re: Can you truly change and reshape your body in your 50's?

Cut out seed oils
Drink lots of water
Eat fruits and veggies
eliminate processed sugar
perform aerobic exercise

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I'm looking for some motivation,

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Think about your family. Your wife, your children...brothers, sisters...parents...

How much grief and pain would they have if you died an early death or suffered a major sickness and they would have to be your caregiver.

Do you want to have family members(or nurses aid in a smelly nursing home) wiping your butt, holding you up in a shower or bathing you, dressing you, feeding you, pushing you around in a wheel chair?

But most of all, do it for YOURSELF. You deserve a long, healthy life with vitality, joy and happiness.

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My motivation is zero and I do have a number of health problems, including diabetes.

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The fact that you are posting this on a message board shows you in fact do have 'motivation.' You want to get better. That shows that have a desire to get better/well.

You are going to have to get mad, angry, pissed about your condition and you are going to make it better YOURSELF.

You are going to have to condition yourself to start on a healthy lifestyle. You are going to have to make it automatic that you don't even have to think about it.

You and only you can change your life. No one else can. Not a doctor, not a shrink...its on you.

I know this all sounds rah-rah and all that but you CAN DO THIS.

Now the great thing to know is that diabetes is REVERSALBLE.


Unless you are Type I diabetic, it can be brought under control with diet, exercise and a few good supplements..

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I really want to make positive changes, but not sure if I have the ability or motivation or knowledge to do it.

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Dr Jason Fung has tons of videos on YouTube.

Dr Peter Attia has lots of podcasts on YouTube as well.

Dr Mark Hyman gives lots of easy to understand, practical advice. He has tons of videos on YouTube as well.

Cliffnotes:

*Get on a good exercise regime, aerobic and weight lifting program. You have the foundation going for you and you be able to get back into the swing of things fairly quick.
Nope, you ain't gonna have that killer body you had back in the day. Father time is undefeated BUT you can have good health, vitality and a good foundation well into your 80s, 90s and even past 100.

* Start out with a food 'detox' program. You can get your body chemistry back to normal with a week or two.

And you will start to feel a whole lot better and have lots of energy.

Again, there are tons of YouTube vids that will point you in the right direction.

* Cut the sugar. The junk is in a lot of 'foods' Nearly 75% of some form of sugar is in all 'foods' in the local supermarket/grocery store.
The average American consumes 150lbs of sugar per year.
Think about this way, that's 10 bags of 5lb sugar per year.

Big food loves to hide it in their 'food'. Why because sugar is highly addictive and it makes our bodies crave it even more.

By some accounts, there are over 250 different names for 'sugar'.

Here are just a few:

1.Agave juice
2.Agave nectar
3.Agave syrup, all varieties
4.Beet sugar
5.Blackstrap molasses
6.Brown rice syrup
7.Brown sugar
8.Buttered syrup
9.Cane juice
10.Cane juice crystals
11.Cane sugar
12.Cane syrup
13.Caramel
14.Carob syrup
15.Castor sugar
16.Coconut sugar
17.Confectioners’ sugar
18.Corn glucose syrup

LINK

* Cut out gluten. The wheat that our grandparents and those before us is nowhere like the gluten that is in 'food' today. Cookies, breads,cakes, pies, doughnuts, biscuits, pancakes...

Wheat bread? Nope, its full of chemicals, additives and who knows what else. You can make your own bread, there are several bread kits for home use that are pretty good.



*Dairy products. This is a hard one for a lot of people to accept.
We have seen tons and tons of commercials and advertisements that proclaim 'milk does a body good' over the years.
Most people, however, do not tolerate milk and other diary products.
Humans are the only living beings on Earth that consumes milk well after birth.

Use actual butter. I like Kerrygold but there are other quality brands out there. Make sure it is grass-fed butter. Margin is poison.

There are better foods to get calcium than through dairy products. Vegetable sources are far superior to milk for our calcium needs.
Greek yogurt, sardines, sesame seeds, almonds, salmon, spinach...

*Avoid foods with MSG: monosodium glutamate

*Avoid hydrogenated & pre-hydrogenated foods and oils


Again, its in cookies, cakes, frozen pizza's, biscuits, rolls, French fries, fried chicken...

Seed oil like soybean, shortening, canola(is it really a seed oil?), corn oil...are to be avoided.

Opt for olive oils, avocado oil, coconut oil...

I know, a little TL but when it comes to your health, knowledge is power.

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Cut out seed oils
Drink lots of water
Eat fruits and veggies
eliminate processed sugar
perform aerobic exercise

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you left off processed and fast foods

If you don't already know that then there is very little hope for you.

53 here ans started the journey about a year and a half ago. Welcome to the club Great info in this thread and yes, you definitely can do it.

Only things I’ll add:

1) Focus on macros, supplements and eating habits as everyone said. That makes all of the difference. Eating is 7 days a week and takes some preparation. It’s the hardest part of the change by far and you’ll see immediate results.

2) I’d start out with basic lifts 3 days a week until you feel like you can take on more. On other two days get your extra walking in.

3) Start with a focus on correctives for shoulders and isolated glutes, hamstring and low back work before jumping into squats, bench and deadlifts. I lifted a lot in my younger days but it still took time to wake those muscles up so they do their job on those lifts. You don’t want to pull your back or screw up your shoulders because you haven’t regained your mind muscle connection. You can progress pretty well with bad form up until you pull something. RDLs, Bulg split squats, glute raises, dumbbell presses and rotator cuff work will be your friend.

4) If your gym has a sled, drag that thing as a warm up every day. Your knees will thank you.

YMMV but these tips would’ve helped my old arse when I got started after my 30 yr hiatus.