I'm New Here

DebSchmidt3789

HI! I'm Deb and a first time member to My Fitness Pal. I'm a senior, so losing weight and getting healthier is a real challenge. I'd love to hear some success stories if you'd like to share. My first goal was to be sure to eat at least two servings if fruit every day and I've done that for 9 days straight. It's a start. Hope to hear back. Thanks.

springlering62

Hi @DebSchmidt3789

Welcome to MFP!

I started here in late 2018, age 56, at 222+. (Couldn’t bear to weigh myself at that point.)

It took a while to get in gear, but I read the boards assiduously for advice and experience. That was what really got me going.

Reading the boards let me know about - and expect- daily fluctuations, know what a woosh was, know that I’d pick up temporary water weight after a flight, or an injury.

The folks here gave me advice when I started at the gym, took me to task for wearing cheap running shoes that tore up my feet (tbh never even thought about those shoes as a source of my foot problems!), and gave me advice when I took up swimming. They cheered me when I got my very first head stand, at age 57.

I started at 1470 calories and by the end of six months was up to 2170 per day and still losing weight. As I lost, movement became so much easier, and I relished it and just couldn’t stop. I had a lifetime of movement to catch up on. Well, at least the three decades I spent overweight and obese.

It wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d expected or been led to believe by others, by media, by the “they say” crowd. In fact, it wasn’t until well into my weight loss that I realized “they say” weight loss is impossible for pre/post/mid menopausal women. Nonsense. We’ve just wound down our activity but ramped up eating at the same time.

I actually feel very blessed I hadn’t heard that because so many people here take the “oh you can’t” to heart and rationalize their failure to lose.

Weigh and log carefully, mind your calorie goals (you’re gonna slip up, that’s just a fact of life), read the boards at least ten minutes a day, and create a good pack of friends. It’s not their job to “support” you by nagging, but good friends will share everything from calorie cutting ideas to recipes to pics of the dog to their frustration and what they did/are doing to move past it.

This app WORKS. I am living testament, right here, on my exercise bike as I type this lol.

I’m currently up a few pounds of that temporary water weight (fell of a bike and skint or jammed every darned thing it was possible to) but I am still in the best shape of my life and doing stuff that the swelling doesn’t exacerbate. I can’t stand to sit still these days, as many others here will say, too. I’ve not only lost pounds, I’ve definitely lost years, too. Playing on my granddaughters Hippity Hop and watching her eyes get big as marbles? Priceless!

I wish that for you, too. Feel free to ask anything. I have no limits lol.

MargaretYakoda

Hi Deb! Welcome to MFP!
Love that goal! I love fruit!

One thing I have recently discovered is freeze dried fruit! Such a treat!

My local grocery has freeze dried apples and bananas. I’ve found freeze dried mango and pear and even kiwi on amazon. They’re like candy they’re so good. But it’s fruit!

I also really like an apple variety called Rocket apples. I think they’re from Australia? But Safeway (my local big chain) has them in 5 pound tubs. They’re sweet and crunchy, and extra small. Just a little snacklet, they are.

springlering62

If you’ve got a Lidl (USA) near you, check near the coffee for dried fruits, etc. most people don’t go to that area and they have some good options.

I’m crazy about their freeze dried coconut. It’s high calorie but a little goes a long way. I usually crush a few grams over my breakfast or my evening ice cream (homemade, low cal, sugar free and skyr based. Its not Breyers but it is realllllly good.)

AnnPT77

Great advice from Springlering62 up there about the "how to".

I've just GOT to quote this bit, with which I agree 100%:

springlering62 wrote: »

. . .
It wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d expected or been led to believe by others, by media, by the “they say” crowd. In fact, it wasn’t until well into my weight loss that I realized “they say” weight loss is impossible for pre/post/mid menopausal women. Nonsense. We’ve just wound down our activity but ramped up eating at the same time.

I actually feel very blessed I hadn’t heard that because so many people here take the “oh you can’t” to heart and rationalize their failure to lose.
. . .

Mindset is a big deal.

I joined MFP at age 59, back in 2015, class 1 obese, with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Because I was menopausal, severely hypothyroid (medicated), and already quite athletically active but not losing weight from that, I thought I had the dreaded "slow metabolism". NopeNopeNOPE.

Once I started carefully and consistently logging what I ate, it became patently obvious that I was simply eating too darned much food. MFP helped me reach a healthy weight in less than a year - without materially increasing exercise. That, after 30 previous years of overweight/obesity. I've remained at a healthy weight since, now age 68.

I didn't even much change the range of foods I eat, just the portion sizes, proportions on the plate, and frequency of some calorie-dense foods. (I admit I was already eating a lot of healthy food, just too much of it.)

Once I committed to figuring out the right personalized tactics for me, and stuck with it, it was so much easier than I expected that I could kick myself for not doing it decades earlier.

The quality of life improvement has been huge. Oh, and no more high blood pressure or high cholesterol. In fact, my primary care doc recently told me my cholesterol was "phenomenal" (with emphasis). On top of that the frequency and severity of pain/discomfort from my osteoarthritis and torn meniscus decreased significantly (though a bit gradually), after I wasn't carting around all those extra pounds every day.

I'm not any kind of special unicorn. In fact, I'm a hedonistic aging hippie flake with a severely limited supply of motivation, willpower or discipline. I think that if I can do it, most anyone can.

I'll bet you can, too. I'm cheering for you!