Any ladies over 45 that have lost weight? Any advice is welcome

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Idk75

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I don't lose weight no matter what I try. If i do lose some weight it is around 1 to 2 kilos and then they return after a week or two. Over the last 4 years (after the birth of my second child) I just can't seem to shift the weight.

My BMI is 26
I weight approx 65kgs
I'm 159cm
I want to weight 55kgs but heck 60 would be like amazing too!

My futile attempts at weight loss are making me quite miserable because I never imagined it could be so impossible. I was slim for most of my adult life until I had my kids at 38 and 41.

I guess I am just looking to see if anyone in a similar situation/age had success and what they think was the thing that made it happen!!

Thanking you in advance!
 
Idk75 said:
I don't lose weight no matter what I try. If i do lose some weight it is around 1 to 2 kilos and then they return after a week or two.
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Is the problem that you have trouble sticking to diet plans or that the weight comes back even though you stick to them perfectly?
 
LaMaria said:
Is the problem that you have trouble sticking to diet plans or that the weight comes back even though you stick to them perfectly?
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Thank you for replying! The weight comes back and quite quickly too. It's like one step forward one step back. Im going in circles. The most I have ever lost over say 2 months is 2 kgs and then it just starts creeping up and slowly but surely after about a month my loss is gone and I am back to square 1. My goal is to lose 10 :(

But I am trying again, forever trying. Hopefully I will get some tips and motivation here.
 
First of all: kudos to you for working on your problem before it gets out of hand. 5-10 kilos are a very reasonable goal! I´m 40, not 45, so I don´t know if my experience is exactly what you´re looking for but I´ve been active on diet forums for... probably ten years and women over 45 who lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off DO exist. With two young kids I assume it´s hard to invest a lot of time and energy in your own health? I´m going to be very direct here, but I promise it´s a quest for information, not a personal attack. Do you eat what your kids eat? Eat their leftovers? Count calories? Restrict eating times or specific food groups? Exercise? Taste the food while you cook for your family? Get enough sleep? Do you have health issues like insulin resistance?
 
Welcome Idk! Well I ain't no lady, but I am over 45, have been for a long time, and have been fortunate to lose weight recently. So I will chime in with a little advice.

In my experience the best thing you can do is track your calories and exercise closely for a while. I use the myfitnesspal app, but there are other ways of doing it, how and where don't matter so much as actually doing it. I also suggest you start a diary on the weight loss diary page (link, Weight Loss Diary ) and post your progress daily. Its a great way to be accountable and get advice and support from others here. It works well for me, and for lots of others.

You can do this, I know you can figure it out!
 
wouldn't it be nice if dropping from BMI = 26 to 24 was as easy as it is to go from BMI = 36 to 34?

i'd hesitate to say it is twice as difficult.
...it's more like 10x.
 
LaMaria said:
First of all: kudos to you for working on your problem before it gets out of hand. 5-10 kilos are a very reasonable goal! I´m 40, not 45, so I don´t know if my experience is exactly what you´re looking for but I´ve been active on diet forums for... probably ten years and women over 45 who lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off DO exist. With two young kids I assume it´s hard to invest a lot of time and energy in your own health? I´m going to be very direct here, but I promise it´s a quest for information, not a personal attack. Do you eat what your kids eat? Eat their leftovers? Count calories? Restrict eating times or specific food groups? Exercise? Taste the food while you cook for your family? Get enough sleep? Do you have health issues like insulin resistance?
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Hi and yes that is exactly what I am trying to do - lose this small bit of weight before is gets out of hand and I hit 50 and the struggle gets worse.
It is a lot harder working on myself with kids that suck up all of my time and energy. It is a daily frustration for me. I try to carve out some time in the evening around 7pm for 30 mins of cardio. I refer to this as my glass of wine. ( I don't drink alcohol)
I have been guilty of eating the kids bread crusts - because they just dont realise how lucky they are that they can eat bread!!! I have stopped this last year as I no longer eat bread/flour.
I eat on a smaller plate/bowl now to curb the amount. We are mostly vegetarian, I include meat in the meals for kids I don't eat much of it myself, I have been vegan in the past, so it is a higher carb diet and sometimes I think it may be the issue.
I tried counting calories with Cronometer. I tried eating 1000 calories daily, I wasn't hungry and I didn't lose weight either. I'm hardly ever hungry? I may crave food but true stomach rumbling hunger does not occur much.
I have tried in the past to restrict eating the last meal before 7pm and that seemed to work for a little while but then this too stopped working and the weight returned.
I generally don't taste the food while I cook :s
Sleep is a problem that I am working on - i think I don't get enough and it still gets disrupted by my kids - when does it end?!
Health wise - my blood sugar tests don't indicate an issue with insulin resistance much to my surprise.
I quit added sugars a few months back to see if that would make a difference and it didn't! Although it did give me more energy and calmness.

I am just stuck at this weight. It's like my body just reverts back to this equilibrium...

My husband is very supportive and just says that I don't stick to a diet long enough. Whereas I think that if reduce calories, increase exercise, I should see results after a week - even just small ones. He gets results but I dont :(

Also a very important thing for me is that it can't just be another diet, it is meant to be a permanent way of eating and living so that I can maintain long term.

Sorry for the ramble and venting
 
overlandflyer said:
wouldn't it be nice if dropping from BMI = 26 to 24 was as easy as it is to go from BMI = 36 to 34?

i'd hesitate to say it is twice as difficult.
...it's more like 10x.
Click to expand...

Hi Overlandflyer

I think you may be spot on there! It feels impossible to me and I just can't accept it.
 
alligatorob said:
Welcome Idk! Well I ain't no lady, but I am over 45, have been for a long time, and have been fortunate to lose weight recently. So I will chime in with a little advice.

In my experience the best thing you can do is track your calories and exercise closely for a while. I use the myfitnesspal app, but there are other ways of doing it, how and where don't matter so much as actually doing it. I also suggest you start a diary on the weight loss diary page (link, Weight Loss Diary ) and post your progress daily. Its a great way to be accountable and get advice and support from others here. It works well for me, and for lots of others.

You can do this, I know you can figure it out!
Click to expand...

Hi Alligatorob

The calorie tracking I find time consuming as I eat everything cooked or made from scratch so I have to look up all the individual ingredients and weigh/measure them. I have tried this though with Cronometer. I will start again, I believe studies say that people who are successful do track calories. I will look into the weight loss diary, thanks :)
 
Idk75 said:
The calorie tracking I find time consuming as I eat everything cooked or made from scratch so I have to look up all the individual ingredients and weigh/measure them.
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With myfitnesspal it will remember something once entered, so over time it gets easier. For me now it does not take much time, but there is a bit of a learning curve. Never used Cronometer, but it may be similar. For me tracking is essential, but not all of us are the same. You will find your way, just keep trying and I know you will.
Idk75 said:
My husband is very supportive and just says that I don't stick to a diet long enough.
Click to expand...
Having a supportive spouse it great, at least half the battle! And he could be right, I know patience is important, but hard. We all want to see quick results, look at how so much of the diet industry advertises... But in reality our bodies, particularly when measured on the scale respond at different rates, and slow is the rule. Over the long term if you stay in a calorie deficit you will lose weight, you have to.
 
Idk75 said:
Hi Overlandflyer

I think you may be spot on there! It feels impossible to me and I just can't accept it.
Click to expand...
much of my success has been due to getting smarter about nutrition. humans have survived for millennia by instinct. i believe we have lost that, but understanding how we work can give an insight to what must be done. my favorite line in your situation is that your body is not really that overweight and its at the point where it will do anything it can to store some fat. when you get down to 25...24... and less BMI, you cannot have any of those "cheat" days. one day will take 5 or 6 to cancel out. i've been down to 23 BMI, but i haven't even been walking that much and just through dieting it's incredibly hard to maintain. i can stay at about 24.5 with a fraction of the effort. even less if i could give up my bagel addiction... :)
 
alligatorob said:
With myfitnesspal it will remember something once entered, so over time it gets easier. For me now it does not take much time, but there is a bit of a learning curve. Never used Cronometer, but it may be similar. For me tracking is essential, but not all of us are the same. You will find your way, just keep trying and I know you will.

Having a supportive spouse it great, at least half the battle! And he could be right, I know patience is important, but hard. We all want to see quick results, look at how so much of the diet industry advertises... But in reality our bodies, particularly when measured on the scale respond at different rates, and slow is the rule. Over the long term if you stay in a calorie deficit you will lose weight, you have to.
Click to expand...

Hi Alligatorob
Yes I do believe that given enough time it has to work. Fingers crossed!
 
overlandflyer said:
much of my success has been due to getting smarter about nutrition. humans have survived for millennia by instinct. i believe we have lost that, but understanding how we work can give an insight to what must be done. my favorite line in your situation is that your body is not really that overweight and its at the point where it will do anything it can to store some fat. when you get down to 25...24... and less BMI, you cannot have any of those "cheat" days. one day will take 5 or 6 to cancel out. i've been down to 23 BMI, but i haven't even been walking that much and just through dieting it's incredibly hard to maintain. i can stay at about 24.5 with a fraction of the effort. even less if i could give up my bagel addiction... :)
Click to expand...

Hi Overlandflyer

Yes I think we me its now all or nothing. Cheat days undo any benefit. I tried the 4HourBody diet and that has cheat days or refeed days and that just didnt work for me. Even though I didnt overdo them. So yes all or nothing.
 
The only thing I really have to add, I think, is to be smart about tracking. Teaspoons and tablespoons are good measures but anything larger should be weighed. A taste counts, drinks count. Do your kids enjoy active games? I can generally rack up a good deficit when my nephews are around but I'm sure it's different when you have your own kids.
 
natalya_jpg said:
Good morning :) I do all but I don't believe in diet so now I made a new life style for my family (no sweets from shops and I started to cook :), because of covid I have plenty of time)
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Yes i have started baking again too for the kids, but its sad that I cant eat it :(
 
alligatorob said:
I have no cheat days, not 1 in the past year and a half plus. I think it is really important for me not to, the slope is just too slippery...
Click to expand...

That is awesome commitment. I wish I could achieve that! Today because I have been analyzing my weight loss attempts and my diet up and downs i got emotional and fell into a tub of icecream :( I don't even like the stuff. Tomorrow I am starting afresh, with a weigh in, measure and photo. Going to start the diary on this forum and see how I go. I did exercise today though hope that makes up for the snackcident :s
 
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