Women over 40 success stories...

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groovyreba
groovyreba Posts: 72 Member
in Success Stories
I need some motivation. I've totally lost mine. Between the stress I've been under and medications I've taken over the last year, I'm at my heaviest. I know I need to exercise, but I'm a cheapskate, so I don't want to spend money at the gym. Anyone lose weight with just walking and/or swimming in addition to diet changes?
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Replies

  • Glinda1971
    Glinda1971 Posts: 2,328 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I've lost 22 lbs since March just walking and staying at a calorie deficit.

    I'm still a work in progress with 50 or so lbs to go.

    You can do it!

    I just turned 44 yesterday.
  • Leebeanie
    Leebeanie Posts: 3 Member
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    I lost 10 pounds in the last month and a half by eating mostly fish and veggies with the exception of a few major screw up days. I also don't want to join a gym yet. So I got a few TABATA and short HiiT apps to follow at home for exercising but haven't done them much. I also walk about 25 minutes a day. Hope that helps. HiiT stands for High Intesity Interval Training. I like the App Sworkit for a short body weight exercise application to follow. Research has shown that you burn fat faster with these programs. However most of my weight lose was due to calorie restriction and healthy eating. A major lifestyle change for me who use to live on bread and Pasta and hated fish. :-)
  • dolphins5407
    dolphins5407 Posts: 2 Member
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    I've lost 44 pounds and 36 inches since March 17th. I was at my heaviest point ever and had become a bit of a recluse. I didn't want to even walk in public, let alone exercise for people to see. I'm not a gym person at all. So, I bought myself an exercise "bike" on Amazon for about $60. (It's not a true bike- just a base with pedals. There are many for sale on Amazon but you're better off getting a higher quality one. I read customer reviews and made my decision based on them.) Got myself a nice padded office chair, put the bike in front of it and started pedaling away! At first I could only do about 20 minutes at a snail's pace. Now I can easily do 2 HOURS at a very fast pace. I pedal 6 nights a week in a closed off room in my house. It WORKS!!! Now that the weight is coming off, and I'm not quite as embarrassed to exercise in public, every once in awhile I go for a brisk walk around my neighborhood (which has a few killer hills.) I bought some 4 pound hand weights that I take on the walks. But more often than not, I'm pedaling away in my mud room at home. I usually go on MFP or watch something on Netflix while I pedal because the time passes so quickly by that way. I went from dreading exercise to loving it and feeling kinda crappy if I don't do it. YOU can do it too! I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and didn't want to continue letting life pass me by. Don't let it pass you by! I have a bracelet that I wear ever day that is inscribed with "She believed she could so she did." Start believing!! And feel free to add me as a friend. Having lots of support is key.

    Jen
  • aeharvey36
    aeharvey36 Posts: 16 Member
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    I've lost 50+ in the last two years by walking. I did change my eating habits as well. Cut out Cokes and other junk.
  • juliegreg2010
    juliegreg2010 Posts: 10 Member
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    I'm 53 and I've lost 49 lbs since Jan. 6 by simply cutting my calories to 1200 a day and walking 2 miles a day. I use an app called Moves to track my walking. At first the walking just about killed me but now it's easy. It's very hard to lose weight but if I can do it, so can you. I still have 51 lbs to lose but I know I'll get there by sticking with MFP and my walks.
  • groovyreba
    groovyreba Posts: 72 Member
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    Thank you everyone! This is most motivating...
  • jules6669mfp
    jules6669mfp Posts: 446 Member
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    I'm 56 and lost 24lbs in 3 months here. I have trouble exercising due to chronic pain, bad knees etc... I use Leslie Sansone walking video(not as much as I should) and cut out all the soda and most of the junk food. I know that I need to step up on exercise. You can do this just don't give up. It may take longer for some of us to lose but we can do it!!!
  • mimigingerbread
    mimigingerbread Posts: 43 Member
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    I'm using fitnessblender.com . They have very cheap programs that you can use over and over again (10$ for an 8 week program) or you can just use any of their workouts for free. The programs are great if you don't want to have to plan things out for yourself. I've lost 35 pounds since January using their workouts (30 min, 5 day a week) and I turned 40 in March. I used exercise, portion control, and stopped snacking at night. Feeling so much better!!!
  • SomeGirlSomewhere
    SomeGirlSomewhere Posts: 937 Member
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    Don't mean to disappoint anyone, but this is very much the TRUTH:


    qt17fzbbcv52.jpg
  • kscarf1
    kscarf1 Posts: 33 Member
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    I'm 43 and I started working on my health several weeks ago -- at first, just doing a daily 15-minute walk, and five weeks ago, also a 1300-calorie diet. After a few weeks of walking in crappy shoes and being 100 pounds overweight, I had a stress fracture and plantar fasciitis in one of my feet. I've been in a walking boot ever since and unable to do any weight-bearing exercise. For the past three weeks I have been truly sedentary (I was told to walk on the boot minimally) other than doing stretches every day. And between the diet and the stretching, I've lost nearly 10 pounds in those three weeks, for a total of 17 pounds lost since the beginning of May. If I can lose weight with a giant boot on my foot, you can lose weight too!
  • andysmom
    andysmom Posts: 61 Member
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    I'm 53 and I've lost over 50 pounds and haven't set foot in the gym. I discovered hiking, luckily I live in a nice place with access to wilderness areas and I've found friends to hike with me. When I can't hike, I walk. Everyone's different, but for me to be stuck inside doing the treadmill or elliptical or whatever, would bore me. When I felt I needed something a little more "group oriented", I searched for boot camps on Amazon Local and Groupon. I found one for $39 for a whole month. I'm planning to do another one soon.

    Good luck and don't get discouraged. It takes time and consistency, but it is SO WORTH IT!
  • groovyreba
    groovyreba Posts: 72 Member
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    Unless you've suffered with chronic pain from a disease you have in your genes, you just don't get it! This is why I needed the motivation and support. Despite what the judgmental people here may think, I am not a lazy couch potato, so kindly step aside. Thanks so much to all of the others who are not judging me for my post. I appreciate very much your kind words of encouragement...
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    I have chronic joint pain. It isn't genetic or a disease it is just a lot of damage from years of life with horses. Today I took my black belt in aikido after 6 years of training. This is several years faster than the majority of people in my age group do so.

    Sheer determination and hard work can get you through a lot more than you might think. Be it martial arts or just going for a walk around the block. Not judging, just saying don't be so quick to decide that you can't do it.
  • traceycecir
    traceycecir Posts: 2 Member
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    I have arthritis in my knee and neck so I understand joint pain. It's very hard to exercise when your hurting
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    SomeGirlSomewhere wrote: »
    Don't mean to disappoint anyone, but this is very much the TRUTH:


    qt17fzbbcv52.jpg

    Seriously someone flagged this, because it states the truth!?
  • Butterfly2022MD
    Butterfly2022MD Posts: 246 Member
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    I am 45, and I've been trying to get below 180 lbs since 2008. I gained 20 lbs in one month when I quit smoking and I never lost it.
  • crazygooselady
    crazygooselady Posts: 76 Member
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    49, and lost 22 pounds since January. I swim....at first it was a quarter mile in anout 20 minutes. I had been sick and 16 laps was all I could manage. Now...I swim a half mile in 20, and have done 1.5 on a good day. I also walk and starting to run again. Ran 4 miles and was real proud of that as I hadn't done that since high s school. I count my gardening and farm work as calories burned. And mostly...I eat less and count those calories. The counting of calories has helped the most I think. It has taken several months to get where I eat a little under most days. Weekends are still hard...but I am getting it.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    I'm 48 and I've lost 16 lbs (7.4 kg) since April 11, by CICO and walking.

    I've averaged 8,600 steps a day for the past month, and am up to 10,000 the past week or so.

    I usually don't eat many of my exercise calories back. The walking just makes me feel terrific and is a safety net in case I need extra calories.
  • dorothy2512
    dorothy2512 Posts: 21 Member
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    Hi, I am 51 and I have lost 85 lbs over the last 18 months, I have osteo arthritis in hands, hips and shoulders and the only exercise I do, is walk on my treadmill at home, most days, I try and walk four to five miles throughout the day, and stick to 1200-1500 calories a day, it comes off slowly, but you have a greater chance of it staying off.
  • penelopepittstopsmam
    penelopepittstopsmam Posts: 67 Member
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    I am 44. I have lost 52lbs since January.

    i walk, iron, cook, clean, sweep, lift things that need lifting etc etc for exercise. I started doing exercise videos but prefer to get my exercise from doing what needs to be done. Ive actually saved money.

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