It is SO much harder to lose weight now!!

ShayCarver89
ShayCarver89 Posts: 239 Member
in Motivation and Support
This may seem crazy, because I am still young. But I lost 70 pounds at 22. I put it all back on, and lost it again at 24. It melted off me. I gained it back and lost it all again at 26, and it melted off me. I am now 29 and the weight does notttttt want to budge. No matter what I eat, how active I am..I just SNAIL along. It really is no lie that the older you get the harder this is. I weigh 265 pounds, I should lose a significant amount of weight easily before slowing down, like I did in the past, but no.
How do I stay motivated through this?!

Replies

  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    Its sooooo hard!
    wish I had some advice..Im in the same boat
    Im 45 though..LOL
    but in the past when i stuck to my plan and counting cals, the weight fell off
    Ive been following a 1400 cal day plan eating 8-4 and weigh a pound MORE than i did when i last weighed on 8-27
    I feel pretty defeated
    Im not working out so it cant be muscle etc
    I had b/w recently that came back fine..so im at a loss!

    Have you had your thyrpid checked or b/w to make sure all is ok?
    anyway you could be messing up the cal count

    sorry i cant think of anything else..in same position :0
    kim
  • ShayCarver89
    ShayCarver89 Posts: 239 Member
    I just had my thyroid checked about 3 months ago. My doctors very concerned about how I've gained a significant amount of weight over the last few months so he checked it. He checked a bunch of stuff and told me I'm pre-diabetic and I can "stop it if I lose weight." Well I'm having a little trouble losing it! :D
  • jls1788
    jls1788 Posts: 30 Member
    Hey, I think you’re right, the older we get, the harder it is. But I think it will eventually come off if we just stick with it. Like 1 pound a week slow, but will come off. In your case, that’s 70 weeks. For me, I’m 41 and want to lose 40 pounds, so will take 40 weeks. In the past, it’s fallen off fast for me too but maybe we didn’t do it the best way?? Maybe 1 pound a week is healthy? And we have to be patient. I’m speaking to myself too! Feel free to friend me and we can motivate each other. Helps me to look at peoples food diaries on here and get new ideas! We can do this!!
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    You have to take your time and find a program you can live with for life. Not knowing you personally I am going to make a couple of guesses. First I am guessing the times you have lost you did it on very strict programs losing quickly. When you do that a couple things tend to happen. First of all you lose some muscle because of the severe restriction. Muscle burns more calories than fat which does tend to make it a bit easier to regain. The second thing that happens is that you end up ravenous and can't maintain the program you are on going off and eating anything you want until the weight comes back.

    I may be wrong so please don't take offense but this was my experience over my entire life. I finally lost over 100 pounds at the age of 60! So age doesn't keep you from losing but the yo yo diet thing can partially be responsible for where you find yourself now. My advice is slow down and do a program that gives you the opportunity to make new habits that you can live with for the rest of your life. Please don't keep going down this crazy road of gaining and losing like I did. I wish I hadn't waited until I was an old woman to be healthy.
  • countcurt
    countcurt Posts: 593 Member
    FutureMrsCarver89 wrote: »
    How do I stay motivated through this?!

    You don't. Or, at least, you don't worry about it. You decide you're going to consume fewer calories than your body needs. You execute that plan. Every day. Then repeat.


    Success doesn't depend on motivation. Which is often fleeting. Success depends on following through with your action plan. Whether you're motivated or not.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Thyroid may impact how you feel, but that's about it. Regardless of this it boils down to managing your caloric intake and slowly losing the weight - learning the habits that keep you at maintenance for a lifetime, not just hitting an arbitrary weight goal and then going back to an old routine.

    Slow it down and think in terms of shifting bad habits to good habits that promote health.

    I'm 47 and sans thyroid for 18 years. I put on and lost ~60 lbs during this time. Age isn't a factor.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,073 Member
    Honestly I think it's less about age and more about how our lives change. If I compare my days in my 20's to my days now that I'm 40, there is a SIGNIFICANT difference in my daily activity. Not just the desk job either - but my evening activities, weekend activities, morning routines, driving/trains vs walking/biking - it all adds up, and if I were to do the math, I'm positive it would more than explain the difference!

    To that end, I'm trying to re-incorporate some of the things that used to keep me off my butt more (besides just working out)...but some things (like owning a dog that requires walks every day) just aren't possible :( and I'm not motivated to take myself for a walk like that!
  • PowerliftingMom
    PowerliftingMom Posts: 430 Member
    It's not always as simple as CICO, if you suffer from insomnia and/or lots of stress (both for me :-1: ) then it makes losing weight a little more challenging. I'm almost 60 and it was easy for me to lose 50+ lbs when I was in my mid-50's because my life was more stress-free and I didn't have to deal with insomnia back then.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,534 Member
    Quit dieting and learn weight loss. Change your lifestyle this time. That lbs melt away thinking catches up with a lot of folks. Don’t be one of them.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    for me... I don't think losing weight got harder as I older. I noticed that it was my will power that took a hit. It was almost like I used it all up the other times I lost weight in previous years. lol. I finally got my drive back at the end of December and I've lost all my weight at the same pace as I did decades ago. But being older I am wiser.. this girl isn't gaining it back ever again!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
    I didn't find it especially hard at 59. In fact, it seemed so easy, and I felt so much better, that I could've kicked myself for not doing it 3 decades earlier. (Maybe it'll be hard when I'm 90, but I'm planning to continue maintain a healthy weight beyond my current 2+ years of doing so.)

    Trying to "melt away" is not a sustainable plan. Set yourself up for a sensible, moderate, healthy weight loss rate, and find ways to stick to your calorie goal that don't require huge buckets of motivation.

    Eat normal food you find filling and tasty, within your calorie goal, that gives you balanced nutrition, and include occasional treats so cravings don't build up to unmanageable levels.

    If you can make time in your day without wrecking your overall life balance, add more movement to your routine - not necessarily or only "exercise" but anything fun or useful that you want to do, like taking a walk with your dog, playing with the kids, tackling a deferred home improvement or home dec project, etc. All of that burns extra calories. And sure, if you can find an actual exercise you enjoy, and you have time for, that's a bonus, too.

    Doing it this way will not only be more sustainable - more of a learning process, less of a "motivation needed" ordeal - but it will also help you develop a way of living that helps you stay at a healthy weight permanently.

    Don't bemoan being 29 . . . use your more mature adult insights and skills to develop new habits and succeed. You can, if you choose to, and commit to sticking with the process (possibly through a few blind alleys or bumps along the way, but just keep going).
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    Losing weight is not harder as you age. People slow down and are less active which might make it seem like it, but it isn't harder. I lost over 50 lbs between ages 40 and 42. I had to exercise and eat less. If you aren't losing, you are eating too many calories. Meticulously track your calories by weighing solids and measuring liquids. Eat at a 500 calorie or so deficit. You will lose weight.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    I personally haven't found it harder as I aged. I lost 100lbs at around 24. Again early 30's. And I just lost almost 30 at now 37. It wasn't harder now then it was back then for me.

    But weight loss is a slow journey not a sprint. You need to think long term.

    Lastly - make sure to properly log and WEIGH all food to ensure accuracy.
  • countcurt
    countcurt Posts: 593 Member
    PowerliftingMom wrote: »
    It's not always as simple as CICO, if you suffer from insomnia and/or lots of stress (both for me :-1: ) then it makes losing weight a little more challenging. I'm almost 60 and it was easy for me to lose 50+ lbs when I was in my mid-50's because my life was more stress-free and I didn't have to deal with insomnia back then.

    Actually, it is all about calories in calories out. That you have insomnia just makes it more challenging to adhere to this formula. So do headaches, stress, anxiety, a million other situations.



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