In 366 days I will be 50 and I want to be in the best shape of my life. Who's with me?

[FitBeforeFifty]

I am currently overweight, at 12st 5lb, and a BMI of 27. I am perimenopausal, addicted to sugar, and a bit of a coach potato. I WFH and snack A LOT.

Last week I went on holiday and wore swimwear for the first time in years. I felt like crying when I saw the reality of what I am doing to my body with too much sugar, booze and not enough exercise. I've been kidding myself that it's ok, but it isn't.

In 366 days I will be celebrating my 50th birthday. I feel as if this is my last chance to properly get a grip on things and reverse some of the damage I've done before it gets even harder.

These are my goals for the next 12 months:

• get to 10 stone and the middle of a healthy BMI


• stick to fasting / OMAD / no snacking (I know this works for me, I just fall off the wagon too easily due to WFH / boredom)


• stick to a lower-carb (not no-carb) WOE, again I know this works for me


• daily yoga / barre (I use DownDog app, but not often enough!)


• 10k steps per day

I don't want to be fat at fifty. I don't want to be a menopausal cliche with a big gut and a load of excuses as to why I've still not shifted the weight and am still on the sofa mainlining wine and biscuits every evening.

This feels doable - anyone want to join me and be fit and fabulous at fifty (and beyond)?!

Happy birthday!

A couple of people have asked for me tips. What worked for me is:

(1) only eating food that is cooked from scratch and that is mostly comprised of vegetables and grains. I hate being hungry, and so I spent a while at the start looking into how "calorie dense" foods were, and then I identified the foods that were low calorie but that I really enjoy eating. I love roasted cauliflower, steamed broccoli and sauteed mushrooms - most dinners therefore have a fairy hefty portion of at least one of those, and then the more calorie dense foods are just a small portion of my plate. I never felt hungry, and I ended up packing in loads of nutrition into every meal.

(2) exercise! Most people on mumsnet say that weight loss is mostly about food and therefore suggest that exercise isn't important. Now, I agree that exercise contributes little to direct weight loss, but once you get into it it makes you feel fabulous - which in itself helps you keep going, and indeed I find that when I'm exercising I WANT to eat healthy foods, and I have none of the cravings for junk.

I now know my starting weight - due to making much better choices over the weekend it is 2.2 lbs less than it would've been last week and a nice round number, so I'm feeling pleased - despite being almost up at my heaviest ever (again!).

Weighed myself this morning and I am 2lbs heavier than I was on Friday
Today I am going to eat between 11am and 7pm only (although not continuously through those 8 hours ) and try to drink lots of water

Evening all! Weighed in this morning at 172lbs. 38 inch waist <sob>

Nothing to eat today until 6ish. Lots of water though. Yoga and Barre. Felt fab and love the mental clarity that I get from fasting.

However. DH got a fab new job today so we are celebrating with a bit of wine. So that's 2 days in a row, but tomorrow everything will be back to boring normal 😁

Happy birthday! I had a goal of being healthy by 50 but it was my birthday a few weeks ago and I'm not healthy yet! New goal is to feel good by the time I'm 51 so would love to join you!
Have just started IF (16:8) ut it's sooo hard so far! I just want to eat rubbish in my eating window.

Good luck OP. I have the same thing. 50 in only 6 months though. Overweight.

Congratulations on your DH's new job @FitBeforeFifty ! Sounds like a healthy well-balanced day!

I seem to have fallen into a eating 18:6 - eating at 3/4 and again at 8/9 pm. Feeling much better already. Very glad it isn't so hot today!

Oooo yes me, 400 days for me.

@cavingandclimbing I make myself eat veggies first e.g. at my 3 pm meal I have a large salad (usually with mixed beans and dressing) and at 8 pm a large pile of steamed veg (usually with an allplants meal) before I am 'allowed' to eat anything else (and I then wait 20+ minutes before that too). Seems to really help keep the desire to eat rubbish under check.

I'm in, on July 8th next year I get married, aged 42. I want to be the best version of me I can be.
I am fundamentally against weighing myself, I know I'm in a healthy range. But I could be a lot fitter and more toned.

This is my plan:

10k plus steps a day
3 classes a week
Long swim once a week
50+ squats a day
Commit to a skincare routine
Minimise heat on my hair
Daily body brushing
16:8 most of the time
Minimal sugar

Thanks for that! I'll definitely give that a try

Can I join ? I'm 47 , and approx 2 stone overweight. I have been about 1st overweight since twins born 5 years ago, then recent menopause added another stone mostly around my waist. Snacking is my enemy. My goals are to reach 9st 7 ( mid healthy BMI ) and regain something resembling a waist, or at least not look 6 months pregnant.

Me too, in peri-menopause and 50 in 8 months. Got 5 stone to lose and on week 3 of dieting. Finding an hypnosis app helping cravings and mindset. DH also dieting.

@SandrasAnnoyingFriend that sounds like a plan , especially the squats!

Welcome new joiners! Hopefully this will be a good thread to keep us accountable and on track.

Just one meal today - this is working pretty well when it's so hot! I just don't feel like eating at all. Trying to keep the water up though; I'm always bad at drinking enough of that. Didn't quite manage my 10k steps but had a decent hour-long walk at lunchtime - it was boiling though so hopefully I sweated a bit off

I'm in a similar position @Stressybetty - I've got 5 st to lose too (15.5 st to 10.5 st).

What is horrifying is that I was 4.5 st lighter three years ago (having lost 5st to be down to 11st), and even worse I was nearly 2.5 st lighter in September (having lost the 2.5st, as I had already gained back the 5 st). This is the kind of ridiculous cycle that I absolutely must stop in my fifties, I've always yo-yoed but these last few years have been extreme even by my standards.

My biggest problem is white wine (DH very much enables this) - I can abstain for months on end to lose weight but as soon as it creeps back in everything seems to go to pot quite quickly. I don't need to learn this again (note to self)!! The reason why it creeps back is boredom/easier to fit in with DH - I definitely need more in my life to stop this happening again. I've started playing an instrument again (having lessons) but as I lose more weight I hope that exercise becomes part of my social life rather than mainly meals out and boozing!

Weighed in this morning at 13 stone 13 ☹️ I worked so hard during the pandemic and lost five stone and I’ve put over three back on this year. so frustrating.
but hey ho it’s another day. Going to sit and plan my meals today as if I don’t know what I’m eating I go for cereal or toast

Oh this could be me! 50 next June, about 12 & half stone.... I've always been between "overweight" and "healthy", but never thin (& certainly never a huge fan of exercise).
Weight just seems to be sitting around my hips & middle in that typical "middle-aged-spread" way.
Also WFH, pretty boring admin job (where cake, biscuits, buttery toast brighten up the day).
Would love to join in your challenge x

Hi all, how is everyone getting on?

I have to say that the hot weather is a godsend in terms of curbing my food appetite - I have managed an easy 'one meal a day' routine every day so far - unfortunately it's not doing the same for my 'icy cold glass of wine' appetite though...

@Transformatio I feel your pain - my DH is also a wine enabler (not that I put up much of a fight to be honest). It's hard when the summer evenings just cry out for a couple of glasses whilst we're sitting outside and chatting. If only someone could invent a non-alcoholic, calorie-free wine that actually tasted good!

Anyway, I haven't lost any weight I don't think but my stomach is definitely flatter and I have loads more energy, which is great. I went to yoga this morning (tough class, I was sweating!) and we've just come back from a sea swim. I think I've just about managed my 10,000 steps today too.

Dinner will be fridge-foraging with lots of salad. And who am I kidding, there's a bottle of cold rose in the fridge...but I'll try and keep it to a small glass!

Using my fitness Pal app linked to step counter. Am keeping to calories fine but feeling very bloated so haven't weighed myself. No cravings but still using a healthy weight hypnosis every night

This hot weather is definitely helping @FitBeforeFifty !
I feel so much better already - a combination of no booze, fasting and loads of veg I think.
I’m not going to lose weight this time like I did before - Uber strict for a couple of months and then a couple of weeks ‘off’ on repeat. Really trying to embrace that is my preferred lifestyle and not a diet that will end when I hit goal. Got a couple of social things over the next few days (unusual!) which will mean alcohol (unless I genuinely don’t want any - doubt it) etc. Plan is to enjoy it but not overdo it, and carry on as normal the rest of the time. Basically do what my slim friends do!
You exercise sounds brilliant 🤩. I did a short arm weights class off the Peloton and the usual dog walks when cool enough but that’s it. Maybe one day I’ll do my first ride on the Peloton (DH does use it!) - I think I’ve got it into my head that I’ll get a bad back…which I dare say is bollocks!

Sounds like you’re doing great @Stressybetty !
Do you go to sleep listening to the hypnosis?

Yes always sends me to sleep but seems to be working! Has put me in the right frame of mind and most of the time I don't even think about food at all.

Could I join please @FitBeforeFifty ? I looked in the mirror earlier and instead of the slim, confident, fit late-40s woman in my head there was a dumpy, frumpy horror who looked not unlike my gran when she was in her 60s

I have around 3.5 stone to lose and a couple of years to do it... getting started today with a new haircut!! That should lose me at least 1lb, right?!

A new haircut will definitely knock a pound or two off @ScarlettMcCain 😁

Welcome - what's your plan?