success stories fro 40 plus for inspiration

fire_under_ice · May 2014

I'm 49. As plenty of others have said it is as simple as eat less and move more. What combination of those you choose and how complicated you want to make it is up to you.. But for me it's the mental approach that determines success - there is no "I want to" or "I'm trying to", you either do it or you don't.

Every time you decide whether to eat something or to exercise you have a choice, each and every time. Success is determined by the sum of those individual choices. You can't do anything about the choices you made yesterday and the choices you make tomorrow will not have any effect on today. But the choices you make now, today, will influence the outcome of future.

I set smaller goals, exceed them and then rather than reward myself for achieving that goal I immediately set a new one. Rinse & repeat and you benefit from consistent and continuing successes.

A year ago my Sunday afternoons usually consisted of sitting in front of t.v., reading the Sunday paper and polishing off a packet of biscuits. Today, to "celebrate" my one year of progress and tracking on MFP I set myself the challenge of cycling 40km followed by running 10 km. The transition out of cycling was a bit strange but I knew after 1.5km of my run that I was going to do it.

Running two parts of an Olympic distance Triathlon were not part of my goals one year ago when I started!

jonnyman41 · May 2014

I'm 49. As plenty of others have said it is as simple as eat less and move more. What combination of those you choose and how complicated you want to make it is up to you.. But for me it's the mental approach that determines success - there is no "I want to" or "I'm trying to", you either do it or you don't.

Every time you decide whether to eat something or to exercise you have a choice, each and every time. Success is determined by the sum of those individual choices. You can't do anything about the choices you made yesterday and the choices you make tomorrow will not have any effect on today. But the choices you make now, today, will influence the outcome of future.

I set smaller goals, exceed them and then rather than reward myself for achieving that goal I immediately set a new one. Rinse & repeat and you benefit from consistent and continuing successes.

A year ago my Sunday afternoons usually consisted of sitting in front of t.v., reading the Sunday paper and polishing off a packet of biscuits. Today, to "celebrate" my one year of progress and tracking on MFP I set myself the challenge of cycling 40km followed by running 10 km. The transition out of cycling was a bit strange but I knew after 1.5km of my run that I was going to do it.

Running two parts of an Olympic distance Triathlon were not part of my goals one year ago when I started!

wow, you have really changed your life around

fire_under_ice · May 2014

Thanks. I believe I have and hopefully for the long term. Even at 49 I am still wondering how far I can go.

22885london · May 2014

What type of cardio?

steelnfl · May 2014

45 years old. Started counting calories and exercising September 2013 at 282 pounds. Lost 48 pounds as of today 5/14/14 so I am down to 234. Would love to get under 200 but the loss is slowing a bit and I will be patient. I count calories and ride my bike 12 miles a day 4 days a week and try to be more active overall. Feeling very good physically and mentally. The mental part is more important to me although losing weight and looking physically better is nice too.

moya_rargh · May 2014

I turned 40 in March. I was 16st (225lbs) in late 2010 after putting on weight following a car crash that injured my right shoulder.

I resumed training in 2011 and really began hitting the weights in 2013. I'm currently 11st 12lbs (166lbs) at 5'8".

Progress photo:

gert1985 · May 2014

I am 47. I started a few months ago and have lost a pound a week.
I will be the first to say that I don't exercise much more than taking a walk.
I know that at some point I will need to start doing more if I want my
body to tone up.

jonnyman41 · May 2014

I turned 40 in March. I was 16st (225lbs) in late 2010 after putting on weight following a car crash that injured my right shoulder.

I resumed training in 2011 and really began hitting the weights in 2013. I'm currently 11st 12lbs (166lbs) at 5'8".

Progress photo:

you look younger as well as stronger

ashnc86 · May 2014

The doctors diet?

moya_rargh · May 2014

I turned 40 in March. I was 16st (225lbs) in late 2010 after putting on weight following a car crash that injured my right shoulder.

I resumed training in 2011 and really began hitting the weights in 2013. I'm currently 11st 12lbs (166lbs) at 5'8".

Progress photo:

you look younger as well as stronger

Thank you!

CherylP67 · May 2014

I'm pushing 47.

I started tracking and cut my calories according to The TDEE-20% method. I started couch to 5k 5 days before I turned 46 and ran a half marathon 8 months later, my profile picture is me after my half marathon. I'm training for another half marathon. I run 3-4 times a week and do a no excuses outdoor bootcamp 1-2 times a week for strength and core work.

For me the secret is the exercise. When you have a physical goal, you focus more on that than every bite of food. I decided that I loved the 13.1 mile distance and keeping a race in my future gives me the motivation to keep training. My goal is to run a half marathon in every state.

I hit the wall during my first half; during the winter I wasn't able to train as well as I'd hoped. I told myself a lot of stuff during those bad moments, but the most important thing was; how are you going to feel if you quit right now? How will you feel if you stop short of your goal?

I have 18 pounds left to lose. I'm kicking up my nutrition and paying attention to my macros. I'll be able to run easier if I'm dragging around less weight.

70chevellegsp · May 2014

My wife and I are both 47 and started on Jan 15, 2014. I was at a business meeting and a local gym owner was the guest speaker (why? IDK!) Anyway, his presentation was basically, calories in vs. calories out, tracking and paying attention. It made sense to me, so that weekend I bought my wife and I fitbits and polar heart rate monitors. I've been lifting weights since 13 and active all my life. I tore my biceps tendon in 7/12 and had a 3 month bout with sciatica in 9/13. My wife and I would go thru the motions working out, just to get them in, and our eating and drinking habits were basically un-monitored. I was at 210 and holding. I wasn't too pleased with my recent issues and started letting myself go. I found this place in 2012, but didn't start logging until 1/14. My wife didn't buy into logging everything, until I started shedding the weight. Now we not only log all our food, but we eat to our TDEE and macro's along with being aware of our salt & cholesterol levels. Overall my BP has come down dramatically (I was always a borderline guy, never on meds). I put together a new, more intense exercise regime that we both enjoy and haven't missed since we started, even through a few minor injuries. We're basically doing weights M-W-F (compound exercises) and a circuit workout on T-Th. Along with this, we'll go for a 2 mile walk most evenings. I also do about 15 minutes of stretching every morning after I wake up. Now that golf and mountain biking season is here, those will take on a big part of our enjoyment and exercise. All told, I've dropped 25# and 7% bodyfat over the past 4 months and my wife has dropped about 13# and 7% bodyfat. The biggest negative is our clothing bill due to most of our clothes not fitting anymore. We haven't really 'given up' any foods, we just don't eat the really bad things too often and when we do, it's in reasonable quantities. We still have pizza every Friday. I've put the past 5 years into learning my dough(s) and sauce(s) and built a wood fired pizza oven in 2008, so I'm all in. We just don't eat a pizza each anymore

So, thanks for a great sight and info!

mspoopoo · May 2014

I started back in July and have lost 60 pounds and I'll be 53 this year.

Healthy67Chick · August 2014

bump

BEVERLYSTEEN · August 2014

I am 54 years old and have been on and off the diet roller coaster all my adult life. I had a double mastectomy in November 2013 and gained weight during winter recovery to my already obese self to a lifetime max of 240 pounds. I was falling and stumbling like I was 20 years older than what I was.

On June 1st, 2014 I set a goal to loose weight before my reconstructive surgery and I made that goal and kept going! That alone was an accomplishment because I lost count of how many other times before I tried to get my Bum in gear.

I am exercising in some fashion at least 5 times a week even if it is just a walk to clear my head and I log everything even if I stumble, yes i still occasionally have a day where my body wants to go back to bad habits but I cannot ever give up because simply loosing 23 pounds has given me back some control of my body.

My next goal is to get some of my upper body strength back once I get the release from my surgeon that it is ok, until then I log one day at a time and rejoice that I can.

Good Luck to everyone.

TheSatinPumpkin · August 2014

Started last August @ 39 and turned 40 last month. 08/27 will be mark one year into my WOE progress.
Following DANDR Extended Induction and logging to keep portion control. Will move to strength training when at or below goal.
Left day 1 - Right - yesterday

spoiledpuppies · August 2014

I'm 43. I lost about 45 pounds by being really committed and diligent about logging. I've been maintaining for about six months, and I really have a healthy lifestyle.

(I even happened to go full post-menopausal while I was losing, so don't let the idea age make you think this is harder--just eat less and move more, and it will come off!)

SrMaggalicious · August 2014

I'm 52, and weighed 158lbs May 1st of this year, today I'm 133.8 (approx 14lbs from my goal). so I have pretty much lost about 24ish lbs in 3 months, all by never missing a workout and staying on my schedule and logging EVERYTHING...even gum! LOL

This time around my mindset is right...I don't obsess over the scale being stuck, if I blow my macros one day, (or when I had to rest after an emergency appendectomy), I don't think it's the end...it's just a 'moment' and move onward. I just walked and walked and walked and still lost wait when I wasn't allowed to lift or do any cardio/core workouts.

I think the key for me this time around, is that I have trained my mind to think 'logically' about all of this, instead of emotionally. It takes a lot of practice, and sometimes the demons want to come back in my head and get me discouraged, but I tell them to f*k off. I really have no goal (except to look smokin' someday), I just plan for this to be the rest of my life. And with that type of mindset, I don't feel any stress or pressure or urgency. I savor each day as it comes and am enjoying the results.

natalia32 · August 2014

Hi, I'd love to see your food diary, it may give me some extra idea's!. I've lost 15lbs and have two stone to go. I've been loosing about a pound a week and nothing some weeks. I really want to hang in there...but I can't see much of a change, perhaps it too early for that?

jjulliee · August 2014

I'm 42, and I decided to get healthy shortly before I turned 40, partially due to higher cholesterol (didn't want to go on meds) and to just be healthy overall.

My first step was walking - I got a treadmill after struggling with that decision for a long time. I thought it would work for me, but I'd had other exercise equipment in that past that I didn't use. I really began to enjoy walking. First, it was the 20-minute mile, 3 times a week. My treadmill came with an iFit chip with increasingly difficult programs, and I would stay on one until it was pretty easy, then move to the next one. At some point, I decided I'd try distance, and now I typically power-walk between 2.5 - 3 miles at least 3 times a week.

I started to get very interested in nutrition and educate myself about foods by reading labels and trying alternatives to high-calorie, low- nutrition foods. I probably most closely follow a "clean" lifestyle when it comes to food, but when I started changing my habits, I hadn't heard of it. Mostly, I just cut out all soda, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives/colors/flavors, and processed food in general. Now, I eat, really, just very healthy. A normal day is Breakfast: plain Greek non-fat yogurt with granola or with fresh fruit. Snack: trail mix (raw nuts, dried fruit, maybe dark chocolate) or just nuts. Lunch: fresh fruit and more nuts or a salad (usually with a balsamic vinegar instead of a dressing). Dinner: veggie and cheese omelet with a small salad or bread & butter, or fresh veggies, maybe in a sauce on quinoa. Snack: dark chocolate with all-natural peanut butter.

I mix it up, but I eat lots of vegetables and nuts. I'd rather eat real butter than margarine (which has ingredients I don't want), so I eat butter! I put half-and-half in my coffee, because I don't want the junk or sugar in the non-dairy creamers.

When I eat something packaged, I follow the serving size on the package. I also try to stick to around 2000 calories a day, but I'm not a counter. If I feel like I'm indulging too much or often, I start to write down what I eat for a week or so, as that helped me a lot in the beginning, too.

So, in the process of doing these things to become healthy, I ended up losing 50 lbs., when I couldn't even lose 5 pounds throughout my 20s and 30s. By doing this, I now believe that it's really not an age thing or a gender thing - it's really about how you treat your body.

Good luck!

success stories fro 40 plus for inspiration

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