First Kilted mile, at age 48!

[usonian]

Congrats and well done! Mrs. usonian and I have been on a similar "get back into shape" regimen over the last 2-3 years. What got me going was showing up at my 20 year high school reunion and being simultaneously appalled by how old and unhealthy a lot of my classmates looked, and a little chagrined at how young and fit some of the others still looked; I was somewhere in between. It was a bit of "use it or lose it" wakeup call; I was pushing 40 and knew that getting and staying in shape is only going to get harder.

Exercise has definitely helped. Couch to 5K is fantastic, and if you have a smartphone there are various free apps available that are really handy for stepping you through the various intervals; walk 5 minutes, run 60 seconds, etc. and don't skimp on shoes! I started C25K with a cheap pair of generic sneakers and hurt my knee after a couple of weeks - once it got better I went to a running shop and got properly fitted for a quality pair of shoes; a good shop can analyze your gait and match you with the right pair. I've had zero problems since.

Diet has really made the huge difference, though... eating better food and less of it. Once you start scrutinizing labels it's really kind of appalling how much sugar there is in everything in the U.S., especially stuff that's marketed as "healthy".

The only downside is that I've shrunk out of a couple of cherished kilts! I really need to sell my tank so I can buy the tartan to make its replacement, but I'm still trying to drop another 10 pounds or so, which would make about 60 total.