Fitness for 50 years old

mkbrockman

I want tips & suggestions on losing weight and variety of exercises

estherdragonbat

For losing weight, it's all about calories. Stick to the deficit MFP gives you and eat the foods you plan on eating when you reach goal. In other words, if you're not planning on never having carbs/chocolate/dessert/fast food/restaurant food/alcohol/red meat/fruit/veg/tap water again, don't give them up now. Work them into your plan in controlled amounts. In other words, nobody is suggesting that you eat nothing but fast food and ice cream, but that doesn't mean you can't work them into your plan.

You can eat whatever you want, but you can't necessarily have as much of it as you want, whenever you want.

What you eat matters for nutrition, health, satiety, energy, certain fitness goals, and likely other stuff I'm leaving out. Over time, you'll probably discover that certain foods help you feel fuller longer and give you more nutritional bang for your caloric buck. This varies from person to person. (In my case, it's a mix of protein and high-fiber carbs. For some people, it's fat. Or something else.) And you may discover that other foods just aren't worth the calories and you'll go for smaller portions or phase them out entirely.

As for fitness, this uncoordinated unathletic 40-something has stuck primarily to walking and strength training with dumbbells. I'll use a fitness glider when walking isn't feasible. Last summer, I ran my first 5K and I'm planning to do it again this summer. Find something you enjoy and keep at it. Cardio burns more calories, strength/resistance training helps you hang onto muscle. You won't build much (if any) muscle in a deficit, but you can strengthen what you've got. And, as we age, we tend to exert ourselves less, which means that we're at risk to lose muscle even when we aren't in a deficit. Strength training helps counter that.

sijomial

I want tips & suggestions on losing weight
A sustainable calorie deficit eating foods you enjoy within the context of an overall healthy diet.
(My personal experience is that I ate exactly the same foods I ate as when I was fat, just less of them for a period of time. But my diet didn't need overhauling or the component parts changing - only you know if yours does. Some people are also more inclined to be excluders than moderators so work to your own strengths.)

and variety of exercises
Ones you enjoy are likely to be the ones you continue doing longest.
A blend of cardio and strength training in a proportion to suit you is probably optimal.
(My personal experience is that I rediscovered my enjoyment of strength training and started to take my cycling more and more seriously. Cycling is also kind to my damaged knees and back. Overall results are that my health and fitness at age 59 is miles better than it was in my 40's. )