LF women over 40 who have lost 50+ pounds

I am excactly 40 and have lost 71 pounds so far (since January 1 2012).

I lost the first 45-50 pounds really fast (as in just a few months) but then I kind of hit a bit of a plateau and was only losing 3-4 pounds per month.I assumed that I would lose quicker in the beginning as I was sooooo overweight (160 pounds over weight). I wasn't eating the best during those low months and that is probably why. I started eating more junk food then I should because I felt like I "could have it" as my exercise calories burned. After a couple of months of that I realized that it was hindering my weight loss so I started to try to eat more veggies, fruit, more water and limited the junk food (although I still eat it just not every day). The scale seems to be moving again (athough slower than I would like) and so is the tape measure. I do have some very bad days still (just had one this week) but it is a lifestyle change and not a diet so I am eating the way I think I will eat the rest of my life (just trying to watch my daily calories and other numbers, however my sodium is always horrible). I exercise every day and usually burn between 4000 and 7000 calories a week on exercise. I try to eat my three meals to total around 1500 calories per day (before exercise calories) as MFP has me set at 1590 for a lightly active lifestyle and 2 pounds per week (although 2 pounds per week are extrememly rare anymore). I then will typically eat back about half of my exercise calories. I try to stay at least at a 1200 calorie net but sometime I had a bigger calories burn day (like over 1000 calories burned) and I might net lower (could be as low as 800 or so). This does not happen often but it does happen.

I have not found out what works best yet and am still playing around with different things. I just want to get into a pattern that I will follow the rest of my life so that I don't feel like I am on a "diet" now and then lose all of the weight and risk gaining it back. I figured if I eat and exercise now the way I will forever (going forward NOT the way I did when I was 160 pounds overweight), then I will be more apt to keep it off and live a long, healthy life (God willing). This method that I have chosen does make weight loss slow and sometimes only 3 or 4 pounds in a whole month though. Of course my age and my monthly "visitor" makes it even harder.

You will find out what works best for you evetually. Good luck!!!

Just want to add that MFP caloires for exercises are usually higher than they really are (at least in my experience). I wear a Fitibt Ultra 24/7 (even sleeping) except in the shower of course and I also wear a Polar FT7 Heart rate monitor when I exercise. Figuring out how many calories to eat after exercising was always the biggest struggle for me because I never knew how far off MFP was. Getting these two devices has been such a great help (or course even these are exactly accurate) but are as close as you can get without going to the doctor and getting hooked up to all of the wires and tested.

I'm 42, lost around 70lbs with another 30 ish left to lose. I don't know my goal weight, but I'll know it at some point. It isn't now though.

I've gone from a size 24 to a size 8 and lift HEAVY and do crossfit. I don't really do standard cardio very often.

Friend me if you are interested.
Good luck.. this is so do able!

44 and lost 104 lbs in 15 months. Lost c70 lb in 7 months doing solely cardio, but slowed up (as is normal) and more interested in looking good than being skinny, so I have been doing a lot of strength training in last 8 months. I work out a lot, having not done any exercise before starting on MFP, and the only reasons I have stuck to this regime and been sucessful is that I always eat back my exercise calories.

There is no right or wrong to weight loss, you need to find what works for you.

44 and lost 104 lbs in 15 months. Lost c70 lb in 7 months doing solely cardio, but slowed up (as is normal) and more interested in looking good than being skinny, so I have been doing a lot of strength training in last 8 months. I work out a lot, having not done any exercise before starting on MFP, and the only reasons I have stuck to this regime and been sucessful is that I always eat back my exercise calories.

There is no right or wrong to weight loss, you need to find what works for you.

Blimey - that is wonderful!! Congrats on your success!!!

I lost 60 lbs at age 50 and have been maintaining for over a year now and will be 52 in Feb. It took me two years to lose the 60 lbs.

We are all different. For me it was a matter of simply eating less. I already ate healthy, I already worked my butt off at the gym, running marathons, martial arts, hiking, biking, back packing, you name it. I also learned that you can not out exercise too many calories. I learned this the hard way after banging my head against the wall for 15 years.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

All I can do is share what worked for me. I achieved my goal at age 50 after beating my head against the wall for 15 years. Yeah anyone can do it, but I can tell you that you are up against a lot when you are older and I believe females have some unique issue to face with hormones and such. The sooner you can get a handle on it the better. DO NOT GIVE UP. As I got older and the weight piled on (and I didn't feel I was eating too much!) everyone kept telling me to give up, this is what happens when you get older. I'm small, and I didn't realize how small I was until I lost the weight. Everyone said I had big bones. I looked hefty because I worked out. Once I lost the weight I realized how small I really was and that small people don't need to eat as much as big people. HINT: If you are short you are probably small.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.


Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

It really is about calories. I tell people this all the time and they say "Well if calories are all that matter why do you eat so clean???!!" Well, because it makes me feel better, sleep better, and perform better at my sports.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

I am 51. From February 20, 2010 until July 4, 2010 I lost 57 pounds. Between then and about 5 weeks ago, I lost another 8 lbs and then back up to only a loss of 43 total. I ate the best food I could for those first 4 months, mostly veg, lean protein, whole grain carbs, some fruit. And I did a lot of walking. When I first started though I could barely make it around the block. It took about a month and I was walking around 2 blocks. I found geocaching and had so much fun doing that that I hiked up and down hills and such and didn't think about it much and got pretty fit in the process...or as fit as I could be considering I was still not thin. I am not a gym girl, so I rode my bicycle and walked and hiked and did the WATP video. Honestly, for me it really was a matter of getting healthy food the majority of the time and MOVING. I weighed my food and I counted the miles.

I lost track of it for a bit and life got in the way. 5 weeks ago, I re-started the healthy lifestyle, foods, exercise and such and I've lost 16 pounds so far. I still need to lose at least 34 more and really another 54 would be better, but it is different for me at this age than it was when I was a 20-something and I may have to just do with a little more poundage. We shall see.

I just started using light weights (dumbbells?) the little 2 lb kind that you hold, with my WATP video a couple of days ago because I know that aerobics alone isn't enough to get fit, just to lose weight. At some point, I will probably have to suck it up and go to the gym or find a trainer to show me how to lift weights at home. I'm not there YET, though, so I'll just keep doing what i do for now.

If anyone wants to look at my (imperfect) food diary, you can send me a friend request. I'm not all that great, but what I do works really well for me and I would be happy to share if it can help one of my sisters.

Barb

Hi, I am 42 and have lost 60 lbs overall. That has taken me about 2 years, but I wasn't always dieting and exercising in those 2 years. I started with a meal replacement diet through my doctor's office. I lost about 50 lbs, stopped doing the diet because I hated not eating real food and gained some but not all of it back. Then last year at the beginning of Sept I joined WW on line. I have lost 42 lbs since then. I found that using WW, I would stay at the same weight for several weeks and couldn't figure out why since I was following my points and exercising. It was frustrating! I found MFP and I like it better than WW on line. When I logged my last day from WW, I saw the problem...too many carbs! I would have never known that on WW. I use a formula for eating from a post I found about TDEE, so I eat about 1700 cals a day. MFP figures it much lower. I normally lose about a pound a week. I aim to exercise every day at least 30 mins a day. Cardio every day and weights 3 times a week. I do skip a day every now and then. Overall, I wish I was losing faster, but I know that I will keep it off when I am done by doing it the right way. I eat what I want, but I am accountable to myself and everything gets logged. The main thing I learned about eating is that it is ok to indulge when you crave something but you have to make it work with everything else (what else you eat that day, your exercise, etc) so some days I have to put off eating it until I can make it work. Don't give up if your weight stays the same or goes up a pound or two from week to week (especially that time of the month). Try to weigh yourself on the same day at the same time, but only once a week. Also, take your measurements and record them. I only lost 4 lbs last month, but I also lost 2.5% bf, so that was a huge win! You have to find the small victories and keep working and it will pay off in the long run. The 15 I have lost on MFP is since July.

I'm 50 years old, 5'7" tall. Highest weight was 208 at the end of August. I looked puffy and shapeless, and felt terrible.

I am down 22 pounds (current weight 186) and feeling so much better.

Goal weight is 145.

I set my goals according to MFP to lose one pound a week, and I eat back my exercise calories (um, hello, I get to eat more if I exercise! Yay! I like to eat!). 1540 I think is what I have for calories before exercise at a lightly active lifestyle. Well, if you do the math, you can see I'm losing faster than one pound a week. I don't know if that's because I am more active than I thought, or what, but I am using all MFP numbers for exercise and food calories.

I eat pretty clean. I'm not extreme about it, but I aim for clean.

I eat at least two fruits every day, and have a big salad (no dressing, I'd rather save those calories for something else) at least once a day most days. Salad is a mix of spring mx/spinach/romaine, I grate a carrot and a zucchini in to it, add a cucumber, some tomatoes, bell pepper (usually red), tomatoes, and whatever else I find in the fridge. And usually another veggie with dinner as well.

Whole grains are first choice. I have been working on incorporating more different kinds of whole grains and not get stuck in a rut of brown rice and whole wheat.

I haven't really eliminated anything from my diet, but knowing that I'll have to log it on a public diary and that I don't want to go over on my calories sure makes me stop and think about what I want to eat at any given moment!

I eat three meals a day and two or three snacks most days. For me, that keeps me from getting to the oh my god I have to eat now and I will eat it ALL I see stage.

I have a bad back/neck from a car accident and another injury, and a bad knee, so I have to be careful about the types of exercise I am able to do. I walk mostly, but I recently went skating with some friends from work. I hadn't been skating in over 20 years- so much fun!

Had my annual physical in October. Good news: total cholesterol 158, BP 120 over 70. Bad news: fasting glucose 101 - should be 99 or less, so not terribly high, but is just inside the pre-diabetic range. My doctor wants me to retest in December, and is pretty confident that if I keep losing weight and exercising the glucose level will be down then.

I have watched several of my friends slip in to type 2 diabetes, and I don't want to join them! I know that diet and exercise makes a huge difference, so I'm working on it.

The biggest obstacle for me on this journey is that my husband (who is on high blood pressure medication and is about 100 pounds overweight) does most of the cooking and shopping for the family. He is feeling very threatened by my incursion in to his territory- the kitchen. He took over cooking about 8 years ago due to my work schedule. He's retired and stays home all day watching cooking shows, then likes to cook what he has learned. He is an AMAZING home cook, but eating Mario Battali meals every night is killing us (literally).

We had a big blow up about it the other night, but I think he is getting it a little more now.

I am commited to getting healthy and losing the weight. It's a lifestyle. I want along healthy life, so this is what I have to do.

only on page 1, keep requesting to add friends and reading slowly. This thread is chock full of awesomeness! :happy:

hello, first I want you to know that I am a man but I thought you might be interested in my wife's weight lost. My wife has little to any will-power when it comes to food. She is okay with me doing the cooking and keeping track of weight stuff. I cook most meals, not real good at it but getting better. She is allowed 1440 calories a day for a 1 pound per week weight lost goal. I have found that if we stay below 1300 she almost always drops a few ounces the next morning. She does light exercises for 15 to 30 minutes nightly, but if she consumes the extra calories she almost always gain ounces the next morning. I believe salt is the main problem but haven't verified that yet. she will soon be 60 and has lost 40 plus pounds. Canlid

I'm 42, I've lost a total of 40lbs (30 with MFP) and I'm definitely NOT starving. I try to stick to around 1500 calories a day, but I often go to 1700 or more. I let my body tell me when it needs more nutrition. Heavy weights make all the difference. It's an absolute necessity. Along with eating clean, of course!

bump

I am 49 have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and hypothyroid and I have lost 107 lbs in the last 2 yrs. I have kept my calories between 1000=1300 a day and exercise 6 days a week at first just swimming and then walking due to the fibromyalgia (constant pain) then I added in my recumbant bike and some exercise dvds. I usually exercise between 40-90 mins a day but i had to work up to that at first it was just 10-20 mins. I do not eat back my exercise cals and i have done the calorie cycling from time to time when my weight loss slowed and it seemed to work for me. Just find what works for you.
Sounds like you are doing great , keep up the good work

I am 64 yrs old and had 112 lbs to lose when I started in April of 2011. I have lost 82lbs so far and 30 to go. It can be done, and logging is one of the most important things to do.......I will add u as a friend... Good Luck....Joann

This is really encouraging Congratulations! I am reading all the posts so I can learn your secrets also. Thanks OP for asking this question I keep comparing myself to my beloved MFP Friends who have no health problems, and younger metabolisms that are faster than mine. When I read a 64 year old woman can lose the weight I know I can also.

I have lost 36 pounds in 3 months after struggling for a year with no results. What did it for me was investing in a good sports watch with a monitor you wear around your chest while you exercise. (Hidden under your clothes) It will tell you exactly how many calories you burned for REAL. When you have that information, you realize that when you are menopausal, you burn approximately 15% less calories than any table will tell you. You also need 15% less calories than the tables tell you.

I started exercising 5-6 times a week. I strength train with a trainer one a week. I track every calorie on MFP and I eat back some of my exercise calories if I feel I need to. That is when I started losing 1 to 1.5 pounds a week. When I was younger (30's) I could lose 3 pounds a week eating more and exercising less. It is what it is and that's what we've been dealt.

I learned to eat "cleaner" and I basically gave up red meat altogether. I eat fish 1-2 times a week. The rest of the time is veggies, fruits and whole grains. I never ever felt better. I am 54 and am told I look about 35.

I think the mindset is very important. Be sure to grasp that this has to be a LIFESTYLE......not a temporary situation. Most likely you, as I, will have to monitor our intake and our exercise for maintenance as well. I also try to imagine that my cravings or temptations in the grocery store or when I am hungry are the temper tantrums of the 2 year old inside of me. I try to tell her to just scream all she wants. She is not getting her way. I basically tell her to go to her room and shut the door until it's over! It always gets "over" and the 2 year old always stops screaming. When you resist, it feels wonderful.

I wish you the best of luck. I know you can do this. Just keep walking toward your goal and see yourself, thin, waiting at the end of your journey to meet you!

Charlestonchickk