Looking for help for my 63 year old Mom

chickenchaser78

I'm trying to figure out how many calories a day my Mom should be eating because I really do not think she is eating enough.

As I mentioned she is 63, and 5'2. If I had to guess she is around 190 lbs. She still works and is on her feet for most of the day, no other exercise outside of that. I don't think she is eating enough and she thinks she needs to constantly eat less because she went through the era of starving yourself. I figured it up and I don't see how she is hitting even 800 much less 1000 a day for most days. It would be no surprise to me that with the length of time she has been doing this, and the fact that she hasn't dropped weight in a long time, her metabolism is at a stall.

When I put her stats into various calculators online it comes back that she should be eating 1200 a day. I want to know if this is an accurate number for her. I've done all the figuring out on myself and most calculators come back at that amount for me. With how much I work out I know I need to hit at least 1700 for a loss...and that has me erring on the side of caution with my weight lifting.

If 1200 is the best number for her than that is fine. A calculator mentioned her BMR should be around 1370 at her current height and weight. Should I get her to aim for that number instead or is 1200 best.

Thanks for any good feedback I can get. The numbers thing always confused me. I get frustrated because I keep telling her she isn't eating enough and she keeps telling me she is only going to have a yogurt for breakfast and then a fruit cup for lunch, then dinner (which I've seen and it isn't some massive amount to hit over 1000)....I just know she isn't eating enough.

~Amber

michellekicks

Estimating her activity level as 1-3 hours a week light activity (or the equivalent to) her TDEE is probably around 1900 calories. If she wants to lose weight sensibly (albeit slowly) without additional exercise, she should eat about 1400-1500 calories daily. Her BMR is just shy of that. She should see 1 lb lost per week at that level.

If she can get in about 100g+ of protein each day that is even better (within that 1400 calories)

Scubanana7

I agree. She certainly is not eating enough or very healthy. Maybe the fruit and yogurt for breakfast. She definitely needs protein and fat at each meal. I know she will freak out on the fat, but if you can get her to read about it maybe that would help. Fat is critical for health and loss. I don't eat animal fats unless butter is considered animal fat. I have coconut oil, ground flax, almonds, olive oil, a little mayo. I eat boiled eggs not just whites and avocados. I am 58 and lost 35 pounds in 1.5 years. I have lost 15 pounds in 2 months since I totally changed my diet and went low carb, high fat. There is a lot of info on that approach and the more I read, the more healthy it sounds. I eat 1200-1400 calories/day and I do work out 45-60mnutes 5 days/week.

Good luck.

jzammetti

I agree with the 1500 calorie amount based on what you said her BMR is estimated to be. My sis-in-law does the same thing - she eats less and less and can't figure out why she is still big. It's hard to let go of those lifelong ideas...

mfpseven

Actually at 63 your bmr is drastically reduced. My mother, 49, comes out to about 1250 for a 1lb a week loss, and that is with about half an hour of exercise a day. As long as she is getting a balanced diet and not hungry your grandma is probably fine at ~900. It sounds like you don't think she is eating anywhere near that though and that has less to do with her calorie goals and more to do with her desire to lose weight quickly. Entire different problem. If you can get her to eat 1000 cals a day legit, she is probably just fine. My grandma wouldn't eat much but then would have candy bars when no one was watching, she died of diabetes but was probably pretty close to the calories she needed.

michellekicks

Actually at 63 your bmr is drastically reduced. My mother, 49, comes out to about 1250 for a 1lb a week loss, and that is with about half an hour of exercise a day. As long as she is getting a balanced diet and not hungry your grandma is probably fine at ~900. It sounds like you don't think she is eating anywhere near that though and that has less to do with her calorie goals and more to do with her desire to lose weight quickly. Entire different problem. If you can get her to eat 1000 cals a day legit, she is probably just fine. My grandma wouldn't eat much but then would have candy bars when no one was watching, she died of diabetes but was probably pretty close to the calories she needed.

Where are you getting your information from? BMR is only reduced by loss of lean body mass... we just usually lose LBM as we age and, thus, our BMR reduces proportionately. That said, when we gain weight, our LBM increases right along with fat mass.

Another way to explain it is that age alone doesn't necessarily reduce BMR... it's just if your weight remains the same over the years, your BMR will likely reduce as you lose LBM and add fat, which is what happens as people give up regular exercise.

DebbieLyn63

Actually at 63 your bmr is drastically reduced. My mother, 49, comes out to about 1250 for a 1lb a week loss, and that is with about half an hour of exercise a day. As long as she is getting a balanced diet and not hungry your grandma is probably fine at ~900. It sounds like you don't think she is eating anywhere near that though and that has less to do with her calorie goals and more to do with her desire to lose weight quickly. Entire different problem. If you can get her to eat 1000 cals a day legit, she is probably just fine. My grandma wouldn't eat much but then would have candy bars when no one was watching, she died of diabetes but was probably pretty close to the calories she needed.

Where are you getting your information from? BMR is only reduced by loss of lean body mass... we just usually lose LBM as we age and, thus, our BMR reduces proportionately. That said, when we gain weight, our LBM increases right along with fat mass.

Another way to explain it is that age alone doesn't necessarily reduce BMR... it's just if your weight remains the same over the years, your BMR will likely reduce as you lose LBM and add fat, which is what happens as people give up regular exercise.

Your BMR does lower as you age. In addition to the less muscle mass and bone density, your hormones also shift. You can lift weights and exercise to try to maintain as much muscle mass as you can, but you can't prevent all muscle loss as you age. And unless you supplement with hormones, you can't do much about the effect those have on your BMR either.
Even the very few women who are professional weightlifters in their 60s, still experience a decrease in their BMRs from when they were in their 20s and 30s. It is just the way it is.

To the OP- the most important thing for your mom is to make sure she has sufficient protein in her diet. This, along with regular exercise, will help prevent as much muscle loss as she can. I know my mom would never eat enough protein, and her health suffered because of it. She would rather just eat crackers or other simple carbs and that wreaked havoc on her diabetes, and her hair was almost completely gone by the time she passed away last summer.
Healthy fats are important as well, for many reasons.

If she is not overly active, 1000-1200 cals a day is probably fine for her, as long as she is getting enough protein and healthy fats in. I would say a very minimum of 50 g of protein, but closer to 70 if possible.
Have her write everything down that she eats for a week, (or log it on here if she is a member) and see just how many calories she is eating and what her macros are.

How is her health other than being overweight? Does she have diabetes?

ETA- If she is working every day and is not losing weight, most likely she is eating more than you think she is. She most likely is a 'snacker' and doesn't eat much at meal times, but snacks here and there thru out the day. She also may be drinking her calories in sodas, juices, coffees, etc.

luvriden

I am 61 years old and 5'2" tall and am moderately active. I exercise about 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of resistant work and I eat about 1400 to 1600 calories a day. I have lost usually between 1 and 2 lbs. aweek. I eat back about 1/2 my workout calories. I eat lots of veggies, lean meat and fish with some fruits most days. Make sure she logs everything she eats and drinks lots of water.

chickenchaser78

I really appreciate everyone's advice! I'm going to get her to wear my pedometer for a day and see where she is sitting with activity. I know she walks a lot at work but I won't know until I see the number for sure.

I told her about all the different replies last night and I've convinced her that we need to get her up to at least 1200 calories and get higher with the protein. I'm trying to push her to 1400 but I'll take that one step at a time. I told her she needs to at least give me that and to trust me a little. LOL. I've explained to her that what worked for her at 30 (the hardly eating at all) will not work for her in her 60s and she admitted her metabolism seems to be crawling.

I saw a few things in her fridge we can work with to get her protein up a bit so I'm going to go from there. I'm going to try and get her to use greek instead of her fat free yogurt she is now. Should help her up the calories a bit and give her a bit more protein to boot.

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate it.