55-65 year old women's success?

I am 54. I had a heart attack 10 weeks ago and nine weeks ago today I went through open heart surgery. I had three blockages. It was a huge wake up call for me. I am now walking an hour a day and making healthy food choices. I am changing my lifestyle. It hasn't been easy but I am blessed to have been given this second change at life. So far I have lost 37 lbs. and still have a ways to go but I will get there. I feel better then I have in a long time. I went to see my cardiologist yesterday and got a great report. My blood pressure is better then it has ever been, my cholesterol is good, my cardiogram showed no problems, my blood work all came back good. He was very pleased with my progress and recovery.

Wow! This place has blown up lately with great inspiration! And some very good advice as well! I will chime in with my own $.02: My mama always said "Age is a matter of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter." I will add that in the last couple years my mindset has changed on many fronts. To continue using cliches, when it comes to muscle, "Use it or lose it" definitely applies. We don't have to sit around and watch the calendar days tick by because we have reached a certain number of years of age! I used to get really frustrated when I went with my mom to a doctor's appointment and there would occasionally be that person who treated her as if she was a half-wit because she had gray hair. We need to be our own best advocates! I am not a natural extrovert and I lean more towards putting other's needs above my own so putting my own health at the forefront of my activities has been challenging for me, but I finally decided it was either that or sit around and hold the door open for the heart attack I was teetering on the edge of.

If you are reading this, you are in a good place. There are people here who want you to succeed! I have lost over 85 pounds thanks to just a hand full of those people who gave me just enough help and encouragement to believe I could make progress if I just kept starting each day as if it were a brand new start. Whatever happened yesterday with food, is over. Today is a new beginning and a new chance to get it right. Tomorrow will be the same. Throw out the old mindset of "I am too old and it's too late!" Babies learn to walk one step at a time while holding onto someone else's hand. That's what we're about here. EVERYONE here is or has been where you're at if you are just starting out. We have all wondered if there was any way we could actually lose weight and or get to a better place, health-wise. I am one of those people who will tell you if I can do this, anybody can. I will be 61 in November. My mantra has been quite simple. Log every bite and sip every day. Be honest about it. Stay within my calorie goal. Move a little more today than I did yesterday. Tomorrow is a new day. Do it again. If you screw up and you will, forgive yourself and move on. Don't dwell on failure. Value yourself! It matters! You are worth this effort!

This is a little long but wanted to share:

I have been overweight since high school w my top weight at the time being 220. My first diet at 17, I lost 60 lbs w the original Weight Watchers. It was very strict and very limited and very low in carbs. I kept that weight off until 33 when I had the first of our 3 boys. My went weight back to 220 after the first baby and pretty much stayed there through my other 2 pregnancies. At 40 I quit smoking (2 packs/day) and started to ride and got my weight down under 200 but at 43 I had a horrible accident and almost lost a leg. I had three years + of surgeries, was confined to a bed or wheelchair. The surgeries affected my vision so watching tv or reading made me nauseous - this left eating. My weight ballooned over those years to 330. At 50 I joined a Dr Bernstein clinic. I had gotten my weight down to 300 but was frustrated. With the clinic my weight decreased to 170. It was very strict and very limited and very low carb. About a year after my weight loss, 2 family incidents happened - our middle son at 18 got into a drunken brawl and was arrested for assault. The same son and our oldest, 22, were living together while in school when 5 men broke into the house and assaulted the four boys living there. Our oldest was beaten badly and spent the next week in hospital so they could save his eye and rebuild his skull. No permanent damage and he now says his scars are a great lead into a "good story". The judge dropped the assault charges against our middle boy and our lives went back to normal but my weight had climbed back to 270. I joined a local obesity clinic and lost 50 lbs. It was under a doctors supervision with weekly monitoring (weight, blood, etc). It was very strict and very limited and very low carb. Afterwards, my weight started to creep back and before I knew it I was 255 lbs again. Can you spell depressed ☹️.

I looked back over my weight loss successes and the low carb thing seemed to stick out. I started to research and discovered a whole new world. July 3rd I started this journey and pray it is for the last time. At 59 I am sick to death of obsessing about food, my weight, tight clothes, etc. etc. Thankfully my weight has had, of yet, no adverse affect on my health (no diabetes, heart or blood pressure issues) but I assume it would only be a matter of time. Therefore, I plan on this to be my WOE for the duration. My thin hubby is very supportive and eating moderate carbs. I am keeping mine at 20g per day for now. Once the weight is off I will start to reintroduce carbs until I hit the amount my body needs to maintain a healthy weight and WILL stick with it. I eat high fat and moderate protein with the low carbs. I am enjoying the skin on my chicken, butter in my food, olive oil, coconut oil and loads of veggies and keeping my calories around 1600-1700. It is a revelation to me that the way my parents and grandparents ate and stayed slim and healthy is better than the Canada Food Guide, low fat, high carb version that was sold to us all in the 70's.

Is this everybody's path? Probably not. But at 59 I am trying hard to listen to my body and for me it is working. I have lost 22 lbs and 3 inches off my waist. I am not hungry. I do not have cravings. I have more energy. I am sleeping better. The hardest part is that we love to dine out and it is hard to select and be sure of low carb options but so far so good.

FYI, re exercise, for the last several years I train with weights once or twice a week, do yoga once or twice a week and ride my horse 2 - 3 times a week. My horse appreciates every pound I lose. Exercise keeps us healthy but our diet is of course what determines our weight.

I would like to end this by saying that I no longer believe that good fat is our enemy as we were all led to believe but that carbs and sugar are. I believe I am carb sensitive as many overweight people are. I was pleasantly surprised when my family doctor supported this program and has asked me to come in for regular blood work and after Christmas he has asked I return for a check in and to have a lipids test. He too believes sugar/carbs are the main culprit and encourages me to stick with this plan.

To each his own path. I wish you all a successful journey and look forward to hearing about your wins and (weight) losses.

Thanks for listening!!

I retired last year and celebrated my 65th birthday this summer. I have always been overweight and yoyoed up and down the scales all my life. For some reason, I feel differently about losing weight now. I've lost almost 50 pounds in the last 8 months and for the first time after weight loss, I feel confident it will stay off. I have another 75 to lose, but I know it will happen slowly. I don't know what is so different this time, but I can easily say no to sweets and pizza most of the time. I wish I could have felt this way at 20. And oh yes, thank god for Halo Top ice cream.

@Eleted...I am coming up on 65 so "if not now, when?" My biggest fear is losing my mobility and/or taking a ton of meds because I don't take care of myself as I age, so yes, I am selfish and put my needs, wants, and desires above others. This means devoting part of my day to exercise, preparing and stocking only real, healthy foods, and saying no to excessive eating out. If my husband wants something different, he has to go buy it...no more preparing separate meals like I used to do when I had children in the house. When I look at the consequences of not focusing on my goals of living a healthy, active life, it makes it easier for me to walk the line...plus I feel SO good!

I'll be 68 this month and trying to lose the 30+ lbs I gained following a rotator cuff tear and subsequent surgery. My right arm was in an immobilizer sling for 7 weeks and it was 3 months before I was allowed to even drive. I was basically helpless for many weeks. I couldn't do much walking because the sling threw my gait off. I spent much time feeling sorry for myself, eating and drinking to excess. After I came to my senses, and thinking about that experience, I knew for certain I didn't want to have any infirmity or disability, if I could prevent it. So, I've lost 13.6 lbs since I've begun my weightloss journey and 10.6 lbs since starting MFP. Roughly 20 lbs to go. Good luck to everyone on your journeys.

Eleted wrote: »

What a great group here! I really look forward to the support and wisdom! I hope everyone has a happy and successful day today! Tell me how you succeed in putting yourself first and keeping the focus on your goals??

I'm solo now (childless, widowed, orphaned, only child), but back in the day, my best motivation was what I think of as the "airline safety lecture rule": You put on your oxygen mask first, then help with the mask of dependents traveling with you.

How will we take care of those around us if we are obese, mobility impaired, cognitively compromised, weakened, ill . . . ?

Later, how much harder will it be for others to take care of us if we are all of those things, and how much earlier and for how much longer will we need them to do so because of not giving our own health some priority earlier in life?

The latter is still particularly important to me now, as a solo.