Moms over 40.....

Givemewings

Hi. I'm 42 with two sons aged 8 and 10 and a stepson of 13. . I have gained my weight gradually over the last few years. I stopped exercising and pretty much ate whatever I felt like eating. I decided in April that enough was enough. I was tired doing simple things like walking up a flight of stairs and didn't like what I saw in photos at all. I felt tired all the time and was not a good role model to my boys.
MFP has been a revelation to me. It is the first time I have ever counted calories...the website makes this easy and I am actually addicted now. This cant be a bad addiction...it has helped me to lose more than 20lbs. I am almost half way to my goal now and I feel healthier and fitter than I have in such a long time. As someone else already said, I don't want to be the fat mum! And their isn't any reason I can't get back to pre-pregnancy weight or get really fit. So I have decided to do it! I exercise almost every day ( there have been the odd rest days but your body needs these to recover anyway) and log on to mfp for support and inspiration. I can't wait to show everyone what I am capable of achieving!

JeSuisPrest

So glad to see more of you have found this thread. I upped my calories, hoping that will bring me some change. This is frustrating, 40 days of sticking to this plan and my weight has not changed. I plan on re-taking measurements in two weeks, I figure I will do that monthly. But yet, I still am determined to do this and here we all are to support one another. Wonderful!!!

circusmom

So glad to see more of you have found this thread. I upped my calories, hoping that will bring me some change. This is frustrating, 40 days of sticking to this plan and my weight has not changed. I plan on re-taking measurements in two weeks, I figure I will do that monthly. But yet, I still am determined to do this and here we all are to support one another. Wonderful!!!

Taking measurements is a great idea!! Last month I was so disappointed because I only lost one pound, the whole month. Then when I took my measurements I saw that I had lost 1 1/2 in off my waist! I was so thrilled, I'll take losing inches over losing pounds any day!!
It took some trial and error to find the right balance of calories and exercise that works for you. I found that I have to keep my carbs between 35 & 40% or I won't lose anything (white carbs are not my friend). Never had that problem when I was younger, only for the last 3 years.
Keep with it, you'll see the results.

Monica_in_MO

I know I'm way late to the party, but I guess I'll chime in anyway. : ) I am a 42 year old mom of three teenagers. (ages 18, 16, 14) I decided on Dec. 28, 2010 that I was finally going to focus on me and get myself out of this terrible shape that I had just "tolerated" for the last 15 or so years. I have lost 56 pounds to date and would like to lose another 24 by Dec. 28, 2011. I try to workout in all different ways because I get bored easily, so I do a body chisel class twice a week, elliptical trainer, treadmill, hiking, biking, stairmaster, tennis, etc. I just started the Turbofire workouts yesterday and I loved the first one. I try to eat about 80% clean and eat back about half of my exercise calories. I am loving the new found confidence and the way I feel. I can't see myself EVER returning to my former ways. I am going to be sending a few friend requests. It would be great to have some friends in the same "life stage" as myself to accompany me on my journey.

Mom2rh

Hi! I'm 48 with a 16 year old and 7 year old. I started my current journey in mid March after coming back from a trip to Paris and seeing the beautiful thin and fit French women. I'm kind of languishing at my current weight and trying to lose my last 7 or 8 pounds before a girls trip to Hawaii in October.

rdvincent

it is so hard to get time to get out, my hubby works long hours, I have 2 young kids and care full time for an elderly lady who is paralyzed on the left side and has dementia, THANK GOD for my oldest son Jesse and my baby from team A Ben who wants me to succeed,they came over today, and stayed while I went on a nice 8 mile bike ride! LOVE THEM!!

duckpond11

Ok...ladies, I'm beginning to feel better about this. Spoke to two friends of mine last night who are also ont his journey, one of which gave me some great advice. So I'm bumping up my calories. Between talking to her and reading an article from shape.com which advise women should eat between 1500-1800 calories a day in order to lose weight, it is what I will try. For once I really and truly want to do this. My husband and my 3 sons have been and are so supportive. I am blessed!!!

Alicia, I just did the same thing, bumped my calories up to 1500. I was getting nowhere with 1200. Of course, I am still getting nowhere, but it's only been a week .

joycemhall

Hi, I'm 48 and mother of three....2 sons ages 28 and 24 and a daughter who's almost 18 & I have 2 grandkids. I started my journey in March. I have battled my weight my entire life and was ashamed to be the heaviest I have ever been. This is the first time I have lost the weight from a change in lifestyle rather than a fad diet, diet pills, etc, and this is the first time I feel like I can stick to it. I've lost over 36 lbs to date and over 23 inches overall. I try to exercise 6 days a week with walking and P90X. I feel better than I have in years:happy: I have 24 pounds to go & will the re-evaluate my goals.

JeSuisPrest

Wow, Joyce....fantastic! Any words of wisdom to share with us?

I am still struggling a bit. I've raised my calorie limit, I exercise daily, I eat back some of those exercise calories and still no movement on the scale! I know I need to give it time. My husband has been complimenting me telling me to forget the scale, I'm looking better he says. But I just want the recognition of the scale.

How is everybody else doing?

JeSuisPrest

Ok...ladies, I'm beginning to feel better about this. Spoke to two friends of mine last night who are also ont his journey, one of which gave me some great advice. So I'm bumping up my calories. Between talking to her and reading an article from shape.com which advise women should eat between 1500-1800 calories a day in order to lose weight, it is what I will try. For once I really and truly want to do this. My husband and my 3 sons have been and are so supportive. I am blessed!!!

Alicia, I just did the same thing, bumped my calories up to 1500. I was getting nowhere with 1200. Of course, I am still getting nowhere, but it's only been a week .

I feel the same way, just a small movement downward on that darned scale would bring me pleasure. I am not giving up...I will do this. But the feelings of discouragement keeping sneaking back in.

duckpond11

Ok...ladies, I'm beginning to feel better about this. Spoke to two friends of mine last night who are also ont his journey, one of which gave me some great advice. So I'm bumping up my calories. Between talking to her and reading an article from shape.com which advise women should eat between 1500-1800 calories a day in order to lose weight, it is what I will try. For once I really and truly want to do this. My husband and my 3 sons have been and are so supportive. I am blessed!!!

Alicia, I just did the same thing, bumped my calories up to 1500. I was getting nowhere with 1200. Of course, I am still getting nowhere, but it's only been a week .

I feel the same way, just a small movement downward on that darned scale would bring me pleasure. I am not giving up...I will do this. But the feelings of discouragement keeping sneaking back in.

Don't you give up! Here's what I'm doing - I'm trying to focus on getting my exercise consistent, consistently logging and generally trying to stay within 100 cal of my target (plus eat all exercise cals). Beyond that, what else can I do? In a month I'm doing measurements + body fat measurement. If I see zero movement at all, then I'm going to see my doctor -- because something must be wrong. But I'm guessing their will be (slow) movement. Whatever you do, don't let that stupid scale tell you whether or not you are making progress - every day you stay committed is progress, we are in here for long term.

bjohs

Please share your success stories. I'm 43 yrs old, am down 10 lbs, excercising like I never have before. Been on and off this wagon since April. Since having children,( my oldest is 17, middle one 14 and my baby is about to turn 10!) ,I have been overweight. And finally for the first time since then, I am serious about getting myself back into shape. A little late, for sure, but working at it. Please tell me how you did it!!

I've posted this a couple times in the last day or two, but I am also 43 years old and a mother to two young children. My starting weight was 157.0. You can read what I did in the link below my ticker called My Journey. Today I'm 123.0 with a goal weight of 122.0. Here are my before/after pics:



This is a comparison from 1986 and 2011 when I weighed about the same weight.



You CAN do this!!! Never give up... and the best of luck to you on your journey!

sahalcomb

Hey everyone! I'm 41 (almost 42) & the mom of 3 great kids, 21, 15 & 14. I've been up and down on the scale for my entire life and being only 5'2", that really stinks! I lost 30+ lbs ten years ago and kept it off for about five yrs. Then life took over, combined with horrible eating habits and a crazy lazy exercise approach, & I have gained all that I had lost and even gained another 30 lbs on top of that! My starting weight was the heaviest I've ever been and I realized I had to do something...for me! Six weeks in and 14 lbs gone, I feel so much better---physically and mentally. It feels great to put forth the effort and see results! I log in my calories, try to stay under goal, eat more healthy, exercise 6 days a week and try to read something motivational every day to stay excited about this journey! I know I didn't put it on overnight and that it won't come off overnight... it's all about the journey back to ME! Good luck to everyone...we can do this!

rat70

I am a mum over 40. I have three children who are turning 9, 7 and 5 - all in the coming 6 weeks (birthday season - eek)! I turned 41 in May and started with MFP the following month and I think I have finally found the right formula for success with my weight loss! I have pretty much always been overweight but since having kids I reached obese. My highest weight and MFP starting weight was 90.5kg (I'm in Australia but that is 199.6lb) - I am 5'3". Today I weighed myself (but have not yet recorded it on MFP because I do that on Mondays) and I was 83.2kg (183.5lb) so I'm pretty pleased with my progress. It has taken some shifting around with my calorie goal (it is now higher in line with what Fat2Fit Radio recommends) but if this weeks' progress is what it looks like being, I think the increased calories is working. My goal is currently 1630 but I also eat my exercise calories, or most of them.

But the thing I am most proud of is completing the Couch to 5K program and now running 5km once a week. I have never set and met a fitness goal of this kind as far as I can remember - certainly not running! I run three times a week for at least half and hour and twice a week I go to the gym for my weights program and light cardio. I rest two days a week unless we do something active as a family on the weekend.

Anyway, that is a bit about me. Send a friend request if you like. It is great to have the support of other women who are of a similar age.

drift

Hi, I'm 50 in a couple of months and my (adopted, no excuse there) daughter is 6. I've been using Mfp for a few months and it took a couple of months of consistent logging and being mindful of calories for the scale to start to move. Luckily I had also started measuring my waist before then and was encouraged by the loss of inches. Apart from cleaning and mowing the lawn ( big garden) I go to pilates classes once or twice a week, it's harder to go in the holidays...
Am more motivated now the scale is moving too and I'm on track for 85 kilos for my holidays in three weeks. Good luck to you and the other Mums

daybyday

I just turned 43 last week! I started this journey April 2010. I began by counting calories with MFP and moving. (sitting on the couch and eating until you are absolutely stuffed is not a good plan). I usually do the elliptical. This past June I had foot surgery so I haven't been able to exercise but I've still been counting calories and I have only gained 1 pound. Anyway, feel free to friend me. My profile tells a little more of my story

kirsteinm

I'm 47 and my wee one is 19. My journey started in May when I hurt my back. It was a rude awakening because I never really did anything about my weight other than complain. Now it was causing a problem so I had to get serious. So my sister in law turned me on to MFP. I joined right away and have become somewhat obsessed with what goes in my mouth and getting my body moving. I began eating cleaningly and exercising everyday at home. I stick the stationary bike right in front of the TV (because that is where the rest of my couch potatoes are) and I bike away. I also worry more about what Im eating rather than what they are eating (Mother of the year candidate? Maybe not but yesterday my daughter wrote me the sweetest note telling me how proud she was of me so maybe so... ) Every so often I have add strength training to my cardio so I dont plateau but so far I have been successful without starving or even depriving myself. I dont think I would have every kept it up without MFP and the friends I have made here. I MFP, it has been a key tool in giving me my life back.

Cooriander

I am 47 and have 3 young kids - 6, 8 and 10. I lost 11 lbs so far (10 since joining MFP)... I am trying to avoid health issues that my mother is having right now and I hoped getting fit would be a good weapon. I just hit perimeopause (well 2 years ago) and I may have already menopaused by now..... ugh. and yes I think that increased my weight then along with the stress I had for the last 2-3 years. BUT I feel great now!

I do intense cardio right now on my elliptical and it makes me feel great. I also started JM's ab DVD it is hard and I hope I can stick with it. I also do lots of vitamins! and kefir (: one daily and I weigh myself daily.

JeSuisPrest

Finally my scale has moved down again. I raised my calorie intake and started eating back half my excercise and lo and behold the scale went down two pounds!!!!!

julsofdenial

Finally my scale has moved down again. I raised my calorie intake and started eating back half my excercise and lo and behold the scale went down two pounds!!!!!

Wow that is awesome news!! Congrats on the success and keep up the good work