How fast can I get fit after 40?
Ok so you are excited to get fit, and in better shape but you are concerned with how long it will take to achieve your goal. Well the short answer is that it is up to you. Everyone is different, and at different stages of health than others, so there is no universal answer to this question. Also one person’s idea of being fit is different from another’s so that also plays a role in how long it may take. With that said, the best answer anyone could give you is that it is up to you. Ultimately your effort and your consistency is what is going to have the largest impact on your progress.
Ok, but I still want to know how long it might take.
As a general rule it is believed that losing a pound of weight a week is healthy. So with that understanding if you convert the amount of pounds that you want to lose into weeks, this will give you a ballpark timetable as to how long it may take you to lose that extra weight, and get in better shape. So it looks like this. If I am 200lbs, and I want to lose 20 pounds and get to 180lbs, then I can assume that if I am consistent with a diet, and exercise plan, I can likely lose those 20 pounds in about 20 weeks, or about 5 months. But this in my opinion is not the best way to go about it.
Got it, so what do you recommend?
Instead of focusing on the time that it will take you to get fit, it is going to be a better use of your time and mental effort to focus more on your consistency, and the effort that you put in to get fit. If you pay more attention, to your workouts, and how often you work out, as well as what you eat, and do not eat, this will ensure that you actually get in shape which in my opinion is more important than how long it takes. The goal is to get fit, a parameter of that goal is how long it takes. Focus on the goal. Getting fit is a process, you should go in knowing that. Trying to rush it, or expecting unrealistic turnaround times will likely derail your consistency and progress. Think about how long it took you to get into bad shape. For most people it likely took months, and years of bad dieting, and a sedentary lifestyle, to get there, you are now trying to undo this. It stands to reason that if it took you years to get unhealthy, then it may likely take a similar amount of time to reverse those unhealthy actions. This is just an estimation, and it surely doesn’t have to take years, but if you think of it in this way you may have more patience with yourself to take the time that is needed to achieve your fitness goal.
