The older you get the harder it becomes!

lulehlu · January 2018

I lost 20 lbs at the age of 39. It is not harder. Be honest about what you eat and you can do it.

rainbow198 · January 2018

I have some amazing fitness friends that are 50+ that have lost a lot of weight, have kept it off and have amazing physiques. They give me so much inspiration.

I've been told the weight loss might have been slower compared to when they were in their 20's, but not harder or impossible.

I lost 80 pounds in my mid 30's and now in my early 40's and maintaining nicely. I watch what and how much I eat at each meal. Exercise/move daily. Repeat everyday.

As I get older I'm prepared to make adjustments as needed to continuing keeping my weight under control.

Good luck.

lynn_glenmont · January 2018

I started on MFP at 50+, because I was started to see blood sugar, BP, and cholesterol numbers that were concerning, and I lost 30 lbs in a bit under four months, by which time my health indicators improved. Since that was my main motivation, I set my weight at that point as a ceiling and focused more on maintenance than losing more. I've maintained for over four years.

I've found it easier and more effective to lose and maintain loss in my 50s counting calories than any "diet" I tried in earlier decades (including trying to count calories in the pre-Internet days, when you had to try to look things up in books if they didn't have a label, and track everything manually).

As for "fat-burning exercise" anything -- any exercise, any movement, any reduction in caloric intake -- that puts you at a moderate deficit is "fat-burning," especially if you get adequate protein and do some resistance training, so that your body gets the message and has the materials to maintain muscles. Exercise that pushes you into an extreme deficit tends to outpace your body's ability to fuel the deficit from fat, and it will be forced to break down lean mass (muscle and, in extreme cases, organs) to make up the additional deficit.

MissyCHF · January 2018

I agree, and it is extremely easy to regain weight, I will lose a little eating 1200 cal's and regain twice as much eating 1300!

Silentpadna · January 2018

Whether it's "harder" or not when you're older is irrelevant!

I never really knew how to lose weight until I learned what I needed to really know to lose weight. I was 53 when i learned. Proceeded to lose 50 pounds right on schedule (fluctuations and all) by following the correct concepts of a calorie deficit.

I'll be 55 in 5 weeks.

I'd never really lifted before, but now I have guys half my age at our gym that can't do what I do. Same reason - I learned conceptually how strength training and body composition work. I have a ways to go, but my physique is better than it has ever been and I am stronger than I have ever been.

If I was 30-something, would all of this been easier? Probably. But the fact is, that I am the age I am and I learned when I learned. The bottom line is that I don't care if it's easier or harder.

[Edit] I should add that if anything, I believe it may actually be easier now that I'm older because I am in absolutely no hurry. Rushing things, especially in this arena, is a recipe for bad stuff....

AnnPT77 · January 2018

Like many others here, I lost 50+ pounds at age 59-60, 180s to 120s, in just less than a year (and I'm hypothyroid as well as old). Now, at 62, I'm starting into my 3rd year at a healthy weight.

The main difference I'd report is that I was already very active, working out hard 6 days most weeks, and even competing athletically (in rowing), for around 12 years while obese. Exercise is a wonderful thing - I highly recommend it: It feels great to be strong and fit . . . but it's not weight loss magic. Realistically, an hour of intense exercise is a few hundred calories. I can eat that much without blinking, in 10 minutes.

Once I found a way of eating that was sustainable, nutritious, filling and enjoyable for me on the right number of calories, that was weight loss magic. Not always easy, but very simple.

You can do this. Best wishes!

lucerorojo · January 2018

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

I started on MFP at 50+, because I was started to see blood sugar, BP, and cholesterol numbers that were concerning, and I lost 30 lbs in a bit under four months, by which time my health indicators improved. Since that was my main motivation, I set my weight at that point as a ceiling and focused more on maintenance than losing more. I've maintained for over four years.

I've found it easier and more effective to lose and maintain loss in my 50s counting calories than any "diet" I tried in earlier decades (including trying to count calories in the pre-Internet days, when you had to try to look things up in books if they didn't have a label, and track everything manually).

As for "fat-burning exercise" anything -- any exercise, any movement, any reduction in caloric intake -- that puts you at a moderate deficit is "fat-burning," especially if you get adequate protein and do some resistance training, so that your body gets the message and has the materials to maintain muscles. Exercise that pushes you into an extreme deficit tends to outpace your body's ability to fuel the deficit from fat, and it will be forced to break down lean mass (muscle and, in extreme cases, organs) to make up the additional deficit.

I agree with this. I never counted calories before but had done low carb, Atkins and some other celebrity diets. I would lose usually (up until the last few years when those things DID NOT WORK), but then I'd gain it back once I "got off the diet." There were no plans for maintenance. My weight ballooned in the last 6 years (from 175 to 237) due to stress and eating carbs again after maintaining a lo carb diet for about 7 years.

Anyway, I'm 52 and I thought I couldn't lost anymore but then my doctor told me in June to just start writing down what I eat and that the awareness would probably help. She tried to tell me about calorie counting but I said for the last 4 years I wasn't interested in that. I came to MFP to just record what I was eating, but then I started reading the forums and actually started to FOLLOW the calorie goal that MFP was giving me and I started losing weight! I lost 2 lbs. per week at first, and was also walking and doing some exercise. My SW was 237 at the last week of June 2017, and today I weighed in at 199.8! My goal weight is 137, and I'm set to lose at 1 lb. per week. The amount of calories that I'm eating now, 1610 (not including exercise calories which I eat back), is close to what my maintenance calories will be at my goal weight (1600-1800, depending on the exercise). I do not feel hungry or deprived eating this amount and I think that by the time I get to maintenance I will be fine eating this amount of food.

Using MFP has taught me how much I need to eat and exercise to lose, and also about satiety, and what kinds of foods I can eat to feel full. I've also eaten much more delicious food since every calorie counts and I'm not going to waste them on stuff I do not like!

You can do it!

mamadon · January 2018

Just chiming in to sing with the choir. 55 years old and lost 118 pounds 5 years ago. Once I understood CICO and applied it, I lost the weight.

wryone4 · January 2018

Yep, it is harder but not too hard to do it! Focus on your diet and add in exercise when you can to keep your muscle mass up. It only gets harder as you continue to age, so setting your mind to focusing on fitness now will make it easier in the future.

Evamutt · January 2018

I'm 63 & I lost 48lbs in 7 months

kpk54 · January 2018

Lost 63 pounds at age 59/60. I was eating too much and spent too much time on my recliner.

rheddmobile · January 2018

I'm 49 and lost 113 lbs in the past year.

I disagree with the statement that you can't out exercise a bad diet - first of all, the main reason it's harder for older people to lose weight is lower activity levels and muscle mass, and those are absolutely things you can change with exercise.

Maybe you can't go for a walk and then eat an entire kitchen, but you sure can eat a comfortable amount of food and still lose weight if you increase your exercise levels substantially. I went from morbidly obese to normal weight without ever logging a day less than 1600 gross calories, and usually I eat between 1900 - 2100. It's not difficult to earn 400 - 600 calories with an hour of serious exercise - I don't mean slowly pedaling an elliptical, I mean getting sweaty. And the difference in happiness level, at least for me, between 1200 calories a day and 1800, is enormous. 1200 isn't even three normal sized meals, it's three teeny diet meals. 1800 is three normal sized meals and a substantial snack.

Plus, there's a database which follows people who have kept off substantial amounts of weight long term after losing it, because this is so rare that people study it. The database found that the thing they had in common was that all of them exercised regularly. I seem to recall the average was 45 minutes daily.

Last but not least, exercise is like a magic prescription for health. So if you are losing weight to improve your health, it makes no sense to avoid exercise if you are capable of it.

Find something you enjoy enough to stick with it - I started with Bollywood Zumba, now I'm running three times a week. And do some strength training, it preserves muscle while you eat in a deficit.

bigjonb4116 · January 2018

Panda8ach wrote: »

bigjonb4116 wrote: »

i'll be 52 this year, and have been losing for about 23months now, started at 456lbs though and have lost 168lbs in that time (average about 1.8lbs a week) i'm 288lbs now and it seems to have slowed down a bit, but the truth is its a long term proposition.... if you think it took 50yrs to put it on so aiming to lose it over 3 to 4 yrs is pretty good going.
i walk the beach most days, and do HIIT on a crosstrainer (only about 5 to10 mins every couple of days) i lift light weights as i have arthritis, but eat as little processed food as possible and watch the CICO.
i believe the lighter you get the slower it gets, but you could exercise with a weighted vest on, or go for a walk with a heavy back pack....good luck
and weigh yourself once a month so you'll only be dissapointed 12 times a yr!!!

Congratulations on your 168lb loss!! Epic

Thank you

bigjonb4116 · January 2018

Age is only a number, CI and CO are only Numbers, but you have to be in the right mind set, you have to believe that you can do it and that you are GOING to do it.... for me mindset was key.
If you are just starting out, log everything you eat and drink honestly, every little crumb, when you have had 4 slices of pizza don't log 2-you'll be able to see ... be honest with yourself first-then change your eating habits and then be patient and let the process work.('cos if your overweight you gotta walk before you can run

)

As i side note- I have found that younger doctors have a much better understanding of weightloss than the older ones, i weigh in at my surgery once a month, (as i don't own any scales- that alone keeps me honest !).. but also the info on the net is amazing.

Nikion901 · January 2018

cowgirl4063 wrote: »

I am just starting with myfitnesspal, I am a weight watcher and have used that app for years, I can't find a spot for adding steps in my work out section. And I agree with Louisafurley, boy o boy in my mid 50s and can't get under 200lbs~

If you would like to chart your steps walked on a daily basis, you can add steps as a measurement to track in your account.

PS .. If you take a walk and count those steps, you can log walking for the length of time you walked, but the step count is something that you would need to create as a custom exercise that you might call "Pedometer", or "steps" ...

MissyCHF · January 2018

MissyCHF wrote: »

I agree, and it is extremely easy to regain weight, I will lose a little eating 1200 cal's and regain twice as much eating 1300!

I forgot to say I was 84 and arthritic. I am still tracking calories so perhaps the Woo-ers will forgive me in time.

vingogly · January 2018

I'm 71 and lost 70+ pounds in my 60s. I'm now back in weight loss mode doing CICO and starting weight training to lose the last 20 lbs to get me down to my post high school weight (the main challenge there is the difficulty of losing as you move closer to the target, not my age). There's some change with age in the number of calories needed for maintenance but you can still lose weight if you control calories. See:

https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/appendix-2/

jeanona · January 2018

As with so many others here, not in my experience.

I'm 46 and lost around 60 lbs of post pregnancy weight about 12 years ago. Since then, I've been more or less maintaining up/down 10 lbs from goal weight (120 - 130 lbs). I gain because of binging issues but physically, I find dropping back to goal weight now just as easy as it was when I was 34. I may be one of the lucky ones with good health, no hormonal issues and it's simply a matter of CICO in that whether I fill my days eating "healthily" or "sugar junk", I find no real difference in speed of loss and no real difference in TDEE either (if there is, it'd be so small that it doesn't really affect me physically). Mentally though, I can say it's tougher because I don't have the same motivation to drop weight as I did during my 30s.

deputy_randolph · January 2018

Back in my 20s (when I didn't have kids and tons of other responsibilities), I could maintain my weight at 1600 calories a day.

Now in my late-30s (with a couple of kids and tons of responsibilities), I can maintain the SAME weight at 2200 calories a day.

I picked up competitive powerlifting 4 years ago. Muscles are great.

vanmep · January 2018

I feel like in my 50's it all started to make sense and I finally understood how to lose weight. So it is hard and I wish that I done this long ago, but I also don't find it overly difficult. If you are finding it difficult maybe your goals are too drastic?

The older you get the harder it becomes!

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