55 need to lose 10 lbs. HELP

flippy1234 · September 2019

Hi there,
I am 55 years old, female. I am not overweight but I feel that I am getting too close to the high edge of that weight scale. It's all in my middle which I know is not healthy. I am having the hardest time slimming down. I get so hungry, especially at night. Any tips, tricks, thoughts...as to what is working for you? Much appreciated. It creeps up on you insidiously.

spiriteagle99 · September 2019

Being more active overall may help or starting a new exercise program. I'm 62 and find it easy to maintain a good weight by being active. Eating more protein may help you feel more full, or eating more fiber. Not eating out often makes a big difference in my weight. Restaurant meals are usually very high calorie. I can get a whole day's worth of calories with one mostly healthy meal.

flippy1234 · September 2019

spiriteagle99 wrote: »

Being more active overall may help or starting a new exercise program. I'm 62 and find it easy to maintain a good weight by being active. Eating more protein may help you feel more full, or eating more fiber. Not eating out often makes a big difference in my weight. Restaurant meals are usually very high calorie. I can get a whole day's worth of calories with one mostly healthy meal.

What do you do for exercise?

gentlygently · September 2019

Oh I feel you...(Or, snap!)

I have come to the conclusion that I need to reset my portion expectations...so less for breakfast every day as a longterm habit, and also for lunch.

I eat my big meals in the eve. And avoid evening hunger that way, for me.

Luckily I don’t find losing so hard - but I’ve worked out my insidious creep Is based on my eating 50/100 cals a day too much on average every day. So - in addition to shifting those latest few extra pounds, grrrr - I know long term my basic portion expectations need to adjust by 50/100 cals a day. It’s not so bad really - a couple less prunes and walnuts in my muesli, saving my lunchtime yoghurt and make that a mid afternoon snack instead, cutting thinner slices of bread or just having the one for my lunch sandwich.

(When I am hungry I aim to either ignore (morning) or for mid afternoon I usually plan a small 50-100 cal snack (fruit, oatcake with tapenade or a glass of milk) and then distract myself with a task (getting on with unloading the washing machine works reasonably well!). By the time the task is over my hunger is not so urgent.)

Good luck

kshama2001 · September 2019

With only 10 pounds to lose, set your weekly weight loss goal to a half pound a week. If you have it set to higher, that's too aggressive a deficit for the amount you have to lose, and the reason you are hungry at night.

If you are already at a half pound per week, are you exercising and eating back the exercise calories?

You can also switch the types of food you eat around to find combinations that fill you up better.

Understanding satiety: feeling full after a meal

...Tips on how to feel fuller

So how can we best try to enhance these feelings of fullness to help us control how much we eat? Here are some top tips for helping you feel fuller:

Foods high in protein seem to make us feel fuller than foods high in fat or carbohydrate, so including some protein at every meal should help keep you satisfied. Foods high in protein include meats such as chicken, ham or beef, fish, eggs, beans and pulses.
If you are watching your weight, opt for lower fat versions, using leaner cuts of meat, cutting off visible fat and avoiding the skin on poultry as this will help reduce the energy density of the diet, which can help to enhance satiety (see below).
Foods that are high in fibre may also enhance feelings of fullness so try to include plenty of high-fibre foods in the diet such as wholegrain bread and cereals, beans and pulses and fruit and vegetables.
Alcohol seems to stimulate appetite in the short-term and therefore drinking alcohol is likely to encourage us to eat more. Alcoholic beverages can make you forget about your intentions to eat healthily by making you lose your inhibitions. Alcoholic drinks are also calorific, so you should cut down on alcohol consumption if you are trying to control your weight.
The ‘energy density’ of food has a strong influence on feelings of fullness or satiety. Energy density is the amount of energy (or calories) per gram of food. Lower energy density foods provide less energy per gram of food so you can eat more of them without consuming too many calories. Low energy density foods include fruit and vegetables, foods with lots of water added when cooking such as soups and stews, and lower fat foods. Click here for more information on energy density.

Read more: http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html

ridiculous59 · September 2019

I just turned 60 and fighting 10 pounds too. For me, its all about portion control and being mindful of the empty calories I can so casually consume i.e. a couple of glasses of wine, a high calorie drink at Starbucks, sharing a plate of nachos, etc. I can have those things, if I make allowances during the rest of my day so they fit my calories. Basically, I've had to learn that I can have it all, just not all the time. If I'm feeling hungry in the evening, usually a cup of herbal tea takes the edge off. The act of making it, and sitting down to drink it distracts me enough.

Exercise becomes even more important as we get older. It helps to maintain our muscle (so we can eat a few calories more!), helps our bone density to maybe prevent those broken wrists or hips down the road, and improves our balance (again with the broken wrist or hip). Check with your doctor first of course before starting anything new.

Maxxitt · September 2019

It's great you're choosing to get a handle on this now. If you track your food for a couple of weeks without making any changes, I bet that you can find some small adjustments each day that will feel relatively painless. If you meet a first goal of stopping any further gain, that's a big win.

Gradually increasing non-exercise daily activity has been useful for me - parking further away from the stores, getting off the bus a block or two early, walking to the mailbox on the corner instead of clipping outgoing mail to my home mail box, taking stairs instead of elevators and escalators whenever possible, finding joy in walking the dog several times a day (the dog finds joy too

) It can add up to 50-100 additional "activity" calories over the course of a day.

With planned exercise, I have found that it takes about 3 weeks to develop what feels more like a habit and less like a daily activity add-on. The easiest thing for most folks, barring any medical contraindication, is walking. I have also found that I like "going to the gym" once I get there. My self-talk is "all you need to do is go and do your warm-up routine [which involves about 20 min of moderate pace treadmill and various different range of motion exercises]." Seems pretty minimal and 100% of the time I have chosen to continue the exercise plan for the day. For me, having a structured plan is crucial - I don't spend time wandering around, don't over-work any "part," and can track progress. For me, the exercise is more geared to strength training (basically lifting myself & weighted compound lifts/squats) followed by 15-20 minutes of intervals (60 seconds at 85% of max HR followed by 90 seconds to get me back to 60-65% max HR - as cardio fitness improves, the work level increases to get those #s). I generally walk/jog on the treadmill but there's also elliptical, bike, rower, carrying heavy stuff for those 60 seconds, using a non-motorized treadmill that about kills me every time. Even twice a week is beneficial to strength and balance gains. There's also swimming, dance exercise classes, etc - check out your local Y for some options.

Hope some of this helps. Good luck.

55 need to lose 10 lbs. HELP

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