Does age effect ability to lose weight?

gammybarb

I will be 66 in a couple of weeks. I once weighed 280 pounds and lost 125 lbs. . I had to gain some with cancer treatments 5 years ago and afterward lost the weight I had gained back. This past year I begin to gain again. What I discovered was not that I was now older but I was slower. Now that I am trying to be active and exercise at least 5 times a week I am losing the weight again at a nice pace. I am inbetween on the age thing.

dcdickerson2

Amen, thank you for understanding where I was coming from. I have worked and worked on my lifestyle - I now eat 90% from the perimeter of the grocery store - fresh, whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, skim or low fat dairy, chicken, fish, lean meat occasionally, good quality bread or whole grain pasta sparingly, etc. Most of my meals I make myself, fast food is a no-no, and I'm careful in restaurants. So I know I'm eating the right kinds of foods. Now it is learning to be satisfied with less quantity and almost NEVER indulging in snacks or anything else. Easy for a week, harder for a lifestyle.

czechsmate

Right, so you're telling me that with age it becomes harder to stop putting food into your mouth? You can't gain weight without eating nor can you lose weight without being in a caloric deficit. Stop trying to overcomplicate such a basic idea.

Disregard exercise right now it has nothing to do with weight loss. Let me break this down even more for all of you fitness guru's. There's 3500 calories in a pound of body weight. If in one week I stay in a 500 calorie deficit meaning after 7 days I've burned 3500 calories, what it in the world makes you think I being 22 will lose 1 lb of body weight however this person at 60 will not? Are you all being serious right now, and I'm not trying to be a smart *kitten* but my goodness this is so simple. She can live a completely sedentary life for all I care if she's eating at a deficit weight will be lost. Plain and simple.

Stop being obtuse.

What you're failing to understand is that as you age it becomes more difficult to create that deficit.

Age 67; run twice during week for 30 minutes and long run on weeknds 6 to 13 miles; cross train twice a week. no problem losing wieght if I stay under 1700 net calories a day. I haven't noticed any age-related changes.

And a person half your age would be able to lose weight while eating more and exercising less.

What the hell are you talking about?

Get your head out of your *kitten*.

An older person will have to eat less and exercise more to have the same results as a younger person.

What part of that are you failing to understand???

Thank you:flowerforyou: I am 50 will be 51 in a few months...most definately in menopause. I have been religous about tracking my food and most everyday under cals. I have been working out 5 to 6 days a week and the last 4 weeks weight training/lifting 45 to 50 mins with 30 to 45 mins of cardio. I will eat at least half of my exercise calories back and I have only lost 8 lbs so far since the middle of Sept. Before I turned 40 I weighed an average of between 120 and 125...ate whatever I wanted and was not as active as I am now. Age for women does indeed make a difference, we have to be very concious of our calorie intake and we have to work our a$$es off to boot!

Semperfione

I agree whole heartedly with you Beth, I was in the Marines for nine yrs. Ran five miles per day to keep in shape. I am now 60, have had arthritis throughout my body, it even took out the ball joint in my shoulder, now have total replacemenrt, so it does matter if one can lose as easily as we use to do so at a younger age. I am fighting everyday to lose weight, but more so by losing inches. In fact that is happening now more so than I did when I first started this journey.

The question is not can a person lose, it is....is it harder to lose? Yes is the answer. Your an inspiration to me so keep going and it will drop, inches as well.

Wishing all on this post the best of success possible. Just hang tight and it will happen....we all can prove this statement by being consistent.

Julesjhj

I believe our society = The Standard American Diet (SAD) is the reason for obesity and likewise the reason we all struggle with losing weight. I am 45, and yes my weight is distributed differently than it was when I was 20 but I am in better shape and have had an easier time losing weight now, than ever in my life!

I don't necessarily agree with calories in-calories out...shocking, I know right?? I also think that the food pyramid, BMI and weight/height charts are incorrect.

After trying every "diet" over the last 25 years I have realized that it's about the quality of what you feed your body and that 3 square meals or 6 mini meals is not the answer. We are so programmed to eat. Eating revolves around everything in our society. It's why we are an obese nation. Our bodies are an incredible tool. I keep pushing mine every week and I am amazed at the results I am getting at my age. Incorporating increasingly higher weights, cardio and keeping my body "guessing" have made a huge difference in my weightloss over the last several years.

What I'm trying to say is that I will NOT let my age or government charts/studies decide what I should eat or how I should exercise....when everything I have been doing has been the total opposite.....and I have never felt better physically in my 45 years of life.

PJilly

I think there's truth on both sides of the argument. I am 51, and I've been more successful in weight loss in the last two years than I'd been in the 30 years before this, so I would have to say that age has not affected my ability to lose weight. That doesn't mean I don't have less muscle mass or a slower metabolism than I had 30 years ago. Those both may be true, but that just means the amount of calories I need to eat to lose weight now is less than it was then, not that I am less able to do it.

grannygethealthy1111

Only a male in his 20s would think he is an expert on estrogen and aging. Hee! Hee!

ESTROGEN MAKES TISSUES SENSITIVE TO INSULIN. Insulin is a hormone that is secreted in response to increased levels of blood sugar. While insulin is needed for sugar to enter the body’s cells where it is used for energy, insulin also stimulates the production of fat and inhibits the breakdown of fat.

When tissues lose their sensitivity to insulin, which is what occurs when estrogen levels drop, the pancreas has to secrete increasing amounts of this hormone to get sugar from the bloodstream into the body’s cells. Not surprisingly, this increased amount of insulin also causes weight gain – and makes it very difficult to lose weight.

ESTROGEN DECREASES FAT SYNTHESIS. At normal levels, estrogen decreases the activity of lipoprotein lipase,an enzyme involved in fat synthesis. When estrogen levels fall you lose this beneficial effect and fat synthesis increases.

ESTROGEN MAINTAINS MUSCLE MASS. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, so the loss of muscle mass that occurs when estrogen levels drop slows metabolism. This means you burn fewer calories at rest.

ESTROGEN BOOSTS ENERGY. Because estrogen is an energy booster, the estrogen deficiency that occurs during menopause causes fatigue. When you are fatigued you tend to exercise less.

Once again, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a loss of energy can result in weight gain.

I am 61-years-old and I have lost 106 pounds. It IS doable, but it is definitely more difficult to lose weight as you age. For the above reasons (ESTROGEN) or lack thereof at my age, my metabolism is much slower than yours naturally for my age, I have lost up to 20% of my bone mass after menopause, where I gain weight is affected by menopause and aging, and the changes in hormone levels increase my appetite and make me feel not as full after eating.

How do I know all of this? Because I have LIVED IT.

Jeff92se

I think age plays a factor as it pertains to muscle mass retention. IMHO. That's why at 43, I still try to lift. To retain or gain as much as I can.

Exercise. When I was in college, I could workout and then play b-ball 2-3 hours easy. Then come back the next day and do it again. Now, I'm pretty sore and can't keep up that level of activity. So less calories burnt.

I'm able to make gains today because I'm much smarter about what I do and eat than I was 20 years ago

cirellim

Never claimed to be an expert here in fact there's been multiple times on here I've stated that I am not in fact a nutritional expert, and all of you say I'm turning a blind eye to your "facts" when in reality all of you turn back to one thing, exercise. My argument has absolutely nothing, nothing, one more time NOTHING to do with exercise. I'm simply stating that if I restricting calories creates weight loss regardless of age. Not to mention the studies are great and all but anyone can manipulate a research study to make the end results what they want them to be. Have you ever considered some of these MD's are in the business of making money and creating "weight loss" products/solutions for the elderly therefore they conduct such studies that shockingly prove to people why their product would be oh so very effective for them to use because their "metabolic rate has slowed" or they're "losing muscle mass so quickly their bodies will not be able to keep up." Sorry I don't believe everything I read, but you can all continue to do so this will be my last post because clearly this is going no where just a bunch of older people trying to attack me because they can't accept that things change. Go back to your atkins/south beach and whatever other garbage diets you use and then come back to me in 3 months when the results vanish along with your motivation. Why? Because none of those diets look at the most basic idea of calories in vs out.

Jeff92se

I haven't read too many "older" people here talking about any specific diet. I think if we are HERE, we are considering calories in / out right?

LabRat529

Never claimed to be an expert here in fact there's been multiple times on here I've stated that I am not in fact a nutritional expert, and all of you say I'm turning a blind eye to your "facts" when in reality all of you turn back to one thing, exercise. My argument has absolutely nothing, nothing, one more time NOTHING to do with exercise. I'm simply stating that if I restricting calories creates weight loss regardless of age. Not to mention the studies are great and all but anyone can manipulate a research study to make the end results what they want them to be. Have you ever considered some of these MD's are in the business of making money and creating "weight loss" products/solutions for the elderly therefore they conduct such studies that shockingly prove to people why their product would be oh so very effective for them to use because their "metabolic rate has slowed" or they're "losing muscle mass so quickly their bodies will not be able to keep up." Sorry I don't believe everything I read, but you can all continue to do so this will be my last post because clearly this is going no where just a bunch of older people trying to attack me because they can't accept that things change. Go back to your atkins/south beach and whatever other garbage diets you use and then come back to me in 3 months when the results vanish along with your motivation. Why? Because none of those diets look at the most basic idea of calories in vs out.

If you don't believe everything you read, then why the hell did you ask us to show you ONE good study in a quality journal and promise to retract your claims if someone could?

Demonstrate a little intellectual honest here, please?

Why don't you just say: I have my bias and I'm going to stick with that particular bias and the rest of you can go to hell?

THAT would be honest.

You are being entirely too simplistic. And we are NOT just talking about exercise. Let's pretend we magically follow a sedentary man or woman throughout his/her life. That individual will have a more higher metabolism at 20 than he/she will at 60 even if he/she doesn't exercise and even if body mass stays the same. One reason for this is sarcopenia- muscle wasting. Their body composition would change. They'd lose muscle mass, especially if they don't exercise. As others have pointed out, there are differences in insulin sensitivity, and so on. I'm a neuroscientist, not really a human physiologist. My area of expertise is brain cell death in stroke, traumatic brian injury, and neurodegenerative diseases. Stoke and neurodegenerative diseases are much more common in older populations than in younger... and why is it? Because our bodies change with age. They become less efficient. They can't repair themselves as well... and that's true in just about every organ in your body, brain included. All things being equal, a 20 year old heart is healthier than a 60 year old heart... and so on.

Even the most basic cellular mechanisms lose efficiency. You know... those cellular mechanisms that determine how well you repair proteins, etc...

Its simple science.

So while you're correct that age shouldn't be used as an excuse and that PRINCIPLES of weight loss in the elderly are the same, you are flat-out wrong in everything else you're claiming.

Those MD's you're talking about, that have supposedly created weight loss products and are getting rich? Most MDs are sincerely interested in helping people. A small few are more interested in lining their pockets. Even the atkins diets you're bashing are based on the idea that they might help people. I am about as far from being an ketogenic-diet supporter as they come... but you are absolutely wrong that they don't look at calories in vs. calories out. They don't count calories specifically, but that's because people usually eat fewer calories naturally when on those diets because they are satiated by the fat.

So... believe what you want... continue to preach that the world is flat if you wish. The rest of us will preach that it's round.

gammybarb

Oh I definately agree it's calories in, calories out. A pound is a pound the world around. I do believe however, that muscle mass burns calories better and is leaner than fat and it's hard after 60 to develop more muscle mass if you have other age related issues such as degenerative disc and spinal stenosis. Add to that Mr. Arthur Itis and a list of other joint problems and walking and light exercise is an effort on a daily basis. Sometimes on a weekly basis.

czechsmate

Never claimed to be an expert here in fact there's been multiple times on here I've stated that I am not in fact a nutritional expert, and all of you say I'm turning a blind eye to your "facts" when in reality all of you turn back to one thing, exercise. My argument has absolutely nothing, nothing, one more time NOTHING to do with exercise. I'm simply stating that if I restricting calories creates weight loss regardless of age. Not to mention the studies are great and all but anyone can manipulate a research study to make the end results what they want them to be. Have you ever considered some of these MD's are in the business of making money and creating "weight loss" products/solutions for the elderly therefore they conduct such studies that shockingly prove to people why their product would be oh so very effective for them to use because their "metabolic rate has slowed" or they're "losing muscle mass so quickly their bodies will not be able to keep up." Sorry I don't believe everything I read, but you can all continue to do so this will be my last post because clearly this is going no where just a bunch of older people trying to attack me because they can't accept that things change. Go back to your atkins/south beach and whatever other garbage diets you use and then come back to me in 3 months when the results vanish along with your motivation. Why? Because none of those diets look at the most basic idea of calories in vs out.

What fad diets?? I didn't see any fad diets mentioned....we are all talking about calories in vs out. We are merely stating when you are older and in particular an older woman it is just harder to lose the weight. Yeah and most of us here are doing it the right way - eating right and getting regular exercise which IS important. You're 22 hon, come back and tell your story 30 years from now.

MaraDiaz

In case nobody already said it, probably wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor for a thyroid test next time you're in.

dcdickerson2

I just got back from a "girls" weekend and caught up on the last few posts. Thanks for the suggestion to check my thyroid. I go to my doctor every three months to monitor the meds I'm on anyway, so I'll ask if the blood tests he does routinely would show thyroid function. I don't think this is my problem, but it's worth making sure.

My problem, as I get older, isn't understanding that calories in vs calories burned equals the difference between weight gain, maintenance or loss. I get that. It's how to live a lifestyle that incorporates so few calories. At 60+, I probably will never appreciably increase my exercise. I struggle to maintain the exercise level I already have. If, heaven forbid, I get sick or end up in the hospital for a week and don't get to exercise that week, it makes a much bigger difference to my overall ability to lose weight than it would have even 20 years ago. My best friend's extra special Christmas cookies are hard to resist. But even one means I pay for it either by eating less at the next meal, or by gaining a pound that I have to take off... again. My daughter's birthday cake is something I can't indulge in more than once. And a very small piece at that. Being this careful gets old, and that is where I could use some tips, some encouragement and some understanding. I don't want to gain all these 50 lbs back again. But I've already gained back about 12 since last Christmas. That averages to one a month.

Just so you know, in general my diet consists of mostly foods from the perimeter of the grocery store: Whole fruits, fresh vegetables, low fat or no fat dairy, very little butter/margarine, a little olive oil, whole grain breads and pastas and brown rice and other whole grains sparingly, lean meats, chicken, fish including salmon and tuna, some beans and lentils on occasion. Very little processed food, boxed food, convenience food except for a few things from Trader Joe's that I make sure do not have a lot of additives, HFCS, partially hydrogenated fats or preservatives. I cook 80% of my food myself, at home without added fats or salt. I have baked, broiled, boiled and grilled for years. The closest thing I do to frying would be to occasionally saute something in a spot of oil, like stir fry. I try to be very careful when I eat out, and try to only eat half and take the other half home, where I usually get two more meals out of it. I don't drink calories, so generally no juice, soda, or alcohol... I drink a little wine or indulge in a beer once or twice a month. And still my weight is creeping up.