Fit enough....? Where do you say "I'm happy"?

[Hooverfb]

I'm not saying I have a bad diet because of a lack of resources. I had a bad diet because literally no one in my life knew how to eat properly. I was a fat kid that grew up to be a fat adult. I seriously had zero knowledge of healthy eating and everyone locally wanted to sell me some new fad diet and supplement line instead of discussing a long term lifestyle change. So I read, paleo, keto, organic, liquid, bodybuilder, powerlifter diet books, I read IIFYM, and learned how to track macros. But now I'm plateaued and I don't know where to go.
What I AM saying that I have a lack of knowledgeable persons locally to discuss my future/long term dietary goals.
I was strict keto for 18mos (when I lost much of my weight). I realized that I was replacing one bad dietary lifestyle (overeating) with Keto. While Keto worked for me, it became a psychological problem because I became super fixated on "staying keto". I mean i was weighing everything i ate, and panicking if i went out of ketosis... It worked for teaching me macros, and portioning, but as a lifelong lifestyle I don't see it being doable or mentally healthy.
So, I honestly need someone to help me learn how to find a long term/life long plan that is functional and that I can actually live a normal life with.
I find it amusing when people say "you're just not being honest with yourself." Or "just eat less calories", I do agree that you can't outwork your fork, I DO believe there is more to things than "just eat less". Now, figuring out that combination, that's the next step.

I totally understand this. I'm lucky I grew kind of tall like my dad, but I did not get his thin genetics like my brother, and they knew nothing about really eating well. And we were dirt poor out of the military at first so couldn't afford fancy healthy stuff and parents didnt know better for a long time. I've been fighting terrible eating habits that I learned from my childhood and all those years of having the extra body fat.
Theres two parts I'm fighting, and I think separating is important for achievement. First I'm fighting the mental habits of eating and such that I learned as a child. That is my self, and mental discipline. I've been in great shape where I'm super thin. No one made me stop being thin, or gorging out after a wrestling season being the weight I really should be.
Second I'm fighting knowledge(learning) and the cumulative physiological effects years of decisions make, knowing that when im older these decisions will affect me then. Cant change anything previous, but I can do what I can now to enjoy life in the future.
If you havent noticed, i also like to frame everything in the frame of mind that I'm battling something haha. But I try to separate the lifestyle of being healthy as one thing, and the objectives I'm working to achieve as something separate that I have to go do.

 

[Jackal7]

I come at the question of "Fit Enough" from the opposite end of the spectrum. I started training 18 months ago for a September 2019 Alaska caribou hunt, unguided. I was the smallest guy in the group, 5'10" and 150 lbs. My goal was to not just improve cardio, but I also wanted to put on five pounds of muscle, to "carry my weight" etc. in the field. I started out at an already good fitness level at age 53 (now 54).

After 12 months of 6 days per week, 2-3 days lifting, and the rest biking, running and hill climbing with a weight vest, I had lost 7 pounds, which was not my intended goal. I was stronger than I probably had been since high school football, but the more months I got into my program, the harder it became to keep weight on. My body needed not just protein and veggies and fruit and carbs, it needed fat big time. I had to do some reading and consult with some people to come up with a diet that wasn't turning me into Tom Hanks in "Castaway." At 16 months and at 140 lbs I was buying new clothes which I didn't need to do.

In short, I figured it out, but I found that I was fit enough after about twelve months of my program. Pushing it further than that was just too hard on my body. I was happier and healthier at the level of fitness I achieved at my 12 month date and should have leveled it off then. That would have helped me in Alaska, where I lost another 6 pounds over 9 days in the bush. I could have used the reserves I had already burned off just preparing for that hunt. That never occurred to me in my now seemingly unreasonable quest to get uber-fit for the hunt.

I was back to having fun working out ten days after I got home from that trip. Which makes me healthier and happier.

 

[5MilesBack]

At 54 now I have never in my life had trouble with the fitness part. In my worst shape I could still push through the mountains every year chasing elk without any issues. What gets me these days are the knees. After years of competitive basketball even into my 30's, my knees just aren't what they used to be. Bone on bone and constant swelling every season really puts a damper on a hunt.

And the other thing that will do the same thing to your knees is excess WEIGHT. Joints just don't hold up so well to all that weight and activity. I always try to add some muscle weight through the summer because I know I'll lose ~20lbs every September. But the reality of it is that my knees do better when I'm even skinnier........and I'll start out at 6'6" ~220 every Sept.