45 years old and 47.5 BMI. I need help

A couple of years ago I has a BMI of 42 and was extremely unfit.
Now I'm in the "healthy" band (BMI of 24), with a reasonable amount of muscle and am training for my first triathlon.

I really got there by making small changes and getting them to be habit, then making more small changes. While I understand the point made above about diets being "bad" and "intuitive eating", if I ate "intuitively" I'd still be morbidly obese! You have to have a diet, but diet with the defintition of "the kinds of food that a person habitually eats", and not "a special course of food to which a person restricts themselves". You have to change your habits for life.

For me, I'm intermittent fasting (http://www.thefastdiet.co.uk). It works great for me and has changed the way I look at food as a completely unexpected side effect. I expect to keep this up for the rest of my life - I find it a way to eat that suits me and is healthy according to all current research.

Exercise-wise, I was also extremely self-conscious and started off indoors with a wii-fit. Basically, I started marching on the spot and "stepping" on and off the balance board while watching TV. I was doing it for 1 TV program (so 30 minutes) at a time to start with and was wiped out. Doing this regularly, it didn't take long before it was easy and I made the "step" higher, then started jogging for a few minutes at a time. It was probably about a year before I was comfortable doing exercise where other people could see me :rotfl:You could do something similar without a wii or balance board, just march on the spot or step on and off a step for half an hour (you can get a cheap aerobic step for about £10, or improvise).

One you start losing weight and doing more exercise you'll be amazed at how much better you feel in so many ways and you'll wonder why it took you so long to get started!

I think a bike could help. If your knees make it painful to walk cycling may be easier. Even if it's only up-and-down the road a few times to start off with. I've put panniers on the back of my bike so if you only want a few things from the shop, cycle there.

Just want to add my 2 cents to your concerns about going to the gym. I know that a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of going to a gym, but there is no reason to be.

I go to the gym twice a week and have done for many years and, as others have said, there are all sorts of people there with every body shape you can imagine. Any gym you go to would have people larger than you there. I know mine has.

But here is the most important thing. Nobody cares about what the other people look like. Even if you look around and notice someone hugely overweight, you don't think "My God they're fat!" you think "Good on them, they're trying to do something." I'm not saying this as some motivational BS: In the street I may well think the former, in the gym I only ever think the later.

One of the joys of rows of treadmills, bikes etc. is that you have no idea what speed/program or exercise regime the others are using so you literally cannot race against them (or feel like you are being left behind) I am a lousy runner but a pretty good rower. I doubt anyone in my gym knows this apart from me. Even if you did see me panting away on the treadmill, you wouldn't know whether I was at the start of my session or at the very end, having already done 20k on the bike, 2k on the rowing machine and 5k on the cross trainer.

The other thing the gym will provide is assistance in getting started and an initial exercise program. The gyms I have been to have all provided it for free - indeed, at my current gym I know it is a requirement for their insurance so that probably holds out for the others too.

Going to a gym will have marginal impact on weight unless tied to a proper, calorie controlled diet, but the benefits of being fitter, even if you are still fat, are immense.

Finally, most gyms will give out day passes for free - sometimes you need to be cheeky and ask for them, other gyms like Pure or your local authority sports centre allow you to pay on an ad hoc basis. If you do decide to join on a more formal membership, try before you buy.

Too many people buy a membership that locks them in for 12 months and then never bother going again. In my gym we call them "turkeys" because they turn up after New Year for a couple of sessions and are never seen again. There are always more people in my gym in January than any other month. Great for us regulars who see the gym's income boost but an expensive mistake for the turkeys.

SP

Definitely sign up for a gym with a pool, if that is something you enjoy. To echo what Kayalana99 said above, being successful isn't about the first couple of weeks where you are highly motivated. It's about developing a habit, which is more likely to happen if you do something you enjoy.

Everyone there is self conscious about their own body, and wants to improve so most won't probably notice you are there.

Ask around and I dare say that not many people will be able tell a story of a time they went to the gym and remember laughing at an fat person, sure they may have glanced over and seen someone trying to better themselves, but then they would have gone right back to only caring about what they are doing not what anyone else is doing.

It is never too late to start - I dropped 3 dress sizes (from 14 to 8) 4 years ago nearly and I think it was one of the best thing I ever done for myself. Now I'm size 10 as I cannot exercise that much anymore and eating more but still feeling good and I actually do enjoy having an active an healthy life style.

When I first joined a gym, I was, like you, worried but people are too busy to pay attention and if anything they would applaud you.

I have RunKeeper, an app, for my phone where I frequently set myself challenges (like walking 20 km in a month) and track them. It might be something to help you as well!