Ready for a Change

Overheadfan · January 10

Hi All
I'm a newbie ( and never even posted a message online before) and excited to embark on a brand new project..a fitter , slimmer and healthier version of myself.

I'm a 60 year old West Australian woman and happy to report that I've always enjoyed good health. Recently I was weighed at the doctor's and couldn't believe the number I was seeing.
I'm 100 kilos and will be seeing my doctor again in 3 months...the plan has swung into action! I joined MFP and have increased my current activity level by 5000 steps per day, using a walking program on You Tube

I've decided to weigh myself every seven days and I'll report back to you all.
I really hope that I see immediate progress...I'm putting in a lot of effort with my diet and exercise and I don't want to get too disheartened so early in the process. I'm on day 4 so I'll keep you posted.
I'd appreciate any advice you can all offer.

AnnPT77 · January 10

Hello, and welcome, @Overheadfan. I started here at about your current age (I was 59) and turned 60 part way through weight loss; now maintaining in a healthy range at 68.

It sounds like you have a good plan. My advice is to keep things moderate and sustainable. It seems like a common theme here is for people to start out gung-ho, shoot for fast loss, add punitive amounts of intense exercise . . . then disappear from MFP. Maybe they succeeded, but I'd put the odds on "burned out".

For me, reaching a healthy weight was a surprisingly big improvement in quality of life, and it turned out to be simpler than I'd expected. (I'm not saying it was psychologically easy every second, but the process was quite straightforward.)

For me, participating in the Community here, reading and posting, has helped me learn a lot from others, and helped me keep my head in the game long term. I know it may be a little daunting since you mention being new to posting online, but IME it can be helpful. Don't be afraid to dive in: I think most people here truly want to help others succeed, though sometimes people have different communication styles (tough love to warm'n'fuzzy) that may resonate differently with different people.

I'm cheering for you to succeed! :flowerforyou:

Overheadfan · January 11

Hi AnnPT77
Thankyou for your comment and I appreciate the sensible advice. I do prefer a more moderate approach....if a program or lifestyle change is something I think I can still do at 80 ( and hopefully beyond ) then I am all in. I've never been very sporty but have always walked and been quite consistent. I think that tracking my food will be a game changer , and a by product of that is that I'm keen to increase my activity. The dog might lose a bit more weight too.

I'm debating about how often I should weigh myself.
What do most people find works best as an incentive? Once per week, fortnight..or ( gulp) daily?

AnnPT77 · January 11

Weighing frequency is an individual thing, depending on one's personal style.

Some people feel very anxious or stressed about weigh-ins. They may be better off weighing infrequently. A few skip the scale altogether, and use tape measure, fit of a particular piece of clothing, or progress photos to gauge how things are going.

I weigh daily, first thing in AM after bathroom, before eating/drinking, and record the results in a weight trending app. (I use Libra for Android, but there's Happy Scale for Apple/iOS, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher on the web, and probably others.)

I don't care about the daily weights; it's just a momentary snapshot of my body's relationship with gravity, not a gauge of my worth as a human being, y'know? I care about the multi-week trend.

It's normal for body weight to bounce up and down multiple pounds from one day to the next. That's about varying levels of water retention and digestive tract contents (on their way to becoming waste), not about body fat levels. It's body fat I care about, and that shows up in the multi-week trend.

I feel like I've learned a lot about how my body responds to various conditions from daily weighing. I wasn't ever super stressed or anxious about weigh-ins, and understanding my body's water fluctuation patterns has made it even less stressful with time.

No matter weighing frequency, there can be weeks (or longer) that look like a stall or even a gain from water weight, followed by a sudden drop so that average fat loss rate is pretty much as expected. Regardless of weighing frequency, it's good to keep that in mind.

Best wishes!

AnnPT77 · January 11

BTW, if you haven't read this, I highly recommend it, especially the article linked in the first post:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

It explains the many things that affect scale weight, leading it to jump around in maybe-alarming but misleading ways that can make people think they're not losing fat when they are. For me (and some others who've commented), the information in the article was quite reassuring - it helped avoid that "getting disheartened early in the process" thing.

You might surprise yourself with what you're able to do at 80, if you start gradually building fitness now. Gradual progress can reach amazing places, with patience and time. I didn't start being regularly active until my late 40s/early 50s, totally physically depleted after full-bore cancer treatment and a long-term ultra-sedentary lifestyle. I was very, very surprised at where gradual progress took me in a few years: Competing in rowing races, not always unsuccessfully in age-group competitions, among other things. In my acquaintance are a 78 y/o woman who rows multiple days a week, goes to the gym and lifts most weekdays . . . she's amazing. I know other 80+ people who row, bike long distances, etc. I admit, most of them started younger, but much can be achieved with a later start.

I'm not trying to push you beyond what you may wish to do, not at all. It's important to avoid injury, allow for between-workout recovery via rest, etc. I'm just encouraging you to be open-minded about what may happen as you gradually increase fitness, and not let low expectations (societal or personal) limit your potential.

Best wishes!

Overheadfan · January 12

I appreciate the advice and the link . It's really informative and has given me a bit to think about.
Previous weightloss journeys had made me a fearful of the weigh in..I usually weighed every month , mostly leaving it until I could be fairly certain that my efforts would pay off. Sometimes they didn't, and the scale hadn't moved. It wouldnt throw me entirely off my game but it was dispiriting. I'd keep plugging on for another few months wondering what I was doing wrong.. I lost faith in the whole process .
That's why I'm religiously tracking food now , it might be the component that had been missing in my previous weightloss attempts over the years.
I'm looking forward to staying healthy and active into my very old age, and I'm staying positive and enthusiastic.
Maybe just without the weigh in for now.

mtaratoot · January 12

@Overheadfan

If you only weigh once a month, it's possible that you WERE losing, but just happened to jump on the scale on a day when your mass was up. Our mass fluctuates day to day. Check this out:

If you weigh one month when you're lower than your trend and then the next month when you're higher, you might think you didn't lose any or maybe even gained. For more details, check out The Hacker's Diet, especially the section on Signal and Noise.

There are some online tools that will do this calculation for you, but first you have to get past your discomfort with getting on the scale. The trick is to weigh daily but kind of ignore the number. I have had days where I gain three to five pounds in one day. It's not real! If you have a FitBit and enter your weight there, you can get a graphical representation of your "true" weight by visiting and signing up for Trendweight. Other options are Libra and HappyScale.

Most of all, I encourage you not to quit. Stick to it. Tomorrow is "National Quitter's Day." Don't celebrate it. Keep staying on track, and you can achieve your goals.

Overheadfan · January 12

Thanks so much for that advice and the links . Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. It's great to have helpful support along this journey. I might be brave and step on the scale and just get my head around " letting the number go". so to speak. I'm weighing tomorrow so I'll just let that have no more importance than any other part of my health journey.

zebasschick · January 12

Welcome to MFP, and congrats on starting towards better health!

I found that tracking calories was helpful because I didn't know how many calories were coming from what food or how many calories I was actually eating till I started doing that. Knowing allowed me to change patterns, change what I was eating and ways that worked for me, and it's been really good.

And locking is probably the best exercise overall. If I had to choose one it would either be walking or exercise biking., but walking is what got me started and I've lost 100 pounds and strengthen my legs and hips.

And you can, too!

Overheadfan · January 13

Well...I was brave , curious and ready to be non judgemental. I stepped on the scale and I'm down 3 kilos from the shattering weigh in at the doctor's last week. Obviously that's given me a real boost but I'm keeping it pretty real...let's be honest here..3 kgs in one week doesn't sound quite right. ? Maybe it's got a bit to do with two different sets of scales etc. I had been dieting two weeks prior to the doctor appointment so possibly the weight was ready to " let go" . ? In any case , it's spurred me on the keep tracking my food and keep moving.
I've always enjoyed walking but the doctor did suggest that I need higher intensity exercise a few times a week to make me sweat . ( I live in Australia.. I'm always sweating 😅) Exercise to sweat didn't sound appealing but it's certainly the element which has been missing for the last few years.
I have been enjoying the " Get Fit With Rick" walking program on You Tube. Great way to bust out a fast extra 2000 or so steps ..I certainly sweat ..and it's very time efficient. And I'm in the air conditioned comfort of home.
I still walk our dog in the evening when the sun has gone down. ...that's the fun walk.

AnnPT77 · January 13

Overheadfan wrote: »

Well...I was brave , curious and ready to be non judgemental. I stepped on the scale and I'm down 3 kilos from the shattering weigh in at the doctor's last week. Obviously that's given me a real boost but I'm keeping it pretty real...let's be honest here..3 kgs in one week doesn't sound quite right. ? Maybe it's got a bit to do with two different sets of scales etc. I had been dieting two weeks prior to the doctor appointment so possibly the weight was ready to " let go" . ? In any case , it's spurred me on the keep tracking my food and keep moving.
I've always enjoyed walking but the doctor did suggest that I need higher intensity exercise a few times a week to make me sweat . ( I live in Australia.. I'm always sweating 😅) Exercise to sweat didn't sound appealing but it's certainly the element which has been missing for the last few years.
I have been enjoying the " Get Fit With Rick" walking program on You Tube. Great way to bust out a fast extra 2000 or so steps ..I certainly sweat ..and it's very time efficient. And I'm in the air conditioned comfort of home.
I still walk our dog in the evening when the sun has gone down. ...that's the fun walk.

A fast drop at the start is a fairly common occurrence, though not universal. Part of the loss can be reduced water retention (from fewer carbs, less salt, etc. than before) and part from lower average digestive tract contents on their way to becoming waste. I'd caution that if that has occurred, some people will next see a temporary pseudo-stall on the scale for a week or two while water retention rebalances. The first month or so of a new eating routine can be a bit of a scale-weight roller coaster for some of us, for reasons not strictly related to fat gain/loss.

Even later, there can be periods of pseudo-stall for a week or few, then bigger drops. Some people lose in more of a "stall then whoosh" pattern. What really matters is the weight loss rate averaged over 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual cycles if you have those).

I wonder what made your doctor say you needed more vigorous exercise? Exercise (varied intensities) is good for fitness development, and has some potential health benefits, but it's not totally essential for the weight-loss goal. Do you have other health problems this could relate to? Doctors aren't necessarily well-educated in either nutrition or exercise/fitness, so realistically sometimes they do give us "this is good for you" platitudes.

A YouTube walking workout sounds fine to me. As you get fitter from doing that, you'll probably find that it gets easier, and eventually too easy. At that point, if you want to keep improving fitness, you'll need to do something to keep your exercise routine challenging - manageably challenging, not punitive/exhausting! But that's an issue down the road.

Best wishes!

ddsb1111 · January 13

Overheadfan wrote: »

Well...I was brave , curious and ready to be non judgemental. I stepped on the scale and I'm down 3 kilos from the shattering weigh in at the doctor's last week. Obviously that's given me a real boost but I'm keeping it pretty real...let's be honest here..3 kgs in one week doesn't sound quite right. ? Maybe it's got a bit to do with two different sets of scales etc. I had been dieting two weeks prior to the doctor appointment so possibly the weight was ready to " let go" . ? In any case , it's spurred me on the keep tracking my food and keep moving.
I've always enjoyed walking but the doctor did suggest that I need higher intensity exercise a few times a week to make me sweat . ( I live in Australia.. I'm always sweating 😅) Exercise to sweat didn't sound appealing but it's certainly the element which has been missing for the last few years.
I have been enjoying the " Get Fit With Rick" walking program on You Tube. Great way to bust out a fast extra 2000 or so steps ..I certainly sweat ..and it's very time efficient. And I'm in the air conditioned comfort of home.
I still walk our dog in the evening when the sun has gone down. ...that's the fun walk.

She’s not kidding… my weigh-ins are constantly changing due to food, water, hormones, you name it. The only thing that gives me peace of mind is seeing the trend, and the only way to figure that out is weighing consistently. Now when I see a change in weight I know exactly why and it doesn’t phase me. So happy you’re being brave and open to change. Here’s an example of my weigh-in graph this past year. Thank goodness I didn’t give up or stop because of a random fluctuation.

mtaratoot · January 13

Overheadfan wrote: »

Well...I was brave , curious and ready to be non judgemental. I stepped on the scale and I'm down 3 kilos from the shattering weigh in at the doctor's last week. Obviously that's given me a real boost but I'm keeping it pretty real...let's be honest here..3 kgs in one week doesn't sound quite right. ? Maybe it's got a bit to do with two different sets of scales etc. I had been dieting two weeks prior to the doctor appointment so possibly the weight was ready to " let go" . ? In any case , it's spurred me on the keep tracking my food and keep moving.
I've always enjoyed walking but the doctor did suggest that I need higher intensity exercise a few times a week to make me sweat . ( I live in Australia.. I'm always sweating 😅) Exercise to sweat didn't sound appealing but it's certainly the element which has been missing for the last few years.
I have been enjoying the " Get Fit With Rick" walking program on You Tube. Great way to bust out a fast extra 2000 or so steps ..I certainly sweat ..and it's very time efficient. And I'm in the air conditioned comfort of home.
I still walk our dog in the evening when the sun has gone down. ...that's the fun walk.

This is great news. You're already on the path. Now you just have to keep going to see where it leads. Keep sticking to it. That's the key.

If your doctor thinks you need a higher level of cardiovascular activity, and if they approved you to get after it, a really simple way might simply be walking FASTER. To be honest, once you start a regular walking routine, you might find that your pace picks up anyway.

I agree with @AnnPT77 that any activity is good. The guidance I've seen here in the US is 75 minutes of vigorous,150 minutes per week of moderate activity, or a combination that gets you to that same level each week. There are some benefits to getting your body into the aerobic zone, but you can still improve your fitness and health DRASTICALLY with walking. Maybe give your doctor a call and see exactly what they think you should be striving for.

Overheadfan · January 13

Hi Everyone .. You're all so helpful, thanks for the support and info. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and tips. It reminds me to stay on track and not buy into the need to only rely on the scale to understand what's going on with my body.
I think it was really the 75 mins vigorous component I was missing. My very brisk walking is now interspersed with my evening dog walking and my You Tube burst of 20 or so minutes a couple of times a day . Hopefully it will increase my fitess if I'm changing my speed. I guess that's sort of like HIIT? Maybe that's what my doctor meant?

I've also practiced mat pilates for the past five years , on and off....until I fell off a ladder and fractured both wrists (!!!) . That stopped pilates for a bit but the walks continued. Now I have a pilates reformer at home ( 60 th bday gift from my husband) and I love it.
I think I'll continue with the weekly weigh ins and if I see no change for a while I'll possibly just start doing fortnightly or monthly . Either way I'll put it in perspective and deal with it as a lifeling approach and not a short term fix.

It's lovely to have some mates to share my story with. Thanks so much.

Overheadfan · January 14

Hi Everyone

Just a question about " eating exercise calories". What do other members do,?
When I set up MFP I set my exercise profile as exercising most days ( that was my evening dog walking) .
So am I right in thinking that my calorie requirements are based on the assumption that i am exercising. ?
Reason I ask is because yesterday I had a car journey which took most of the day so exercise was definitely not a priority.
And now I've got another question.

I wasn't terribly hungry and didn't meet my calorie requirements for the day either.
I guess my other question is whether not meeting daily calorie requirements on occasion ( say once or twice a month) is
harmful. ? Does that lower metabolism?

AnnPT77 · January 14

Overheadfan wrote: »

Hi Everyone

Just a question about " eating exercise calories". What do other members do,?
When I set up MFP I set my exercise profile as exercising most days ( that was my evening dog walking) .
So am I right in thinking that my calorie requirements are based on the assumption that i am exercising. ?
Reason I ask is because yesterday I had a car journey which took most of the day so exercise was definitely not a priority.
And now I've got another question.
I wasn't terribly hungry and didn't meet my calorie requirements for the day either.
I guess my other question is whether not meeting daily calorie requirements on occasion ( say once or twice a month) is
harmful. ? Does that lower metabolism?

The exercise settings in your profile are not used in setting your calorie goal. The only activity-related setting that affects your goal is the activity level setting. If you didn't consider your intentional exercise in setting activity level - which is what MFP would intend - then you would log exercise when you do some, and eat those calories, too. That would not be double counting exercise.

Some people worry that exercise calories are overestimated, so only eat back a fraction of them to start, such as 50% or so. Not eating any, especially if someone has an aggressive weight loss rate target, can increase health risks.

I estimated my exercise calories carefully, and ate them all back, all through weight loss and the years of maintenance since. Since my exercise is seasonally variable, and weather-dependent in season, that approach has served me very well.

The data about exercise sessions in your profile is just used for some statistics and supposedly motivational messages as you go forward.

It's good to stick close to calorie goal the majority of the time, on average. If you have the occasional day when you're less hungry, it's fine to eat less. Ditto for eating more on the occasional day when you're more hungry. MFP resets calories at midnight, but our bodies don't. It's fine to average calories over a few days, and it will have essentially the same effect on body weight.

Overheadfan · January 19

Thank you for the info. That makes sense and I will take your advice of not eating my exercise calories. It'll be an easy way to " bank" calories for me to manage my occasional splurge ( I'm only on day 11 and haven't felt the need to splurge yet) without having to overly fixate on the calorie count. I'm pleasantly surprised by how tracking calories is easy and a " non issue" . I had imagined that being so focused on what I was consuming would lead me to be hung up on feeling resentful and ripped off.

In fact, I've found it that it's the opposite...its taken the pressure off and remove the angst around food choices.
I'm in charge, I eat what I want , instead of adhering to a "diet plan".

Weighing tomorrow..I'm taking a leap of faith and decided to weigh every week.
I'm determined to not let it be an issue...what ever the result. So far I'm enjoying the feeling of being control and
having agency in my food choices.
And I feel healthy and positive

Overheadfan · January 24

Hi everyone
I'm currently at 96 kgs and happily tracking without obsessing . The weigh ins don't freak me out anymore because I know I'm moving in the right direction ( even with occasional fluctuations) and I feel really relaxed about the process.
My eating had always been really clean over the decades so I was really shocked to see number on the scale and feel the weight pile on. The tracking highlighted how my quantities and calorie estimates had got really skewed.
I'm dining out this evening so I've included a super fast walking video to help counteract the potential extra calories.
I really like the way that MFP has basically freed me up to understand what's the best way forward. I'm not going to enjoy the eventual plateau that everyone seems to mention but I'll be turning to you all for more advice when that happens.

AnnPT77 · January 24

Overheadfan wrote: »

Hi everyone
I'm currently at 96 kgs and happily tracking without obsessing . The weigh ins don't freak me out anymore because I know I'm moving in the right direction ( even with occasional fluctuations) and I feel really relaxed about the process.
My eating had always been really clean over the decades so I was really shocked to see number on the scale and feel the weight pile on. The tracking highlighted how my quantities and calorie estimates had got really skewed.
I'm dining out this evening so I've included a super fast walking video to help counteract the potential extra calories.
I really like the way that MFP has basically freed me up to understand what's the best way forward. I'm not going to enjoy the eventual plateau that everyone seems to mention but I'll be turning to you all for more advice when that happens.

That's a happy outcome, @Overheadfan - I love to hear it. It sounds like you're on a great track, heading for success. Onward! :flowerforyou:

P.S. Plateau is possible, maybe even likely, but not necessarily inevitable. I never had one. . . though I only lost 50-some pounds so maybe that's why.

springlering62 · January 24

What a great thread and wonderful questions! It’s so awesome to see someone actually paying attention and absorbing the advice given from our great members!

That’s what worked for me- asking questions, reading the boards, and just simply learning.

Just a thought. If you’ve got an indoor pool nearby, check into aquafit classes. We have several late 70’s-mid 80’s ladies in my class. They put the 50-somethings to shame. They don’t whine or complain like the younger participants, they perform as directed, and just have a great attitude. And not a one of them look their age.

When I reach the point the weights, cardio etc are too much, I plan to keep the aquafit, walking and yoga in my daily rotation. They’re the ones I think will keep me “young” and fit.

Ready for a Change

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