Older Mom

Watch "Forks Over Knives" and "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", then read "Eat to Live" by Dr. Fuhrman. It changed my life. I don't count calories anymore, eat as much as I want (of the right foods), and I'm losing weight at a pace I'm struggling to believe, not to mention feeling MUCH better.

HI there,


Logging what I eat has been very powerful for me. KNowing I will be logging something later, has caused me to pause beforer deciding what it is I will be eating.

As far as that "moment" when you decide you will make a change...sometimes it's subtle. So much so you don't even notice it at the time. For me, it was my daughter telling me she hopes that my wife and I are active and healthy when we get older. She wants her kids to have great experiences with their grandparents. That's a long way off, but seeing it from the perspective of someone who cares about me made a world of difference to me.

Good luck with your journey.


Brian

I'm new to this site....my dear friend "mammaneedshelp" introduced me. I'm on day 2...but determined!
I'm hoping that logging calorie intake will help me as well. I've had the "click" before..and lost 37 lbs...only to gain it back within one year. UGH! So, I decided this time to take it slow. I'm making myself aware of every little thing I put in my mouth. Anyway, I read your post and wanted to let you know that I'm with you!

Hi Robin! First of all, I didn't join a gym or use Jenny Craig. You don't need to either! But you DO need to be motivated and ready to make it happen because it is a lot of work.

Why do you want to lose weight? To look better in your clothes? To feel better about yourself? To be around longer so you can spend more time with your son? Think about your reasons. My personal motivation was a photo of myself taken at my 30th birthday. I couldn't believe that I had let 50 pounds creep on and I really was tired of the way I looked and felt. I was sick of eating crappy food and not exercising. I used to be fit, and I wanted to be fit again.

You can seriously lose the weight for free! Managing your food (counting your calories) was my first step. I needed to be accountable for what I was eating. Just track your normal intake over a week. You'll be shocked at how much you eat and don't even know it!

You'll lose weight just by maintaining a reasonable calorie level for your activity. So my next step was exercise. Walking doesn't cost a thing. You can do it in place in your living room or take the stairs more often. Walk during breaks at work. You don't need 30 minutes at once... it all adds up. If you have a Wii, I recommend the EA Sports Active Personal Trainer. I lost 35 pounds with that puppy.

After you start feeling better, then you start getting more serious about eating healthier instead of just "less". I examined what I was eating and saw that I was still eating a lot of favorites, but less of them. Which is fine to start, and fine for some people forever. But I wanted to be more careful about what I put in so I tried to get away from processed foods and eat more fresh foods. I fail a lot, but I try.

Good luck and feel free to friend me if you want support! I personally had to get fed up with myself (sitting in front of the tv, shoveling food in the food hole!) for anything to change. If you are fed up, you're probably in the right place.

I was 36 when I had my son it took me 18 years to find MFP :noway:

You have come to the right place. Stop waiting for the lightning bolt, it has already hit, you just haven't realised it yet. It struck you the moment you made your account here.

I joined MFP and realised that hundreds if not thousands of people were losing weight and getting healthy without any special "diet" they were just eating less and moving more. Oh and heavy lifting of course but you will find out all about the how's and the why's as you find your way around MFP.

MFP was the best thing that ever happened for my weightloss I hope it will be yours as well.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

I'm going to be 50 next month (yay for 50 year olds)!!!! I've done the whole starving game and dropped weight quickly only to pack it right back on again. This time .I'm NOT dieting..this time I'm changing my lifestyle. I am enjoying cooking again just from being on MFP. I watch what I put in my mouth. I don't count calories...but I do watch what I am choosing to consume. If I can eat a whole bowl of grapes over 1 cookie..I'm more prone to take the grapes now. We can cheer each other on with this journey!

I find that not looking at the big picture really helps. If I told you to move a mountain, you'd find that task insurmountable and too much to consider, same with weight loss. Don't think about needing to lose those 50lbs., shoot for five this month. Then five more...and so on. If you lose five pounds a month, you'll have that weight off in no time, and you will feel amazing!

For me, I have a good health mantra: "Just for today..." (based on the quote by Mikao Usui) Just for today, eat only food that I prepare, and measure all of it before I eat it. Just for today, walk 2 miles. Just for today, don't stress about making a mistake - learn from it, breathe, and move on. I found that "just for today" became two weeks quickly.

Oh, and I totally understand what you mean about the lightening bolt. When the lightening bolt fails to strike on its own, you can force it to show up. I was waiting for my lightening bolt to show up earlier this year, and when it didn't, I said that I was going to start exercising and eating better anyway. Well, after my initial two pounds were lost, the lightening was there. The lightening bolt is motivation - and I hope that you get lots of that and encouragement here!

Be well.

Hi Older Mom,
I'm a grandmother age 62 and I've been battling my weight since I had my boys. My youngest is 24 so at least 24 years I've been struggling. Here is something I learned recently after the doctor told me I have diabete (early stages). Well the diet they gave me was 45 grams of carbs per meal and I can have 18 grams of carbs in 3 snacks a day on a 2000. They said if I follow that I will drop weight. I've dropped 3.5 lbs already in one week. I am shocked I haven't gone hungry at all. My blood sugar is evening out and I'm feeling better. The interesting news is I haven't been able to eat the 2000 calories a day, its been too much. I do drink a high protein drink in 1%milk first thing in the morning. The nutritionist said don't skip breakfast.

Balsam

I'm an "older" mom too... I was 37 (already of advanced maternal age when my oldest was born and then had a second 2 months before I turned 40. I'm 42 now and am still struggling to lose the weight. I am finally down below what I weighed before I was pregnant with girlie #2 but not quite to where I was before girlie #1. It has been a long, long, long, long road but I know I'll eventually get there.

I have younger friends that had babies at the same time I did and the weight just fell of of them... and the sleep deprivation had much less effect on them... getting old is HARD!

If you are looking for supportive friends, I am happy to help. Check out my profile and send me a request if you think we are a good match :flowerforyou:

It's been 2 1/2 weeks and I find that logging in my food really keeps me thinking about what goes in my mouth. Just like so many of you have already noted. It makes a huge difference.

This!