Well, I'm now 52 & I'm in that rut
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Mimi1779
Posts: 2 Member
I'm no longer overweight, but without the time to get in ANY exercise, I'm truly wondering how in the world I'll be able to lose these last 10 pounds.
I just don't see how else I'd accomplish it WITHOUT getting in a few 45 minute days where I can boost my metabolism, which is suffering from the aging process the most.
I just don't see how else I'd accomplish it WITHOUT getting in a few 45 minute days where I can boost my metabolism, which is suffering from the aging process the most.
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Replies
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I lost 30 lbs and now working on the last 30 lbs to lose and I feel your pain. I just began to exercise 10 mins at a time until I can build up from there. Or you can do half your 45 mins in the morning and the other half in the evening so it won't seem so daunting and choose something you like and or easy like walking outdoors or a walking video to follow. I'm walking on my treadmill and actually did 25 mins today very slow and I was tired but I did it, you can to.
Keep up the persistence it will pay off. Best of care.👍🙃😀0 -
Or rather than focusing on exercise you could look at increasing your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), whilst exercise is great for your health in general, it's not necessarily the best focus for weight loss.
45 mins of exercising isn't really going to have a huge burn for you, unless you're obese (which if you're down to your last 10lbs I assume not) or you're doing intense workouts. It can also unintentionally increase your appetite beyond the number of extra calories burned and be counter-productive for weight loss.
Below chart shows how the average calorie burn is made up:
Just making progress towards being more active in your day-to-day life can help increase your calorie burn, for example:- If you drive, parking the car further away from where you're going, or leaving the car at home for short trips.
- If you use public transport, get off a stop earlier and walk the rest of the way
- Using stairs rather than elevators/escalators
- Spending less time sitting on the sofa in your spare time
- Taking up active hobbies - gardening, dog-walking, crafting, water activities
This is a great thread for other ideas https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
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I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.1
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I'm on the last 10 too....they are stubborn. Never heard of NEAT before.. gonna look into it!0
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I lost the last 10 (twice actually) over age 55.
It takes time, but it can be done on calories in (so, food) alone. It took me nine months the last time. Two steps forward and one step back and I was hungry a LOT but I don't think that was because of age - it was because I was trying to lose 10 pounds that my body wanted to keep.
Hungry. So hungry.
Regardless though, exercise is pretty important as I get older so I make time for that too.9 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Sodium can affect your water weight, it's not weird, just your body ensuring you have plenty of fluid in case of dehydration.
It plays no part in fat loss, which is presumably the weight you'd want to shift rather than manipulating your body fluids.12 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Both sodium, and to an extent HIIT or other intense exercise that depletes glycogen, apear to work extra well by manipulating your water weight.
Your underlying fat reserve stores move slowly and at the tail end of a major loss very slowly.
This is not necessarily bad.
Your biggest risk after spending all this time and putting in the effort to lose the weight, your absolutely biggest risk is not that you're not going to reach the last 5lbs but that you're going to relax, give up, or otherwise not manage to contain the propensity to rebound that will start right after you finish losing.
And will continue to be in the books for YEARS.
If you're not already, start thinking and living like you're going to live over not the next one or two, but over the next three to five years.
Somehow it doesn't sound to me that you're using a weight trend app or that you try to differentiate between water weight and fat reserve changes.
The first one is of importance for health sometimes but the second is what most of us are actually trying to regulate here.
A one to five lb water weight variation is normal life for most people (and especially for women)4 -
I'm 46. I'm at a healthy weight, though a few pounds higher than I'd like to be and a little more fluff around the middle than I need!
For me, I have accepted that I need to stay active. It is good for my heart, lung health. But it also means my body uses more energy daily. I work a desk job - and in general my daily activity does not amount to much if I don't make the effort. At a sedentary, desk job basis: I use about 1450 calories daily. I don't plan to ALWAYS eat at/under 1450 calories. So I choose to move. I walk some at my desk (can convert it to standing) and I walk for cardio, which I enjoy. And in the near future I intend to get back to running some - which I also enjoy. With that daily activity and/or exercise (I don't consider walking at my desk 'exercise' as its a slower pace, since I'm working on spreadsheets or such while moving) my TDEE is 1900-2000. That is a much better calorie budget, in my opinion!
For me, it helps to find things to keep me motivated/challenged. Pre-covid I did a few 5k/10k events each year, and a half marathon most years. Whether walking or running (or a combination of both) in those events, having an event on the calendar helped motivate me to keep 'training'. Right now I'm doing a virtual challenge. I also discuss my goals with a coworker who is likeminded. I walk on weekends with my mother in law. She is 69, and now in retirement walks 5 miles a day. We enjoy those walks together (I have an awesome mother in law, so that helps) and I look forward to them.
**Disclaimer - it is a little bit of an excuse, but I'm currently putting off getting back into a running routine because we are in the process of having work done on our basement and right now the main treadmill is in a dreadful dark area. Will soon be moved to a brighter, more enjoyable space at which time I'll start doing a couple sessions per week to build up my running endurance again.**
So my advice: understand your TDEE now, based on current activity levels. To lose weight, you must be at a deficit consuming less than you need. If you're not active AND at a healthy weight now, as a 52 year old woman: your TDEE is not HUGE. So your deficit will probably be 200-400 calories for slow, gradual weight loss. That will require ACCURACY. Food scale for solids. Miscalculating your intake by 40-50 calories here & there will eat up your deficit. So you may need to be OCD about logging.
AND/OR work to increase your activity and/or exercise to increase your TDEE.2 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Both sodium, and to an extent HIIT or other intense exercise that depletes glycogen, apear to work extra well by manipulating your water weight.
Your underlying fat reserve stores move slowly and at the tail end of a major loss very slowly.
This is not necessarily bad.
Your biggest risk after spending all this time and putting in the effort to lose the weight, your absolutely biggest risk is not that you're not going to reach the last 5lbs but that you're going to relax, give up, or otherwise not manage to contain the propensity to rebound that will start right after you finish losing.
And will continue to be in the books for YEARS.
If you're not already, start thinking and living like you're going to live over not the next one or two, but over the next three to five years.
Somehow it doesn't sound to me that you're using a weight trend app or that you try to differentiate between water weight and fat reserve changes.
The first one is of importance for health sometimes but the second is what most of us are actually trying to regulate here.
A one to five lb water weight variation is normal life for most people (and especially for women)
I am well aware off sodium's water retention effect, that losing water is not the same as losing fat. Still I found too much sodium-in my case over 2300 mg-wont help you losing weight, in fact it will probably slow the process. Dont really know the science behind it I have just found it to be the case. But thank you for pointing it out. Thing is too much salt is bad.
As far as weight loss I am quite happy with what I have achieved, this last five pounds is kind of the icing on the cake, on a keto cake maybe LOL. The emphasis is already on improving my fitness level not really on how much I weigh. If I can improve my fitness level and keep in shape there is just no way gaining back weight I think, even if I will never step on a scale again. One of the positive effects of losing 90-95 pounds is that I feel my strength is back to what it was in my 20s, I am 50 this year.2 -
I am well aware off sodium's water retention effect, that losing water is not the same as losing fat. Still I found too much sodium-in my case over 2300 mg-wont help you losing weight, in fact it will probably slow the process. Dont really know the science behind it I have just found it to be the case. But thank you for pointing it out. Thing is too much salt is bad.
As far as weight loss I am quite happy with what I have achieved, this last five pounds is kind of the icing on the cake, on a keto cake maybe LOL. The emphasis is already on improving my fitness level not really on how much I weigh. If I can improve my fitness level and keep in shape there is just no way gaining back weight I think, even if I will never step on a scale again. One of the positive effects of losing 90-95 pounds is that I feel my strength is back to what it was in my 20s, I am 50 this year.
Too much salt is probably bad for most of us, so definitely something that most of us should work on (and I've been slacking lately!)
Watch for another potential issue since you mention keto... if you ever find yourself out of ketosis (which could happen either accidentally or when indulging on something on purpose).... re-introducing keto on low sodium could exacerbate keto flu symptoms5 -
I'm no longer overweight, but without the time to get in ANY exercise, I'm truly wondering how in the world I'll be able to lose these last 10 pounds.
I just don't see how else I'd accomplish it WITHOUT getting in a few 45 minute days where I can boost my metabolism, which is suffering from the aging process the most.
I'm a bit of a skeptic about the "age is doom" hypothesis, personally**. I think the largest part of that effect is that, if we do nothing to counteract it, we gradually lose muscle mass, become less fit/flexible, let the slipping fitness lead us to be less active, gradually adopt habits of less movement in life (daily activity and exercise both), and create a slow down-spiral in calorie expenditure, quite slowly, quite subtly, but it adds up over time. (Gaining 10 pounds in a year requires just roughly 100 calories daily over maintenance, on average; losing 10 pounds in a year requires that small an actual deficit. Those are not big activity/eating changes, but they add up over decades.)
A lot of that slow slide isn't actually "metabolism", it's behavior. ("Metabolism" is just the calorie-burning aspect of our cells' cumulative activity at rest; it doesn't really "boost" or "break", though things like body composition can change it a little.)
The good news is that a lot of the down-spiral attributed to aging *can* be counteracted, with intention.
Your idea of increasing exercise is good, as it can begin improving fitness and body composition, which will make daily movement easier and more fun, and tend to encourage you to do more of it. A good plan is to include some strength-challenging aspects in the exercise. That type of exercise usually burns fewer calories per minute than typical cardio, but has longer term benefits in movement capability/ease, and is one thing that can have a small long-term effect on actual metabolism.
But I hear that you're time-crunched. In that context, any amount of exercise-ish movement is good, even bits that you sneak in throughout your day in smaller chunks, and any type of "move more" counts. You don't need to drive to the gym to spend 45 tedious minutes on the treadmill, necessarily. Sneaking more "exercise-like" movement into spare moments helps.
Exercise is not the only route. That idea of improving NEAT by moving more in daily life is also a good one, and the thread linked in a post above about that may be useful. That thread includes some sneaky exercise ideas, like doing bodyweight squats while toothbrushing, among other such things.
Still, fat loss in the last analysis is about balancing calorie intake, keeping intake just a bit below expenditure, and finding the patience to hang in until it shows up on the scale. (I know it can be frustrating!)
There is hope: I've (re-) lost around 12-15 pounds of vanity weight, within the healthy weight range, ultra-slowly by intention, over the last 15 months or so. It was practically painless, with the right process, and some patience.
** If it matters, I'm 65, at a healthy weight for 5+ years now, after around 30 years previously of class 1 obesity, 123-point-something at 5'5", this morning.7 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Both sodium, and to an extent HIIT or other intense exercise that depletes glycogen, apear to work extra well by manipulating your water weight.
Your underlying fat reserve stores move slowly and at the tail end of a major loss very slowly.
This is not necessarily bad.
Your biggest risk after spending all this time and putting in the effort to lose the weight, your absolutely biggest risk is not that you're not going to reach the last 5lbs but that you're going to relax, give up, or otherwise not manage to contain the propensity to rebound that will start right after you finish losing.
And will continue to be in the books for YEARS.
If you're not already, start thinking and living like you're going to live over not the next one or two, but over the next three to five years.
Somehow it doesn't sound to me that you're using a weight trend app or that you try to differentiate between water weight and fat reserve changes.
The first one is of importance for health sometimes but the second is what most of us are actually trying to regulate here.
A one to five lb water weight variation is normal life for most people (and especially for women)
I am well aware off sodium's water retention effect, that losing water is not the same as losing fat. Still I found too much sodium-in my case over 2300 mg-wont help you losing weight, in fact it will probably slow the process. Dont really know the science behind it I have just found it to be the case. But thank you for pointing it out. Thing is too much salt is bad.
As far as weight loss I am quite happy with what I have achieved, this last five pounds is kind of the icing on the cake, on a keto cake maybe LOL. The emphasis is already on improving my fitness level not really on how much I weigh. If I can improve my fitness level and keep in shape there is just no way gaining back weight I think, even if I will never step on a scale again. One of the positive effects of losing 90-95 pounds is that I feel my strength is back to what it was in my 20s, I am 50 this year.
Part of the problem is that you choose to phrase things like the bolded. While I don't think science is on your side, it's fine if you've concluded that keeping sodium low helps you. That's excellent, sincerely.
Personally, I love salt, and come frighteningly close to eating it by the spoonful sometimes. I routinely eat lots of it, and had/have no trouble losing weight, including the last few pesky pounds. (Yes, large amounts of sodium isn't a great health strategy in various ways, but the standard markers for "too much", like increased blood pressure, aren't happening.) Your experience is not universal.
Similarly, I've proven that I can be athletically active, at a reasonably high level for a recreational athlete, and be fat/obese. I did it for over a dozen years, and I'm 100% confident I could do it again (would, since regain would be easy for me if not attentive to intake and scale weight, because food is yummy). Your experience is not universal.
I don't know what age my strength is back to, but I'm 65 and my Garmin estimates my cardiovascular fitness age as 20 years old lately (🤣🤣🤣), so something seems to be working, even at high sodium levels. 🤷♀️9 -
I'm a bit of a skeptic about the "age is doom" hypothesis, personally**. I think the largest part of that effect is that, if we do nothing to counteract it, we gradually lose muscle mass, become less fit/flexible, let the slipping fitness lead us to be less active, gradually adopt habits of less movement in life (daily activity and exercise both), and create a slow down-spiral in calorie expenditure, quite slowly, quite subtly, but it adds up over time. (Gaining 10 pounds in a year requires just roughly 100 calories daily over maintenance, on average; losing 10 pounds in a year requires that small an actual deficit. Those are not big activity/eating changes, but they add up over decades.)
A lot of that slow slide isn't actually "metabolism", it's behavior. ("Metabolism" is just the calorie-burning aspect of our cells' cumulative activity at rest; it doesn't really "boost" or "break", though things like body composition can change it a little.)
I wanted to second this. I am 48 years old and in better shape, stronger, with a faster metabolism than any other point in my life. I think people's lifestyle can change as they get older so they burn less calories, but that is a reflection of their habits/lifestyle changing, not just getting older.
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ChickenKillerPuppy wrote: »I wanted to second this. I am 48 years old and in better shape, stronger, with a faster metabolism than any other point in my life. I think people's lifestyle can change as they get older so they burn less calories, but that is a reflection of their habits/lifestyle changing, not just getting older.
I still want to find out the story of the puppy... someday.... someday, I am sure!2 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Both sodium, and to an extent HIIT or other intense exercise that depletes glycogen, apear to work extra well by manipulating your water weight.
Your underlying fat reserve stores move slowly and at the tail end of a major loss very slowly.
This is not necessarily bad.
Your biggest risk after spending all this time and putting in the effort to lose the weight, your absolutely biggest risk is not that you're not going to reach the last 5lbs but that you're going to relax, give up, or otherwise not manage to contain the propensity to rebound that will start right after you finish losing.
And will continue to be in the books for YEARS.
If you're not already, start thinking and living like you're going to live over not the next one or two, but over the next three to five years.
Somehow it doesn't sound to me that you're using a weight trend app or that you try to differentiate between water weight and fat reserve changes.
The first one is of importance for health sometimes but the second is what most of us are actually trying to regulate here.
A one to five lb water weight variation is normal life for most people (and especially for women)
I am well aware off sodium's water retention effect, that losing water is not the same as losing fat. Still I found too much sodium-in my case over 2300 mg-wont help you losing weight, in fact it will probably slow the process. Dont really know the science behind it I have just found it to be the case. But thank you for pointing it out. Thing is too much salt is bad.
As far as weight loss I am quite happy with what I have achieved, this last five pounds is kind of the icing on the cake, on a keto cake maybe LOL. The emphasis is already on improving my fitness level not really on how much I weigh. If I can improve my fitness level and keep in shape there is just no way gaining back weight I think, even if I will never step on a scale again. One of the positive effects of losing 90-95 pounds is that I feel my strength is back to what it was in my 20s, I am 50 this year.
Part of the problem is that you choose to phrase things like the bolded. While I don't think science is on your side, it's fine if you've concluded that keeping sodium low helps you. That's excellent, sincerely.
Personally, I love salt, and come frighteningly close to eating it by the spoonful sometimes. I routinely eat lots of it, and had/have no trouble losing weight, including the last few pesky pounds. (Yes, large amounts of sodium isn't a great health strategy in various ways, but the standard markers for "too much", like increased blood pressure, aren't happening.) Your experience is not universal.
Similarly, I've proven that I can be athletically active, at a reasonably high level for a recreational athlete, and be fat/obese. I did it for over a dozen years, and I'm 100% confident I could do it again (would, since regain would be easy for me if not attentive to intake and scale weight, because food is yummy). Your experience is not universal.
I don't know what age my strength is back to, but I'm 65 and my Garmin estimates my cardiovascular fitness age as 20 years old lately (🤣🤣🤣), so something seems to be working, even at high sodium levels. 🤷♀️
There is no absolute truth when it comes to macros or nutritions I agree, what is bad for me may be perfectly fine for others, generally not universally too much salt is bad and makes it more difficult for most who want to lose weight. I have a female friend in her 40s who eats pizza, cake, drinks coke, all the 'bad stuff' in the book,that after having three children, hardly exercises, and still looks like a d.a.m.n supermodel. She is the exception to the rule, lucky for her.
I disagree with you on a fat/obese person being 'athletically active, at a reasonably high level' but I guess it depends on what one calls reasonably high level. For me it means being able to do the things I was able to do when I was 20. This seems impossible if I weigh 280 pounds as oppose to my weight at 20 with 170 pounds. Sure I could lie to myself and say 'I am as good as ever' that doesn't make it true though. At 50 my expectations of who I am and what I can and can't do are sky high. It will change over time I guess as I can't fight against aging, ultimately I will lose we all lose in the end. I think most of all it is the fight I enjoy not even the result being lean.1 -
I still want to find out the story of the puppy... someday.... someday, I am sure!
Haha - sorry about that PAV. When I adopted my husky from a shelter over 10 years ago, they had picked her up because she had killed 17 chickens. She was homeless at the time and I assume she killed them to eat, but it could have been for sport - she is a husky after all. We named her "Chicken Killer" and call her CK for short.
10 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Both sodium, and to an extent HIIT or other intense exercise that depletes glycogen, apear to work extra well by manipulating your water weight.
Your underlying fat reserve stores move slowly and at the tail end of a major loss very slowly.
This is not necessarily bad.
Your biggest risk after spending all this time and putting in the effort to lose the weight, your absolutely biggest risk is not that you're not going to reach the last 5lbs but that you're going to relax, give up, or otherwise not manage to contain the propensity to rebound that will start right after you finish losing.
And will continue to be in the books for YEARS.
If you're not already, start thinking and living like you're going to live over not the next one or two, but over the next three to five years.
Somehow it doesn't sound to me that you're using a weight trend app or that you try to differentiate between water weight and fat reserve changes.
The first one is of importance for health sometimes but the second is what most of us are actually trying to regulate here.
A one to five lb water weight variation is normal life for most people (and especially for women)
I am well aware off sodium's water retention effect, that losing water is not the same as losing fat. Still I found too much sodium-in my case over 2300 mg-wont help you losing weight, in fact it will probably slow the process. Dont really know the science behind it I have just found it to be the case. But thank you for pointing it out. Thing is too much salt is bad.
As far as weight loss I am quite happy with what I have achieved, this last five pounds is kind of the icing on the cake, on a keto cake maybe LOL. The emphasis is already on improving my fitness level not really on how much I weigh. If I can improve my fitness level and keep in shape there is just no way gaining back weight I think, even if I will never step on a scale again. One of the positive effects of losing 90-95 pounds is that I feel my strength is back to what it was in my 20s, I am 50 this year.
Part of the problem is that you choose to phrase things like the bolded. While I don't think science is on your side, it's fine if you've concluded that keeping sodium low helps you. That's excellent, sincerely.
Personally, I love salt, and come frighteningly close to eating it by the spoonful sometimes. I routinely eat lots of it, and had/have no trouble losing weight, including the last few pesky pounds. (Yes, large amounts of sodium isn't a great health strategy in various ways, but the standard markers for "too much", like increased blood pressure, aren't happening.) Your experience is not universal.
Similarly, I've proven that I can be athletically active, at a reasonably high level for a recreational athlete, and be fat/obese. I did it for over a dozen years, and I'm 100% confident I could do it again (would, since regain would be easy for me if not attentive to intake and scale weight, because food is yummy). Your experience is not universal.
I don't know what age my strength is back to, but I'm 65 and my Garmin estimates my cardiovascular fitness age as 20 years old lately (🤣🤣🤣), so something seems to be working, even at high sodium levels. 🤷♀️
There is no absolute truth when it comes to macros or nutritions I agree, what is bad for me may be perfectly fine for others, generally not universally too much salt is bad and makes it more difficult for most who want to lose weight. I have a female friend in her 40s who eats pizza, cake, drinks coke, all the 'bad stuff' in the book,that after having three children, hardly exercises, and still looks like a d.a.m.n supermodel. She is the exception to the rule, lucky for her.
I disagree with you on a fat/obese person being 'athletically active, at a reasonably high level' but I guess it depends on what one calls reasonably high level. For me it means being able to do the things I was able to do when I was 20. This seems impossible if I weigh 280 pounds as oppose to my weight at 20 with 170 pounds. Sure I could lie to myself and say 'I am as good as ever' that doesn't make it true though. At 50 my expectations of who I am and what I can and can't do are sky high. It will change over time I guess as I can't fight against aging, ultimately I will lose we all lose in the end. I think most of all it is the fight I enjoy not even the result being lean.
I do road racing and there are fat people running in almost every race I've ever been in. Running ten miles would be, in most people's estimation, athletically active. The point isn't that you would be "as good as ever" at a heavier weight, the point is that being active and being fat aren't mutually exclusive.
Gaining weight is a function of consuming more calories than the body is using. An active person uses more calories than a non-active person, but they can still consume more than they use. Weight gain can happen to any type of body, in any type of lifestyle. For those of us who are inclined to eat to excess, we usually need some sort of strategy to counter that, even when we're more active.
I'm way more active than I was when I was overweight, but I know that if I just go on auto-pilot with eating, I will gain weight.4 -
I am trying to lose the last five pounds while maintaining a ninety pounds weight loss, the damn scale hasnt moved one bit in the last six weeks.. It is tough. Two tactics I am using, put in as little salt/sodium in my body as possible, I kind of came to the conclusion that the only macro that is worth paying attention to is in fact sodium. For some weird reason it doesn't matter how much I eat calorie deficit or not, if I eat too much salt I dont lose any weight, defies physics TBH. The other tactics is almost completely giving up classic cardio exercise moving to HIIT and weight lifting. HIIT is especially killing it and it doesn't even require more than half an hour to do on a home bike. And in the past few days the scale began to move, small bits but in a downward way.
Both sodium, and to an extent HIIT or other intense exercise that depletes glycogen, apear to work extra well by manipulating your water weight.
Your underlying fat reserve stores move slowly and at the tail end of a major loss very slowly.
This is not necessarily bad.
Your biggest risk after spending all this time and putting in the effort to lose the weight, your absolutely biggest risk is not that you're not going to reach the last 5lbs but that you're going to relax, give up, or otherwise not manage to contain the propensity to rebound that will start right after you finish losing.
And will continue to be in the books for YEARS.
If you're not already, start thinking and living like you're going to live over not the next one or two, but over the next three to five years.
Somehow it doesn't sound to me that you're using a weight trend app or that you try to differentiate between water weight and fat reserve changes.
The first one is of importance for health sometimes but the second is what most of us are actually trying to regulate here.
A one to five lb water weight variation is normal life for most people (and especially for women)
I am well aware off sodium's water retention effect, that losing water is not the same as losing fat. Still I found too much sodium-in my case over 2300 mg-wont help you losing weight, in fact it will probably slow the process. Dont really know the science behind it I have just found it to be the case. But thank you for pointing it out. Thing is too much salt is bad.
As far as weight loss I am quite happy with what I have achieved, this last five pounds is kind of the icing on the cake, on a keto cake maybe LOL. The emphasis is already on improving my fitness level not really on how much I weigh. If I can improve my fitness level and keep in shape there is just no way gaining back weight I think, even if I will never step on a scale again. One of the positive effects of losing 90-95 pounds is that I feel my strength is back to what it was in my 20s, I am 50 this year.
Part of the problem is that you choose to phrase things like the bolded. While I don't think science is on your side, it's fine if you've concluded that keeping sodium low helps you. That's excellent, sincerely.
Personally, I love salt, and come frighteningly close to eating it by the spoonful sometimes. I routinely eat lots of it, and had/have no trouble losing weight, including the last few pesky pounds. (Yes, large amounts of sodium isn't a great health strategy in various ways, but the standard markers for "too much", like increased blood pressure, aren't happening.) Your experience is not universal.
Similarly, I've proven that I can be athletically active, at a reasonably high level for a recreational athlete, and be fat/obese. I did it for over a dozen years, and I'm 100% confident I could do it again (would, since regain would be easy for me if not attentive to intake and scale weight, because food is yummy). Your experience is not universal.
I don't know what age my strength is back to, but I'm 65 and my Garmin estimates my cardiovascular fitness age as 20 years old lately (🤣🤣🤣), so something seems to be working, even at high sodium levels. 🤷♀️
There is no absolute truth when it comes to macros or nutritions I agree, what is bad for me may be perfectly fine for others, generally not universally too much salt is bad and makes it more difficult for most who want to lose weight. I have a female friend in her 40s who eats pizza, cake, drinks coke, all the 'bad stuff' in the book,that after having three children, hardly exercises, and still looks like a d.a.m.n supermodel. She is the exception to the rule, lucky for her.
I disagree with you on a fat/obese person being 'athletically active, at a reasonably high level' but I guess it depends on what one calls reasonably high level. For me it means being able to do the things I was able to do when I was 20. This seems impossible if I weigh 280 pounds as oppose to my weight at 20 with 170 pounds. Sure I could lie to myself and say 'I am as good as ever' that doesn't make it true though. At 50 my expectations of who I am and what I can and can't do are sky high. It will change over time I guess as I can't fight against aging, ultimately I will lose we all lose in the end. I think most of all it is the fight I enjoy not even the result being lean.
I meant training 6 days most weeks, competing in races, getting age group medals in some, with pace around the 75 percentile level in broader rankings for my age group (50s); resting heart rate in high 40s/low 50s; and stuff along those lines. I could not only touch my toes, but put my hands flat on the floor. I had enough endurance to go to coached camps (for masters, i.e. post-collegiate adults) and practice for maybe 5 hours daily, plus walk for miles (camps usually on college campuses, lots of walking).
My fitness didn't really improve much with weight loss, in objective measures. I did get a bit faster, because lighter.
Healthy and obese? No, I wasn't. But reasonably athletic, fitter than average for my age, I think yes. Elite age-group athlete? No, middling at best.
Unfit and fat usually go together. But there are some reasonably-fit quite-fat people. Fitness is a worthwhile pursuit at nearly any weight, and possible at a wider range of weights than many think, with a gradual, sensible training progression. When I raced one year at Masters Nationals, there were very few fat people, but I wasn't the only one.
OP, apologies for digressing your thread.3
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