Has anyone lost a serious amount of weight at 45?

[AliceMay55]

Never been into exercise/yoga etc and have always been a foodie. Given my food habits, desk job, stress levels (chronic) and attitude towards exercise/fitness, I’m quite impressed I’ve always been only 6-8kgs over weight (from the outer green limit of my BMI).

Im 45, probably peri-menopausal. I recently got pushed into a walKing challenge at work. After a sluggish start, I managed to walk 50miles last month (mainly to avoid embarrassment). Exercise felt great! I got on the scales this morning and guess what I PUT ON 3.2kg!! Wtf !!
I didn’t eat more than I normally would. I’m super disappointed ☹️

Is it my age? Peri-menopause? Has anyone lost a serious amount of weight at around 45? I’d love to lose 15kgs to touch the mid point of my healthy BMI green range.

thanks all. I started to cut down all junk. Trying to eat just between 10am and 6pm.
mom finding upping my water intake quite challenging. I hate drinking more than a few sips at a time!

I lost 45 kg between the age of 56 and 60 using slim and save. Sadly due to problems with my thyroid treatment - I had hupothermia and just had to eat to not become unconscious I've put back 10-15.

Slim and save no longer exist, New You do, but their products don't seem to work as well for me.

Good luck

Hi @AliceMay55 I'm 46 and 14st3lbs, my initial goal weight is 12st bu the end of the year then I will see if I can lose more.
I've been exercising a bit but mainly changed my diet by adjusting the amount of carbs vs veggies as I'm pre diabetic plus approximately counting calories so I have about 1500 - 1700 a day.

My original weight was 14st 7lbs. Lost 4lbs in 2 weeks and that includes having a few treats. It's a bit slow but I've lost weight though calorie counting in 2017 and know I can do it again.
In my view weight loss is mainly through dieting but exercising especially strength training changes fat to muscle and helps to change your shape for the better. Plus there are the health benefits.

I take lots of medication including anti psychotics which I had to increase in 2018 and I think that's what led to the overeating and weight gain plus the awfulness that was covid.

@lookingforMolly exactly same here and I'm pre diabetic too- was 16st 5 in November and currently 14st 6

I've eaten like a saint though in that period

Lost 3 stone over 1 year just before my 45th birthday. Mainly calorie deficit which was achieved by:

• portion control
• low/no sugar
• only clear spirits (vodka/tequila) no cocktails/wine
• high protein diet
• exercise 4 times a week - cardio/weights 50-50
• prioritising my exercise for the day over everything else/ planning meals

It was slow, but it happened and I've been able to maintain it easily

I'm the same age and need to lose a similar amount of weight - I've been kidding myself I've been eating healthily for the last 10 years or so when, in actual fact, I love food (and wine!) and am not very keen exercise.

I've had success with calorie counting before so I'm back on My Fitness Pal as of today. Fortunately, I seem to also have found a form of exercise I really enjoy (I bought a peloton a few months ago), but despite getting much fitter over the last 4 months, I've lost not a single lb! So I need to address my food intake as well.

Oh, yeh, done it twice!! which is either two success stories or a failure story! But.... I understand why I put the weight back on and it won't happen again.

The first time I lost 10 kilos doing keto. And fairly quickly too! I was shocked at the success of the diet tbh. I was the thinnest I had ever been and I kept it up for over a year, but it wasn't the type of food that I liked. I like vegetarian and vegan options (although not a vegetarian obviously) so it felt like disordered eating to me deep down, I was evangelical about keto but on another level, to be going 'easy' on courgettes, onions, leeks et cetera it didn't seem right. I was viewing a sweet potato and brown rice in the same way I used to view a cake.

So then I fell off the keto bandwagon and ate a lot of carbs for about a year and ended up a bit heavier than when I started Keto.

I started again at the beginning of this year. It's been slower, I'm 'just' low- ish carb now. As in, no white bread, no pasta, no rice, no sugar, no flour. But I can have as many vegetables as I like this time around. No worrying about net carbs. Natures carbs are ok, I've decided. For me. It's all personal I know. But I'm never again going to look at a courgette, a leek or a sweet potato and deny myself the other half. i have had the occasional glass of wine and I know there's sugar in wine! Not delusional but not obsessed. Weight loss has stalled a few times since 1.1.23 but I've kept going and it hasn't completely ground to a halt yet.

Good luck! You can do it. And if it's slow, just keep going. You're forming habits while the weight loss slows, so it's not for nothing. I feel at peace with a slower pace of weight loss now.

I'm recently 53 btw so you can definitely lose weight at 45. You're a spring chicken. xx

@AliceMay55 if you add a bit of boiling water to a glass of water it takes the chill off it and makes it so much more drinkable. I'm so precious aren't I ! waiter waiter, take the chill off my water :-p

I'm 44 and have lost 4 stone 3 lb so far, by purely calorie counting. Good luck, you can do it!

I’m 54 and have lost 3 stone over 2 years by eating more healthily. In my case that means WFPB (whole foods, Plant based) - but I’m not going to argue that WFPB is healthier than, say, the Mediterranean diet.

I wouldn’t say I ever ate that many UPFs, but I’ve cut them right down to maybe 5% of my diet. My tastes have changed a lot in many ways so that I generally don’t feel like eating processed food. I try to think about what food is doing to my body before eating and deciding if I really want it.

I’ve had to be honest with myself about “treats” - I think if you have something every day or even several times per day, it’s no longer a treat, it’s a habit. So I have them when I want them, but hopefully not indulging mindlessly any more.

I’m fairly confident that this approach will let me lose the last stone that will get me to my target and that I won’t pile it back on afterwards, even if it takes another year. Things are heading in the right direction.

The best diet is ultimately whatever you can stick to in the long term. There are loads of ways to lose weight - keto, low fat, calorie counting, intermittent fasting, slimming groups…. But if you spend the whole time you’re losing weight thinking about the foods you can’t wait to get back to, then I think the probability is that you’re going to regain as soon as you stop.

Anyway, that’s what’s worked for me so far.

I'm 46 - 47 in August and I've lost 50lb since January.

This is following a calorie deficit. I restrict nothing foodwise - just portion wise.

Get up half an hour earlier than I used to and do a YouTube workout - Grow with Jo usually. Although I did start off with Lesley Sansone walking ones.

This usually gives me around 3-4k of my steps for the day. I have a sedentary job so I go for a walk for 20-30mins at lunch and then an evening walk to get my 10k in. I know it's not a magic number, but it works for me.

I still have another 2 stone to lose but I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it's achievable.

Calorie deficit has just clicked with me for some reason, so much more than any other 'diet' I have followed.

I don't get on the scales every week either, probably once every few weeks.

I have sustained this since January and if I want a few G&T's at the weekend, or am going out for a meal, I can lower my cals through the week to allow for this.

Scales are not the only indicator of weight loss, but you really need to work out your calorie allowance because if you are going over what you should be for your body, all the exercise in the world will not help you with fat loss.

This is something I do!!!

I can get through 3 litres a day easy by mixing some boiling water in with my cold. Great tip. I never think to share it, but it definitely works.

I’m 51 this year and have lost 3 stone since November with slimming world. I’ve also started exercising. I struggle to sleep/rest due to tinnitus and when I’m tired I want food, I’ve had to work hard at re training my brain not to eat crap just because I’m tired/grumpy. It’s definitely possible

I haven't lost weight, actually I could do with losing a stone, but I wanted to say I am having the exact same experience of just not getting away with eating the same food I used to eat now I'm edging up towards 50. My body used to effortlessly turn it all into energy or use it to renew my cells, and now has stopped doing that and is turning it into flab instead. Even eating slightly better doesn't turn it around, and nor does exercise. It is going to have to be lots fewer calories and protein and veg instead of cake .

Exercise is great for your heart and mental health. If you want to lose weight it is all down to what you put in your mouth. If I am looking to lose weight I pretty much cut down on cardio as that just makes me hungry. I’ve lost the most weight (two stone) just by calorie counting and was doing no exercise at all due to massively long work days.

Definitely this.

Great way to get your mind and body fit, but burns such a small percentage of the calories your body use per day (around 10%), that if you aren't eating in a deficit, you will not lose any weight.

Agree, you can't out run a bad diet. You have to be an athlete before you can eat more than you need.

I’m mid 40’s.
I started going to fitness classes about 18 months ago. Never done any exercise before in my life. I was at the top end of healthy weight but not toned at all etc.
Started with one class and increased as time went on and now for about 8 months I’ve been doing 3 classes a week.
Classes are 45 minutes and a mix of barbell lifting, dumbbells and core exercises (crunches etc)
Cut down on chocolate/junk food etc. but not completely cut it out.
I’ve lost several inches off my stomach/hips, body firmer, dropped a dress size and almost a stone in weight. Feel alot better mentally too.
So not done quickly but as it’s been gradual more likely to be able to maintain it.

True but TDEEs can vary by day depending on how active you are. I need 1500 calories a day (deficit of 500) to lose 1lb a week but on days when I WFH and don't run/gym then I just about burn 1500 a day. However on my gym days, I may burn 2200 calories a day so not an athlete but definitely someone who makes a dent in calories when exercising.

I’m 50 and have lost 71/2 stone in a year. Gastric sleeve.

I lost 40lbs last year. I’m 47. I’ve put back on 20lbs this year. Pissed off about it. Back on the sugar train! Most of the damage was done after Christmas, during a depressing January & February. And then Easter…

7 stone in about 3.5 years. Still another 3 to go. It’s been hard work but it has all been about eating better, less and breaking the link between emotional eating.
I have struggled with my weight for over 40 years and have done many extreme diets where I simply ended up putting the weight back on plus more.
I weighed myself on New Year’s Eve 2019 and I was 1lb away from 20 stone - my heaviest weight. Normally when losing weight I would set myself a target 2 lbs a week and by x date I would be this weight. Often this was just a hostage to fortune. This time round I said to myself I promise to my self that in a years time (new years eve 2020) I will weigh less than I do today and I will continue with that until I reach my ideal/comfortable weight.
That is exactly what happened each year my weight has gone down - it was so gradual that actually it has not been until recent months where I now feel a lot more comfortable in body and my shape change is really noticeable that anyone has commented.
I’ve still probably got another 18 months to go but I will. My BMI went from 44 and is now 31ish - my health is the winner here. I think when you get older you have to realise it is a little harder that shifting weight in your 20s but all the more important.