I absolutely need to start paleo up again. I struggle with keto but it does work. I think the most important thing is trying to remove inflammation from the body. I have had what the Dr thought was shingles flare ups and I always notice it seems a lot more exaggerated when I eat heavy sugar or just junk food in general. They just keep prescribing more pills or creams to help with the pain but not ever trying to pinpoint the root cause of the problem! So it's up to me. 

25+ years ago I lost @50+lbs after buying a younger faster horse and thankfully had an Ahh hahh!!! Moment when I realized I was saddling her with the same handicap I had saddled my old mare with, a rider that was over weight and more importantly not very strong in my core.  At first I only changed adding a 20-30 minute stair stepper workout to the mix and within a few weeks I could see the changes which then made it easier to make wiser food choices.  But there were days I as I looked at the entire carton of fries that I decided an extra 10 minutes on the stairstepper was worth it, other days I dumped them.  And funny enough, about 3 months in to the lifestyle change my older mare started clocking again.

I have worked out pretty much since, though life got a little crazy after my mom passed away, my workout buddy's daughters graduated and were off to college and her life changed too.  My back started really acting up and I quit working out.  Once the muscle mass started to go the pounds kind of creapt back on.  I like my body at 135, my body likes life at 145 so we had settled on something we could both live with at 140....Well 2 years ago when I made the decision to start looking for a horse to help take the pressure off my then 19 year old gelding I realized that I no longer had the job that I was off at 3 every day nor had summers and every holiday off not to mention I do not bounce anymore so I could more than likely mark off looking for 2-3 year olds.  When I really started the search I soon realized that my budget more or less only allowed for weanlings, unstarted 2-3 year olds or older horses that required maintainence and I already have those and if I was going to spend money on that I was going to spend it on the warriors that had earned it for me.  Didn't take me long to find that I was going to have to spend a little more than I had budgeted and I realized if I was going to do that then my butt needed to go back to a workout program.  I started at the gym in February of 19 and then the shut down happened about a month later so found a home body weight based workout program and until I got sick with Covid a couple weeks ago I hadn't missed a day of workout since.  Home based body weight workouts you can take with you on vacation, to barrel races, anywhere.  All it takes is exactly what we give to our horses, committment .  I

There's a lot of people in my area doing the workout program Joy Wargo designed with a fitness expert, RastaRunner. Its $35 for a 4 week home program guide. I'm thinking about starting it once I get my shoulder straightened out. When working out, I've always done my own thing at home in the past. I try to walk or run 5 days a week and I do bodyweight strength training a few days a week. Even if you're watching tv and you get up and do some squats, lunges, situps, etc during commercials, it adds up. Thats how I lost 70lbs years ago, by doing a walk/run mix and commercial breaks. I never changed my eating except I'd eat the veggies on the plate first, then meat, then the carb last. But I would also still eat 2-3 big macs a week sometimes. I still follow the plate rule when I cook, and I've cut back a lot on fast food. Without exercise beyond working horses & cleaning stalls, I'm losing about a 1lb a week now. I'm aiming for my doctors suggestion of low carb, which is 40g a meal or under, starting this week. I'm supposed to stick to as close to 100g a day. It's so far pretty easy, but this is only Tuesday lol. But for most people I'd say just be as active as you can and just be mindful of what you eat, eat raw/natural foods more. 

I'll have to check Joy's workout out just as another tool in my belt so to speak.  I use a program called The Betty Rocker, that was what I started out with and still use a lot of her stuff, then also added Kari Pearce programs, Hiit Burn, and then find Tabata's off youtube to keep me from getting sick of one program or style.  I do also do a run/walk once a week, my back and knees don't care for running 2 miles anymore, I can do it but they let me know they aren't happy the next day.  I have found if I walk between power poles on our road, then run between the next 2, then walk the next one I can do a mile in around 14 minutes and my hips knees and back don't complain to me the next day.  And I know me,  I tend to make better food choices when I put in the effort to work out.  But having said that I'm glad we do not have a Habit Burger or an In 'n' Out Burger in town!!!

I live in a town with a major interstate running through the middle, so we have all the basic fast food amenities. And since I live only about 2 miles out of town, I'm not too far out to just run and grab a burger if I don't want to cook. If I have ramen I'll try to make that instead though, not that its much better health wise lol. And I hear ya on the knees, my doctor keeps telling me mine will need replaced by 40. I have bottles of the discontinued Draw It Out cbd gel that gets applied quite often when they get angry 

I think one of the most important things about choosing a nutrition and/or workout plan is to choose something that will fit your lifestyle and choose an exercise you enjoy.  If you hate the exercise, try a different one until you find something you can stick with.  Also remember that its not a temporary fix, when you lose the weight, you can't just go back to your old ways, the weight will come back in full force.  I think that is why so many people get stuck in the yo-yo dieting circle.  Truly, 80% of weight loss is your nutrition plan, 20% is your exercise program. 

That being said - I've gained 60 lbs from 2017 to 2020 - slowly crept up on me. UGH!

I started in May with Camp Gladiator (its a boot camp style workout) moslty 3, sometimes 4 days a week. I'm so much stronger than I was, its not just about losing the weight, its easier unloading feed and hay, saddling horses, cleaing house, everything is just a little easier because I'm more fit. I've lowered my carb intake and eat more veggies and protein.  I'll make my plate, a salad size plate, not a big plate, and then scoop half the carbs off my plate. so i'm not measuring or tracking macros or calories, just trying to be more conscious about eating less carbs and more veggies..  My joints don't ache as much and I had lost 25 lbs from May to November, but i've gained back 10 lbs by slacking off during the holidays. So, I'm back at it now and here's to the next 30 lbs that needs to come off!! It didn't pile on overnight, it's not going to go away overnight.  

Whatever you choose - Best of luck to you!!  It's not easy, but it's definately worth it!! 

Edited to add - I was on the drink a gallon of water a day kick, but it wasn't really working for me, except during the 100 degree days of summer - so I go by the 1/2 your weight in ounces philosophy - so I get at least 80 ounces (about 6  16 oz bottles a day) - when its hotter or I have a more active day, it is definately more than that.  Set yourself up for success!!  When i didn't empty the gallon jug, I felt like I had failed for the day.  and it really is not necessary to stay sufficiently hydrated.

Amen to this!!!