Wrapping my brain around weight loss

i'm well past menopause and have had no trouble losing weight.

i ate very clean and healthy, but i ate too much of those clean, healthy foods so was still quite overweight.

you don't need to go to the gym to lose weight - just eat less calories than you burn. it's really that simple most of the time.

why don't you want to keep track of what you eat? i've found it to be very helpful, and not just to lose weight, either.

the bottom line for me is that wanting to lose weight wasn't enough. logging food is helping me lose weight, but it's also helping me learn different eating habits, and without those, one usually gains the weight right back because losing weight is seen as a temporary measure with a goal, so once the goal is met, if one doesn't have new eating habits, we eat what we were eating before losing weight.

Just recently there have been several threads from women over 60 wondering if is "too late." Here is a repeat of my response to that question:

"No, it isn't too late. One of the many inspirational success stories on mfp is that of Hanfordrose. She is in her late 60's and changed her life from being morbidly obese, confined to a wheelchair with damaged knees to taking her life back and achieving a normal weight and movement. Comb the success stories and bookmark the ones that speak to your heart.

I'm 66, and have lost 42 pounds (moving from obese to merely fat) and I will be at the top of "normal" weight range within 2-3 months. [Yeah, I know the limitations of using BMI as a metric.] Age is not a valid excuse. Later this year I will be jumping off the Sky Tower in Auckland, something I would never have considered 42 pounds ago. I want to go up in a hot air balloon over Sedona or Cappadocia, why not? My weight is no longer an impediment to wonderful adventures. How cool is that?

Start now, and in a year or two you can write a success story. Do not "try." Instead commit yourself to a change of lifestyle.
Read the stickies, so much wisdom there. Good luck."

Past menopause? No excuse. Read the success stories.

It's hard? No excuse. Nothing of value was ever achieved that wasn't "hard."

Don't want to keep track of what you eat? Well, there's a stumper. Not by counting calories or weight watchers points or any other method? Just kinda guess? Like, oh I guess this spaghetti is about 100 calories? Some vague concept of "eating healthy" is just not good enough. Evidence: you are not losing weight. Not a good strategy. Figure out what works for you to know (not guess) that over time you expend more energy (calories) than you take in. Devise a strategy that will work for you. MFP is great for helping you do that.

If you don't wanna, you won't. The help is here, but you have to be willing to accept it.

If you don't want to track your food and NOT tracking your food isn't working....I don't really know what to tell you, other than "come back later when you're really ready to lose weight"? :huh:

A sign of a person truly committed to reaching a goal is that they lay their excuses aside and do anything they can to make it happen, regardless if it's appetizing, or fun or easy. If you're not willing to make changes, you're not truly willing to change. Sorry for the harsh truth.

^^^^This...when you're ready, you're ready. When you're not, you will make excuses. Only you can decide when this happens. Motivation comes from within. Inspiration comes from others

It does start between your ears my friend, so I believe that mindset is the perfect word. Weight loss is a process and its very relational. You have created an environment that isn't encouraging your weight loss. It is very similar to being in a bad or abusive relationship; when your in it its hard to make change...until you change.

In my experience, it is diet, diet, diet...first and foremost. The things you put into your body are what your body becomes. I got chubby because I ate chubby and convenient. I blamed it on work, parenting, divorce, etc. The reality is that I just took the easy way...I chose a big mac over a salad and even when I chose a salad I caloried it up with dressing, bacon, croutons, etc.

The reality is that YOU CAN DO THIS! There are thousands of people on this board in your situation or a similar one or a worse one and they all made progress. It just has to start with one simple step and you must be patient. Until you change your relationship with diet and exercise you won't see great progress. Sometimes its like love at first sight and sometimes its sleepless in seattle and you have to have a fairytale to get the relationship right. Regardless, you have to change and start changing immediately. You are worth it and your family is worth it.

Good luck!