To think this is quite enlightening re fitness/weight loss

[Catrinacarina]

I keep very fit but find it harder to shift weight as I get older.

I used to be really social but recently I’ve been really focussed on getting even more fit as DH and I are going away for our 20 year anniversary and I want to be even fitter than I was at our wedding.

I have cut back massively on eating out, drinking, going to the pub with mates, Costa with the school mums, etc. I’ll usually go to the gym once DH is home instead and go for a run once I take the kids to school, but otherwise I’m pretty much at home, in the name of healthy living. I’ve been surprised that the progress has been slower than usual. I’m not actually trying to lose weight, just tone up, but I had expected some weight loss just because of all the working out.

Today I saw a video (admittedly from a much younger woman) saying that she was living similarly to me for a while while trying to shift some weight, and then had a really busy couple of weeks of socialising, and realised she’d lost far more weight from going out a lot and living a busy life (including restaurants and pubs), than from staying home and eating healthy and exercising, because she was simply moving her body a lot more.

I’ve been really into fitness for years but I found this a really interesting and enlightening thought that makes a lot of sense.

Obviously there’s degrees of it, and this doesn’t work if you’re going out to demolish a box of donuts every day or drink 10 pints, but ultimately it’s calories in and calories out, and there are lot of calories not being burnt
if you’re staying at home all day, however virtuous it might feel.

This isn’t supposed to be weight loss advice as everyone’s bodies and routines are different but for the “average” person I thought it was a good point and food for thought - no pun intended!

Medical issues which contribute to weight gain are ones which slow the metabolism, so unfortuantely you have to eat around that

Same as when people say medication puts weight on, well some medications make you crave food and overeat, I had this with antidepressants, but again I was eating in excess of my needs, it wasn the medication per se

I am overweight and I 100% agree that overall movement is important, even more so as women who are getting older.

As long as I can remember, I have tended to lose a little weight on holidays. I have PCOS so I'm fully aware that I'm also insulin resistant by nature, which makes a huge difference, but I think the fact that we're not really "lie on a beach for 2 weeks" people vs sitting at my desk or on the couch the rest of the time make a big difference to me.

This has been even more noticeable as I got older and I guess metabolism is slowing down, peri etc.

OP - perhaps you should get yourself a Fitbit, but take if off for your “official” exercise, so you can see what your base movement levels are.

I agree. I gained a lot of weight on the depo injection. It increased my appetite and I gained weight because I was eating more. I swapped to something else but it took several months for the effects to wear off. Thankfully, I am now rapidly dropping back to my pre depo size.

Definitely agree. I’m home a lot , I wear a Fitbit. I have started dancing whilst doing house work. Stepping side to side whilst cooking.

I hope you will get out socialising again OP, hopefully this has taught you you don't need to miss out 😊

Trying to work out whether this is a tongue in cheek remark or an unpleasant jibe at fat lazy northerners.

I also agree with you on this. If i know I'm going to a gig and dancing for 4hrs I won't eat a huge meal cos it's uncomfortable to move. Same on holiday.,.if I am going to be on a small hike round a national park I won't eat heavy food, end up with small snacks. So I eat less but move more so back to calories in vs out. If if those calories in aren't healthy ones it's still burned off

💯

I go into the office every day now and noticed huge difference in how much better my fitness levels are and also in terms of losing weight.

Recently my coworkers have had to come in everyday and they have been commenting how tired they are as they used to the commute.. more like not used to moving as much.

On average 15% of your daily movement is exercise, the rest is just moving around. So how much you move around daily matters a lot.

Well off people are slimmer on average. Areas with high poverty in the UK have more fat people. So if commenter is hanging about places like Chelsea and then travels to Bradford, she will see more slimmer people in London.

I think it's known as NEAT which is the nifty acronym for Non-Exercise Activity Time in the fitness world

As someone with a chronic illness- socialising and being out and about is exhausting!

The brain uses loads of energy, apparently. So a quiet life is much less fatiguing and uses fewer calories than a challenging life!

I dial down animation, avoid excitement, just potter quietly at home. That is sustainable for me. Going out, being anxious about socialising, socialising, wondering where my mate went or whether we’ll make that table booking in time, all that stuff you do ‘outside’ uses energy.

Going new places uses more energy. As people get older they tend to get stuck in the same routine.

What a ridiculous response. I said nothing about northerners, that has come entirely from you. Nor was it a jibe, it's simply a fact that Londoners are slimmer.

Well of course you are right that well off people are generally slimmer and have the opportunity to eat healthier diets and the opportunity to exercise.
But most cities, and a lot of towns, in the UK have affluent areas.
Most cities in the UK have people who are scooting around with a hectic life style and , God forbid, actually walk around a lot.
And there are actually slim people outside London.

I just take issue with the blanket assertion the poster made which implies everyone in London is slimmer than everywhere else in the UK.
It really feeds into the perception a lot of people have about the superior, London centric attitude a lot of Londoners have about the rest of the country.

You say it's a fact. Is this assertion based on scientific research?

I just take issue with the blanket assertion the poster made which implies everyone in London is slimmer than everywhere else in the UK.

I made no such assertion. You are obviously sensitive about this issue which has influenced your interpretation but if you look again, I said none of the things which you are incorrectly accusing me of.

Why should I be singled out to back up my comment with scientific research, no one else on the thread is? Just because you have a chip on your shoulder?

I could find a map to support it because that'd where I learned this but I have better things to do.

I go out a fair bit and was busy every weekend in September. I gained weight.

@Sundaymondaytuesdayetc "fat lazy northerners" were your offensive words, NOT mine. As a northerner, I find your use of language offensive, actually.

I'm sorry I don't have a chip on my shoulder.
I just took issue with the assertion everyone in London is slimmer than everywhere else in the country. And I take issue with the reasons you gave to explain why they are slimmer.

I was talking about the implication of your post: Londoners are slimmer because they move about more.Therefore presumably northerners are fat and lazy.
I'm talking about stereo types.
I'm a Northener too. And I'm a little over weight actually but certainly not lazy.
I don't like stereo types.

I'm a bit weird and do suffer from ED, but I find it very difficult to eat much when I'm socialising, or on holiday. I'm always busy talking. Taking in the atmosphere etc. I also don't want to overeat in from of people but it doesn't feel intentional.

I just kind of get buzzed off company. I also find I get drunk much easier when I'm out. So two glasses of wine in a pub feels like a whole bottle! I can see how constant socialising could make it easier to keep your weight down tbh.

When you're at home you can just kind of slump on the couch, barely moving. When you're in company your posture, your energy it's just much higher. So it probably does burn more calories!

I dont live in London anymore, we moved south, not north but I have already commented and experienced that people walk far less outisde of cites/big towns. Thats any city including Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, take your pick