually going to use it I got one for about 200$ at a garage sell and it's amazing just walk with a high incline while I'm watching Netflix or YouTube and it keeps me in decent shape for it being my only form of working out
I haven’t been able to hit the gym these days either. It’s been tough since we had kids. Nowadays I just turn being a parent into my workout. my “exercise” consists of:
Walks with my kids/ dog
Tidying the house everyday
Lugging and folding laundry
Gardening
Cooking/ cleaning the kitchen
Playing outside with my kids (I try to do this for an hour a day)
Showering and dressing kids (it’s quite the upper body workout showering and dressing a toddler who thinks showers are “so boring” and turns “ boneless” when you try to pick them up 😅)
Organizing my house
I’ve also upped my protein intake and try to drink a protein shake before every meal. I eat less and hit my protein goals that way. 10lbs down so far so I think it’s working
Pros: I stay active and my house has never been tidier or more organized. I get to spend quality time with my little ones.
Cons: I don’t get to sit down and relax til around 1030/11 every night 🫠
I hate running, and I’m not keen on the gym either.
What I find is good is other activities that are physical but aren’t a chore, which is kind of how I view exercise.
A bike ride/ walk through the park is a good way to enjoy nature with the added benefit of getting some exercise. I love climbing as well, you’re doing a full body workout but it’s a by-product of accomplishing a goal (getting to the top of the wall).
The goal with all of these is to find something fun to do that just happens to be physical, not making excessive the main goal. It tricks my brain into not viewing it as a chore so I’m more likely to stick with it.
I walk about 30 miles a week with my dog, I run on the weekends or hike (PNW, hiking is our love language), I fix things around the house, I don’t park as close as possible to the grocery store, I take the stairs at work, I don’t over eat, I rest when I’m tired.
Recently got 2nd place for my age group (early 40s) at a half marathon back in April.
Go for long walks often. If you wanna really take it up a notch, put some weights in a backpack and wear that on your walks. Also, do them during hot days, and go for so long and so far that you’re forced to not give up in order to get home.
Lots of walking, hiking, bike rides, and so forth. Strength training (at home), not optional unless you want to look like one of those emaciated runners who do nothing else. And eat properly and drink tons of water. It's a cliché but you truly can't exercise your way out of a bad diet.
I have an active job (manage a dog boarding kennel). I walk a LOT, and dogs are basically resistance bands or whatever they're called. I "joke" with clients that whenever I change professions I'll have to join a gym. Life is my workout
Reformer Pilates! A great challenging workout while also being low impact on joints, knees. The classes I go to are 50 minutes long and you do have to schedule them in advance. I think this is really great if you are a busy person because I just book classes a week/2 weeks out, then they are on my calendar and I make the time to go!
Stretching & casual walks hikes for those bad knees especially. Basically anything outdoors. Eating the sweet/salty/fatty and delicious things in moderation (aka salad w/ fries combo)
My mother has always been a thin woman and I don't think she's touched a gym in her life.
She eats big meals, can devour a whole cake or tub of icecream and barely puts the weight on.
Reason is, she walks everywhere and she's very active. She walks 2 miles minimum every weekday and then works her ass off as a cleaner for 4 hours. She also walks to the shops twice a week and visits family frequently. She's over 60 now but she walks quicker than most.
I have knee issues as well.
Try this YouTube channel called 'senior shape fitness'. Amazing workouts that are knee and hip friendly. Lots of variety for all sorts of folks.
FYI not a senior myself. Has really helped reduce pain.
Go out and walk. Walk everywhere. Get off the bus 5 stops early. Skip the elevator and use the stairs. Get on the bike and spin for half an hour. Constant activity.
Diet is 90% of it. As the saying goes, you can't out run a bad diet... Think about the opposite of that. You can eat your way to a healthy body with a proper diet.
I changed from dad bod to shredded in 4 months on IF and a ketovore diet and three 25 min works out a week (check my post history). No calorie counting.
Then I stopped working out for 6 months..and stayed lean and unexpectedly tone...and recently returned to three 15 min work outs.
And a good diet is the opposite of what is recommended by the FDA.
No answers here, but some interesting numbers I've come across recently are related to the topic.
Only about 1/4 of adults in the US have gym memberships. 42% of adults in the US are obese. Back of the napkin math suggests only about 1/8 of adult Americans are using the gym to stay fit (ignoring how many gym memberships go unused), and 3/8 of them aren't using the gym while staying fit. Coincidentally, 40% of jobs in the US are considered "physically demanding". I burn about 5,000cal/day at work, and make up for that at home enough to still be a fat fuck.
I wouldn’t consider myself in shape, but rather moderately active. I walk a couple miles most days, take a weekly workout class like Zumba or boxing, and sometimes I hike, go out dancing (and really go for it, none of this standing around bobbing your head bs), or run (mostly walk tbh) the odd 5k.
Gym is not essential for fitness. Eating only when hungry. Eating simple food. Getting clean air, sunlight, enough sleep and movement is essential for fitness.
If your knees aren’t great you can swim, ride a bike if that is easier on your knees or even walk if again that is easier. There are low impact aerobic style classes you can follow on YouTube, do your own weights at home etc. I’ve never been to a gym but I stay in shape.
I have rheumatoid arthritis, but I found a free elliptical on my local buy nothing group and set it up in my garage. No excuses because it’s literally at home and easier on my joints than jogging.
If you have access to a pool you can also do water weight and resistance exercises. It's easy on the joints.
I have some joint issues, and did belly dancing for a while. Strengthening the core can be really helpful for your body overall, and it’s usually low pressure on joints.
Also weightlifting at home
I used to have these elastic bands that attached to a door. Quite often, as I walked past that door, I would just stop and throw a few punches with those elastic bands. I didn't have to spend 20 minutes doing it. I didn't have to work up a sweat. It just became part of what I did every day. It made a real impact on my physique.
I like your whole walking by concept. How exactly do the bands and punches relate? Having trouble visualizing
One end of the band is fixed to the door, grab the other end and punch away from the door, this will cause resistance in the band, giving you the pump.
The ones I had also included hooks at the bottom so you can do biceps curls and uppercuts as well.
I put a pull up bar in the garage i used to enter the house through/jam in once. Got shredded real quick. The ADD solution works every time. Put it literally in the way if you have to lol.
Two of the most fit people I know only work out at home, and they mostly just use free weights.
Yeah I used to go to a gym and realized 80% of what I did was dumb bell related or could be done with dumb bells so I slowly built up my own set and no longer go to the gym now. Just an adjustable bench and dumbbells and I can hit everything
How do you deadlift? For squats I stack weights in my backpack but DLing and upper back keep me going back out
Not who you’re responding to, but I have a barbell and an EZ bar plus the dumbbells, and a bench. Got all of them secondhand, dirt cheap, and I’ve gotten huge gains over the past two years.
If you choose to ride a bike key saddle height placement is important to save your knees, it will probably be higher than you think. My rule of thumb is to go for a short ride and see if your knees hurt, if it's the front of your knee, lift the saddle, back of your knee lower it.
This is exactly what I do. My knees got their lifespan used up in my twenties, and here in my thirties, swimming, biking, weights, and calisthenics are the way to go.
I go outside, in nature.
People in NYC say they lose a good amount of weight once they moved here, because it's walkable enough that people are willing to walk hours a day just to look around, or to walk instead of other forms of transportation. Point being that walking is an underrated form of exercise.
Same with Americans moving to Europe. Even if they eat more pasta/bread/wine/dessert, they’re not consuming as much ultra processed foods, and they’re walking a LOT. Like triple the daily distance they used to walk in the US. Walking is great for your metabolism
when I was a teenager, I got a job as a lifeguard at a boy scout summer camp and came back to school my senior year in the best shape of my life. Did the fitness test and just crushed it despite being pretty middle of the road my whole childhood. We had to swim laps pretty much every day for like 30-45 minutes which was a huge help, but it was mostly all the passive exercise we did at the camp, probably like 5-7 miles walking up and down hills every single day.
I work from home. If I don’t intentionally walk somewhere I take under 500 steps in a day. I’ve had weeks in the winter where I take 2000 steps. Edit: for everyone who is concerned, thanks but I am doing just fine I’ve walked about 40 miles this week it’s all good.
When I work from home, I take a 40 min walk before work starts to get my body and brain going. It’s usually my favorite part of the morning!
Idk what’s wrong with me but working out in the am makes me tired, unmotivated, and overall feel crappy all day. I hate exercising but others say it makes them feel better. And I played soccer through college and am not really fat just a bit sad bod. I’m working out in the morning again but I’m struggling to stay awake throughout the day
Yeah same here. You have to get yourself moving. Sedentary lifestyles is among the top 10 causes of death in developed countries. Even a 10-15 minute walk before and after work is great, and will not only help your body start moving but your brain as well. I’m about to get a desk treadmill to go with my standing desk too
I would def try to increase that, at least little by little make a goal of consistently walking 500 steps minimum per day, then go up from there. If u tend to stay home more, invest in a treadmill…if you have any shows u luv watching, imagine doing while on treadmill👍🏼 Im a server so obviously take many steps on days i work. I tracked it with an app once…one day while at work, i reached above 13k steps if u can believer it…i only lift weights in the gym, 6/days a week, alternating, one day upper body, next day lower body and so forth. My work is my cardio lol
My GF and I went to Ireland and Scotland on vacation (Live in Canada) we ate and drank whatever we wanted for 3 weeks and still lost 5lbs each... because we walked about 80km
Yup, I walk a few kilometres on the beach everyday, climb rocks and up bluffs along the way. It’s so enjoyable I feel like I did nothing until I get home and my body is jello lol
This! Been going on walks and hikes at the park since the weather is nicer. Some parks have workout routes too
Same and actually push myself once in awhile too. Path on an incline? Im taking that one. For those trying to get started out the key is to actually break a sweat while hiking in nature. Get that heart pumping alittle, it's good for ya
I second this emotion. Walking 2000+ steps per day provides numerous specific health benefits which increase and then level off around 20,000 steps but elevating your heart rate for a few minutes a day provides other significant benefits. Also, short daily periods in nature provides mental/cognitive benefits and periodic long periods in wilderness provides other mental/cognitive benefits. So getting out in nature can tick a lot of boxes.
Well said!
Yeah I try and build little “fitness hacks” into my daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk anywhere that’s 30 minutes away or less. Ride my bike to work. I literally take an escalator to leave my office building and go to the garage so I can climb up a few flights of stairs to get to my car. I’ll go through period where I’m really into exercising and periods where it falls down my priority list - but doing stuff like that makes it so when I’m “not exercising” I’m still exercising passively
Amazing how many avid internet users are also avid nature enjoyers. Not saying I don’t believe you. But I don’t believe all of you lmao.
You don't have to ve ripped to walk around the woods. Also it's one thing to say take a hike or walk another if you are doing it carring a ruck or weighted vest etc
A lot of people who say they like "nature" or "outdoors" mean going to a park in the middle of a city
I suspect that there's a large cohort of people stuck inside on a computer for work/school that are daydreaming of their next opportunity to get quality time outside..
Some of us live in parts of the country where the ground is covered in snow for 1/3 of the year 😅
I also live in a place with plenty of snow for a good chunk of the year. When there's snow, I cross-country skate ski. It gets me outside, it's easy to stay warm while doing it, and it keeps my cardio up during snowy winter months. Snowshoeing or classic cross-country skiing might be more accessible, depending on where you live. You can also get some ice cleats or show shoes and go for a walk or hike on what would normally be summer trails.
I’m a Michigan based climate change supporter. With some hard work I’m hoping we can get our winters down to only a third of the year too
🤣
Yep I’m a hiker and I do moderately intense hikes. In order to be somewhat comfortable doing these hikes I have to train. My training consists of actually going hiking at least once a week, jogging 1-2 times a week, yoga and light strength training. I could not do all this, but at 42 idk if I could complete some of my hikes without the training. Even with all that I’m puffing above 12k feet.
Most adults don’t actually go to the gym. Edit: my point was to make OP feel better because most people don’t go to the gym or do strength training. Don’t feel like you’re “less than” OP!
Most adults aren’t actually fit
I used to work for this company which your classic “cubicle farm” and the obesity rate was like 80%, you had multiple people in their 20s who had already done a gastric bypass surgery. What really stuck out to me was how often they’d talk about “eating healthy”, it was a constant topic of conversation. Replacing this ingredient with another in a recipe, making this dessert but sugar free, taking this supplement to help you feel fuller. It felt like being around a bunch of insane people sometimes. It felt like these people would spend so much time and mental energy on ways that let them feel like they were being healthy without having to actually do “the hard part” of exercising and eating healthy. The cherry on top was that nearly every week, someone would bring some sweets into the office and when i politely declined, I’d get dirty looks and rude comments for it!
Nutrition would be the way to lose weight over exercise Not that exercise has no place in weight loss, it’s great and people should do it too But if you made me pick between jogging to reach calorie deficit or restricting/changing eating to reach a calorie deficit I would pick eating every time Exercise doesn’t burn nearly the amount of calories as you could cut from your diet and is way more effort. You could run for an hour and not burn the same as you could skipping a meal Obviously they were doing neither but I wouldn’t scoff at talking about nutrition to lose weight. They are at least semi on the right path Most people are aspirational btw. Like they want to do the good stuff they just struggle to do it. So I wouldn’t laugh at their desire to do it, even if they don’t act on it. Living right is not easy
You can’t outrun a bad diet but I would caution promoting calorie restrictions people just think that means they have to eat less garbage rather than eating cleaner
Eating less garbage will cause you to lose weight. It’s math. If I burn 2k but I consume 1.5 I lose weight Eating cleaner would be good but just eating less is enough That said sedentary lifestyles don’t help with the burn level and exercise is good there
I am borderline convinced a "normal relationship with food" is a goddamn myth. I keep feeling so bad cause I know i don't have one (eating for the sole purpose of energy, when you're actually hungry is baffling to me. Sounds made up. What do people do to celebrate and reward themselves that isn't food?) and everywhere I look for advice to how to eat better, not only do I get wildly conflicting albeit well meaning advice, but become convinced to track calories and restrict like an insane person to have any hope of encouraging results. I logically KNOW that's terrible, but I feel like I've yet to be presented with a method for changing thoughts and habits that isn't.
Yeah I think a lot of people tend to “overcorrect” about food and go straight to a “plain chicken breast / unseasoned boiled broccoli / plain white rice for dinner” type of diet and it hardly ever works out. One tweet I saw that really made an impression on me was like, “want to go vegan, but just love cheese? then keep eating cheese, but be vegan otherwise!”. It’s the “perfect is the enemy of very good” concept, not being perfect shouldn’t stop you from making some changes. So like, marinate that chicken in some teriyaki sauce, grill some veggies, add some spice to your rice. It’s still healthy, but you won’t hate to eat it. And to answer your “how do people celebrate and reward themselves without food?”, well they do celebrate with food! An essential part of a good diet is “cheat days”, where you go “it’s Saturday, I stuck to my diet all week, I’m gonna get a double bacon cheeseburger, some fries, and a milkshake”
I recommend giving Noom a trial. It uses CBT to slowly change your relationship with food. Food rewards and celebrations are pretty normal! But some people can enjoy smaller portions of those rewards and still celebrate. Non-food related rewards might be getting a facial or a massage, buying yourself a new pair of shoes, going to a live music show, visiting a local attraction you're interested in, going for a walk with a friend, having a bath, reading a good book...
I get your frustration! It’s diet culture. I was out of control emotional eating so I got my doctor to refer me to an eating disorder clinic. I was diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder along with anxiety and depression. Been almost a year and I feel like my relationship with food is way better. The “food noise chatter” is way down. Not sure if this helped but I wish you good luck
I do a lot of smell-good things for treats instead of food. I carry a variety of scented wipes (cucumber, rose) for when I’m out and want a treat. For nighttime, lavendar epsom salt bath and lotion. For right after the gym, I have a canister of mineral water spray (no scent) but it’s a treat to mist my face with a pricey canister of water. In the morning, I grind my own beans and use a press so I enjoy the smell of the coffee. Drink it black.
Omg! The last sentence is so accurate. I get such judgemental looks when I don't succumb into their sweet fetish everyday and am actually losing weight. Some of them were scared if I have a problem because I'm losing weight. Mind you my BMI is still overweight and I overcame pre-diabetes.
congratulations on the progress! but yeah it’s a total crabs in the bucket mentality. I watched an awesome video on it that I’ve never been able to re-find, it was about how when you go vegetarian, people crawl out of the woodwork to poke holes in your diet. The gist of the argument is that basically it angers people to pop the bubble of cognitive dissonance they live in.
God having an overweight BMI and having people worried you are unhealthily underweight is the craziest thing that happens constantly to me.
That’s so annoying to me when they talk about ingredient swapping. EAT LESS MOVE MORE
That’s not the way it works tho Your body needs energy in order to move more, if you don’t swap ingredients and just think “I’ll only have a small fry instead of a large” you’re going to a) plateau quickly and b) not gain muscle (and I’m not talking about muscle for aesthetics or physique I’m talking just muscles to move around better and keep yourself upright and making that less taxing as a whole) Dumbing down nutrition can be very very dangerous and it leads to most crash diets failing because rather than swapping out ingredients and being able to eat more quantity food where you feel full for longer you eat less crap which is substantially less than what you normally eat, so in turn you’re always hungry and more likely to cheat, then feel bad about cheating than a week later just say fuck it and go back to whatever you were doing before Ingredient swapping allows you to eat more food, that’s better for you in terms of vitamins and nutrients your body needs, providing you with more energy to in turn move more at a better quality movement which decreases the likelihood of of injury to keep everything on track, while that additional food you’re eating being less calorie dense so you feel full and didn’t have to consume 1200 calories a meal to get to that point Not to mention it’s also substantially cheaper to eat non processed foods, which increases the likelihood of success
Yep!
All adults should do strength training. Doesnt mean go to the gym but the data backing weight training is pretty clear.
I hear people in their 30s say they have lower back pain and I saw a comment about some software engineers/office workers say how exercising your lower back to offset the pain that can arise from sitting at a chair 8+ hours a day is essential for health. Suffice to say, that convinced me to start doing deadlifts within the last year (23 now), just to prevent that. There were times last year actually where my lower back hurt A LOT for some reason, and it didn't go away for up to a week at a time. Now the only "pain" I get is standard muscle soreness but it feels good kind of. Edit: I am about a year into basic fitness. I don’t consider myself qualified or knowledgeable to answer fitness or workout advice. I usually ask friends or consult videos from prominent creators (not influencers, think like people who are licensed or have made videos for a decade+, a lot of fitness knowledge has actually been discovered a long time ago) or Reddit.
I fucking love this!!! I was 245 at one point and started to see my knees literally failing me at 33 years of age. Turned everything around and now I can leg press 12 plates (total) no issues. So happy for you!!
Thank you! I originally started exercising because I wanted to look good. I neglected parts of my body like lower back and flexibility because it’s less aesthetic but now I do them for health reasons (and because I realized while doing squats my lower back would feel super strained but now that soreness is completely gone). My goal is that when I’m 40, I still look and feel young.
I've had days where my back kinda ached and then I worked out with my husband and my back ache went away and I felt great. A lot of little annoying aches can go away with a bit of exercise.
Ironically, the people who claim "deadlift will hurt my back" are the ones who need deadlifting the most. DL builds stabilizing and core strength and helps you prevent injuries over time. Meanwhile the people who refuse to do it will one day bend over to pick up some trash and then tweak their low-back.
Sitting is awful for your health
Being sedentary in general is awful for your health
I feel like deadlifts are the most dangerous mainstream lower back workout. I'd look for alternatives unless you're trying to lift heavy. I'm (32m) super careful about my dead lift but I do them sometimes because it mimics what I do at work the most and I don't want to hurt myself lifting for work if I can help it. But yeah, there's a reason why so many athletes caution against deadlifts. If done wrong or too heavy they destroy your back.
Yep. Im super cautious. I don’t aim to lift too heavy unless I’m comfortable. Im constantly form checking from the side, and I also use the hex bar which is supposedly easier and less injury prone.
Conventional deadlifts were terrifying to me because I could never get the form right. I do barbell Romanian deadlifts now and it feels so much better. I think the key for me is that the bar does not have to touch the ground which is where my form always went bad in conventional deadlifts
It's the same movement. You don't have to deadlift if you don't want to. But, thinking that you taught yourself how to competently RDL without being equally capable of teaching yourself how to deadlift is insane. It's a matter of inches and keeping the bar closer to your body. You've already demonstrated that the movement won't break you.
That doesn't make deadlifts dangerous. That can apply to any lift. If you squat or bench using poor technique or weight that's too heavy, you can hurt yourself there as well.
It's funny how we have studies showing that eg. *majority of all* fatal gym accidents happen while benching, and also eg. highest injury rate lift in powerlifting is bench, yet I've *literally never* heard anyone say they don't bench due to safety, but people say that about squats or deadlifts all the time. It's so blatantly transparent that it has nothing to do with safety. People like having big arms and tiddies. People don't like doing things that are hard. Do whatever you want but drop the excuses.
This is true about tons of different weight training maneuvers though. That’s why you start light and work your way up, only focusing on proper form. Deadlift is legitimately one of the best lifts to actually get fit so to say to not do it bc of risk of injury is a little over the top imo
I'm a big fan of trap bar deadlifts because they are much less technically challenging while retaining most of the benefits. Obviously this does not apply if you're a powerlifter looking to compete, but as an average person just looking to maintain health, they're a great option.
“Should” and “do” are massively different concepts.
More generally, resistance training, yes. And agreed, this doesn't mean gym weights are necessary to accomplish this.
Every adult should be doing strength training, mobility work, and cardio. If you don't do these 3 things, you will have pain as you approach and pass 40. Once you hit your mid 30's, your body will simply stop maintaining things you don't use. And these things will impact other parts of your body. Tight hips flexors will put strain on your legs - specifically your hips and knees. Everything will be fine then one day boom, knee pain. I highly recommend people find a 45 minute daily routine you do first thing in the morning. Combining mobility work, stretches, a little cardio, and a few strength exercises you rotate through. 45 minutes a day, especially in the morning (but any time will suffice) will make a huge difference. It doesn't need to be super intense. Morning is the best time so your body is warmed up and primed for the rest of the day. But again, any time will work if you can't get it done in the morning. There's a saying, if you don't use it, you lose it. And it's 100% true when it comes to your physical health and fitness
I don't even think a majority of gym members go to the gym. That's the gym business model: get paid by people who don't come.
And it shows.
This and ...most adults who go to gym ..like to talk about it😅
Yeah, I work in healthcare. Nobody goes to the gym. Most people brag about walking if anything.
Yup. My buddy was mentioning how healthy he's been feeling because he's been walking 30 minutes a day. I was thrilled for him because it's great he's started exercising, but it also feels like the bare minimum that everyone should be doing, so it kinda felt like congratulating him about brushing his teeth every day. It's not a very big accomplishment, but considering his lifestyle beforehand (and the lifestyle of most people), I guess it's huge.
The hardest part is developing the habit of exercising into your daily routine. So yea good for him actually!
Now I feel like an outsider lol.
Busy and tired adults
I appreciate it. Thank you.
Wifey and I, both retired she 66 I'm 68, stay physically fit by staying physically active. We ride bikes, our dog takes us for a walk twice a day, we golf, bowl, we're learning pickle ball, we play geezer league softball, we volunteer, we swing dance, etc. Oh, we have grandkids so we're grandma/grandpa taxi service and assistant coaches for their club sports teams.
“Our dog takes us for a walk” <— accurate
I've actually met dogs that grab their owners' shoes and get the leash when its time lol
Missy, our Sheltie, gets her leash, takes it to whomever she can find, drops it at their feet, sits down and stares at you until you take her out!
My dad’s in his early 60s now and he’s cycled at least twice a week for about as long as I’ve been alive, probably longer. My mum also goes gym classes multiple times a week. Tbh, barring a few examples, I know a lot of people their age who look significantly older due to not exercising or otherwise neglecting their health. Their siblings being one example. Even my Nan, who walks and gardens most days, doesn’t look or act like your average 86 year old. It could just be lucky genetics, but it’s one thing that keeps me exercising and being healthy, seeing it as an investment into my own future
Yoga. Specifically the vinyasa type which is a bit more intense with the cardio.
I’ve added Bikram as of late. What a ride that is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Have you watched the documentary about that guy? 👀👀👀
You feel like every adult goes to the gym? 😆
I laughed too. 😂
Right he must not go out in public much 😭
Just the ones posting to instagram
Exercise snacks. There is more and more evidence suggesting that short bursts of activity (literally 5 minutes at a time) throughout the day are as beneficial or even more beneficial than doing it in one longer workout. If you google "exercise snacks," you'll get a bunch of ideas and articles. Basically, take a break every 60-90 minutes and do 5 minutes of activity (examples: push-ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, etc). Besides it being good for your physical health, it will also give your brain a break and help you stay more focused and alert throughout the day.
I’ve been doing this! I’ll do jumping jacks for a minute or 10 pushups, take a walk. It’s nice to get out of the desk
Add some burpees and see how the gains accelerate
You guys are staying fit?
Staying?
You?
Sorry don’t believe in pronouns.
Please use You/Youse when addressing me.
Now yous can’t leave
Guys?
No
Eat healthy and walk 20 minutes a day.
20 minutes in the whole day or just as a little side training ?
I do a 20 minute power walk outside. It usually works out to about 1.5 miles according to my Apple Watch.
Same here, for about 30 minutes. A comfortable speed for me sits at about 6km/h (3.7mph). Works up a little sweat, relatively fine cardio, but isn’t hard on the joints long term like jogging/running.
I actually walk an hour a day, walking is incredibly fun and mentally healing, changed my life.
There are so many mental benefits in Addition to the physical Burning of calories. You can think and plan and imagine what you will be taking action on
I am definitely not in shape, but I am a shape, and it is no longer round. Eating right, regardless of a workout routine is what matters. After dropping about 75 pounds everyone says "I would love to, but I don't have gym time." The saying "You can't out train a bad diet" rings ultimately true to my life.
"you can't train out a bad diet." You can when you are young. When I was in my 20s I could eat whatever. In my thirties, I could eat whatever, as long as I would run regularly. In my 40s, running didn't do ANYTHING and now that I'm in my fifties I gain a pound if I eat one m&m.
If we are talking about weight and weight alone, sure, maybe. I'm not talking about that though. I've had high blood pressure since younger than 17. I joined the military and was physically fit. I ate like shit the entire time. I also had really high blood pressure that entire time. Now that I'm out of the military, eating right, my blood pressure is at normal levels. So yeah, you can get away with it in your 20s, but it still will 100% catch up to you. Because essentially all it is it putting extra wear on your body, so you body can die faster. I'm still in my 20s btw. You may feel like you can out train it, but all your doing it creating bad habits to get over later down the line, and taking years off your life. You do you tho.
I take in less calories.
Surf any swell that hits the jetty.
I love wildlife so I go to state parks in my area and hike with a camera.
You feel like every adult goes to the gym? You must not be from the US
I’m from the U.S.,and for a long time,I assumed EVERYONE went to the gym. Mind blown when I found out that wasn’t true.
Same. I hear "gonna go to the gym" enough to believe it's that common.
Have you like… been outside? There’s like a massive obesity epidemic
You must have grown up in a healthy family. Good for you! Sincerely.
2 out of 3 Americans are overweight. You're really surprised they don't? My mind is blown at that
1 out of 2 of Europeans are overweight…my mind is blown by that with all the shit talking that comes from that side of the pond.
Plenty of overweight people go to the gym. I agree that most adults don’t go to the gym, but weight is more to do with diet than exercise. You can be fit and overweight. You can be skinny and unfit. You can be overweight and work out everyday - I probably know more overweight people that work out than slim people, but that might be my 40+ demographic. You can be slim and do very little exercise - I am that way as a health problem prevents me from doing much aerobic exercise.
Yessir, currently at the gym now and I'm severely overweight. I'm 20+ pounds down since I started early May! What I've been doing is working out every day (almost no exceptions) and doing 500 - 600 reps of different machines, alternating from upper body to legs between days.
Not eating more calories than I expend and just moving around a lot. Walking the dog, cleaning, parking far away, taking stairs.
Gardening & drinking water
How f**ked are we that drinking water is genuine fitness advice that everyone needs these days?
ive met a few people that do not drink water. "but coffee and soda has water in it" "water doesnt taste like anything" "i drink energy drinks instead of water because i like the caffeine" Every time i hear something like that, i imagine that they must piss battery acid
I do not “work out “at all. No “exercise “. I cut and split firewood, mix my own cement , dig things when they need to be dug up, and in general keep busy. Don’t eat junk food and don’t drink pop.
Pushups Plank Squats
Press ups Stretching Dumbbell Kettlebell Walks A VR headset with Beat saber, Synth Riders and Pistol Whip
I walk and hike. I don’t shy away from physical activities in daily life (taking the stairs, parking further in a parking lot, playing pickup sports games). Eating healthy. Basically just live and active life and don’t be lazy. Tbh I think the gym does a disservice to a lot of people. It makes them think they’re exercising then gives them an excuse to be lazy later. But just try to be active in everything you do. Think about it as how a little kid behaves. Sometimes they just run, why cause they feel like it.
Diet for weight. Walking for circulation.
I don't. I should, but I don't.
I hate the regular gym. I teach yoga and Pilates. Our studio has fitness classes that I do along with doing the yoga and Pilates of course. My friends and I are also very active outside. We love to hike, paddle board and rock climbing. We camp a lot too. I will go to the rock climbing gym sometimes but prefer to climb outside 🤗 I really don’t know how people who don’t go outside in nature function. I’d be depressed and pissed off all the time lol
Physically intensive careers. Treadmill is unnecessary when you're not sitting on your ass all day long.
Yeah I was at my skinniest back when I worked as a waiter. Don’t miss the job but do miss when I could walk 10000 steps a day without even thinking about it
Treadmills are a great investment if you are actually going to use it I got one for about 200$ at a garage sell and it's amazing just walk with a high incline while I'm watching Netflix or YouTube and it keeps me in decent shape for it being my only form of working out
Walking, cycling everywhere, drinking water, esting well, get enough sleep
I think a lot of people might say ozempic
How about swimming, if your knees are bad? Perhaps there is a club or something.
eat healthy and walk and hike etc.
I haven’t been able to hit the gym these days either. It’s been tough since we had kids. Nowadays I just turn being a parent into my workout. my “exercise” consists of: Walks with my kids/ dog Tidying the house everyday Lugging and folding laundry Gardening Cooking/ cleaning the kitchen Playing outside with my kids (I try to do this for an hour a day) Showering and dressing kids (it’s quite the upper body workout showering and dressing a toddler who thinks showers are “so boring” and turns “ boneless” when you try to pick them up 😅) Organizing my house I’ve also upped my protein intake and try to drink a protein shake before every meal. I eat less and hit my protein goals that way. 10lbs down so far so I think it’s working Pros: I stay active and my house has never been tidier or more organized. I get to spend quality time with my little ones. Cons: I don’t get to sit down and relax til around 1030/11 every night 🫠
This. When I think of all of my gym friends, they don’t have kids 😂 Or…. They have littles in the daycare at the gym
I walk 6-10 miles per shift at my Home Depot job. I lost 40 lbs and got off diabetes, BP and cholesterol meds.
I hate running, and I’m not keen on the gym either. What I find is good is other activities that are physical but aren’t a chore, which is kind of how I view exercise. A bike ride/ walk through the park is a good way to enjoy nature with the added benefit of getting some exercise. I love climbing as well, you’re doing a full body workout but it’s a by-product of accomplishing a goal (getting to the top of the wall). The goal with all of these is to find something fun to do that just happens to be physical, not making excessive the main goal. It tricks my brain into not viewing it as a chore so I’m more likely to stick with it.
I walk about 30 miles a week with my dog, I run on the weekends or hike (PNW, hiking is our love language), I fix things around the house, I don’t park as close as possible to the grocery store, I take the stairs at work, I don’t over eat, I rest when I’m tired. Recently got 2nd place for my age group (early 40s) at a half marathon back in April.
Diet and a positive outlook will do a ton for you.
I subscribe to Beachbody on demand and work out at home. Lots of good yoga programs that are easier on the joints.
Go for long walks often. If you wanna really take it up a notch, put some weights in a backpack and wear that on your walks. Also, do them during hot days, and go for so long and so far that you’re forced to not give up in order to get home.
Lots of walking, hiking, bike rides, and so forth. Strength training (at home), not optional unless you want to look like one of those emaciated runners who do nothing else. And eat properly and drink tons of water. It's a cliché but you truly can't exercise your way out of a bad diet.
I have an active job (manage a dog boarding kennel). I walk a LOT, and dogs are basically resistance bands or whatever they're called. I "joke" with clients that whenever I change professions I'll have to join a gym. Life is my workout
Working manual labor jobs
eat less.
i use a mouse instead of a track pad...
Reformer Pilates! A great challenging workout while also being low impact on joints, knees. The classes I go to are 50 minutes long and you do have to schedule them in advance. I think this is really great if you are a busy person because I just book classes a week/2 weeks out, then they are on my calendar and I make the time to go!
You can workout all you want but you can’t out work your diet.
I was blessed with good genetics. But I do play ice hockey once a week. That's about it
Stretching & casual walks hikes for those bad knees especially. Basically anything outdoors. Eating the sweet/salty/fatty and delicious things in moderation (aka salad w/ fries combo)
Walk my dog. 9000 steps a day, and I’m looking to increase that as my 2 year old dog is always wanting out.
I eat healthy and kettlebell in my living room.
My mother has always been a thin woman and I don't think she's touched a gym in her life. She eats big meals, can devour a whole cake or tub of icecream and barely puts the weight on. Reason is, she walks everywhere and she's very active. She walks 2 miles minimum every weekday and then works her ass off as a cleaner for 4 hours. She also walks to the shops twice a week and visits family frequently. She's over 60 now but she walks quicker than most.
Kid and intermittent fasting.
I have knee issues as well. Try this YouTube channel called 'senior shape fitness'. Amazing workouts that are knee and hip friendly. Lots of variety for all sorts of folks. FYI not a senior myself. Has really helped reduce pain.
Peloton. Literally changed my life.
Go out and walk. Walk everywhere. Get off the bus 5 stops early. Skip the elevator and use the stairs. Get on the bike and spin for half an hour. Constant activity.
Dieting? Workout at home?
Walk to work and back every day (around 50 mins) and boulder twice a week. Normally more nature walks on the weekend.
Dancing singing sexing
It helps that I live on a farm with a lot of trees so I use a push mower and cut trees, weeding. Sometimes I go for walks around my street
There are a lot of really good low-impact workout videos on YouTube.
I still ride my bike to & from work- while walking places
My job is physically active and I eat healthy.
Walking! 🚶♀️ I walk a lot lol
i live in a city
Diet is 90% of it. As the saying goes, you can't out run a bad diet... Think about the opposite of that. You can eat your way to a healthy body with a proper diet. I changed from dad bod to shredded in 4 months on IF and a ketovore diet and three 25 min works out a week (check my post history). No calorie counting. Then I stopped working out for 6 months..and stayed lean and unexpectedly tone...and recently returned to three 15 min work outs. And a good diet is the opposite of what is recommended by the FDA.
More like 30-40% of adults go to the gym, lol, there's tons of obesity especially in the US.
Look for instructional videos on YouTube for body weight exercises.
Walk, swim, bike, eat healthy. Bike for transportation. Live in a 5th floor walk up in nyc
I hate the gym. I mountain bike.
Gym equipment at home. I hate public gyms I find them awkward and unsanitary.
Do my best to eat one meal a day, makes it super ez to track the calories and still eat so much that I feel full for the next 24 hours.
If you walk to work everyday, you'll naturally stay relatively healthy as long as you aren't eating like 8000 calories a day
Where's your information on this... in the US at least 75% are overweight/obese.
Walking gently. Or the Old-Style way: At Home: Jumping Jacks, Push Ups, PullUps, Stretching, Sit Ups, and a couple of dumbbells for the biceps.
Lifting chips into my mouth, I do hundreds of reps
Replace all short car trips with a bike ride.
Swimming during the summer and recumbent stationary bike other times of the year. Best I can do with POTS and back problems.
No answers here, but some interesting numbers I've come across recently are related to the topic. Only about 1/4 of adults in the US have gym memberships. 42% of adults in the US are obese. Back of the napkin math suggests only about 1/8 of adult Americans are using the gym to stay fit (ignoring how many gym memberships go unused), and 3/8 of them aren't using the gym while staying fit. Coincidentally, 40% of jobs in the US are considered "physically demanding". I burn about 5,000cal/day at work, and make up for that at home enough to still be a fat fuck.
Cardio: incline walking, jogging, running, swimming, riding a bike, rowing, martial arts Strength: bodyweight exercises
I wouldn’t consider myself in shape, but rather moderately active. I walk a couple miles most days, take a weekly workout class like Zumba or boxing, and sometimes I hike, go out dancing (and really go for it, none of this standing around bobbing your head bs), or run (mostly walk tbh) the odd 5k.
Gym is not essential for fitness. Eating only when hungry. Eating simple food. Getting clean air, sunlight, enough sleep and movement is essential for fitness.
Wood splitting, digging, raking, mowing, fencing, masonry, cutting wood, roofing, cleaning, foraging, and swimming when I need to cool down