First of all, stretching. The same stuff I learned back in gym class. The same stuff my soccer coaches made me do in elementary and middle school. Having a morning routine is good, but also taking a moment to stretch before physical activity helps. Whether that’s working out, mowing the lawn, moving the Christmas decorations down from the attic, having sex, or whatever else.

Then there is exercise. I have had a basic structure for years that I landed on in high school, and I keep changing it as my needs change. I’ve also gone through years of my life where I have stopped exercising and faced the consequences.

The core structure is a super set of arm workouts with free weights. Curls, front raises, overhead extension, hammer curls, lateral raises, overhead press. The amount of weight, number of reps, and number of sets varies. If I haven’t worked out in a while and just want to get my joints used to moving again, I might not use any weight and just do 20 reps of each for 2 or 3 sets. If I’m strength training that might be something like 5-10 reps at 25lbs each hand (honestly higher weight/lower reps would be better, but those are my biggest weights and I don’t want to spend the money or dedicate more space in my house for bigger ones right now).

Of course, arms alone is a terrible workout. If I am in a hurry, I’ll do what I consider a “focused” set. I start with pushups (using my 25lb weights as hand holds), then upright rows (with the 25lb weights I still have), then situps (using the 25lb weights as footholds, often grabbing extra weights to hold in my hands). Then I stand up and do the 6 exercises I mentioned earlier, and end with a handful of squats. Then repeat one or two more times. This is usually between 15-45 minutes depending on how long I take to rest, how many reps, and whether I’m doing 2-4 sets. My biggest complaint is that I get bored. I can put in music but that only does so much.

If I want a longer workout with more cardio, I have other options. Until a year ago I had a treadmill and a 10" Fire tablet I got real cheap and hacked to allow regular android apps. I installed Steam Link and used a MayFlash USB adapter to connect joy cons, and this let me play games from my gaming PC while on the treadmill. Not all games work- I found a lot of 3D games disprorienting, and fast-past games were hard because I wanted to time my inputs with my walking pace. But stuff like emulating Pokemon games, visual novels like Ace Attorney, and other turn-based games like Wargroove were great. Playing games and working out made me really enjoy working out, it was great to make progress on my backlog, and it was overall blorerty great. Did that for years and went through a couple of treadmills that broke.

Last year when the treadmill broke my wife and I discussed other options. I have a bad knee and so I wanted to try something lower-impact. The treadmill was also really loud- headphones were required. So instead we got an exercise bike. It’s been even better than the treadmill was, but being more stable means I’m more comfortable with lifting weights while I use it than I was while walking on the treadmill. Which is great multitasking, but instead of playing videogames I just watch videos on the tablet. Still good, but I do miss the gaming time sometimes. But it’s also really nice to get arms and cardio in at the same time.

Ultimately it’s a balance in constantly tinkering with. The beauty is that once you have the core movements down it’s very easy to customize. Strength, cardio, endurance, muscle mass, time, entertainment value, whatever it is I need. It’s good to alternate throughout the week. At my peak I workout every day, but that’s rare to sustain because life gets in the way.

Nutrition… I’m sure some vegans and vegetarians are going to hate on myself for this, but I’ve found the best results come from a nearly-carnivorous keto diet. Eggs for breakfast. Zero-carb protein powder smoothie for lunch (with a bit or orange juice, peanut butter and ice. Some banana if you can spare the carbs). Chicken or pork with leafy green veggies for dinner. Cheese and nuts for snacks. I don’t do it all the time, but every time I’ve done it i usually lose about 30lbs in 2 months. I’ve tried other diets and general CICO and it just doesn’t work the same- I can actively feel my metabolism change as I enter ketosis. And once I’m there, I can shove as much protein into my face as I want and still lose weight.

Which brings me to my final tip: marijuana. Other people my age swear by Tylenol or ibuprofen, but THC is my drug of choice, especially for my bad knee. I can still feel the discomfort in my knee and know that something is not quite right, it just stops bothering me. I feel less likely to accidentally do something that damages my knee further, plus it’s better for the kidneys and liver and stomach than those other drugs. Plus it’s fun to get high… On the exercise bike… And then snack on a bunch of cheese and nuts with no consequences. It really feels like what my body wants to do.

Final tip: Pedialyte makes freezer pops. It’s basically Gatorade as a freeze pop form, and they’re only 4 carbs each! Great frozen treat in the summer when you’re doing something that involves sweating.