55-65 year old women's success?

After loosing 60 lbs then gaining back 12 lbs over the holidays, I met with a personal trainer who mentioned using free weights. So at 61 years old I tried it and found that I actually like doing strength training. I lost that 60lbs in about 13 months, then stalled for a while, because I got lazy and slacked off on my gym/zumba sessions. Now back into 4 times a week at the gym. It's been a few weeks now and I'm feeling a difference in the way my clothes fit. That makes me happy.

shopping for jeans since mine are so baggy, lost 30 lbs since July. They make all the jeans for teens but I bought a pair anyway, loved my old Ryder Lee Jeans, guess I am showing my age of 65 but bought some of the more modern stretchy ones, not near as comfortable though but got a size 8,use to wear 14, yea me!

Hello there. I’m 55 in August this year. Here’s an up date on my progress. I’ve lost 56.5lb over the last nine months and shifted my body fat from 44% to 28%. I have gone from a UK size 20 (US 18) to a UK dress size 12 (US 10). My waist has shrunk 16” ... from 46” to 30”.

My physical routine involves 2 x gym sessions with a 50/50 mix of aerobic work and body weight/light weight core and functional fitness training, 2 x heav(ier) weight training sessions of weighted squats, dead lifts, assisted pull ups and the like. Then 3 x bike spin type sessions on Zwift. I have steady increased my exercise over the 9 months, adding first the 2 gym sessions, then the bike spin sessions and finally in December the weight training. I had a Dexa Scan in October 2018 and found that my visiceral fat percentage was still too high. The consultant recommended I increased my up body strength but continued with my diet (more about this in a minute). In February this year I returned for a follow up scan and found that adding the weighted work into my training meant I lost a further 9.9kg of body fat with 5kg of this coming from my trunk - exactly where your visceral fat stores are! The scan also showed I have gained 1.6kg in muscle. This has helped explain why I am getting smaller but not lighter..... Weight training is key for me. I love it and it makes me feel incredible.

My diet is simple. I eat around 1,800 calories a day by consuming a minimum of 100g of protein each day and no more than 125g of carbohydrate. I don’t worry so much about fat. This looks like eggs and toast for breakfast, milky coffee as a morning snack, protein and vegetables for lunch, protein, veg and a small portion of carbohydrate for my evening meal. I have 150 calorie mid afternoon snack and a milky drink at bedtime. I usually cook once a day and then make the left overs from my evening meal into a lunch box midday meal for the following day.

The before picture was taken on 27 May 2018. The after picture on January 20 2019.

So much inspiration here. I am 64 and returning to mfp after a lengthy self inflicted separation. Ready to get back to a healthy me..which will lead to weight loss. Logging foods has always been my key to success. Lost 45 pounds in my 50's. Looking forward to learning from you all.
Congrats and good luck.

ndargy1977 wrote: »

@springlering62 - what an amazing testimony!!! I'm close to your height, just a bit taller....5'8"....and I am shooting for 160. We seem to have the same small frame, and 167 looks great on you!!!!

I just turned the big 50 last September.....and am looking forward to being as fit and trim as you Thanks for the inspiration.............

Would you mind sharing what a typical day looks like for you food wise? I'm just wondering about the elimination foods actually.........I know we are all different, but I love ideas I've been struggling with getting 20# off for what seems forever You can private message if you'd rather

Nicole

@cory17 and Nicole, thank you so much! You both just made my day. That means a lot coming from this community! It’s still hard for me accept and see a difference in the mirror, so thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

My doctor gave me the handout for the IFM.org elimination diet every time I’ve seen her for the past few years, but I threw it away as soon as I got home. This time she gave it to me along with a prescription for thyroid meds, which I didn’t want to take after reading the handout, so this time I paid attention.

The elimination diet is basically just common sense eating. You cut out foods that might trigger various issues (in my case, the GERD from hell and joint pain), and add one back at a time to discover what’s bothering you. I cut out dairy, sugars, gluten, red meats, rice, peanuts, and some other food types. It’s very heavy on fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts and grains, and chicken / fish.

There’s actually two parts, one is the elimination part, and the other is the adding back part. The link for the elimination part of the diet is https://p.widencdn.net/he7a5v/Elimination-Diet---Comprehensive-Guide_v6. My GERD vanished forever (I hope) within a week. A good bit of the joint pain is gone now, too, but getting rid of the GERD and dumping the Prilosec and Pantoprazole was such a win, I will dry my darndest not to ever go back.

My normal breakfast is a smoothie of banana, a cup of almond milk, two tablespoons of raw cacao, a tablespoon of almond butter, and a quarter cup of dry rolled oats and a ton of ice. The ice makes me feel like I’m eating a lot and gets a lot of water in me. 335 calories, filling, and tastes like a creamy chocolate milkshake.

I alternate breakfast once in a while with a Dave’s Killer English Muffin, with a bare sweep of almond butter and honey, which comes in at about 200 calories.

Lunch is usually either avacado toast (two slices of Dave’s Killer thin bread with half an avacado), a gigantic garden salad (with a couple of slices of grilled halloumi if I have the extra calories), or a homemade chicken soup with barley (which is very filling). All three come in well under 250 calories.

Dinner has to be something that makes my husband happy, so it varies, but my share usually falls around 400-500 calories. I may eat a spinach and tomato salad while he has a rice, though. Last week I made some killer carnitas in the Instant Pot, and an ounce or two of heated shredded carnitas over lettuce with diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro and a couple tablespoons of roasted corn made a fantastic lunch for the next few days, (which I am still dreaming of, btw.)

Tonight’s dinner was Trader Joe’s chicken fried rice padded out with extra chicken, a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables, and a couple of eggs scrambled in.

Snacks are apples, oranges (who knew oranges would taste so FABULOUS once you got processed sugar out of your system?!), a banana smoothie, pickles (zero calories, have had to learn to love them), strawberries, grapes, hummus with carrots or radishes. Cedars brand lemon hummus is to die for.

My “go to” snack is beef jerky. It is low calorie, the protein is very filling, and it’s really suited for taking itty bitty teeny tiny mice sized nibbles of to streeeeeetch it out. But it costs an arm and a leg. I bought a food dehydrator and have been making my own, but had to put it out on the porch because it made the dog’s eyes cross in frustration!

Three things that are a huge help to me:
Dave’s Killer products are fantastic. I mean they really taste good, are multi whole grain, freeze well, and toast up deliciously.

I buy a brand (Oli and Ve) of gourmet balsamic vinegar that is only 10 calories per tablespoon, and comes in a zillion flavors. My favorites are the fig, strawberry, Cascadian raspberry, honey & ginger, and dark chocolate. Just a little goes a long way in lieu of a salad dressing, and I eat several salads a week. It also makes a great marinade. $10 a bottle, but worth every penny, and a bottle lasts as long as a two or three of my husbands salad dressing bottles, so I guess it all evens out.

I subscribe to Wild Soil Almonds for monthly delivery of high quality almonds for half the price Whole Foods charges, so I make my own almond milk. It’s really easy to make, tastes way better than store bought, extremely low calorie, and I thin it out anyway. I haven’t had dairy since September, other than a little bit of cheese once in a while. (Lovely, salty, wonderful halloumi cheese being my new passion.) I used to knock back a couple of gallons of milk a week to wash down all the chocolate candy and cookies I used to eat. Ack!!!!

Sorry about the “wall of text”. Hope this helps!