Long Journey but I’m Worth It!

LeslieAWagner

Hello all! I’m 57 and have struggled with my weight since I had my second child in 1995. It’s time to stop making excuses and find real solutions to my current struggles. I’m 5’9” and my current weight is 265. My goal weight is 170 so that’s a 95 pound journey! I plan to focus on 20 lb increments and celebrate those wins!

Here are my current challenges:

1) Metabolism sluggish at 57!
2) Snacking after 8pm!
3) Not into exercise and have knee issues.
3) No real plan for healthy eating and have tried keto only to gain more back.
4) Stress on several fronts I need to deal with and not stress eat.
5) Get maybe 5-6 hours of sleep on the average.

I plan on tackling all of the above on my journey. I’ve purchased several cookbooks on healthier eating (Mediterranean etc) and will focus on a calorie deficit. Talked with my doctor and will do a light hormone replacement plan to help re-start my engine. Adding a few key vitamins & minerals like D, Omega 3’s etc. I’m also going to work on getting a better night’s sleep. Walking to achieve 10,000 steps a day will also be key!

I refuse to give up! I’m going to dig in this time and face my challenges head on. I’m worth it!

PS - Making a vision board too!!!

I’ll support others and I hope you will support me!

LeslieAWagner

Happy to report I didn’t snack last night, actually got out and moved, went to bed earlier, came in well under my calorie deficit and made good choices! I went to work yesterday with my hubby to help work on a house and build a hoop coop! I’m almost always distressing around him. He has a way of making me feel zen.

AnnPT77

Nice work: Sounds like you're off to a good start, @LeslieAWagner!

Part of the good news is that recent research suggests that our metabolism is pretty steady from our 20s until 60s, so you're in luck.

See, for example: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34385400/

What can happen, though, is that we gradually, imperceptibly even, develop habits of moving less in daily life as we age. Alongside that, it's common to gradually begin losing muscle mass (because we stop challenging it to remind our bodies we want to keep it). Both of those things are reversible, and it sounds like you have some things in your plan to do so. Good show!

I lost around 1/3 of my body weight at about the age you are now (I was 59-60), using MFP. It can work, with persistence, practical approaches, and patience . . . and the rewards are huge, IME.

Wishing you success!

kbrojako

I'm pretty much where you are. 58 yr old, 219 lbs. I've tried everything but the weight has stuck to me since child #2 in 1993.

Now the doctor tells me I may have sleep apnea since I snore like crazy. Have to do a sleep study to confirm.

I want to be motivated but I'm not. I literally sit in a chair for work, 5 days a week, eight hours a day. I won't even walk when I get home because after having to make dinner I just want to go to sleep.

My eating is ok- protein shake or oatmeal for breakfast, whole plain nuts or apples for snack and salad for lunch. Dinner absolutely stresses me out. Husband likes big dinners. I could just eat a salad. So that's what I'm going to do. He's going to have to learn to do his own big dinners. I'm sure that's going to create so tension.

I used to be quite active and I'm going to try to work at it again. After work and straight to the gym- it's literally 3 minutes from my office.

We'll see how it goes but I'm notorious for trying for a few weeks and then just stopping.

Here we go again....

LeslieAWagner

Ann - I saw that recently about age and metabolism so here’s to making the most now! MFP is a great tool for me and it keeps me honest. I’m determined to keep it going this time. What a great accomplishment on the weight!! Congrats!

Kbrojacko I have totally been there (heck I am THERE!) but this time I’m trying to stay engaged here in a community and keep myself honest. I’m also upping my water intake. That really helps me. Also learning to cook new things even though I’m not a huge fan of cooking,

You can do it!! I’ll help if you need a buddy yo motivate or just listen.

ngbalance1

Just wanted to let you know you aren’t alone. I am 57 also with 100 lbs to lose. I started my journey this passed week and am working to figure out what to eat. The app has really helped to make it visual. We can do this. Every journey starts with one step.

LeslieAWagner

Ngbalance1 - Agreed!! We GOT this!!

springlering62

I started at 56, at 225. My profile pic is me learning to stand on my head at 58.

If you put in the effort and thoughtfulness, you will come out the other side.

It comes down to weighing accurately, logging honestly, and taking control of what and how much you put in your body.

There is no magic sauce that makes all this quicker, other than feeling better and better as the weight is shed, which creates a snowball effect.

Don’t let popular fables about your age, hormones, menopausal status etc drag you down. If you are determined to “feel your age” then by golly, you will.

If you want to determine what age you feel, though, that’s powerful stuff.

LeslieAWagner

Springlering62 - THANK you! I agree completely on putting in the work and no magic bullet. I do know that time passes fast and I can take advantage of it by being committed daily. I'm all about committing to it. I truly hope I can get my hubby to do the same. Right now though - I have to focus on my own health. I feel 26!

LeslieAWagner

My main focus has been logging my food and trying to stay 'under' my calorie deficit and above 1200 calories. So far I'm 5 for 5 days!

The other part is no 'late' night snacking and getting more sleep. For me it's not easy to go to bed before 11pm at night or so but I'm working on it.

I haven't started moving consistently yet but I will next week. I have some old Gilad shows on my HD from the 90's and they are what I used to lose weight after baby #1.

Keeping myself honest - and YES, I'm worth it!

Leslie from the Ozarks

springlering62

@LeslieAWagner

My husband started, but it was three years after I did. He saw how much better I was feeling and how much healthier.

I never bagged or criticized (well, I sure tried not to!) but I did ask to go this doctors visit and asked the doctor what it would take to get him off so many meds.

His doctor looked at us and said,”Weight loss”.

I sat him down and told him how much he meant to me, statistically he’s likely to go first (he’s a fair amount older than me anyway), how lonely I’ll be, and he’s seen firsthand with both our moms how difficult it is for one spouse to manage home care of another.

That seemed to wake something up in him. He’s done OK. Every little step is an improvement. He’s off diabetes med, hopes to off blood pressure soon. Still obese, but he’s lost a size, and is definitely building muscle.

If all things, he took up aquafit (water aerobics) and just loves it. He’s the class clown, totally loses all inhibitions and shyness in the water. It’s such a hoot to see, I’ve joined him and I’m enjoying the classes, too.

The best thing you can do is teach by example. Nagging sucks for both partners. As an A1 Certified Pro Nag and subjugated nag-ee on a multitude of nagging subjects, we concur.

springlering62

This is a thread I started about our mutual experience once he started:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10841733/at-goal-successfully-maintaining-so-why-am-i-doing-this-all-over-again

AnnPT77

May I suggest that you not try to be much under your calorie goal routinely, if you got the goal from MFP and asked it to give you a non-zero weight loss rate? Sure, a little under is fine (so is a little over).

Your BMR would be estimated at around 1850 calories. (BMR is the amount you'd burn in a coma, doing nothing.) Even if you're fully sedentary, your TDEE would be expected to be around 2200 calories or so.
(TDEE =total daily energy expenditure, i.e., calories to maintain current weight). 1200 would be at least 2 pounds a week weight loss, which you can probably accommodate for a while at your current weight, but it's fairly aggressiv

Consider: Several of the habits you're trying to change will be easier if you don't try to push the accelerator all the way to the floor at every opportunity, y'know? You're wanting to reduce evening snacking, but have sub-par sleep and high stress - which is already challenging, since under-sleep and over-stress tend to spike evening appetite. Maximum loss rate increases the physical stress, makes appetite spikes by evening even more likely. On top of that, higher loss rate is more likely to encourage metabolism to slow a bit (less fidgeting, feel colder, etc.) via adaptive thermogenesis, and you're already feeling like your body's down-regulated a bit.

I'd suggest trying to start out sticking quite close to your MFP goal, like maybe +/- 50 calories, 100 at the outside. Then, when you add exercise, estimate the exercise calories carefully, add those to MFP, and eat those, too. There's a lot to be said for making the process easier, instead of trying to make it faster.

Just a thought.

LeslieAWagner

annpt77 - Thank you!! I will take your feedback and start today. I’m in this for the long haul so I might as well trust the deficit calculation, including any exercise added, is working to plan. I so appreciate your help!!

LeslieAWagner

springlering62 wrote: »

@LeslieAWagner

My husband started, but it was three years after I did. He saw how much better I was feeling and how much healthier.

I never bagged or criticized (well, I sure tried not to!) but I did ask to go this doctors visit and asked the doctor what it would take to get him off so many meds.

His doctor looked at us and said,”Weight loss”.

I sat him down and told him how much he meant to me, statistically he’s likely to go first (he’s a fair amount older than me anyway), how lonely I’ll be, and he’s seen firsthand with both our moms how difficult it is for one spouse to manage home care of another.

That seemed to wake something up in him. He’s done OK. Every little step is an improvement. He’s off diabetes med, hopes to off blood pressure soon. Still obese, but he’s lost a size, and is definitely building muscle.

If all things, he took up aquafit (water aerobics) and just loves it. He’s the class clown, totally loses all inhibitions and shyness in the water. It’s such a hoot to see, I’ve joined him and I’m enjoying the classes, too.

The best thing you can do is teach by example. Nagging sucks for both partners. As an A1 Certified Pro Nag and subjugated nag-ee on a multitude of nagging subjects, we concur.

I LOVE this!! Haha I’m absolutely certified on the nagging front! He’s 5 years older so I need him to take his health seriously. You know… He will definitely come around once he sees me making real strides and not backing down from my goals!

AnnPT77

LeslieAWagner wrote: »

annpt77 - Thank you!! I will take your feedback and start today. I’m in this for the long haul so I might as well trust the deficit calculation, including any exercise added, is working to plan. I so appreciate your help!!

If you follow a consistent routine (calorie goal, plus ways of logging it) for 4-6 weeks, then look at your average weekly weight loss, you have the information you need to adjust your calorie goal, and fine-tune your tactics in a more evidence-based way.** (If you aren't in menopause yet, compare body weight at the same relative point in two or more different menstrual cycles.)

I admit, I'm a science-nerd girl, so that "science fair experiment" approach appeals to me in a way it might not suit others. I do think that semi-randomly eating under (or over) calorie goal, and mixing eating/not-eating exercise, makes it tougher to tune in a sustainable set of habits/goals . . . tougher arithmetically, if nothing else (but maybe tougher in sustainability terms, too).

** Simplistically, an actual 500 calorie daily deficit "should" result in about a pound a week of weight loss, multi-week average. If your starting goals were 1 pound a week, but you only lost half a pound a week on average (over that several weeks period), you'd be thinking in terms of reducing calorie goal by an additional 250 calories daily to reach that pound a week loss rate (or accepting the slower loss, if it seems more sustainable, of course).

LeslieAWagner

** Simplistically, an actual 500 calorie daily deficit "should" result in about a pound a week of weight loss, multi-week average. If your starting goals were 1 pound a week, but you only lost half a pound a week on average (over that several weeks period), you'd be thinking in terms of reducing calorie goal by an additional 250 calories daily to reach that pound a week loss rate (or accepting the slower loss, if it seems more sustainable, of course).

“I’m going to have to science the S#%^ out of this!” - The Martian Hah It would make it easier for sure.

I’m trying to stick to a consistent breakfast after a morning lemon water routine. I try and push the breakfast out and run a few hours on just the water. Also I’m sticking to relatively similar times of day for lunch and dinner. Next week I kick in a an exercise goal.

10 Min on the “shake/vibration” machine
30 min moving daily somehow someway. Will have to think on that second one.

I still had 500 calories last night to eat and made sure to use some of that up! I managed 440. Going to keep being consistent with it!

AnnPT77

LeslieAWagner wrote: »

** Simplistically, an actual 500 calorie daily deficit "should" result in about a pound a week of weight loss, multi-week average. If your starting goals were 1 pound a week, but you only lost half a pound a week on average (over that several weeks period), you'd be thinking in terms of reducing calorie goal by an additional 250 calories daily to reach that pound a week loss rate (or accepting the slower loss, if it seems more sustainable, of course).

“I’m going to have to science the S#%^ out of this!” - The Martian Hah It would make it easier for sure.

I’m trying to stick to a consistent breakfast after a morning lemon water routine. I try and push the breakfast out and run a few hours on just the water. Also I’m sticking to relatively similar times of day for lunch and dinner. Next week I kick in a an exercise goal.

10 Min on the “shake/vibration” machine
30 min moving daily somehow someway. Will have to think on that second one.

I still had 500 calories last night to eat and made sure to use some of that up! I managed 440. Going to keep being consistent with it!

Good show, Leslie: I predict positive long term results!

springlering62

Good job!!!

Btw, that shake vibration thing. Useless. You’d be better off spending that time doing gentle stretching or taking a slow walk.

springlering62

My mom had one of those in the late 60’s when I was a kid. We’d get on it and let it shake our voices. It was way fun but boy did it make her mad to catch us on it. It didn’t do a thing for her except keep us kids occupied.

LeslieAWagner

I’ll need to figure something out on moving. Likely Gilad or some other online move it show. Lol

springlering62

What about chair yoga or chair stretching type classes? There’s a ton of free stuff online.

One of my favorite posts ever was a user who had been so sedentary and in so much pain they could barely move. They set a goal of walking to the mailbox for a week, first fence post the second week, then next mailbox, then telephone pole. Within a couple months they were walking a mile at a time. Super inspiring.

AnnPT77

LeslieAWagner wrote: »

I’ll need to figure something out on moving. Likely Gilad or some other online move it show. Lol

Any form of moving more is helpful. (Bonus points if it slightly, manageably challenges your current strength, endurance, or cardiovascular capability.)

It doesn't even have to be official exercise: Talk a walk in the park or public garden, play frisbee with some kids, dance to your favorite music, dig a new flower bed, learn to play pickleball, ride your bike . . . whatever.

If Gilad or other videos are fun for you - or at least tolerable enough that you'll want to do them regularly, look forward to it - that's great. For sure, exercise doesn't have to be miserable or exhausting in order to be useful for either of fitness or weight loss . . . in fact, that type of exercise tends to be counter-productive (via increased injury risk, fatigue, or teaching the unhelpful lesson that exercise is unpleasant (when it isn't)).

Even increasing daily life non-exercise activity can be useful, as a way to counter the long-term habits of lowered activity that many of us develop - slowly, unnoticed - as we age. Various people shared their ideas in this thread - not all of them may work for you, but likely some are viable.

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