Harder to Lose in my 30's!

RedHeadHotMama

Definatly. 38 and I haven't lost anything almost 2 weeks. I feel like I am fighting a losing battle trying to get past this hill. Anyone can add me. Love the motovation!

chojolitos

:flowerforyou: Welcome to the club

juliedozier

LOL ... wait until you're my age! (actually it hasn't been as bad as I had feared) You can do it!

tnvolsfan74

Wait until you're 38 it's even harder. I'll add you as a friend.

Word! :laugh:

Kristan_Forsey

Don't feel too bad my metabolism died at like 21/22 between the ages of 26 and 27 I decided it was time to do something. I am almost at goal of losing 45lbs and it has been the slowest hardest thing I have ever done.

deejaycee114

your metabolism slows down as you get older, so yeah, it can be a little harder now to lose weight than it was when you were in your 20s. but don't beat yourself up over it. weight loss is not a race. you didn't gain weight overnight, so you're surely not going to lose it just as fast.

i'm 35, and it's taken me 6 months to lose 26 lbs. i was so sure i would have lost at least 35 by now, but i'm not upset over it. as long as the weight is coming off, however slow the pace, i'm happy.

just keep on working hard! you'll get there before you know it!

johnhowson

This site helped me lose weight and I am 60. It is down to calorie deficit - if you get your calories in deficit you will lose weight whatever your age and personally I don't think it gets harder many people are just less active when they get older

carloc

ok, I am fifty and I started this in February.
I have MS so it can be weeks at a time that I cannot exercise and I have lost almost forty pounds.
If I can do it, then all of you can.
No more excuses, just eat less, and move more and hydrate well!!!

Add me, if that is the type of motivation and feedback you are looking for......

Totally agree. Its the mindset you give yourself, the choices you make, being honest about the choices good and bad and working at it. Excuse slow you down, just do it and make it happen. Be active and not just exercise.

danthomson56

I am 56 and making it happen. I really committed to this in March 2012. Just be honest in tracking your calories and exercise and it will happen. :happy:


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DawnieB1977

I lost loads of weight in my early/mid 20s just through eating quite a low calorie diet, and then I joined a gym and did lots of cardio and lost more, but it didn't seem to take the same sort of effort it does now that I'm 34.

I have a personal trainer now and use weights a lot, and I am more toned than I used to be, and I can actually fit into some of the clothes I wore when I was 24 (although they are a bit tight still, but give it 2 or 3 months and they'll be fine). I've had 2 children quite close together (the eldest is now 3, the youngest 15 months) and I think that has made it harder too.

MonkeyBars

I'm 41 (almost 42), I've always stayed fit. When I decided to drop a weight class after knee surgery, the weight fell off.
I reduced my intake, I ate my exercise calories. I modified my exercises and added a few extra sessions per week.

I used my youw8 scales to make sure I didn't lose any mass as I reduced my weight.

I aimed to lose 1lb a week, I was dropping 1kg+ a week. Within 8 weeks I was there. I'd dropped 10kgs (22lbs).
I'd kept my mass with a small increase in muscle & a reduction in fat.

You have to ramp up your body, convince it there is food, reduce carbs, reduce processed food, eat clean, work "hard" when exercising. Get your 7-9hrs sleep. It's no good doing gentle slow cardio if you want quick results!

But....slow and gentle is best for most people. Especially if you are building your fitness. You need to ramp everything up in good time, set mini plans for your overall plan. If you want to drop 20lbs, make 5lb increments your immediate target. The first 5 should be easy, but each additional 5 will be harder. You'll need to keep your body in chaos. Don't do the same things, keep moving the exercises around, keep changing what you do, keep your intensity as high as you can when doing cardio linked with resistance training. Do sprints, not jogs. Don't just isolate single event lifting for muscles, introduce multiple event lifting, odd object lifting.... whatever it takes!

Good luck on your journey. You'll get there. It's up to you how fast you want to go!

Menakib

I personally believe it's due to our muscles atrophying as we age. I think if you can lift weights at least 2x a week in addition to cardio you'll see the weight come off a lot easier than if you were to do just diet and cardio. I'm 35 and had the same problem occur when I hit 30. So I added weights in my work out routine ( I also run) and it's helped. Plus if you do run or do any repetitive motion sport like running it weightlifting helps prevent injury. The Firm DVDs work really well. So does getting a personal trainer if you can part with the money.

valerieg78

I can relate. Plus add the fact I had my thyroid removed at the age of 32 and it makes weightloss an even BIGGER challenge. Just stick with it and it will slowly come off (even though that's not as fast as we would like)!

CarrieAnne22

I have found it to be similar for myself, as well. I'd yo-yo'd like crazy in my 20's & early 30's, but the weight I gained this last time (from about Dec '09-'11) was the worst! Not only has it been harder to get off than ever before, but it was also the only time I gained almost all of it around my mid-section. I'd never had a tummy in my entire life, even when I was 226 lbs!

BUT...the good news is that it CAN BE DONE! I've been working hard & steady at it (almost) consistently since New Year's and have lost roughly 53 lbs so far. I still have another 30ish to go, but I'm confident that I can & will meet that goal.

Best of luck and feel free to add me if you'd like the extra support :flowerforyou:

P.S....And I agree with what many others have said, too...weights are definitely the way to go! If you can work them into your workouts at least 2x a week, I think you will start seeing some more drastic changes.

BeSophisticate

Actually, it isn't losing weight that's harder for me, it's being active.

I'm 100% certain that the difficulty with weight loss as we age is directly related to that fact that our lives become more and more sedentary the older we get. It isn't our age, per se, that is the problem, it's that we underestimate how huge an impact our sitting around more actually has.

Sure, we feel tired because there's all this BUSYNESS, but all that worry and stress and anxiety is done while sitting around (sitting at a desk at work, sitting in the car while we drive here and there, sitting while we help our kids with homework). In an industrialized nation, responsible adults do more sitting than they do anything else. For those of you with children or those of you young enough to remember your 20's, how much more active (and I mean actually active, not just tired because you worked all day) were you then than you are now?

In fact, the average woman shouldn't gain more than 5 pounds over an entire lifetime due directly to aging. Anything beyond that is caused by other factors (LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE).

msshiraz

I remember saying that in my 30s, and yes, I am 41 and it is soooo much harder, and from what I hear, 50s is even harder because of all the hormonal problems- although every womans age is different- so this has been a lot of fun!

To those who say it is our age, you are not correct- age plays a huge factor in metabolism, energy- ect. Medical fact- happy to put some of the Mayo clinic research up here if it needs to be proven

BeSophisticate

I personally believe it's due to our muscles atrophying as we age. I think if you can lift weights at least 2x a week in addition to cardio you'll see the weight come off a lot easier than if you were to do just diet and cardio. I'm 35 and had the same problem occur when I hit 30. So I added weights in my work out routine ( I also run) and it's helped. Plus if you do run or do any repetitive motion sport like running it weightlifting helps prevent injury. The Firm DVDs work really well. So does getting a personal trainer if you can part with the money.

You make an interesting point. I think this is entirely possible because our lives get increasingly sedentary as we become older (and more responsible). All that sitting could certainly result in some degree of muscle atrophy.

Edit: really wish I spell

dalia64

Do your best to get the weight off while you can because when you get to your 40's it only gets worse. i have to work out twice as hard and my food intake is about 1300 calories and if i want to eat more i have to work out more. but its worth it in the long run. i have more energy and feel better over all.

msshiraz

Comments such as you lead a more sedetary lifestyle as you get older are just way out there- and not true. I teach, (not take- teach) 8-10 Zumba classes a week. I work harder physically now than I ever have in my life, I also add in weight training. My diet is much more strict and there are foods that affect my weight now that never did before. Certain foods I could eat before, can't touch them, the only thing that has changed in my life is my age, and my fitness is thru the roof!

Based on all of this, besides scientific backup that aging affects so many things, we slow down, everything slows down, no matter how hard we work, and many of us double/triple how hard we have to work, just to maintain weight. I am dreading later 40's and 50's just based on feedback from my family/friends and what challenges hit them physically in those years.

roduk

harder to lose much, easier to put on!

Oishii

I have always gained and lost really easily, and always worried that someday this would end, which is why the most I've had to lose so far is 30lb, rather than a lot more. I am 36 now and the weight still drops off me as it always did, but now I don't want to lose fast any more, because I understand that I am more likely to be burning muscle than fat at my body composition. The weight distributes differently now, so I have a belly, but of that was the price I had to pay for my lovely son, 'fair dos' :laugh:

carolebville

Wait until your in your 50's like me. Then it is like sludge. Good luck!

^^ this^^!!!!!!!!!!!!!

^^^double this^^^ and add the cellulite! 55...but still alive ;-)

MonkeyBars

http://www.livestrong.com/article/405849-weight-training-at-over-50-years-old/

it says it best.

thesugger

your metabolism doesn't slow down as you get older, you just become less active. if you did the exact same as you did when you were a teenager/twenties you would lose the same amount of wieight. I'm in my 30's now and want to lose some weight. is it harder than when i was younger, yes but it's because i have more responsibilities and less free time to do it. but i'm getting there just need to give it time

jojosgreen

I just turned 50 last week. Started my diet the day after my birthday. I thought it was going to be allot harder to get started, but this week has been a breeze and lost 9 pounds without any suffering. Just find what works for you and stick with it

scorpiotwinkles

I am 50 and lost all my weight since 3rd Jan 2012........

bpwparents

I agree. I have noticed the same thing. As long as we're losing though, slow & steady will win this race.

nikig7

Oh gosh...i can soooo relate! I had lost over 30 lbs when I was about 24 and then it wasn't half as hard!!! Now I'm 30 (will be 31 in a few months) and it just seems like the weight barely wants to move! UGH!!!

What encourages me though is seeing all the people here...many of whom are significantly older than me...making a decision and kicking their bad habits (and the weight with it) to the curb! We just have to keep plodding away at it...aging is really not something that we can stop so we just have to adjust our strategy and be patient!

pamk1974

I'm right there with ya! I've had the hardest time trying to lose weight! 30's are cursed, i guess. Just have to keep trying!

kevin3344

Still trying to figure out this thread....I'm 45, ran a full and half marathon this year....some of my friends in their 50's run faster than I do! What's this about slowing down? I run faster now and I'm fitter than I did when I was in my 30's. Life is what you make it, you can do whatever you set your mind out to do.

Btw, I weighed 165 in high school I weight 167 now..I didn't join MFP to lose weight...but to encourage my family (who is younger btw) to log, log, log their meals. I've always been a clean eater even before MFP but even more so now that I've found it.