Can we normalize being the slowest person at the gym

Dr.SurgeonPGH said:

Gym confidence after training weight loss: walked into a gym for the first time in 5 years yesterday.

Pet owner bonus of training: my dog is also losing weight because we're walking 2-3x more than before. His vet is thrilled. 🐕

We went from a 5-minute shuffle around the block to 30-minute walks through the neighborhood. He's more energetic, I'm more energetic, and we're both healthier.

Get a dog. Or borrow one. Walking a dog is the best low-impact exercise motivation that exists. They never let you skip a walk. 🐾

One concrete data point for the thread. For anyone reading later: the numbers in this thread are worth checking against a primary source before you act on them, including mine. Half the figures circulating in this community trace back to a secondary summary that dropped a qualifier.

BariatricNurseD said:

Pet owner bonus of training: my dog is also losing weight because we're walking 2-3x more than before.

Coming at BariatricNurseD’s question from a different direction. It helps to ask what evidence would change your mind before you look at any. If nothing would, the discussion is not about evidence, and it is better to say so early than to spend nine posts discovering it.

Following on from RunnerRach — and this may be the naive question:

What would you measure differently if you were starting again?

OP back with an update, since a thread like this is useless without one.

Late follow-up. I did not do what was suggested, I did something adjacent, and it worked; posting the difference in case it matters to somebody.