Frustrated weight not moving down

Loridunn55 wrote: »

Ok. I think age
Must be playing a role. As I have gotten down much quicker even 3 years ago my goal is 120

I suspect change in activity (water weight issues), and the fact that - for a lot of us, maybe you - this is a high stress time period (lockdowns and such). Stress increase is a water weight factor, along with activity increase. I'd suggest sticking with your current routine for at least a month before deciding something is wrong.

I'm around your age (64). In the big picture, loss of muscle mass with age (and maybe years of too much yo-yo dieting with too little protein, for some of us) can be a factor in our TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, our all day calorie burn). But the actual muscle mass metabolic activity difference is minor (only something like 2-4 calories per day more burned by a pound of muscle vs. a pound of fat). I suspect a bigger deal is the influence on our daily-life activity: The range, type and intensity of that activity.

If I run numbers through a TDEE calculator, my 20 year old same-sized self would be estimated to have a BMR about one daily serving of peanut butter more than my 64 year old BMR. That's not huge. (BMR = basal metabolic rate, or calorie burn before activity - what most people ought to mean when they say "metabolism"). If I use a TDEE calculator that uses body fat percent in its estimates, and set the value the same for young and old me (basically saying we have identical muscle mass), the difference in BMR estimates is . . . zero. Exactly the same value. So, in practice: Not a huge difference because of age (when looked at in population research stats), and most of it quite possibly related to average people's muscle-mass loss with increasing age.

There are many reasons to do some strength exercise (bodyweight, weight lifting, possibly some other alternatives). Actual muscle mass gain is very slow for women our age, and the actual strength exercise tends to burn fewer calories than cardio (even counting EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) or "afterburn"). But strength has positive effects on daily life function, increases odds of longer independent life, reduces risk of falls and fractures (something that can be a big inflection point toward earlier mortality for older women), and may help maintain or increase bone strength.

I don't know about you, but a big difference I see in myself as I age is slower recovery from any physical stressor (illness, injury, etc.). Calorie deficit is a physical stressor. I think we're smart to keep it on the moderate-loss-rate side.

So, my advice would be:
1. Patience. Wait a few weeks to see if water-weight weirdness is hiding fat loss on the scale.

2. If you don't already, consider using a free weight-trending app, which does statistical analysis to try to dampen out the effect of water weight fluctuations on scale weight, once you have around a month of daily weights entered. (Not a crystal ball, just smoothed estimates via statistic.). Examples are Happy Scale for iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others.

3. Eat nutritiously, especially making sure to get enough protein, ideally spread through the day. The MFP minimum may be on the low side, since research suggests we metabolize protein a little less efficiently as we age. (Timing of eating generally isn't very important, but there are some signs that spreading protein across the day is a help, at higher age.) A good daily protein minimum would be around 0.6-0.8g per pound of a healthy goal weight, IMO.

4. Add some strength training for fitness and health, and maybe more favorable long-future results.

FWIW, back when I was losing (low 180s to low 130s, at 5'5", in 2015 at age 59/60), 1200 (plus all exercise!) was too low for me . . . not because I failed to lose weight, but because it made me weak and fatigued. I'm mysteriously a good li'l ol' calorie burner, but I'd worry more about losing too fast than losing too slowly. So, maybe give yourself a little more time at your current routine?

Best wishes!