55 and FAT

isc9
isc9 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Dear fellow travelers,

Ok, I am going to put this out there to all of you on your weight loss journey. I would love your help in achieving my goal.

I have never been athletic. I was a late bloomer and from a family that believed that academics were far more important than physical exercise. I have been able to manage my weight with in reason for most of my life, but as I get older that is harder and harder. A friend of mine lost significant amount of weight because he didn't want to be 55 and FAT. As I approach that same age this year, I am going to make that my goal as well. I need to lose 20 pounds to be closer to my "ideal" weight. More importantly, I want to get away from the OBESE category and really get healthier.

At my work place they have a great program for support for weight loss. I joined the first week of November. Many people thought I was crazy for trying to do this over the holidays, but I think that it is the best time. I don't want to add more weight during this time of year and having a weight loss goal has helped me to not indulge like I typically would. So far I have started the program and am learning a lot. Portion sizes, decreased calorie counts, and increased activity has really helped. I even did my first "Step" class the other day and managed to survive.

Your stories of inspiration, encouragement and examples of you own successes has been great support. I would love to hear from others who are "middle aged" and looking to improve the next 50 years.

Thanking you in advance for your support.
ISC9

Replies

  • Zinka61
    Zinka61 Posts: 563 Member
    I started gaining at age 50 and joined mfp 4 years ago. I'm 57 now and have kept around 22 lbs off, though I go up and down a bit with an additional 5-8 lbs I originally lost. It's still a win. The body sure changes at this age, doesn't it? Feel free to friend me.
  • skiextrm
    skiextrm Posts: 144 Member
    Feel free to friend me, you two! I am older than you😀. Been here a while, but still working on losing more slowly but surely!
  • isc9
    isc9 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for the advice. Some great thoughts. Keep me coming.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    You can do this! I started being active (from very sedentary) around age 46, but didn't make a serious stab at weight loss (i.e., stayed obese) until 59-60, when I lost from obese to a healthy weight using MFP. Now 63, I'm in year 3 of maintenance, up a bit from ideal goal weight, but still at BMI 22 (middle of normal/healthy range) and still doing something fun and active nearly every day. I'm for sure happier, healthier, and fitter than I was in my 40s.

    Find some ways of moving more that are fun for you, work at sensibly managing your calories while keeping eating enjoyable, and you'll be amazed at what happens.

    Best wishes!
  • isc9
    isc9 Posts: 3 Member
    Hey gang,
    how long did it take before you saw any real results in your weight loss? I have been tracking now for almost 4 weeks. I saw some slight losses, but nothing major. I keep on hoping to see a bigger drop and am surprised at how slow it comes off. Do you find that as we get older it takes longer? I am exercising a lot more, at least 2 times a week for a full class (1 hour plus). I used to lose weight easily, but now it seems to take forever. Thoughts?
    ISC
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    isc9 wrote: »
    Hey gang,
    how long did it take before you saw any real results in your weight loss? I have been tracking now for almost 4 weeks. I saw some slight losses, but nothing major. I keep on hoping to see a bigger drop and am surprised at how slow it comes off. Do you find that as we get older it takes longer? I am exercising a lot more, at least 2 times a week for a full class (1 hour plus). I used to lose weight easily, but now it seems to take forever. Thoughts?
    ISC

    Your results will be unique to you. The total monthly calorie deficit you have is a result of your eating and your working, so it's uniquely yours. Be patient. Learn. This is not a temporary project. Rather, this is you learning how to live for the rest of your life.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    isc9 wrote: »
    Hey gang,
    how long did it take before you saw any real results in your weight loss? I have been tracking now for almost 4 weeks. I saw some slight losses, but nothing major. I keep on hoping to see a bigger drop and am surprised at how slow it comes off. Do you find that as we get older it takes longer? I am exercising a lot more, at least 2 times a week for a full class (1 hour plus). I used to lose weight easily, but now it seems to take forever. Thoughts?
    ISC

    How slow is "slight losses"? A sensible target is no more than 1% of body weight per week, slower if you have less than 25-50 pounds to lose. I'm not trying to be disputatious, but sometimes people start with expectations fueled by headlines or reality TV, and think a pound a week is slow.

    If it's lots slower, there are some standard things you can consider, but it would help to know how much you have to lose, and how fast/slow it's really been happening.

    I see you mention exercising more, but what steps are you taking on the eating side of things? What weight loss weekly goal did you set in MFP, and how many calories did it give you? Are you able to stick to those calories? How are you measuring them?

    Are you estimating and eating back your exercise calories? If so, what's the exercise, and how many calories are you estimating?

    To answer your explicit question: I'd started losing before I joined MFP, just estimating intake, and sort of started to stall out. I decided I needed to calorie count/food log more accurately, and joined MFP to do that. Once I got that going, I pretty quickly went back to losing at somewhere between 1 & 2 pounds a week most of the time, which was fine for how much I had to lose initially. I didn't find my age to be a factor, but accuracy was for sure.

    Best wishes!
  • DelSydney
    DelSydney Posts: 11 Member
    I have just come back to MFP to see why Im slowly putting on weight every few months. Im now just over 65 and looking for inspiration ISC9 and saw your post. You really are fortunate to have a supportive workplace and I believe you took the right step getting into your new lifestyle over the holidays when we always tend to have so many extras cropping into our lives.

    I found AnnPT77's comments rang a lot of bells for me. I have been stunned how off my guesstimates of my food intake were since I got out the scales and weighed my food/intake. Years ago I successfully lost 10k using MFP and a different way of eating but I know a lot of it was due to keeping accountable to myself and MFP made that so easy.

    Now Im back to the heaviest I have ever been in my life and need to loose fat - to me it isnt just the scales - its how my clothes look and knowing that I need to be healthier.

    I wish you all the best ISC9 - you dont have to be 55 and fat and Im not going to be 65 and fat for much longer!
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    I started at 270 pounds in August of 2015, at 52 years old. I lost 70 pounds between then and May 2017 (age 54) - an average loss of just under a pound a week.

    I accomplished my loss via calorie deficit (using MFP to track my calories) combined with strength training and cardio. My loss was intentionally slow and gradual, to maintain as much muscle as possible and also to make the deficit as easy (and enjoyable) as possible to adhere to.

    I've maintained my weight within a +/- 10 lb. range for the last 19 months (now age 56), still currently sitting at 200 lbs. and around 15% bodyfat (for context, I'm 6'6" tall, with a BMI of 23.1 - comfortably into the normal/healthy range). I actually lost another 5 pounds beyond my initial loss, down to 195 lbs., but found I was starting to get too skinny and didn't like the look so I eased back up to 200, which is now my comfortable maintenance weight.

    Age is not a barrier to losing weight and getting healthy - I was fatter/heavier at 26, 36 and 46 than I am at 56! No matter how young or old we are, we lose weight the exact same way - by consuming less calories than we expend (calorie deficit). It's a good idea to eat a reasonably balanced/nutritious diet as a part of the process and also to get some exercise, for a variety of health-related reasons.

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