Hi, I am 55F and would love some encouragement and friends to share this journey

Vexxed2021

Hi! I am 55f and have been fighting my weight for a few decades. I need two new knees and I am beyond the age where weight is taking a toll on my health. I want my next few decades to be awesome, so I am working this weight off one way or another! Arthritis, menopause, depression, prediabetes, HRT, GLP-1, you name it, I got it going on 🤪 Anyone with similar issues who needs a cheerleader, I will help! I’d love to hear from anyone, any age, who is supportive and kind! Thanks!

AnnPT77

Hello and welcome!

Lemme see, I've got the arthritis and menopause, plus some you didn't mention, severe hypothyroidism (medicated), sleep apnea, sleep interruption insomnia even after apnea treatment, osteoporosis. I lost from class 1 obese to a healthy weight back in 2015-16 (at age 59-60) before GLP-1s were common (so I didn't use them), can't use HRT because of a history of estrogen-fed breast cancer. We have a few things in common, but not everything.

I have to say, comparatively speaking, my 60s were hugely better than my 40s/50s, and 70 - where I am now - is looking pretty good, too. It's been 15 or so years since my orthopedic surgeon said I could defer knee surgery as long as I could tolerate discomfort and still do what I want to do, but that I'd be looking at least some clean-up surgery, and long-term looking at knee replacement. I still haven't needed either one, fortunately. I guess that's an "interrupted the cycle kinda in time" thing, so far? I'll probably need some of those surgeries eventually, if I live that long.

Losing 50 pounds, down to a healthy weight, then staying there: That has dramatically reduced stress on my joints, and thankfully also dramatically reduced frequency and severity of pain from arthritis and at least one unrepaired torn meniscus . . . surprisingly much, honestly. In addition to musculoskeletal improvements, things like my blood tests and blood pressure became solidly normal, and my overall subjective sense of well-being has improved. (Maybe reduced systemic inflammation is part of that? Dunno. But I feel good, and I'm not going to obsess about all of the "why". 😉)

But I'm yammering on: Apologies. Mostly, I just wanted to say this: For me, weight loss has been a huge quality of life improvement. Ditto for gradually improving strength, mobility, and functional abilities through gradually progressing but manageable exercise.

Since I didn't commit to weight loss until age 59, I'm pretty sure you can find significant improvement starting at 55, if you stick with it. Make a realistic plan, keep chipping away at it, improve it by using any oopsies as a learning/plan-improvement opportunity, and just. keep. going. I'm betting you can amaze yourself with how far you can progress. Forty-something me wouldn't even begin to believe how good 70 y/o me's life is.

I'm cheering for you to succeed!