Any women over 50, 5' 3"ish, success stories?

Me! I am 52 and lost 35 lbs! It has been no harder than when I when I was younger. Reading the challenges that younger women have with menstration, I think it's easier now. You can do it!

Okay, I am not 5'3" but I am 5'5" and 54 years old. Being of French decent, I love food and food is a great pleasure in my life. That being said, over my 40s, I went from 144 to about 190 lbs. The weight just crept on slowly, year after year. Four years ago, I got on the scale and realized that I was 10 lbs away from hitting 200 pounds. I was horrified because even being full term with my daughter, I was only 164. This was a new high, or low however you look at it, for me.

I had talked for years about losing the weight but it was all talk. It was time to take action. I have a friend who is a fitness nut and we both joined a walking group. She is 11 years older than me and in incredible shape. We started with 20 in our group and by the end of the week, we were down to 2; my friend and me. The route was 5km plus an overpass with stairs. Slowly over the years, we built up to about 10km daily and 12 km on the weekends. She injured her knee last summer, but we are still walking, not as far and as fast, but still doing 8 or so km or more depending on the day.

As to my food intake, I did make a few changes. I drink water or green tea. I cut out milk, juice, and sweetened drinks such as ice tea or lemonade. I have never been a pop/soda drinker. I also stay away from chocolate because it is a total addiction for me. At first, I allowed myself a hot chocolate a day but as I get closer to my goal, I am having to watch my calories even more. I cut my portions by half at the beginning since a lot of my issue was portion control. Over the years I have come to realize what a proper portion is and how many calories are in food. I joined MFP about a year ago but didn't get serious with it until I came back from a summer cruise where I gained 12 pounds. I don't regret a single bite I had on that cruise, I just started counting my calories, exercising and I lost those 12 pounds and a few more. I still eat everything I want, I just make sure to include it in my calorie count.

Sometimes, the weight come off steadily, and at others, it seems to get stuck. I just stick with it knowing that in time, it will come off. This is a marathon, not a race. If I have a special night, I try to eat light so that I have enough calories for dinner. I also eat a smaller portion and take the rest home if I can. I have been pretty successful with that except for Xmas dinner. I went way over my calories on that day! So far, I am down to 141/142 pounds in weight and I would like to get down to 135. My first goal was 144 and I am past that so that feel really good.

Keeping up your diary on MFP is key to knowing how much you put in your mouth. Keeping active in some form is the other thing you need to do. I walk but I know that I need to add some type of strength training soon. I am going to look at Pilates as I have done that in the past. Good luck with your weight loss. If I can do it, so can you!