Losing weight and becoming an athlete after 50


HOW HE GOT OUT OF SHAPE "At the time that picture was taken, I would get out of breath just going down our driveway to get the mail and coming back up. The truth is, I've always

struggled with my weight, even as a child. I had even turned to Weight Watchers before, in my 30s and 40s, losing 100 pounds or more each time. It worked for me — I just quit working it.

Most of us think we can do it on our own, but I can't. I need the structure, the meetings. When I don't have that, I go back to my old habits." WHEN HE STARTED TO GET FIT

"No one was pressuring me to lose weight — it had to be my own decision. I needed to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I'm the problem.’ I'm 5-foot-7 and when I started out to

lose weight this last time, I weighed 350 pounds. I lost an average of 2 pounds a week by cutting out processed foods and eating fresh produce. When you're that heavy, your body just

doesn't want to exercise — but from the beginning I started walking at a park near my house. I could do one lap around the park, which was 1.2 miles and not level terrain. I had to stop

a few times at the beginning, but I used an app called Endomondo, which kept track of my time, how far I went, and the terrain. As I felt stronger over time, I went a little farther and a

little faster. And when I got down to about 200 pounds, in the spring of 2017, I began running. Not too long after that, I bought a bicycle and started cycling again." WHERE HE IS TODAY

"I have weighed 175 pounds for a little over two years. Currently, I run 5 miles every other day and bicycle 25 to 30 miles every other day. If it's winter, and it's too cold

and the roads are too slick to bike, I run every day. I also really like to go-kart, which is something I did when I was a kid. I'm a vintage guy, so I use a vintage kart, which means

it was made before 1985. You won't believe how physical that is — it's a real workout because I'm going 60 miles an hour on twisty, turny roads around a park. I've always

been really competitive, and the weight loss and exercise allow me to compete — to enter 5Ks and cycling trials and go-kart races." HIS BEST ADVICE Courtesy Gail Lind "You're

never too old to get fit. And if you do get fit, you're going to feel a lot better. Don't do it to live longer. Do it so you can live while you're living! That's the

payoff of exercise. I exercise because it allows me to do all the things I want to do. I can squeeze everything out of the life I've got left." GAIL LIND, 72, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA

Sixty-five is the age when most people retire, but that's when Gail Lind un-retired — from her sedentary lifestyle. “I just felt like I was on the downside of the hill — and I wanted to

be active and do some adventure trips, like hiking,” she says. After doing weight training with a personal trainer, losing 50 pounds and getting herself into great shape, Lind (who now

works as a Silver Sneakers personal trainer herself) looks terrific — and feels even better. “One day my trainer asked me whether I felt as good as I did in my 40s and I said, ‘I feel better

than I did in my 40s!'” HOW SHE GOT OUT OF SHAPE Lind had never been an athlete — “I was always the kid with the book” — but she'd also never really had a big weight problem. Then

menopause hit, and she began noticing the pounds creeping up. “I was 65 and weighed close to 200 pounds,” she said. She'd go to the gym to do cardio, but the scale didn't budge.

“I used to call it ‘the treadmill to nowhere’ because nothing changed. I had a grandson and wanted to be more active, but I had a hard time getting off the floor. Like probably 99 percent of

the population, I thought that if I went on a 900-calorie diet and did cardio, things would change, but they did not." WHEN SHE STARTED TO GET FIT "I was at the gym and noticed

these boot camp classes, with kettlebells and light weights. You had to pay extra for them, and I was single and working in retail, so I didn't have a ton of money. But I decided to

invest in my body, and it's absolutely the smartest thing I ever did for myself. After about six months, my body was starting to morph and build muscle, but one of the trainers — he was

in his 40s and happened to be a bodybuilder — said, ‘Gail, you've maxed out. You need one-on-one personal training.’ So we started working out in the bodybuilding part of the gym,

doing things like leg presses. He was really pushing me; it was intimidating. But he'd keep saying, ‘You're fine. You can do this.'" CHANGING HER EATING HABITS, TOO

"One day, my trainer said, ‘I need you to be stronger. Record what you eat for three days and bring me the list. I want to know what's going on.’ So I did. Later a friend asked me,

‘Oh, did he tweak your diet?’ ‘Tweak? No. He threw the whole thing out!’ I was going to Starbucks for a black coffee and a low-fat blueberry muffin — and he told me to eliminate all baked

goods. He said, ‘Just get rid of them.’ He told me to make sure every meal and snack included high protein, and to make sure I ate eight servings of vegetables a day. With the exercise and

everything, I lost about 50 pounds in a year and a half, two years." LIKING THE RESULTS "I was absolutely astonished at how I looked. Even though when I started working out it

wasn't so much about my looks, I loved the fact that I could put anything on and look damn good. But I also loved how I felt. I have so much energy. I'm nonstop." PAYING IT

FORWARD "I kept working out, using myself as my own guinea pig, and I got my trainer certification in California from the American Council on Exercise [ACE]. Then I started working out

with friends, who'd go to the gym with me. And I was constantly reading and picking up new information. Today, I train others about 15 or 16 hours a week, and work out myself probably

five or six hours a week, mostly in the weight room. I'm not on any medications, and I only go see the doctor once a year. My advice for other people? Get yourself a trainer so you can

learn how to use the equipment properly. It's worth it."