Very hard to lose weight, is this what happens after 40.

[muttimalzwei]

I'm 5ft 9 and seem stuck at 13 stone 6. I was about 15 just before I had my son two years ago and the weight came off quite well with breats feeding and I was down to 13 3 after 9 months. Now I'm back at work and have all the stresses of juggling everything my weight seems to be fluctuating. I eat heathily and lots of protein and veggies etc but have two /three days a week where I will hit the crisps and wine but nothing major. I walk everywhere and swim twice a week but unless I really cut down my food intake I don't seem to lose weight. If I try and cut down too much I feel too hungry and lacking in energy. Do I need to be very regimented now I am 40?

15 stone that is, not 15 years old! I suppose what I am eating is a more relaxed Weightwatchers. Porridge for brekky, fruit as snacks, healthy sandwich/soup for lunch, meat and veg for dinner or low fat pasta, stew etc. with a couple of days where I have a bit of what I fancy ie a small choc bar or crisps and a couple of glasses of wine.

I know everyone is going to say cut out the wine, but I can't face it!

Your diet doesn't sound so bad, but if you want to get an idea of what you are really consuming, log it all for a few days using something like myfitnesspal or livestrong. Make sure you are accurate with portion sizes! You may get a shock. You can also build in the exercise you are doing to offset calories.

More exercise is probably the way forward to redress the calorie balance, without giving up wine completely . It becomes even more important after 40 for health reasons anyway-particularly weight/resistance training which has the dual effect of increasing your muscle mass, which naturally starts to decrease as you age (therefore reducing your calorie burn/metabolism) and increasing or maintaining bone density, which also deteriorates with age, often leading to osteoporosis. On the cardio side, Swimming is great but unless you are working hard (which not many swimmers do ime), it won't burn that many calories. Could you try a cardio class or treadmill/rowing machine a couple of times a week?

Ditch the crisps. Wine has some redeeming factors!

Also - agree about using myfitnesspal - I love it!

And do strength exercises, muscle mass decreases as we get older - try 30 day shred until you are ready to hit a gym.