Tips for 40 years + ??

BudgyBird75
BudgyBird75 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm having the hardest time. I used to lose weight so easily when I was younger. I know what I need to do for nutrition and exercise. Anyone fighting the same battle have any tips?
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Replies

  • Venus_Red
    Venus_Red Posts: 209 Member
    Are you sure you know what you need to do? Most of us thought we did, til we gained weight.

    Take a look at the stickies in this category. Lots of really good info. It's harder when you're older but not for any of the reasons we've been led to believe.
  • BudgyBird75
    BudgyBird75 Posts: 7 Member
    Well ... I know what I needed to do 15 years ago :). Things just seem different now. I feel like such a dork asking this, what is a "stickie" : (
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    BudgyBird75 wrote: »
    Well ... I know what I needed to do 15 years ago :). Things just seem different now. I feel like such a dork asking this, what is a "stickie" : (

    At the top of the list of discussion threads in this forum (general diet and weight loss help is one that says
    Most Helpful Posts - General Diet and Weight Loss Help (Must Reads)
    Announcement Closed

    If you click on that you'll find a list of recommended posts (they used to be listed individually as "stickies," but recently UnderArmour/MFP deleted all off them, and then restored some(?)/all(?) of them under this single post.
  • BudgyBird75
    BudgyBird75 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks!
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,630 Member
    So far I'm winning and I'm even in better shape than I was 15 years ago. Age hasn't been a limitation for me. I'm not sure what tips to offer at this point without knowing more other than eat at the right calorie goal to support your desired weight and current level of activity.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    I started my weight loss / get healthy / get fit program a year ago at age 53. I'm much fitter, and lighter, than I was throughout my 40's.

    Never too late.
  • BettyBoles
    BettyBoles Posts: 68 Member
    edited October 2015
    Yes, Its a perfect time to start your weight loss and get fit program. At this age many health problem may arises that can be easily controlled by healthy eating and exercise.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    Hi Budgie, be sure to use a food scale. I have a getting started post here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside#latest, and it has links to a few excellent MFP posts.
  • HippySkoppy
    HippySkoppy Posts: 725 Member
    Don't believe in the hype that it's harder for you to lose weight as you age, go through menopause or whatever I lost my whopping 168 lbs in my late 40's and I'd been through a dramatic menopause right on the nose of 40. If I had listened to the naysayers I still would have been stuck at 278 lbs....

    Like others have said get yourself well acquainted with helpful threads on here. My Tips would be these:

    Log in your stats to MFP, be realistic and patient with your goals, weigh everything you eat and log it, realise that weight loss takes time and is not linear, enjoy the foods you eat, exercise if you want.....just make it something you enjoy and you can keep going with.

    All the best.
  • HippySkoppy
    HippySkoppy Posts: 725 Member
    ^^^ Oh and by the way I'm 53 now and have been maintaining that loss for nearly 3 years despite very changed circumstances and going from very active to barely moving.....so if I can do it, anyone can. :)
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    I found it "easy" to lose weight in my twenties because I starved myself.

    Not good.

    Now I'm in my forties I've discovered that MFP's calorie counting system is a sustainable way to eat what I want at a sensible calorie deficit over a longer period of time, which is teaching me caloric awareness so I'll be able to eat according to my needs for the rest of my life.

    I've lost 20 kg in 6 months and I'm feeling terrific.

    Good luck with your calorie counting!

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Biggest tips I have (I'm 48 and found it easiest and maintainable at 47 to lose 55lbs and stick here)

    throw away everything you think you know about dieting, every single tip, fact you've absorbed

    focus on calories in versus calories out

    no bad foods, no don't eat x, avoid y, miracle foods, meal timing, anti-carb, anti-fat - nothing

    Just calories

    Get your calorie goal from MFP

    Log accurately, double-check everything, build your own recipes, weigh everything

    Move more - eat back 50% calories MFP or machines say you can eat

    easy as pie .. which by the way is about 280 calories a slice :)
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
    Exactly what was said above. Today is my 46 th birthday and I've lost 60 pounds in the last 6 months. Sure our metabolism has slowed as compared to when we were 20 but it's still very doable. Develop an easy plan that you know that you can stick to for the long haul, start making a few better food choices and be a little more active than you've been over th ed last few years. There's no need to do anything extreme so if you haven't been exercising over the last decade please don't start running a 10 k everyday just so you can lose weight. In fact if you're not big into exercise then don't make it a reason you're losing weight....learn how to do it with diet alone. Don't make any major changes that you don't feel you can stick to forever. Just learn to eat sensible and gradually move a bit more than you have in the past.
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
    I'm 67 and cant exercise very much (I do what I can) but I'm following the MFP plan and am consistently losing weight at 1lb a week. If I can do it at 67 I'm sure you can walk it at a mere 40 years old :)

    I weigh my food and log everything, every day. I exercise on my stationery bike when my back permits.
  • soulofgrace
    soulofgrace Posts: 175 Member
    edited October 2015
    48 years old here. Down 20 lbs since June. Eat what you want so you don't get discouraged. Just log everything and stay in your deficit. Weigh everything. Dont shame yourself for set backs. Exercise is great. Just do what you can when you can. You are working on a lifestyle change. Do what you can sustain. Work the changes in slowly. Best wishes!

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    I am 48 and before I started here, I figured that I would remain at my heavier weight for the rest of my life. After all, I'm well into perimenopause, and I was told and read that it would be so difficult for me to lose weight.

    So when I started here, I figured I'd give it just a little while, and if I didn't lose anything, and I probably wouldn't, that would be that.

    I weighed and logged my food, and stuck to my calorie maximum ... and to my surprise, I started losing weight!

    Almost 8 months later, and I'm at the weight I was back in 2004. I'm hoping to get down to the weight I was in 2003 when I was my fittest ... and that isn't far off. Really close now. :)

    Plus, I'm more active this year than I have been in the last few years. And I feel so much better when I am active. I'm a cyclist, and for a couple years, every time I cycled up a hill, I felt like I was dying. I couldn't breathe ... horrible pain ... Now, it's still not easy, but at least I'm not puffing and wheezing and in as much pain as I was. I'm actually (somewhat hesitantly) suggesting we go on hilly rides!!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Biggest tips I have (I'm 48 and found it easiest and maintainable at 47 to lose 55lbs and stick here)

    throw away everything you think you know about dieting, every single tip, fact you've absorbed

    focus on calories in versus calories out

    no bad foods, no don't eat x, avoid y, miracle foods, meal timing, anti-carb, anti-fat - nothing

    Just calories

    Get your calorie goal from MFP

    Log accurately, double-check everything, build your own recipes, weigh everything

    Move more - eat back 50% calories MFP or machines say you can eat

    easy as pie .. which by the way is about 280 calories a slice :)

    All. Of. This.

    Rabbit is wise, listen to Rabbit. So glad you are posting again!

    The only thing I have to add is to be realistic. Weight loss is not linear. There will be fluctuations, some explainable some not so much. Just stick with it.

    PS I lost 30 lbs in the year before I turned 40 and have no issue maintaining that loss for a year or so now.

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    I lost 122 pounds in my 50s doing what @rabbitjb is suggesting (other than eating back exercise calories, but I had way more fat than most people... most people will want or need to eat them). Well, other than logging pie by the slice. :)

    It works. Your metabolism changes surprisingly little even over decades. Most, if not all, of that can be offset by moving more and retaining muscle mass.

  • fobs13
    fobs13 Posts: 1,080 Member
    I'm 44 and by following the cico rule and exercising lost 33 pounds and am as light now as my early 20s. Lost the weight slowly which is the key, didn't ban any food and still had my treats and a glass of wine at the weekend. It can be done.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    You HAVE to reduce carbs as you age. No ands ifs or buts.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited October 2015
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    You HAVE to reduce carbs as you age. No ands ifs or buts.

    You ABSOLUTELY don't!


    you may CHOOSE to .. that's different
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    You HAVE to reduce carbs as you age. No ands ifs or buts.

    And yet ... I've managed to lose 50 lbs while eating carbs.

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Biggest tips I have (I'm 48 and found it easiest and maintainable at 47 to lose 55lbs and stick here)

    throw away everything you think you know about dieting, every single tip, fact you've absorbed

    focus on calories in versus calories out

    no bad foods, no don't eat x, avoid y, miracle foods, meal timing, anti-carb, anti-fat - nothing

    Just calories

    Get your calorie goal from MFP

    Log accurately, double-check everything, build your own recipes, weigh everything

    Move more - eat back 50% calories MFP or machines say you can eat

    easy as pie .. which by the way is about 280 calories a slice :)

    All. Of. This.

    Rabbit is wise, listen to Rabbit. So glad you are posting again!

    The only thing I have to add is to be realistic. Weight loss is not linear. There will be fluctuations, some explainable some not so much. Just stick with it.

    PS I lost 30 lbs in the year before I turned 40 and have no issue maintaining that loss for a year or so now.

    Thanks @winogelato .. must admit I'm a little taken aback, and delighted, by the people who realised I wasn't here and the lovely messages I've had

    *preens*
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited October 2015
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    You HAVE to reduce carbs as you age. No ands ifs or buts.
    No, you don't. If you stay in a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight. And I am living proof that you don't. But if you want to reduce carbs, feel free. It's just not a requirement.

    My carb goal for today is 499 grams. It's patently not the case that one HAS to reduce carbs.

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    You HAVE to reduce carbs as you age. No ands ifs or buts.

    This is not correct. The only thing anyone has to reduce is calories. People may choose to lower their carbs as w means to create the calorie deficit but it is not a requirement, at any age.

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  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    It works exactly the same as when you were younger, only our BMR has dropped and therefore our CI is a little less.
  • echmainfit619
    echmainfit619 Posts: 333 Member
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    You HAVE to reduce carbs as you age. No ands ifs or buts.

    Where'd you pick up this bull 5h1t?
  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
    20yearsyounger wrote: »
    So far I'm winning and I'm even in better shape than I was 15 years ago. Age hasn't been a limitation for me. I'm not sure what tips to offer at this point without knowing more other than eat at the right calorie goal to support your desired weight and current level of activity.

    This.

    The way I see it, the upside of being older ,is that there are fewer random nights out with friends that turn into food and drink free for alls! I still have plenty of fun with friends, but it's a little easier than it used to be to say no to too much eating or drinking just because its the weekend or something.
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