Thanks for your post. It's all good advice. I'm going to suggest that moderate exercise might be better for us than strenuous. I've injured myself a few times already pushing too hard as I recovered from my cancer-related spinal injury. The secret seems to be making a habit of it: work out with light weights (or bands), but try to do it every day. Don't push yourself to run 20K, but if physically able, do walk or cycle everywhere you can.

Also, ask your family doctor about getting a full cardio workup. Since I'm on ADT and ARSI for life, I had one at a university heart institute (after an earlier test had mistakenly suggested I'd had a heart attack at some point in the past), and I got the green light for activities like snow shoveling. I also wear a smartwatch that displays my heart rate, and I make sure the rate doesn't go dangerously high during my activities (I aim for the moderate zone).

Same with diet — we don't need any extreme changes (unless you want them for other reasons), but we do need to make sure we eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, and that prepared foods, fast-food, and sweetened desserts things are special "sometimes" treats rather than every-day staples.

My spouse and I do a special "take-out night" every Friday: that way, we're looking forward to something instead of avoiding it. I know from past reading that positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative for all mammals, including us humans.