Middle aged/out of shape female in need of support

pkingfox

Hey there.....I am Patti - I am a 48 yo wife, mom, "young" woman who has realized that she has let herself GO! Within the past year and a half...I have merged two families combining 5 kiddos from 20 to 9 yo, quit my career (to stay home with said kiddos) and let myself go to the point of gaining 40+ lbs and being so flabby/jiggly I can't stand to look at myself.

I am a smaller framed person who has always been in size 6/8 who has "blossomed" into size 14s! This is totally unacceptable for me as I feel like **** and have almost no energy. I have always had a "bad" diet consisting of fast food and major amounts of pre-packaged easy to get ready foods....M&Ms are one of my true loves . I understand that as we age our metabolisim declines which is a horrible change for those of us who were use to going up and down 5 lbs without even thinking about it.

My husband travels a great deal of the time and I have been acclimated into the false thinking that faster is better....when it comes to food and picky children. I now know better and am looking forward to fresh foods and better health and teaching my children a better way to live. I have never been a "cook" nor do I foresee becoming one - however we are moving to FL in one month and this will give us a great deal more of outdoor time both on the beach and in the backyard pool with grill (ie healthier cooking) etc. This excites me and horrifies me at the same time.....every part of my body is flabby and jiggles - I realized this recently when I joined my husband for a weekend in Key West and while visiting a beautiful resort & seeing how bad I have gotten away from myself.

I am too young to feel this way, too young to look this way and it's time I do something about it. I love the motivation that MFP is providing in terms of what I put into my body....I have just purchased the FitBit Flex and love that it's doing the same thing with activty data.....combined they are amazing me with data which I find totally motivational....did I already say that??? Sorry to be repetitive here.

I would love to find others in similar situations.....age etc.who are tackling these issues currently or who have in the past - hope to share motivation along with ideas, stories and commiserate with each other.

Hope to hear from some of you - wish you all the best and a great day too!
Patti :happy:

Womona

I hear ya! My husband used to travel all the time, and we just did a cross country move..... so on came the weight due to no exercise and lots of dinners out. Send me a friend request!

lost619

Hiya I too have actually just purchased the fitbit flex on pre order (UK) I'd love to be friends and we can motivate each other

rascallycat

Hi Patti, I think we have all been there at some point. Sending you a friend request

bethlaf

Sugar I'm there too. Moving to fl this summer too

slowglitchen

I just purchased some wrist weights and dvd Latin (dancing with the stars) dance... I figured w/ my walking in the morning w/ my weights and at night, when people are in bed (shy exerciser) :blushing: I can pop a video in and do a 10-15 minute dance... :bigsmile:

what is fitbit flex? You can add me, if you like.. My weaknesses are pizza, hotdogs, sugar, fat and salt (my food group) :devil:

Liz_Mfp

I could have written a lot of what you wrote too. So glad to see you here. Feel free to FitBit friend me and/or send me a PM
:-)

kw85296

I am in my mid sixties and have reached my goal after losing approx. 80 lbs. in about a year. I am now in a size 2/4 after being in a sixteen. It maybe a little more difficult to lose as we get older, but I also think we like to use that as an excuse, so when the scale doesn't say what we want it to we blame it on age/metabolism. Some of the articles that I have ready more recently indicate that as we age we tend to need more protein in our diet to help maintain muscle mass. That actually may have more to do with how we lose weight when we are older. Be sure to get plenty of protein and to include strength training in your exercise routine and not just cardio. That will help you keep your muscle. Feel free to add me as a friend if you wish.

love2cycle

I am in my mid sixties and have reached my goal after losing approx. 80 lbs. in about a year. I am now in a size 2/4 after being in a sixteen. It maybe a little more difficult to lose as we get older, but I also think we like to use that as an excuse, so when the scale doesn't say what we want it to we blame it on age/metabolism. Some of the articles that I have ready more recently indicate that as we age we tend to need more protein in our diet to help maintain muscle mass. That actually may have more to do with how we lose weight when we are older. Be sure to get plenty of protein and to include strength training in your exercise routine and not just cardio. That will help you keep your muscle. Feel free to add me as a friend if you wish.

Love this post!

drvvork

I'm 55 - I couldn't drop weight after having my daughter but using MFP I have gotten there and unfortunately I strayed from MFP and gained 65 pounds so I'm back. I'm down some and have 40+ to go. You can friend request me if you like.

LadyIntrepid

I am in my mid sixties and have reached my goal after losing approx. 80 lbs. in about a year. I am now in a size 2/4 after being in a sixteen. It maybe a little more difficult to lose as we get older, but I also think we like to use that as an excuse, so when the scale doesn't say what we want it to we blame it on age/metabolism. Some of the articles that I have ready more recently indicate that as we age we tend to need more protein in our diet to help maintain muscle mass. That actually may have more to do with how we lose weight when we are older. Be sure to get plenty of protein and to include strength training in your exercise routine and not just cardio. That will help you keep your muscle. Feel free to add me as a friend if you wish.

What she said.

I'm 50. Throughout my 40s I steadily gained weight and yes, indeedy, my metabolism slowed. But I reached my goal weight last July and have stayed there, have lost another size (was a 6 last July, now a 4) without losing more weight -- just from continuing a hefty workout regimen 5-6 days a week focusing more on strength and less on cardio over time. I eat a LOT when I'm in my goal range (I allow myself a three-pound range) -- I don't even log it, but the nano-second I'm an ounce over that range, I start logging again and I'm back on track, almost always within a week. And I eat a lot of protein. Protein protein protein protein always!

I look and feel awesome. Is my metabolism slower? Maybe it was. Maybe it still is -- don't know, doesn't matter. But I've lost the weight I wanted, have kept it off, and my body keeps re-conditioning. I'm under 24% body fat and am stronger and have more endurance than most 25-year-olds.

SO -- it can be done if you put your mind to it, want it bad enough, and don't make excuses. I did at first and got nowhere. I finally stopped making excuses and just committed to working hard. And it worked.

You got this if you want it bad enough!

pumkin85

You have really got a lot on your plate!! :P

It might seem like a struggle to fit in exercise and eat properly. But I'm sure you get lots of exercise just with the little ones alone!

I am a 27 year old woman who gained through the winter... I am looking to lose about 20lbs so maybe we can be weight loss buddies!

Stephani125

So there too. I am a SAHM of 3 little kids and find myself eating out of boredom and stress. I am 5'4 and now weighing 150. Be more than happy to support you. Maybe we can support each other!