Even on really fit people, I've seen stretch marks. It's a natural occurrence on our bodies to have, and it's not specific to just women (even though it is more commonly seen), but also men.

It's really hard to get into the lifestyle of exercise, because it's a lot of perseverance. I started skiing, hiking, and mountain biking with my dad because I was overweight as a teenager due to really heavy eating from stress. It was a lot of work and of course there were times when I wanted to quit consistently. But my dad really encouraged me and trained me to do better and be better at exercising my body to be healthy. A personal trainer may be expensive to have, so if you have a friend who is willing to spend that time with you to make you go out and exercise, that's also a great option.

And now, I still feel like giving up from time to time, but it's very brief and I encourage myself to keep going and not give up. It helped a lot in the end, not just physically but also for my mental health. Exercising has become a major part of helping me keep my anxiety in check and keeping it under control. It's my way of letting lose at the end of each day. I go running either in the mountains or just around the neighborhood and it has certainly helped me in my struggle with anxiety and depression.

It's hard to see the changes in the first month, especially depending on the person as well (metabolism, body-shape composition, fat to muscle ratios, etc). So it can be frustrating when that improvement doesn't come about sooner. But be patient with your body and yourself. I think of it like a plant, it takes time for it to flourish. And it's also important to be forgiving to yourself, especially when you don't quite meet the goal for that day or for the week.

I guess this is just some of the things I've noticed about myself that was useful for me. So I hope this helps somewhat.