Conditioning is as varied as people imho. I have struggled with my weight for most of the last 25 years, and this year I finally buckled under and went full route, with a personal trainer, dietitian, and a regime with a plan dedicated to losing weight, eating better, and getting healthy. I started at 280 and am now 207, and feel like a hundred dollars. It takes alot of time and dedication to do the work, but at this point in my life, its worth it, finally. The success rate of my diet-exercise program (defn: lose substantial weight, improve your key health messures like BP, LDL, blood sugar, change your lifestyle, and keep the weight off and lifestyle changes for > 3 years) is upwards of 40%, which is approximately 8 times the average of other programs. I have seen some folks fall by the wayside - younger guys, who maybe don't have the appreciation for being fit, or the time, or whatever it is that keeps someone on the straight and narrow. I'm 48, and I'd like to think that I've learned from the long slow climb up to 280 that I don't want to go there again, I don't want to wear a fat suit, and I genuinely love my new lifestyle and what my body is now capable of. I went into this with a few exercise goals - run a 5k, then a 10k, then a half marathon. Hike the Grand Tetons this summer. My goal weight at 20 weeks was 225, which I passed around week 15. I don't have a new goal weight really, just less than I am today. The more important numbers are my BP, LDL, and blood sugar levels - those are all back to normal, trending positive, and they largely define my life (defn: ability to move and enjoy breathing without stress, strokes or cardiac arrest). I've cut my BP medication to 1/4 the beginning dose and can look forward to being off those by the end of the year, and am off a CPAP sleep device for sleep apnea. Hikes are a real joy - losing 70 lbs makes every thing I pack seem like I'm going ultralight. I have only begun to run in the last month - before that it was lots of cardio, walking, stretching, and some light weights. Diet has been consistent, I've learned what I can eat and what gets me in trouble (mostly things with lots of salt). Thanks to my trainers cautious approach (don't run with all that weight on my body) and conditioning, I am running faster than I ever have. I can run a 5k, and am targetting actual races now to test out my legs. I can look forward to 10k distances, and beyond. The Tetons will have to wait for another day, my wife has brain cancer. I can see those goals though, and think about others. And I can't see myself going back to where I was, or even partly along the way. You have to want it, really want it.

For years I scoffed at gym memberships and equipment. I now wish I hadn't, but oh well. Both have saved me, and the folks who know how to run them. If you are blessed with the constitution that keeps you fit that's terrific, if you find an exercise regime that you like and do regularly that's fantastic, but alot of us are not so blessed or so lucky, so we need to work harder and need some help. If I had one recommendation its that, if you struggle with weight and can't climb out of your own fat suit, get some help. It's cheap at half the price.