54 Years Old, Needing to lose more then my age

Hi Folks,

I am looking for some of the post menopausal ladies that need to lose 60 pounds plus.  I am only 5 foot 2 and need to lose about 60 pounds.  I find I have no energy and my knees are starting to ache.  Add on that I can't sleep straight through the night and you wonder why I have waited (weighted??) so long.  I tried this in the summer and didn't stick with it so hope I can last this time.  Anyone that would like to be friends on this journey are gratefully welcome.  I won't promise to talk everyday, though I'll try but would like to touch base a few times a week to keep each other motivated and honest.

Bev

Well hey there all.  I'm not sure about counting steps I've been walking 1.5 miles a day and my goal is to work back up to 5 miles a day (5 days a week) and then to begin jogging again.  I use to jog 3 miles.  That's when I was in better shape.    Anyway It's nice to see everyone here.  I live in the south (Virginia) and so our weather is pretty mild.  I don't think - no I know - I would not want to deal with all that snow and cold weather but, I know it must be pretty. 

Karen

Hello Bev and friends!

I am 54 and have just joined this community. I have lost 46 pounds now and have 9 more to go. I joined to get and give support as I approach my goal weight. I know how to lose weight...I have done it many times in my life! It is the keeping it off part that I am scared about. I have not been this fit since high school. I feel good and I love being able to wear fun clothes. I want to be able to play with my grandchildren and be a good example of health and fitness as I age.

I look forward to getting to know some of you who are on this journey of healthy life styles. I walk 6 hours a week and have recently added pilates strength training 4-5 times a week. I love to cook and make new recipes up all the time.

Terry

Hi, Terry...

  Congratulations on the weight loss!  That's fantastic! I'm at the other end...with 45 to go.  But like you, I KNOW how to lose weight...it's keeping it off that is the struggle.  I was once on diet center program (worked GREAT  but expensive)...their advice was to weigh every day and when you get to 4 lbs over to stop and take it off then.  Don't know if anyone else has any other advice.  This is what I was thinking of doing WHEN (not if) I get to maintenance this time!   Martha 

Hi Bev and everyone,

Terry Congratulations, you must be feeling great, I'm looking forward so much to be where you are and keeping it off. I am a fan of the daily weigh in as that keeps you on track and it is easier to lose 4 lbs at a time.

Keep up the good work.

Oh my, to be able to ware fun clothes again.  That would be nice.  Yes, 52 here and have dieted most of my adult life.  I do know what I need to do and how to do it, and like you have trouble maintaining it.  I think you may be right, m3betty a weigh in daily may be a good thing to do to keep the weight off. 

Welcome, Terry and congratulations on your weight loss so far.  It's a long road to travel but once there the rewards are great, good health, fun clothes, more energy, younger attitudes. 

Good for you and hope to hear more about your progress.

 

Wow Terry.  Good for you.  I am looking forward to hearing more about how you kept the scale moving down. 

Well I have done well this week with my mini-goals.  I am doing better drinking my water, but must fill up my water bottle when I leave the computer.  I thought house cleaning would add up to more steps in a day so Saturday I wasn't close to my goal of 10,000 steps.  Sunday I went on the treadmill for 50 minutes.  By the evening I was about 1,000 steps away so walked on the spot during commercials.  I don't like to exercise too close to bed time, because I have trouble sleeping.  Darn old menopause anyway!  Anyway, it worked and I found out by pedometer beeps when I get to 10,000.  It felt like it was cheering for me.  I live alone so it was nice to get some feedback!

Yesterday I did 50 minutes before work and had 5,000 steps to start the day.  I can't believe I did that.  I am feeling so go that  I sure hope I can keep this up.  Funny how a little black box can keep me going.  I just did about 10 minutes on the treadmill to heit the 10,000 again. 

Today I had fasting bloodwork done so I went on the treadmill for 30 minutes but at a slower pace so i wouldn't get dizzy.

I am now 1 pound away from where I was before I took my break in January, but still 8 pounds away from where I was at this time last year.  I really want to get into the 170's so that I feel like I am not just relosing the same pounds over and over again.

I'm 59 and trying again to lose.  I get away from paying attention and before long, the weight slips back on.  I'm paying attention again and am glad to have the help of CC. 

I too notice that exercise is what really helps - that and actually eating ENOUGH!  I used to try to diet eating 900 calories.  It wasn't working!  But the exercise piece is so hard to manage too.  Aches and pains were never a problem before and now I have to add time and intensity very gradually.  BTW I've been looking for a pedometer.  Got suggestions?

Welcome Linda,

I got a Go Walking by Sportline from Walmart.  I am not expert at all but I like it.  It is a mid-price range.  I can't remember exactly but costs no more then a meal out and is better for me.    It seems to be pretty accurate. It tracks miles and time as well.

What I like is that you set your goal and when you reach it, it beeps.  Talk about exciting the first time I reached 10,000 steps and wasn't expecting it.  I find that it does motivate me.  I like seeing that I have done a thousand more steps.  I also find that I will keep moving in the evening to get it to reach 10,000.  What ever goal you set just make sure it is reasonable for you so that you get motivated rather then discouraged.

This a great site with lots of nice people.  Keep checking in here and let us know how you are doing.

Bev

Hi, Bev et All! 

I'm so glad to finally connect!  Thanks for the welcome.  I tried a Post and called it Red Hats - but no one responded.  I felt like I was alone!  NOT!

This is great!  I'm heading out to find a pedometer too.  I wrote for some free ones by Google-ing on line "free pedometer" but so far nothing has shown up in my mail box.  I'm not waiting!  Right now I'm clocking walks - just 15 minutes during breaks - 4 times a day.  Plus I get on the Nordic Track for 10 minutes (I remember when I used to do an HOUR!) and I do 10 minutes of STEP aerobics (again....remember when....)  But I'm moving and that's what matters.

 Good for you for hitting 10,000 PLUS!  What's your goal now?  and is it helping you to lose?

May I add you to my friends list? (She says as if she had a clue how to do that....  

Hi Linda and welcome.  I bought my pedometer at Walgreen's.  I know exactly what you mean by losing sight, that's exactly what happens to me.  I do good and then I get distracted and or over involved in other things and the weight just slides on up.  I find this site is wonderful for building support. 

Hi Bev glad your doing well with hitting your goals, hope all is well.  \

Karen   

It really is unfortunate when we start loosing and then the scale gets stuck.  They you really get discouraged. And this Ontario weather does not help when you want to go for a walk. 

I just noticed this blog and decided to get in on it.

I have a pedometer but am not sure how to use it.  And since it got washed a couple of times and grabed by our friends dog it may be time to get a new one.

Hi Karen,

I understand about walking/jogging.  I used to do that too.   Foot and knee injuries got in my way.  Now I'm back at it.  It's tough to do enough to stay motivated and not do so much as to get knees/feet/ankles in trouble. 

I probably will need to have knee surgery sometime soon (summer?) and I want to lose and be at a BMI of 25-26 before that so that while I recoup and can't do much exercise, I can just work to maintain. 

I'm from Indiana.  It's cold here - but not too cold to walk.

Evening all my wonderful ladies,

We are developing quite a nice little community here aren't we.

Changling, I am from Eastern Ontario.  The good news for today was that so far the snow has melted as it fell.  No shovelling.  I don't mind walking in the cold.  It is the darn ice this year that is the problem.  I belong to the Rideau Trails Hiking Association, but haven't gone for almost a year.  I want to keep going on the treadmill so that once the ice is gone I can go on the hikes with them. I have to make sure I can keep up as they go at quite a pace and the hikes are 10 - 17 kilometres.  I can't wait til I feel up to it, because there is nothing nicer then hiking the Rideau,

Linda I already added you as by friend.  To do it, click on my picture.  It brings up my profile.  At the upper right there is spot it click on add buddy.  It lets you see my journal entries and post comments and I could see yours (depending on the privacy setting).

 

Bev

Hi Bev. I'd love to be one of your post-menopausal friends.  I also have more to lose than my age.  I will be 59 on April 1st (yep-April Fools Day) and I need to lose another 80 lbs to my goal.  I have a good feeling about using this CC site.  I started back to Curves last month and then found this wonderful tool for logging my foods and keeping up with what I'm eating.  I have spent some time on the forums today and have decided the encouragement of others is the best help of all.  Good luck to all of us "nifty fifties".  We may not be able to lose at the same rate as when we were 18, but we've probably all learned to work hard for what we really want and to appreciate it more when we get there.

Hi everyone,

Welcome Lovnlife.  This is a wonderful site with lots of very nice and supportive friends.  I never had as much trouble losing weight before, it always came off quickly and without really a lot of effort.  Now, on the other hand at 52 taking weight off is a lot of effort and having to make some serious life eating changes. 

I'm in Southwest Virginia, close to the Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina boarders.  The weather is pretty mild except for a few days this week it's been cold and tonight we are expecting snow.  It's not to bad but we have a lot of hills so walking in this weather gets a little tricky.

I have added you as a friend.  Keep us posted on your progress. 

 

Thanks, Bev, for the technical support!  I've added you as a friend and will go ahead and add others.

Yes, we are getting a good group going!  I'm so glad to be able to share support and gain encouragement from all of you!  Thanks!

 

Karen, I hear you.  It has never been so hard to lose weight for me before either.  I believe I've taught my body some bad lessons - like how to survive when I'm starving.  I've had years of dieting and I've probably convinced my body that another famine is approaching.  My metabolism has been protecting me, no doubt.  Has this happened to you too?

What I love about this site is the encouragement to actually eat ENOUGH!  I'm enjoying my 1200 - 1500 calorie food plan AND my body seems to be willing to let go of a few of those precious pounds.   This seems to be key to success.

I don't know if anyone else has found this but with Menopause I have found that I would often wake up a night, some of the time with night sweats and other times just restless.  Since I stopped eating in the evening I seem to sleep a lot better at night.  I know I haven't lost enough weigh to make the difference so I am thinking is is probably due to no snacks in the evening.  Anyone else have this issue or results?

Also what is for dinner tonight?  I am curious what others are eating.

I think I am going to make a stir fry with asparagus, red and green peppers, pork and a Thai sauce.  Then some fruit for dessert.

I had two rice cakes with Lite Laughing Cow Cheese yesterday, with a bit of peppers and green olive yesterday for mid day snack.  It was under 150 calories, filling and delishish. 

Hey Ladies!

Sorry I didn't respond back here sooner. I have a bit of trouble navigating through this site still. I couldn't find this thread again. Then I discovered how to find it on my profile where it listed my posts. I feel a little lame with technology sometimes.

Linda, I know what you mean about teaching our bodies how to starve! I had dieted myself into such a miserable state that I gained weight eating 1500 calories a day. Mind you I was not getting much exercise and I was eating a light breakfast and then one huge meal and that was it. Now I have learned to eat 5 or 6 small meals and exercise allows me to eat 1500 calories and lose weight still. It feels soooo much better. I feel alive once again!

I lost another 2 pounds this last week! That is a big jump for me since I had been down to just half a pound a week or so for a while now. I added a 50 minute pilates workout four times last week. And CC recommended that I drop back to 1300 calories per day. I posted a question on the Fitness Forum yesterday but didn't hear back. Maybe one of you knows the answer. I am walking 5-6 hours per week and doing another couple hours of pilates in addition. Other than those activities and the usual housework, laundry, cooking etc I have a pretty sedentary life. So on my profile I put sedentary as my activity level. CC then gave me a calorie target of 1300 to make my goal. I read a post by someone else that my exercise regimen is enough to bump me up from a sedentary activity level. This would give me more calories daily according to CC. Anyone here know if that is correct?

There are two ways to do this with respect to the burn meter. 

1. Up your status from sedentary to the next lel.  Then you don't log your pilates and walking
2. The method I prefer, is to leave your status as sedentary but everytime you do exercises or walking beyond the normal daily activities you log the activity and time.  I think especially when we are starting this method gives a more accurate calculation for calories burned and you can see how many  more calories you get when you log your 45 minute walk. 

Either way, this will increase the amount of food you can eat.

On a separate note any time you see a thread that you want to track you can tag it.  This is a good way to remember threads you want to follow or remember if it has good info even if you never posted to it.  What you do is just above the original post is a line of Library / Tag It / Report Violation

 Click on Tag It.  You can then put in Tags like inspiration, good info, friends etc .  It is just like taging food.  Then when you are looking for it, go to My Account/ Tagged Items.   This sounds like a lot of steps but after the first time it is pretty quick.

 

Great job on training your body to lose on 1500 calories!!  It is a wonderful concept isn't it.