I'm 35 years old so I'm still fairly young but I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I just decided enough was enough and after 10+ years of procrastination and a lack of motivation, got off my arse and started to do something about it.

And its tough, sometimes. You kinda get the feeling that you're 'too out of shape to do the things you need to do to get into shape'

I spend alot of time during the day on other forum communities including ones dedicated to health and fitness and one thing that is critically important to realize is that diet plays a massive role in fitness and specifically weight loss. Meaning, the idea that you're over weight and a little older and can't easily go run or lift weights doesn't mean you cannot lose weight. In fact, it doesn't matter much at all. There are certainly significant benefits to those activites and they absolutely will enhance and encourage weight loss but they are not essential......watching you calorie intake is.

As I said before, its not essential to be in shape to participate in hunting but it sure helps and it will enhance your experience.

A quick story: My dad is overweight and out of shape. He's actually been a negative influence on me but ultimately, I am responsible for my own issues. Anyhow, he went on a mule deer hunt in Jackson Hole WY probably 20 years ago and one of the guides video taped the hunt. It was funny at the time but in reality, a little sad now that I think about it. At the time, Earl was in his late 40s, not the 64 he is today.

They are high up on a mountain side and in the distance, up the side of another mountain about 400ish yds away you can see a group of mulies and barely make out two really nice trophy bucks. You can hear the guide whispering instructions (wait for him to give you a shot...the bigger of the two is the buck in the front, etc) and you can hear Earl gasping for breath....because he's terribly out of shape.

As I've mentioned before, I'm still pretty athletic and active despite being overweight even before I started working on it in August. Even so, being forced to limit my hunting to sitting in a blind isn't any fun. If that is what you enjoy, great, but to not have an option is the bad part. And even then, you'll still occasionally need to follow a blood trail and at the very least, field dress an animal and get it into the truck.

This isn't a fitness forum and I doubt people enjoy being preached to. I'm not trying to do that and besides, as long as I did nothing about it for myself, I'd be a hypocrit for doing so. No, where I'm coming from is saying its not some complex process to turn things around and it would beneficial and enhance your hunting experience to do so. Just consider putting a little work into it and use it as another motivator to push that second helping of supper away or get out to walk/run/lift...."Hey, this is going to make hunting better too!"