Over 50s Ladies - Our Special Needs

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  • tinakegley
    tinakegley Posts: 5 Member
    Hi Ladies, May I join you? My name is Tina, I am 59 and had wls 10 years ago. Lost (and kept off) 100 pounds but never lost the last 60. Trying again for the 100th time! I used to drop several pounds a week on lc, but now my body just fights to keep every pound! I must say, I am so glad to hear about the weight fluctuations because that is exactly what is happening to me! I thought I was doing something wrong!
    Today is day 33 of lchf. I lost 5 pounds, gained back 2, think I have lost those two, but I was starting to obsess over the scale so forced myself to stay off until Monday.
    After trying other apps to track, I found mfp. I have a question- sometimes I can see my macros and sometimes I can't. It's like looking at 2 different apps?
    My macros are set at 5% carbs, 20% protein, and 75% fat. I have the calories at 1374.
    Feel so much better on this way of life. Don't ever want to go back.
    Thanks.
  • shadesofidaho
    shadesofidaho Posts: 485 Member
    Welcome Tina, The fluctuation is so frustrating. I am finally dropping tenths of a pound st a time. It is so painfully slow. No idea why your macros are not showing up all of the time. Are you using your phone? I do not have a cell phone so no help there. I am doing just about the same macros. I did go to Fitday to track my foods and it seems to end up pretty close 5 % Carbs and a bit higher protein 33% ish and about 65% ish fats. For some reason this seems to be working better for me when I do not have to force the fats. But this change after three months of losing the same dang three pounds over and over has only been since March 14 so I am not sure if it will continue. Stay tuned. LOL
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    Welcome Tina and yes, you may most certainly join us. The more the merrier. *And*, as you've seen, we can gain some peace and patience about our slow weight losses together because we're not comparing our journey to that of men, or younger women.

    My daily goals are 0-20 grams Carbs, 110-130 grams Fat and 60-80 grams Protein equalling about 1450 calories. I was losing nicely a week ago on that but the same magic formula is failing this week ha ha!

    I do weigh daily because that's best *for me*. Last Friday I weighed 84.4 kgs. This morning I was 84.6. If I hadn't weighed daily I wouldn't know about the 84.3 that I got to on Mon, Tue and Thu, never mind the 83.9 last Sunday. And although I did feel a little frustration at being up this morning, I still have the joy of knowing I'd reached 83.9 once so I know I can do it again if I behave ;)

    As Shades said, the phone app is completely different to the computer version of MFP. I barely use the app unless I want to scan a barcode so I don't know much about it either.

    All the best with your 60 lbs. I have 27 lbs to lose (and perhaps up to 9 more after that).
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    One very small point that may be of interest to you Tina... Those of us in this thread (in other words mature women, or younger women with PCOS) have all found that we actually *do* have to count calories. even though we are LCHF or keto. I know men and other women don't have to, but so far each and every one here doesn't seem to achieve any success without it.

    If you can be the exception to that rule then more power to you - we'll all be cheering you on - but just thought I should mention it B)
  • wheatlessgirl66
    wheatlessgirl66 Posts: 598 Member
    Welcome, Tina, to our merry little band! I joined this month and have found lots of support and help. As of this morning, I'm down by 10 lbs! That's phenomenal for me, and the difference is LCHF. I'm at 219.2, so I have a long way to go. I try to stay pretty close to my macros, 5% carb, 20% pro, 75% fat and around 1400 calories, so we're pretty much in the same boat. I weigh every day, too. If I avoid the scale, I tend to stray...

    You'll find lots to read under the LCHF banner, so enjoy!
  • RATSMITH69
    RATSMITH69 Posts: 127 Member
    Good Morning Ms May!

    I am Rebecca and I am still doing really well today. Thursdays are usually rough for me but yesterday went pretty well. Treatments are almost over and they seem not to be affecting me as badly. So ready to have it over with so I can "get on with it". Whatever it is!

    Fridays are good days for me as I get my Grandflowers (youngest son's daughters are Lilly & Rose) for the weekend. We are finally getting some dry sunny (but not yet baking) days here in South Texas. Blue bonnets are out and I'm hope to snap some pics.

    Reading about the snakes has me a bit concerned. My home is in the middle of a field and I don't landscape (I've always said I'm allergic to green....) so I'm sure we will be seeing some soon. ug

    Once again I wanna say THANKS to everyone for the supportive feel of this group. It somehow helps to know that there are others out there struggling with similar issues and learning how you are coping/dealing/working thru them. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to share some of my story.

    Hope everyone has a wonderful day.
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  • cathy120861
    cathy120861 Posts: 265 Member
    I LOVE this thread. Welcome kitncat. you are in the right place for sure.

    can i share my low carb dilemma with you guys? (if your answer is no, now is the time to skip to the next post).

    In January i started reducing my carbs by counting net carbs. Got down to 20 net carbs a day. In 9 weeks i lost 15 pounds, as well as 5.7 inches around my waist etc.

    So, i took what to me seemed like the obvious next step, and switched to counting carbs. I bought myself some keto strips and tried to keep to 20 carbs a day.

    and it has been a DISASTER!!!! I am hungry all of the time. i am sleeping terribly. I am eating literally thousands of calories more per day than i was when i was counting net carbs. I am craving sweets. i am miserable. I am scared to get on teh scale but if i am managing to maintain without gaining, it would be a miracle.

    So, fellow travelers, what do you advise? Shall i go back to net carbs, or shall i tweak my eating and keep on aiming for the holy grail of ketosis?

    I could really use your help.
  • wheatlessgirl66
    wheatlessgirl66 Posts: 598 Member
    edited March 2015
    Hi Cathy, Congratulations on your great weight loss! Great accomplishment!

    I'm only 28 days into this, but without looking at your food diary I'm guessing that you're not eating enough fat. That's the thing that fills and satisfies you so you don't crave sweets.
    When you have cravings, have a BPC or some other portion of fat. Are you low on magnesium? That will affect your sleep. There's a magnesium thread you can read that has lots of info on it.

    There's lots of help here, so read, read, read, and you'll learn a ton! All the best to you as you go forward!

    @Rebecca---what cuties! You must be a very happy and proud grandma!


    Ellen
  • shadesofidaho
    shadesofidaho Posts: 485 Member
    @ Cathy If counting the net carbs worked for you then I would go back to that WOE. There is no right or wrong just do what works for you.
  • Kitnthecat
    Kitnthecat Posts: 2,073 Member
    That's very true, there are no right or wrong ways to do this. I think I am way more patient now that in previous weight loss attempts, and that is good. And May, I agree with you that it helps greatly to track calories. I know I can't eat as many calories as I could get away with when younger.

    It sure has been interesting to me to observe what seems to be working for me now, compared even to the primal diet I had been eating for the past few years. I found that while primal/paleo I still had the odd cravings, despite giving up bread for good 2-3 years ago. I was still eating the odd serving of rice or potatoes, and even ice cream ( used to make my own sometimes with cream, milk and xylitol, not sugar )! No wonder I wasn't losing weight with my thyroid issues. But since lowering the carbs even more, things have become easier. I don't have any more cravings usually. When I feel I need something to snack on, I'll reach for something with fat and protein, like some macadamia nuts, or even a slice of butter, but I still have to watch the calories. I think the fat satisfies me enough to stop snacking much sooner than I used to. Very interesting, and such a feeling of control, just to observe myself stopping the eating, especially in the evening when I used to do most of my overeating.

    It's also interesting to me that I have so much energy. I think this is very sustainable and it has given me much confidence that I will succeed this time, in losing the rest, eventually.
  • shadesofidaho
    shadesofidaho Posts: 485 Member
    Today I had eggs for breakfast and lunch. About 4PM I was HUNGRY!!! I had half an OZ of pork skins and a cup of tea and felt fine until dinner at 7PM. I am logging at Fitday and my calories are 1169 Fat 91.3 Carbs 11.7 Protein 74.1. I am done eating for the day except black tea and I do not count that.

    I am heading outside to work on some yard cleaning sorting of the old garden shed.I have a couple hours before dark I can work out there. I have lots of energy even though I worked pretty hard a good part of the day. Step meter is only 3.4 miles but I must have gone up the shop loft stairs half a dozen times and it does not count up steps. LOL I also need to reset it as I walk 32 steps and it counts 28. Not sure how to fix that. I am not nerdy. It is an Omron cheep thing.
  • sbom1
    sbom1 Posts: 227 Member
    Fasting day, just over 500 cals. Miserable back pain and cramping leg pain :-(, old injury flare-up. Been flat on my back most of the day.
  • sbom1
    sbom1 Posts: 227 Member
    Fasting day, just over 500 cals. Miserable back pain and cramping leg pain :-(, old injury flare-up. Been flat on my back most of the day.
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    @wheatlessgirl66 Hi Ellen, I’m so thrilled for your weight loss. It’s hard work for us older girls, but you’re doing great!

    @RATSMITH69 Hi Rebecca, I’m so happy that you are not being affected so badly any more. Lilly and Rose are so beautiful – true flowers! Snakes are a bit of a worry aren’t they? We’re starting to wonder if a bird dropped ours into our back garden, which is the only way into our house for such a thing. It would then have to have come into the dog door and half way across the house before we found it.

    @cathy120861 Of course you can share Cathy, that’s what we’re here for! Your initial losses are amazing. I’ve only lost 10 lbs and no waist inches since 23rd January. I haven’t read the posts following your question yet, but I wonder if you’re eating enough fat and sufficient protein? The fat is the satiety component of your diet and you know that anyway. Without knowing your data I’d say to try higher fat for a while, make sure your protein is roughly 1 gram per pound of your goal weight and see if that helps. If not, then going back to what you were doing before seems definitely the best bet!

    @Kitnthecat I’m so pleased for you that you have everything working nicely. It can be difficult to find our own ‘magic formula’ so it’s really exciting that you have achieved this.

    @shadesofidaho Hi Chris, it’s odd the way we gets hungry days isn’t it? I had that lovely little losing streak when I was eating around 1200 calories a day. That was all I wanted at that time. Now I’m wanting all of my 1450 allowance and my weight has come up a little and is sitting there solidly, it’s getting frustrating 

    @sbom1 Oh gosh, I do hope that pain goes away quickly – you poor thing!

    Hubby is working later today. It's 3pm now and, very unusually, I can't wait for him to go. He's usually fun and bubbly but is having one of his 'off days'. He doesn't do them often, but does a really great job of it when he does decide to be a miseryshit. Everything I say is turned around so that I'm at fault over something, so I'm not bothering to speak. Other than him thanking me for a cup of coffee we haven't spoken for just over 2 hours so far. It's not a stony silence or anything, just not the usual happy home that we have. And then he'll go to work and ring me every 60 or 90 minutes as his shift allows and be all romantic and lovey-dovey, how stupid is that? I feel like not answering my phone, but that's not who I am, so I suppose I will.
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    edited March 2015
    Oh gosh, this thing posted itself about 5 times after refusing to post at all for ages... Lots of edit/deletes coming up...
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    edited March 2015
    Delete
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    edited March 2015
    Delete
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    edited March 2015
    Delete... sigh ;)
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    edited March 2015
    Good news is, The Man just asked if it was time for himself to stop being grumpy. I told him 'anytime you're ready, I'm here, though I think an apology could be in order'. We all know how effective men are at apologising ha ha! I'll grade him a 2 out of 10 for his effort o:)

    We were out on a photo shoot and he ruined the whole outing and we ended up coming home. Oh well.
  • cathy120861
    cathy120861 Posts: 265 Member
    Can i just say, GrannyMay, that you get a 10 out of 10 for adorableness. Sorry to hear that the man was a grouch. We have kind of the opposite situation here -- i have been moody and difficult all week. I feel like i will soon make the Guiness book of world records for being the first woman ever to be in peri-menapause for years and years and year without ever actually getting it over with.

    Back to net carbs today and had an easy, healthy day.
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    Aawww Cathy, thank you <3 David's just gone to work, but he kissed me goodbye as always and of course I will welcome his phone calls LOL I just go quiet when I'm in a bad mood. My boys always got away with far more mischief when I was grumpy because I always knew it was me at fault and never wanted to dump on them. But that's probably because I grew up with a mother who blamed me for *everything* (beyond my control or not), so I'm hypervigilant against 'being her'. I do get grumpy though, I'm far from perfect.

    I do hope your body sorts itself out soon. I was fairly late with menopause. 54 for my last TOM. I only got occasional 'personal tropical holidays' for a couple of years, and not too badly, though I've had a few small ones since going Keto. I guess my body is cleaning something out. I prefer net carbs too. Even though the maths is easy, I'm counting more than I'd choose to already ;)
  • sbom1
    sbom1 Posts: 227 Member
    Good news is, The Man just asked if it was time for himself to stop being grumpy. I told him 'anytime you're ready, I'm here, though I think an apology could be in order'. We all know how effective men are at apologising ha ha! I'll grade him a 2 out of 10 for his effort o:)

    We were out on a photo shoot and he ruined the whole outing and we ended up coming home. Oh well.

    Oh good, glad he spoke up!
    Back is slightly better today but I need to get over this before boarding a plane for 9 hours on Wednesday!! So puffy and swollen from the anti inflammatories and the scale is up 2 pounds today, sigh. At least I know what it is from. Good fasting day yesterday.

    Have a good rest of the weekend ladies!
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    edited March 2015
    Thanks @sbom1‌

    Glad your back is healing but I *truly* hear you on boarding a plane when you're in pain. I injured my 'back' (it was my S.I. joint in the end) when we were away on holidays (vacation to you) and they had to get a doctor to come and give me an injection for the pain so I could do the journey on the plane to get home. There's no way I could have got into a plane seat, let alone out of it again after (in my case) 5 hours! It did go fine after the injection though and I hope your trip does too <3

    I'm back down to 84.3 today. That weight was first reached on 21st March and I got to 83.9 the next day. Just hanging around... doing my best... waiting to get back to 83.9 again... waiting to get below that... 72 kgs seems a lifetime away :|
  • wheatlessgirl66
    wheatlessgirl66 Posts: 598 Member
    @sbom1 Hope your back is getting back to normal so you can tolerate that long plane ride w/o being in pain. Rest easy. <3

    @grannyMayOz--Good for the number to go down again! I wish it didn't take so long for us oldies to lose weight, but that's the fact I guess. Keep at it, girl, and it will come. We're cheering alongside you. Or in my case, a heap of pounds behind. ;)
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    Thank you Ellen. The rate I'm going I think you'll catch up with my pounds tee hee!
  • RATSMITH69
    RATSMITH69 Posts: 127 Member
    I just love this thread! Having real women talking about real life things and staying totally positive about most of it is a treat!

    I spent the weekend with my Grandflowers and reeeealllly enjoyed one early Easter candy!! Yeah I know, but it was so worth it to sit in the sun with my girls and have melty chocolate. :p I jumped back on the wagon (funny how I feel like carbs are an addiction for me) yesterday so it's all good.

    We are planning a big spread for Easter lunch and how we are going to do as many low/no carb items as possible without telling anyone. Can't wait to see what the reactions will be.

    Ms. May you are a true inspiration and so very funny.

    Ms. Chris I've had a few of those HANGRY days too. and that's really strange because I don't normally get hungry ever. I just pored some fat on it and hoped for the best!

    Ms. Cathy that whole menopause thing is a total mystery to me as everyone in my family had hysterectomies by 40 but I hear it is a real bear for some. Hope it works itself out of your life soon! Since I didn't do meno and I can no longer claim PMS everyone just says I'm a real B*&#^ from time to time.....

    Ms. Boom I sure hope you are feeling better. Love reading about your fasting. I did a 4 day fat fast (1000 calories 90% fat) but I can't imagine doing it a few days a week. Looking forward to seeing if you get results.

    Okay, gotta go work, or at least pretend to for a while.

    Enjoy your day ladies!
  • sbom1
    sbom1 Posts: 227 Member
    Good Monday morning, thanks for the good wishes about this darn back. Not really any better but Doc has called in some muscle relaxants which I hope will do the trick. Stomach is not happy with all the anti-inflammatories and I'm as puffy as the Michelin Man. Just over 2 days before we leave and I feel a bit bad I can't really help hubby get the house ready for our departure. Oh well, he's a trooper. Hope you all have a good start to the week. Fast day for me today, may only do 2 this week given everything going on. Hard to evaluate the success this past week as the scale has jumped up 2 pounds which I'm pretty sure is all water retention from the high dose anti-inflammatories. I feel "thin" other than fingers, under eyes and feet-LOL!
    Ratsmith-how lovely to spend the weekend with the grands. I'm looking forward to seeing my one and only in a few days!
    Granny-never had to have an injection so fingers crossed.
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    @Rebecca I'm so happy that you love this thread <3 It's wonderful to hear of you having special time with your precious Flowers, and also that you had the 1 Easter treat. That's not going to kill you, as we all know at this age. I'm glad you enjoyed it *and* got straight back on track. Ha ha, that Easter LC luncheon sounds fantastic. Can't wait to hear how it went and what deviousness you got away with ;) And thank you for your kind words.

    @sbom Oh gosh I'm so very sorry that your back is not improving, that must be so miserable even without the other issues associated with attempts to help you :'( You have told your doctor you have a flight ahead of you? I'm not positive what was in the injection that got me through that flight. Pretty sure it was anti-inflamatories and pain killer. I had never had an injection before either, and I was in a 3rd world country which added a bit of fear to it, but I had no choice! At least the doctor was arranged by our resort nurse, so that helped me to feel easier about it, and of course it all turned out for the best. The hilarious thing is that I've since found a video on YouTube that shows you how to put your own S.I. joint back into place with a 5 second exercise using a door frame. Not only does it work every time, but my S.I. now rarely 'goes out', where it did it regularly for about 15 years. Can't find the video but there's a photo and description here eatmoveimprove.com/2010/02/so-you-hurt-your-lower-back/

    I was 84.1 this morning, so heading back down to the 83.9 lowest weight of a week ago - so exciting!!! [May sniggers :p into her hand] At least our weight charts are prettier and more interesting than those boring people who just get a straight diagonal line downwards ;)

    My hairdresser is coming soon and I'm looking forward to being unshaggy again, and she's going to convince the hair near my scalp that I'm closer to 30 than 60 with a few magic brush strokes o:)
  • saraphim41
    saraphim41 Posts: 205 Member
    RisiM wrote: »
    Before I start I'm really concerned about constipation did read that magnesium citrate is good - does anyone use this? I have kept my carbs under the recommended Mfp limit for a while but find if I have any bread it makes me 'look for food'. I read Eat Fat by Dr Trudi Deakin and that says on Mfp set carbs to 10%, protein 30% and fat at 60%, would that seem ok?
    I just throw a couple of tablespoons of ground flax seed into some part of my day--eggs at breakfast? salad? cooked veg? You can hide them almost anywhere. You also get omega 3 with them.
  • GrannyMayOz
    GrannyMayOz Posts: 1,051 Member
    How's everyone going? Who's taking part in FIT_Goat's April challenge?

    I was unexpectedly up again this morning after a few days trending back down towards my lowest weight of 83.9 kgs. I was 84.6 yet again LOL And I'm taking part in the April challenge so my calories are now hidden on my food diary - eeekkk! I wonder if the page will grumble at me if I'm under 1,000 calories any day though? That would spoil the surprise wouldn't it? Or of course I may totally pig out and that's no risk at all >:)

    I hope that after the challenge, when I remove the coding and can see the calories again, that I'll be able to look through April's diaries and see how I did 'flying free'.
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