never give up

Am I Too Old? Why It’s Never Too Late to Take Back Your Health and Life

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Here’s the truth that most people avoid saying out loud: getting older can make change feel impossible. You know how it goes. Your schedule is packed. The weight doesn’t come off the way it did in your twenties. Your body doesn’t bounce back like it used to, and you start hearing that little voice in your head that whispers, “Maybe this is just who I am now.”

Here’s a little insight, that voice is lying to you. The truth is more like this…

It’s never too late to start and you may be surprised by what you are capable of.

When I started my weight loss journey I was 45 years old. I had high blood pressure and off the charts cholesterol. I had sleep issues both sleep apnea and insomnia. I had anxiety and un-diagnosed ADHD that made it almost impossible for me to sit still for long and focus and when I got overtired it would trigger outright panic attacks. I had ‘managed’ all of this my whole life silently, assuming I could tough it out, but it was exhausting.

I’m now 53 years old and the only thing I regret is not facing down all of these issues sooner. I’m glad to be where I am now but looking back I let far too many years go by being less than I could have been. BUT the real message is that I did take on these issues; from losing over 100 lbs to dealing with the anxiety and restlessness that had plagued me my entire life.

I’m not saying it’ll be easy. I’m saying it’s worth it. You are worth it — even now, especially now. Whether you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s, or beyond, you have the power to take control of your weight and your life. This isn’t a motivational poster. This is your wake-up call.

The “Used To” Trap

I was becoming the UsedToGuy. That’s where this entire site, podcast, and journey started. I used to be athletic. I used to have more energy. I used to be confident. I used to care. Then life hit. Careers. Bills. Chronic Illness. Ignoring the truth and saying “tomorrow” to just about everything. Eventually, I stopped even making promises to myself, because I didn’t believe I’d keep them.

If you’re there now — feeling like you’re past your prime, like you can feel it slipping away — I get it. But I also know this: the story’s not over unless you stop writing it. “Used to” doesn’t have to be your final chapter. It can be your turning point.

Age Is a Number — But So Is 1%

You don’t need to overhaul your entire life overnight. You don’t need a perfect streak. You need small, steady change — just 1% better each day. That’s it.

-One more glass of water.
-One fewer fast food meal.
-One short walk around the block.
-One choice to go to bed instead of binging another episode on Netflix.
-One step to track everything you eat.

That’s where it starts.

1% may not sound like much, but stacked over time, it compounds into something real. Into turns into results. Into builds confidence. Into creates momentum.

What’s Really Holding You Back

We blame age. We blame metabolism. We blame time. But the truth? The biggest obstacle is usually our own mindset. The belief that we missed our shot. That if we can’t be perfect, it’s not worth trying.

An illustration of a man pulling heavy suitcases labeled 'Fear,' 'Guilt,' 'Shame,' and 'Regret,' symbolizing the emotional burdens we carry.


But here’s what I’ve learned: perfection is a lie. Nobody lives there. And waiting to “feel ready” is just procrastination dressed up as patience. The people who succeed don’t wait to feel ready — they move anyway. They fail forward. They start scared and build from there.

That’s where real change begins: when you start doing the work before you believe you can. And over time, your body — and your belief — starts to catch up.

The Physical Shift Is Just the Beginning

Maintaining my weight loss certainly matters to me, it’s improved my energy, my mood, my relationships with myself and those around me. But this journey has become about far more than shedding pounds. It’s about reclaiming control. About proving that I’m still capable of change. That I am nowhere near finished. I’ve learned that my health, my mindset, my habits and my identity are all still within my control.

Now, when I call myself the UsedToGuy it makes me think of the way things used to be before making these changes. So even my little nickname has totally changed, from something that made me think of once being who I wanted to be once upon a time to once being someone who was letting it all slip away.

When you start moving again, eating better, sleeping well, and saying “yes” to yourself, you’ll notice something amazing: it spills over into everything. You stop tolerating the stuff that used to drain you. You start dreaming again. You speak up more. You feel grounded in your body. You realize you have agency — and that can change everything.

Start Here. Start Small. Start Anyway.

If you’re wondering where to begin, here’s a simple truth: it doesn’t matter. It only matters that you do. You can refine the plan as you go. But the most powerful decision is to stop waiting and start walking forward. Literally and metaphorically.

Some simple things you can do starting right now.

  • Commit to 15 minutes of movement every day — no matter what.
  • Eat protein at every meal — it fuels you more than you think.
  • Drink half your body weight in ounces of water — it’s a game-changer.
  • Go to bed 30 minutes earlier — your energy depends on it.
  • Track your food for one week — not to shame yourself, but to learn.

Most importantly, stop saying you’ll start Monday. Start today. Start right now. Read this post, stand up, stretch, and make a choice your future self will thank you for. Not because you hate where you are — but because you finally believe it doesn’t have to stay this way.

The Real Reward

This isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about coming home to yourself. The version of you who’s strong, clear-headed, self-respecting, and present. The version of you who’s not always tired, anxious, or stuck in shame. The version of you who walks into a room and knows exactly who they are — and what they’re capable of.

You don’t need to rewind the clock. You just need to take control of the one you’re holding now.

You’re Not Done Yet

If you’re still breathing, there’s still time. If your heart is still beating, you still have a say in how your story ends. Don’t waste another month — or another minute — waiting for the ideal conditions. You don’t need a blank slate. You just need a willingness to keep turning the page.

You’re not too old. You’re just getting started. Let’s go.

🎧 Tune In to the UsedToGuy Podcast

If this message hit home for you, I dive deeper into all of this on the Keep Moving Forward Podcast. Every week, we talk about real transformation — physical, mental, emotional. No hype, no filters, just honest stories and hard-won wisdom.

Listen on your commute. On your walk. While making dinner. Subscribe, leave a review, and share the show with someone who needs to hear that it’s not too late for them, either.

Because change doesn’t belong to the young. It belongs to the ready.

Keep Moving Forward!

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

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Real growth is uncomfortable because it requires change and that can’t happen in your comfort zone. If it did, we’d all be fit, fulfilled, and fearless by now. But the truth is, if making changes makes you feel a little (or a lot) uncomfortable—it’s probably a sign that you’re heading in the right direction. I’m not talking about pain–you can overdo a thing. I’m talking about pushing yourself to do things and accomplish goals that make you stretch what you think you are capable of mentally and physically.

I absolutely hate having wet feet, but our little friend here is super happy standing in that puddle. I just hope he doesn’t get hit by one of those giant raindrops! We should all be so happy being uncomfortable.

I know nobody wants to hear that you have to deliberately challenge yourself. We want transformation to feel good all the time. Our commercial culture also makes it seem like big changes should be a cake walk. We want progress without pressure. But that’s not how it works. It’s more l like how diamonds are formed, and no they do NOT come from coal.

Diamonds form deep in the Earth’s mantle, about 90 to 150 miles (150–240 km) underground, under extremely high pressure and temperature. The key ingredients are:

Carbon: The basic element in both coal and diamonds.
Pressure: Around 725,00 pounds per inch
Temperature: About 2,000°F
Time: It takes between 1-3 BILLION

Carbon atoms under these extreme conditions form into a crystalline structure. They are eventually forced to the surface through volcanic eruptions and require special lava called kimberlite or lamproite, which cools quickly and preserves the diamond crystals.

As I’ve progressed on my journey I’ve had to constantly find ways to stay uncomfortable to keep my journey on track. I know this sounds counterintuitive but bear with me.

Living a Life of Ease

The “UsedToGuy” version of me wanted things to be easy. That comfort was familiar, unchallenging, and numbing. It was the extra food, no thought of working out, the mindset of “I’ll start next week.” It was avoiding the difficult. It was autopilot. But that comfort was also keeping me stuck, and it was making me sick and miserable.

Living a life of ease sounds ideal at first glance—no stress, no struggle—but it can carry some unexpected dangers if it’s not balanced. Here are a few of the biggest risks:

Loss of Purpose
When life is too easy, you might stop striving toward goals or developing a sense of direction. Without challenges, it’s easy to feel adrift or unmotivated.

Mental & Emotional Stagnation
Struggle and adversity help build resilience, creativity, and empathy. Without those experiences, emotional growth can stall. You may find it harder to relate to others or deal with unexpected difficulties.

Shutting Down Learning New Skills
When everything is handed to you or goes smoothly, you might miss out on learning key problem-solving or interpersonal skills. This can leave you unprepared when life does inevitably present obstacles.

Dependency & Entitlement
A life of consistent ease can foster a mindset of entitlement, where you expect comfort without effort. It can also create dependence on systems or people that maintain that ease—if they’re removed, you’re left vulnerable.

Lack Of Gratitude
Ease can dull your appreciation for the good things in life. Struggles give contrast; they make the highs feel high. Without lows, even the good can start to feel ordinary or dull.

Why Discomfort Is a Sign You’re Growing

Here’s the thing: discomfort is data. It’s your body and mind saying, “Hey, we’re doing something new here.” That’s not a threat—it’s a signpost. That resistance? That’s the threshold of growth. The place where the change starts to happen.

When you challenge your muscles at the gym, they burn.
When you change your eating habits, your cravings scream.
When you set boundaries, people might push back.
When you choose the present over who you used to be, your ego resists.

Learning to Sit in the Discomfort

You don’t have to love being uncomfortable—but you do need to recognize it for what it is: progress in motion.

Here’s how I handle it now:

  • I name it. “This feels hard because it’s new. Not because it’s wrong.”
  • I don’t numb it. I used to avoid discomfort or try to numb it with food. Now, I lean into it.
  • I remember the journey. My goal isn’t to avoid hard things. My goal is to become someone who can handle them.

You don’t grow or learn by being comfortable all the time. You grow and learn by choosing what’s right over what’s convenient, what is difficult over what is easy. And being able to do it again and again.


From “Used To” to “What’s Next”

If you’re feeling uncomfortable today—physically, mentally, emotionally—pause before you label it as failure. It might just be the sign that you’re not the living in your comfort zone anymore. .

You’re becoming someone who does the thing anyway.
The person who leans into difficult tasks instead of avoiding them.
The person who knows discomfort isn’t the enemy—it’s how you build the next version of you.

So if it feels uncomfortable right now… good.

You’re doing it right.

It’s All So Frustrating! When Despite Your Best Efforts Things Just Don’t Go Your Way

/ UsedToGuy / Leave a comment

We’ve all been there. We work super hard at something, putting in time and effort whether it’s a hobby, a house project, something at work or exercise and weight loss, only to have the outcomes be far less than we envisioned. We’ve failed. It’s easy to throw in the towel and walk away dejected. One of the reasons so few people can stick to a weight loss plan is because it can be frustrating. I certainly have days and weeks where I feel frustrated. But I’ve tried to develop some perspectives that minimize the stress. Below are some of the key strategies I use to keep my cool when my hard work doesn’t pay off.

Another one of my lovely AI images. I asked for an image of someone who is frustrated with their weight loss efforts. I guess the tape measure is meant to somehow indicate measuring his body, but he’s in a suit and sweating or crying, or both. I have no idea what the loose change all over his desk is about or the calculator. Maybe he’s on a Zoom call at work and he’s finally lost it. Honestly, I have no idea what is going on in this picture, and it makes no sense, but I feel this dude’s frustration. So, job well done AI!

Be Patient

We live in a culture of ‘now.’ We want things quickly and easily. From ordering items from our phones to getting our groceries delivered to our door, we live in a world that values speed. One thing I had to learn along my journey is that weight loss does not operate on our timeline.

I am NOT a patient person by nature. I like to be early to events, I don’t like to wait for things (ask my wife how often the Amazon truck rolls up with some little trinket I couldn’t live without) and that lack of impulse control is certainly part of why I weighed what I did. It’s very easy to become frustrated when you put in the work and the pounds just don’t move. Nothing is more disheartening that really sticking to your plan all week and getting on the scale and have be right where it was 7 days ago, or worse having it go the wrong direction. It’s enough to make the most resilient person throw in the towel.

I see lots of folks who respond to these moments by trying to up the ante and adopt some unsustainable behaviors like, weighing in every day or trying to do stuff like skip meals or overdo exercise in the hopes that they can ‘sweat off’ that pound. Chasing this dragon is exhausting (I’ve done it) and it is unsustainable.

Play The Long Game

To avoid falling into the weekly weigh-in game keep your goals longer term. It’s great to have a goal weight, but realize that even on those weeks when the scale doesn’t move you have taken steps to take control of your life. You’ve made yourself healthier for the long haul and trust that over time the scale will cooperate–because it usually does, eventually. It took me a year to lose 100 lbs and almost another year to lose the next 25. It was slow and steady and I had some bumps along the way but I stuck to my core plan. Track what I ate and exercise. By focusing on each moment in each day I was able to stop worrying about what the scale said and I became attuned to how I felt and how my body and mind were changing. I need this plan to work for the rest of my life and this is the only way I know how to avoid the traps I’ve fallen into so many times before. As I tell folks the process for keeping the weight off is so simple and so hard…just keep doing what you’ve been doing. It’s that repetition that works and it’s that repetition that can be hard to sustain (more on that in another post).

It’s a Learning Moment…But Only If You’re Open To It

Everyone fails. Sometimes the failures are very personal and known only by us (January resolutions, exercise goals, weight loss) and sometimes they are spectacularly public (failing a class, a relationship or a job). No matter what the scope and scale of our setback each time we fall short of a goal we have a couple of ways we can respond.

  • We can fold up our tents and go home (quit).
  • We can get stubborn and dig in hoping that by doing the same things more something will change (escalation of commitment).
  • We can step back and assess our approach and see if there are any changes we can make that might make a difference (reflect and respond)

By training ourselves to reflect on moments when we feel like we have failed, we can put ourselves back in control of things. Our response is then more measured and deliberate because we’ve taken some of the emotion out of it. This can help lessen our feeling of frustration and let us quickly pivot to another approach. This is hard, I get it. But the next time you feel that frustration building call yourself out in the moment. Sometimes that alone is enough to stop the negative thoughts from taking over.

Redefine Success

If you’ve been reading along I can’t stress enough that success on your weight loss journey (and probably most things) has many dimensions. Yes, losing weight is a key metric. But so are being kind to yourself, being able to be a healthier version of you, removing guilt from your mind when you make time to take care of yourself, etc. In effect, ‘success’ is about way more than just a number on the scale. By broadening how you define success you’re not putting all of your eggs in one basket.

  • Gained a pound, but had your best workout (success)
  • Didn’t lose weight but for some reason your belt is down a notch (success)
  • Scale didn’t budge but someone mentioned that you look good (success)
  • Haven’t lost anything in a week but your Dr told you your blood pressure was better (success)

You get the idea.

Lead with Forgiveness & Honesty

I say this a lot but it’s really important to be forgiving. That doesn’t mean to make excuses for yourself, that’s where the honesty comes in. You WILL have bad days, you WILL have bad weeks…The key is to be honest and aware when you’re not keeping your promise to yourself. In that moment don’t beat yourself up. Instead, you can tell yourself it is ok, but from that moment forward recommit.

I really hope your week is going well and until we chat again…Keep Moving Forward