Is age really a factor or an excuse?

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  • annie7hudds
    annie7hudds Posts: 199 Member
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    I think that yes, it probably is.

    However that doesn't mean that you have to give in to it.

    I am struggling to lose anything at the moment. It could be that I just don't have the focus.

    Also, when you have other commitments it isn't as simple. If you are young and single - then you have loads of time to go and exercise, plan healthy meals (*and stick to them).

    I find it tough as I have to cook for teenage boys and a husband. They don't want to eat my delicious salads and bean concoctions.

    But I say just keep at it - try hard and look after your body.

    Right - off to workout now :)
  • SephiraRose
    SephiraRose Posts: 775 Member
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    On my part I feel age plays some part because we aren't as active as we were in our 20's. Also you may have more unhealthy habits. Just take it one day at a time and never stop working at it. But it sure would be fabulous if our weight loss goal was achieved in like 6 months of better eating and more activity, then we could just maintain.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Yes, age is probably one of the biggest factors. Younger people can work out longer and harder and recover quicker. Younger people can also eat more and generally have a better metabolism.

    People in their 40's and 50's can still be as strong and active as someone in their 20s, but recover time is multiplied exponentially. A longer recovery time means less time spent working out and more time spent...recovering. Someone in their 20s can realistically be completely recovered from a long day working and being active on beer and only a few hours of sleep.

    I call BS on this.

    My father in law is 63 and puts my husband and son along with a lot of younger men to shame, eats more, works harder etc.
    I have a guy friend who is 50 and is in better shape than most young men I know.
    My sister is 43 and looks great, hard all over, active with a child and a job.

    Ditto with me...I put younger women to shame, my recovery time is almost null and void due to my health being very good and being active (more active than I was in my 20's)

    Age can play a factor esp if you have always been overweight or a woman hitting menopause. I was very active in my teens and early 20's and I think that plays a factor...

    IMHO age is an excuse, I see lots saying oh no in my 20's it was easier...lose 5lbs by skipping lunch etc...Yah no.

    Losing 5lbs in your 20 requires the same equation as it does in your 40's, 50's and beyond. You need to take in 17500 calories less than you are burning...either through eating less or moving more or both...if you are inactive yes it will be harder and as we age and become "adults" with jobs, kids etc we are less active but not because our age it's because we get lazy and blame being tired on our jobs/kids/houses etc when in fact if we exercised more we wouldn't be so tired.

    so again it's an excuse.

    ETA: OP your diary is a mess...1200 calories??? really...and you don't weigh your food and use quick add calories a lot. If you aren't losing weight it is because you are not in a deficet you are at maintenance due to inaccuracies in logging which results in underestimates in intake and over estimates in burns...
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
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    My lifestyle is so vastly different now than it was in my 20s that whatever effects aging may have had in the process is tiny in comparison.
    In my 20s, I had babies / young kids that I chased around and I shared the meals I cooked.
    As an empty nester with a mostly sedimentary career, I have to actually try to maintain a healthy weight.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    IMO, age is definitely a factor, but not an insurmountable one. It's just something to account for, but shouldn't be seen as an excuse not to achieve your goal.
  • beaches61
    beaches61 Posts: 154 Member
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    Your weight is not going up for no reason. It's going up because you consume more than you burn.

    Age is somewhat of a factor, but in your 30s, not a significant one, IMO. It does gradually get more challenging to lose weight, although mostly because most people continue to become less active and lose muscle mass as they age, and because these changes happen slowly, they don't realize it.

    You can certainly lose weight as you age, and still quite easily in your 30s, I believe. I'm 52, and I am losing weight with diet and exercise. There are plenty of other folks here in their 50s and older who are losing weight too.

    It's not easy though.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    It probably does...but muscle loss is not inevitable .....I have a bigger muscle mass now than I did at 20.
  • Jeneba
    Jeneba Posts: 699 Member
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    I am 57 and have been working out since my early twenties. The only difference for me now is that I cannot afford ANY prolonged period of inactivity. The muscles (including heart and lungs) need to be continually challenged - if not, I start to be susceptible to injury.
  • VaralKrieger
    VaralKrieger Posts: 7
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    Age causes us to change how we do things but as long as you have motivation, you can accomplish anything you set your sights on.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    ISTR your metabolic rate falls by 0.1% per year. So it's not really a factor on its own. But as we get older, we tend to move less frequently so even if the metabolic rate didn't fall, we'd still tend to get wobbly. So, make sure you participate in some kind of physical activity regularly for the rest of your life.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,018 Member
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    We slow down as we age and lose lean body mass. If we move more and exercise as part of a lifestyle that factor is reduced or can be pretty much negligible. In my experience, and I'm no spring chicken. :wink:
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Age is an excuse.

    It's a factor, but a very small factor. Metabolism slow down with age is mostly attributed to muscle loss. Another reason why strength training is so important.
  • ernielaurie
    ernielaurie Posts: 80
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    Yes it is a factor.

    You need less calories as you get older, and you also tend to move less than you did when you were younger. It's not an excuse and it can be done, but it takes me longer to lose now than it did five years ago.

    This absolutely, I'm 50 and very active! and it's harder to lose weight now than in my 20's and 30's. But that isn't an excuse, you just have to work harder and shake things up once in a while. I'm trying boot camp and it's helped, but it's hard!!!
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    Age is an excuse.

    It's a factor, but a very small factor. Metabolism slow down with age is mostly attributed to muscle loss. Another reason why strength training is so important.

    I took some time reading studies on this stuff at one point, and the conclusion was, as this poster pointed out, that metabolism is correlated with muscle, not age. Seems harder to gain muscle now, so we get round to the same thing in a way.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
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    At 53 I can say Age is an excuse, Reality is though it's years of inactivity and weight gain that is making it harder to hit the calorie burn levels i did when younger. I have friends my age who are in better shape now than when we were 18-20 they never stopped exercise and I doubt they have ever suffered weight issues (One guy has been 5'8' and about 135 as long as I have know him. He trains Navy Seals and others in Jeet Kun Do and can still toss a 220 pound Seal around ) so yep Age is more excuse than a factor. poor fitness is the real factor - Not to discount some people will be suffering from health issues but then health is the issue not age
  • aes1959
    aes1959 Posts: 3 Member
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    Age totally is a factor - metabolism begins to slow - at your age minimally - personally, I think the only way to combat that is to get regular exercise....not only do you burn calories working out but your metabolism remains ramped up for a while after your finish your workout......my suggestions is to make a habit of it now before you get older - I am 54 and the only way I can lose at this point is to eat 1200 calories and if I want to eat more I MUST burn them at the gym. I have been able to keep my weight in check for years but it is a chore and I recognize that I will never be the weight I was in my 20's or 30's. Focus on health first and the weight will come off and stabilize. Overall my endurance and health is better than ever now and I have always been athletic. Tracking what you eat is also key if you want to take off weight - accountability works.
  • jkleon86
    jkleon86 Posts: 245 Member
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    I'm 53 and used that excuse and having had 4 kids as an excuse also but I was only hurting myself with them.
    I am now down 46 and feeling great I still have a way to go but "no more excuses!!":wink:
  • Leslie1124
    Leslie1124 Posts: 143 Member
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    So my diet has stayed the same and been on here awhilel so I know what I should and should not be eating/excercising etc but now I am getting into my thirties my weight has slowly been going up for no reason. I have gained an extra 10% within the last year.

    And trying to lose it now is alot harder than in my twenties, I seem to work my butt off to lose 1 kilo and then gained it back after having one bad meal or a few drinks, it is so frustrating. In my twenties would just have to say the word diet and the weight would come off.

    So my question is, is this common as you get older or is there something wrong with me?

    this is me exactly. I had no problem losing weight when i set my mind to it in my twenties. working out and dieting would bring it right off. exactly at 30 i changed nothing and my weight kept slowly going up and up. Id work so hard with very little results. I now have to do soo much more to lose anything. its frustrating but im getting used to just working out harder and more often and more closely watch my calorie intake.
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
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    I believe age is a factor but probably more so into one's 50s and older. I've been overweight virtually my entire life but could always easily "diet" it off. Then, regain of course. As I got older (I'm 69), however, it became more difficult to lose weight, even by drastically restricting calories. Two years ago, I got serious about losing once again and, being a Lifetime member, returned to Weight Watchers. Even with strictly counting "points" (they don't use calories), I rarely lost any appreciable weight. Then, I made two changes: (1) began a consistent exercise program and (2) took bread out of my diet. Immediately began consistently losing one pound a week. For me that was a significant loss, week after week. I'm very close to my new, lower, goal (well below my WW one) and, due to the exercise, am stronger and much more fit than I was. I think the key, as we age, is to combine calorie-watching with exercise: either one of these alone is probably not going to do the job.

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