Loosing weight in your 50s

mallam66
mallam66 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have tried many diets but since hitting my 50s just can’t lose the weight any one else have the same problem x

Replies

  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    The good news is it can be done.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Lots of successful peeps over 50 here.

    It does feel harder to me because I have a more sedentary lifestyle now than I did in my 20s, but that's really the main difference.

    My 81 year old mom struggles to stay above Underweight because she is so active and has to remind herself to eat.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    There may be other factors at play for you but age alone is no barrier to weight loss.

    If you have your health and mobility then the simple "eat less, move more" works at any age. (Don't confuse simple with easy.)
    If you don't have health and mobility then "eat less" alone is possible for everyone.

    Personally I found it far easier to lose weight in my 50's due to food labelling and tools that help accuracy such as MyFitnessPal.
    The other big bonus for me was that as the children were older and my career was more settled I got far more "me time" to use for my exercise hobbies.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,437 Member
    I’ll be 57 in a couple of months, and have lost 59 since September. It’s doable, if you’re willing to commit to logging. I do probably excercise a lot more than the average bear, since I’m retired and working on me is my new full time “job”. There’s several threads in various places devoted to people over 50.

    Read here on the community religiously for excellent advice, support, and inspiration.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    I'm a month shy of 55. I just started this journey a week ago, so I don't know how hard it's going to be yet. I don't have a scale to weigh myself, so I'm going to have to use other measures until I get a scale.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    Losing weight at any age is difficult. There are always things that come along to throw you off track.

    I am 66 and sedentary and this past month I have lost over 2lbs a week. I just increased my calories to slow the rate of loss down.

    My son is in his early 30's and wants to lose a few pounds. Because of his work life(office lunches and dinners) plus dating and going out with friends he struggles more than I do. It is easier for him to be more active but I have more time on my hands.

  • snowprincess502
    snowprincess502 Posts: 103 Member
    Losing weight is all about calories in versus calories out. Try getting a fitness tracker. This will track your steps and tell you how many calories you’re burning. From the amount of calories you’re burning subtract 500 calories and you will lose weight.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,437 Member
    Touché @sijomial

    My girls keep talking about a raisin ranch.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,437 Member
    @texasredreb I got a very nice Bluetooth scale from amazon for under $30. It’s called a Renpho. It syncs with both my phone and MFP, and charts all kinds of crazy stuff besides weight and BMI, probably not accurately according to others here, but some of it just fascinating to mull over and look at the charts.

    It’s an attractive digital and glass scale and seems accurate.

    BTW, Apple’s Health app tells me I am 5’ 6.93” tall. How the heck does it know that?
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Waving! I'm 56 and weigh less now than I did in elementary school.

    I lost the bulk of my weight a few years back and after futzing around for a few years, have buckled down and am chipping away at some vanity pounds to go for an aesthetic goal I have.

    I found that logging accurately and reading these forums really helped. Read the forum stickies for information on how to log accurately, learn about the ins and outs of weight loss, and all sorts of other helpful things.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    edited March 2019
    Started at 50 and lost 75# by my 52nd birthday, it’s possible. It’s all about patience and consistency. That is all.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
    I’m 57 and lost 80 pounds this past year. This weekend I rode a 48 mile charity ride on Saturday and then ran 10 miles today. Yes - you can lose the weight and regain fitness. It just takes work and committment.
  • Mugs203
    Mugs203 Posts: 26 Member
    Are you guys using MFP to determine calories per day to lose weight?
  • marycgehman
    marycgehman Posts: 7 Member
    I'm 60, began when I was 57. I lost nearly 100 pounds in about 18 months, and have kept it off for 2 years.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited March 2019
    Mugs203 wrote: »
    Are you guys using MFP to determine calories per day to lose weight?

    @Mugs203
    I used the goal set up to create my initial calorie target, after a period of weeks I adjusted based on actual results (my food logging wasn't particularly accurate but it was consistent).
    The majority of my exercise calorie estimates don't come from the exercise database here.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    edited March 2019
    Mugs203 wrote: »
    Are you guys using MFP to determine calories per day to lose weight?

    Yes. Why wouldn't one?

    Btw, 67 here. Lost 40 lbs in my 60s. It's not any harder over 50 than under.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    Lost mine at 59. You can do it.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Mugs203 wrote: »
    Are you guys using MFP to determine calories per day to lose weight?

    Yes. I prefer to keep things simple.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    I lost 55 lbs. in my mid-50s. I keep it off by tracking calories and running regularly. Age itself won't stop you from losing weight. Some health issues can make it harder, a) because you need to get them regulated (i.e. thyroid), or b) because some medications have weight gain as a side effect, or c) because they make it difficult to get much exercise, but it should still be possible to lose weight if you are accurate in your tracking and consistent in watching what you eat. While exercise makes it easier, it isn't a necessity for weight loss.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,203 Member
    Mugs203 wrote: »
    Are you guys using MFP to determine calories per day to lose weight?

    That's where I started, but I seem to be the pretty-rare case where MFP materially understimates my calorie needs, even given accurate profile settings and careful logging. Dunno why.

    Standard advice here is to treat the MFP estimate as a starting point, eat back exercise calories (conservatively, if you're concerned they're overestimated), stick to it for 4-6 weeks, then adjust intake based on results to hit a sensibly moderate, sustainable loss rate.

    I usually add - based on my own experience with a starting underestimate - that if one seems to be losing very fast, and at the same time begins feeling weak or fatigued, it's a good idea to eat a little more, because those are danger signs.

    If one doesn't seem to be losing as fast as expected at first, I'd say still stick with the plan, other than double-checking that logging is accurate. There are various reasons that someone may have some water retention initially (menstrual cycle hormone fluctuations, new exercise regimen, many more) that temporarily masks fat loss, so waiting the 4-6 weeks will be a better reading on whether one's losing fat or not.

    Losing too slowly can be frustrating, but losing too fast can be a health risk. To me, that means it makes sense to err on the side of slower loss until one has sound data to evaluate, especially for those of us who aren't kids anymore (because recovering from the weakness/fatigue/worse of too-fast loss will tend to take longer, for us: slower bounce-back).

    Best wishes! :)
  • reversemigration
    reversemigration Posts: 168 Member
    It absolutely can be done. In fact, hitting 50 was one of the catalysts for my weight loss. Knowing that health problems which are weight-related start really having an impact in these years was an effective motivator. Not only did I lose over 50 pounds, but I'm in the best shape I've been in many years.

    You can do it!
  • kbmnurse1
    kbmnurse1 Posts: 316 Member
    Excuses, excuses. I am late 50's have to work harder at it but, it can be done.

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