Please only reply if you're female and closer to 50 than 40

[IWillSurviveHeyHey]

Because how in the name of the holy cheeses does one loose weight at the age of 48, when nothing that used to work in the past, works anymore?

I am reasonably active and don't overeat although admittedly I do drink alcohol and have a weakness for sweets. This was never an issue before but clearly it is now. Simple I hear you say, stop drinking alcohol and eating sweets. But I have. And whist in the past I would have started noticing some change after a couple of weeks, nothing moves at the moment. In fact, I am just getting bigger and bigger.

I have extremely large thighs and I am only short so I feel really uncomfortable within myself. My only saving grace is that I don't have a fat belly.

I am a bit sick of being hungry pretty much all the time and still, it seems I need to accept that I've gone from a size 10 to a size 12 in the space of a year and I've been hungry for the most part. Well I don't want to accept that. I need to go back to a size 10 or by the end of 2018 I'll be a size 14.

Please help me.

Olivia, I'm sure all the points that you raise are covered by his various blog posts, if you want to dispute his idea's you could always post on his blog?

my practical tip for exercise is use some sort of fitness tracker, I find it very motivating when you can upload all your workouts, I track everything, walking, running, biking, weight lifting

then again I personally havent found it any more difficult to stay slim post 50 than I did in my 20's 30's or 40's so I'm not sure if my experiences or comments are at all useful on this thread.

The science is interesting but I dont really want to spend time debating it on here, I recommended some sources that I found useful incase anyone else wants to read up on things

@TalkinPeace

Overweight or obese have the same general causes. Empirical science tends to focus on extreme cases to validate hypotheses.

I think I've been fairly practical in my post below. That is until challenged by someone claiming to know something about biochemistry.

So back to the topic I agree.

Olivia I like what you have to say makes a lot of sense to me. What exercise wd you recommend and how often and re the 25g of carbs etc how is this measured ?

Apologies Olivia for getting back late to you - kids still on holiday.

I won’t go into detailed biochemistry as it would bore the bejesus out of most people here, but the first which caught my eye was your comment on training anaerobically on a LCHF diet. Nobody, I stress, NOBODY will train anaerobically for longer than 90 seconds. One short sprint, I short set with maximum weights, then the athlete will switch to aerobic metabolism. Multiple bouts of high intensity with short rest does not mean that the athlete remains getting energy anaerobically - nope, they will switch to aerobic. Either way, both ways use glycogen as fuel.

Then you talk about sneaking glycogen back into muscles on a HCLF diet and mention that gluconeogenesis is one of the ways to do this without carbs. May I ask how is would be physiologically possible to create glucose from fat? Well, there is a biochemical way but it cannot manufacture adequate glucose under normal physiology. I don’t know under normal physiological conditions the glycerol backbone of fat can slot into the Krebs cycle - perhaps you do?

Ketosis has been shown to be a glycogen sparer and is of interest to ultraathletes as a way to spare muscle glycogen and shift into using fat as an energy source to prevent “hitting the wall”, but a recent study was not very promising but who knows what further studies will demonstrate. For those ultra athletes, they follow a LCHF diet then do a carbo load prior to competition in order to try and fill glycogen stores.

Now I will go and catch up on this thread.

In terms of post menopausal weight gain, a very interesting study was published in Nature over the summer which pointed at FSH as a real possible culprit. After menopause, when estrogen levels drop, FSH levels, normally mirroring oestrogen (ie, when oestrogen low, FSH high and the reverse) thus FSH levels remain high in menopause. In mice which were put into menopause by removing their ovaries, fat levels (particularly abdominal) and bone densities were decreased by blocking FSH.

FSH was a known culprit in fat accumulation and weight gain as pointed out here, and makes sense that blocking it would lead to loss of fat.

Of course further studies need to be undertaken and more research done, but it sounds promising!

Mominatrix doesn’t that mean that replacing oestrogen (by HRT) would cause FSH to drop and assist weight loss?

Bear with me, as I’m right brain not left/arts not sciences so all the science stuff whooshes RIGHT over my head.

Yes, if a woman is taking HRT estrogen, then her levels of FSH would be low. My mum remained slim until 70 maybe partially due to being on HRT. As soon as she went off of it, she gained a small pot belly with not much change in diet or exercise so maybe?

@Momin , thanks for the FSH info, I had the same thought as Hattie ie that HRT should help with the problem, however when I looked at studies into whether taking HRT did mitigate post meno weight gain the results didnt seem to be all that clear cut.
It was a while ago though.

Can we get back to practical support and ideas for mildly wobbly middle aged ladies please

Why can’t people talk about the science?
Why do you seem to think that this isn’t of interest, or relevance?

I'm really interested in this discussion. No idea why some of you need to be so snarky or sneery about it though! There will always be different views and theories, and it’s useful to read them all, so that you can make a more informed choice about what might work for you.

I’m confused ! What is the best way for 50 yr old woman to remain slim healthy LFHC with what exercise weights cardio please advise ! I’ve gained about 10/14 lbs and can’t shift it if it is Michael Moseley blood sugar diet then surely lighter life or Cambridge wd work until goal and then IF ?

Parsley, I know I won't be much help as I don't believe in diets and have never counted a calorie in my life, but any diet will work as long as you make it for life and not as a temporary fix. Pick the regime which comes most comfortably to you and stick to it for the rest of your life.

Exercise-wise, strength training is most important at this age. Don't be afraid of heavy weights, and do it 2-3 times a week. Cardio 5 days a week (minimal is 30 minutes of brisk walking). I'd also have one session focused on flexibility a week. This routine will try and minimise muscle loss (even gain some) which is basis of our metabolism, have cardio for heart and brain health, and flexibility work for injury prevention. The more intense and serious the training (particularly the cardio), the better the lifetime effects on brain preservation, telomere health, and added healthy lifespan.

I don't understand the science or anything but I've been calorie counting, walking for a two least two hours a day and using the exercise bike for at least half an hour a day and have lost 4.8lbs. Up to now I haven't been eating anywhere near enough nor eating sensibly or foods that agree with me. This is working for me but the best bit is I've stopped hating myself for being hungry.

Mominatrix - thank you ! Just need to work out what fits best and commit - the hard bit !

I second that ...it's very important to do some proper strength training

dantdm thanks (not sure if you are still around though!). I had dc late, and in my 30s before dc I was very slim on a low carb/toomuchalcohol/longhoursatwork/lots of exercise diet, and thinking back I probably didn't have chickpeas or lentils, because they weren't convenient enough, but I did eat nuts. I couldn't realistically get back to that size now, and I am happier with my size now in fact. I am fine as long as I avoid white bread, white pasta, cake, otherwise I start to drift over to lardy. I hardly drink alcohol at all mainly because of dc, and that probably helps a lot. I wish I could get back to doing more exercise.

In relation to the science I have no idea but in relation to the post re palatable foods to be to blame, it makes sense in relation to sugar. Sugar is apparently highly addictive, and if you cut out processed sugar then apparently it takes about 6 weeks for the physical cravings to stop, let alone the emotional cravings.

Some of the material here could be relevant or of interest
www.millionwomenstudy.org/study_progress/

On the subject of strength training as far as I can tell very few women of any age do any meaningful strength training and so there is probably no real data available showing the long-term impact on health.

From the study:
Moderate physical activity is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease, venous thromboembolic event, and cerebrovascular disease than inactivity. However, among active women, there is little to suggest progressive reductions in risk of vascular diseases with increasing frequency of activity.

---

Also something I wasn't aware of:
www.millionwomenstudy.org/publications/387/menopausal-hormone-therapy-and-central-nervous-system-tumor-risk-large-uk-prospective-study-and-meta-analysis

@Parsley1234

This depends on your objectives.

Tell me what you want to achieve and I can give ideas.

My general pecking order of preference for older age is

1. mobility training by far. Yoga as an example.

2. second most important is resistance training

3. third I go for aerobic training. Like jogging or low intensity rowing. Fasted state is best.

4. anaerobically taxing exercise.

I do all four. But I train between 8 and 12 times a week. Not everyone is going to want to do that.

Any meaningful strength training that can be done at home
I used to do weights 3x per week and looked great but that's not practical now

@Mominatrix

Thanks for responding.

To your first point on aerobic vs anaerobic exercise
It is correct that no exercise is purely anaerobic. However, some exercises will see the anaerobic pathway dominate. Weight training. Martial arts. Boxing. As examples.

Either way, both ways use glycogen as fuel.
This is only partially correct. Whilst the anaerobic pathway to ATP can ONLY use glycogen (glucose) the aerobic pathway is dual fuel: glycogen or fat. This latter option - fat - is how endurance athletes are increasingly fuelling themselves.

Then you talk about sneaking glycogen back into muscles on a HCLF diet and mention that gluconeogenesis is one of the ways to do this without carbs. May I ask how is would be physiologically possible to create glucose from fat?

Partially correct. LCHF not HCLF. I did say it was slow. This doesn't work for me because I train too often.

To your last point I believe Glycerol from fat breakdown turns to pyruvate which turns to glucose.

The way I deal with the need for explosive power and not bonking:

• creatine so that I can benefit from the creatine phosphate pathway to ATP

• carb load with dextrose or waxy maize post workout ONLY

• strict LCHF at all other times to stay lean at 17% body fat

Well, there is a biochemical way but it cannot manufacture adequate glucose under normal physiology. I don’t know under normal physiological conditions the glycerol backbone of fat can slot into the Krebs cycle - perhaps you do?

I believe I have dealt with this.

Ketosis has been shown to be a glycogen sparer and is of interest to ultraathletes as a way to spare muscle glycogen and shift into using fat as an energy source to prevent “hitting the wall”, but a recent study was not very promising but who knows what further studies will demonstrate. For those ultra athletes, they follow a LCHF diet then do a carbo load prior to competition in order to try and fill glycogen stores.

Agree this may not work for everyone.

Your last sentence is incorrect IMO. If you're fuelling off of fat you don't need to carb load before an aerobic workout. No need for glycogen.

Ultra athletes who follow this paradigm do not eat anything pre workout as far as I can tell.

I'd go so far as to say you shouldn't carb load before an anaerobic workout either. Post workout is when muscles can accept glycogen more readily based on all I've read.

@abitoflight

Completely agree. At lowish cost if you have the space!