Getting fit at 50 and beyond...200+ pound club

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Replies

  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    Those shakes look good Jill. I make a coffe flavored shake with a mix I get on Amazon called Chike. I may have to try some of the Premier shakes for on the go. Thanks for the tips!!!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    eapar507 wrote: »
    I think the data on these graphs suggest I am eating at maintenance level and not a deficit. I don’t understand it because even if I made some errors in my logging I should have lost some weight over the past 30 days and I have not. Any advice? I might have to lower my calories down another 150. I started at 1700 the first 2 weeks but only got that high on a few occasions. Then my trainer lowered me to 1500 to see if the scale would move, but I am not having any luck. I will discuss with her tonight, but thought to ask here.

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    Did you start working with your trainer, or otherwise increase exercise, at about the same time, start of that 30 days? That would tend to increase water retention (for muscle repair), and that can definitely mask fat loss on the scale for a while, even for a few weeks. This is a good article to read:

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

    Also, if you're pre-menopausal, and happened to start this at a relative low in cycle-related water retention (for which the exact timing differs among different women), that can also make the scale a misleading guide.

    How often do you weigh, and record your weight in MFP? It's unusual, among people who weigh frequently (like daily) to see a graph that is that close to a straight line. For many people, water weight fluctuates up and down within a range of a few pounds day to day, so same weight for a whole month is not a standard thing to see (might make one wonder about the scale itself), unless weighing quite infrequently.

    Hang in there: I, too, think you may be setting up for that "whoosh" on the scale when the water weight drops. Further, if you go to 1200 and that happens the next day or thereabouts, I'd fear you may credit the change, when in reality small changes in calorie level - even 500 calorie changes - don't show up with a big "boom". Reduced digestive contents in transit, and water retention drops, do show up with more drama, more quickly.

    Best wishes!
  • sherim1963
    sherim1963 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks Jill! I'm going to check out Amazon. Welcome dustyspal!!
  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    edited July 2020
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    Did you start working with your trainer, or otherwise increase exercise, at about the same time, start of that 30 days? That would tend to increase water retention (for muscle repair), and that can definitely mask fat loss on the scale for a while, even for a few weeks. This is a good article to read:

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

    Also, if you're pre-menopausal, and happened to start this at a relative low in cycle-related water retention (for which the exact timing differs among different women), that can also make the scale a misleading guide.

    How often do you weigh, and record your weight in MFP? It's unusual, among people who weigh frequently (like daily) to see a graph that is that close to a straight line. For many people, water weight fluctuates up and down within a range of a few pounds day to day, so same weight for a whole month is not a standard thing to see (might make one wonder about the scale itself), unless weighing quite infrequently.

    Hang in there: I, too, think you may be setting up for that "whoosh" on the scale when the water weight drops. Further, if you go to 1200 and that happens the next day or thereabouts, I'd fear you may credit the change, when in reality small changes in calorie level - even 500 calorie changes - don't show up with a big "boom". Reduced digestive contents in transit, and water retention drops, do show up with more drama, more quickly.

    Best wishes! [/quote]

    Yes. I started logging the same week I started with the trainer. I decided this time I wanted some help losing the weight as I want to do it healthy and hopefully start gaining some strength. I have noticed I am fairly week in the arms and I can’t run the distances I used to. I have been doing 3-4 strength workouts a week so maybe it is water weight. I only recorded 3 weights on MFP, starting weight (200) then July 7 ( 198.5), today 200.2. I’ll double check that to be sure. I hate weighing daily because my weight is always up and down and it usually take me 2 weeks before a lower weight holds and levels. I thought that would happen but my body is not cooperating. I am on medication for a thyroid issue so maybe I need to get checked. With the pandemic I have put off my bloodwork not wanting to go near a doctor’s office. Oh, I have already been through menopause. I had a hysterectomy 6 years ago. I will read the article you linked to. Thank you for your help.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    eapar507 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    Did you start working with your trainer, or otherwise increase exercise, at about the same time, start of that 30 days? That would tend to increase water retention (for muscle repair), and that can definitely mask fat loss on the scale for a while, even for a few weeks. This is a good article to read:

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

    Also, if you're pre-menopausal, and happened to start this at a relative low in cycle-related water retention (for which the exact timing differs among different women), that can also make the scale a misleading guide.

    How often do you weigh, and record your weight in MFP? It's unusual, among people who weigh frequently (like daily) to see a graph that is that close to a straight line. For many people, water weight fluctuates up and down within a range of a few pounds day to day, so same weight for a whole month is not a standard thing to see (might make one wonder about the scale itself), unless weighing quite infrequently.

    Hang in there: I, too, think you may be setting up for that "whoosh" on the scale when the water weight drops. Further, if you go to 1200 and that happens the next day or thereabouts, I'd fear you may credit the change, when in reality small changes in calorie level - even 500 calorie changes - don't show up with a big "boom". Reduced digestive contents in transit, and water retention drops, do show up with more drama, more quickly.

    Best wishes!

    Yes. I started logging the same week I started with the trainer. I decided this time I wanted some help losing the weight as I want to do it healthy and hopefully start gaining some strength. I have noticed I am fairly week in the arms and I can’t run the distances I used to. I have been doing 3-4 strength workouts a week so maybe it is water weight. I only recorded 3 weights on MFP, starting weight (200) then July 7 ( 198.5), today 200.2. I’ll double check that to be sure. I hate weighing daily because my weight is always up and down and it usually take me 2 weeks before a lower weight holds and levels. I thought that would happen but my body is not cooperating. I am on medication for a thyroid issue so maybe I need to get checked. With the pandemic I have put off my bloodwork not wanting to go near a doctor’s office. Oh, I have already been through menopause. I had a hysterectomy 6 years ago. I will read the article you linked to. Thank you for your help.
    [/quote]

    No need to weigh daily: It has pros and cons, so isn't for everyone. One of the cons of infrequent weighing is that you can randomly hit days with weights that are misleading. I've long been a daily weigher, and I have time periods like that - even some where if I'd picked just the wrong days I'd have thought I was gaining, when I was actually losing, maybe even losing fast. (But if weighing daily makes a person stressed out, that's a reason not to do it. For me, it's just a piece of data about my body's momentary relationship with gravity, and doesn't affect my sense of self at all. I like understanding what causes my person daily fluctuations, so I weigh daily & use a trending app to kind of smooth out the bumpy daily observations.)

    Can't hurt to check your thyroid levels (I'm severely hypo, too, BTW, also menopausal - chemo put me there a couple decades ago).

    I strongly suspect water weight as at least one factor in what you're seeing. To the extent that's true, patience will bear fruit. :)
  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    Hi Cindy. I am new to this group and I am so glad I decided to join. I think you can turn your health around. You have a great attitude. I skipped the pre-diabetic and went straight to a diagnoses of type 2 in 2014. Definitely eating fewer carbs will help as well as adding in exercise My biggest issue seems to be maintaining a lower healthy weight for longer then 8-12 months. Life gets busy and I start slacking on the exercise and logging and then the weight comes back fast. I hope we can encourage each other along the way to make long term changes that will last.
  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    eapar507 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »



    No need to weigh daily: It has pros and cons, so isn't for everyone. One of the cons of infrequent weighing is that you can randomly hit days with weights that are misleading. I've long been a daily weigher, and I have time periods like that - even some where if I'd picked just the wrong days I'd have thought I was gaining, when I was actually losing, maybe even losing fast. (But if weighing daily makes a person stressed out, that's a reason not to do it. For me, it's just a piece of data about my body's momentary relationship with gravity, and doesn't affect my sense of self at all. I like understanding what causes my person daily fluctuations, so I weigh daily & use a trending app to kind of smooth out the bumpy daily observations.)

    Can't hurt to check your thyroid levels (I'm severely hypo, too, BTW, also menopausal - chemo put me there a couple decades ago).

    I strongly suspect water weight as at least one factor in what you're seeing. To the extent that's true, patience will bear fruit. :)

    I hope your suspicion is correct and it is water weight. I discussed this with my trainer tonight and she agrees pretty much with what you said. She wants me to stick with the 1500 calorie goal, but I may eat a little less on my 2 rest days each week. I am also going to add an extra day of cardio so that I will be doing 3 cardio workouts and 2-3 strength training workouts per week. I am going to do my best to be patient with the process because I am working towards developing changes that will be sustainable. I think I need an app like you mentioned so I can stop fearing the scale and see that the trend is downward. Which app are you using? Thanks again for your advice.
  • jm216
    jm216 Posts: 3,721 Member
    I am 57 and my highest weight was 220 and I lost down to 155 but over a ten year period I have gained back to 200 and just found my gallbladder is not working well, pre diabetic, and very high cholesterol. My Dr. says I can turn this around or I can take medicine the rest of my life. I REALLY want to be able to retire in good health able to have fun. I am an emotional carb eater and a lone over eater. I need a safe group to be real with and to seek positive support and give support back. You all sound so nice and I am so encouraged reading your posts. Hope I can be included. :) My name is Cindy.

    Welcome Cindy!
    You’re now part of this team. We’re in this together for the long run.

    Logging was my nemesis in the past, but now I love how it keeps me on track. I haven’t missed a day since June 1st. I fight my need to be perfect, and strive for progress instead.

    We’re glad you’re here with us!!

    Jill
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    eapar507 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    eapar507 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »



    No need to weigh daily: It has pros and cons, so isn't for everyone. One of the cons of infrequent weighing is that you can randomly hit days with weights that are misleading. I've long been a daily weigher, and I have time periods like that - even some where if I'd picked just the wrong days I'd have thought I was gaining, when I was actually losing, maybe even losing fast. (But if weighing daily makes a person stressed out, that's a reason not to do it. For me, it's just a piece of data about my body's momentary relationship with gravity, and doesn't affect my sense of self at all. I like understanding what causes my person daily fluctuations, so I weigh daily & use a trending app to kind of smooth out the bumpy daily observations.)

    Can't hurt to check your thyroid levels (I'm severely hypo, too, BTW, also menopausal - chemo put me there a couple decades ago).

    I strongly suspect water weight as at least one factor in what you're seeing. To the extent that's true, patience will bear fruit. :)

    I hope your suspicion is correct and it is water weight. I discussed this with my trainer tonight and she agrees pretty much with what you said. She wants me to stick with the 1500 calorie goal, but I may eat a little less on my 2 rest days each week. I am also going to add an extra day of cardio so that I will be doing 3 cardio workouts and 2-3 strength training workouts per week. I am going to do my best to be patient with the process because I am working towards developing changes that will be sustainable. I think I need an app like you mentioned so I can stop fearing the scale and see that the trend is downward. Which app are you using? Thanks again for your advice.

    The weight trending apps I know about are Libra for Android, Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Trendweight (you need a free Fitbit account, but don't need a Fitbit device), and Weightgrapher. There are probably others.

    It's important to realize that they're not a magical crystal ball, but rather just a statistical projection that minimizes the effect of random scale fluctuations by basically averaging over time. I'd want to get a month's worth of daily weights into one, maybe more than that if less than daily, before taking what they say even remotely to heart. They can still be wrong over short periods, but they do help. FWIW, to give you an idea of what they do, this is my Libra graph from a big chunk of when I was losing weight.

    79f9phe4s9qg.png

    The connected down-hill-ish line is the trend; the little vertical bars connect each daily weight to the trend. You can see that the daily weights *bounce all over*, including some changes in the 2-pound range within a very short span of just a couple or three days: That's the fluctuation. Even the statistically-smoothed trend doesn't just keep dropping smoothly! For sure, daily scale weight just isn't going to drop steadily down (and waiting for weekly weigh-ins has the potential to make it look even worse, because of the potential for sampling a low day one week, and a high one the next).

    Truth in advertising: That chart includes a period where I accidentally lost weight too fast for my then-current weight. Please don't do that: It's a Really Bad Plan, trust me on this. ;)
  • sherim1963
    sherim1963 Posts: 7 Member
    Welcome Cindy!! 🙂 I am a chronic emotional eater and an over eater as well.

    I have always loathed food diaries in the past. I think mostly because I didn't want to be held accountable for what I was really eating.

    Now I am trying to log everything that goes into my mouth; and not to be too judgemental when I go a little over my calories for the day (because I usually am).

    I am very new to this program. Only a little more than a week now, but I sure am glad I discovered this group!! You are all very helpful and encouraging!
  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    I hit a milestone this morning!!

    198.2

    I installed the Happy Scale app to track my weight. I like this app. It was able to pull my past data from the Apple Health app and I can see my last big weight loss from 2017. That is very motivating. I did it before and I know I can do it again. The graph also shows me my trend to weigh only monthly or even less. I think that may be one thing I need to change. So I now have the goal to weigh daily and stop fearing the scale. Thank you so much to Ann for the great advice and Jill for this thread to join in together.

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  • time2do4me
    time2do4me Posts: 1 Member
    Good Morning, I am returning to MFP to try and get myself on track. Struggled all my life with weight but not wanting to give up on the fact that I can do this. I have at least 100 pounds to loose. I see your community is very supportive however do you also try and keep people accountable to stay on track?
  • jm216
    jm216 Posts: 3,721 Member
    eapar507 wrote: »
    I hit a milestone this morning!!

    198.2

    I installed the Happy Scale app to track my weight. I like this app. It was able to pull my past data from the Apple Health app and I can see my last big weight loss from 2017. That is very motivating. I did it before and I know I can do it again. The graph also shows me my trend to weigh only monthly or even less. I think that may be one thing I need to change. So I now have the goal to weigh daily and stop fearing the scale. Thank you so much to Ann for the great advice and Jill for this thread to join in together.

    o3fzcys0u7sc.jpg
    10vif9wxjxkh.jpg

    Congratulations Ellen!! Way to break the 200 pound barrier. So proud of your hard work and determination!!

    I’m going to download the Happy Scale app and try it out.

    Jill
  • jm216
    jm216 Posts: 3,721 Member
    time2do4me wrote: »
    Good Morning, I am returning to MFP to try and get myself on track. Struggled all my life with weight but not wanting to give up on the fact that I can do this. I have at least 100 pounds to loose. I see your community is very supportive however do you also try and keep people accountable to stay on track?

    Welcome Time2do4me!

    I love your question about how to keep people accountable and stay on track. Does anyone have any idea what would be helpful as an accountability check? Open to ideas and suggestions... 😁

    Jill
  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    Thank you Jill for the support!! Maybe we could have a weekly weigh in? Post our stats on say Sunday mornings?
  • jm216
    jm216 Posts: 3,721 Member
    Ellen,

    That sounds like a fine idea! Use whatever format helps you. It can be a quick message...or a weight chart. It’s an accountability check in with your friends. Remember, we’re all going to have weeks where we gain or stall... it happens...acknowledge it, and move forward. We’re here to cheer eachother on and celebrate our successes...and pick eachother up when we stumble or fall.

    Let’s do Sunday check ins!

    ❤️Jill
  • MoogieAllen
    MoogieAllen Posts: 1 Member
    Hello! I used to weigh 350, I lost 42 pounds, then had a gastric bypass...I got down to 183, and over the past year have creeped back up to 209.5. My goal weight is 163. I have a new grandbaby on the way...and I want to be healthy enough to all kinds of things with him or her. I am new (again) to MFP. I'd like some friends here for encouragement (and to give support). I look forward to getting to know you all.
  • sherim1963
    sherim1963 Posts: 7 Member
    Congratulations Ellen!! 😊 Great job! Welcome Time2do4me. I'm in for Sunday check ins. I definitely need to be held accountable! Welcome MoogieAllen also! Congratulaions on on the new grandbaby to come. I'm looking forward to all of the encouragement we can offer each other. Thank you Ann for the info on the apps. Ian goong to check out the libra. Everyone have a great and successful day!!
  • eapar507
    eapar507 Posts: 64 Member
    Hello! I used to weigh 350, I lost 42 pounds, then had a gastric bypass...I got down to 183, and over the past year have creeped back up to 209.5. My goal weight is 163. I have a new grandbaby on the way...and I want to be healthy enough to all kinds of things with him or her. I am new (again) to MFP. I'd like some friends here for encouragement (and to give support). I look forward to getting to know you all.

    Hi MoogieAllen. It is great to meet you. You absolutely can reach your goal. I am in the same boat as you needing to loose weight I regained. We have very similar goal weights and we can cheer each other on!!! Grandchildren are one of the best reasons to get healthy. I have 4 and I love them so much. How many do you have?