The over-the -age-50-belly bulge

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  • jringold1
    jringold1 Posts: 45 Member
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    This is all very interesting. I just started Nutrisystem. I am keeping below 1500 calories daily and the pounds are starting to come off. That being said, several people have told me that I will stall out if I don't starting adding exercise. I am not a gym person. I'm (slightly) over 50 and work a ton of hours weekly. The thought of using what little free time I have in a gym is not appealing.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
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    I'm 54 now, fairly early on in my journey. I won't be able to tell for sure whether it's the what or the count because I've mostly picked foods to try to meet my macros. In order to do that, I've (mostly) given up my Coca Cola, which is where most of my excess calories and weight came from. The change to picking foods that meet my macros, which in turn meet my caloric intake targets allow me to eat more food than I did before. I eat all day long and am rarely hungry. I weigh and measure my food all the time. When I get more exercise, I indulge now and then with an extra couple of hundred calories. I go plus or minus 100 calories from target without worry because I know the deficit is fairly consistent.

    So far, the results are too. Started at 240, now at a touch under 224 after about 8 weeks - switching to MFP about 4 weeks in for tracking.

    All that to say I'm not dogmatic about the what - except that there other benefits to putting the healthier stuff in. But I am dogmatic about the deficit.
  • mayafit405
    mayafit405 Posts: 61 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Jayco141 wrote: »
    https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/is-calories-in-calories-out-a-weight-loss-myth-or-the-truth.html

    I can send you 300 more

    Any of them from a peer-reviewed journal?

    This^
  • jringold1
    jringold1 Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks Kriss!
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    edited March 2017
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    jringold1 wrote: »
    This is all very interesting. I just started Nutrisystem. I am keeping below 1500 calories daily and the pounds are starting to come off. That being said, several people have told me that I will stall out if I don't starting adding exercise. I am not a gym person. I'm (slightly) over 50 and work a ton of hours weekly. The thought of using what little free time I have in a gym is not appealing.

    I don't know about stalling out. As long as you're in a calorie deficit you will continue to lose weight. I can't stand the thought of hopping in my car, driving the 10 miles to the gym, and mingling with all the fitness folks. I walk, hike, ski, snow shoe, whatever fits into my day. These activities are for my sanity and general overall health. Plus, they allow me to eat some foods that don't fit into my "non-active" daily allotment. I don't work right now, so I don't have the added bonus of burning calories doing that. If I were working, my schedule would be 12 on/12 off for an undetermined number of days so I wouldn't be adding cardio to those days, just lots of sleep.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    50 here. You can look at my picture in my profile if you're on desktop, my belly drastically went down as I lost 30 lbs and I ate ice cream.

    Calorie deficit with an overall balanced diet, planning for sweets a few days a week.

    .
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
    edited March 2017
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    tammyannwebb wrote: »
    Is it possible to shrink the subcutaneous belly bulge when your over 50? What exercises or any legitimate supplements that would help?

    Yes it is, within reason.

    One doesn't need supplements, one needs a good resistance programme. This can be body weight, machines, dumbbell or barbell.
    Start where you are comfortable and progress from there.

    I started with nerdfitness, bodyweight; Hasfit, dumbells; then AllPro, bar bell.

    A higher protein level than the recommendation on MFP would be good. I aim for .8-1g per lbs of my ideal body weight. It helps in muscle retention, especially as we age.

    If you are at your goal weight you can do a recomp- this is adding strength, and a little muscle as you lose fat while eating at maintenance. It can be a long process but well worth it.

    If you still have weight to lose, start some form of resistance training now, it will help in muscle retention, increase your strength and strengthen your abs and obliques while you are losing.

    I am enjoying quite nice results after recomping over the past 3 years and I am older than you.

    Cheers, h.

    Sorry I am working on my phone so have to do edits to include these 2 helpful links.

    This is how to do a recomp if you are at maintenance.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

    This is a list of good programmes. Pick one that suits you.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
  • tammyannwebb
    tammyannwebb Posts: 8 Member
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    The calorie deficit and of course exercise makes sense but when you are over 50 the metabolism is shot. I walk, bike and canoe but nothing changes. Ive added 8lb dumbbells to my routine to start. I agree weight lifting is needed when you get older so hopefully the dumbbells will help. I'm not fat but its irritating when all the effort shows no change. At least I'm staying the same. I look 10 years younger than my age, so I'm told, so doing something right. Thankful to be healthy. Loosing some fat would be a bonus. :o)
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    tammyannwebb wrote: »
    The calorie deficit and of course exercise makes sense but when you are over 50 the metabolism is shot. I walk, bike and canoe but nothing changes. Ive added 8lb dumbbells to my routine to start. I agree weight lifting is needed when you get older so hopefully the dumbbells will help. I'm not fat but its irritating when all the effort shows no change. At least I'm staying the same. I look 10 years younger than my age, so I'm told, so doing something right. Thankful to be healthy. Loosing some fat would be a bonus. :o)

    The metabolic slowdown as we age is mainly because of reduced activity/movement/exercise. It is not a forgone conclusion that as you age you metabolism will slow significantly* but rather that generally, as older people move less, they lose muscle and so their metabolism slows.

    This is good news because it means that, with appropriate exercise and diet you can stall or even reverse somewhat, that metabolic slow down.

    * there are some metabolic processes which slow when older and are not due to reduction in activity - There is not much we can do about these but luckily they seem to be less of a factor than the slowdown due to inactivity.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
    edited March 2017
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    tammyannwebb wrote: »
    The calorie deficit and of course exercise makes sense but when you are over 50 the metabolism is shot. I walk, bike and canoe but nothing changes. Ive added 8lb dumbbells to my routine to start. I agree weight lifting is needed when you get older so hopefully the dumbbells will help. I'm not fat but its irritating when all the effort shows no change. At least I'm staying the same. I look 10 years younger than my age, so I'm told, so doing something right. Thankful to be healthy. Loosing some fat would be a bonus. :o)

    My mom will be 80 this year and is like the Energizer Bunny. She's extremely active, and has always been so.

    I'm 50 and female and use 25 # dumbbells for my heaviest weight for chest presses. I'm sure there are women our age who use higher weights.

    Do you belong to a gym? I found just a few sessions with a personal trainer to be extremely useful.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
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    jringold1 wrote: »
    This is all very interesting. I just started Nutrisystem. I am keeping below 1500 calories daily and the pounds are starting to come off. That being said, several people have told me that I will stall out if I don't starting adding exercise. I am not a gym person. I'm (slightly) over 50 and work a ton of hours weekly. The thought of using what little free time I have in a gym is not appealing.

    Flossing my teeth isn't appealing but I do it anyway ;) You don't need to spend time in a gym to lose weight but you should do something somewhere for your cardiovascular and muscular/skeletal systems.

    I mostly go to a gym for the weights. At some point I may empty the guest bedroom and use that for lifting. I like to get cardio outside. Usually I walk, yesterday I shoveled, and today I will snowshoe. Later in the year I will garden and swim.

    I work a lot of hours too and can't imagine trying to deal with work stress without walking or lifting weights at lunch time. I'm more energized and productive in the afternoons for this.
  • yskaldir
    yskaldir Posts: 202 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Jayco141 wrote: »
    https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/is-calories-in-calories-out-a-weight-loss-myth-or-the-truth.html

    I can send you 300 more

    From the link
    So, is CICO worthless and outdated?

    No! The CICO equation still needs to be involved in your diet planning. You must take in fewer calories than you expend to drive weight loss. However, it's important that your diet plan doesn't stop there. You must consider the macronutrient composition of your diet, your exercise choices, and your daily activity levels, too. By taking everything into account, you'll be able to plan for optimal progress.

    Bodybuilding.com is a supplement shop, most of their articles are there to help with that.
  • yskaldir
    yskaldir Posts: 202 Member
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    tammyannwebb wrote: »
    The calorie deficit and of course exercise makes sense but when you are over 50 the metabolism is shot.
    Another myth for the most part, "metabolism" slows down because of inactivity and loss of muscle mass.
  • mactaffy428
    mactaffy428 Posts: 61 Member
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    annaskiski wrote: »
    Jayco141 wrote: »
    The way the body metabolizes them for one, and thats a big one. Staying away from processed sugar which is a gateway to fat. Weight training is key as it burns calories even after your workout, especially for over 50's who lose muscle mass much quicker. Blindly saying calories in/calories out is not the right way to get fit or healthy.

    Ummmm, no.

    Kriss seems a little more knowledgeable

    Ummmm, no. Disagree on that one, Jayco seems spot on. Why do people want to over-simplify weight loss with this whole CICO "formula"? Our bodies are MUCH more complex and different foods ARE metabolized differently which absolutely CAN influence weight loss. Go to any medical library and read stuff for yourself. If it were so totally simple as "eat less and move more", would we really have a global pandemic of obesity? Come on, people, wake up and smell the coffee! Why is everyone so afraid of admitting there's GOT to be more going on than CICO?

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,614 Member
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    Jayco141 wrote: »
    Ummmm no, so your saying it doesn't matter what you eat? That its all just in/out?
    I would say that emphatically. Go to a penitentiary. What's the obesity population? Not to mention that many of the inmates are pretty lean and ripped up. The food..................the lowest quality you can get. At $4 dollars a day for 3 meals, it's gonna be low quality. The thing is that it's just 3 portioned meals a day. And it's not the food that's killing them because the population isn't shrinking even though crime is down.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,614 Member
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    jringold1 wrote: »
    This is all very interesting. I just started Nutrisystem. I am keeping below 1500 calories daily and the pounds are starting to come off. That being said, several people have told me that I will stall out if I don't starting adding exercise. I am not a gym person. I'm (slightly) over 50 and work a ton of hours weekly. The thought of using what little free time I have in a gym is not appealing.
    If a diet is long enough and you don't have any increase/change in physical activity, then the body DOES adapt and regulates metabolic rate to match the calories it's taking in. This is NOT uncommon.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,614 Member
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    tammyannwebb wrote: »
    The calorie deficit and of course exercise makes sense but when you are over 50 the metabolism is shot. I walk, bike and canoe but nothing changes. Ive added 8lb dumbbells to my routine to start. I agree weight lifting is needed when you get older so hopefully the dumbbells will help. I'm not fat but its irritating when all the effort shows no change. At least I'm staying the same. I look 10 years younger than my age, so I'm told, so doing something right. Thankful to be healthy. Loosing some fat would be a bonus. :o)
    It does slow down a bit, but that's due to hormonal changes. The one more is physically active, the less impact there is on metabolic rate. Like anyone else, the body easily adapts to physical routines that aren't that demanding. Normally, I just have clients be a little more intense in their exercise to help metabolic rate increase. But it's still CICO that matters most.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

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