Hi, I'm Deb
I recently turned 55 and have been battling lifelong weight issues. I had been fairly successful for most of it- taking a (now dangerous) supplement and exercising more when the scale tipped up, later tipping the scale then joining jenny craig and going back down for a few years, tipping again then weigh watchers and good for a year. I never could go back to what I had done in the past because I required the novelty of doing something new to carry through with it. Then menopause hit at 49 and a bunch of other hurdles were placed in my way. It no longer was just watching what I ate and excercising more. It was about trying to do that while no longer having the drive or motivation to carry through with it. No longer having the will power. No longer getting excited about seeing the scale go down, or being excited over doing much of anything active. Always being tired and not wanting to do anything that would get me sweatty since it reminded me of the extreme annoyance of hot flashes. No longer sleeping soundly through the night and therefore being tired. HRT only works a bit- it started out great, I'd thought I'd found the answer- a patch. It worked for about 8 months then no longer was successful. Then the cream which worked for 6 months, then the spray- 3 months, the gel- nope, the sublingual tablets-nope, the regular pill- a little bit- but too much and depression hit. So now I'm at the point where I've never been heavier, getting about 10 nasty hotflashes a day (6 years out from starting menopause), and eating is the only enjoyment I seem to feel. Maybe getting rid of the fat and getting in better shape will do the trick? we shall see....

Hi, I am Anne, I am 56 almost 57 years old. I was 183 now after 2 years at 146 and aiming for 125/130.

I want to loose weight but also improve my health and for me one cannot exist without the other.

I enjoy cooking and entertaining, have a large social circle and love it.

Looking forward to exchange with all of you.

Hi, I'm Pat and I'm 53 years old and want to be fit healthy and fit. I love to laugh and just want to live life and enjoy! I'm no about drama, and negativity has no place in my house!

Hello - sorry for this long intro!

I'm Gigi, 51 and new to these support forums. I recently read a good article on behavior modification for weight loss, and they stressed the need to track what you eat and have an active support group. My 2 best friends are model thin, and my husband is fit, so I don't have a local group that has the same weight issues that I do. These forums seem like a good place to find like minded people. I'm especially interested in this group for women over 50, because my weight seems to have gone out of control once I hit 50.

I have had to watch my weight my entire life. When I was in my 20s and 30s I was where I wanted to be with a BMI of 22-23. Of course I always wanted to lose 5 more pounds, but I felt good and looked good. I was very active - ran 6 marathons, lots of half marathons and at least a 10k race every month. Also worked out in martial arts 3-4 times per week. Yes, that was before kids :-)

I was a late bloomer, but I married, moved and had kids and life was different. My weight started slowly increasing in my 40s. I no longer had my running group of friends, and live in a rural area now and have looked, but there are NO local running groups. With the kids there are always birthdays, parties, celebrations that involved lots and lots of sugar and lovely homemade desserts. I'm fairly active, but don't do the many hours of running and cardio that had always kept my weight down. Plus I'm older and the metabolism is slowing.

Then I hit 50. I was so tired of dieting my entire life, I just felt rebellious and stopped watching what I ate for almost year. I didn't go crazy binging or anything like that. But I had ice cream with the kids. I baked more. I had 2 or 3 fabulous homemade desserts at the many potlucks I went to. I started having an evening glass of wine or 2. I bought chocolate for all the holidays - valentines, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Nothing extreme, but all those little indulgences seemed to change my metabolism and I stopped getting on the scale. Or even looking in the mirror because I didn't like the way I looked. My sister gave me her old jeans so I had some clothes that would fit.

When the warm weather came this year, I found that NONE of my shorts or summer clothes fit. I couldn't begin to button my huge "fat shorts". The real shocker was that my shirts didn't fit - too tight in the chest and pinching my arms. What!??! I've never gained so much weight that my SHIRTS didn't fit! Couldn't wear my dressy black jacket to a funeral because my arms were too big! Then one day walking down the street I caught sight of myself in the mirrored windows and saw that my belly was jiggling as I walked. I was mortified.

I got on the scale and found out I gained 25 pounds in about 6 months. That's gaining a pound a week!! If I gained just a couple more pounds I would have an officially obese BMI of 30.

I was in denial. I'm not any more. More importantly, I'm now "ready" to diet. I've been dieting for a couple months now, but am very discouraged how hard it is to lose weight at 51. Previously, if I just dieted and upped the exercise, the weight would slowly, but surely come off. Now I've stopped gaining, but losing weight isn't happening. It's depressing.

So I'd like to lose 25 pounds to get back to a BMI of just under 25. Longer term, it would be nice to lose 40 pounds and go back to a BMI of 22, but not holding my breath on that one.

Some of this might be familiar to you other 50+ women. If you can relate, consider being my friends to help support me. I'll support you as well. I'm really committed now, I just need to lose a little weight to get some momentum going, and some friends to encourage me when I'm going through a rough patch.

thanks for reading this far!

Hello all, nice to find this group!

I'm Melinda (sometimes known as Mindy), and I'm 53 years old. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, lived there for most of my life, with a one-year stint in the Boston area and a one-year sojourn in Europe when I was a teenager. About 16 years ago, my husband and I moved up into the Sierra foothills, about 70 miles northeast of Sacramento, and we love being country bumpkins now, LOL.

We both love to cook... and eat... and drink good wine... and we have both put on a lot of weight since we got married 22 years ago. I've tried lots of methods for weight loss and a healthier body, and they've been so restrictive I couldn't stay with them. In the past couple of years, I've also gotten really hyper-aware of how much garbage there is out there for us to eat. I think about all the chemicals and preservatives I've ingested over the years and it really makes me wonder how I've managed to digest any of it!

As a result of this realization, my approach to health has fundamentally changed. I look back into history and notice that people used to eat meat and butter and eggs and all that stuff, and there was virtually NO heart disease (certainly compared to now). Ever since fat was demonized, and we supposedly learned what was better for our bodies etc., the occurrence of obesity and diabetes has SKYROCKETED. How is it that we are headed in exactly the wrong direction?

I want to base my diet on whole, real food. For one thing, it tastes better! For another, it's more satisfying, right down to the soul. I believe that by listening and learning what my body actually wants and needs (rather than what the food conglomerates tell me I need) is KEY in finding the right balance of nutrients, calories, and FUN for optimal health. It's not all that easy to figure all this out, because there are billions of dollars being spent out there to try to convince us of what's healthy, so we need to be really careful about our choices.

Sorry, I tend to go on and on about this, it's a definite soapbox issue for me. But it really resonates deep down.

Other stuff about me: I have no human kids, but we currently have two dogs, two cats, five goats, and three chickens. I work in a community college library. My husband and I love to travel, and our most recent trip was a total "bucket list" adventure - we rented a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands for a week and sailed around from island to island! It was awesome.

Looking forward to getting to know you.

Hello - I'm Maryann and just turned 49 a few months ago. Wow - how time has flown, it seems I was just 35 not long ago and starting to worry about my increasing waistline! Well, it has steadily increased the last 13-14 years and I'm finally ready to tackle it head-on. I just joined myfitnesspal yesterday and am committed to making the changes necessary to get this party started . I look forward to meeting new people and learning from others here. Toodles for now :-)

BTW: How do you add the tracker to your posts?

I'm 53 and discovered myfitnesspal earlier this year. I convinced my husband to start with me. He has lost 20 pounds in the three months since we started which is very exciting. I've only lost a little less than 7 that's even when I have been exercising, doing major gardening and household projects for hours at a time. You can really build a sweat spending all day digging and pulling weeds in the garden! I'm 5'2" and hypothyroid which makes things a little more challenging. My doctor just switched me to Armor Thyroid so I finally started to see a little progress. I know weight loss is a little slower for women over 50 so I am determined to stick with it! I love myfitnesspal! It's so easy to track calories and activities. This is the first time we have experienced success without totally starving or paying outrageous amounts of money for diet programs. The latest diet program we looked into would have cost us $1500 a month! We have been on several to the tune of thousands of dollars, lost the weight but the second we went off the programs, gained the weight back and more. Changing my mindset to living a healthy lifestyle, eating right and moving more is a much more sustainable program. I'm excited to join this group.

Hi everyone!

I'm Janine. 53. Currently live in Atlanta, Georgia with my husband & three cats.

My weight has gone up and down for about the last 25 years. I got to my goal weight on WW in 2006, but several extremely stressful jobs over the past 8 years helped me to put back on the 30 pounds I lost on WW, plus another 15. So the math means that I need to lose a good 40 pounds to hit the top end of my goal weight.

I know what to do to lose weight, but as you all have experienced, it is SO much harder to lose once our hormones change and metabolism stalls. Every time I look in my closet stuffed with beautiful clothes, I feel disappointed in myself. I have a really hard time STICKING to my eating goals. I lie in bed at night and think, "tomorrow I will stick to my food plan" ... but by 6 pm all bets are off. Anyone else experience this?

We have two vacations planned this fall - the first in 3 weeks - so my goals will be to be ON TRACK (and down 5 pounds) for the first vacation, and down 15 pounds for the second trip. I know that 10 pounds will make a huge difference in how my clothes fit, and that in itself will be a confidence boost.

I started a new job in June and for the first time in many, many years I am actually able to go out and walk at lunchtime, and commit to working out after work. I coach a learn-to-run/walk/run group (which I love), walk pretty much daily, and recently began a weight training program. None of this helps with my two challenges - wine, and the food I eat after drinking wine Oh, and I love to cook!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to participating in this group - getting help from you ladies and maybe I can pass along some encouragement to others.

PS - I wear an UP Fitness Band and love it. It's pushed me to improve my sleep habits!

Hello,

I'm 44 years old and new to MFP. I really love everything it keeps track of. Now, I just need to cooperate and eat right. That's my biggest problem. I'm 50+ lbs. overweight. I had a baby in January with my new loving husband and became a grandmother in March.

I haven't always tried eating healthy but now I realize how important it is. I used to work in fast paced, physically demanding jobs that kept me in shape. I was active but slowly put on weight and started having gastrointestinal problems. I was on medication for depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and acid reflux. I felt lousy and was unhappy most of the time.

Four years ago I met my husband and now I do not take any of those medications. I am in a much better place in my life except for my weight. I want to get control of my eating and look and feel better.

I have been unemployed for two years and am now a stay at home mom. Last year, a blood clot formed in my eye and I really feel the effects of being out of shape and overweight. I don't want more health problems

I'm excited to meet everyone here and I hope to get advice and inspiration from others like me. I will also give support and motivate anyone I can. I really love the support that is available through everyone on this site. I just have to remember to take each day as it comes. Big things happen one step at a time and anything is possible.

Hi, I'm Vanessa, just became a member of mfp.

Hi!

I think I have been a member of MFP for about a year, but never used it. That is changing! I am 48, and tired of being overweight and unhealthy! I am married and have an 18 year old son who has just started college. I have been on every diet around, but only half heartedly. Losing the weight, then gaining it all back + 5..over and over again! I know what to do - I just don't do it.

I decided that it is time to start taking care of me, instead of all of those around me. I know this cannot be a quick fix - it needs to be a way of life. I love to eat, drink wine, and have fun with friends and family. Somehow I need to figure out how to incorporate my goals into my existing life so I am successfull at both - I know it can be done - just need to figure out how!

I know it will be a long haul, and hard at times - but that is why I have joined - to get inspiration, and hopefully sometimes inspire those around me, and to be accountable. By logging it all - the good and the bad - I hope to learn and change - to start eating healthier, and excercising more, and in the long run, be a skinnier and happier person.

Good luck to all of us - I know we can do it!

Juile

Hi,
I'm a return visitor to MFP. I successfully utilized MFP to lose 50 lbs and maintain my weight. I love the convenience of being able to use my phone and laptop to track food and exercise.
Life took some crazy turns in the past 4 years - 3 major surgeries, attended grad school, 2 year internship working wonky hours, primary caregiver for my Dad with brain tumor and trying to maintain some semblance or normalcy with my family and home. Healthy eating and exercise went right out the window...stress increased...perfect storm for gaining all the weight back.
Now is the time to focus on my own health and well being. When I'm healthy my family is healthy...you know...put the oxygen mask on yourself before you put it on your child/dependent. It's time for me to walk that talk! I'm back and I know that I can lose the weight and get healthy with support and the help of MFP!
I look forward to connecting!

Hi, I am Grace, 48. I live in Maine. Over the past 3 years 20# has crept up on me! OUCH!! So I am hoping that I can get a handle on this befor too long.

Hello everyone. My name is Cindy. I'll be 57 on the 21st of this month. I'm 5' tall and started calorie counting a week ago. I found my soul mate in July of 2010 & we were married August 21st, 2012. I had maintained a weight of 115 to 118 for the last 2 years but cooking for my hubby & eating like him blew me up to 143 lbs! I am now down to 138. I'm determined to get down to at least 117 & stay there. That's about where I feel my best. I live in Shelby, NC & have 3 wonderful stepsons with 7 grandchildren courtesy of my wonderful husband. I'm in this for life. I know that I have to be conscientious of what I eat & that I do have to count calories. I also enjoy my wine! I am usually active and have been attending our local Y for about 2 years, but my mom & sister have been very sick & mom is in a nursing home 2 hours away & I'm also trying to get her moved closer to me. Moved my sister closer last July. She's on dialysis & I check in on her at least daily. Looking for some support on my journey to a healthy lifestyle!

Hello Ladies,
My name is Cynthia and I've just turned 50, gulp! There have been a few years in my life when I could turn heads (oh yes, Santa Monica in the late '80s) but for the most part I've always felt like the big girl in the room. I grew up with two cute half sisters that were quite a bit smaller than me and a tall, thin mother...and then there was me; big boned and had an insatiable sweet tooth, now I'm guessing I really have been addicted to sugar all these years and thank God my overall health is good. From here on out, I really just want to age gracefully.

Most pressingly, I am the wife of an American diplomat overseas and there are SO many functions to attend and I am SO tired of wearing the tired black slacks with what have you on top. I want to look the part of the diplomat's wife and if I could just shop at Banana Republic and fit into say their large, I would be so much happier, healthier and be the wife my nice hubby deserves. I don't need to be small, I just need to be 'not fat' which probably would entail me dropping about 30 pounds. Also, I live in a beautiful part of the world that is known for its beaches and so much of the time in the spring and summer is spent swimming around here. I am dying to get into a size 8 Michael Kors black bathing suit I couldn't resist that I saw on clearance online at Macy's!

I am thankful for my big dog that I must walk twice a day to get her some exercise and out of our apartment, if it weren't for her I don't know how big I'd be. Also, I have two precious adult children, one is here with us going to college and the other just graduated. I have been so blessed in my life that actually began quite humbly as the shy, chubby girl from across the tracks.

I am so thrilled to get to know you and can't wait to read all of your stories.

Love and peace to all and best of luck in this quest we have set forth for ourselves to achieve optimal health in our lives and in turn in the lives of our loved ones.

Cynthia
xoxo