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.

@Parsley1234

I realise I did not fully answer your question.

I use MyFitnessPal. Net carbs are total carbs minus any fibre which is technically a carb but has no nutritional benefit (but good for your digestive tract).

@olivia objectives: lose 20lbs more energy and better fitness. I did lighter life 7 years ago dropped 30lbs and kept it off through 5:2 and Pt weighing myself everyday and being on it ! Now I’m off it and need to get back I’m undecided re whether to use Michael Moseley thought 800 cals Until most weight has gone then introduce exercise OR exercise and LCHF. I used MFP whilst working as a Gardner last year 20000 - 25000 steps a days less then 1500 cals a day and lost nothing over 2 months very disheartening hence why I’m thinkibg VLC I’m confused can you tell !

• Exercise won't make you lose weight if your diet doesn't align to your objectives

• LCHF should get you to lose the lbs, give you more energy (you will face some issues which I can tell you about). If you stick to it it's virtually impossible not to lose the weight and the study I linked earlier shows it was more effective than and HCLF diet with fewer kcal

-Move to a 16:8 or 18:6 feeding routine ASAP. Train fasted for the best use of growth hormone and testosterone production while fasted.

• In terms of exercise, which I highly recommend as a strong contributor to health (though not as important as diet), if you ONLY have time for one thing do yoga once or twice a week. It will ensure you can move until your last breath.

Then I would get a trainer to help design some compound weight training exercises (1 or 2x a week) to include deep squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull-ups, military press etc. Lift HEAVY - which means three or four sets of 4 to 6 reps ONLY close to failure (maybe add a warm up with high reps). This will offset sarcopenia.

Add a 30 to 40 min bike, jog, row at moderate pace (fasted) to accelerate fat burning and get some more cardio in (weights will get your heart working if you're lifting heavy).

To back up Olivia solidly on this .....
Weight loss / management is
90% food intake
10% Exercise
Lots of walking can NEVER counteract lots of cake

I do bodyweight exercise - lots of yoga type stuff - as I cannot do weightlifting (knees) - core strength is incredibly important as we get older

Olivia
Sorry that was meant to have a question mark - it wasn't meant to be a statement
Is there meaningful weight training that can be done at home? What equipment? Thanks

I'm 56 and I can lose weight but only on a very strict regime. I'm talking about a strict 1200-1400 calories a day of healthy food and a 20 minute walk every single day minimum. I've lost 10 since xmas this way.
My mum has the best tip for once you have lost weight and she's been doing this for her whole adult life and is very slim.
She says she is never complacent about her weight, she weighs herself every single day and if she puts on a pound she will eat less the next day.
if she puts on a few pounds on holiday she will lose them again the minute she gets home. She will never ever put on more than half a stone without doing something about it.

Massaging your thighs with grapefruit oil in a base oil can encourage fat cells to break down. I seem to crave fruit cake and am a fine example of being overweight but that is because I do have pain and annoying medication without going into detail.
However, I do make the best of myself and wear nice clothes that suit me ( not skin tight sausage casings! sorry just thinking of a woman at work...). I make a lot of soup if I m really being serious ( and I must be shortly). I genrerally make a colour coded soup, all green vegs makes a better looking soup than if you put a carrot in- then it looks beleeuch. A carrot and orange soup is lovely! Anyway, good luck and let's make an effort.

Massaging your thighs with grapefruit oil in a base oil can encourage fat cells to break down.
How ?

@abitoflight

Yes if you have space. Do you?

Give me an idea of budget.

Also: do you know what you're doing? Proper form is key to avoid injury. If not don't do it. You'll hurt yourself. Go to a gym first. And learn.

Olivia, once again, your biochemistry is very, very faulty. I will not get into a lengthy fight with you but it is very obvious that you do not have a grasp of the details of energy pathways and really don't know what you are talking about. I would go back and read a proper textbook and not spout nonsense - it is dangerous and really not very helpful to pass on misinformation.

Yes I have space but I'd like something that I could put away easily as I like house tidy and like things put away
Not too bothered about budget but maybe something I could add to if I found I would use it
In gym I never used free weights but machines with weights for low number of reps (about 8) with just starting to lose form at end of reps

I would get free weights. They take up less space. But then form matters. Get some tuition.

Hard to put away though.

Here are some ideas

• squat rack (use for bench press and pull ups)
• bench
• Olympic bar (20 kg)
• get some rubber plates and start w maybe 2x 5kg. See what you need for deadlift vs squats and add accordingly. A very strong person can squat 2x body weight. I have no idea where you are
• curl bar maybe. Olympic bar is fine if you can curl 20kg
• incline sit up bench
• weight belt

FGS!!!!

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

NO IT DOES NOT!!!!!!! glycerol to pyruvate to ATP, NOT GLUCOSE!!!

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. \

*I was not stating an opinion, I was referring back to a recent study - no need to correct me. Why not find the article (Journal of Exercise Physiology, I forget the month but early 2017) and tell them that they are wrong.

@Mominatrix

Which part? I don't mind being corrected but I need to know which part you think is wrong and why. It can't all be wrong according to you because I agreed with much of what you stated.

re strength training yes lift heavy but I wouldnt go very low reps, 12-8 rep range is fine for stimulating muscle growth and bone density improvements
heavier weight/lower rep range = greater chance of injury for no added benefit in muscle growth

abito
Bodyweight work requires no kit at all

If training at home I'd get a TRX and some press up handles
you dont have to squat to properly work your legs there are various lunge/split squat exercises which you can do, they can also help with stability
if you want a proper home gym set up then a power rack is probably a good start...I dont think thats going to really be what most people on this thread are after though

@Mominatrix

NO IT DOES NOT!!!!!!! glycerol to pyruvate to ATP, NOT GLUCOSE!!!

This is incorrect. We were talking about gluconeogenesis remember? Duh.

The gluconeogenic pathway converts pyruvate into glucose

I was not stating an opinion, I was referring back to a recent study - no need to correct me. Why not find the article (Journal of Exercise Physiology, I forget the month but early 2017) and tell them that they are wrong.

I think you were questioning whether the aerobic pathway was fuelled also through fat metabolism. I was saying yes; you were saying no, that the aerobic pathway to ATP was exclusively thru glycogen. This study won't answer that question.

But, here's a simpler explanation of the 3 pathways to ATP because it sounds as though you may struggle with this complexity.

Aerobic (slow, uses either carbohydrate or fat)

51 and I KNOW I have put on weight because my kids have grown up and I run around less after them, we have more money so we eat out more, and I can afford, and have the time, to drink wine and eat chocolate mid week as well as weekend.

So, November I cut out the wine and chocolate and made sure I did 10500 steps a day and lo and behold, 1 stone down I also joined Slimming World

All my life I was a 10-12 now I am currently a tight 14, and it's not really a case of relaxing, the heavier and older you are the more difficult simple things become.

I feel massively more energetic since that stone has gone and those jeans are a bit loser and I am eating better and not drinking.

I know you can't always eat the same as when young at 50 but I am 99% sure that my lifestyle changes were the reason for my weight gain.

@abitoflight

ohfortuna is right. You can do a lot with other kit - eg kettlebells, jump rope, box jumps, sandbags, battle ropes. But it sounds as though you need to do some research and experiment. ATX may be a good start indeed.

Olivia it's not that you dont make interesting or relevant points but I find you overly dogmatic...you speak as if you have the last word on diet and exercise.
The fact that you are well versed in what works for you does not mean that it you are an authority on what will work for everyone else.

you seem to be advocating LCHF as the best way to eat...I know it works for some but equally many people are able to stay slim eating a pretty high carb diet

DEAR GOD!

You cannot have gluconeogenesis from fat!!! Fat gets turned into ketone bodies which are used as energy. THEY ARE NOT TURNED INTO GLUOSE!!! Why are you claiming to be correct when any cursory glance at a textbook would tell you that you are incorrect?

READ

Olivia, I think that you are blindingly dogmatic and really don't have a clue about what you are talking about. Please don't try and correct me and instead read a basic biochemistry textbook.

@ohfortuna

I don't disagree with your criticism as a categorical statement.

However, I have found that for most people I train with (in martial arts) - from novices to elites - my views have broadly held true, whether in respect of diet or training. There are definitely exceptions, genetic or otherwise, of course.

I also supplement my views with a ton of research conducted over the past 3 years (including self-experimentation which I agree is only N=1) which includes peer reviewed studies, physiology and biochemistry text books and even the odd youtube vid.

And while I admit to not knowing (and certainly not understanding) everything and being up for correction as part of my learning process, I think I now have most things pretty right.

Of course if facts change, then I will go down the Keynes route.