Hoping it isn't too late

I am 63 and only 5ft tall so two things not in my favour. I started in August 2012 and by October I had lost a significant amount of weight to have to buy new clothes to go on holiday in. Yes, I put some on whilst I was on holiday but got straight back to it when I came back. By May 2013 I had lost over 50lbs and was feeling great. I now walk, swing kettlebells, ride my bike or anything else I want to do.

I guess nobody told my body it was too late lol.

Have a look on youtube and see if there are any exercises you can do. Just baby steps to start. Even a walk round the block at your own speed is exercise. Whatever you can do. It all adds up. In no time at all you will wonder how far you have come. Never give up. There are bad days and good days, we all have them, but as long as the good days outweigh the bad it is a step forward.

I know you can do this. If I can anyone can. I was a chocoholic but I have had a bar of chocolate in my bag for almost a week now and I can honestly say, I don't want it.

Goo luck with it. Start today and make a difference. If you want another friend send me a request.

Its never too late to improve yourself and your life. You've made a great decision.

Forget about the men. Do it because you will be happier.
I have this idea that losing weight is a reward for eating well. THink of it all as a reward for they are indeed many and wonderful.

I've been on this roll all year and i look better, feel better, feel more comfortable, more optimistic, happier and healthier. i don't care about the men thing. Gather friends instead. And fun and rewarding things to do with your time.

Many people in your shoes - i.e. who've never really done much dieting before, tend to start with some really unhelpful ideas so i am just going to clarify a few things so hopefully you find it all easier and you can be more successful and less stressed and worried by the process.

1. Exercise. There is no question that exercise good for us. But it is not a particularly good aid to weightloss. Get on the treadmill when you are skinny and getting around is easier. In the meantime focus on your diet. If you do want to burn a few extra calories easily, then i suggest getting a pedometer and just being more aware of your choices to be active through your day - you know take the stairs, park a a little further away etc. Most people who use these things say they find it motivating and so they end up taking more steps than before they wore one. If you can afford it get one (a garmin) that needs only one battery change per year. The others need charging every few days which sounds like a pain in the you know where to me.

2. So focusing on your diet: Do not cut your calories drastically. When you have a lot of weight to lose, you can aim for about 2 pounds a week. The time will go fast and in the beginning you will be likely to lose more than this anyway. As your weight reduces be prepared to see a slower rate of change. Be patient. In the beginning you will lose a lot of water. This comes from eating fewer carbs predominantly and less highly salted refined foods. It is good to try to reduce your carbs anyway. Keep your protein up and maximise fibre as much as possible.

3. So yes, make most, if not all your food whole food and not refined or processed foods. You may want to design yourself a program of transitioning away from the foods you are used to but which are unhealthy. Basically not many people start off eating perfectly and all of us have to learn to refine our diets as we go along, trying to get more bang for our buck or more satisfaction and more health from our food choices. For instance buy more fresh vegetables, fruit, unsweetened yoghurt, whole milk (avoid low fat stuff), lentils, chickpeas, beans, olive oil, nuts and seeds, some dried fruits, tasty deli cheeses, whole eggs, fresh fish and seafood, (i'm not a meat eater so i'm not going to recommend that but of course some of it is nutritious too. If you are not a great cook or don't know how to use these foods, get some cookbooks and expand your repertoire.

4. change your mindset. So long as you fantasise a lot about sweet foods, you are not likely to win this challenge. Learn how to dislike the foods that you have little control over. Learn whether or not you are capable of moderation and if you are not, then make the decision to quit your problem foods completely or limit them to extremely low risk situations which are also fairly infrequent. do not limit yourself to one day a month because then your will be looking forward all month to that day. this is not helpful. Learn to love healthy food and then you will be able to forget about the very sweet and very fatty unhealthy foods.

5. there are some other things that can undermine your best efforts. These are stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, rapid weightloss. Basically when you experience these things, you tend to want to eat. So if you have stress, get help. If you are tired or lack sleep, get more sleep, go to bed earlier. If you have lost weight rapidly, you will have to put some weight back on but do it by eating more healthy foods and not the foods you may lose control over. Your appetite settle down when you get back to a certain weight. Depression and low seratonin also causes these negative changes to our appetite.

6. Learn about things like seratonin, leptin, insulin and fibre and how all these things affect weight gain/loss and management. I found nutrition wonderland.com to be a good site for this. There are some good shows on you tube as well. Consider reading books like French women don't get fat. 5:2 fasting, The don't go Hungry Diet. The End of Overeating.
The thing is hormones have been very overlooked in the whole weight loss industry. Learn about them and then you can work with them rather than struggle along against.

7. If you find your weight loss is very very slow and you are sure you are doing everything properly, then consider doing low carb. People who are insulin resistant may find it easier to lose weight this way. I am not sure that you really need to go to extreme low carb (under 50) to get the benefits. I would suggest maybe trying instead, starting off at about 100 carbs per day and gradually reducing them. YOu will lose a lot of weight at first but it will be water so do not get too excited. And it will all come straight back when you go off low carb so just be aware of that. Low carb diets burn fat directly instead of burning glucose for fuel. People who are used to eating a lot of meat, eggs, and fat will find this a fairly easy diet to adjust to. But to get the most benefit from it, you still need to eat a lot of vegetables and no refined sugar and even also not much fruit. The paleo diet is similar. Read a few books on the subject of these diets. One of the nice benefits of low carb is reduced appetite. There's a good website - phlaunt.com

8. Another good option to consider is the fasting diet also know as 5:2. Its not as hard as you think. And many people really love it. The idea is you fast two days a week eating 500 calories each day. I prefer doing consecutive days but other people like doing it separately. then on non-fast days you eat to your TDEE. the Fast diet website has the calculators you need. There are other health benefits to fasting and that's why a lot of people choose it too. One unexpected thing i've discovered from it is that i have learnt how to manage hunger. But of course once you reach your goal weight it should be an easy way to maintain your new low weight.

9. Whatever option you choose to follow, be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself for any slip ups and get back on your wagon asap. I find support sites like this and others to be very helpful so use them. You are not alone. there are many people who've been where you've been.

10. Weigh yourself often but not more than once a day. Realise that your weight will fluctuate significantly day by day but this is due to changes in your water levels due to salt in your food, menstruation, carbs, exercise, dehydration. In women particularly, the fluctuations are dramatic. So keep a nice diary and notice the over all trend. A plateau is no weightloss for about 4 weeks.
Log your food in MFP or privately with as much accuracy as you can. Weighing your food is the most accurate. And don't leave out things like milk in your coffee. I have found i add 1/4 cup for cup of coffee i drink and over the course of a day that's one cup. NOt sure how many calories it is but it all adds up.

11. Avoid expensive plans. There are so many free resources out there that you can do better to spend your money on better food.

12. You will probably find it difficult being around your family and their food. RAther than avoiding family situations, one possible way to deal with this is to go along with whatever they do up to a point. That is eat what they serve but don't over eat if you thnk its a lot of extra calories, do a fast day before or after as per the 5:2 fast.

13. Go see you doctor and get all the blood tests done - fasting glucose, cholesterol, thyroid, liver function and any others they suggest. This will show you how far you advance with your diet in health terms. If your weightloss is very slow, it may be due to insulin resistance so discuss this possibility with your doctor from the outset. And refer back to my point about low carb diets. If you are already a diabetic, then don't consider the fasting diet. Though that might only be an issue for type 1 diabetes.
Measure yourself all over - neck, upper arm, wrist, bust, waist, girth, hips, thigh, calf. You will enjoy looking back at this but you can also calculate your total fat percentage with some of these measurements.

Well, I want to attempt to provide a bit of support for you. I am not yet 50 but getting there, and I too am tipping the scales around 300+/-lbs. I began riding my bike today because I looked in the mirror a few days ago and was sorely disappointed in what I saw. I am a prior military person and was used to constant exercise but after a divorce and my kids turning their backs on me, I have decided that it is high time for me to stop focusing on them and work on me. I am starting with riding my bike 20 minutes a day for 6 days a week and doing push-ups and sit-ups for 1 minute each exercise. I hope this is enough to begin to see the progress that I seek of eventually going back to riding my bike for 2 hours. each day for 4 days each week.

I hope the fact that I am in this struggle with you is a motivational factor and we can share our accomplishments over time. Good luck and let's get it off.