I’ve spent years figuring out how to make fitness sustainable, and for me, the answer has been to approach it like a nerd rather than forcing myself into someone else’s routine.
Usually, we are writing about family fandom, conventions, Disney trips, travel, teaching, and the everyday chaos of nerdy life. But the truth is that fitness has become part of that bigger picture for me, too.
Not because I suddenly turned into a fitness influencer. Not because I hit some dramatic transformation milestone. And definitely not because I have everything figured out.
I’m still in the middle of this.
While I wasn’t at my absolute heaviest in that photo, I was close. The highest I ever reached was 275 pounds (see the picture above). It was a rough period. We were living with relatives in Florida because Hurricane Ida had wreaked havoc on our house and the area. We were there for over a month. That picture is my least favorite photo of myself, but it has also become one of my biggest sources of motivation. I don’t want to return to that.
Over the last three months, I’ve lost about 20 pounds, and I’m proud of that progress. But I am not writing this as someone who has “arrived.” I’m writing as someone who has spent a long time starting and stopping, struggling to stay consistent, and finally finding an approach that feels sustainable enough to keep going.
I’m still early in this journey, but for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m in it for the long haul.
For me, the biggest shift has been this:
I started approaching fitness like the nerd I am!
What has actually helped me make fitness sustainable
Before I get into the details, these are the biggest things that have actually helped me make fitness more sustainable:
- tying fitness to real-life goals like travel, Disney, and conventions
- tracking workouts in Hevy
- tracking calories in MacroFactor
- focusing on strength and consistency
- building ADHD-friendly systems
Why Fitness Matters in Our Nerdy Life
Part of the reason fitness matters to me now is that it connects to the kind of life we actually live.
Our family spends a lot of time thinking about long days on our feet, whether that means navigating a convention weekend, exploring a city, or walking through Disney parks. Anyone who has done a full convention day or rope drop-to-close at Disney knows those experiences can be physically demanding in ways people sometimes underestimate.
That does not mean you have to be thin or athletic to enjoy them. Plenty of people have amazing Disney vacations and Comic Con experiences of all kinds and at all fitness levels. I know that because we’ve done Disney and conventions at different fitness levels ourselves.
But for me personally, building more strength, stamina, and consistency feels like it supports the life I want to live: more family travel, more park days, more convention coverage, and more energy for the everyday adventures that come with being a nerdy parent.
If you are planning your own fandom adventures, you can check out our Comic Con 101: Ultimate Tips for Families and First-Timers guide, or browse our Disney Life and Disney Parks, Resorts, and Eats posts for more of the family travel side of that story.
How to Make Fitness Sustainable When Motivation Isn’t Enough
For most of my life, I wanted to get better at weightlifting, but it never really stuck.
I would start, make some progress, and then lose momentum. Sometimes it was frustration. Sometimes it was an injury. Sometimes it was just life. Over time, lifting became one more thing I had tried and dropped.
Looking back, I do not think the problem was that I lacked motivation. The problem was that I did not have systems that worked with my brain.
I have ADHD, and in the gym, that can look like poor working memory, time blindness, and difficulty turning routines into habits. I would forget what I had just lifted, lose track of rest periods, and leave the gym without a clear sense of whether I had actually made progress.
That made fitness feel chaotic instead of rewarding.
Setting Goals
I have three goals.
- I’m 52 years old with an 8-year-old daughter. I want to be here for all of her major life events.
- I want to reduce obesity as a likely contributing factor to my health, so conversations with doctors can be more focused and specific. I know there are strong links between obesity and many medical complications, and I want to lower that risk where I can.
- I want to run a marathon when I’m 55.
One goal is for family, one is for health, and one is just for me. I’m going to be a little selfish about that last one and keep you updated here. Right now, I’m focused on losing fat and building consistency.
How I Made Fitness Sustainable
The biggest difference this time is that I started using tools and systems that reduce the mental friction.
For me, I struggle with routines. I struggle with keeping track of details.
Finding apps like Hevy and MacroFactor has made both of those things much easier. Hevy helps me track my workout details, while MacroFactor helps me track calories and adjust my intake based on my goals.
That matters because the less I have to rely on memory and momentary motivation, the more likely I am to stay consistent. Instead of guessing what I did last time or trying to hold everything in my head, I can just follow the plan, log the workout, and move on.
For me, these apps are less about gamification and more about reducing friction, although I’d be lying if I said seeing that I lifted the equivalent of an elephant didn’t give me a little dopamine hit.
Better Information Has Helped Me Stay Grounded
Another reason this feels more sustainable is that I have gotten much more careful about who I listen to.
A lot of popular fitness advice online can lean toward fear, oversimplification, or more confidence than the evidence really supports. I have found myself gravitating toward creators who take a more evidence-based approach, explain nuance, and update their views as new information emerges.
That matters to me because I do not want fitness to feel like an endless cycle of panic, guilt, and chasing the latest trend. I want advice that reflects how real bodies and real lives actually work.
That mindset aligns with how we approach many topics on this site. Whether we are writing about conventions, Disney adventures, travel, or everyday nerdy family life, we try to focus on firsthand experience, realistic expectations, and practical advice over hype.
Real Life Is More Complicated Than Internet Slogans
One thing I have become more aware of is how often people talk about health and weight as if it all comes down to discipline.
At the most basic level, body weight change is influenced by energy balance, though appetite, medications, sleep, stress, health conditions, and behavior all affect how that plays out in real life.
ADHD affects consistency. Chronic illness affects energy and recovery. Stress affects routines. Lack of sleep can increase hunger, cravings, and fatigue, which can make eating and consistency harder. Family life affects schedules. Mental bandwidth affects everything.
That does not mean progress is impossible. It just means the path is rarely as simple as people say it is, especially when the people giving advice often make fitness part of their job.
For me, part of making fitness sustainable has been accepting that reality instead of pretending I can brute-force my way past it.
Curiosity Has Been More Helpful Than Willpower
One of the most surprising parts of this process is that I have genuinely enjoyed learning more.
I like reading about training, looking up studies, comparing claims, and figuring out what actually seems supported by evidence. Sometimes I use AI tools to help translate technical research into plainer language, but I treat that as a starting point for learning, not as a replacement for judgment.
That curiosity has kept me engaged in a way that raw motivation never could.
And honestly, that feels very on-brand for our life in general. A lot of what we do as a family is built around curiosity, learning, and following the things we love more deeply—whether that is fandom, travel, teaching, history, or, in my case now, fitness.
If you enjoy that broader side of the site, you can also explore more from our Nerdy Lifestyle, Traveling With a Nerdy View, and Nerdy Parenting sections.
I Am Not Finished. I Am Finally Consistent.
That may be the most honest way I can put it.
I am not writing this as someone who has reached a final form. I am not “done.” I am not even close.
In fact, MacroFactor’s algorithm says I’m only about 8% of the way to my goal weight and that a reasonable target date is sometime in 2027
I’m okay with that because that seems way more sustainable and achievable.
What I am is more consistent than I used to be.
And for someone with my history, that matters.
What feels different now is not that I suddenly became more disciplined. I built a system that works better for who I already am.
I use apps because they help with memory and structure. I look up exercise demos because they reduce anxiety. I follow evidence-based creators because I want better information. I let curiosity do some of the motivational work.
For the first time, fitness does not feel like I am trying to force myself into someone else’s mold.
It feels sustainable enough to keep going.
How do you make fitness sustainable when motivation fades?
For me, sustainability started when I stopped depending on motivation alone. Motivation comes and goes. What has helped more is building systems that reduce friction: tracking workouts, tracking calories, keeping goals realistic, and tying fitness to the kind of life I actually want to live.
In my case, that means using apps to help with memory, structure, and consistency, especially because ADHD makes routines harder for me to maintain.
Can fitness be sustainable for someone with ADHD?
Yes, but for me it has required a different approach. ADHD can make fitness harder because of working memory issues, time blindness, and difficulty turning repeated actions into habits. What has helped me is making everything easier to track and easier to repeat.
I do better when I do not have to remember every detail on my own. Logging workouts, tracking calories, and reducing decision fatigue have made fitness feel more manageable and much more sustainable.
Do you need to be thin or athletic to enjoy Disney trips, travel, or conventions?
No. People of all sizes and fitness levels can enjoy Disney vacations, travel, and Comic Con weekends. I do not believe fitness is a requirement for those experiences.
For me personally, though, getting stronger and improving my stamina supports the way I want to experience those things. I want more energy for long park days, convention walking, travel, and everyday life with my family.
What tools have helped make fitness easier for you?
The biggest helps for me have been workout tracking and calorie tracking. I use Hevy to log my lifts and MacroFactor to track calories and guide my intake.
What matters most is not the specific app, though. It is having tools that reduce mental friction, help me stay organized, and make progress easier to see.
Why does approaching fitness “like a nerd” work for you?
Because curiosity keeps me engaged better than pressure does. I like learning how training works, reading about evidence-based fitness, comparing ideas, and using tools that give me data I can actually use.
For me, fitness became more sustainable when I stopped trying to force myself into a generic routine and started building an approach that matched how my brain already works.
Is this post medical advice?
No. This is my personal experience, not medical advice. I am sharing what has helped me as someone still in progress, not offering a universal formula or a substitute for professional care.
Final Thoughts
If fitness has never stuck for you, I get it.
If you are a nerdy parent trying to balance health, work, family life, fandom, travel, and everything else, I really get it.
What has helped me most is not some secret program or perfect routine. It has been approaching fitness in a way that matches how my brain works and the kind of life I actually want to live.
For me, that means better tools, better information, more realistic expectations, and a lot more curiosity.
In other words, I stopped trying to make fitness feel natural.
I made it nerdy.
And for the first time, that is exactly why it might finally stick.
This post reflects my personal experience and is not medical advice. I am sharing what has helped me as someone still in progress, not offering a universal formula.
About The Author
