getting old is hard ;-)

mearadw
mearadw Posts: 11
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
so frustrated that i'm struggling with my weight this much. after i hit about 35, i realized that my metabolism wasn't what it used to be. back then, though, i was still able to keep my weight in a good place through regular exercise and a generally healthy diet. but i'm finding that with each passing year, it takes more and more effort.

four years ago, i got pregnant. i gave birth to my son at age 40. after he was born, i initially lost the baby weight pretty quickly, but then my diet and exercise habits fell apart once i started back at work. working a demanding, high stress full time job and taking care of a baby just destroyed my structure for weight maintenance. we were eating a lot of convenience foods, and other than running after a toddler, i wasn't exercising at all.

long story short, i gained 40 pounds. about a year and a half ago, i joined Weight Watchers--after never having done any sort of formal "diet" in my adult life. and WW worked well for me, initially. it wasn't easy, per se, but the weight came off pretty quickly. the problem i had with that plan, after awhile, was that the points counting thing became a little too game-y for me. i have an eating disorder history, from my teenage and early adult years, and though i had long been recovered, i think the whole points thing triggered some uncomfortable old stuff. i also didn't love paying so much for the program--and found their website's food tracker functionality way too cumbersome and time consuming. anyway, after losing those 40 pounds, i eventually found myself drifting away from WW, and i'm sad to say that i've slowly regained about 20 of the pounds i lost. it really is so much easier to gain once you're past 40. the minute i let up on exercising or get indulgent about what i eat, i put on weight.

what i like about MFP so far is that it's very straightforward. and free! :) i'm not playing games with points, pretending they don't *really* represent calories, fat, etc. i also like that i get more complete info about what my nutritional intake is; sodium, carbs, etc. because while i want to lose the extra weight, it's really important to me that i do it healthfully. i've just turned 44 and i have a three year old son, and i need to take good care of myself so that i can be here for him for a long time.

Replies

  • 99Tinkerbell
    99Tinkerbell Posts: 384
    Awesome and welcome to the site. It is a great tool. Good luck with your journey!
  • daydream58
    daydream58 Posts: 572 Member
    I was just saying in another thread how I like this site for being so straight forward and it's fast to use too. The site I started on was like going to the circus with all the colors and STUFF, it was overwhelming and distracting. I never tried WW but now I'm glad I never did - I too had an eating disorder in my 20s where I ate very little and what little I did eat took me ALL DAY to eat it. It wasn't a game to me at the time, I just somehow fell into it as a habit, to this day I am not sure how it even started. But I know how it ended... my mother threatened me, LOL!

    Anyways, I'm about 9 years older than you and one time (about 10 years ago) lost 30 lbs and that was the only other time I really put much thought or attention into losing weight. It took me about 5 years to put it back on, but I had lost it doing low carb and frankly it was not the right way to go for me at all. Not the least of which because it cost me my gallbladder, but it felt restrictive and like punishment.

    Tracking at MFP feels like a PAL for real! It's so nice. I love nice pals! And I eat everything, but in moderation. And I get to balance my macro nutrients and see charts and graphs and the support on this site is fantastic. Ask a question and 15 people will answer you within half an hour! The people on this site are A-MAZING!

    Don't be frustrated... this will not be like punishment. Getting your numbers to add up eating healthy food is a learning process, but it's not rocket science, anyone can do it, YOU can do it too. The ads to the side of the forum amuse me... pay for this that or the other fabulous diet whatever - because nobody using this site the proper way really has to do that at all! Sort of cracks me up.

    The one thing I do pay money for is professional trainers, with medical degrees. Because I have a genetic arrhythmia problem, I needed workout guidance that I could put my LIFE in the hands of and believe with confidence that they knew what they were doing. But I'm now finished with my 3 month program and ready to continue on by myself... and with the support of this great site, of course. Hang around, you will see coming here was one of the best things you ever did.

    :)
    Deedee
    Vancouver Island
  • kn0thomeyet
    kn0thomeyet Posts: 10 Member
    i'm 47 with a full time job and two kids so I feel your pain! My real weakness is eating late at night after a hard days work and everyone is asleep. Then I get serious case of the munchies! I'm hoping this site helps motivate me to cut out those extra few hundred calories I take in late in the day.

    Anyway my goal is to lose 7 pounds by the end of the year. What's yours?
  • mearadw
    mearadw Posts: 11
    when i finally said, "enough is enough" of this regaining the weight i'd lost, the goal i had in mind was pretty modest. it mainly had to do with getting back to fitting my clothes comfortably again rather than busting at the seams in them. it was less about hitting a certain number than not losing more ground, and not having to shop for a new wardrobe--again. sigh.

    for me, not focusing overly much on the numbers works better. but of course, that said, i'd love for the numbers to drop. 5 or 6 pounds by the year's end would be great. but i'd be even more thrilled just to be able to comfortably wear the work clothes that are currently collecting dust in the back of the closet. ;)
  • angelica9477
    angelica9477 Posts: 18
    I'm in the same boat. I just turned 46 and didn't realize that I had gained so much dang weight until I tried to put on my fav pair of jeans. Talk about depressing. I weigh more now then when I was full term with my son. Fat, just doesn't cover the way I feel. I'm 5"11 so no-one really notices the extra weight on me but myself. Which is all I really need, my opinion is the one that counts the most. My husband doesn't understand why I wanna lose any weight, he thinks I'm fine just the way I am. If I can't look in the mirror and be happy with myself then I need to change the way I look, the weight must come off! I now go to the gym three times a week; yoga, zumba and body pump. I walk on average a minimum of 7,000 steps a day, aiming for 10,000. But I totally hate it! I use to be the skinny girl :(
This discussion has been closed.

Categories