57 year old Newbie!

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emkinsella1965
emkinsella1965 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
POST MENO. Hi-Trying to figure out why I can’t lose 12 lbs! I’m an active person with 3 grandchildren from 1-7. I’m fat pone from my knees to belly. I figured maybe I needed to go the macro route. Since I cook my own food I thought this app would be helpful by taking pics of my food! Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks, Leenie
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  • MythTree
    MythTree Posts: 2 Member
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    Good morning! I have noticed that my post meno body is quite a bit slower on the uptake. Stick with it and try to stay consistent. Tracking my sugars and making sure that I end the day at a calorie deficit is helping me so far. *Hug*
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,419 Member
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    Menopause can bring some new wrinkles - literally and figuratively! 😉 - but take heart, it's not an insurmountable obstacle. There are quite a few women here who've lost meaningful amounts of weight in menopause. (I'm one: I lost 50+ pounds 6+ years ago at age 59-60, while also severely hypothyroid (properly medicated), and have been at a healthy weight since.)

    If you log your eating for a month or so, consistently sticking around a sensible MFP calorie goal for sustainably moderate weight loss, you'll gather enough personal data to see what your personal calorie needs are. From there, you can adjust to accomplish the weight loss you're seeking. It takes some patience and attention, but it's very possible. Advice: Think "how can I make this relatively easy" not "how can I do this super fast".

    It's a big deal for many of us that we've grown less active as the years have gone on (less physical job, not chasing toddlers anymore, maybe downsizing house, etc.). Our muscle mass goes down, making daily life movement (let alone exercise) less fun and easy, so we tend to do less and burn fewer calories overall. The good news is that those are things we can reverse, by gradually starting a manageable, slightly challenging but non-exhausting exercise routine that fits into our lives in a satisfying way, plus creating a "bias toward movement" in our daily life habits.

    There are ideas about that "daily life habits" piece in this thread:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

    Not every single one of those ideas may suit you, but it's likely that some will.

    I think we have some advantages in weight loss as older folks: We know our selves pretty well by now - our preferences, strengths, challenges, limitations. We know how to game those to accomplish big goals, patiently, over time: We've done that to get an education, build a career, create a comfortable home, raise families, and more. Those are self-management skills we can apply to weight loss, if we stand back and squint to see how experience applies.

    Honestly, it's about patient persistence, and finding new, practical, achievable habits (eating and activity) that lead us to a healthy weight and keep us here. You can do this!

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