Is it harder to lose weight as you get older

Sued0nim

_Terrapin_ wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

I don't understand why people say we " lose muscle with age" as though it's a fait accompli

If we are not talking about professional sportspeople, is that not down to people being less active and can it not be countermanded by increasing weight resistance exercise?

Yessum. Yessum=I concur.

Heheh I rather like that, it appeals to my British heart

earlnabby

mamapeach910 wrote: »

earlnabby wrote: »

Just for the fun of it, I recalculated my BMR for different ages. I am currently 58 and my BMR at my current weight is 1583. Each time I entered a new age, in 10 year increments, my BMR went up by 50 calories a day.

This tells me that whether or not weight loss becomes harder as you age is more because of external factors rather than strictly because of metabolism. Are you still as active? Have you lost muscle mass over the years? Are there more medical things going on that can hinder weight loss? Are you less motivated?

I bought into the "menopausal women have a hard time losing" and "I screwed up my metabolism by yoyo-ing" for years. Turns out my weight gain was because I had become severely depressed and didn't care anymore. I also had anemia that was undiagnosed for a couple of years (just wrote the symptoms off as being because I was fat and out of shape). Finally got an antidepressant that worked for me (10 years of trying different ones) and ended up in the hospital for an oil change (four units of blood plus one of IV iron). 15 months and 97 (so far) pounds later, I am getting back to my old (younger) self.

Yes, it can be harder as you get older, but I think it is more because older people have more baggage, both physically and mentally. Metabolically speaking, there doesn't seem to be that big of a difference.

I don't know about that, at least personally. I find that I have less baggage now than I did when I was younger.

Or maybe it's that I have a better perspective on my baggage?

I don't know. I don't feel any burden from the hardships that physical impairments (and I've got them) or biological imperatives impose on the process. What would be the point? Things are as they are, and focusing on them would get me what? Cranky? A case of the poor me syndrome? What good would that do? For me, as I said before, this is the easiest go at losing weight I've ever had mentally. It's not a chore to simply do the math or make the choices.

I think you misunderstood my point. "Baggage" refers to anything (physical and psychological) you are carrying around that you didn't have when you were younger, and it is neutral. It is aches and pains. It is more responsibilities. It is a busier schedule. It is a different job. It is different hobbies that are not physical. Someone in their 50's and 60's usually lives a totally different life and feels different than they did in their 20's. Those differences are the "baggage". You are thinking of the bad psychological baggage, which is a totally different animal.

I too am having an easier time psychologically, but I have to work harder physically because I am semi retired and work from my computer at home. When I lost a lot of weight before, I was working as a retail manager and did a lot of walking, lifting, carrying, etc. on the job. All I did extra was a 45 minute walk daily. Now I have to make a point of exercising and fit it into my schedule, as opposed to activity being a part of my life.

Dragn77

Nothing scientific... but I do know that up until my late 20's, Id say hrmm...Im getting to 148!! I need to lose 3 lbs!! And it felt like just by thinking it, Id lose the 3lbs within a week and be back at 145 for another year...

Then I hit 30, and I swear, true story, Oh no Im 150! I need to lose 5 lbs!! Gained 10. Crap, I actually have to *do* something to lose this weight! Gained 10 more. Eat nothing. Gain 10 lbs. Screw it! Eat everything! Gain 10 more.

All in all, I did end up gaining 50lbs....I totally know my eating habits are to blame. But I do also know that the way I ate in my teens, and the way I ate in my 20s, is *not* the way I can eat now. At my smallest adult weight, at 26 when I went down into the 130's and was a size 0/2... I went through a can of cashews every 2 days, ate out for breakfast, lunch *and* dinner.., drank at least 2-3 beers, plus half a bottle of wine with dinner, which was always a heavy cream pasta dish..plus I rarely went a day without ice cream...wasnt working out so no deficit being built in that way.

If I ever want to get my weight down, theres no way I will be able to eat like that...and if I want to maintain, theres no way I'll be able to eat like that again ever. Like I said, nothing scientific... but in my personal experience, my weight was barely a thought to me and never an issue when I was younger...but now, if I kept the same diet and attitude instead of making my fitness and health a priority, I would just keep gaining.