A fitness program for the young and the old is much the same. There should be a balance between diet and exercise. Simple as that. Take in more calories than you lose through exercise and you will get fat. We know that there are a few people who, for various reasons, will never lose weight. But for the majority obesity is a lifestyle choice and should be accepted as such.

So what to do? First of all decide if you want to do anything at all. Your condition does not at first impact on others, but it will. A person 40% overweight is twice as likely to die prematurely as an average weight person. In the USA 300,000 deaths a year are obesity related. Obesity can cause heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, some types of cancer and other illnesses. The facts are readily available and the decision to lose weight or not to lose weight is yours.

If you decide to become slim and healthy it is a big change in lifestyle, but not as demanding as it might seem at first. You should try a walking fitness program together with a change in diet. One without the other will probably not work or be so slow that you become disheartened and give up.

For the diet I always recommend the Mediterranean diet because it works for me. I like the options of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, lean meat, oily fish and an occasional glass of wine. But if that is not for you there are plenty of alternative diets available to try. For the exercise just walk, not too far at first then build up to a couple of miles a day. More if you are enjoying it. You will not need much equipment. Trainers are fine in the city, in the country a good pair of walking boots. Buy a waterproof anorak for bad weather and off you go.

Fitness walking is aerobic and helps the heart as well as building muscle and relieving stress. So you are conditioning the body and burning up fat at the same time. Keep it up and whatever your age you’ll lose weight.