55-65 year old women's success?

ReginaPats wrote: »

I am about to turn 76 in January, 2016. Have to loose 40 pounds. Just visited my Heart Doctor. At my age it is not easy. I have high blood pressure, high sugar. Tired all the time. Can not exercise. It is not going to be easy. Need new members, to help me along. Have to get off sweets. At one time walked 18 to 30 miles a day, miss that.

Set a small goal, like 10 pounds, to start with. Make small changes to your diet so it's not so stressful. Save a few small treats to look forward to. I am doing most of my weight loss with very little exercise due to health problems. Losing weight and doing just a little walking each day should hopefully help a lot toward getting the high blood pressure and blood sugar under control. You can do it! Take it one meal at a time. Everybody is here to help and encourage!

ReginaPats wrote: »

I am about to turn 76 in January, 2016. Have to loose 40 pounds. Just visited my Heart Doctor. At my age it is not easy. I have high blood pressure, high sugar. Tired all the time. Can not exercise. It is not going to be easy. Need new members, to help me along. Have to get off sweets. At one time walked 18 to 30 miles a day, miss that.

Regina are you getting good nutrition and enough protein? As we age, we don't absorb our nutrients as well, leaving our bodies still hungry. Sweets can also wreak havoc on blood sugar levels. Cooking or using a blender can make vegetables easier to digest. Staying hydrated plus balancing carbs, protein and fat (macros) helps keep my own carb cravings in check. Ask your doctor about recommended exercise for your condition. I use small dumbbells or youtube zumba videos. I have a favorite water bottle I carry around so much, I miss its cheerful red lid when it's in the dishwasher.
I saw anotherMFP users post, he used a picture of himself with a bag of potatoesweighing the amount of lbs he lost. That visual stuck with me. Would I now pick up and carry or exercise with that much of potatoes (my 30 lb)? Maybe for 30 minutes, LOL. All day? No way!

Good luck on your path to good health. You will find many helpful individuals. groups and forums here to help you.

This
This is me weighing in at 190.

This is me at 130ish. What a difference hard work and a few months make.
Avatar is me at 118. If I can do it, so can you. Am 57 yrs. old.

@mk2loser you look awesome! You do look like an entirely different person, happy and healthy!

This 68 year old just finished week3day1 of C25K. Invigorating!! Made it all the way without stopping.

Ya'll are really inspiring! I'm almost 52. I lost 10 pounds on WW at the beginning of this year and had hoped to have another 15 off by now, but with summer busyness, a jam-packed fall schedule, and a slipped disc, I haven't reached that goal and gained back a few pounds. I have gotten discouraged and wanted to nearly give up, but then I get frustrated with how I look in my clothes and the desire is renewed, though the discipline has been inconsistent. I want to chalk it up to slow metabolism, but then know that's the fallback excuse. (huge sigh)

I was regularly exercising quite hard on a recumbent elliptical at the Y for a while, but began gaining weight. I don't know what that was about--inflammation or what. I really like the recumbent elliptical because I get a good workout with no pain, unlike other forms of exercise. I know I should try to walk every day, but carving out that time is challenging and there is some pain involved, though I can push through it. The whole heart rate/fat burn zone thing has me confused. I do enjoy Pilates and my chiropractor encouraged me to do that to strengthen my core, which is key for my slipped disc, but I know that doesn't burn a whole lot of calories--not like the elliptical or walking.

Anyway, I'm glad I found this thread. Hopefully I'll continue to gain inspiration here!

Christina

Wow; what a transformation!! Congrats!

mk2loser wrote: »

This
This is me weighing in at 190.

This is me at 130ish. What a difference hard work and a few months make.
Avatar is me at 118. If I can do it, so can you. Am 57 yrs. old.

Wow...i am inspired and impressed. ..thank you for sharing

As to exercise, I started out walking. When the weather got cold, my husband bought me a combination elliptical/stationary bike. Cheap at Walmart. I use that bad boy every day. I discovered jessicasmithtv on youtube for walking and strength videos. I discovered in the last few months that I love running! Try what you can and stick with what you like/love.

hoo boy another pound down. love to be under 170 by XMAS. we'll see!

Hi. I'm 61 and lost 134 lbs 21 years ago. Back injury and just getting lazy about watching portions added 60 back on. Since January 1st I've lost 69 pounds. It can be done but takes great motivation. I only started MFP recently and love the tracking of calories carbs and fat grams. I weigh in daily and generally eat between 750-850 calories. I struggle to eat my 1000 calories a day! I only do walking for exercise due to back injury but it works for me. 11 more to my goal. Slow and steady is the best.

NextPage wrote: »

Hi, I'm 51 and post-menopausal and I can't say that losing weight is harder now since I always found it challenging. I think the biggest adjustment for me was the "shape shift" and lose of muscle tone issues that go with aging. It was odd to look at myself and see that my waist was disappearing. I also decided "batwings" were something I could not live with and I have shifted my focus to lifting while still doing a fair bit of cardio (mainly spinning). On the less vain side I looked around and saw that some of my only slightly older friends were starting to complain about bad knees, poor flexibility etc. and I didn't want to follow in their foot steps. At the end of day the tools for losing weight don't change much as we age but the need for exercise to keep our metabolism fired up and our muscle tone and flexibility maintained/increased becomes paramount. Our quality of life is dependent on fitness as much (perhaps more) than maintaining a healthy weight. Few of us aspire to be thin and frail - we want to be strong and powerful. Personally I want to spend the next ten years working toward looking as hot and sexy as middlehaitch does in her photo standing next to the Christmas tree - in my mind I already have my own little black dress picked out for the occasion!

Yes. Middlehaitch. She is totally amazing.

Back on track after Thanksgiving weekend. Mild temps in the Midwest has allowed me to continue my outdoor hikes Holding at my 30 lb weight loss. Hoping to lose a few more before the holidays That may be a fantasy.

mk2loser wrote: »

As to exercise, I started out walking. When the weather got cold, my husband bought me a combination elliptical/stationary bike. Cheap at Walmart. I use that bad boy every day. I discovered jessicasmithtv on youtube for walking and strength videos. I discovered in the last few months that I love running! Try what you can and stick with what you like/love.

I went over to youtube and checked out JessicaSmithTV after reading this; the Walk On 21 Day Plan seems like something I'm looking for - have you tried this?

One of my legs has been bothering me from the knee down after doing C25K on my treadmill back on Thanksgiving; I've been looking for some fill-in aerobic activity. This morning I got out an aerobics DVD, but the moves were hard to do on carpet. Her moves look more "knee-lifty" than "pivoty" or "grape-viney"

Howdy do, all of you. I think I've only contributed to this thread once or twice, but I read it faithfully and it always inspires me.

I'm so glad today to see some of you kind of "accepting" no or little loss for the holidays, and just maintaining if possible. I turned 60 in early November, and I have kind of changed my attitude a little bit since then, kind of along those same lines. I think this has to do with the fact that I have been doing this now for over a year, almost eight months on MFP, and have seen slow but fairly steady progress (with a few stalls), so that, even when I get frustrated, I know that what I am doing is actually working. So I decided to lighten up on myself a bit, and went on a four-day mini-vacation for my birthday, eating whatever I wanted, while still watching my intake a little. I accepted that I would gain some weight then, and just got right back on my program after.

On Thanksgiving morning, I hit another "decade" victory - down from 230 pounds to 170 pounds. I then decided to do the same "acceptance" thing with Thanksgiving, and now, a week later, I am back at the same weight I was that morning. I am going to "relax" for the holidays too - I'll follow my plan as usual, as well as I can, but I will also let myself enjoy the holidays the same way I have done for the last two, and I have the confidence that I will continue on my merry MFP way after they are over.

I guess that's the important part to me - that I have gained confidence in my ability to stick to this process or program, whatever you want to call it, and, even with setbacks and stalls, I have no doubts in my ability to lose the next 35 or so pounds.

Thanks to all of you who contribute to this thread, it is very helpful and inspirational. Happy holidays!