55-65 year old women's success?

lovesretirement

@Triplestep I was hardheaded in the beginning with exercise and learned a huge lesson. I was working with a trainer 2 days a week, body pump classes 1 time a week, and Aquafit/Aquazumba thrown in, too. Waaaay too much and not enough recovery thrown in. My knees hurt after workouts, but I kept going. The result was tears in my meniscus in one knee. I already had some arthritis but nothing too serious. Now I cannot do anything that puts pressure on that knee...no squats, lunges, leg presses, etc. The surgeon wants to repair, but is not sure that will get me back to a 100% pain free knee at my age so that is not an option I want to consider.

I manage the pain/inflammation through eating very low carb/high fat/moderate protein. When I cut the starchy carbs, all swelling and pain left that knee. My trainer has modified my workouts and we do full body rather than one day upper, one day lower. Some days, I still have to do the Tylenol, but I strive not to take the prescribed meloxicam, and I don't have to ice or use a heating pad on workout days anymore. I ditched the body pump, kept the pool, and walk every day. I make sure I rest in between workouts and no longer feel the need to exercise 5 days a week. Weight loss begins in the kitchen and you cannot out exercise a bad diet. I finally get it. By the way, when I was doing all that exercise, and had shaved my eating down between 1200-1400 calories, I was not losing any weight. Now that I am doing what is right for my body in terms of exercise and food, I have started losing...not at the rate I would like, but slowly but surely,it is whittling down, I feel good, and have dropped a couple of sizes.

It was a hard lesson to learn, and at my age I should have known better..but I wanted the weight off fast, and at that time, I still bought into the myth that I should exercise 5 days a week and eat 1200 calories a day. What a crock!!

Good luck!

Connie

trina1049

Hi, Barb, Triplestep is right. Don't try to change too much all at once. Do you have your macros set to the default MFP settings? If you are over on one macro consistently you can always change your settings to a macro split that works better for you at any time. That's what I did. I believe that MFP's pre-set is 45% carbs and that was too high for me when I started so I changed to a 35% protein, 35% fat, and 30% carbs which I found kept more satiated. As I continued to lose weight I adjusted my macros. Right now I'm at 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat.

As far as meal planning, I try to pre-plan all my meals and snacks as much as possible and mostly stick to that to make sure I maintain my calorie goals and get as close as possible to my macros. Since you're just starting work on meeting your calorie goal first then tweak your macros as you move forward with your weight loss.

Find foods that are nutritious and keep you satisfied. I eat every 3 to 4 hours so that I'm never starving. It works for me but you have to find what strategies work for you. Don't fall for all those myths about no eating after 7 PM or whatever. That's just crazy talk.

Just a note about trainers; they have little to no training in nutrition so take what they say with caution. I'm 66 years old and have lost 52 lbs over the last 18 months by educating myself about how to safely lose weight for the long term.

Here's some posts you should read when starting out:

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/931670/bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide#latest

mk2fit

Ladies, @trina1049 is right! Find which macros work for you. Common sense works best when it comes to eating and calories in/calories out. I have never had a trainer nor have I been to a gym (since high school!). Walking, running, aerobic exercise, strength training can all be done at home for free! Check out youtube. I have gotten tons of great recipes from Hello Healthy (MFP blog) and skinnytaste.com and chocolate covered Katie. I have also learned to tailor lots of recipes to be lower fat/calories.
PS. I have lost over 70#. If I can, you can!

Cheryl7777

mk2loser wrote: »

Ladies, @trina1049 is right! Find which macros work for you. Common sense works best when it comes to eating and calories in/calories out. I have never had a trainer nor have I been to a gym (since high school!). Walking, running, aerobic exercise, strength training can all be done at home for free! Check out youtube. I have gotten tons of great recipes from Hello Healthy (MFP blog) and skinnytaste.com and chocolate covered Katie. I have also learned to tailor lots of recipes to be lower fat/calories.
PS. I have lost over 70#. If I can, you can!

Exactly! This can be done and you don't need to throw a bunch of money at it. I decided that when I quit going to weight watchers classes when I knew more than the leader and I was just paying to use their scale. This can be done with the resources you have at hand right now.

geoblewis

New to this forum. Turning 55 in two weeks. Have been obese since I was 21. 363 was my highest. About eight years ago, with low carb diet, intermittent fasting, and working out twice a day, I got down to 308. Then an injury took me out of my workouts, and then I lost my focus with diet. Then an infection took me over the edge and I am now a type 2 diabetic on insulin. In the last year, since starting insulin use, my weight has gone up to 330. I am angry and frustrated! Also feeling tired and foggy brained all the time. Have been working on my diet again over the last six months, but not losing weight at all. Quite the opposite. I am just getting back to working out again, using isometric exercises for now. My goal is to just weigh less than 300 lbs.

Cheryl7777

geoblewis wrote: »

New to this forum. Turning 55 in two weeks. Have been obese since I was 21. 363 was my highest. About eight years ago, with low carb diet, intermittent fasting, and working out twice a day, I got down to 308. Then an injury took me out of my workouts, and then I lost my focus with diet. Then an infection took me over the edge and I am now a type 2 diabetic on insulin. In the last year, since starting insulin use, my weight has gone up to 330. I am angry and frustrated! Also feeling tired and foggy brained all the time. Have been working on my diet again over the last six months, but not losing weight at all. Quite the opposite. I am just getting back to working out again, using isometric exercises for now. My goal is to just weigh less than 300 lbs.

I know it's frustrating and it's hard when you put the weight back on. I went on a liquid diet a few years ago and lost 100 pounds. I went from 397 to 296. Then I just lost focus and just couldn't continue the liquid diet any more. Within 6 months I was back up to 390 again. It took me a couple more years to even have the heart to try again. I'm 64 and have been obese almost my whole life. It's been one diet after the other. This time is different. I started slowly making some changes. Most importantly I started using MFP and have logged every single bite for 110 days. I have not been able to do formal exercise because I have a bad hip that needs replaced. Even though the weight loss has been somewhat slow, I am losing and I am making significant changes in the way I eat and what I eat. I think this time the changes are going to be sustainable and therefore I have a good chance at success. You can do it too. Just start making some small changes, log your food every day, and try to move your body more every day. Good luck and come back here for motivation and support.

krenwren

Wow, so nice to see all these new faces. Weigh in tomorrow, I have been working at working out and journaling so I am looking for a good outcome!

Cheryl7777

krenwren wrote: »

Wow, so nice to see all these new faces. Weigh in tomorrow, I have been working at working out and journaling so I am looking for a good outcome!

Good luck. I hope the scale reflects your hard work.

1Nana2many

Triplestep wrote: »

Ladies, any advice for sore knees? I'm in bad shape after each session with my trainer. All those squats and lunges have me hobling around for at least a day afterwards. I wonder if I should just put myself on naproxen sodium twice a day.

My personal opinion is don't use naproxen sodium. I had a back strain a few years ago while still working at the Postal Service that was causing a lot of pain and I started using naproxen sodium twice a day to relieve the pain. I then started having a lot of stomach pain. Finally, I went to the Doc and was put on prescription pain reliever and a week off work to relieve the back injury. As soon as I stopped taking the Aleve my stomach stopped hurting. Another example: My daughter-in-law's mother was taking Aleve daily and ended up in the hospital with bleeding stomach because of the Aleve. Needless to say, I won't be taking naproxen sodium any more! When I do feel the need for pain relief, I take extended release (12 hour) Tylenol. It, at least does not cause me stomach pain. As mentioned above, I would see if there's a problem with the knee and be sure to mention to the trainer that you are experiencing the knee pain and ask if your exercise form is correct for the knee. It could be as simple as an alignment issue in how you are performing the exercises.

retirehappy

1Nana2many wrote: »

Triplestep wrote: »

Ladies, any advice for sore knees? I'm in bad shape after each session with my trainer. All those squats and lunges have me hobling around for at least a day afterwards. I wonder if I should just put myself on naproxen sodium twice a day.

My personal opinion is don't use naproxen sodium. I had a back strain a few years ago while still working at the Postal Service that was causing a lot of pain and I started using naproxen sodium twice a day to relieve the pain. I then started having a lot of stomach pain. Finally, I went to the Doc and was put on prescription pain reliever and a week off work to relieve the back injury. As soon as I stopped taking the Aleve my stomach stopped hurting. Another example: My daughter-in-law's mother was taking Aleve daily and ended up in the hospital with bleeding stomach because of the Aleve. Needless to say, I won't be taking naproxen sodium any more! When I do feel the need for pain relief, I take extended release (12 hour) Tylenol. It, at least does not cause me stomach pain. As mentioned above, I would see if there's a problem with the knee and be sure to mention to the trainer that you are experiencing the knee pain and ask if your exercise form is correct for the knee. It could be as simple as an alignment issue in how you are performing the exercises.

I agree with no naproxen, my husband was told to use it and it caused him to have stomach issues, stopping stopped it, luckily.

When you see the dr. ask for a referral to a physical therapist for help with the use of your knee, if your insurance company can avoid knee surgery, they will okay it. This country is just now getting a clue about good PT, other countries realized the benefits of using them ages ago.

jb_2011

Connie, @lovesretirement GREAT post. I hurt my knee a year ago doing too many jumping jacks, thinking I could fly & flap my wings into fitness. Uh huh, you guessed it, I've spent the last 12 months hobbling around, nerve damage, tingling down the leg. Just last week I was able to start doing 30 minutes of aerobic dance in the mornings, but had to take the weekend off to rest. I walk every day, not always without pain. Man oh man, the things we do trying to make ourselves something we're not!! I'm back on a losing streak, though, chipping away at 20 pounds that came back on over the last 3 years - and I quote you here... " Weight loss begins in the kitchen and you cannot out exercise a bad diet."

Triplestep

retirehappy, 1Nana2many, lovesretirement ... thank you so much for all the knee advice. I will definitely stay away from the neproxen sodium, and try to get in to see the PT. (I have a good one from years ago.) THANK YOU!

AnnPT77

Triplestep wrote: »

retirehappy, 1Nana2many, lovesretirement ... thank you so much for all the knee advice. I will definitely stay away from the neproxen sodium, and try to get in to see the PT. (I have a good one from years ago.) THANK YOU!

+1 on the physical therapy - good plan!

I have a torn meniscus (plus some arthritis), and asked my orthopedist for a PT referral. He said "I don't think it will help you", I said "I want to see if I can learn to walk & climb steps in a way that puts less strain on my knees and reduces pain, and I'm very compliant with recommended exercise regimes" . . . so he gave me the referral, and to a PT group I've used before & love. (He's now my beloved orthopedist, for this & other reasons.)

This all happened before I lost weight; the PT was very helpful - I learned a lot. (Losing weight has helped even more, and the pain began decreasing noticeably at only maybe 15-20lbs down.)

Still icing the knee routinely after strenuous exercise, though.

lovesretirement

@AnnPT77 Asking the orthopedist for a physical therapy referral is a great idea! I need to do that. It never crossed my mind because once she realized that I was not going to opt for repair, the appointed time seemed to quickly come to an end. However, I think I will call her and ask about therapy. Thanks!

krenwren

Heck Naprosyn is a great drug used judiciously. As with all otc meds, if you find yourself using it daily, a trip to your care provider is a good idea. But all NSAIDs are great for intermittent aches and pains.

mk2fit

@jb_2011 and everyone else - I think we need to remember we are not 21 anymore and bouncing around and doing jumping jacks may not be what the doctor ordered. There are plenty of activities out there for women our age including walking, running and strength training. Of course, I am not an expert so I think I will just smile here.

griffinca2

mk2, totally agree! Sometimes the bursitis doesn't like the kickboxing class (been there).

krenwren

@mk2loser Well said!! There are modifications to a lot of high impact workouts that will help protect joints but still give you a great workout! Leslie Sansone has some great walk tapes along with Jessica Smith who has been mentioned here before. I am doing her 6 week transformation workouts and they are great!!!!

1Nana2many

Hope everyone is having a great week! Does anyone else have this problem?: I just started MFP on Jan 4th officially logging my food every day and taking this very seriously. I find myself not logging exercise because I don't quite trust myself yet not to over-estimate my activity and then over-eat the extra calories. I guess I'm just really trying to get the calories down so it's a little more automatic then add the activities in MFP later. I am adding extra walking and exercise into my routine, I just don't want to get into that mental game of "I did this exercise so I must have all these extra calories available and start sabotaging myself. Does this make sense to anyone but me????

mamainthekitchen

@1Nana2many It makes perfect sense!! I walk, and use the app Map my Walk which can sinc with MFP but, when I do weights & strength training I do not add that in. I also do not eat back all my exercised calories. So I totally get where you're coming from! Good job!!!!