I'm 51 and have had great success using this site
My Journey
2/27/12 started with myfitnesspal at 146 pounds eating 1000 calories a day

5/25/12 weighing in at 128.8 increased my calories to 1100 a day

6/8/12 weighing in at 126.4 increased my calories to 1200 a day

7/6/12 weighing in at 124.8 increased my calories to 1300 a day

7/20/12 weighing in at 124.6 increased my calories to 1400 a day

8/3/12 weighing in at 124.4 increased my calories to 1500 a day

10/10/12 weighing in at 124.3 increased my calories to 1700 a day





6/11/12 started doing 20 lunges to tone my legs every day but one

6/13/12 started doing arm lifts 3 sets of 10 every other day

I walk about 25 minutes 4 times a week

9/3/12 started walking on my treadmill at home for 15 minutes at at time

I'm 42, 5'4" and around 130 pounds. I have done the low calories diets in the past and Weightwatchers. Yo yo'd basically. I also have pcos but it would seem that it doesn't hold back the weight loss. I'd hazard a guess and say that it wasn't the reason for me gaining weight either - that'd be my tendancies to binge.

My ticket weightloss details are in my profile. I'm on my phone at the moment but I think that 7 pounds was what I lost last year just cutting out the crap. Sort of stayed around that loss from August to the new year. Joined mfp in January. Did half a day and didn't come back until mid February.

I think I did a week or two at 1200 but soon started to eat back my exercise calories just from remembering that eating back earnt points with WW was what helped me the last time I did it, 7 years ago. Based on the fact that 1 point was about 70 calories I always made sure that my NET points were around 14 - 16. Sort of EMTWL but not enough calories looking at it now

ok I think I lost 5 pounds on 1200 then started to increase. I messed about with my numbers for a week or two down to fear really but then decided to just stick with the numbers I got from the scooby calculator - BMR 1350, TDEE 2050, 15% cut. I took a 4 week TDEE break because I wanted to see if my weight would stabilise and it pretty much did. A few more weeks at cut followed by a week of not logging/eating what I wanted as we were away, put on a few pounds, increased to 10% cut and lost the gained weight by the following weekend. I think there was also a no logging week back in August.

So all in all I have lost pounds eating the EMTWL ideas. Slowly. Am I happy? You bet. I've been away, had a wedding weekend, a holy communion - basically been part of the real world and still, oveall, lost inches and drop 2 dress sizes.

Oh and yes I have that whole belly pudge thing going on. I hate that I can grab it in both hands like a pile of dough I guess there's no magic wand that can be waved over it. I have a sneeky suspicion that if we lift heavy weights that will help to eventually get rid of the 'dough'.

I don't know if any of this waffling post helps but 'friend' me if you're tempted to

Hi! I'm 48 and I too am on my phone! But my story is on EM2WL.com and on my profile. Been a part of this group since the beginning! This isn't a fad, not a quick fix, it takes patience. Go into this knowing what you want to accomplish. If its a number on the scale, you may be disappointed. If its a look, a size, healthy metabolism for the coming years, strength, endurance, looking good naked, then this concept can work for you. It may take time to tweek your numbers to get them right. But this can and does work for any age! Keep in mind that Lifting weights is an essential part to this working!

I hope this helps. You can add me for support if you like!

I'm 41 (soon to be 42) and have hypothyroid controlled with meds. I'm 5'4 and currently 140.4.

I had previously lost 10 lbs last year with a Weight Watchers/VLCD diet and 1/2 Marathon training.......and ZERO strength training. I did, however gain it back from April - September. Part of that was a metabolism reset and part of that was plain ol' pigging out. I have a TDEE of about 1750 so I maintain on about 1500-1600 cals.

At any rate, I have decided that I just do not have anything to give to hard cardio any longer. My knees just can't take it and quite honestly, it doesn't give me the same feeling heavy lifting does. So my goal is to body recomp with my current weight. I'm not worried about the scale moving. If it does, it does. I'm not even really worried anymore with my measurements changing monthly. I'm still wearing the same clothes I did when I was 130 (although I will admit, some are tighter than others!!).

I do, however, feel fantastic. My arms are showing definition and my body feels tighter. I feel sexier than I have in a long time!

I had an epiphany last night watching one of Kiki's videos: this is not going to happen in 6 months.....probably not even in a year. And I am now COMPLETELY ok with that. I accept the task at hand.

I'm going to continue to track my food intake and heavy lifting and KEEP my sanity. I am so thankful to find a group of women who can openly express themselves without fear of judgement.

A HUGE thank you to Kiki and Lucia!!!!!!


Jen

bump!

57, 5'8". Have lost 23 lbs in MFP since March. Slowest weight loss in the planet. 2 more to go...I switched to eating more in August...have only lost several lbs on it as of today. However, I am more toned, stronger, and have never felt better! I look as if I weigh at least 5 lbs less than what the scale says. I have learned to pay less attention to the scale and focus more on measurements and how I look! This is a lifetime program!

This weight is solidly off me! Work out 5 days a week, strength training 3x and cardio, mostly elliptical. Off days are walking.

Love to have more support.. Add me as friend if you like.

Susan

I'm 45, type 1 diabetic and low thyroid. I've lost 110 pounds in a year and love eating more :-)

I just saw this thread and not sure anyone will see my post. I always thought that if I had more time to exercise I could lose weight but it wasn't working. I lost about 9 pounds but gained half back.

I started on MFP a few years ago and used its settings for a 1 pound loss a week. My weight loss was better being able to track calories burned and eaten but Others were losing but I wasn't really losing much. So of course I lowered my calories. Thank goodness I went back to school then and would ease off on the exercise at the end of the quarter. I lost very slowly about 29 pounds. I would always stall out in the breaks when I could really concentrate on exercise. At least I had stopped gaining. Then I got out of school and really concentrated on exercise and eating under my goal calories. I stalled out completely. I tried everything I lost a bit when I tried weight training after a week or so but it came back on when my life got a bit busy with a sick parent. After that I just couldn't lose. I have decreased my bodyfat percentage because I did focus on exercise so much. I would see those who didn't lose much more than I did. At least I lost inches. I think the reason is since I had exercised more even before MFP I needed to up my calories not lower them. Many were just starting to up their exercise.

Then I started reading about eating above your BMR and found this and a few other threads. I realized I had been eating below my BMR for more than a year. Until then I didn't really understand what it was. So I slowly upped my calories and I would gain a few each time and then lose them and in fact lost a bit more. I got up to I think 2100 calories plus exercise calories or at least most of them and I kept them there for a month to reset. I wasn't sure it was my TDEE but it was as far as I had time to go. I then lowered my calories to what I figure was a 15% cut and I wish I could say the weight started to fly off. It hasn't. One issue was just then I had an injury from weight training so I had to slow down my exercise. I have recovered but am a bit gun shy of weight training. I have lost about 10 pounds since I have upped my calories. I have alot more to lose than others who have posted here and I am in my 50's.

I am nearing my 1st goal since upping my calories and each time I lose seems to be connected to some active new job(s). I usually do 1 hour of exercise 6 days a week but staying active most of the day works better. I do want to get back to strength training but I am going to take it easy this time. I did C25K the summer I was just out of school. I have fallen in love with running. However I realize that I only want to be able to walk/run and run around our 2.8 mile lake park here a few times a week. I also do Aquafit and it has really helped reduce my waist. It is a great core work out. We use water resistance weights for strength training. The stretches are very effective in the water too. Right now I am working so hard that I don't really have time to exercise but I come home everyday with sore muscles. I am using a pedometer and there are days that I go way over 10,000 steps. So right now I am making some progress losing. I hope I have found that sweet spot but know that I will get used to my jobs and they will be slowing down in a few weeks anyway so I will have to find it again. Maybe weight training will help find it then. I have quite a few friends but most don't follow EM2WL. I plan to take a rest week from a deficit after I make my next goal.

I joined MFP in November of last year at 210 pounds and immediately started on 1200 calories a day and not eating back any of my exercise calories. I managed to get from 210 down to 160, but then those last 10 pounds would not go away, not matter how low I went calorie wise, or how much cardio I did. I was stuck on a major plateau. Not only could I not get rid of that last 10 pounds, but I could not imagine how I was going to maintain once I finally got to goal (of 150). I was terrified of gaining it all back again :-/

Several of my MFP friends kept telling me to eat more, but I was scared. I was directed to EM2WL where I read and read and read. I felt like I was standing on the high diving board, and could just not make myself jump into the pool!

Once I decided to jump in, I upped my calories (beginning in May) from 1200 to 1400 to 1600 to 1800 over about a month. I gained no weight through this process (although I did feel some of the bloating and gassiness). Once I got to 1800, I started to very slowly lose weight again. I got a Body Medis Fit and discovered my TDEE is about 2300, so I decided to up my calories to 2,000. Even after going to 2,000 I continued to lose (very slowly) and managed to recently get to my goal of 150. I am currently eating 2,050 and seeing if I maintain there.

As suggested by Kiki and Lucia, I started strength training in May. I didn't really start out with the idea of wanting to "lift heavy", but I just started raising weights as the workouts became easier over time. I started seeing such dramatic changes in my body that I decided I wanted to pursue it even farther... I got a few Cathe Friedrich DVDs and now absolutely love it! I have only been doing the weights since about May, but it has totally not only changed my body shape (for the better) but I think it has also allowed me to be able to eat more. I would highly recommend strength training (I also have reduced the cardio to just walking and maybe jogging once or twice a week) I do all of my workouts at home, and have just slowly accumulated dumbells and a barbell set over time (fairly cheap at WalMart...) Now I vary my DVDs daily between Cathe, Kelly Coffey-Meyer and Jackie Warner.

Although I have only lost 10 pounds on EM2WL, it was that last stubborn 10 pounds. More importantly, I have gone from a size 8 or 10 jeans to a 4 or 6 (depending on the brand). My body is so much smaller and "tighter". I also no longer care what the scale says any more. I do weigh in once a month or so, just to make sure I am still "on track". (Eating this much, my brain keeps thinking I am going to see a gain on the scale, but I have not...)

I will be 50 soon, and was determined not to celebrate that birthday as a saggy fat person - EM2WL was just the change I needed, and I know I can live this way for the rest of my life!

Feel free to add me if you would like :-)
Anitra

I want to be you! This is awesome. I am on the last 10lbs as well!

Turn 60 in January.
BF in March of this year was 37%. Currently it is 26%. Weight 268 at peak. Now 231. Began EM2WL 2 weeks ago with a TDEE cut 20% at 2212. Goal is to reduce BF% to 13-15% which would put me at 200 or slightly under. I am 6'0". If this support group is for women only I will bow out. --Gary

And welcome to KeriA and Nikkit!

Bump!!! I'm 40...soon to be 41 in Feb

Hi~
I am 43 and completely new to this idea, and pretty new to MFP. I am so excited to have found this group. I would love to have support through this process.

I have been a life time yo-yo-er. I was doing good for about 3 years, maintaining about 135 with pretty low cals, and lots of exercise. Then I hit an emotional trauma, and boy did it trigger a binge! About 8 months of binging. Which proceeded to put all of it (and more) back on. I have always struggled with that 'layer of fat' even when my thinnest.
Then in July I decided I had to change. I tried to clean up my self, my diet, my Fat brain...Some good (gave up all soda, all junk food, stopped exercising, no weigh in's), some bad 30 day juice fast, yes VLCD,...and yet again, all that was lost, returned with a vengeance.

I was so done.
Then I came across MFP, started becoming aware of my intake, my macros, etc...and another bout of inspiration hit me.

So as of today: I am 5-4", 162 lbs, 38% BF, and 2 weeks into Chalene Extreme. Started with the 1200 recommended, and luckily, I found you guyss. I am so excited, and a little terrified. But I believe in the science, I see the transformations, and I want to do it too!
So I am up to 1600 cals (my BMR ~ 1400, my TDEE~2100). I am nervous to start getting on the scale again, but I think I can do it one a week, and measure with Chalene's 4 week routines. I am hoping I don't need a full reset, having binged my way through the last 14 months, I hope I fed the monster enough! So I am going to try TDEE - 15-20%.
It feels good to eat, and I agree with a previous poster, I feel a lot less emotional eating, almost none really.

My goal is Body Fat loss, weight loss, and fitness. I would love to get to 130-ish lbs, and 22-24% BF.
I wish all of you all the best, and I really look forward to this healing journey, with Freedom at the end!

Cheers everyone!
Thanks ~ Betsy

Hi!!! I'm 51, 5' 4", 152lbs....looking to get down to around 130. Came her around Feb. eating low cal....did the reset and finally figured out some numbers for losing some weight. Sometimes it takes soooooo long to figure things out if it's all new to you, but persevere and you WILL figure it out!!!