60 yrs and up
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Im 63 suddenly my body is becoming a square .I’m trying to get some weight off. I have a bad knee but not at all ready for replacement. I need good tricks that can fill up my voracious appetite.4
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lisaannbogdon wrote: »Im 63 suddenly my body is becoming a square .I’m trying to get some weight off. I have a bad knee but not at all ready for replacement. I need good tricks that can fill up my voracious appetite.
From reading posts here, appetite seems to be quite individual. That makes it hard to give advice!
@lisaannbogdon, I don't know what your eating style is now, but it's fairly common to find so-called "whole foods" more filling than "highly processed" food products. There's some reasonable research behind that idea, as well. The definitions of those quoted terms are kind of squishy, but the underlying idea is to get the majority of one's calories from lean proteins, whole grains, veggies/fruits, and that sort of thing. That's not to say "never have treats". Quite a few people seem to do fine with something like an 80/20 rule.
Beyond that, some people find protein filling, some find fats filling, some need high-volume foods to feel full (such as low-calorie veggies, though there are other options). Some people find that carbs/sugars spike their appetite, so choose lower-carb eating styles. Experimenting and noticing how one feels can shed some light on the best individual tactics.
Timing of eating can also be an important variable, but again people seem to vary. I've seen people here say they find their best appetite management on anything from one meal a day (OMAD) to all-day grazing on many small snack-y meals, and anywhere on the spectrum between. That's another thing to experiment with.
Personally, one thing I enjoyed about calorie counting was that it felt like a fun, productive science fair experiment for grown ups. Logging what I ate, and paying attention to how I felt, helped me figure out what helped me feel full and happy the majority of the time.
I think that process can work for many, but I don't advocate that others do the exact eating strategy I did: We all have our own preferences, strengths, challenges, lifestyles. The right tactics IMO are personalized to that.
Of course, it goes without saying that cutting calories ultra far to lose weight fast can backfire via appetite, so setting a sensibly moderate loss rate is IMO an important part of the process. If we can't stick with it, it won't succeed. Sometimes a slow loss rate can get us to goal weight in less calendar time than extreme approach that causes deprivation-triggered bouts of over-eating, breaks in the action, or giving up altogether.
As a final thought, I'll mention that there can be an adaptation period to any new routine, however great a choice that routine is. Roughly, I'd say it's fairly common to have a couple of weeks at the start where one feels hungry near habitual eating times (that are maybe now being skipped) or after eating different meals than one's previous routine.
Someone else once compared that influence of habits to training a puppy: If we stick with the new rules firmly, our body gets used to the new routine and settles into it. If we give in frequently to the influence of old, undesired habits, that useful adaptation to new habits takes much longer, and may not happen at all.
I'm not saying "white knuckle it all the way through, no matter what". I'm saying "give a new tactic a couple of weeks to settle in, using willpower/discipline initially". If things don't settle down and become manageable in that couple of weeks, it may be time to try something else.
I'm cheering for you to succeed: IME the results (in improved quality of life) are very worth that effort.
In particular, my orthopedist told me knee replacement was in my future (and I'm sure it is) . . . but that was around 10 years ago. For sure, reaching a healthy weight around 8 years ago greatly reduced my knee pain frequency/severity a lot. (Another thing that helped was physical therapy aimed at helping me walk and especially climb stairs in ways that would reduce stress on my knees going forward).
Best wishes!7 -
Happy New Year everyone! This thread has been slow, with a few spurts of conversation here and there. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that we can keep checking in here and and supporting each other as we try to keep losing, or maintaining our health! I reached wonderland, for two whole days, then went backwards over the holidays. Back on track now, trying to lose those same forever pesky pounds. Hi to all the new people!
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Happy New Year everyone! This thread has been slow, with a few spurts of conversation here and there. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that we can keep checking in here and and supporting each other as we try to keep losing, or maintaining our health! I reached wonderland, for two whole days, then went backwards over the holidays. Back on track now, trying to lose those same forever pesky pounds. Hi to all the new people!
Hang in there, Suz. I did the same thing starting last summer - gained 20 pounds over 6 months. Back on the program now. I want to see Onederland again, too!4 -
Happy New Year 🥳 everyone! I am not new to the struggle with weight loss; I have tried various weight loss programs and have been successful for awhile. Since January 1, 2024 I have been able to lose 2 1/4 lbs and it feels good. I am 68 years old and have some health issues which is my motivation to take the extra cargo off 🙂. I like walking but this time of year with icy sidewalks I don’t get out as much. Occasionally I am doing mall walks and an exercise program on YouTube…which helps but I hate exercising. I am determined and motivated to keep up with working towards my goal of loosing 20lbs one day at a time! Blessings 🙏6
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Hi to all the new people! I lost 90 pounds on MFP but then over the last couple of years have re-gained 20. I'm 64 with no health issues other than a bit of a temperamental back from a car accident (one of the reasons I put on the weight was I couldn't exercise in my usual way during recovery). But now I have a tangible goal in my sights: my daughter is getting married in July! So I am highly motivated to shake off these few pounds.
But one thing I have learned over the years is that motivation is not a reliable friend. It's an emotion, and we all know how fickle emotions are! Discipline is the stand out friend on this journey. That same discipline that got you up in the middle of the night to deal with a sick child, even though you were just as sick as they were. That same discipline that got you to work every day, even when it was the absolute last thing you wanted to do. That same discipline that sees you brush your teeth every morning. That same discipline that has you pay your bills every month. In other words......we know how to do discipline. Now we just need to apply it to this part of our lives.
Let's get 'er done in 2024 🙂
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Happy New Year everyone. I’m going to try andpost more often.4
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@ridiculous59 TRUTH!!0
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Hear, hear! Well stated, @ridiculous59.0
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Good luck folks and remember to be positive everyday or try to find something to be be positive for.3
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SweetHeart299 wrote: »... I like walking but this time of year with icy sidewalks I don’t get out as much. Occasionally I am doing mall walks and an exercise program on YouTube…which helps but I hate exercising. ...
Welcome to the group.
One thing that helped me is find things I like to do and work those into the daily routine. I have a dog that needs daily exercise, too. I tell myself, "You need to take the dog for a walk." The hardest part is getting both feet on the floor. Once I'm moving, everything else falls into place. I skip some days, too, because of weather related issues, but the dog won't let me slack off for too long.
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@SweetHeart299, along the lines of what @alteredsteve175 is suggesting, there's a whole thread here where many MFP-ers share their ideas for increasing daily life movement without adding much more time-demand to their day:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p14 -
AnnPT77 - thank you for the link re: NEAT activities. I'm going to focus on including more of that in my day. Lol - I always try to be more efficient in my movements, but now I realize I actually ought to intentionally be doing the reverse.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1[/quote]
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AnnPT77 - thank you for the link re: NEAT activities. I'm going to focus on including more of that in my day. Lol - I always try to be more efficient in my movements, but now I realize I actually ought to intentionally be doing the reverse.
I was the same, saved things to carry upstairs for one trip, etc and while I'm not embracing a 'one item at a time on purpose ' lifestyle, I am certainly more willing to make extra trips in the moment and just be more fidgety in general. And pace more when the opportunity presents 😆.3 -
BCLadybug888 wrote: »AnnPT77 - thank you for the link re: NEAT activities. I'm going to focus on including more of that in my day. Lol - I always try to be more efficient in my movements, but now I realize I actually ought to intentionally be doing the reverse.
I was the same, saved things to carry upstairs for one trip, etc and while I'm not embracing a 'one item at a time on purpose ' lifestyle, I am certainly more willing to make extra trips in the moment and just be more fidgety in general. And pace more when the opportunity presents 😆.AnnPT77 - thank you for the link re: NEAT activities. I'm going to focus on including more of that in my day. Lol - I always try to be more efficient in my movements, but now I realize I actually ought to intentionally be doing the reverse.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
LOL! There's a fine line, maybe, between obsessively pursuing inefficiency, and just trying to move a little more in spare moments?
I can't put my finger on a cite just now, but I've seen some research suggesting that people who tend toward overweight also tend toward more . . . placidity? . . . of movement in daily life, i.e., not as fidgety, not as physical, that sort of thing - and that that continues even after they lose weight. To me, that implies that an intentional bias toward movement is a strategy we can use to our benefit to create life change. Small stuff adds up.
I'm glad that you liked the thread. If you have extra ideas, please post them there!3 -
My mother who was a fit, slender woman didn't rake the leaves in her small yard. She picked them up!
I think she was just energetic and bored. I am also energetic bored but won't go out and pick up leaves. I literally live in a forest.4 -
I know someone who, at least once, brought in colorful autumn leaves, ran them through her paper shredder, and put them back out on the lawn to enjoy.3
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I "leave" them on the lawn.
Let nature take its course. 6 -
I've been on MFP for years but have only recently gotten serious about logging all my food.
I log even when I've gone off the rails and even if my food intake wasn't ideal it was never as bad as I thought it would be.
It really feels like a lot of work, but oh so necessary!
I was surprised today to discover my recommitment has only been for 22 days.
It does get easier, right?9 -
Hi, I’m 59 yrs old, I’ve lost weight in the past but now it is harder then ever, I believe after menopause your metabolism slows down making it harder, hoping to succeed,Started 40 days ago, have lost 5 lbs, it’s a slow start7
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I've been on MFP for years but have only recently gotten serious about logging all my food.
I log even when I've gone off the rails and even if my food intake wasn't ideal it was never as bad as I thought it would be.
It really feels like a lot of work, but oh so necessary!
I was surprised today to discover my recommitment has only been for 22 days.
It does get easier, right?
Good job on your commitment! I think that as you find your rythm and figure out what works for you, it will get easier. You're building habits for healthy aging. Isn't that great?!?!5 -
@tnh2o
I think it gets easier. It gets routine, that's for sure. It doesn't feel like a lot of work to me at all. Not really at all. The only time it feels like work is when I can't find a good entry in the database. I had one the other day, and it's only because I've started keeping a closer eye on protein. I was low one day, and it didn't make sense. There had been several (like six) entries in the database for an item I ate, and they all had the same calories. I selected the one that had grams as a serving size. Well... I didn't realize at the time that it didn't have nutrition information - just calories. I went back and found another entry, and that added eleven grams of protein to my day.4 -
Hi all, I've been on MFP for over 10 years but am too inconsistent to ever have the progress I want. I'm 64, have about 50 lbs to lose, and it's becoming more imperative with every ache and pain lol.9
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I've been on MFP for years but have only recently gotten serious about logging all my food.
I log even when I've gone off the rails and even if my food intake wasn't ideal it was never as bad as I thought it would be.
It really feels like a lot of work, but oh so necessary!
I was surprised today to discover my recommitment has only been for 22 days.
It does get easier, right?
I know that struggle, too. But I have learned that logging my food makes me mindful of what I'm eating. And helps to keep me from going off the rails. I just started logging again regularly in January, but I'm already seeing the rewards on the scale.
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@Sjtaitc and @KerryITD, welcome to the MFP Community and this group!Hi, I’m 59 yrs old, I’ve lost weight in the past but now it is harder then ever, I believe after menopause your metabolism slows down making it harder, hoping to succeed,Started 40 days ago, have lost 5 lbs, it’s a slow start
Hey, 5 pounds in 40 days is almost a pound a week . . . that seems pretty great, to me. That's around what I averaged during weight loss (better part of a year). If you can keep on your current average, you'll be down around 45 pounds in a year. That would be great, seems like?
Recent research suggests our metabolism doesn't slow down much from 20s to 60s, and even after that the decline is slow.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8370708/
However, yo-yo losing and regaining - if that's what's happened - can result in losing a little bit extra of lean body tissue (like muscle) during every weight loss episode, then regaining mostly fat afterward. That gradual depletion of muscle mass slightly lowers our calorie needs, plus makes movement less easy/fun/automatic, so each round of weight loss becomes a little more challenging than the last.
Even without yo-yo-ing, our muscle mass decreases with age if we don't challenge our strength routinely to remind our body that we want to keep that muscle mass. Also, most of us at 60 have daily lives that require less movement than our young lives did. (We may have more sedentary jobs, less physical hobbies, we're not chasing toddlers or hands-on doing home remodeling and maintenance like we once did, maybe have social lives now more centered on eating out or sitting in theaters or family rooms, and things of that nature.) It's gradual: The changes sneak up.
The good news is that those things are reversible via strength training, good nutrition (especially but not exclusively adequate protein), and intentionally working to gradually increase daily life movement (not just exercise).
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
By the time I lost weight (at 59-60), I'd already been in menopause for around 15 years. (It came early in my case, brought on by chemotherapy for stage III breast cancer.) Also severely hypothyroid (though properly medicated). Weight loss is still possible, IME. Not easy every second, of course . . . but achievable, with persistence, and worth the effort.Hi all, I've been on MFP for over 10 years but am too inconsistent to ever have the progress I want. I'm 64, have about 50 lbs to lose, and it's becoming more imperative with every ache and pain lol.
I think you're on the right track. I certainly found that becoming more active and losing 50-ish pounds did reduce aches and pains, plus make life more fun and rewarding in other ways. I know consistency is tough, but it gets easier (and less time-consuming) with practice. Plus IME the payoff is huge, in improved quality of life.
I'm a big believer in trying to find the easiest routine compatible with accomplishing my goals, rather than thinking in terms of extreme restrictive eating rules and punitively intense exercise. Going hard takes motivation, discipline, willpower . . . all things that are in short supply for me as a hedonist aging hippie flake.
If I can do it, I think most anyone can.I've been on MFP for years but have only recently gotten serious about logging all my food.
I log even when I've gone off the rails and even if my food intake wasn't ideal it was never as bad as I thought it would be.
It really feels like a lot of work, but oh so necessary!
I was surprised today to discover my recommitment has only been for 22 days.
It does get easier, right?
@tnh2o, it does seem like a lot of work at first, especially when it's unfamiliar and non-routine. It takes a little of that willpower (that I don't do very well!
) at first, during the learning curve. After awhile, it's quicker, easier, and actually habitual to the point of being autopilot. I still log most days (not all) in year 7+ of maintenance, and it's a rare day when it takes anything close to as much as 10 minutes a day.
For me, that 10 minutes is a tiny price to pay for all the benefits of being at a healthy weight, including less need to spend time, money or angst on my former health issues like high blood pressure (gone), high cholesterol/triglycerides (now solidly normal), or routine osteoarthritis pain (now much reduced in both frequency and severity).
But, yeah, it takes some time to get there - learning efficient ways to use MFP, getting recent/frequent foods populated to reduce lookups and accuracy checking, etc.
Best wishes to all of you, and to any other new readers I may've missed greeting by ID!2 -
@tnh2o, it does seem like a lot of work at first, especially when it's unfamiliar and non-routine. It takes a little of that willpower (that I don't do very well! ) at first, during the learning curve. After awhile, it's quicker, easier, and actually habitual to the point of being autopilot. I still log most days (not all) in year 7+ of maintenance, and it's a rare day when it takes anything close to as much as 10 minutes a day.
For me, that 10 minutes is a tiny price to pay for all the benefits of being at a healthy weight, including less need to spend time, money or angst on my former health issues like high blood pressure (gone), high cholesterol/triglycerides (now solidly normal), or routine osteoarthritis pain (now much reduced in both frequency and severity).
I don't have anything worthwhile to add to this, but it's worth highlighting. Make good habits. Logging accurately, honestly, and completely is one of those good habits.
Thanks again @AnnPT77 for wisdom and kindness.
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New day - fresh start. I need to lose 35 lbs by end of May. Gotta make my goal to qualify for 2nd knee surgery. It's the same 35 pounds I lost for knee surgery LAST year. First surgery went great, want the 2nd. Gotta stay committed to the outcome.3
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Ten minutes to log? That's like one of those 30 minute recipes that takes me an hour and a half.
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