A question for "older" women.

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  • MyrnaSolganick
    MyrnaSolganick Posts: 60 Member
    Thank all you lovely ladies for your comments, support and encouragement! I just started here - since early November. I dont expect miracles. When I was 40, I lost over 30 lbs in 6 months with (the old) Weight Watchers program, when it was exchanges. Since then, I went back several times and it was like torture. I would lose and gain, lose and gain. Finally I concluded I could lose and gain without paying good money and without the weekly meetings. I dont know why it did not work for me but it did not. So here I am. Counting calories. And I just bought a recumbent bike.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member

    Lesley2603 wrote: »
    Once my brain was right the rest was easy

    That one statement says it all so well!!! I feel like the brain is the biggest motivator or destroyer of all our efforts.
  • Pipsqueak1965
    Pipsqueak1965 Posts: 397 Member
    Menopause can lower your metabolic rate a bit - but that is not true for everyone. What mostly happens is that as we get older we move less and exercise less. If you keep moving, do some exercise and eat a sensible amount, your weight will be fine. The difference in metabolism is not big at all between old and young - its mostly down to inactivity.
  • RCPV
    RCPV Posts: 342 Member
    Let me just add this - if you're having a difficult time losing weight even though you are tracking your food intake and exercising FAITHFULLY, go to your doctor and get a complete, thorough checkup. There are disease states that can make it near impossible to lose weight. That being said, most of us will not fall into this category.
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
    I’m still trying to find workouts for building stomach muscles safely after a Csection that was a lot like a hysterectomy! So doctors rule was walk work my way up to inclines it a steps or uneven ground, no lifting over 30lbs, be careful with exercising not meant for after major surgeries of the abdomen. We will call him Mr Vague then my insurance changed due to Obama care rules bam no more advice won’t see me.So other Doctor advice is more they have a few minutes not fully listening or say the truth (no clue what the first one say???” There oh so helpful ! One mentioned a baby yoga class where you lift the baby. My son has Gigantism walked out grabbed him walked back in she said oh my how do you lift him at all??? Scratch baby yoga lol 😂. 4ft tall 40lbs 2yrs old he should be lifting me !!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,228 Member
    Azdak wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I'm 64, and lost about 50 pounds in 2015 at age 59-60 (menopausal . . . and hypothryroid, to boot), obese to a healthy weight, and am still at a healthy weight now, nearly 5 years later.

    The difference in population-wide calorie requirements between a younger self and an older one is surprisingly small. A TDEE calculator will suggest that I, at my current size, 5'5" and about 135 pounds, would burn about 1600 calories as a sedentary 34-year-old, and about 1450 or so now, at 64. That's less than one serving of peanut butter difference daily. (It's around a tablespoon and a half of peanut butter, specifically, or about as many calories as one 20oz nonfat latte with no sweetener/syrup/whip, just skim milk and coffee.)

    Further, research suggests that the biggest differences between calorie needs of younger vs. older people come down to two things: Less daily life activity as we age, and reduced muscle mass as we get older. The good news is, both of those things are things we can influence . . . almost completely control, in fact.

    Exercise increases our calorie expenditure, and it doesn't have to be some kind of miserable, exhausting slog through some activity we don't enjoy. Any fun way of moving the body works: Sure, gym stuff, but also walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, gardenting, and much more.

    Strength exercise (anything that progressively challenges our muscles) helps reverse the muscle loss that can come with aging, especially when coupled with a diet that has adequate protein (something that a lot of older women don't get enough of, frankly, especially when cutting calories.) Research has demonstrated strength and muscle mass gain as achievable by people into at least their 80s, and probably beyond. For women, this has the added benefit of supporting our bone density, which can be a significant risk factor for injury and disability in later years.

    Also, we can make it a point to consciously increase daily life activity (i.e., non-exercise things). There's a thread about that here, with ideas from many people:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/

    There are women here who report changes that have more than reversed that estimated calorie difference that comes with age, just from conscious increases in daily life activity.

    It is very possible to lose weight in menopause. In fact, in terms of the process - calorie counting, monitoring weight, etc. - it's quite simple. It's not always easy in a logistical/practical sense, or psychologically . . . but the mechanics are quite straightforward, IMO.

    You can do it. :flowerforyou:

    I always go back and forth on those “100-150 cal/day” numbers. On the one hand, it doesn’t seem like much. If someone is trying to track calories (in and out), that is well within the standard of error—you cannot track to that level of accuracy.

    On the other hand, a difference of 100 cals a day translates to an annual change of 11 pounds of fat. For the most part, body weights don’t fluctuate that much year to year. It suggests that more fundamental “metabolic” (hate the word, but too lazy to think of another) changes, even modest ones, might have a stronger effect than we think. (By “fundamental”, I mean changes that lead to longer-term, persistent changes).

    I suspect the answer lies in the middle—the smaller changes that often occur with aging or something like menopause do exist and should not be dismissed; however, they are often overestimated by those who have trouble losing weight and used as a blanket excuse.

    As you point out, however, these effects—whether behavioral or physiological—can be offset/reversed by actions well within the individual’s control.

    I have become a firm believer that protein, resistance training, and activity need to be the mantra for all adults over the age of 50.

    I think that post is really useful and insightful, and the bolded conclusion pure gold.

    Alongside that, I think it's useful to think about the common or average arc of modern women's lives**.

    It's not universal, for sure, and it may be controversial, but I think it's fairly common that in our 20s/30s vs. 40s-70s:

    * We're building the foundation for a career, with a little higher likelihood of having jobs that have a larger moving-around component, if we're in the paid labor force.

    * Our social lives are more likely to include things like clubbing, dancing, free or affordable events (art fairs, music festivals, sporting events, etc.) or outings like camping, cycling/walking, swimming or water-based play when going to the beach, vs. sedentary social lives focused on dining out, sitting in theaters, etc.

    * We may have small children to carry, chase, play with, etc. (and I'd say that for most even when we do those things with grandchildren, it's often - not always - for fewer hours of the average day).

    * We focus on getting our surroundings in a state we like, and often are trying to do that inexpensively, so there's painting, remodeling, improving our landscapes, decorating the home interior in other ways (of course many of us do some of those things later in life, too).

    * We may be at relatively lower income stage of life, especially when the child and home start-up expenses are factored into discretionary income. This may affect tendency toward limiting purchases of indulgent food/drinks, spending relatively more time bargain-hunting afoot, and that sort of thing, doing things ourselves (lawn care, remodeling, etc.) vs buying services, or not yet having conveniences that simplify daily chores (Roomba, riding lawn mower, laundry room at home vs. laundromat, etc.), making transportation choices that cost less but requirea little more movement (car vs. bus/bike/walk), etc. Even things like walk-up apartments vs. a standalone home with attached garage could change step counts.

    * At least in the early stages, few of us have children big enough to do significant fractions of the home chores, or to offer (as adult children sometimes do) to help or take over some of them. (I don't have children at all, personally, so I know this isn't universal. ;) ).

    * At the earliest stages, we may not have had a life partner with whom we shared income-producing and home-chores responsibilities. Among cis women who do have partners, it's a fairly common (again, not universal) pattern to allocate the more strength-intensive chores to a male partner.

    These are all pretty small things, and not all apply to everyone. But I think they're fairly common patterns, things most people don't really think about, and little bits add up.

    ** I'm sure some of these things would apply to men, too, but I'm not one, and that's not been the thrust of this thread.
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
    p1xb269b0wrt.jpeg
    Before pic after I lost some weight wasn’t embarrassing to have a pic snapped.


    I contribute my weight gain to all the bedrest y surgeries after repair surgeries (not for cosmetic reason) didn’t help any mobility at all. I think if I could have been mobile before y after it would have been easier to lose the weight. I’ve been given the okay to exercise bam 45lbs gone even if I go over calories a few times. Before was only gaining up up y away . I got big so after baby I still looked pregnant since my stomach was healing kept getting asked when I was having that baby! Had to say already did months ago. I didn’t even allow before after fotos until I lost some pounds!
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
    edited December 2019
    Azdak- You made my day with your pampered yuppie larva lol 😂 now I know what to call them all these years lol.
    True before my pregnancy I worked multiple jobs from hardware stores to cook to maintenance to head housekeeper at hotels to even if factories. Was lots of hot outdoor to over stove jobs,lots of moving to stairs, lots of up to down activities,sore muscles to exhausted but 2nd winds hit in time to run kid to school events y more. On days off errands!!! No rest for the weary comes to mind. Raised 1 biological y 7 non- biological kids. I did the yard work to was Mom/Dad. I ate like a truck driver didn’t gain an ounce! Had pets to care for to my Parents I lived next to them.

    Now I run after 1 kid only . Have a partner so shared labors. No stairs only walking indoors . Got to watch calories. Cleaning my house takes longer than it did before (T-Csection makes bending hurt y scar tissue so I found I cut corners when cleaning I never did before!) .Only 1 parent left y my Aunts helping me since I wasn’t allowed to be far from the hospital Doctors orders (moved an hour away to be by the nearest hospital with a NICU y Doctor who were specialists for higher risk pregnancy so longer drive now which means all my Dads activities I used to take on like grocery shopping with him to driving him to church isn’t apart of my routine no more).

    Went from full speed ahead to a tortoise 🐢 trot! Was eating the same calories y foods as before! Let’s face it a parent of a toddler you go from run run run huff huff huff puff puff huff run run run to bam 💥 sitting in the couch holding them while they want to be cuddled if you have to pee forget it their comfy grabbing your face to moving your arm to y fro.

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