Are there any older women trying to lose 40 lbs. more or less

JaniePoolePeery

I'm 71 years old and 5'1". I've not been overweight all my life, maybe 20 years. My hip bothers me so I have trouble walking. Today I bought walking sticks. My husband and I go to the gym 3 days a week. I do 20 - 30 minutes on a stationary bike (with moving handles) and 20 -30 minutes of weight training. I have no idea WHERE/How to start dieting. My husband brings lots of goodies home and when I complain he says "ignore it". Yeah, right! So where to start.

kguenther0

I'm 40 and trying to lose 20 lbs, but I can imagine that having treats in the house makes it really difficult. I cannot help myself if they are in sight. Anyway you can get your husband more on board?

pitegny

Hi Janie, I am 64 and making this journey living with a husband who has been slim all his life. He does keep treats in the house. We have done a couple of things. First, we keep his sweets in a covered plastic bin that we store on a high shelf behind closed doors. Not seeing the sweets makes it easier to ignore them. More importantly, I found a dark-chocolate covered cookie that is 119 calories for two thin cookies. I plan my meals the night before or at the beginning of the day and include the two cookies in my calorie count either as a snack or a dessert. I also eat one or two pieces of fruit each day. He often has an individual bakery dessert after dinner, but he waits until I have finished my dinner and left the table to bring it out. We usually eat the same meals, but he has larger portions or may add pasta when I am going without. If he wants a calorie-laden treat like pizza, he eats that while I have a salad or lower-calorie leftovers. Both of us are happy with the way we are eating and it is making it easier for me to meet my MFP goals. If you weigh and log everything you eat, you can do this!

JaniePoolePeery

I forgot where "my discussions" were located!!! My husband lost 40 lbs. last year by walking 15,000+ steps per day. He is now backsliding. Personally I think he has issues with ME losing weight so he sabotages without really knowing it. This week I went to a dietitian an hopefully have gotten back on track. It will be hard because I seem to want the weight to go away without working at it!!
Thank you for the good ideas.....this time I've been writing my food in a journal and then logging it in the evening. I think this makes me more accountable.....what I mean is more reliable! I've been surprised at how much 1/2 cup REALLY is!!!

rheddmobile

JaniePoolePeery wrote: »

I forgot where "my discussions" were located!!! My husband lost 40 lbs. last year by walking 15,000+ steps per day. He is now backsliding. Personally I think he has issues with ME losing weight so he sabotages without really knowing it. This week I went to a dietitian an hopefully have gotten back on track. It will be hard because I seem to want the weight to go away without working at it!!
Thank you for the good ideas.....this time I've been writing my food in a journal and then logging it in the evening. I think this makes me more accountable.....what I mean is more reliable! I've been surprised at how much 1/2 cup REALLY is!!!

Janie, my mom used to teach weight watchers and she said it was common for husbands to start bringing their wives little gifts of chocolate around the time they started losing enough weight to be noticeable. Change is scary!

I'm 48, on my second go round of weight loss - the first loss, fifty pounds, was about a decade ago, and I kept it off successfully for several years but then gradually crept up, partly because it was just too hard to ignore my husband's snacks. He insisted on eating a dessert with every meal, including breakfast, and drinking a Coke with every meal. Just the sound of the can opening was a trigger for me! I started by having just a few bites or sips of what he was having, and then ended up eating the same food. In the end I gained my weight back and then some, and then I was diagnosed with diabetes and very sick in the hospital. I think seeing me so sick scared him and made him realize that not being supportive might literally kill me some day, because he has been much better since. He only gets desserts he knows I dislike, only eats them in front of me if I have a treat such as coffee with almond milk and cinnamon, dark chocolate, or Greek yogurt with fruit, and he has gotten a cooler sleeve for his Cokes so I don't have to look at them and opens them in the kitchen when I'm not in there. He has said that he wishes now that he had been supportive before I had permanent damage to my pancreas.

As far as logging, I really love MyFitnessPal - I carry my iPad everywhere anyway, and it takes literally seconds to log a complicated meal. It's a life changer! And I have some graduated sizes of silicon cups which allow me to quickly estimate foods, as well as a new kitchen scale. I know what you mean about learning how much a 1/2 cup is!

dejavuohlala

Hi Janie

69 nearly 70 been on here over three years, feel free to ask or add as friend for mutual support. Good luck

JaniePoolePeery

Thank you for all the good words. Every one of you has given me something to think about! Your stories help. I'm the only one in my groups who is this much overweight, so no one to share with. I have one friend who is approx. 10 lbs. overweight and each and every time we talk she brings up how FAT SHE IS. I want to ask her if she would talk about it if I was NOT overweight! Let's all keep up the good work!