Hi Everyone!

ShelleyW1109

I’m Shelley, 41, and apparently at the magical age where looking at a biscuit makes me gain half a pound. I’ve finally decided it’s time to stop blaming the laundry shrinkage on the washing machine and start taking my health seriously.

I’ve got a desk job (translation: Olympic-level sitter), and I’m lucky if I hit 3,000 steps a day—most of those are probably just trips to the kettle. I’m also a fussy eater who likes plain, simple food, so the whole “healthy and tasty” combo feels like some kind of wizardry I haven’t mastered yet.

But here I am, Day 1, ready to give it a go and hoping to find some like-minded legends to share the highs, lows, and snack attacks with. Accountability, tips, and a bit of banter would be very welcome!

Let’s do this—one (reluctant) vegetable at a time!

capgordon76

U got this

mar_sbar

Hi Shelley, welcome. You'll find many helpful people and resources here. Enjoy!

AnnPT77

Hi, Shelley, and welcome!

Here's the good news: It's not a problem of metabolism with age. Recent research suggests our metabolisms are quite stable from 20s to 60s, after which there's a gradual decline in calorie needs from a metabolic standpoint.

Why is that good news? Because it implies that those changes with age are primarily factors completely under our personal control.

As a vast overgeneralization, most of us gradually and subtly have less vigorous lifestyles as we age: Less physical jobs, less walking/biking and more door-to-door driving, less physical social stuff (more dinner parties and theaters, less frisbee and dancing, etc.), eventually perhaps less chasing toddlers, more contracting for services we used to DIY, fewer home improvement projects and more enjoyment of the completed ones, etc.

Sure, exercise and steps can be part of changing that, but they're not the only options. There are ways to introduce more movement into daily non-exercise life, and potentially burn low hundreds of calories more daily. Various MFP-ers share their ideas about that here:

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

Another thing that can matter - and may be especially common for us as women - is the gradual loss of muscle mass from a combination of aging and reduced activity. A pound of muscle burns a tiny number of calories more daily than a pound of fat, but I think the bigger deal is that being less physically strong or fit makes movement more difficult and less fun, so we tend to move less in various parts of life. I'm sure you can see the potential down-spiral there: Lose muscle mass, move less, lose even more muscle mass . . . etc.

That's why you'll see so many fancy weight loss programs aimed at aging women that say we should lift weights. Lifting weights is one option, and probably the most efficient, but any strength-challenging activity is helpful. As a bonus, getting stronger muscles is useful in daily life, looks attractive, and helps strengthen our bones and minimize the risk of osteoporosis that literally compromises and even shortens many women's later lives.

Strength/fitness improvement is a bit of a slow-build long-term investment, but very worthwhile. If you can find some activities that you enjoy - or at least find tolerable and practical - that challenge your strength and get heart rate up a manageable bit, those will burn more calories when you do them, and have a lot of long-term payoffs.

The eating side is where quicker improvements can happen, but "lose weight fast" isn't usually a great plan. What's better? IMO, a search for manageable, positive new routine eating and activity habits that gradually lead us to a healthy weight, and then keep us there long term, ideally permanently.

Strictly speaking, just eating the right number of calories is the key to weight loss. You can keep eating the foods you enjoy, but do some rearranging of portion sizes and frequencies of some calorie-dense foods, and lose weight. Figuring out how to do that while staying mostly full and happy might require increasing portions of some less calorie-dense things, sure. But there's no "must eat only diet foods, can't have treats" inherent rule.

Many of us find that when we start logging food, some easy calorie cuts jump right out. You don't have to hit perfect calories instantly; if you prefer, you can start logging what you eat now, and working your way toward the calorie goal with incremental changes. That approach helps build those positive, sustainable new routine habits. If your current eating routine isn't crazy-unhealthful, it's not essential to totally revolutionize everything overnight nutritionally.

Good overall nutrition does promote long-term good health, and that obviously involves more than merely calories. Getting enough protein is a huge thing, something many women lowball for some reason. We also need adequate healthy fats.

Beyond that, well-rounded micronutrients and adequate fiber are also a good thing, and that's where the veggies and fruits come in. It sounds like you haven't been loving those, maybe? That's also a thing a person can work at gradually. Maybe try some new things, and try different ways of prepping them? Quite a few people here have reported success that way. As one specific, many people find roasted veggies more satisfying and tasty than boiled/steamed or raw. Sometimes I even make a big batch of those, eat some hot out of the over, and save others in the fridge to use in meals later in the week.

Also, some people don't realize that frozen veggies are as health-promoting as fresh ones, if that makes life easier - in fact, they may be slightly higher in nutrients because they're flash-frozen recently out of the field, where as fresh ones - from other than the farmers market - have often been in a truck for days.

For sure, crazy complex things aren't required: Plain and simple works. Most people will find simple foods - meat, fish, veggies, fruits, whole grains - more filling than highly-processed, refined ones. They also tend to be more nutrient-dense.

This all can be quite achievable, not as complex or difficult as many people assume at first. Find some ways to move more and be happy doing it, log food and tweak the routine eating habits to stay mostly full and happy but get to reasonable calories and nutrition. It's not psychologically easy every second, of course, because old habits tend to be sticky. 😉 But it's achievable, and the rewards are worth the effort investment, IME.

Wishing you success!