Hey Stu.
If it makes any difference I'm in pretty much the same boat as you but I'm 36!
For a bit of context (and I apologise for the very lengthy post here) I'm 6'4 and when I was 18 I only weighed 80kg (176 pounds). Even though I ate like a freaking pig. I was a human vacuum cleaner. Lunch was usually a dozen freshly made cinnamon donuts with a chocolate milkshake. Or it was 2 or 3 meat pies and a large Coke or 2. Breakfast was 6 or 7 weetbix (the only healthy thing I'd eat). Dinner was everything I could shovel into my gob. I'd pick the fridge clean. And around midnight I'd regularly get half a dozen soft cheese and bacon rolls, slather them with butter, more cheese, peanut butter and golden syrup and eat the lot with a 1.25 Litre Coke. Disgusting I know, but I seemed to enjoy it at the time. And I'd snack constantly in between. For example I'd make a big cup of chocolate butter icing (aka frosting) and just sit and eat it.
Thing was I played basketball for between 3 and 4 hours a day, played social sport with my mates on weekends, played in a mixed sports team and walked EVERYWHERE I went. And I had a physically demanding job. In other words I was as fit as a bull. And it was all easy because I did stuff that was fun. I hate exercising for the sake of it! Feel the burn? Pssshht! Fuck the burn! Unless it's a chilli sauce I don't wanna know about it! Oh and the other thing is that I didn't drink at all. Just wasn't interested.
I gave up the super-insane eating over the years but still loved my food to excess, I took up drinking and gradually tailed off with the exercise, other than doing weights for a couple of years. I'm now 108kg (240 pounds) and while I don't really look "fat" because of my long-limbed frame and a fair bit more muscle mass than I had at 18, I'm basically VERY unhealthy.
So anyway, my body is now telling me to quit this bullshit and get my act together. I had an episode of gout which HURTS LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. I don't recommend it. My back is shot from lifting heavy shit and playing cricket (if cricket doesn't look strenuous, watch some slow motion footage of a fast bowler... it's a killer!). I have a big flabby gut and high blood pressure, the muscles I was so proud of are a shadow of their former selves and my lack of fitness doesn't help with other ailments either.
But I'm in the middle of completely turning it around. I've stopped drinking other than social events (and I am pretty anti-social so that's code for almost no booze at all, haha). I'm walking every day. I'm eating lean protein, plenty of vegetables and fruit, and a balanced amount of unprocessed carbs. So I still eat curry, but I'll just make it a low-salt, low-fat beef of chicken curry with a bit of brown rice and some greens. Still tastes bloody awesome. If I want a burger I'll make one. My slow-cooker is my new best friend - chuck some stuff in it in the morning and come home to a cooked meal. Sweet! Every now and then if I really want something I will still eat it. No big deal. I'm getting back on my bike next week to ride to work four times a week. There's 45 minutes of relatively high-intensity exercise, and it's just traveling to work and back. Not tedious, grinding exercise for the sake of it. I'm joining a social sporting team and will be starting weights again in a few weeks, once the body adjusts to riding the bike each day.
If you're still reading all this incredibly self-indulgent crap, the moral of the story is don't wait - I completely agree with the others in that the number one thing to do is some kind of regular physical activity you enjoy (or at least learn to enjoy), combined with moderation with your food. And it's not all-or-nothing. It's tempting to think of it as eat whatever you want and sit around all day, or eat like a rabbit and exercise like a fiend. But it's not - you don't have to start with running marathons tomorrow. Even some long walks every day possible for a few weeks to get the blood pumping, and to get you used to exercise being just a part of what you do every day. It makes a difference! Think of it as something you can sustain for your rest of your life - that's what's most important, surely. Not some stupid hardcore diet where you lose a shitload of weight and then give up and put the weight back on and then some. Then if you feel like you want to step it up and get fitter and fitter, it will be sustainable because you know you can do it and the alternative isn't to drown in chocolate bars and beer.
The unexpected bonus is that you'll also FEEL better. More energy, less aches and pains you didn't even know you had, more focus, more staying power (in every sense
), more drive, more determination, less depression, less self-doubt, more pride. Sounds like Tony Robbins style horseshit but it's all true.
Loooooong story short, eat better and move more. And if you fuck up, don't stress it and don't quit. We all fuck up. Just do better the next day. If a slack-arsed, lazy shit like me can do it, I bet you can too.
If it makes any difference I'm in pretty much the same boat as you but I'm 36!
For a bit of context (and I apologise for the very lengthy post here) I'm 6'4 and when I was 18 I only weighed 80kg (176 pounds). Even though I ate like a freaking pig. I was a human vacuum cleaner. Lunch was usually a dozen freshly made cinnamon donuts with a chocolate milkshake. Or it was 2 or 3 meat pies and a large Coke or 2. Breakfast was 6 or 7 weetbix (the only healthy thing I'd eat). Dinner was everything I could shovel into my gob. I'd pick the fridge clean. And around midnight I'd regularly get half a dozen soft cheese and bacon rolls, slather them with butter, more cheese, peanut butter and golden syrup and eat the lot with a 1.25 Litre Coke. Disgusting I know, but I seemed to enjoy it at the time. And I'd snack constantly in between. For example I'd make a big cup of chocolate butter icing (aka frosting) and just sit and eat it.
Thing was I played basketball for between 3 and 4 hours a day, played social sport with my mates on weekends, played in a mixed sports team and walked EVERYWHERE I went. And I had a physically demanding job. In other words I was as fit as a bull. And it was all easy because I did stuff that was fun. I hate exercising for the sake of it! Feel the burn? Pssshht! Fuck the burn! Unless it's a chilli sauce I don't wanna know about it! Oh and the other thing is that I didn't drink at all. Just wasn't interested.
I gave up the super-insane eating over the years but still loved my food to excess, I took up drinking and gradually tailed off with the exercise, other than doing weights for a couple of years. I'm now 108kg (240 pounds) and while I don't really look "fat" because of my long-limbed frame and a fair bit more muscle mass than I had at 18, I'm basically VERY unhealthy.
So anyway, my body is now telling me to quit this bullshit and get my act together. I had an episode of gout which HURTS LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. I don't recommend it. My back is shot from lifting heavy shit and playing cricket (if cricket doesn't look strenuous, watch some slow motion footage of a fast bowler... it's a killer!). I have a big flabby gut and high blood pressure, the muscles I was so proud of are a shadow of their former selves and my lack of fitness doesn't help with other ailments either.
But I'm in the middle of completely turning it around. I've stopped drinking other than social events (and I am pretty anti-social so that's code for almost no booze at all, haha). I'm walking every day. I'm eating lean protein, plenty of vegetables and fruit, and a balanced amount of unprocessed carbs. So I still eat curry, but I'll just make it a low-salt, low-fat beef of chicken curry with a bit of brown rice and some greens. Still tastes bloody awesome. If I want a burger I'll make one. My slow-cooker is my new best friend - chuck some stuff in it in the morning and come home to a cooked meal. Sweet! Every now and then if I really want something I will still eat it. No big deal. I'm getting back on my bike next week to ride to work four times a week. There's 45 minutes of relatively high-intensity exercise, and it's just traveling to work and back. Not tedious, grinding exercise for the sake of it. I'm joining a social sporting team and will be starting weights again in a few weeks, once the body adjusts to riding the bike each day.
If you're still reading all this incredibly self-indulgent crap, the moral of the story is don't wait - I completely agree with the others in that the number one thing to do is some kind of regular physical activity you enjoy (or at least learn to enjoy), combined with moderation with your food. And it's not all-or-nothing. It's tempting to think of it as eat whatever you want and sit around all day, or eat like a rabbit and exercise like a fiend. But it's not - you don't have to start with running marathons tomorrow. Even some long walks every day possible for a few weeks to get the blood pumping, and to get you used to exercise being just a part of what you do every day. It makes a difference! Think of it as something you can sustain for your rest of your life - that's what's most important, surely. Not some stupid hardcore diet where you lose a shitload of weight and then give up and put the weight back on and then some. Then if you feel like you want to step it up and get fitter and fitter, it will be sustainable because you know you can do it and the alternative isn't to drown in chocolate bars and beer.
The unexpected bonus is that you'll also FEEL better. More energy, less aches and pains you didn't even know you had, more focus, more staying power (in every sense
), more drive, more determination, less depression, less self-doubt, more pride. Sounds like Tony Robbins style horseshit but it's all true.Loooooong story short, eat better and move more. And if you fuck up, don't stress it and don't quit. We all fuck up. Just do better the next day. If a slack-arsed, lazy shit like me can do it, I bet you can too.
) threw me to the glue factory over 3 years back. Short version:
) is if you have the chance to exercise:
