55-65 year old women's success?

Welcome new peeps! We are a bunch of ladies who have been there and done that. There are times when you will think all is lost...it is NOT! Find what exercise, if any, works for you. Some of us swear by cardio, others weights. Some of us do both. Like to swim? Excellent. Walk? Great! There is no wrong way to get in shape/lose weight. Menopause means nothing to us. We are strong!

Welcome newbies! It is good to see new faces here! As Luluinca said, we all have our own way of doing this. One thing I do most mornings before I even get out of bed is do a few leg lifts. I also try to stretch my back muscles standing next to the bed by bending over and gently trying to touch my toes and kind of walk my hands to each side. It helps keep me limber and hopefully keeps me from causing any injuries when I do things like lifting. My mother who was about three inches taller than me, could place her hands flat on the floor with her knees straight! I cannot do that but it does give me a goal and an inspiration!

I also agree with Luluinca that eating within your calorie range, logging every bite and sip in your log and being honest with yourself is the real key to success. If you are lying to yourself, who are you kidding? It is hard at first because you are learning a new way to eat, but it gets easier with every meal you log because MFP learns your frequently eaten foods and you can pick them out more quickly. You also are learning what a real serving size is, which will make a huge difference. You will also learn which foods you normally eat are higher in calories and may need to be limited ed. For me, pasta is no longer a frequent flier on our menu, bread is a lower calorie version that tastes just as good. Get a food scale, weigh and measure everything until you can see how much a serving size really is. The first couple weeks are the hardest. If you find yourself wanting to go get a snack, drink some water and try waiting thirty minutes before you eat it, then if you REALLY want it, eat a proper serving of whatever it is you think you need. Do a Google search on the 8 Traits of Emotional Hunger, it can be very helpful, if like me, you are an emotional eater. Be thoughtful about what you are actually eating. Clear the counters! Don't leave food out so you see it every single time you walk by.

Remember these things: It is not too late and you are not too old! As for those muscles and body strength you may or may not now have: Use it or lose it definitely applies! Ask any physical therapist any health professional, they will tell you the best way to age is to be active. The more you do, the more you will be able to do! If you know anyone who has had a joint replacement, you may notice the people who have the best success are the ones who do the therapy and keep doing the exercises to regain the movement they once enjoyed. That's what we're all here for, to regain or retain our range of motion and ability to live an independent life. Don't kill yourself. Don't risk injury, but don't just sit in a chair and wait to die. Move a little more today than you did yesterday. Repeat tomorrow and the next day. And in my own humble opinion, the most important thing to remember is this: You are worth it! You CAN do it!

@LovesDogsAndBooks: I am 60 years old, SW was 244.7 on January 2, 2016. I have lost just shy of 85 pounds since then. My worst loose skin is actually the dreaded upper arms, but I am 60 years old and do not expect to look 20 ever again. I have come to realize that I am far more critical of my own body than anyone else even notices. Surprisingly my belly is not as bad as I feared it would be, though I won't be posting photos to share ever! I don't cringe when I look in the mirror naked! I'll be honest and say that being post-menopausal and getting the slightest case of crepe skin is bothering me more, emotionally, but I also have hip bones, not bad legs, collar bones, a neck and no more double chin! Wait! And thighs that don't rub together! That is all major stuff! Also my blood pressure is back to normal, I have energy to do things, I actually sleep better at night and don't wake up with an aching back. My knee has stopped screaming at me. I rarely take pain reliever unless I have physically overdone something. I just laid a new floating floor by myself and I'm telling you right now that counts as squats! For several days!

I guess I am simply saying that you have to determine what you can live with.

Here's what brought me to MFP: The week of Christmas, 2015, I was vacuuming my living room and got so out of breath I had to sit down and wait for my heart to stop racing. I had gained 25 pounds after retirement because it took me a while to get used to it. My poor heart was telling me something. I sat down and looked up the symptoms of heart attack in women. It was not a good thing. I decided then and there that as soon as the holiday was over, I was going to do something about my weight! Not so much because I was worried about dying of a heart attack, but because I was worried about LIVING with the consequences of a stroke. I do not want to end my life sitting in doctors offices or worse, looking out the window of a nursing home because I was too lazy to take matters into my own hands and do something to improve my health. I may well develope health issues down the road, but nothing's says I have to hold the door open for them to come on in!

If not now, when? I will repeat: You are not too old and it's not too late! And YOU ARE SO WORTH IT!
My goal here is to motivate not criticize! I have personally decided to LIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY GOD SEES FIT TO GIVE ME. If I can do this after being overweight for most of my adult life, anyone can. Start by talking to yourself as if you are speaking to someone you truly love. You don't have to be perfect, you just need to take steps forward for you. This is a good place to start.

LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »

Hi ladies, I'm a couple of years away from 55, but I thought this might be a good place to ask. I'm 51, SW was 204, CW is 186 and GW is approx. 145. For those of you who have lost weight at roughly this age and roughly the amount that I would like to lose (max. 60 lbs), has loose skin been a real issue?

I'm 67 and have lost about 60 lbs with about 6 or 7 more to go actually. I don't really have much loose skin, a little on my tummy, the inside of my thighs and a bit on my arms close to my armpits, but that seems to be disappearing for some reason. I started weight lifting fairly quickly into my weight loss in 2013 and took a long time to lose the weight but whether or not it's a factor I have no idea. I had two serious injuries last year so put the loss on hold temporarily and just maintained about a 50 lb loss, got back on the deficit wagon this year and have lost about 10 with a few to go still.

I don't share pics that often but here are a couple to show you but I do think we're all different and perhaps a lot goes into play when it come to loose skin including genetics. I'm not unhappy with the results but of course it could always be better.....LOL I was also athletic pretty much my entire life until my 50's when I seriously injured my back and was on the sidelines for about 10 years, that's when I gained the weight too. I really thought I'd have more loose skin than I do but either way health and fitness are the most important things. If I had to I'd just wear short sleeved shirts and I won't be parading around in a bikini anyway so most of it is covered by clothes, and my husband seems to think I look great so I'll go with that.