Almost 50 years old-help with weight loss š©
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onehottomatodmz
Posts: 26 Member
Hi, Iām new here and only a couple of weeks in. My first week I lost almost 10 pounds of which I know was water weight. I just weighed myself and I only lost .9 pound! Iām sticking to my diet, eating good foods and walking 5 miles a day every morning for excruciating. I didnāt expect to lose another 9 pounds but not even losing a whole pound was just depressing. Anyone else been through this? I only started to have a weight issue in my forties and because of this stopped working out altogether. Iām trying to get down a total of forty pounds. My thyroid has been checked and I have already gone through the change. Any help ladies who are in my age range??
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Yes, it's slow. I'm 63 and started my journey at 59. It took me 2 years to lose 108 pounds. Be patient. The slower you lose the more likely you are to keep it off. .9 of a pound is an excellent loss. Choose a rate of loss that gives you enough food that you aren't starving all the time. Most folks choose 2 lbs. a week for their goal but it is unlikely with only 40 pounds to lose that you will achieve that. MFP will give you 1200 calories a day as the lowest it will go that doesn't mean you will lose 2 pounds. Right now if I put in 2 lbs a week it would give me 1200/day but because my maintenance is around 1450. That's really only a deficit of 250 calories a day which would not result in a 2 pound loss over 7 days because I would need a deficit of 7000 calories for the week to do that and since 7 X 250 is only 1750 calories you can see that I won't make it. You need to have reasonable expectations. Trust me we have all been where you are. This is the first time I managed to maintain a normal weight for more than a few months. I know it works. Keep going and good luck.5
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If the 1200 calories isnāt going to get me to my 2 pounds a week what should I do? I am also speed walking 5 days a week for 5 miles a day. Should I dip to 1000 calories a day?1
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onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»If the 1200 calories isnāt going to get me to my 2 pounds a week what should I do? I am also speed walking 5 days a week for 5 miles a day. Should I dip to 1000 calories a day?
No. You should adjust your expectations, not your calories.
Plan for 1 pound per week.25 -
onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»If the 1200 calories isnāt going to get me to my 2 pounds a week what should I do? I am also speed walking 5 days a week for 5 miles a day. Should I dip to 1000 calories a day?
It would be useful to have your stats for specific advise.
But one thing is sure: don't start to eat 1000 calories a day! It's not enough for someone who doesn't exercise and it's certainly not enough if you're walking 5 miles a day.
You need to be more patient, almost 1 lbs per week is a very good rate of loss, and starving yourself is counterproductive. You will either endanger your health by underfueling your body, or you won't be able to stick to your calorie goal because you find it too restrictive.
I would even be tempted to say that 1200 isn't enough to fuel your body, considering how much you walk, but for that more information is necessary.5 -
quiksylver296 wrote: Ā»onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»If the 1200 calories isnāt going to get me to my 2 pounds a week what should I do? I am also speed walking 5 days a week for 5 miles a day. Should I dip to 1000 calories a day?
No. You should adjust your expectations, not your calories.
Plan for 1 pound per week.
ā¬ļø This!! Losing .9 pounds in one week is great. Small sustainable habit changes will result in a slower weight loss but one that will last and that you can maintain. No rush and nothing to gain from eating an unhealthy and unsustainably low amount of calories.2 -
I would also like to add that your age shouldnāt really affect weight loss, which is about eating at a calorie deficit. Iām a 47 woman and lost 35 pounds over 7 months and lost almost every week. Some people feel they could lose more easily when they were younger but they are really referring to being more active (which affects calories in calories out). Others feel as if when they go through peri-menopause or menopause they canāt lose as easily but what they are experiencing is a hormone shift or imbalance that causes cravings so they eat more calories dense food (which affects calories in and calories out). But at the end of the day weight loss is still about a calorie deficit.9
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Ok, I was told by my cardiologist that due to my age and having already gone through the change that this was affecting my weight loss. My doctor is one of the top in the country so I really believed what he was telling me2
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If I understand things correctly you lost 9 pounds the first week, and lost 0.9 pound the second week.
Relax. Everything is going perfectly. It is completely normal, in fact so normal as to be boring, to lose a massive amount of weight the first week (mostly water) followed by a frustrating "rebound" where weight loss slows to a crawl or your scale weight even goes up! At least you haven't had to deal with gaining a pound in the 2nd week, which many do.
You really have to give things a full six weeks to see if your approach is working or in need of tweaking, and during that time it's best to maintain an even emotional, dispassionate keel about the ups and downs of the scale. Six weeks, because it takes that long for trends to reveal themselves and for all the background noise - water coming and going, etc. - to clear out of the way.
There is a lot going on in your body besides fat being created or getting burned off, and that is why the scale is not cooperating with your desire to see a linear, predictable drop in weight.7 -
onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»Ok, I was told by my cardiologist that due to my age and having already gone through the change that this was affecting my weight loss. My doctor is one of the top in the country so I really believed what he was telling me
Most doctors take one intro course on nutrition. That's it! They really aren't experts in the area. The experts are Registered Dieticians.
One difference with age is that we may be less active in our everyday lives. For example, many people when younger have kids to keep up with, more home chores (cause of kids mainly), sometimes more active jobs, things we do regularly that we pay someone else to do later (yardwork, cleaning, car washing), etc.
I am 55 (6 years past menopause), 5'3", and weigh 122 lbs. I lost 20+ lbs from May 2019 - January 2020. I didn't find it particularly harder than other times. I deliberately lost slowly to preserve as much muscle as possible.
Good luck. I found MFP and the knowledgeable people here to be an amazing help and resource.7 -
onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»If the 1200 calories isnāt going to get me to my 2 pounds a week what should I do? I am also speed walking 5 days a week for 5 miles a day. Should I dip to 1000 calories a day?
I agree with others not to lower your calories but instead lower your expectations. There are multitudes of folks on here who have done that over and over and then regained the weight. This is hard on you and can result in loss of muscle mass. You don't want that as muscle is needed and don't forget your heart is a muscle. Trust me slow and steady wins the race.2 -
onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»Ok, I was told by my cardiologist that due to my age and having already gone through the change that this was affecting my weight loss. My doctor is one of the top in the country so I really believed what he was telling me
Obviously your doctor knows your entire situation. That said, most doctors are not well versed in weight management. Is he a bariatric doctor?
I lost 80 pounds after menopause. I lost weight at a consistent rate once I learned about calories and nutrition. I didn't eat super low calorie, more like 1500-2000. The higher days were on days I exercised (walking around my neighborhood.)
Maybe go see a dietician if you need help with how much to eat.It's likely not 1200 calories and it's definitely NOT under 1000.3 -
I would love to lose almost a whole pound a week. My loss was slower, at about .5 pounds a week. Sometimes a bit more. It took me 8 months to lose 20 pounds. Iām 59 and was eating 1350 cals with weight training, spin or hiking 5-7 days a week (with a few binges/high calorie days and days off for spe ial occasions thrown into the mix). You have to be patient, AND consistent. I hit goal last September and guess what? Iām up 5 pounds already and back to careful logging/weighing of food. This MUST be a lifestyle change for you to have permanent success.0
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Please donāt get me wrong. Iām not looking to lose a huge amount of weight every week. Iām just looking to lose 2 pounds a week. With losing under a pound this last week and working so hard at it, it seems like I must be doing something wrong.1
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2lbs a week is a huge amount.2
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onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»Please donāt get me wrong. Iām not looking to lose a huge amount of weight every week. Iām just looking to lose 2 pounds a week. With losing under a pound this last week and working so hard at it, it seems like I must be doing something wrong.
Two pounds per week is a huge amount of weight every week. It's for people with 100+ pounds to lose. Shows like The Biggest Loser and Extreme Weight Loss have skewed reality.
100+ pounds to lose = 2 lbs per week
75+ pounds to lose = 1.5 lbs per week
40-50+ pounds to lose = 1 lb per week
25 pound to lose = .5 lbs per week
You need to put on your patient pants and get mentally ready to do this for the long haul. You didn't gain the weight in a few weeks and you aren't going to lose it in a few weeks.
You're not doing anything wrong. You're losing about 1 lb per week. AWESOME! Keep it up!10 -
I need to add:
To lose 2 pounds per week, you need a 1000 calorie deficit EVERY DAY. This isn't safe/possible if your maintenance calories are anything less than 2200 calories per day.
Do you have any idea what your maintenance calories are?2 -
onehottomatodmz wrote: Ā»Please donāt get me wrong. Iām not looking to lose a huge amount of weight every week. Iām just looking to lose 2 pounds a week. With losing under a pound this last week and working so hard at it, it seems like I must be doing something wrong.
You should NOT be trying to lose 2 pounds a week with only 40 pounds to lose though. That is too aggressive. You risk burning muscle and leaving more fat behind than you would like. 1 pound per week is a good rate of loss.
What you are doing is working yourself so hard you are not leaving anything left in the tank for patience which is what this process requires. There will be weeks you gain weight regardless of what you do right or how hard you work at it. Your weight will increase or fail to decrease because of normal non fat related weight fluctuations. If one of those 5 mile morning sessions leaves you feeling a little sore your weight will probably go up from inflammation and the water retention that goes with it.
Read this article:
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
Be kinder to yourself.5 -
"working so hard at it."
So you joined this website on February 10, 2020. We're glad you're here.
Your FOOD diary is your Bible.
Logging food Accurately is the #1 thing you should focus on, AND not try to lose too fast. There is a learning curve and under-eating is every bit as bad if not worse than over-eating.
Here:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1
and:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1
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quiksylver296 wrote: Ā»I need to add:
To lose 2 pounds per week, you need a 1000 calorie deficit EVERY DAY. This isn't safe/possible if your maintenance calories are anything less than 2200 calories per day.
Do you have any idea what your maintenance calories are?
Probably decently high since the OP is walking 5 miles per day. She is also not properly fueling that activity apparently.
She is heading for one of my classic 3 week burnouts. I have lived what she is trying to do too many times.5
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