Losing weight at 68

ldrag07444 wrote: »

I was holding steady for quite a while but then I let my eating get out of control. Mind you I don't eat any cookies or cake or any sweets. It's overeating too much food. At 68, I'm finding it harder than ever. I'm hungry after I get home from work and eat a snack, but sometimes it's too much of a snack and then I'm overeating dinner. I'm logging my food, but I probably have calories that haven't been counted. Ya know, have a piece of cheese or whatever. It's so frustrating. I've dealt with this weight issue all my life and basically kept from getting way way overweight. I want to lose about 10 pounds and its' so hard.

This may sound unsympathetic, but . . .

Sounds like you know what you'd need to do to solve the problem, but you don't enjoy doing that, so you don't do it.

I've been there - frequently, actually. I'm 67, had a history of overweight/obesity for 30ish years, have been at a healthy weight for 7+ years now, with some creeping up and down within that healthy range. When my weight creeps up, I need to creep it down. I know what's required. If I don't do it, it's a decision, pure and simple. I have to own that.

Some ideas for things you can do (not necessarily all of them, just some ideas):

* Log everything, even those bites, licks and tastes.
* Pre-plan your after work snack better, either to be more filling (subjective) or lower calorie. If feasible, even prep and portion it ahead of time, so it's the easiest thing to grab when you get home.
* Pre-decide your dinner portions, and stick to it. Put the food away, if any is left. Wait at least half an hour. Do something distracting. After that, if you're still actually hungry, have a pre-planned filling snack.
* Consider something like hot herbal tea or warm broth instead of a food snack after work or after dinner. Some people find those filling.
* Commit to skipping the after work snack.
* Increase your daily life (non-exercise) activity. Ideas here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
* Experiment with your eating routine to see if timing other meals/snacks, or the size of them, or the nutritional composition, helps with the evening over-consumption. (If I don't eat a solid breakfast with a good amount of protein, my evening cravings are worse. That's just me, but there may be something that helps you.)
* If your sleep quality/quantity is less than ideal, work on that to see if it helps reduce your evening over-consumption. (Fatigue tends to trigger appetite - the body is seeking energy, and food is energy.)
* If your life is high-stress, consider improving your explicit stress-management tactics (breathing exercises, meditation or prayer, aromatherapy bubblebaths, journaling, whatever.) Stress triggers fatigue.
* Don't shoot for fast loss. 100 calories a day is 10 pounds in a year. I'm not saying you should take a year, I'm saying small changes are more painless. Last time I decided to creep my weight down, it took about a hear to lose 12-15 pounds. I didn't mind taking the time, it was going to pass anyway, and it was almost completely painless. Worked great for me.
* Stop telling yourself it's hard. Mindset matters. It matters especially much (for me, anyway) at those times when I don't really feel like doing what I know I need to do. The only reason to focus on challenges is to think about how to get over, around, through or otherwise past them. Just focusing on "it's hard" is its own kind of roadblock. Focus on solutions.

You can do this. You know how, more or less. Try some alternative ways of attacking the goal. I'm cheering for you to make it work.

Best wishes!