Moms over 40.....

Hi. I'm 42 with two sons aged 8 and 10 and a stepson of 13. . I have gained my weight gradually over the last few years. I stopped exercising and pretty much ate whatever I felt like eating. I decided in April that enough was enough. I was tired doing simple things like walking up a flight of stairs and didn't like what I saw in photos at all. I felt tired all the time and was not a good role model to my boys.
MFP has been a revelation to me. It is the first time I have ever counted calories...the website makes this easy and I am actually addicted now. This cant be a bad addiction...it has helped me to lose more than 20lbs. I am almost half way to my goal now and I feel healthier and fitter than I have in such a long time. As someone else already said, I don't want to be the fat mum! And their isn't any reason I can't get back to pre-pregnancy weight or get really fit. So I have decided to do it! I exercise almost every day ( there have been the odd rest days but your body needs these to recover anyway) and log on to mfp for support and inspiration. I can't wait to show everyone what I am capable of achieving!

So glad to see more of you have found this thread. I upped my calories, hoping that will bring me some change. This is frustrating, 40 days of sticking to this plan and my weight has not changed. I plan on re-taking measurements in two weeks, I figure I will do that monthly. But yet, I still am determined to do this and here we all are to support one another. Wonderful!!!

Taking measurements is a great idea!! Last month I was so disappointed because I only lost one pound, the whole month. Then when I took my measurements I saw that I had lost 1 1/2 in off my waist! I was so thrilled, I'll take losing inches over losing pounds any day!!
It took some trial and error to find the right balance of calories and exercise that works for you. I found that I have to keep my carbs between 35 & 40% or I won't lose anything (white carbs are not my friend). Never had that problem when I was younger, only for the last 3 years.
Keep with it, you'll see the results.

Hi! I'm 48 with a 16 year old and 7 year old. I started my current journey in mid March after coming back from a trip to Paris and seeing the beautiful thin and fit French women. I'm kind of languishing at my current weight and trying to lose my last 7 or 8 pounds before a girls trip to Hawaii in October.

Ok...ladies, I'm beginning to feel better about this. Spoke to two friends of mine last night who are also ont his journey, one of which gave me some great advice. So I'm bumping up my calories. Between talking to her and reading an article from shape.com which advise women should eat between 1500-1800 calories a day in order to lose weight, it is what I will try. For once I really and truly want to do this. My husband and my 3 sons have been and are so supportive. I am blessed!!!

Alicia, I just did the same thing, bumped my calories up to 1500. I was getting nowhere with 1200. Of course, I am still getting nowhere, but it's only been a week .

Ok...ladies, I'm beginning to feel better about this. Spoke to two friends of mine last night who are also ont his journey, one of which gave me some great advice. So I'm bumping up my calories. Between talking to her and reading an article from shape.com which advise women should eat between 1500-1800 calories a day in order to lose weight, it is what I will try. For once I really and truly want to do this. My husband and my 3 sons have been and are so supportive. I am blessed!!!

Alicia, I just did the same thing, bumped my calories up to 1500. I was getting nowhere with 1200. Of course, I am still getting nowhere, but it's only been a week .

I feel the same way, just a small movement downward on that darned scale would bring me pleasure. I am not giving up...I will do this. But the feelings of discouragement keeping sneaking back in.

Don't you give up! Here's what I'm doing - I'm trying to focus on getting my exercise consistent, consistently logging and generally trying to stay within 100 cal of my target (plus eat all exercise cals). Beyond that, what else can I do? In a month I'm doing measurements + body fat measurement. If I see zero movement at all, then I'm going to see my doctor -- because something must be wrong. But I'm guessing their will be (slow) movement. Whatever you do, don't let that stupid scale tell you whether or not you are making progress - every day you stay committed is progress, we are in here for long term.

Hey everyone! I'm 41 (almost 42) & the mom of 3 great kids, 21, 15 & 14. I've been up and down on the scale for my entire life and being only 5'2", that really stinks! I lost 30+ lbs ten years ago and kept it off for about five yrs. Then life took over, combined with horrible eating habits and a crazy lazy exercise approach, & I have gained all that I had lost and even gained another 30 lbs on top of that! My starting weight was the heaviest I've ever been and I realized I had to do something...for me! Six weeks in and 14 lbs gone, I feel so much better---physically and mentally. It feels great to put forth the effort and see results! I log in my calories, try to stay under goal, eat more healthy, exercise 6 days a week and try to read something motivational every day to stay excited about this journey! I know I didn't put it on overnight and that it won't come off overnight... it's all about the journey back to ME! Good luck to everyone...we can do this!

Hi, I'm 50 in a couple of months and my (adopted, no excuse there) daughter is 6. I've been using Mfp for a few months and it took a couple of months of consistent logging and being mindful of calories for the scale to start to move. Luckily I had also started measuring my waist before then and was encouraged by the loss of inches. Apart from cleaning and mowing the lawn ( big garden) I go to pilates classes once or twice a week, it's harder to go in the holidays...
Am more motivated now the scale is moving too and I'm on track for 85 kilos for my holidays in three weeks. Good luck to you and the other Mums

I'm 47 and my wee one is 19. My journey started in May when I hurt my back. It was a rude awakening because I never really did anything about my weight other than complain. Now it was causing a problem so I had to get serious. So my sister in law turned me on to MFP. I joined right away and have become somewhat obsessed with what goes in my mouth and getting my body moving. I began eating cleaningly and exercising everyday at home. I stick the stationary bike right in front of the TV (because that is where the rest of my couch potatoes are) and I bike away. I also worry more about what Im eating rather than what they are eating (Mother of the year candidate? Maybe not but yesterday my daughter wrote me the sweetest note telling me how proud she was of me so maybe so... ) Every so often I have add strength training to my cardio so I dont plateau but so far I have been successful without starving or even depriving myself. I dont think I would have every kept it up without MFP and the friends I have made here. I MFP, it has been a key tool in giving me my life back.

hi, i am 48 and my youngest is 23 and i am now seriously losing all the excess baby weight from years ago, it is coming off slowly and i still have another 64 lbs to go - i feel more determined now than i ever did when kids were little, i weigh once a week, usually on a saturday morning.
good luck with your weight loss journey

Wow! There are some really inspiring stories here! I'm 44, with three kids aged 16, 15 and 9. I used to do a lot of gymnastics as a child/ teen. Never been skinny, but I was fit and muscular. I started Uni at age 18 at 136lbs, then my weight started creeping up 4lbs a year. I did my first degree in London, then went on to study Medicine in 1988- was 150lbs by then. I went on my first diet in 1989 to try and lose 10lbs, and I've been yo-yoing ever since. I was 164lbs when I got married after my finals in 1993, then put on 40lbs during my first pregnancy. I had awful post-natal depression, which I ate my way through. Lost a bit before my second pregnancy, then put 30 lbs on with that...dieted, lost a bit, gained even more...you get the picture. 4 years ago I did a VLCD and went from 206lbs to 151lbs in 4 months, but as soon as I went back to real food rather than meal replacements and the next lot of stress cropped up, I ate my way through it and over the next 2 years gained it all back and some more. I work part-time in mental health, which can be very stressful. I finally ended up off sick last winter for 2 and a half months, and joined MFP at New Year at my heaviest ever 226.5lbs. I did really well until I went back to work in Feb, then it all started to fall apart a bit. I've pulled myself together again and I am determined not to let work get in the way of my health- mental or physical. Nothing is worth that. Anyway, I am determined to keep at it this time, however long it takes. I just want MFP to become a healthy habit to keep me accountable. I have all the theoretical knowledge...I just need to damn well put it into practice for myself!

I'm 40 with a 16 year old daughter. I've carried around an extra 20? 30? pounds for a while now. I started a C25K program to try to get in better shape. While listening to one of the podcasts someone mentioned MFP. I logged in and love it. I've been logging in for about 7 weeks and have lost 7lbs. I've never been so dedicated to any other program. Tracking my food has been a real eye opener but I've still managed to find a way to have my chocolate (skinny cow candy bars are awesome!) and I do eat my exercise calories. I do much better when I plan and track my food.

I copied a bunch of inspirational posters from another thread and added them as my screen saver on my computer. Sometimes when I walk by it says "Go Work Out" or "If nothing changes, nothing changes" makes me think about what I'm doing vs. what I should or could be doing.

I echo everyone else's sentiments - this isn't a diet, it's a life style change. I can't believe how much better I feel just by eating better, working out, and getting enough water and sleep. Some days are hard, I just couldn't pass up a Blue Moon beer last night when i was out with friends but I'll make up for it today. It isn't about restricting what I eat, it's about making the best choice in whatever situation I'm in.