Losing weight over 40 is . . . impossible?

Renaissance_Turtle

My wife & I are both 42. I've lost over 100lbs since April 27th & She has lost 40lbs in the last 3 months. It's definitely possible. We are both doing keto, but that's not necessary. Any diet or meal plan will work as long as you maintain a calorie deficit.
One thing I will say is don't completely trust nutrition labels or your own ability to judge a portion size. Buy a scale & weigh everything in either oz or preferably grams. Labels often say things like a serving size is one piece or one slice etc, but thy will also have a weight in oz or grams next to it. Go by that number & not the descriptive portion size because the two aren't always the same. That slice or piece might actually be 1.5 servings etc. If you're eating something that is calorie dense like cheese, it's easy to end up with an extra 100 calories pretty quickly.
Also, track everything that goes in your mouth. It's easy to forget to add something like a nibble of food or a tiny snack, but all of that adds up. Go back & look at them later too to see if there are things you can eliminate or switch for a lower calorie option.
Hang in there! You can do this and just remember that you're not alone in this journey. The rest of us are too. Some are further along & some have barely started.

As for me, I've made great progress, but I still have a long way to go on my journey.

KelGen02

Not impossible at all... at the age of 48 I started my lifestyle change. I weighed 260lbs I currently weigh 188lbs. I was able to do this in 9 months. I still have 30lbs to go and I know that those will be harder to lose but I will get there. Things that have helped me are logging and tracking my calories daily, meal prepping/planning, exercising and loads and loads of patience and forgiveness as every day is not a perfect day and you can't just say *kitten* it. You don't have much to lose so you will see a slower progress, but even a slow progress is still progress... Lifestyle changes is a marathon not a sprint... Stick with it, you got this!!!

Need2Exerc1se

mrack1 wrote: »

I figure I just need to be PATIENT and CONSISTENT. But knowing and doing are two different things.

That right there is your answer.

I lost 36 lbs in my 50's during menopause and I'm getting close to 2 years in maintenance. It's only impossible if you let it be.

CaliMomTeach

It is not impossible. I lost a little over 50 pounds last year at 46 years old. I think that the weight might come on more easily as I am older. I remember being in my 20s or 30s and losing weight when I wanted to without such a concentrated effort. The 50 pounds took serious calorie tracking and effort to stick to the plan.

LivingtheLeanDream

mrack1 wrote: »

I figure I just need to be PATIENT and CONSISTENT. But knowing and doing are two different things.

That's just what you need to do!

I'm 48. Joined MFP in 2012, needed to lose 20lbs. Took it slowly as I didn't want to deprive myself and set myself up to fail as I'd done so many, many times before...it took me a year. I went on to lose a further 7lbs in the 4 years since I reached maintenance in 2013.
I got moving - first of all started walking 20 mins a day, progressed to doing some resistance training and running...becoming active is a habit that stuck.
Also logging and tracking food intake was a must in the early years for me, now its intuitive but it wasn't always.
I pretty much lost 0.5lb/week eating 1700-1800 calories per day (I'm 5ft 2).

So the main thing is, start, log, move when you can and be patient and consistent - you have to want to lose weight badly enough to make lasting changes.

All the best,
Ruth

RogerToo

mrack1 wrote: »

I'm so frustrated. I could use some commiseration - maybe a success story? No lectures please on how I'm not trying hard enough or whatever.

When I was in my 30's, I remember eating 1600-1700 cals a day, running a couple miles daily, and easily dropping 2-3 lbs a week. Nowadays I do that and I lose . . . 1/2 lb to 1/4 lb a week? Goodness!

I'm only trying to lose about 15 lbs. I know I could do a few things better - cut back on the light beer, not eat that veggie pizza that I always seem to order mid-week when I'm too tired to cook dinner, but for the most part my eating habits have improved. I don't eat chocolate like I used to - I'm exercising semi-regularly - I run two miles a day with my dogs on most days. I average about 1500-1600 cals a day. The scale does not budge.

I usually go about 6 days exercising and counting every calorie, and then I get so frustrated when the scale either doesn't move or goes UP a pound that I stop keeping track for a few days. I don't really binge or anything, just slack off.

Anyway, does anyone else go through this? I figure I just need to be PATIENT and CONSISTENT. But knowing and doing are two different things.

Hi
A key is to Log everything here and by everything If it goes into Your mouth log it.
As a snack for something Crunchy, Both Vlassic and Mount Olive have a Pickle that is a no sugar added and shows 0 calories per serving. Mount Olive has No sugar added Sweet Gherkins and no sugar added Sweet Relish and Vlassic has Bread & Butter Spears.
You will see that Velveeta slices are 40 calories and up depending on type of cheese.

Not impossible at all. I started seriously working on losing weight after I retired at 65. I have dropped over 200 pounds, and Yes I was seriously out of shape.

Personally, lose the beer and Pizza. The beer is empty calories and even a personal size Pizza has pretty much the days calories in some cases. One little slice is likely over 200 calories and who eats one slice ?

Some of what I have done is lose the pastries and Sugars.

Do I feel deprived? Nope.
Breakfast is a Protein shake, Banana and a 200 to 300 calorie entree of some sort. A Midmorning snack of a protein and a carb. I use 647 bread available locally at the grocery store. Three varieties and 40 calories a decent size and Thickness.

Lunch is something on the order of a Lean Pocket, 6 Ounces of vegetables 80 calories of a Protein and a Apple

Dinner is usually a frozen Entree. Look at the calorie counts, there are many tasty ones under 300 calories. 6 Ounces of vegetables, another protein serving and a Citrus fruit.

Good Luck
Roger