Any women who lost their weight after age 50?

yep, I"m 52, and I've lost 35 lbs....since August....just watching what I eat, and doing walking, cycling, and I'm so excited about this whole fitness thing, that I've even started running, and plan on doing a half marathon next year...good luck, you can do it

I am 54 years old,5'8" and have lost 43 pounds in 2012.. I reached my goal range (129-135) sometime last summer. I am on the Dukan Diet, but on the forth phase where you basically eat sensibly six days a week and pure protein one day a week. I counted calories the whole time and started using MFP a few months ago. I wear a Nike Fuel band all my waking hours to make sure i get enough exercise/walking/activity in each day.

Luckily, I have little to know saggy skin or stretch marks... but I attribute this to the high protein and bright and colorful vegetables I eat everyday. I do eat one square of dark chocolate daily as well. My dairy is mostly fat free cottage cheese or greek yogurt. My carbs come from dairy, avocados , bananas and the like these days. I don't eat bread, pasta, rice or potatos anymore. I just can't eat normal portion sizes of those things and stop.

Oh! and for my core strength - Barre 3...

I admit it is seems slower to lose the weight, but doing it the healthy way got me where I want to be in about six months, and now I am a healthy lifestyle and MFP junkie!

inb4 an extremely long post from californiagirl2012

I've lost 7 pounds and am 55. At 5' 1" I have a chronic connective tissue disorder that results in long periods of relative inactivity and have noticed that when I'm walking regularly the weight comes off better....also I tend to "zig-zag" (up/down) - but the trend is definitely in the right direction. My BMR is around 1100 and my TDEE around 1350 so I eat around 1250 and as a result the weight comes off really slowly. Loose skin - yes; have to be really careful on lifting weight but work at it regularly and for the rest - well, that's what Spanks (and knock offs) are for!

I really don't care how long it takes; my focus is on eating healthier, becoming fitter and the rest will take care of itself. I promise you, if you are persistent and stick with this, it absolutely will happen. I could use any of the factors listed above as "excuses" but that gets you nowhere. You have already lost 11 pounds - you've already shown that you can do this!!

57 years old, starting weight 240, current weight 180 or so, (did a bit of a loss before starting here). I've been on MFP with a great team of friends for just over a year. I am fit, slimmer than I've been since 1973 and feeling great. However, I lost the first 20 awfully fast and I looked for awhile like a melting ice cream cone :laugh:

Good diet and consistent exercise, (I have a busy life so intense exercise 3 days a week as well as around 10k steps and 10 or more flights of stairs most days. Food is a big deal, no "diet" here, it has all been about portion control, I still have all manner of tasty treats, just in moderation. I used to eat half a bag of chips or a half dozen cookies. Now it's all about weighing out a serving, put the rest up on the far side of the kitchen. Candy if it's irrestible goes to my hubby and he gives me one serving if I ask for it, lol. I don't usually have to do that anymore I can generally deal with it or I just don't buy it.

Get a kitchen balance, it will be your best friend in this fight.

Exercise will get rid of a lot of the jiggly crap, I am working on it, I still have loose skin to tone so at this point upping my calories and intensifying the workouts with more weight as I try to stem the tide of lean body mass loss caused by a year of retricted calories, we'll see how ti goes :flowerforyou:

bump:flowerforyou:

I will be 50 soon and have dropped 25 lbs just by logging food and moving 6 out 7 days. I walk every workday and bike almost every evening. I still eat every type of food, just in moderation now.

I am 53 and have lost 17 lbs. since mid-Sept. after a lifetime of yo-yo diets, fad diets, and food addiction.

I have been on every diet known to mankind, from Atkin's to Fat Kin's (<-- the one your formerly pudgy sister-in-law lost weight on, damn her! LOL). :laugh:

What I have learned here at MFP has been invaluable. These are the Top Ten:

1.) I had to change my prior thought patterns and habits regarding what dieting was all about.
I used to think if I ate like a rabbit, kept my daily allowance under 1000 cals. per day, and exercised my brains out, then I would lose. I was right...I did lose...not just weight, but my mind!! I'd gain it all back and then some because starving yourself is NOT healthy and I was hungry ALLLLL the time. Now, thanks to MFP, I have learned to eat back my exercise calories lost (or at least half of them). This former food addict is happy to say that now I am never hungry and, in fact, I find it difficult sometimes to eat an entire day's allowance of calories!

2.) I had to embrace my inner diva and accept that, at my age, I was not going to lose weight as fast as a teenager, and I had to stop comparing my journey to theirs (or anyone else's for that matter). I was going to have to embrace my age-related slower (but not dead!) metabolism and arthritic knees, and decide to do what worked for ME and no one else. That meant being happy with a slow but steady .01-2 lb./week loss, plateaus, and even sporadic gains, as my body adjusted to the healthier and more active me. Embracing my inner diva also meant accepting that loose skin is NOT going to magically disappear. Exercise WILL make my muscles toner and make it appear like I have less turkey skin, but you can't tone skin. Period. And stretch marks? Please. I earned those with three live births and 3 miscarriages. Those marks are my badges of honor. :blushing:

3.) I cannot do this alone. I've tried, but I am my own worst diet enemy. My hubby is my greatest fan, and is doing this along with me. My pals here on MFP are supportive and encouraging yet honest, and will contructively critique my diet. I don't mind...I am here to learn! :flowerforyou:

4.) Denial is not just a river in Africa. I don't go "whole hog" anymore, but neither do I deny myself any of the "goodie friends" I loved before...I just have a new relationship with them. I don't deny them a visit, but I limit their stay. If I want chocolate, I have it. Not an entire box, bag, or carton, mind you, but whatever I choose to eat, I make it "fit" within my daily allowances. It's about control, from willpower to portions.

5.) That being said, neither do I make my entire day about forbidden food. I am learning how to eat healthier, and that means adding more fruits and veggies, leaner meats, and less fat. This is not just a diet but a complete lifestyle change, and for me, it has to be sustainable for the rest of my life. :glasses:

6.) I had to discipline myself to log everything I ate in my food diary. This makes me accountable, not only for myself, but to my friends who are "in the trenches" with me. By doing this, I have also gotten a feel for calories, and becuase of that, I am better able to make wiser choices, both at home and when we go out. Sometimes I even pre-log my daily food so I know what I'm getting into!

7.) I stopped weighing myself daily and now I only weigh in once a week....same day/time, same Bat Channel, sans clothing. I had to learn to forgive myself if I expereinced a plateau or a minor gain. Water weight fluctuates, and menopause is a b***h that causes all kinds of havoc on the scale. Sure, I get disappointed when I hit a plateau or have a minor gain, but tomorrow is another day to try again. This isn't a race or sprint but a lifetime journey.

8.) I use the K.I.S.S. Method of dieting. I don't complicate this life with obsessing over macros, BMIs, TDEEs, and the plethora of other annoying abbreviations. I eat, I log, I exercise...therefore, I am. :happy:

9.) I have learned to love myself. I am not a loser, but a proud and hard-working BIGGEST LOSER! So what if I didn't turn men's heads when I was fatter? My hubby has always been attracted to me - now he thinks I'm getting hotter, and his male opinion is the only one that counts. In my late teens, I held a beauty pageant title and weighed 108 lbs. when I married my first husband, who only wanted me for my looks. My present (and last!) husband is my best friend and soulmate who not only loves the inner me, but thinks I am one sexy mama even when I weighed the most I ever did. He's a real man, not some shallow, egomaniacal guy who cares only about himself and his washboard abs. :noway:

10.) Finally, I had to stop the excuses. My weight is not my parent's fault. I may have grown up on mashed potatoes as a meal and Hershey bars every Saturday, but I'm a grown-up now and in charge of my own life. My weight is not due to pregnancies. I had a choice to lose weight after each birth, but I didn't choose to. My mistake. My arthritic knees cause me daily and excruciating pain. For decades I, let this be my excuse for not exercising. No more. I have found low-impact ways to be aerobic and I use weights for my pain-free upper body. I am midlife woman, hear me roar!!! :laugh:

inb4 an extremely long post from californiagirl2012

Buggar off, mate. First off all, OP asked for opinions and stories from WOMEN, and unless your picture is a hoax, you don't qualify. Secondly, Californiagirl2012 has an amazing story to tell, and although her posts tend to be long, she is inspiring and informative.

I agree, she is inspirational and her transformation is amazing.

inb4 an extremely long post from californiagirl2012

Californiangirl2012 is my SHERO! Can't wait for her post here

If she does post here, I hope she'll post some of her pics too--so encouraging and inspirational her posts are to me. I LOVE her long posts.

OP, girl....time flies FAST doesn't it? Thank you for posting this question too! We can do this--it's just going to take time and hard work...just like it does for the younger folks. I'm pulling for ya!!!!