Over 60 metabolism so slow . Ideas?

MrPlate

I am 64, 5'9" and 236 pounds. I am on Keto. I have reached the age where my metabolism is slow. So slow, that exercise as much as 400 calories still only brings me up to 1340 for food. I walk about 3 -3 1/2 mph. I drink lots of water. I wonder if I have set my protein requirments too low at 60 grams. I and I don't know how to calculate my protein requirements. The only other thing I know about metabolism is to start strength training. Well I will start today. But my weight is not changing because of this old age problem. Tips or instruction might make a difference. I am thick skinned. Go ahead and make suggestions. Thanks.

2essie

I do not understand where you got your figure of 1340 for food intake after burning 400 calories. I am 64 years old and only 5ft tall and weigh 145 lbs so I should get less to eat than you. I have set my calories at 1350 before exercise. I quite often burn between 400 and 700 calories and I eat half of them back so I am never hungry and I am losing weight steadily.

Have you been to one of the sites to calculate your TDEE and BMR? I use the Scooby site to get my figures. Once you have your TDEE you can calculate how much to eat, or not as the case may be. MFP calculates my protein for me so I leave it at that.

Weight lifting is a good idea as long as you know what you are doing. Personally I walk. Hope this helps.

RoxieDawn

Your weight tracker says that you lost 17 pounds already... Is this accurate and how long have you been on MFP?

1) Is all the weight loss from MFP?
2) Your diary is not "public" so I cannot see anything from your daily logging and exercise..
3) Yes it is only fair to say that metabolim may slow with age... but they do not stop...
4) Are you on any medication for any health related issues
5) Most likely than not a protein issue..

I need more information about your situation and if you have any health issues... etc..

All I can do is provide you link to other MFP resources and forums for your do some research further..

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

And lastly what is this "So slow, that exercise as much as 400 calories still only brings me up to 1340 for food".. Do not understand this.. and if it means you are only allowed 1340 calories to eat.. well I would say you need to get some help setting up realistic goals..

Can't help with the keto diet.. I stay far away from keto.. it is just because it does not work for me. I lasted 4 days in the carb flu and gave it up.

doktorglass

I find it amazing that you are on keto, yet only get about 60g of protein/day. If you are serious about strength training though, I recommend that you set your daily goal at 160g (1.5g/kg body weight), and try not to go under 115g. Also, research building muscles on a keto diet (which I know nothing about. I lift, and carbs are otherwise very important in my diet.)

Also, it helps people to help you if you set your food diary to public.

MrPlate

I will definitely check out my protein requiremtents. I guarantee my meds are slowing me down. I am bipolar so I take a bunch of meds. I lost 9 or those 17 pounds before I got with the MFP and fitbit program. Now even with an average 700 cals acual deficit I gained a pound.

The 1340 requirement goes something like this: I set a goal for 2 pounds per week. (btw I tried 1.5 and the 1340 calculation still holds constant). MFP and fitbit together show me burning about 2100 cals a day. Take away 1000 for my goal and I am below 1200. So fitbit takes away only as much as it can and adjusts my requirement to that target as the day progresses and I enter my exercises. i.e. I used 400 cals exercising yesterday and the result was a negative 100 cals adjustment to my 1340. Got me down, not up in food requirments for the day @1200.

MrPlate

doktorglass wrote: »

I find it amazing that you are on keto, yet only get about 60g of protein/day. If you are serious about strength training though, I recommend that you set your daily goal at 160g (1.5g/kg body weight), and try not to go under 115g. Also, research building muscles on a keto diet (which I know nothing about. I lift, and carbs are otherwise very important in my diet.)

Also, it helps people to help you if you set your food diary to public.

I will try getting ofd Keto for a while. I will research the protein requirement, and I just made my diary public. Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

RoxieDawn

There are couple of day where I saw you went over carbs (100+) and one day where you had 200+ carbs.. I am confused how you can stay in fat burning mode going this high..

Also, there are many days where your protein is really good.. I see that this keto diet is not consistent though..

If you are going to weight train, research this while in keto (if this is your plan).. it can be done, but you have adhere a lot of discipline and do things right..

And I will say that bipolar medication may be a culprit in your case and your age.. I think that you need to talk to your doctor about this and get medical advice since I now understand a bit more..

isulo_kura

MrPlate wrote: »

I am 64, 5'9" and 236 pounds. I am on Keto. I have reached the age where my metabolism is slow. So slow, that exercise as much as 400 calories still only brings me up to 1340 for food. I walk about 3 -3 1/2 mph. I drink lots of water. I wonder if I have set my protein requirments too low at 60 grams. I and I don't know how to calculate my protein requirements. The only other thing I know about metabolism is to start strength training. Well I will start today. But my weight is not changing because of this old age problem. Tips or instruction might make a difference. I am thick skinned. Go ahead and make suggestions. Thanks.

I'm afraid this isn't adding up. At your weight and height most calculators come up with around 2400 for your TDEE (which is the amount you'd eat to maintain). So to lose 1 pound a week you could eat around 1900 calories a day. Also your metabolism doesn't slow that much as you age. It sounds to me like your trying to do Keto but really have no idea what your doing. I'm no fan of Keto but for a diet that is low carb it therefore means higher levels of protein. All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit. The reason you wont be losing weight no matter what your eating is your eating more than you burn.

I suggest you go back to basics. Have a look at this thread it will help. If though you really want to do Keto I think you need to find out what exactly you need to do and find some like minded experienced people. No matter what diet you're on your protein needs to be higher. The link I have given is a great starting point good luck

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

MrPlate

I went over in frustration. I decided I needed to come here for help because obviously, that is not a solution!
I will use the TDEE and BMR calorie suggestions and back off on my goals.
I will get off of the Keto plan; which I wasn't very good at anyway, and follow their macros instead.
The doctor is on my to-do list now too.
Good stuff!

heybales

Only reason metabolism slows as average person ages is because average person does less and loses muscle mass.
Don't have to be old to accomplish that though - just extreme diet with no resistance training to hold on to muscle.
Being older and doing that - double damage to metabolic slowdown.

Try the spreadsheet on my profile page to get a good idea of TDEE with daily life and exercise you will plan on doing.
Stay on Simple Setup and Progress tabs only, look over sample data in yellow cells before deleting it all - and inputting your own stats that you have.