Struggling to see the point

Having to live with some reasonable limits is not an injustice. It’s the responsible thing to do. Consider this- our bodies are designed to survive hard times by storing extra calories as fat. But for most of us, hard times have never arrived. It’s actually a good problem to have. But we still have bodies where the eye sees food and the brain says eat. It’s similar to our brains having to cope with all the electronics. We just aren’t built for modern life. Given enough time it isn’t hard to put on extra lbs. Just an extra 50 cals per day will put on 5 lbs in a year. Do it for 5 years and there’s 25 lbs.

I was 56 when I started my first food diary. I had already lost a lot before that put felt like I was hopelessly stuck. In desperation I joined Weight Watchers. WW is really just calorie counting dressed up for copyright protection. It worked. In about 6 months I lost 35 lbs. I was 56. I’m 73 now haven’t gained it back.

A mistake people make I think is to make weight loss into a bigger deal than it really is. I got the idea of reasonable limits from another guy doing WW. It kind of eased the burden. My food diary was always kept with pen and paper. Really just a bunch of crude lists with numbers.
There’s a bunch of number crunching at the beginning but it gets easier with time. I came to look at it as some sort of puzzle game. How do I get something filling enough, tasty enough, easy enough, to fit in my plan?

The reason I’m going on about calorie counting is because I know it works. But there are other ways. I follow some WL folks on twitter. A lot of them do Keto, some in combo with intermittent fasting. They don’t count calories and don’t limit portions. But they do limit what and when. I think it’s a matter of our personal brains. What limits do you think your brain can live with? Gotta limit something. Not some major overhaul. Just reasonable limits. Good luck.

"Working out" is not necessary. Doing some kind of movement is a good idea for your health. Try other things--branch out. As for calorie counting--it works, if you do it. If you really hate it there are other ways, but you'll have to be in a deficit. How you want to manage that is up to you. Set up good habits that will see you through long term. Good luck.

I feel a lot of those “what’s the point” feelings! Using this app can feel monotonous and tedious. Is there anywhere near you like a park or a trail where you can walk for fitness before or after work instead of going to the gym?

2014jtherrien wrote: »

I have always struggled to get past the mindset of having to work out. Maybe because I had always been naturally thin in my youth and a natural clutz-LOL, so there really was no motivation for me to work out or be fit. I tried going to the gym in my youth, and I just recently joined the gym yet again in my 58th year, but I get bored so easily. I realize that now in my senior years I just need to keep moving, especially when I am in an office job for 10 hours a day. I see the importance of it, and it is no longer about vanity. But when I forced myself to go to the gym while I was on vacation in Mexico and still came back 4 lbs heavier...ugh! It is just so disheartening. I need to lose 25 lbs and I just hate having to count calories. Mainly because I resent it and become angry with the rigidity of this journalling...I develop a very unhealthy mindset. It makes me feel so deprived and I start to obsess around food. So...any advice? Sorry for being so negative but I could really use some mindset advice as I realize that is the majority of my problem.

Keep moving? For best long-term good health, yes.

Gym? Totally optional.

I've been active for around 20 years now, and fitter than average for my demographic for most of that time. (I'm F 67 now.) I did stay fat for around a dozen years of that, because fit (in athletic terms) and body fat aren't exactly the same thing. Around 8 years ago (starting age 59), I lost weight for about a year, and have been at a healthy weight since.

Most of my fitness activities over those years have been non-gym (home or outdoor), and I literally haven't been inside a gym since before the pandemic (but am as fit as I was then, maybe moreso, because I ramped up some activities out of pandemic-era boredom).

Finding activities you actually enjoy, and maybe even want to improve at, is pretty magical. That transformed my life, 20 years ago - no exaggeration.

Healthy weight? Very worthwhile, IME. Calorie counting? Not the only possible route.

Calorie counting was perfect for me, like a fun science fair project for grown-ups. It let me reach/maintain a healthy weight while eating the maximum amount of tasty food I could; while simultaneously giving me the best odds of an independent, active life for as many years as possible. I used to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, frequent joint pain . . . now I don't. I'm more spry/mobile. My overall sense of well-being improved (maybe less systemic inflammation? dunno). That all feels excellent.

There's a learning curve to counting, but now it rarely takes me as much as 10 minutes a day. For me, that's a super-small price to pay for the benefits. (YMMV.)

However, I'm old enough to have been adult well before calorie counting was a practical weight loss method. People lost weight back then, simply by cutting back on things they knew were calorie dense. That can still work. Cut back, watch your scale, and you can get there without counting. Sure, there are strategies like intermittent fasting, keto, blah blah blah, but various things can work. All of it works by reducing calorie intake, and some of those things can work without counting the calories. Pick one that's relatively convenient and tolerable for you personally.

Nowadays, as I look around me at friends and relatives my age +/- 10 years or so, it's blatantly obvious to me that the reasonably slim, active people have much better quality of life on average. Those people are moving along doing fun things and eating foods they like including treats; they're able to maintain an independent life.

By contrast, the overweight/inactive people on average are sick more often, take longer to recover, need to take multiple medications (with side effects and negative interactions), can't eat everything they like (even in moderation) because of health conditions or drug interactions, can't do fun things that require lots of walking or stairs (art fairs, music festivals, stadium events, etc.), spend more of their money on drugs and medical interventions, need to hire services or depend on children for more demanding home chores (yard work, heavy cleaning, flipping the mattress, whatever), and more.

When I go to doctors office, the overweight and out of shape are over-represented in the waiting room, it seems like, compared to places where one would see a cross-section of regular people (like the grocery store).

To me, that's all kind of "you don't have to whack me with a 2x4". I know how I'd prefer future Ann's life to be. (I wish younger Ann had had a similar perspective, frankly, even though things are pretty good for me now.)

I can't tell you how to flip the switch in your head to realizing that your future self is a real person, and that it's worth committing to improving her odds of a happy life. But the above is some of the stuff that finally sunk in for me, I guess.

Best wishes!

I'll share what works for me.. maybe it may help. I make rules for myself instead of counting calories. I clear all sugar and junk food..cookies, chips.. bread.. out of my house so i don't cheat. I pack tasty healthy food in a cooler and keep it with me when i leave the house so i never eat fast food or stop off at stores where i get tempted to buy something fattening. . If i walk or exercise an hour a day five days out of the week..

I've had compelte success not counting calories and doing these things. I find counting them doesn't work for me.

( also..as you get older.yes.. you have to exercise that is a reality .. you're on the right track there)