A lot of running clubs do a "couch to 5k" program which is very popular with beginners. My local club does it but they almost certainly aren't local to you. That's a great place to start. You might not have wanted to spend any money or run with other people but I still recommend it. I joined a running club from a pretty decent foundation in running but have still progressed a HUGE amount since I began.

It's one of many options for you, but I do reckon Googling "couch to 5k" is a good idea to see if there is anything similar in the local area.

You mentioned you had your resting heart rate checked. Do you know what your heart rate has got up to when exercising? A lot of gym equipment has a HRM attached. Probably reasonably accurate for a rough idea.

Regarding diet, mine is awful. I am addicted to junk food and eat very poorly. I do sometimes successfully go through short periods of eating well, but it is the one thing that really keeps me from being as fast as I ought to be! I feel your pain, being a slim guy doesn't exactly incentivise me to behave with food!

Edited by Part Time James (01 Sep 2016 11.41am)

I am 62, I have Parkinsons, Diabetes, Arthritic knee joints, Dupeytren's Contracture... to name but a few ailments.

For those reasons I'm out!

Don't smoke, don't like Guinness, but I love the Pizza option.

I'm making a Spagbol for tea tonight!

I think you have finally answered Adam Ant's question he posed in Goody Two Shoes. It was "pizza".

Start at the beginning - what are your goals? "Being fit" doesn't really mean anything.

you mention that you are skinny, do you want to put muscle on? You've done some running, do you want to be a runner? Do you want the generic "toned up look"?

What do you enjoy doing? Weights, running, cycling, group classes? Maybe even consider a sport? If you are going to make long term changes you need to enjoy what you're doing.

Diet wise, it's easy to make smart choices without becoming a social pariah. e.g. Kebab - chicken sheesh is perfect. Curry avoid creamy sauces and naans. That doesn't mean you can go mad but it does mean you can still socialise.

Your metabolism does slow as you get older but not enough to be a fat b******. That's a myth, it's about 100 calories by the time you are 55. The equivalent of a choccie digestive.

I was going to quote specific questions but there's been so many helpful responses it's just easier to answer various bits from them all:

1. My resting heart rate is around 86. I have always worried about my heart rate though (like I feel something is wrong but have been told there isn't). This causes it to 'rest' at over 100 a lot of the time but this is a false positive. Supposedly it's anxiety that makes it higher but my real resting heart rate when i'm not thinking about it is in the correct bracket.

2. I wear a fitbit and use gym equipment with heart rate monitor so this is probably fairly accurate. It gets well up to 240 beats per minute and this isn't with much strenuous excercise. Obviously at that rate I can't really push myself to go any further/faster. Again though, if you are mixing never doing much excercise, being unhealthy, suddenly running for 5 minutes and actively always having it in your brain "i'm worried about my heart" that probably doesn't contribute to a very healthy beat per minute.

3. To the person that asked what my goal is and what I like. You summed it up pretty well with "generic toned" haha. I do not want to be a hench guy piling on weight and protein to convert into muscle. There's a good reason for this - I can't for definite say I'll stay committed. If I spent 6 months getting big and was consuming lots of protein and calories to burn off at the gym and then suddenly decided I'll have a break for a month I would then look like a blob with saggy arms.

I'd love to be able to say I'm making this choice for good and I'm committed for life but there's no point lying to myself and as I say, committing to becoming Arnie for a year then letting it all turn into flab.

So I think sensibly toned with much more of a focus on being pysically fit within myself. Not necessarily showing to the outside world but being able to 10k or having a lower resting heart rate, those are all realistic goals I'd like to achieve.

Incidently a lot of what has brought this on is my father having a heart attack and being diagnosed with daibetes earlier in the year. Nothing to suggest it will be passed down to me but it only happened because he smokes like a chimney, eats unhealthy and does zero excercise.

Unfortunately, whilst I don't smoke, I have picked up his habits of not enjoying excercise (would love to have something I'm into but I really do dislike all forms of exercise) and his eating habits.