For Women Close to - or over 50

Hi from another Barb - yes, I have had great difficulty losing weight since I am older. Very frustrating. I find that my calorie restriction is much more aggresive now than in the past. And even with this restriction, the weight does not come off easily.

I am around your age too. What worked for me was a combination of cardio, weight and diet for a long period of time. I did two weight session of 30 mins per week, 3/4 hours cardio and 15 miles biking every week-end.
The problem is that I gained the weight back when I stopped my routine and get back to the old eating habit.

Now I am starting again, :-)

I'm 55, 5'2" and now weigh 115 lbs. My BMR is 1100 so I ate bout 1200 to lose 20 lbs and now eat about 1350 to 1400. I got the 20 lbs off between April and September with just doing 30 minute DVD's at home and EA Sports Active on my Wii. I really didn't find that it was harder to lose than when I was younger but it does suck having fewer calories to eat than all the young people.

i do the same.... same 5 pounds and hard to get it down and oh so easy to have it move back up!

i am pretty new on here too ... feel free to add me.

I've really got a lot to lose, but my goal for now is 50 lbs. I think this program along with everything else I'm doing will make a difference, it has to :-)

I'm 5'4" and weigh 215. I can't believe I'm making that public! Sadly, this is the most that I've ever weighed, even while pregnant. It's got to go! I think menopause has made things tougher also.

Hi I am 48 and 5'4 and 202 lbs..I weighed more about one month ago but didnt weigh..I know how you feel. 30 day shred is the best!! I have shrunk down in size 4 inches off my waist. I also suggest eating lean protein and clean foods..coconut oil in place of butter or marg..You can add me if you like..I am super serious..and have hope that i will be looking good by summer!!

I'm 46, going through menopause and have struggled with my weight since my late 20's. What has worked for me, so far, is faithfully logging EVERY BITE of food and exercising (mostly low intensity cardio (elliptical)and a little light weight lifting/strength training (wii EA sports active) almost every day. Staying consistent and keeping with it,even if I have a day/week that is not as diligent as other days/weeks. I went on a cruise and still logged everything, went up on my calories,but still logged... and still exercised. I've just decided it's my new lifestyle, not something I'm doing till I get skinny, lol.

I am 5'3 and started out weighing 218.5 last May- who knows I may have been more before that. I didn't weigh myself for months because I didn't want to know. lol.Now I weigh daily, and don't let the fluctuations get me down, as long as the trend is that I'm losing. Keeps me focused.

Just keep on working at it, make it your new lifestyle and it will happen!!

Thanks so much for all the great replies and support. I appreciate each and every one of you!

The link should have been eatingacademy.com. Sorry.

Best of luck.

I'm 54, well past menopause, and it's almost a year since I started here. I kept gaining weight each year, taking off a little, and then inching up again. A friend suggested this site.

What works is eating fewer calories than you need, but it's hard to figure out what that means without eating too little and scaring your brain and body, because it's such an inexact science. I set my loss to half a pound/week, and then tried to be very honest about my calories. I never weighed anything except for fish and chicken to find out what three ounces looked like, but I did measure a lot. When I had a meal that was hard to figure, I'd look it up and take a middle-to-high calorie count. When I exercise, I take the lower numbers (counting minutes as vigorous exercise, for example, only when my heart rate is up in the 90% range). I measure food occasionally to make sure I still know what 1/3 of a cup is.

Our household emptied out almost everything with added sugar, stopped buying processed foods for the most part (we still eat some sausage and cheese, for example), and we went to whole grains. When I eat (our homemade) bread at night, my weight is up in the morning, so I don't eat bread or pizza except on rare occasions. There's no juice or other sweet drink in the house.

I exercise from half an hour to about an hour daily. It seems like mixing up workouts with high intensity intervals helps get the fat moving off of us middle-aged ladies, and weight workouts are helpful there too.

It might seem as though I didn't have much to lose, but it was a struggle before I started MFP and almost easy, once I was here. The weight took most of a year to come off, and now my biggest issue is continuing to monitor. I highly recommend getting into rowing as a full-body, calorie-demanding exercise. I'm not sure whether my MFP friends (and their challenges) or the site alone has a bigger share in my success, but I certainly appreciate both more than I can say.

You can do it! As the weight comes off, you'll find that you want to get off your chair more often and you'll have energy for more than you expected.

Hey - is everyone here looking over my shoulder? We all sound alike. I'm 53, 5'1", 175lbs, desk job, been working out 5x week & keep losing & gaining those same 5-10 lbs. too bad I couldn't add up all those pounds lost - I'd be at my goal weight by now! I just found this site about 1 1/2 weeks ago & I've lost 1 lb. so far. Not much but it's a start! I was always trying to stick around 1,200 calories & am now 15-20% below my TDEE which puts me around 1,800 calories so that is a big adjustment both in eating & in my mind! I'm hoping it works for me! Time will tell wont it? My biggest issue at this time is trying to get all of my protein in.