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)?!

Wow @dudsville ive just read your post! You’ve achieved so much this year, I’m so impressed with your miles on the bike and running machine, such a shame you hurt your back, but that exercise will have had a good impact on your health.

I find calorie counting is the only thing that works for me, if I stick to my allowance the pounds come off. If I do any exercise I try my best to not eat the calories burned as that’s where I tripped up before.

You’ve also done well to maintain whilst on holiday and proved to yourself that you can do it whilst still eating / drinking things you enjoy 😊 I know I amazed myself when I had a break for a month because of holidays and lots of parties and I couldn’t believe that I’d still lost a couple of pounds as I’d carried on with the same breakfast/lunch routine, even though I was having what I wanted in the evenings and quite a few drinks/snacks!

Thanks @newbeliever ! I did initially feel really good about the exercise, and my back in particular but along with other muscle groups, was initially improved. I just struggle to keep up with it, I sometimes enjoyed a gym membership or group, but my main way of keeping a healthy weight over the decades was good diet, a healthy lifestyle, and I used to go out clubbing a lot - but I was the one who was a sweaty mess as I just danced for several hours. In the last decade the clubbing was swapped for dog walking, but I've always walked miles so that's not an addition. I admire what you're able to do.

I am finding this week of high fiber and a lot of water really interesting and I'm thinking about how I can incorporate this going forward as I've not been terribly focused on fiber before. I'm not a low carber, and I try to stick with eating things I'd want to eat normally so it isn't feast or famine.

OP you have inspired me

this is after many failures, including Saxenda.

I'm looking at 47lb by 47. That's giving me 8 months. Should be doable.

i've lost weight in the heat but sadly that doesn't count, so I'll mark my starting weight as before the weekend.

@ScarlettMcCain DH is loving the newly hungover me, I’m happy to drive everywhere 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Morning all - two days wine-free has meant mornings are a little cheerier here 😆

Thinking about diet - the fibre thing is interesting. I'm another who has rarely paid much attention to that side of things but I probably should. I was also a Bootcamper in the early days but find it far too restrictive now, although it worked like a dream 10 years ago! I now try and eat as much plant-based as possible although I do have a terrible weakness for sushi / sashimi and seafood of all kinds. Living by the sea doesn't help much with that one either!

Hope everyone is getting on well!

Feeling really nauseous today, usually I'd celebrate having no appetite but I was planning on doing 50 lengths at lunchtime so need some fuel if I'm going to manage it.
Also have a houseful of children this weekend (eldest back from Uni, youngest with me all weekend, stepson over from Spain for the summer and step daughter rolling in later), which doesn't make healthy eating easy as I cannot be arsed to cook multiple meals and between us we can only really agree on pizza or burgers 😂

That's unfortunate timing @SandrasAnnoyingFriend , what do you think caused it?

And it's helpful seeing the discussions about alcohol. Unfortunately, my capacity to not get hungover had increased with the extra water, which I started 3 weeks ago, and I do need to scale it back as I've crept back up to two bottles of wine a week. Will focus on reducing that by half next week.

Hi everyone. Had to force myself to do c25k this morning, needed to drop dd at the station and then decided to do impromptu food shop as I was passing and mucked up my routine, By the time I’d got home, put shopping away, I really wasn’t in the mood, but somehow found the motivation to go and do it.

@dudsville ahh those clubbing days, a great way of ‘exercising’ been a few decades since I last regularly did that! Walking is great exercise, I’m really enjoying the mornings when I go for a decent walk and I definitely feel better for walking to work and back each day. I work in a school so have the summer off, hence, why I’m able to focus on c25k at the moment. I will have to think carefully about what I do when I back at work, it’s trickier to fit in the time to exercise them.

@FitBeforeFifty well done on the two wine free days, definitely saving yourself a few calories too!

I haven’t weighted myself again today, I think I’ll hang on until Monday when it will have been a week and see what my loss (hopefully!) is for the past week. I’ve been hovering around 70kg, so would be great to see 69 something!!

Good luck @newbeliever, I hope the scales are in your favour.

I regretted stepping on them this morning- I was up 1lb 😭.

Pleased, and amazed, to report I managed to fast until 5.30 pm easily yesterday - especially as it was the day after a celebration meal/drinks. I was hoping that was my new pattern but didn't go past 3.30 pm today...

Summer holidays now for me (teacher) - not sure if that will make things easier or harder...definitely want to use the extra time to establish good routines/add variety to what I'm eating/introduce weight training (definitely going to check out the YT videos posted).

I wouldn't get too worked up about 1lb as weight can naturally fluctuate from one day to the next. I do weigh myself, but I pay more attention to how loose or tight my favourite pair of jeans feel. I weight train and find that I look and feel leaner even though I'm not actually losing much weight at the moment.

Weighing is such a challenge, so many approaches and they each make sense. I weigh daily. It keeps me focused. I find otherwise i develop a silly fear of the scales, but also this way I can see the daily minor changes, plus or minus, and i very a sense for my normal range.

We've got lots of celebrating this weekend but having this lead up to starting to calorie count has been great and i know i can trust myself not to go overboard with treats!

low carb commenced yesterday and today I’m doing double gym classes. Also no alcohol for 48 hours now.

i weigh every day and have an app on my phone so I can log it and see the pattern throughout the month. I typically gain at a weekend and drop again through the week.

Have a good day everyone.

I'm going back to daily weighing too @dudsville . I did it when I lost 5st before so definitely see the fluctuations as normal, and it really highlights the randomness sometimes of a weekly result Mon-Mon would look like a 2.8 lb loss but if I looked Wed-Wed it was more like 0.2 or similar often happened.

I weighed in today to start that - 2 lbs down since Monday (despite celebration meal & drinks out) so pleased. Yesterday I became really down - a combination of lots of things, my weight definitely being one of them, so this was a welcome sight today. I realised it held way too much power though - hence the decision to go back to daily weighing.

Thanks everyone, I might try daily weighing to see how I go. I know myself by breasts along must fluctuate by around 3-5lbs 😞.

I am going for a spa day today but it’s with a good friend so I will don my swimsuit - best stock todays patches in my bum though!

Gah, reading your posts has made me want to weigh myself now … I was hoping weekly would stop the demotivating effect of fluctuations when I feel I’ve been good but then daily is interesting to see the daily change. Hmmm!

@Transformatio , it's interesting how much this has the power to affect our moods, and it isn't always motivating, as it should be really, but I know that well.

I know from weighing daily that when when I was recently weighed later in the day for a medical appointment I gain loads in the course of a day, a shocking amount. I weighed myself at home straight after that appointment as I worried my scales were wrong - they weren't. So I weigh first thing, before any drinks and breakfast. @newbeliever I would therefore not go near my own scales at this point in the day, good luck to you, when you get that itch it's hard not to scratch it!

Yeah, I definitely weight first thing in the morning - don't want to see the number higher than it needs to be!

Do you have any other goals for 50 that you're working on?

I think my weight loss is pretty intertwined with all of mine to some extent. I'm increasingly aware that I have withdrawn a bit from socialising - partly circumstantial (good friends have emigrated/moved away) but is mainly my attitude. Not sure whether that is my age, my weight, a post Covid thing...or just a fluctuation but I am way less tolerant. Anyway, one of my fifties and beyond aims is to be more sociable. I think I would like to join a few fitness things for a start.

I also want to do the last 5% on getting the house together and maintain a nice, clean, welcoming home. Started some major decluttering today.

This is a really motivational thread! I love hearing about everyone’s approaches and successes.
week 1 is done and I have lost 4lbs. I know a lot of that will be water, but it’s a nice start. I think aiming for a 1lb a week is going to work for me. It means I’m not starving myself and I feel much more in control. Week 2 is normally where it goes wrong… wish me luck!

Can I join this

I weigh myself daily. Good day yesterday, didn't want to eat much. I have some basic exercises I am doing daily at the mo.

Hi @confusedgirlie , I've only recently joined too, seems like a welcoming group!

I’ve just read back through this thread for inspiration.

I took my eye off the ball for a couple of weeks as I landed a cracking new job and did a bit too much celebrating but back to reality now.

I’ve rejoined WW this morning, I like the plan, it works for me. I lost nearly 6st on it after my second child was born 15 years ago. I am currently a couple of stone above my lowest weight but I’m feeling ready to get that off. Starting 2 weeks before I go on holiday may not be the cleverest idea but hey.

Right, I’m off to get on the treadmill. Have a great day everyone.

@dudsville and @Transformatio your comments about only weighing myself first thing made me laugh. 😀 Agree, definitely before breakfast and after ive been to the loo! So, tomorrow morning it is.

@AuntieN 4lbs is absolutely amazing! A great start. I’m the same, I usually lose 3ish lbs the first week and then it settles down to 1-2 a week.

Welcome @confusedgirlie , I only joined this week too😊

@Spudlover welcome too; I’m also off on holiday in a few weeks time, my thinking is that at least I will have made a start and I won’t be as heavy as I would have been had I not dieted the few weeks before.

I did my W2R3 run this morning, didn’t feel too bad. Planning to cook a roast for lunch so will need to dry roast myself a potato and have lots of veg!

Like @Transformatio im also hoping to declutter the house over the summer. Lived in the same home for 25+ years and some cupboards need a serious sort out!

After my summer holiday, I’ll give myself a new weight goal and need a plan for exercise when I’m back at work. I can’t let it all slip again!!

I’ve also just booked a lovely house for my 50th celebration, so have that to look forward to next year 😊

Have a good day everyone.

In my search to continue the fiber thing today I switched white basmati rice (my favourite, I even like it plain with salt and a spring onion, a favourite from childhood) with couscous, the kind that needs to be cooked. I had it seasoned with soy sauce, peri peri dry seasoning and chili flakes and had roasted veg on top. It's a meal I'd often have, I did miss the lovely basmati but I want to give this a try. I was really surprised how much a suggested serving size turned out to be. I like a big meal but I will probably try 3/4's that next time as it was a lot. I've also got a bag of bulgar wheat to try as another alternative to basmati this week too.