60 yrs and up

As a vegetarian, what helped me to routinely get enough protein was to use my food diary as a tool: Log what I ate, then review every couple of days, noticing foods that "cost" more calories than seemed worthwhile to me for satiation, nutrition density, or tastiness. Those foods became candidates to reduce or eliminate, then replace with other foods I liked eating that better helped me meet my goals.

For increasing protein, that thread linked in a post above was super helpful. Its linked spreadsheet lists foods in order by protein efficiency, most protein for fewest calories. For me as a vegetarian, I needed to scroll down past the mostly meaty/fishy things at the top, but there are plant foods further down.

On top of that, I looked a labels of food I was buying, choosing bread with more protein, pasta with more protein, etc. I'd try things, keep them if I enjoyed them, otherwise try something else.

As a vegetarian, I use a rule of thumb that a food with 10 or fewer calories (from all macros) per gram of protein is a pretty good protein source, and that a multi-ingredient dish with no more than 20-30 calories per gram of protein was a reasonable source. These rules of thumb helped me quickly evaluate new things at the grocery store, to try things. (Someone with a different calorie goal might need different specific rule of thumb numbers, but could still use that approach.)

Over time, I revamped my eating habits so that I was getting not just that "one big protein" at the center of a meal (like tempeh, tofu, seitan, legumes, Greek yogurt, lowfat cottage cheese, etc.) but also small bits of protein in most everything I ate (snacks, veggies, grains, even some fruits, etc.), still eating foods I enjoy. It was a process, took some time, but the result was habits I could easily continue, because I was eating in ways I found tasty and practical.

Some specific less-usual foods that helped me were the legume pastas (red lentil seems most similar to wheat pasta, but the edamame or black bean ones that are chewier are good in pseudo-Asian preps, I think), peanut butter or almond butter powder (defatted - not as a spread but a flavor ingredient in things like oatmeal or yogurt), nutritional yeast, . . . .

I don't care for protein powder/bars or faux meats (just taste preferences, not a nutritional concern), so I don't eat those, but they can be good sources, too.

Sometimes we see folks on MFP going for an unnecessarily high protein goal, though I think that's less likely in this particular group (we 60+-ers are pretty canny, usually). It tends to be people who've maybe seen "1 gram per day per pound of bodyweight" or something like that on some site, then apply that rule when still carrying excess weight, but eating dramatically lowered calories. That can make things tough. At minimum, I think it's reasonable to use healthy goal weight as a basis for calculations (not current weight if overweight): Protein helps us maintain our lean tissues, so IMO we don't need massively more because of carrying extra fat pounds.

Personally, I think 0.6-0.8g daily per pound of healthy goal weight is enough as a minimum (it's roughly equivalent to 0.8-1g per pound of lean mass for many people), but if someone wants an evidence-based estimate that's more nuanced than MFP percentages, there's this calculator and explanation:

https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/
https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

As a 5'5" woman in maintenance, mid-120s pounds, I now shoot for a minimum of 100g protein daily, typically exceed it. (I figure I may have something in the 90s pounds of lean mass these days, but I don't have solid proof of that. Pretty sure it's not more than that, though!) I ate a little less protein while I was losing weight, and eating fewer calories, just to fit everything in, but it tended to be high 80s to 100g-ish at least.

Protein is important for everyone, extra much so when losing weight, even more so when aging, and also if active. IMO, it's worth some attention to dial in, but if in reasonable health (no current deficiency symptoms), it's OK to take a bit of time experimented to get there in a sustainable way.

Just my opinions, as usual . . . maybe worth every penny the audience paid? 😆

How is everyone doing?

I'm kind of slogging through Winter doldrums season, kind of experimenting (for just a couple of weeks now) with one of those "SAD (seasonal affective disorder) lights" to see if it'll counter the Winter gloom that's so common here.

I still haven't lost those couple of holiday pounds, but seem to be holding semi-steady there for now (higher end of 120s pounds, in maintenance, prefer mid-120s). So far "treat exercise as non-optional" is working, fingers crossed I can keep convincing myself.

I'm experimenting with making beaded stitch markers for knitting, for a friend of mine, prototypes here:


And another different orchid has decided to bloom, this one pretty big (blooms a couple of inches across) - it's Gerberara 'Snow Ballet':



So, nothing really happening, but life is good nonetheless.

Anyone else have updates on fitness, eating, health, or random other things?

cathyrose9909 wrote: »

Hello, glad to have found a supportive gathering of people in my age group. I'm a 73 year old retired RN trying again to get down to a healthy weight. I yo-yo'd most of my adult life and just have not been able to get down all the way and keep it off. Being cooped up for Covid did a number on me but I am not giving up. Ever! I lost the Covid pounds and now working on the rest. I started Intermittent Fasting on Feb 1 and added 1200 cal limits using MFP on Feb 3. I am very pleased with my 6 pound wgt. loss so far. I would like to lose at least 30 pounds more but this time will be more focused on where my body feels stable rather than a number. Wishing you all great success.

Welcome! At least a few RN's here getting to healthy weights.

I FINALLY hit the 100 lb weight loss today! 75% of my goal completed!