BACK after a long time - is a calorie a calorie?

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A calorie is a calorie. Regardless of source. And while aging does have and impact on how many calories you may burn, when you apply CICO correctly, you should still get the desired result.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Be careful with the fat - as in getting enough. It's satiating and it's also required for some body processes and the absorption of some vitamins. It's tempting to do low fat or no fat everything because it saves you calories but it is a macro nutrient and you do need to make sure you get enough of it.

I think you're thinking several things that are common in diet-marketing mythology, unfortunately; and eliminating the misconceptions can only help.

* Over 40s is different, dooming weight management. Nope. I lost 50+ pounds at age 59-60, without even changing my exercise routine. (I didn't even get an exercise routine happening until my mid-40s, coincidentally.)

* Over 40, you can't eat anything you want. Guess what? Under 40, you can't eat anything you want, as much as you want, and expect to manage your bodyweight . . . unless "what you want" matches up calorically with how much you burn. It's the same at any age, and there's no law that says you can't burn plenty of calories at age 40+. (I'm 65, at a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after decades of obesity previously. I can eat pizza, craft beer, desserts, . . . . As much as I want? No. Because I want it all. Enough to be satisfying emotionally and physically? Sure. I eat cheese daily, usually more than one portion, and chocolate often, BTW.)

* Fat is bad. No, you need a certain minimum amount of fat, or Bad Things happen. For a woman, 0.35-0.45g daily per pound of bodyweight would be a reasonable minimum. Men might get away with a little less. Fats are calorie dense, so it can make sense to limit fat-dense foods. But some is essential to health. Bonus if more of them are polyunsaturated/monounsaturated (nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, etc.) and higher in Omega-3s vs. Omega-6s, not because saturated fats or O-6s are evil, but because most people are over-consuming those vs. the others.

Yes, don't undereat. The way you know you're undereating is if you lose weight too fast, averaged over multiple weeks (more than 0.5-1% of current body weight would be too fast for anyone not severely obese and under close medical supervision). With a stone and a half to shift, you want to be within in that 0.5% of current body weight per week zone. In the shorter run, if you start feeling fatigued or weak, that would be an indicator of undereating (probably calories, but possibly certain nutrients). Slow loss can take longer to show up on the scale, amongst normal daily water weight fluctuations, but it's a healthier choice.

A calorie is a calorie, just as an inch is an inch, whether it's an inch/calorie of spaghetti or an inch/calorie of poison-ivy plant. That doesn't mean all foods are equal nutritionally, obviously.

Nutrition is important, so it's good to get a sensible minimum of protein, a sensible minimum of fats, and plenty of varied, colorful veggies/fruits for micronutrients and fiber. Once that's in place most of the time, on average, it's fine to have chocolates, cookies, alcoholic beverages within reason, or anything else that sounds good and isn't poisonous. Don't confuse calories with nutrition.

There's nothing magically different about being over 40, as a woman. As we age, we tend to become less active (daily life as well as exercise), and to lose muscle mass (if we do nothing to keep it). Stay strong, stay active, eat nutritiously in a way that aligns with calorie expenditure, and everything will be fine.

Best wishes!

I’m 52, type 2 diabetic, lost 125 lbs starting at age 48, maintaining normal BMI 3+ years.

Stuff I ate this week: chocolate, pizza, spaghetti, fruit, cheese, French fries, bbq ribs.

I’m a diabetic so I have to limit portions of high-carb foods and time them to my exercise, but I can eat almost anything as long as I keep it within the limits of what my pancreas can handle. A healthy person has even fewer limitations. Being post-menopausal was not a problem when losing weight.

I’m 58. Starting at 56, I lost 40% of my body weight. I am always busy, walking, working out, cleaning, moving, except when I sit down to (ahem, @sijomial ) crochet or do needlework. I maintain at an average of about 2500 or so per day.

I would give anything for the do-over to have started this at 43.

Take this as the opportunity it is, and get out there and kill it.

I just want to take all the women who come on MFP pissing and moaning about how they can’t do it because of age, or menopausal status, shake them, scream at them, and then hug them. Yes, you can. If you get off your *kitten* and do something about it!!!!