Is it my age?

[Zaphodsotherhead]

So I'm 5'6'(ish) and roughly 11 stone. Decided to try to lose around a stone because I'm at my best around 10 to 10 1/2 stone. It's not a huge amount, so I thought I'll take it gradually, eating less and more sensibly.

Three weeks in and I weigh myself and I haven't lost one single pound. I'm sticking to it quite well but exercise is my falldown. I walk around two miles a day but my job involves standing up for around seven hours a day so my feet and back hurt a lot and the walking is as much as I can manage.

is it because I'm 57? I really can't eat much less than I am or I'll faint at work (eating a porridge/muesli breakfast, banana and then a 500 calorie (or so) evening meal) with tea and coffee with a splash of milk during the day.

Help...

It's probably because you aren't medically overweight, but just want to lose weight for personal reasons. Age does make it more difficult though. Remember you need to eat 500 cals less per day or 3000 less per week to lose a pound, so it's quite easy to fall short of that requirement while "cutting down" or "eating healthily".

Maybe try something like 5:2 or alternate day fasting if your current plan isn't working. Also raise your activity levels- more steps a day, doesn't have to be high impact. Whatever you do has to be long term and sustainable though or else the half a stone or stone will quickly go back on when you stop.

I'm 52, 5'9 and currently 12 stone 6. I've lost 8.5lb over the last 4 weeks. If I'm honest I've not been doing much exercise. i would like to get down to 11 stone or less.

I'm using Myfitnesspal and weighing and logging everything and that seems to work for me. I'm on 1200 calories a day. I think it's easy to be having more than you think unless you make an effort to track it.

Thanks Betty.

I'm going to try for more exercise - I used to run with my dogs but now my old dog can't do more than potter slowly, but I might try running out with the youngster on her own. I thought I had cut down on calories far enough (it's really hard to fast when doing a customer facing job, I get wobbly), but I'll have to cut down more!

I know I'm younger but I have managed to lose weight without exercising (well I got the occasional exercise class and walking but thats it!)

I really do believe most of it comes down to diet.

What you are eating sounds absolutely fine however you might need to eat a bit more!

I would also limit the Bananas if you are having them once a day - think of them as natures dessert!

Fruit although healthy, has a lot of sugar - you should never eat too much of it.

I know not what works for one person won't work for all (and I am a veggie) but here is what I have been having:

Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with marg or marmite (no honey, jam or chocolate spread or peanut butter)

Lunch: Soup of my choosing with 2 slices of bread. Or sometimes just soup by itself.

It fills me right up - specially when I have bread with it!

Dinner: Again quorn or vegetable based and where I have been back at work I have become really lazy so Sainsbury veggie pots!

I try not to snack but if I am hungry, I have been having a low cal snack.

You should never cut out food groups but due to oral reactions I have been getting, I haven't been eating fruit regularly - the occasional few grapes!

I also haven't been eating any yoghurt - I like greek yoghurt but its all too tempting to dowse it in honey and other things. And the other yoghurts aren't as healthy as you would imagine, agan very high in sugar.

And forget the Go Ahead snacks - might as well have some Maltesers!

I don't know whether that has had anything to do with it but who knows :-)

I weigh 8 stone 6 at the moment and am 5'5 1/2. I have lost just over a stone in a few months from doing this.

Overall, I have lost 5 stone. But it has been a gradual process. I think sometimes you just have to be patient. For some people, it comes off quickly, others not so much.

But it's science at the end of the day. If you are eating right, not snacking and doing the occasional exercise then eventually you are going to see results.

Patience is a horrible word!

The older we get, the harder it is to lose as well.

I kind of waffled on there but I hope that helps in some way.

I have a whole bunch of other foods that I replaced for slightly healthier options as well and I never feel like I am missing out.

However this message is long enough!

I agree, the main thing is food and on 1200 calories a day you should lose about a pound a week, I lose a pound and a half as I'm heavier and have more to lose.

I tend to have porridge and some blueberries for breakfast. It's a measured amount so I know that it just over 200 calories. I generally have around 300 at lunch. That's either a baked potato and salad or soup and a roll or similar. Dinner is usually around the 500 mark, some chicken with veg and a carb (wedges/mash etc) or small portion of spag bol, cottage pie and carrots or a prawn stirfry etc.

That leaves me around 200 for treats/supper etc.

I don't drink tea or coffee.

Whilst there are meals I miss, I can eat most things if I accept that my portion will be smaller and I stil get to have a bit of chocolate etc from time to time.

I'm not really hungry and I am losing weight and at the moment the only exercise is walking to and from the car park or round sainsburys. i do need to change that though.

If what you are eating is the recommended portion sizes and you are right about your evening meal, that's only about 8/900 calories a day. That wouldn't be a recommend amount long term, okay from time to time. Your body may be trying to conserve the fat as you aren't eating enough?

You need to honestly track everything to see where the problem lies. Although I am younger, I haven't had a period for 5 years so may be a ta similar body age in terms of hormones?

I agree, you need to be eating much more!

Your body needs the right energy and nutrients for everything to work correctly.

This is such a Western luxury that we talk about cutting out food haha.

But yes - eat more!

I had 2.5 stone to lose and cut down calories and moved more, but didn't lose a single pound over the course of a year. I suspected it was linked to insulin resistance as I felt at the mercy of blood sugar cravings and had suffered with insomnia a long time.
I discovered the low carb bootcamp on MN and lost 11lbs in 9 weeks. Was eating more fat, cream, avocadoes, delicious veg in butter. It still feels unreal that I can lose weight eating like this, but I do. A slow 1/2-1lb every week if I stick to it. Stay the same if I have alcohol though.

If you do alternate day fasting or 5:2, OP, you'd be eating more than you are now on most days but obviously a lot less two days a week, say. It doesn't slow down your metabolism like cutting calories every day.

This calculator helps you work out your total daily energy expenditure, which looks to be around 2,000 calories a day.

tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=57&lbs=154&in=66&act=1.55&f=2

So if you are up to 2,000 calories 5 days a week, and 500 calories a day 2 days a week, this should create a 3,000 calorie a week deficit and you should lose 1lb a week.

I find the "two" days ok at work as it keeps me busy and not thinking about food. You need to choose what you do eat on those days carefully though and drink lots of water.

Thank you all so much. I feel reassured that it's not going to be impossible to lose this stupid stone, and I'm going to try a variation on the 5;2 that will fit in with my days at work (I work shifts) and running with the dog as opposed to walking.

Thanks again.