Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

Try living in a European city for a few months. I lost 40 lbs in ~8 months after moving to Amsterdam. I was like you, trying to eat keto, working out etc, nothing stuck.

I walk or cycle to work or run errands, it sucked for a month but after I got used to it, I was actually getting proper exercise (along with a 3x gym visit a week).

Food wise the EU is great, no HFCS, no glyphosate in the grain, very limited fillers, and food production leans towards minimal processing. Getting rid of HFCS and seed oils (cold pressed olive oil and ghee are my go-tos here) helped a ton.

I’m also a 47 year old, obese individual who has tried the gym, and although I can stick with it for about 2 months, it’s never sufficient to really move the needle. Now that I’m 70lbs lighter, going to the gym is much easier in my body. It’s pragmatic to go for the glp-1 first. Include it in your workout routine if you must.

OP is 47 and has gut issues. Not saying a 47 year old couldn't register and magically make a change -- i'm sure there is someone on the internet who has, and has gotten a ton of upvotes sharing the story -- but realistically this isn't gonna work for most people.

definitely disagree with "unlikely to get injured" -- i know a lot of people 40+ who get things like jacked up knees from running, tennis elbow, etc. biking and swimming are better choices for an older person but even doing those regularly aren't a magic bullet without serious changes to diet and overall lifestyle.

Diet and weight loss:

Get an app like Macrofactor and a food scale for tracking food. Aim for losing 0.5-1% of your bodyweight per week.

Try to eat a gram of protein per cm of height.

Eat sufficient fiber from whole food sources however you can. At least 20g per day, if not 40g.

Try to get fat from healthy sources like polyunsaturated fats like from olive oil.

If will power is an issue and you have money to burn, just hire a personal chef to make all the food you eat according to the above constraints and eat nothing else.

Strength:

Get a copy of the third edition of Starting Strength to learn the basic barbell lifts. That'll cover the first 2-6 months of strength training. I'd recommend the Tactical Barbell books for more sustainable training after that.

Buy a power rack and weights (barbell and plates) and a bench from a company like Rogue (or check out Garage Gym Reviews for recommendations).

If you don't trust yourself to stick to a training habit, hire a coach who knows how to get any able-bodied adult male to deadlift 400+ lbs. A coach who doesn't know how is fundamentally incompetent.

Cardio:

Get a heart monitor like a Fitbit. Your goal is for all your cardio to get your heart in the 120 - 150 bpm range.

Start just going for walks. Listen to podcasts or something. Gradually increase the distance/duration over time until your walks are an hour or longer. Go for a walk at least 3x per week, up to more than 7x per week.

Or you could just buy a treadmill and put a TV in front of it and watch it while walking. Increase the pace or incline as needed to keep your heart rate in the right range. Maybe even have a rule in place that any passive consumption of video can only be done on the treadmill.

More info:

I'd strongly recommend binging the Barbell Medicine podcast for evidence-based recommendations that deeply investigate the benefits and limits of lifestyle changes for health.

If for any reason you can't sustain any of the above habits, just pay someone alarming amounts of money to keep you accountable. Like they should just show up to your house and work out with you or coach you.

I'd also strongly recommend some form of therapy if you're having trouble sticking to new behaviors that you recognize are beneficial and align with your values.

I am extremely biased, but I have to say... This is the way.

I do want to note that GLP1s are not miracle cures for insatiable hunger, they don't necessarily work for everyone and may (rarely) have side effects that aren't worth bearing.

That said, the way it's affecting people's hunger/food noise/etc is absolutely mindblowing.

> Hand on heart, the last few weeks i've been on a GLP1 has been the easiest time i've ever had "dieting". It doesn't even feel like a diet because I just don't give a shit about food.

What's your plan for post-GLP1? You noted going to the gym -- are you going to try and build muscle to up the metabolism in the meantime and then when you get off try to coast after a little regain?

Also, are you taking this chance to build healthier eating habits (i.e. changing what you buy, make, etc)? I wonder if you can still build eating routine while on GLP1 that helps you post-GLP1.