Senior looking for tips

cmfranco11

Well now that I am in the class is senior citizens or mature women .

Body changes..hormones..hair loss..etc etc! Let's not forget gravity challenges!

Anyone have tips on stay in on coarse to healthy life-style. The moments you feel like quitting just eat what you want!

How do you stay on coarse? Do you read motivational weight loss stories ?

Just tips would be most welcomed !

Thank you in advance for your responses !

tomcustombuilder

Well, at 70 I've had plenty of senior practicing, lol. All I can tell you is to stay as active as possible, be cognizant of your diet, limit alcohol and accept the changes that aging brings. The older, the more challenging it becomes to not slip into a rut of the "ahh F it" attitude however that's when you really need to step up your game.

Work on flexibility as that is the area that will keep you moving well.

Rockmama1111

I’m 51. My approach this time has been different than in the past. While I want to lose a little weight, I’m also focused on overall health and nutrition in order to improve my quality of life as I age. In fact, I first decided to lose 20 pounds because my hips hurt all the time and my son told me I was walking like Grandma (my mom). I knew extra weight wasn’t helping.

What’s great is that now I have more time to focus on it. Nutrition especially; I’ve become quite the analyst and keep trying to improve! I love to cook, so I’ve had a lot of fun looking for and preparing meals. I have time to walk to do errands or to meet a friend for a hike in the woods. I suppose it’s the first time in my life where I’ve had the luxury of being completely self-centered, and once I started rolling, the benefits were apparent.

Yes to reading weight loss success stories, watching YouTube videos on all things that apply to looking and feeling good at my age, whether it’s weight loss, fashion, skin care, hair care, hormones, stress reduction, improving relationships, better sleep, all of it. Even things like decluttering, living with less, and organizing contribute to a sense of contentment. I feel goooooooooood, and I want more of it. And I love having energy for my grandbabies! That’s probably the best motivator.

Enjoy!

AnnPT77

I'll admit to "senior" pretty joyfully (speaking as a cancer survivor and cancer widow), but I'm not too sure about "mature", in my case. I'm pretty undisciplined and hedonistic, TBH.

I'm female, 67, used MFP to lose from class 1 obese to a healthy weight at age 59-60 (while severely hypothyroid - medicated for it - if that matters . . . I think it doesn't).

I don't recommend that others try my initial modes of "motivation", because looking back, my course was less than ideal. Way less.

My own health issues triggered me to finally get serious about weight loss: My doctor wanted me to take a statin, and I thought I'd already given up enough cognitive bandwidth to chemotherapy, so I didn't want to take another drug with a reputation for negative cognitive side effects. I tried a bunch of other stuff (exercise, supplements, mix of foods eaten to some extent) without much effect on my cholesterol, triglycerides, or high blood pressure.

Part way through weight loss, they removed my gallbladder (not because of stones or sludge, but a less common thing called adenomyomatosis). The pathology report was startling: My gallbladder was an ugly, thickened, cholesterolized thing, with actual holes in it. Yikes. More "motivation."

Somewhere in there, it clicked with me that my daily life choices had been catering to my current self's hedonistic impulses to eat all the foods, at the expense of my future self's well being. On consideration, I want the whole time series of Anns to have the best quality of life possible. Future Ann became more real to me, especially when I looked around at other people my age in my daily life.

The people my age (and older) who were active and thin or not too overweight were pretty healthy, able to enjoy lots of activities (including ones that involved walking, stairs, some moderate exertion, travel, the occasional indulgent food and drinks in moderation, etc.)

The people my age (and younger) who were overweight and very inactive were not nearly so healthy, spent more time and money with doctors and hospitals and medications (plus side effects), couldn't do even those mildly challenging activities let alone anything vigorous, and even had to have their children or hired pros do things routine like flip mattresses, basic house/yard work, and more.

Anything can happen to any of us, especially as seniors, but I felt like maybe I could shift my odds so future Ann would have more enjoyment, without super much short-changing my current happy life. Bingo!

What I didn't realize was that reaching a healthy weight and good basic fitness would be as simple as it turned out to be, with patience and persistence. (It wasn't easy every single minute, but the basics were surprisingly uncomplicated.) I could kick myself now, for not doing it decades earlier.

Nor did I predict how much my quality of life would improve along the way: Not just being able to do more, but less joint pain, and subtly but also noticeably improved subjective quality of life, in things like mood, energy level, general sense of well-being, feelings of competence or self-mastery, etc.

All of that stuff kind of sealed the deal: I reached goal weight, and while I've been up and down a little in the 7-ish years since that loss, it's all been within a healthy weight range, and in the same jeans size. As a bonus, my cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and other health markers have stayed solidly normal to truly excellent, no statins required.

Quality of life is a pretty good "motivation" at this point. (I keep putting that word in quotes because I don't think motivation is all that useful, in the way the most people think of it. I think what works is new habits and daily patterns that are relatively easy, relatively enjoyable (at least tolerable!), practical, affordable, and generally sustainable enough to continue almost on autopilot when other parts of life get complicated . . . because they will.)

Simply food logging and calorie counting was the perfect strategy for me, no exotic diets or big changes in exercise routine (I was already fairly active, starting late in life but well before weight loss). With calorie counting, my current self can eat every last delicious calorie I burn, while still creating a path that makes future Ann's health and well being much more likely. All of the me time-series wins!

YMMV - different things motivate different people. I know that for me, some switch in my head had to flip from "I oughta" to "I'm doing this". If I knew how to flip that switch, I'd bottle and sell it, make millions.

You can make progress, with patience and persistence. I'm cheering for you to succeed!

spiriteagle99

I enjoy being active. Exercise helps me feel better both physically and mentally. I also have a dog who loves his walks. We go out a couple of times a day for 20-60 minutes. When I was in my mid-50s I began running. Ten years later, I still enjoy it. So my main tip is to find something you enjoy doing that lets you move and get stronger.

MsCzar

I know about getting older and suffering hair loss. Not sure if my weight loss was a cause or merely coincidental, but my hair seemed to fall off along with the extra fat to the point of becoming very noticeable. Knowing that most all of the world's famous beauties - young and old alike - rely on a little or a LOT of artificial help, I wasted no time getting a good integrated topper hair piece. So if thinning hair is an issue embrace your inner celeb. Life changer! Now people not only compliment me on my weight loss, but my great new haircut. 😉