Desperate for positive stories of weight loss over 50

[Tryingbutfailingmiserably]

I need to lose 4 stone. I have tried and failed so many times. I HAVE to do this. It's been hellish even trying to shift a few pounds. I struggle with exercise due to really painful knees. Can anyone give me some hope/tips

Hi, as no one else has replied I thought I would try. I am 51 and lost just under 2 stone last year, I followed a low carb diet (Blood Sugar Diet). My BMI was almost 25, I am small boned and felt terrible.

My tips are to take measurements, weigh yourself. Keep a food diary / exercise log / mood diary. Set short term goals, so 7 lbs at a time.

Having tried and failed does not mean you won't succeed this time, it took me three attempts before I really found my mojo and stuck to it.

What I have learnt about my body is that it really doesn't need 2,000 kc or whatever it is an adult woman is supposed to need. Age 51 and not exercising very much (bit lazy) I simply don't have the muscle tone I did naturally in my 20s. I can eat very well on 1,000 kc or even less. Protein, good fats, tonnes of green veg and small amounts of carbs. If the kids are having spaghetti bolognese so do I but without the spaghetti.

I feel so much better. This year I plan to lift some weights, and get some muscle tone. Your appetite and taste buds can be retrained. I prefer two or even one large meal a day now, rarely have 3 meals.

Best of luck and you can do it, clear out your fridge and cupboards of temptation and find healthy proper unprocessed food you enjoy. Try to see it as the beginning of a healthy chapter and not something to be dreaded.

This is long! I did see an article in Sunday Telegraph about a woman in her 50s who seemed very sensible, I think Annie Deadman (not sure). She has been doing diet and fitness for years, you might find her inspiring. I was thinking of trying her exercise plan.

I am in my 50s and just before Christmas I decided to try to lose my middle-age spread. I used NOOM app (free for two weeks) and logged everything that I ate Each day. I was surprised by how many calories I was consuming each day which was more than The recommended allowance for my height and build. I didn’t want to diet as I know that usually just makes things worse so I examined what I was eating and increased the healthy options and decreased unhealthy snacks. I had got into a bad habit over the last 10 years of frequently having cake and puddings and generally enjoying the sweet stuff And enjoying treats when actually not hungry.

When I was noting the calorie content I now think that I don’t want another mince pie at 300 cal a go. So I lost half a stone over about six weeks. I feel much better and when someone offers me something that is both unhealthy and highly calorific, and I’m not actually hungry, there’s no way I’ll eat it because I don’t want my couple of spare tires back! I also got used to chomping on celery and sucking those hard sweets that are only 6 cal each.

I was amazed at how much comfort eating I was doing. Once I could really see that, I began to implement other distraction activities instead

I hit 50 at over 15 stone, BMI 33.4 and post-menopause. I decided this time last year I wasn't going to hit 51 like that.

On my 51st birthday I was 9st 11, a regular at the gym with a PT, and running 5-10km a week. I feel better now than any time in the past 20 years.

Tips:

1. Go to tdeecalculator.net/ and find out your daily energy expenditure for your age, height and weight. If you eat more that this, you'll likely put weight on unless you do more exercise.
2. Subtract around 500 kcal from your TDEE to lose a lb a week.
3. Write everything you eat down, either on paper or use My Fitness Pal.
4. Get some digital scales and weigh food so you know exactly how much you're eating. Tesco sell slimline Salters for a tenner.
5. Get moving. Don't add exercise calories to your chosen limit so you can eat more, see them more as a way of boosting weight loss.
6. get a buddy who wants to do similar exercises and you can keep each other motivated
7. Write down mini goals, eg every half stone lost, 10% lost, 20% lost etc. Celebrate them.
8. Find something you really want and need to save up for. Use as an incentive and start saving! Don't let yourself get it until you've got to goal.
9. DO NOT LET OTHERS TELL YOU WHERE TO STOP. ONLY YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE COMFORTABLE.
10. Don't stop eating stuff that makes you happy. Just eat less of it and log it!
11. Take photos. I hate them but now wish I'd taken more to prove to myself I can (and did) do it.
12. if you fall off the wagon, climb back on it within a day or two.

Good luck!

ps: don't exercise until you've lost 10% since you've painful knees. You'll probably then find that you can cope with walking more. I was there. Now I'm doing Parkruns.

Congrats on your turnaround moonbells, some great advice there, hope OP reads this. I agree with people saying lose weight first, it is mainly about what you eat. When you have lost some weight and your knees have less to carry you can think about exercise.