52 years old; lost 52 pounds in 52 weeks!

greengold

I did it! Beginning last year on April 5th I set out to lose "about 50 lbs" - which soon became my 52-in-52 for this 52 year-old - and here I am, one year later, and I made it! (I actually overshot it by a pound, but I know that weight fluctuates - for all intents and purposes I am at right at GOAL.)

How I did it: started on South Beach for about 2 months, then modified it on my own, but still following the basic principles - balanced diet, mostly whole foods, locally grown or raised whenever possible, and cutting back on the carbs; I am also fighting diabetes - a high post-meal sugar is what got me started on this, since both parents were diagnosed with diabetes in their 50's. I was disappointed a few weeks ago to find that I may not have completely escaped it, but by losing weight and getting in shape, I have escaped the official diagnosis (A1C of 5.7; diabetes is 6.0); my physician told me that had I not done what I did, I would almost certainly have been diagnosed now or by the next visit. (A caveat if you look at my food diary: don't believe about 2/3 of the brands listed - I only use exisiting brands on MFP for convenience. Many times - esp. fruits, vegetables, beef, pork and chicken - are local or home-grown and not the brands listed.)

Now comes the really hard part - maintenance. I'm a little unsure about this part; it is going to take some trial and error, I am sure, to get it right. I also have new goals - fitness goals, including a race I am running in August (running again since November after not being able to for the past 12 years...) as well as seeing if I can get my A1C down a bit...

Sara1978

Congratulations!

SimplyDeLish

Congrats! You've done the hard work. Keep it up and you'll be happy and healthy for life!

niclagi

That is awesome. Congratulations!

rileamoyer

That is FANTASTIC! You did good!!!!! ;-)

jenneyd

big big grin~ way to go~ congratulations!! High 5! Wooohoo! Amazing, well done!

Godan2b

Excellent job and congrats, from a fellow 52 year older.

Good luck with the maintenance as well, it always seems to be one of the trickiest parts of staying healthy.

sandybeach11

Great job!!! What an inspiration!

LiL_MisS_C

Congradulations on your weightloss, greengold! You seem to know what you're doing so there's no doubt in my mind that you can maintain no problem!

spencj10

Good job.......

ErrataCorrige

Super impressive and very inspiring!

dwellsouth

Totally Amazing and Inspirational to say the least!!!! Congrats and keep up the awesome work!

campbellcjdm

Congrats! I did South Beach the first time I lost 25 pounds!! Slowly over about 4 years it came back, so I am trying to lose it again. I couldn't stand the site of South Beach menus any more, so I just eat right and exercise ... everything in moderation right :bigsmile:
My best recommendation is to get into a routine. Say Monday afterwork EVERY week. It will keep your metabolism up, and you will feel weird if you skip. When you start to skip REGULARLY and feel OK about it ... THAT is when you should have your AH-HA moment and get strict and in-line. If you do that ... you should be ok and it won't get so out of whack before you gasp one day when you step on the scale Truuuuuuuuuussssssssssssst me !!
(Oh - and a good goal helps to. I am bicycling 184 miles down the C&O canal trail in June with my son and the Boy Scouts - wooo whooo - I am double timing it and don't plan to put it back on when I get back - here's to ya !! :drinker: )

Mrsjenningsjr

52-52-52 sounds like some of the lucky powerball numbers :-)! Your weight loss may turn everyone into a winner, WTG, and congrats on your success!

greengold

Wow, how great to see all this encouragement in just a couple of hours!!!

mrsjenningsjr - Playing the numbers - what a great idea!!!

Rileamoyer - Nice ride on your ticker! (I ride too, but currently don't own a bike - have ridden for years though!) I see you are also at 52 pounds down; if I go from my highest weight, which was sometime around 2 years ago, I have lost 63lbs total...

DropsOJupiter

Amazing job!

Like you, I started this journey because of a T2 diabetes diagnosis. In 9/09 at age 54, my A1C was 11.2 and I woefully needed to lose a LOT of weight. The first 3 months, I did low carb solely to get the A1C down but only lost 8 pounds. I then began healthy eating, organic mostly and really focusing on exercise, cardio with a mix of weights. My A1C was 5.3 in 9/10 and I'd lost 108 pounds. Since then, I've not been as diligent with calories and "wimped out" a bit on the exercise. This resulted in me hovering around 120-125 lost, but back on the journey after that lengthy break.

The best message in all of this is that folks, no matter what age, can do it. You are a success and I will be there too. Thanks for the added inspiration!

greengold

Wow -getting your A1C down to 5.3 from over 11 in a year! (the weight loss is impressive too!) - but that does give me hope! I know that as long as I can keep it in the 5's I won't have the diagnosis, and more importantly, the consequences - both of my parents had strokes so I have a clear and very unpleasant vision of where it could go!