Women over 40
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How often should I recalculate after losing some weight? I'm 5'8" and currently at 146...I'd like to be 135-140, which has been my normal weight range since I was 16. I'm 41 now...I think that's a healthy range. I started at 159...lots of over indulging over winter and not making healthy choices or even stepping on a scale...just noticed my clothes getting tight.
Hey ADuck, since we are similar heights and I am the weight you are aiming for, read my post - I do around 2,000 per day, and work out each day (not weekends, usually) and that maintains 136lb for me. I find it's exercise that matters more for me.0 -
Anyone other women over 40 feeling like overly reducing calories (1200-1400) just keeps you at a plateau? I used to be able to drop weight no problem, but in the last year or two it actually takes effort to drop or maintain. I've read a little about fat storing over 40 if calories are too low. Getting older is so frustrating!
I'll be 50 later this year and when I am accurate with my food intake and exercise burns, I lose as scheduled. I eat way more than 1400 calories.
Overly reducing calories isn't why you'd plateau. You may have read a misguided article about starvation mode. See this http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/0 -
I'm 45 and recently found out my thyroid has kicked the bucket, which will help you gain a ton of weight no matter how little you eat. My meds are working, though, and I have lost 24.4 pounds so far. If you haven't had a physical in a while, do it and get your thyroid checked.0
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I maintain on anywhere from 2000 to 2600 depends on activity aka time of year.0
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How often should I recalculate after losing some weight? I'm 5'8" and currently at 146...I'd like to be 135-140, which has been my normal weight range since I was 16. I'm 41 now...I think that's a healthy range. I started at 159...lots of over indulging over winter and not making healthy choices or even stepping on a scale...just noticed my clothes getting tight.
Your BMI is 22.2--totally in the healthy range. Those last few pounds are going to come off slowly (1/2 pound per week-ish). That being said, I would see if there are any places to tighten up your logging (both food intake and calorie output). Have you calculated your TDEE? Scooby can help you if you need it http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
The most basic setting puts your BMR at 1410. 1200-1400 calories at your height and weight should really have you losing.0 -
I'm in my mid-40s. MFP currently recommends mid-1600s for me to lose 1 pound a week (more if I exercise and don't eat back all those calories), and so for that has held true. So that's what I'll stick with. No need to go lower before I have to!0
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I'm 67 [5ft] and have lost 40lbs in 35 weeks on 1200 cals a day, walking, static bike and gardening. Don't use your age as an excuse. if you are committed and consistent you [OP} will lose weight.0
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I turned 40 this year and starting from when I was 38, it seems that what used to work no longer does. The weight has slowly crept up on me. What I've noticed is that I'm naturally less hungry (drop in metabolism I suspect), and when I do calculate my caloric intake I find that it's typically less than my daily requirement. I haven't tried logging consistently, though, because I'm sure it will require me to eat more on days when I exercise. I might try it, but right now, although I am heavier, I am alert, active, and happy. And I simply cannot see myself forcing food down my throat to test the waters in attaining a "more attractive figure". But there is also the increase in back/hip pain I am experiencing with the extra weight. So, I'm on the sidelines of whether I want to at least give it a go and log consistently for 3 months or just let my body do what it does naturally.0
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I am 46, eat about 1300 cal (net cal. about 700) and lose 2-3 lbs per week. Walk about 23.000 steps a day and do lots of cardio. I lose best with a 1000 cal. deficit a day.0
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Oddly enough, I never lost when I was in my 30's. I'm 41 now and have lost steadily since starting mfp in January. Granted, only when I was logging correctly. When I got sloppy with logging, I gained. Weigh everything.0
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I'm 52 and I totally relate - the caloric needs go way down after 40. Some people seem to have less of an issue with it and I don't know why. All I know is I used to drop weight easily and now it's ridiculously hard - I have to eat like a spartan. Of course, I've learned what foods give me the most satisfaction for the fewest calories and if I eat that way 1000-1200 calories a day are just fine - no hunger. When I do cardio I can eat more. It's totally unfair and awful but that's metabolism and aging. The good news is if you stick with you calorie count religiously, choose your foods carefully and throw in some exercise it is doable.0
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One other thing to consider is muscle mass loss. I've read we women lose a percentage (small) every year past age 30 (honmones--less testosterone). If you're not actively building lean body mass, you're losing it. Less LBM means fewer calories needed to sustain you. That could be one of the reasons women 40+ can find it harder to lose weight.1
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Wow, so much good information, and yes the starvation mode/fat storing is probably a b.s. Excuse I won't be using anymore! Bottom line in my opinion we're all different and yet the same...I'llkeep tracking diligently and be patient...I'm close to my goal so losing more slowly at this point makes sense. Thank you all so much!0
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One other thing to consider is muscle mass loss. I've read we women lose a percentage (small) every year past age 30 (honmones--less testosterone). If you're not actively building lean body mass, you're losing it. Less LBM means fewer calories needed to sustain you. That could be one of the reasons women 40+ can find it harder to lose weight.
Ya, muscle mass loss is small per year, but adds up.
Aging Well Through Exercise
Is physical frailty inevitable as we grow older? That question preoccupies scientists and the middle-aged, particularly when they become the same people. Until recently, the evidence was disheartening. A large number of studies in the past few years showed that after age 40, people typically lose 8 percent or more of their muscle mass each decade, a process that accelerates significantly after age 70. Less muscle mass generally means less strength, mobility and among the elderly, independence. It also has been linked with premature mortality.
But a growing body of newer science suggests that such decline may not be inexorable. Exercise, the thinking goes, and you might be able to rewrite the future for your muscles.
Read more: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/aging-well-through-exercise/
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I need a kick start. Been doing this for over 2 months. Nothing. Waiting for the fresh veggies in our garden. But, that's not soon enough.0
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44 here. I eat about 18,000 calories per week to maintain. 5'4" and 142 pounds. But I am very active and I began lifting weights in my 20's. I'm very glad I never worried about bulking or gaining too much muscle like some women do.0
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I'm 46. I lost 71 pounds on Weight Watchers 14 years ago. Due to job and relationship stress, 35 pounds crept back on over the last two years. Last year, I halfheartedly attempted to lost weight again simply by going to the gym, but I didn't change my diet nor track what I was eating, so naturally, that didn't work. This time, I am tracking my calories and increased the amount of exercise I do from 3 days a week to 4-6 days a week. So far, until last weekend, I lost 12.5 pounds in three months (I gained two pounds last weekend as I went off track). I thought I would have a harder time losing the weight this time around due to my age, but I'm not having much of a problem.0
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I am,47 and I have battled with weight my whole life. My whole career I've worked long hours and no,physical activity. I love food and I love to cook the "bad for you food". I have tried the,crash diets they have worked but I would always gain it all,back plus some. I went to a weight doctor and,that has really helped she gave me pills which speed up,my metabolism and help with the cravings. So far I'm twenty three pounds down but still have twenty five more to go. Since I have turned forty I've noticed my body has really changed and I have a difficult time losing weight. The doctor told me my weight loss was great but now I need to start incorporating strength training and cardio into my journey so I would not lose anymore lean,muscle mass. I have started my exercise routine I hope this works. I like logging my food it helps me so much. Sometimes I have good days and sometimes bad. I don't eat as often as I should then when I do I eat to much even though it's healthy food. So happy to have my fitness pal and,happy and feeling much better since I've gotten the weight off that I have. It got to the point where it hurt being over weight. I had no energy. Glad to be here.1
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Anyone other women over 40 feeling like overly reducing calories (1200-1400) just keeps you at a plateau?
Nope.
I was 48 (and perimenopausal) in 2015, and yet I lost 25 kg eating between 1250 and 1350 calories a day (plus exercise calories of course).
I'm now in the bottom half of my normal BMI range and am a weight that I haven't been since about 2005 ... maybe 2004.
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queenliz99 wrote: »I'm 56 and am now at goal weight. I had no trouble losing but I got accurate with calorie counting. Eyeballing was my nemesis.
+1
My serving sizes were at least half again if not double what a normal serving size is meant to be. Using the food scale that has been sitting on my counter for years was eye-opening.
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