60 yrs and up
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The key is to log everything that you eat. The good, the bad, and the ugly!
Ha Ha!
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ridiculous59 wrote: »I am 72 years old and I need to lose 40 lbs. I have been part of MFP and I keep track of my calories most days but have not lost any weight. Obvious I am doing something wrong. Would someone please help me? I would so appreciate it. Thank you. Sheila
Would tracking your food and averaging it out over the week be of any help to you? That way you can eat above your calorie goal on some days, providing you eat below on other days. Choose "Nutrition" from your diary page (that's the little "pie" in the top right corner). Then click on "Calories". You can set it for daily or for weekly. If you set it for weekly then you see your daily average for the week, with and without exercise. If you're the kind of person who enjoys eating more on the weekend, for example, this might help.
The key is to log everything that you eat. The good, the bad, and the ugly!
This is exactly what I do. MFP will let you look at your calories as a weekly average (7 day rolling average). I plan my meals to be a little under some days as I know I will go above a little some days, usually on a weekend.
I agree 100% with @ridiculous59 regarding logging everything! And pre-log your meals. That way you know what your calorie count is for the day ahead of time. If you deviate no problem, just delete the food you didn't eat and add the ones you do. Again, try to do this before you eat it if at all possible so that you know if the calories fit within your weekly allowance and can adjust if need be.1 -
That's one thing I have not yet been able to make a habit ... pre-log food ... So many people find it helps them plan their meals and stay on track that I really need to add it to my 'D0-It-Now" list and try it out. ... Problem so far is that I don't usually plan my meals out. Never know when I'll be hungry or what I will be wanting to prepare for my main meal.0
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I pretty much never pre-log either: Doesn't suit my personality. It can be a great thing for others, but for me pre-logging would be so unnatural as to be a barrier to continuing. I needed find ways to manage my habits in other ways, and have been able to do so.
During weight loss, I logged everything - that "good, bad, ugly" - every single day, regardless of whether I was within goal or not, and even if I had to roughly estimate (non-chain restaurants, potlucks). I weigh nearly all my food - that's simpler, quicker and more reliable for me than going through a decision process about which things to weigh vs. eyeball vs. measure with cups/spoons. There are some efficiency tips for using a scale. (** See tips "footnote".)
I do have pretty standard breakfasts, which helps with predictability of my day. After I'd been logging daily for a while, I had a pretty good intuition about which foods were high calorie, and about how much I could fit in a day. (A little over or under goal doesn't matter, either. For example, 100 over/under when losing a pound a week - so a 500 calorie daily deficit - doesn't really matter, especially if you're using the weekly totals/averages as others have suggested.)
A couple of other tips for Sheila (@Bvgrammy) and others new to calorie tracking:
* Don't try to lose super fast. Starting out with maybe a pound a week loss as your goal, even half a pound, may be better. (Eating way too little tends to make us fatigued, so rest more and burn fewer calories than usual. It can also lead to water retention that makes the scale "stuck", makes us believe we're not losing fat even though we are.) Aggressive loss rates can be counter-productive, and they increase health risks. No one needs that, and we especially don't at our age!
* When you first use a food database item, check it against the label or other reliable source. The database is entered by regular users, and some are not accurate! Once you have accurate entries in your MFP recent/frequent foods, they'll be first in your searches, so this little bit of time investment in accuracy up front pays off long term.
* Avoid using other people's database entries for whole dishes (ham sandwich, lasagna, bean soup, etc.). There's no way to know how much butter/oil, mayo, etc., was in that person's recipe. If you ever have to do this to estimate a meal you ate at a friend's house, pick a middling to high calorie option from among those in the database. Picking the ultra-low ones is risky. Instead, create your own recipes/meals in MFP, and rely on the database entries for labeled food products (like Ragu Pasta Sauce, Heinz Catsup, Chobani Yogurt - whatever brand you're using) or simple foods (like milk, avocados, cheddar cheese, chicken breast, or other components you use in your meals).
* Use your food diary to adjust your eating patterns in an improved direction, gradually, over time. Review your diary every couple of days, notice the "gosh that had a lot of calories and wasn't all that tasty/filling/nutritious" things. Reduce those as you go forward, choose different foods you enjoy eating as replacements, ones that better help meet your goals. You don't have to be perfect right off. You can evolve toward better.
* If you log everything consistently for 4-6 weeks, and still aren't losing weight, you may need to adjust your goal downward a little. Don't go crazy here, don't take health risks. Maybe just reduce by 100 calories daily, monitor for another few weeks. Or, make it a point to move a little more (not just exercise, but also daily life). (**** See another "footnote" about daily life movement.)
* Log the "BLTs" - bites, licks, tastes. Don't forget condiments, dressings, beverages. (One person who posts here found she was eating 1000 calories most days just in add-in condiments, dressings, smears of butter, etc.!)
Food logging can feel really complex and burdensome at first. It's a skill set we need to learn, and more involved than many people might imagine. However, once one's been doing it for a while, gets in a groove, it stops being as time-consuming or attention-needing, becomes more an automatic habit.
I've been logging for almost 7 years now (I skip a day here and there now, but still log most days). I don't think it takes me more than 10 minutes on an average day, and that's to me a small price to pay for remaining at a healthy weight for 6+ years now, after 3 decades plus before that of overweight/obesity. I feel so much better, my quality of life is so much improved!
This calorie-counting weight management is a thing we can succeed at, at any age. There's a learning process, and it's not easy every second, but the basics are pretty simple, honestly. By our age, we've accomplished other life goals (education, career, family, home-making, financial management, etc.) that take patient, gradual learning and effort over time. We know how to manage our own unique preferences, strengths, and limitations on the road to those long-term goals. That's actually an advantage, for us 60-plus folks!
"Footnotes" 😆
** Example scale efficiency tips:
* Put the peanut butter jar on the scale, zero the scale. Dip in your table knife, pick out some PB. Read the negative number on the scale, that's how much you took out. Smear on your toast, lick the knife. I do the same with hunks of cheese, too - cut off some, read the negative.
* When making a sandwich, put the plate/bowl on the scale. Zero. Put on the bread. Note the weight. Zero. Put on the mayo. Note weight. Zero. Put on the cheese. Note weight, Zero. And so forth. Works for salads, soup or other cooked-food ingredients being assembled in a pot, too.
* Chopping food to put on/in something. Put the onion on a cutting board. Chop. Put the cutting board on the scale, zero. Dump the onion into (whatever you're making). Put the cutting board back on the scale. Read the negative.
**** Ideas for increasing daily life movement are in the thread linked below. Not all will work for everyone, but some may work for anyone.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p16 -
@AnnPT77 -- terrific tips, Ann! Especially all the food weighing specifics! Learned a lot!
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risinghope wrote: »@AnnPT77 -- terrific tips, Ann! Especially all the food weighing specifics! Learned a lot!Absolutely love the scale efficiency tips @AnnPT77 ! Thank you!
Aww, thanks! I always cringe when I write one of these (characteristic) long, pedantic essays. I feel better, since you found some value buried in there!
I did leave out one tip: Don't use the food database entries that are "1 serving" or "one plate" or "medium size" kind of thing. Whenever possible, use ones that are specific, such as 3" diameter, 1 Cup, 3 fluid ounce, 30 ml, 50 grams, 2 (nonfluid) ounces. Even if you're eyeballing your serving size you ate, that's more accurate. As you measure/weigh more at home, you'll get more accurate at guessing when you have to estimate, like dinner at a friend's house.
Myself, when it's possible to do politely and discreetly, I'll snap a quick cell-phone photo of my plate at a buffet or potluck (with a fork or something standard-sized in the photo for scale). That helps me estimate when I get home. I would never, ever do this unless it's polite and mostly unnoticed, like when there's a crowd and chaos, or a somewhat out of sight spot I can do it. (Not using flash helps.)7 -
Hello everyone, I'm Susanna. I would love to join this forum - turning 60 on Friday. Not a stranger to My Fitness Pal, but fell off the bandwagon for a while. Ever since I quit smoking 6 years ago, my weight has just piled on. Add in a fractured knee, no exercise, and then covid (depression from deaths of loved ones), which brings me to the present moment: 70 lb overweight. Determined to once and for all to stick to the plan and lose this weight, for good.
Nice to meet you all.7 -
Welcome @Susanna527 ... and anyone else recently posting for the first time on this thread.
I was surprised, once again, this morning when I stepped on the scale (I need to weigh myself daily but only record my Saturday weight on threads) ... cause yesterday my weight was up over 2 pounds, and this morning it was back down again Yesterday it was up 2 pounds and this morning it was down 2.8 pounds ... Can you guess where that weight went or what it was from? ... yep ... edema! ... I was so painfully swollen in my feet and legs yesterday that the skin on the top of my feet and on my ankles hurt like it was about to burst. .. So ... I do want to know where I stand on this most current attempt at weight loss instead of maintenance ( I started to lose weight after my brother passed away in 2012, and it has taken a long time to get to where i am because of setbacks, and also because of working on learning to maintain what I lost before moving on again.)
Well .. I have back at it for 4.5 months now and have lost 14.4 pounds ... so about 3.5 pounds a month. That's an ok range of weight loss for me at 77 and not able to be as physical as I once was.
Yesterday I took the 'walker' out on a walk in my downtown apartment area. Thank goodness that walker is such that I can rest my elbows on the handle grips and then hold on to the roller bar at the back of the seat with my hands ... takes a lot of stress off these sore wrists.6 -
Welcome @Susanna527 and all the new people here. This thread is great for support and encouragement. There is a wealth of information here and throughout the forums.2
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5/21/22- No real exercise today. Driving 3 hours to the "Thunder over Dover (Delaware)" Air show today. The Blue Angels & the Thunderbirds are performing for the first time together. It was great as I expected, as I've seen them both before, and just got back a bit ago. Long day in 90+ degree heat. Least there was a bit of a breeze at times. And lots of places to sit under aircraft wings, in their shade. If you haven't and get the opportunity to see them or the Snowbirds of Canada, it is well worth a drive and amazing to see at least once in your life.
May 22- Got a bit of sunburn from yesterday, cheeks, nose, upper chest area front and back and a bit of light pink on my arms. Guess I should have applied my sunscreen a few more times. We are expecting thunderstorms this afternoon, so mowed my grass. I figure I can be on the Elliptical when it's raining. Did 180 minutes for 13.2 miles. Hadn't been on it since last Sunday, as Dr appointment Tuesday AM and errands all afternoon into early evening. I don't work tomorrow till 10, so if I get to bed soon I may do an hour or 2 before work.1 -
Hi All. Ed from Kansas. Broken back in April 2021, in bed and braces for 10 months. Have 100 lbs to lose. Motivated, positive outlook on life. Had Cubital Tunnell surgery last week - restriction on left arm - can't pick up anything heavier than a pencil. Typing is a blast --Ha Ha7
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Hi @ksquacker ... Welcome. Well ... on the brighter side of it ... you'll only be able to lift food to your mouth with one hand, so some foods are off the table for now, which might help with your goal of trimming down. Are you in physical therapy now for your back?
@Pdc654 , thank you for the comment. That's how I took it when I saw the monthly average. Keeping the momentum going is the harder part of the weight ups and downs ... Over the years I have found that I can keep with the weight loss frame of mind for about about 4 months and then it needs a small break before starting up again. ... new habits become customary and then slip into mindlessness which leads to laxness which leads to a slippery slope ... the whole mental attitude needs a reboot periodically!
AFM .. today is the date that marks 58 years ago was my wedding day. He's been gone a long time, but I still remember this day we spent with all our friends and family celebrating the declaration of our union. I think I will go for a walk around the block this morning instead of baking a cake.9 -
AFM .. today is the date that marks 58 years ago was my wedding day. He's been gone a long time, but I still remember this day we spent with all our friends and family celebrating the declaration of our union. I think I will go for a walk around the block this morning instead of baking a cake.
Happy Anniversary, Neena.4 -
I'm down about 12 lbs and have 18 more to go. Yesterday I ate something salty and my weight shot up by .8 lbs. I don't generally eat salty things but I know this happens when I do.
I know weight loss is slow and not linear. I'll keep chugging along and get there when I do.
Happy Anniversary Neena5 -
I am so glad to find older folks working on their weight loss journey. I'll be 64 in a few months, have fought my weight since I was 10 years old, and need both my knees replaced after several accidents in my life. Also have arthritis in one hip and a bum shoulder. So no running or weight lifting is happening here. Shortly before my 40th birthday, I got into really good shape logging my calories and mainly walking for exercise. I stayed in good shape for a few years until a surprise hysterectomy threw me into early menopause. It's all been downhill -- in the bad sense of the word -- since then.
A few years ago, while in a just miserable job, I hit a lifetime high of 216 pounds, but went back to logging my food for a while and lost 20 pounds, which I mostly kept off until the Covid years, when my knees also got worse. Now I'm back logging again and relying on vigorous housecleaning as my main exercise. I was at 203.6 on May 14 and 199.6 this morning. I see my doctor for a check-up on June 14, so sharing some weight loss happiness with him is my first goal.12 -
Thanks, everyone, for the welcome wishes. Hope you all had a nice day - it's beautiful here in southern Connecticut - the sun is shining and there's a slight breeze. Good night & sweet dreams
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@rubyjulylj - welcome and congrats on reaching onederland!👏
I was first chubby in grade 3, so I can relate 😁2 -
@rubyjulylj Congratulations on reaching onederland!2
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Welcome to all the new people. Thank you Ann for all the useful info!! Happy Anniversary, Neena!! Everyone here is working so hard. I love being part of this group. I'm doing well right now. The up and down weight has fallen into a pattern that I can deal with. I have found a routine with food items and that helps. I also have a good exercise routine established. So things are good. I have to say I am not able to log food in advance either. I can see why they say it is helpful. I have done it on a busy day when I knew what I was having and knew I couldn't get back on line to log it. But that is rare for me. Breakfast and lunch I stick with a few things that I eat all the time. Then just watch that I don't over eat at dinner.
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BCLadybug888 wrote: »I was first chubby in grade 3, so I can relate 😁
was put on my first diet at birth - was 8lbs 13 1/2ounces - Doctor told her to put me on skim milk. This was back in the mid 1950's.
My highest was pregnant with DD, over 270 (had issues during pregnancy, they stopped weighing me), lost it all by nursing and walking. Ballooned to over 236 recently and started MFP at that point 2021 aged 65. CW 177, still want to go lower and healthier. Logging, walking, knitting, it's what I do.8 -
I was a preemie and my parents spent the first 10 years trying to fatten me up. Unfortunately, they succeeded far too well.
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rubyjulylj wrote: »I was a preemie and my parents spent the first 10 years trying to fatten me up. Unfortunately, they succeeded far too well.
Ha ... we all come in our own unique way! .. I was a preemie and was skinny as a skeleton until puberty at age 13, then I quickly blossomed into a normal full-sized woman by the age of 16 and stayed that way until my late 30's. I didn't start gaining weight until I hit early menopause stages. But boy, was I ever good at gaining weight when it started! ... A good 10-20 pounds added every year until I had gained 150 or so. OF course, during that decade of weight gain it wouldn't have become as bad as it did if I had followed a realistic and steady weight loss plan such as MFP ... but instead I tried all the gimmick fast loss diets that were ever written in the women's magazines. ... which created a bad fat to muscle composition that I still struggle with today.5 -
OMG @aqua14lisa Skim milk at birth! Glad you survived all that.
I was one of those kids that could eat anything and not gain weight. I was so underweight at about the age of 12 that the doctor told my mom I must eat a milkshake every day with an egg in it. That did help I guess. Gained about 10 lbs in a year and they stopped the milkshake. Lost it all. By the time I graduated high school I was about 95 lbs fully clothed. I could eat sweets every day and not gain weight. That all changed when I got pregnant. Gained a lot of weight then and never really lost it all. It seemed like I just added a few more pounds every year after that.
@Timberlan127 Glad you are getting in the groove with your logging and exercise.2 -
I think a thing that doesn't sink in for a lot of people - at least until they start calorie counting and really think about it - is how little it takes to gain that 10 pounds a year, year after year. From a theoretical standpoint, eating a mere 100 calories daily above maintenance calorie needs is going to result in gaining about 10 pounds a year.
That's like half a standard (i.e., pathetically small) serving of peanut butter . . . or maybe around 4000 daily life steps (for a small-ish person), or a combination of partly that much more food and partly that much less movement.
It isn't much. I don't know about y'all, but when I was 20, in college, using my bike for transportation, working a couple of hours most days in a big dormitory dish-washing room slinging racks of plates and cups around, I was burning a couple more calories than I do nowadays with a few home chores. 😆
Those little differences add up.6 -
That's so true @AnnPT77 ... for me at least ... I know exactly where those 10-20 pounds extra came on ... life style change, activity level change, a propensity to satisfy the 3PM office break with a Snickers Bar or have that donut with my Donut Shop coffee on the days it was my turn to make that morning break run for the department. Oh ... and why bring lunch when Wendy's is just down the street and has a drive-through window! And .. I don't have TIME to do formal exercise ... and, and .. and. ...3
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73 here. I lost 40# on noom about 5 years ago and gained 30 back during covid lockdown. started WW and lose 20 then plateaued for 8 months. bought the Beck Diet Solution, which is all about mind set and is really helping. Started mfp about a week ago and have lost 3#3
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