Older women success stories please!

Well, for goodness sake I am 66 and doing great! This is my 1st diet EVER. I am on the 5:2 Dr Mosley Fast Diet since March. I have lost 1st 3lbs. I am now 9st 2 lbs and I feel fantastic. So, all you older women .... please stop worrying and get on with it. Why does being older make any difference?? I feel as good as I did at 20. All the best to everyone from London UK.: happy: :happy: :happy: .

I am 66 years old.
I have lost 20 pounds and I met my goal weight. I am losing 2 more pounds just to be safe when I go on Maintenance.

I have lost 4 inches off my waist and all of my clothes that was too small for me, now fit.
I have given away all of my fat clothes to Charity.
My Success Story is now my husband says HI Skinny!!!!! What a good feeling.

I have to go shopping tomorrow for new slacks as my slacks now fall off my hips.
I went from size 14-size 10. Went from extra large blouse and loose to a medium blouse.
What a difference and I feel so much better.

I log every day every morsel of food I put in my mouth.
I stay within my calorie goal, but still have my Vanilla Frozen Yogurt 1/2 cup which is 100 calories.
I drink 8-9 glasses of water a day.

I have arthritis of my back and hips so exercising is minimal
But I do a brisk walk every morning at 7 for 3o mins.

Then I take my overweight dog for a walk every evening 10-15 mins each day as he gets winded walking.

I have been carrying these 20 pounds for over 15 years and I am so glad to be rid of it.
Even when I go on maintenance, I will continue to log in my diary, I will never get to my fat weight again, I promise mysef

DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED by younger women and what they have accomplished. This is your journey and if you are making healthy changes and feeling better, then you are a success. I am 62 and compare myself to myself. I eat healthier more consistently, exercise regularly, drink the water, and generally work hard to stay on track. The culture tells us we have to be sexy, young, thin, etc. They don't say much about character. I'll bet you are one nice lady and I salute you for being here and doing the hard work to become and stay healthy. Cheers to you!

I am 55. Here's the thing I discovered: dumpy older women are invisible. The hard reality is that if you want to get what you need to navigate life comfortably - at work, in the financial world, in the health care world, in the retail world, everywhere - you have to make it clear that you matter. The first step in that is mattering to yourself and, whether we like it or not, our bodies send that message loudly and clearly. I have found that after I lost a bit of weight and started dressing a bit better, the invisibilty cloak started to drop away.

I so agree with that last comment! I had started to become "invisible". It isn't just about losing the weight, it is regaining confidence. I was on holiday recently and, wow, what a difference! I felt so much fitter and had a lot of fun.. I still have a long way to go but feel so much better about myself.... My daytime work is better too.

Age 53. Menopausal. Bad knees. See my ticker? It CAN be done. :laugh: :glasses: :flowerforyou:

Hi, I am 52 and I feel that I have been successful in a few areas. I have lost almost 35lbs, yet I still have 20 to go. I can say you can do it! This is my first time to lose weight and I just take it one day at a time, one lb at a time and one pants size at a time. Us older ladies can look slim and beautiful! Patience, willpower and determination sure gets results! I have cut my blood pressure meds in half and my goal is to get off of them completely! I also have fibromyalgia and losing through diet, calorie counting and exercise has helped me tremendously! We are so worth it!

I see a bunch of young girls (40s - 50s) on here worrying about being too old to lose weight. Well, I'm soon to be 63, and I've lost 60 pounds. I'm so proud of myself, and I look and feel great! The one problem I do have, though, is that my skin is not as elastic as a younger woman's, so I have saggy baggy skin on my arms, thighs and tummy. The arms are the worst, because of the batwings too, and at my age they probably will never go away completely. I'm lifting weights for whatever good that may do. BUT, having said that, it's still better to be thin! My husband thinks I'm sexy and calls me his "Trophy Wife." So no throwing in of towels! Get fit while your skin is still elastic enough to shrink as the fat evaporates, but even if it doesn't, IT'S BETTER TO BE THIN! Just do it!

Losing the extra weight made me look younger, not older, including in the face. Now, in my mid-40s, I think I look better than I did in my 20s and 30s, and certainly I feel much better. This morning I grabbed my "goal pants" to put them on for a presentation. They were too big. I had to go into the box for the next size down. Those pants were loose, and they were as low as they go (size 8 -- I've been 2/4/6, but it wasn't healthy for me and I gave away those clothes years ago). I used to wear those pants 10-12 years ago with control-top nylons, and now they're loose without. The difference is, I'm not just "small" now. I'm tighter, stronger, healthier.

I settled on a skirt and jacket from the bottom of the box, with one of my exercise shirts underneath for later. In a flash of vanity, I made myself late to work posing and preening in front of the mirror in my room. I was a little bummed about all those nice clothes that sat in the box while I unwittingly blew right by them, but hey, #firstworldproblems and I'll see about getting some of them taken in. I'll take that! :bigsmile:

For lunch today, I ate a huge, satisfying, fantastic chicken/avocado/bacon club sandwich, and I have plenty of calories left over for dinner even if I don't work out tonight after work, which I most definitely will anyway because working out feels good now. Unlike the diets of my younger days, this is a lifestyle I can keep up. I'm eating better than ever before. I have more energy. My knees don't hurt anymore, my backpack feels light, I don't get winded when I climb the stairs (unless I sprint, which I like to do!), and I can walk comfortably in the pumps I'd written off. And I see myself again when I look in the mirror.

I am loving this. OP, if you're still out there and still wondering -- don't let your age, or the age of most MFPers who post, stop you from doing it. Just go for it. You will reap the benefits.

No, don't throw in the towel! I'm 47 and feel just like you do! , I've lost 30 lbs. I still have 50 lbs to go. I was getting discouraged when I would see younger people dropping pounds quickly. I knew I had to find a way to stay positive.
I started weight lifting in April with a friend. (I did it initially to help her out since she didn't have anyone to workout with, and now I'm totally hooked!), and I love all the NSV. I'm getting stronger every day, and my body is changing in great ways - losing inches, defined muscles I didn't even know I had!, and a sense of power. I lose weight very, very, very slowly, so I need all positive reinforcements I get in other ways to help me along the way.

What a great thread! Very inspiring to read.

I am 67 and have been on the program for a couple of years - have not lost much, but it was because the plan doesn't work, it was me- I felt like being 'older' I had no one to talk with or whine to... it's nice to see there are many of us more 'mature' folks trying to become healither...

Pamela June

I lost all my weight AFTER I turned 60. I will be 67 in a few days, and I've never felt or looked better. I've maintained my weight loss for 5 years, and even if I looked like a crone, I would not care. I am no longer on any medication, except for a blood thinner due to an irregular heartbeat that has been repaired. I lost more weight than what I weigh. I lost my weight by eating a sensible diet and exercise. I lost over 100 lbs. within 3 years. No matter how anybody does it, any weight loss program is the same, restriction of calories and movement. I might also mention, I've survived breast cancer and a stroke while in my 50's. I feel very blessed.

What an inspiration all of you ladies are! Thank you from someone new to MFP.

Sneaking up on the big 50 and you ladies rock! And give me hope! Thank you!