girlfighting50 Member

I am far from an expert, but I'd say it sounds like you've been doing well! I wish I could say that after 6 weeks my clothes were looser. Seems to me that you should keep up the great work and give it a bit more time. Congrats on your progress! Hang in there. I'm 54 and dealing with menopausal issues too, plus gallbladder…

@terezatoledo @Raynn1 Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I would say I have a small frame. 5'6" with wrists too small for most bracelets. :) That's one reason I wonder where those 4 lbs are since I'm not seeing any real difference in measurements. I'm doing new photos tomorrow and will be moving to the next level in my workout…

@TerezaToledo @empressichel @Raynn1 @saranharm Thanks for the dose of reality. I do wish I could silence my inner critic. I enjoyed the week, darnit! I get frustrated with myself for thinking negatively, and you're right, it was a pretty good week for a summer week out of the normal routine. I'm signed up for the Crush the…

Working on it - logging today and planning ahead for tomorrow as well. Weights tonight, hoping I can get my mental state to be better. The "recognition" that it wasn't fat comes from reading so much of the EM2WL material, and I'm glad I have that. The frustration is from the old mindset which I wish I could get rid of!

In need of something today - support, encouragement, tough love - just help. Let's start with I didn't do well with recording my food intake last week. It's hard to do when you don't prepare all of your own food! So I can't say exactly what my macros and calories were, but I tried to choose foods high in protein and with…

Signed up!

@empressichel @Raynn1 @terezatoledo Thanks for the encouragement. I really am enjoying the process. I like food :smiley: and prefer this approach! The support here makes it easy, too.

So another update - after increasing calories for two weeks and definitely eating more, no real change in weight. Playing around with a pound, basically, which is not significant. I'm going up another 100 cals/day today for the next week. I decided to do the three-day full body split for four weeks before trying anything…

I'll try not to. Right now at 1450 it seems like a lot sometimes. I'm working in higher calorie foods like full-fat yogurt and almond butter but I couldn't finish my dinner last night. Even with trying to eat smaller dinners (too much at night tends to give me heartburn). I'm looking forward to growing enough muscle that…

Not sure about having it all figured out, partly just going on faith and looking at other people's success. And it completely makes sense. If I want to change my body composition I have to grow something (muscle) and you can't grow anything by starving it. The gym I went to a year or so ago did a body composition analysis…

Thanks, the encouragement here is a big help. And you're right, the scale isn't the most important thing anymore. It was surprising because I wasn't expecting it but what I'm really looking forward to is the change in me. I took pictures and measurements and am working on the weights almost as slowly as adding calories.…

Thanks! I'm finding this challenging and fun and surprising. The challenge is wrapping my head around eating more calories but the more I read the more it makes sense. The fun is lifting weights, which I've always enjoyed but have not done much in recent years due to my shoulder and hip problems (hopefully those will stay…

I know, I was stunned. It wasn't much but the trend has been mostly up lately so to have it move downward was a surprise since I'm eating more. I'm also trying not to weigh myself more than once a week. :smiley: It's kind of a hard habit to break but I think it's better for me. I'm focusing on getting more protein and…

@TerezaToledo @empressichel Hi again, it's been a few days since I posted anything - just trying to read and understand everything I can find here. My update is that I added 100 cals/day last week and am upping another 100/day this week for a total of 1450. I know it isn't very high but I'm trying to increase closer to my…

@TerezaToledo Thanks for the encouragement. It's easy to succumb to the "quick fix" mentality. I know that it doesn't last, and that what I need is sustainable long term change to increase my strength and flexibility so that I can maintain my quality of life. Feeling better about how I look will be a nice bonus. :smiley:…

Hi, I'm Paula and just found this group and joined yesterday. I'm 54, 5'6" tall, 136 lbs. My goals are to change my body composition, age well, feel good and have lots of energy. I've had some physical challenges (shoulder problem that went on too long, finally had surgery on it and after that my hip went!) but they are…

@TerezaToledo Sounds good - one last question if I could. If I have days when I am less active and my TDEE is lower, should I adjust for that, or just keep a steady calorie level and not worry about it? I'm looking forward to getting into a routine and seeing those changes, but there's always a day now and then when I'm in…

@TerezaToledo Thanks for your reply. I am 54 years old, in menopause if that matters, 5'6" tall, 136 lbs, desk job (but I can at least stand at my desk) and I chose moderate activity level. I'm not very consistent with my activity level across a week, sometimes exceeding 10,000 steps per day and sometimes only getting in…

I have a newbie question about BMR and TDEE and what number to use. When I use the EM2WL calculator, I get 1296 for BMR and 2009 for TDEE. When I averaged the numbers from my fitness band tracker over the past 30 days I get 1237 for Resting Burn and 1575 for Total Burn. (I only got over 2000 for Total once on my fitness…

Not sure if you ever resolved your question/problem to your satisfaction, but I am looking into the same thing. I had my gallbladder removed last August, so almost a year ago. I did not have any dietary issues prior to surgery - the stones I had were due to a specific type of anemia and the resulting rapid breakdown of red…

Count me in! I guess I'm officially in menopause as it's been a little over a year now since my last period. 54 next month and have packed on about 10 lbs in the last year and a half or so. It doesn't sound like much but it's all clustered around my belly and hips! Can't move it either. I'm back to tracking meals here and…