40-something, hard time losing weight

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.