40's and up

Trinaann70
Trinaann70 Posts: 10
in Getting Started
I know that once you get into your 40's it's even harder to lose weight and boy do I realize it now! It's a shame that I didn't start this lifestyle of healthy eating and exercise in my 20's! I either wouldn't be here where I am now or it would be so much easier to lose it. Looking for support from people like me to start a new you and live healthy!
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Replies

  • waltcote
    waltcote Posts: 372 Member
    I am at my goal weight more or less but I am still here to help me maintain. I am 55. If you ned more buddies feel free to add me. :bigsmile:
  • dcresider
    dcresider Posts: 1,272 Member
    At least you are heading in the right direction and taking control of your life now. Good luck in your process.
  • monicapevans
    monicapevans Posts: 16 Member
    I am 48. I totally understand about how hard it is after 40... feel free to add me. I have about 38 lbs to go.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I am not in my 40's for a few more years, but I saw this and just wanted to say that sometimes for people in their 20's it is not easy to lose weight either. Yes our metabolism does tend to slow as we age. But don't feel that you are defeated in any way for starting out a little bit older.

    There are tons of other factors that can affect weight loss and gain. Hopefully coming to the healthy lifestyle table a little bit later will be even better for you since you've got a few more years of maturity and a stable lifestyle (ie probably not living with family, going to college, hopefully less relationship drama, more supportive friends, etc).

    As for me like I said, not 40 yet but I've lost 130 lb between ages 32-37. Lightest I've been since I was 13-14 right now at 37. In my early thirties when I hit my all-time heaviest I tended to assume that it would be VERY difficult to get back down to an even slightly healthy weight and now I'm on my way.
  • CindyMarcuzAdams
    CindyMarcuzAdams Posts: 4,007 Member
    Cindy here. 52. Anyone can add me. I am on every day.
  • gretlarson
    gretlarson Posts: 52 Member
    Feel free to add me if you want! I entered the realm of the 40's a couple weeks ago. (I'm pretty sure that it is not possible that I am that age) I have in the past lost and regained over 100 pounds. I am back at it again and hoping to make it work this time. I know this time I am doing it for my health.
  • MJewell852
    MJewell852 Posts: 15 Member
    I'm in my 40's and have started again. You can add me.
  • Dawn5202
    Dawn5202 Posts: 25 Member
    I'm 45 and wish I had also started sooner to get in shape. I am down 14 pounds with MFP and 22 altogether. I love MFP and it has made things much easier for me! Feel free to add me as a friend. We can do this!! Learn to celebrate the small things and not just the scale. That has really helped me. Keep up the good work.
  • jraines1973
    jraines1973 Posts: 231 Member
    Feel free to add me I'm 41 and working on getting back in shape again myself. :smile:
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    I'm 43 and hit goal a few months back and am working away at a few more pounds just to have a little cushion. I'm currently the thinest I've been in over 15 years...maybe 20. When I started MFP in April of 2013 I would have been happy to get to 145 so when I hit 140 I was amazed. Then I changed my goal again to 130 and I hit it.

    Don't let age hold you back, you've got this!! It may take longer to lose but slow and steady wins the race!

    Feel free to add me.
  • Vince_1964
    Vince_1964 Posts: 359 Member
    Be 50 in a month ... still working to lose some weight!! I'm on here daily (not as much on weekends or when I travel), anyone can feel free to add me!
  • Eselte
    Eselte Posts: 49
    I'm 41, fat and foxy so feel free to add me. I have 70+ to lose.. :)
  • JenD1066
    JenD1066 Posts: 298 Member
    I've been struggling to lose the weight I gained with my daughter- and my daughter is almost FIVE! It just gets so much harder! I wish someone had convinced me in my 20s that the goal was "strong" rather than "skinny."
  • kwantlen2051
    kwantlen2051 Posts: 455 Member
    You can do it. I am 5'2", 56 years young. I lost 27 lbs and now at maintenance. I started in Sept 2013.
  • Samstan101
    Samstan101 Posts: 699 Member
    Its only harder in your 40's because we tend to be less active - when was the last time you danced the night away? LOL. The difference in my BMR between being 20 and now (41) with the same height and weight is only about 100 cals. I've lost 120lbs in 16 months eating around 2000 cals a day, exercising daily (between 30-60mins) and being consciously more active (using the stairs not the lift, not parking in the space nearest the supermarket etc) so in all honesty it hasn't been that difficult once I managed to make time for the exercise. You can do it if you want but age isn't an excuse (unless there's underlying medal issues of course). Best of luck :)
  • SEAFOODMAN
    SEAFOODMAN Posts: 342
    its a piece of cake...............want some :laugh:
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    Decades ago, I heard someone say "you don't get less active because of age, you age because you get less active."

    Somewhere along the way, I forgot about that, got less active, and got heavier and older.

    In Jan, I turned that around. I got active again, I got much lighter (see ticker) and I feel and look much younger.
    Good nutrition + exercise = results!

    Best of luck!

    PS - I'm 51, but feel better now than I did at 41.
  • Tamzy00
    Tamzy00 Posts: 23 Member
    I started my health program in April and turned 40 in May. In 4 months, I have lost almost 60lbs & went down 2-3 clothing sizes. I have had the help of medication from my doctor, but I'm sensitive to it and have had so many issues and been on and off it several times already that I doubt its really doing much for me. I'm on a 1200 calorie diet with very little exercise. I do some vigorous hiking once a week or so. Other than that, I sit on my computer and work all day, every day. So pretty much I lost as much as I did with just the low calorie diet alone. I still have about double that to lose, but for the first time in my life I see a light at the end of the tunnel. So it is possible if you believe it!
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    I'm 45. I've just been doing it slowly and surely. I haven't made major changes other than have a constant and small deficit and I started lifting weights (which I did when I was younger and enjoyed). Other small changes have been to eat slightly smaller portions, to eat more whole foods/less processed & fried stuff, to walk as much as I can. I'm not worrying about losing the weight quickly as I want this to be something I can do for life - it's taken me 7 months to get to where I am now and I imagine it will take me another year or two to get to my ultimate goal (which isn't actually a weight but a 'look' - though I think the last 7 lbs will potentially take me a year as those feel tougher).
  • Perrybarger
    Perrybarger Posts: 37
    Turning 40 was a huge thing for me with my health. After spending more then a decade over 300lbs and coming close to 400 I felt like it was time to change. I quickly discovered that I wasnt 20 years old and able to do the things I used to do when I was fit. But I stayed with it and have done better then I could have ever dreamed. i feel better at 40 then I did my entire 30s! I am no longer pre diabetic and I have gotten off most of the blood pressure meds I was on. My ultimate goal is to be off all meds and be as healthy as possible. Never let age slow you down. Im outdoing some of the youngsters in the gym now :-)
  • golden6911
    golden6911 Posts: 50 Member
    I am feeling your pain. I am 41, 5'4" and I am struggling to lose weight since hitting 40.

    I have been lucky enough to have always been a pretty much a normal weight without exercise or counting calories much. In my mid 30s after having two kids I noticed my weight gradually creeping up from my normal 130-135lbs to around 145. I adopted a healthy lifestyle for a few years ago, started running, then lifting and managed to get back down to 130 lbs. Then I let it slide and I quickly settled back up to 148 lbs.

    In the last few months I have started doing what worked before but the weight is just. not coming. off (although I did stop gaining). I am at the point where I am lifting twice a week, running 12 miles a week, and I just lowered my net calories from 1400 to 1200 because I have barely lost a pound in 3 months. It is very frustrating.
  • KellySue67
    KellySue67 Posts: 1,006 Member
    I am 47 and have lost almost 100lbs- it has taken me two years and I still have a little over 30 left to lose. It can be a struggle at any age, but it can be done. Any one can add me if they would like to .
  • Kelven23
    Kelven23 Posts: 51
    I will be 41 in a couple of months, after a injury filled couple of years I am pushing hard to get back into really good shape. Feel free to add me.
  • BrotherBill913
    BrotherBill913 Posts: 662 Member
    I'm 49, , anyone who INTERACTS with their Pals and sends a note to with their friend request can add me :) I do a lot of different workout stuff you will come to find out :)
  • DanZiehm
    DanZiehm Posts: 152 Member
    I turn 41 in November and can definitely relate. As I have gotten older, my physical activity has gotten less and less. Eight weeks ago, I decided to make a lifestyle change. With the help of MFP, I have dropped 25 pounds in those 8 weeks. I still have a long way to go, but I will get there with the help of MFP and my friends on here. Please feel free to add me as a friend. Also, anyone reading this, please feel free to send me a friend request. I need as many supportive friends as I can possibly get.
  • GibbsGirl13072
    GibbsGirl13072 Posts: 156 Member
    I'm 42 and I can totally relate! I gained 20+ pounds last year after surgery, and have only lost 15 of it so far. I could stand to lose about 50 besides that, and it definitely feels like it comes off slower than it used to. I haven't been the strictest with my food, but I'm doing better than I was before I tracked it. :bigsmile:
  • HealthyLifestyleG525
    HealthyLifestyleG525 Posts: 64 Member
    I am 47 and the heaviest I have ever been:( For me it's a truism that metabolism slows down as we get older. I wish I would have started healthier eating habits when I was younger and it seemed like I could eat whatever I wanted and still remain thin.

    On here to make healthy permanent changes and see food differently. Not like dieting in the past where I was dieting to lose weight with a short term goal in mind, and the weight bounced back as soon as I went back to my old eating habits. Now I just want to learn healthy habits. I'm sure if I do, the weight loss will follow.

    Feel free to add me
  • Neilly50
    Neilly50 Posts: 1 Member
    I can completely understand how you feel. I'm 42 and find it way more difficult to lose weight than I used to. Feel free to add me.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    I'm 41 and completely agree! I have never been more than 10 or 15 lbs overweight. In my 20s and 30s, if I got a little lazy and gained a few, I could cut back the junk food, put a little more effort into being active, and lose 5 or 10 no problem.

    Then at 39, when I realized I was carrying 10 extra lbs and wanted to be fit for my 40th birthday, I did the same things I had always done, and... NOTHING. Worse, I gained another 5 lbs. So I knew now I had to get serious :)

    A word to the wise, strength training has given me the most bang for my buck so far. Obviously you need to keep your calories in line, but cardio just doesn't improve my body the way it used to! Putting a little muscle on has really improved my shape and I feel like I have more energy, I guess because I'm stronger.

    Anyway, good luck and keep at it!
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Was always in decent shape up until we had kids. Stopped playing sports, started focusing on career, and I looked around at 40 and realized it was 10 years later and I was at least 30+ pounds heavier. I've always had it in my mind to get back down to 180 where I was when I was in my 20's, but realistically, with a desk job and limited time, I am 'ok' if I can stay under 200 for now. As time moves forward though I keep working to drop down, but as other mention it is certainly harder to lose weight, and WAYYY too easy to gain it.

    I just focus on making the best choices for eating and exercise, as often as I can. and commit to doing it for the rest of my life. We will see how it goes.

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