40-something, hard time losing weight

remember everytime u don't gain is a win....... even when it is hard to take off it is easy to put back on...... keep up your good work..... much luck to you and your spouse you are taking some great steps

I'm 46 and lost 72 pounds during the past year (I recently gained 5 back, so my counter is adjusted for that). Its tough but very doable if you stay focused! I didn't diet, just cut out the junk, counted calories AND exercised!!

You can do it! Feel free to add me if you need a buddy!

Good luck!

Good for you! Losing weight is hard no matter what, and at our age (I'm 45) it gets even harder. And dealing with family stuff too like you have makes it ten times harder. I eat for comfort, from boredom, for any number of things. Just remember all the good things you're doing for your health. It suuucks when it's slow, but we will feel better even if we don't see the big losses quickly.

i hear you. i have fibro and losing weight is very hard i will happily be your friend.

Wow, you've been thru a lot, sorry to hear about your mom and sister. And yet you're still doing your best to keep from having the weight creep up! Good for you! I'll be 49 in a couple months and I'm determined to get my weight back to a healthy range and build some muscle, too! I gotta agree with BeeSunny on the SlimFast, that stuff isn't so good for you. You are dealing with fibromyalgia you need whole foods rich in anti-inflammatory phytonutrients to ease your symptoms and prevent them from progressing. I'd love to be friends so help each other on our journey to getting our mojo back!

I would love to find a few friends who are a similar age and struggle to lose weight. I am 14 lbs down and want to lose about 53 total. I put on my weight during my mom's and my sister's battle with cancer though I struggled with 20 extra pounds much of my adult life. In May, I reached my highest weight, the same as I weighed 9 months pregnant, and couldn't stand it any more. My husband and I are both doing Slim Fast and trying to cut back on carbs for our regular meals. However, I have fibromyalgia and take medication that makes it hard to lose weight. (My doctor is actually proud of me for not gaining more weight on this med.) I am making progress but it is s-l-o-w!

I started here a little over 40 days ago and I have been lurking here on these boards. The first month, I kept all my focus on dieting. This month I am working on drinking more water and trying to add exercise 3 times a week. I would love some encouragement and support.

You have experienced some really tough life stressors. I understand how stress can cause you to put on weight. I went through a similar struggle when my husband battled cancer and passed away after an 8 month fight with it. I did remarry but that stressors of its own. I ended up with autoimmune thyroiditis and had trouble keeping the weight off as I dealt with the fatique and moodiness.

The best news is that you and your husband are doing this together. That's awesome! You've already seen some results and that's encouraging, too. Logging your food intake on MFP is so helpful. It's like having another accountability partner. Also, whatever exercise you do, log that in, too. My husband and I work out together because we motivate each other. He's my pacer when we run. You don't have to run, though. Start with walking or a stationary bike, or actual bike riding. Try throwing in some intervals of higher intensity. When we first started, we would walk at a moderate pace for a minute and 30 sec, then walk briskly for 30 sec. We would repeat that about 10 times with a warm up and cool down. Now we walk and run for our 30 sec interval.

Good luck to you. You are on the right track. Be patient and remember Rome wasn't built in a day.

Sounds like we are living parallel lives. I too am 40 something and I would like to lose 60 lbs. I struggled during my mom's cancer battle as well. I lost 13 lbs before joining this site and I need accountability and motivation. I have been exercising two days a week for about 3 weeks. The exercise is important because I have advanced osteoparosis, yes at my age. We can make this journey together. Please feel free to add me.

I'm 43 and have FMS too. I gained a ton of weight since 2007. That was the most stressful year of my life. Lost my Dad to cancer. My daughter was diagnosed with autism. And that was only the start of the hell I faced that year. In January I decided that I would kick fibromyalgia's *kitten* instead of giving into all it's crazy voices telling me I hurt too much to exercise. I wish I was losing as fast as you. I've only lost 21 pounds since January. It's going ridiculously slow and it frustrates me a lot. I wish I could stop some of the meds I'm on that make this so hard, but I can't. You are seriously kicking some butt losing that much in that short of time. Give yourself a pat on the back!

I'm 42. I've never been terribly overweight but with having children later rather than sooner in life, I am still struggling to get back to my prepegnancy weight even though my youngest is now 2.

I too have a mother who has battled cancer. She is now cancer-free but because she has never lead a healthy lifestyle the treatment took a toll on her and she is not the same person she once was. The more frustrating part is that she continues to do nothing to better her life/health/well being and remains essentially immobile and depressed.

This is my continueing motivation to get into the best shape of my life and maintain it as I not only want to be a good example for my daughters but want to ensure that I will be around to spend quality time with my grandchildren (something she cannot do). Whenever I am in the middle of a difficult workout and am ready to quit I think of my youngest and how old I will be if she waits to have children as long as I did. If I hope to not only meet but take an active role in my grandchildrens' lives I need to be healthy and active at 80 and beyond. Whenever I am ready to give up I repeat that number over and over in my head and it gets me through the tough times.

I am happy to be a supportive friend... read my profile and if you think we are a good match, send a request :flowerforyou:

Girl, if you can survive what you have, then this weightloss journey will be a cake walk for you. So sorry for the struggles you have dealt with and for your losses.

I am pushing 40, have RA and Fibromylagia, and have gained weight after my c-section and becoming a SAHM for the first time after 3 kids. My meds help manage my pain, but sure make it hard to keep weight off. I've lost 8 pounds so far of the 45 I want to lose. Please send me a friend request and we can help encourage each other along.

I'm 54 and have been struggling with weight since I turned 40. I started working at a desk job, and of course my metabolism slowed due to age. I realize now that as I age I need to eat healthier with less calories, and stay mobile. TV, sofa, desk job...it all adds up to calories 'not being burned'. Slim fast is a temporary fix - you can't live on it. What you need is a life time healthy eating plan that works for your size, mobility and condition. Weight Watchers taught me that. But having to figure 'points' is a hassle. What my problem is with weight loss is taking the easy way out...not working hard...just doing enough to say I did something. I walk and swim but not extensively. My age causes me to feel pain if I work out too hard; my knees, my hip, even my feet hurt if I'm on them too long. My other downfall is that I eat snacks late at night. But I'm doing that less and less with myfitnesspal. I'm finding that I need less as my body adjusts to it. Funny, I thought I wasn't eating a lot of calories until I started counting everything, and when myfitnesspal told me my calories needed to lose weight. I was way over what I thought I should be having.

Good luck!

Wow, Lisa. Condolences on your loss. I can't believe how much we have in common. My daughter was diagnosed with autism two months before my sister's battle with cancer began. I lost my sister and then my mom 18 months apart all while trying to learn how to best care for our daughter. She is high-functioning and I call her a poster child for early intervention because she is doing so well. She is almost 10 now. How old is your daughter? Is she high-functioning?

Thank you so much for the support and encouragement. I guess I feel like I am losing slowly because my husband has lost more than 22 pounds in slightly less time. I am thankful for every bit lost though. I feel like I am finally processing some of my grief even though it has been almost 7 years now, like the weight coming off is equivalent to emotional pain finally leaving my body. Does that make sense?

I definitely understand a lot of the stress you dealt with. My Dad was perfectly healthy one day and the next day he said he didn't feel right. Went to the doctor, got a cancer diagnosis and died two weeks later. It all happened so fast that I never really had time to process it all and grieve. On top of all that, the state took possession of my parents house, the house I grew up in, to tear it down and widen the road. That was really stressing my Dad out before he died. As he lay dying in the house, we were packing everything to get out of their on time. We tried to get an extension due to the circumstances, but they wouldn't do it. My Dad died June 7th and my oldest daughter graduated June 8th. I feel so bad for her that she had to graduate during all that. Within that month, my daughter told me her boyfriend broke up with her and she was pregnant. The movers we hired to move my Mom out of the house, moved a few boxes, stole the $7000 moving fee and left town. We had to scramble to get a bunch of people to help move at the last minute. My husband wasn't being supportive at all through any of this. Then, my daughter was diagnosed with autism. I lived that year in a stressful daze and didn't realize how much weight I put on until a few years later. I think I have finally come to terms with a lot of this just this year. So, I understand how it took you 7 years to finally come to grips with things you went through.

My daughter will be 7 in August. She is diagnosed with Moderate Autism. She has intensive in-home autism therapy which is helping somewhat. The kicker to that is before she was born, I had worked in the special ed field for nearly 20 years and was going to college to be a special ed teacher. I never was able to finish with all that was going on in my life.

I understand how losing the weight feels like an emotional weight being lifted. I feel the same way. Every pound lost and every work out is like a huge victory over all the crap I went through.