Is there a secret to losing weight in your 40s?

[Kathyparr]

I'm 43, definitely peri-menopausal. I've been trying to lose weight since January and not lost 1lb. I've reduced my calorie intake to 1200-1400 calories per day and I go to the gym three times a week following a full body workout designed by the gym. I also play sport once a week. My job has changed and I don't move anywhere near as much as I used to.

I'm 5ft2 and would like to lose 1.5 stone but it's just not shifting. Any advice?

I’m 45 and lost 2 Stone last year by just making a few changes.

I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I was full, didn’t eat beyond satiety which often meant leaving food on my plate.

I made sure that 1/3 of my plate was vegetables.

Walked as much as I could.

If I fancied something sweet at night, I had it, but with a piece of fruit so that I didn’t overdo it on the cake / choc / whatever treat it was.

I didn’t change anything else about my diet. I’m still eating butter, creamy sauces etc, just ate only when hungry and stopped when full.

The weight dropped off me and has stayed off, I haven’t once felt hungry and haven’t had any cravings because nothing’s forbidden.

@JuniperJanet My mistake, my point to the OP should have been exercise calories rather than total.

Just trying to be helpful because the apps that count calories used from exercise are notoriously inaccurate, so best not to be factored in.

Intermittent fasting ( 20:4) during week. 18;:6 at weekend
Also, you have to keep moving ( not just going to the gym). Do a little bit of exercise daily. There are many resources on YT you don’t have to leave your home
You also have to vary your exercise; combination of strength, flexibility and cardio
Walk more
Reduce sugar
Remember that some forms of exercise can cause you to become ravenous . Moderate exercise is the best

My fear is having a flat ass

oh god that's my fear too* *@LegoTherapy !

Isn't it sad that when we lose weight we might lose our lovely curves. I am trying to keep my ass by doing clams and glute bridges a few times a week. I can't do lunges or squats as my knees are rubbish.

I think its just slower tbh, I have been loosing on average about a pound a month which seems so slow but at least the scales are going in the right direction, I even managed to to put too much on after Christmas. Certainly wouldn't be cutting calories to 1000 but I am fairly active.

I think it's just slower too. I'm in my 50s and have lost a stone (2 more to go), and it's taken me 6 months really.

I'm eating less crap and more veg, and fish. Cut down on drinking unless there's a good reason for it...and having a banana at work instead of raiding the biscuit tin. I'm eating carbs but usually wholemeal.

I'm doing weights at least twice a week and walking more. Now the weather is better I'm going to pick up an old habit of a 5km walk every day that involves a hill.

Try the fast 800 diet or 5:2 (5:2 was too much for me though, 800 is manageable)

I upped my walking, didn’t change my food and that helped the weight fall off.

Try the human being diet. The majority of people doing it are a similar age bracket and it's incredibly successful at shifting middle aged weight gain. The author is on Instagram and there's a really supportive community on there.

Weight training is amazing as you get older. Walking for cardio, plus eating healthier, watching portions and cutting out junk. All these things are straightforward and can become part of your lifestyle long-term. I lost 30lb when I was 48.

I follow a low carb diet, I only eat carbs that are in vegetables and a limited number of fruits. I have just started back on this and have lost 10lbs in the last 9 days. I don't weigh, measure or count anything. This works for me because I don't crave anything and feel full after meals. That said it has worked for me before very successfully but if I start eating other things then the cravings and over eating slip back in.

Ozempic

I'm a 100 kg man (40), on around 2000 calories. I go to the gym and lift heavy weights four times a week for an hour and I've shifted about 0.5 kg a week. I should be on 3500 calories!

I used to do that before age 35 and I'd easily lose 1.5 kg a week or so.

I feel people's pain!

My advice is to watch the micro-calories. You'd be surprised how quickly those forgotten calories add up... the random boiled sweet, the splash of milk in your coffees, the few chips your kids didn't finish at dinner, that one peckish yoghurt as a snack between meetings...

And timing is key. Don't eat after say 6pm.. it all goes to fat!

@C1N1C why would anyone want to know what a man does when we are talking about women and the effects of hormonal changes in mid-life🙄 Do you feel the need to offer your rishon on periods and pregnancy too?

• wisdom. Can't edit on the app.

I think the 'become part of your lifestyle' bit is really important tbh, I'm so much busier now with young kids than when I was in my 20s and could spend 3 hours at the gym 3 times a week.

My sister did it by walking 5k a day and tracking everything she ate....she lost 3 stone in a year in her late 50s. Without too much effort to be honest. She had been eating a tonne of crap though before to be fair.

Quite!

Most male Personal Trainers and Nutritionists can at least acknowledge that hormonal fluctuations across a woman's cycle and life span have a significant impact upon weight gain/loss.

What a random man does in terms of eating and training is about as useless to a mid life woman as what a fishes exercise and diet is to a bird.

We're not remotely the same.

Exactly. We are fighting hormones, mens' fucking hormones as they age probably make it easier for them to lose weight ffs.

Its easier for men to drop weight anyway.

Bit harsh to someone offering solidarity with the changes age brings.
I think @C1N1C suggestion of watching the little items you hardly notice is perfectly valid.

Low carb worked for me when I just turned 40. Zero carbs in the evening, limited carbs for breakfast and lunch.

I agree with you but tbh we could all take a leaf out the average mans book and do more weight training instead of prioritising cardio. I've been saying I need to do more weights for a year now but its so hard to fit it in around the rest of life compared to walking and the occasional run.

I got the fittest of my life in my 40s and it was 100% down to exercise. I follow this woman from Montana on Insta (and apologies as I can't remember what she's called off the top of my head) who is older than me but very inspirational about aging. I remember she posted a story about her exercise routine and it really hit with me as she did something every single day and I, just, didn't. I also kind of realized that I had inadvertently slowed down in my daily routine as my kids were older and I didn't have to literally run after them anymore.

So, I just made a plan, started getting up earlier and doing something every day. Because I didn't really know what I liked to do, I tried everything. A lot of places offer their first class for free and I took advantage of many of them. Hot yoga (I got dizzy lol), Antigravity yoga (didn't do much but was LOADS of fun) Orangetheory (killed me. Loved it), Pilates, Outdoor Bootcamps, Hardcore Aquarobics, I tried them all! Nowadays, I revolve between hiking, running, rowing (rowing is brilliant for you and you can normally find a cheap second hand one on FBMP) and reformer pilates. The eating then kind of fell into place naturally.

I would also second previous posters as if you've been really trying and not lost anything thus far, it's worth going to get some blood works run to see if there's an underlying issue. Good luck!

I use MyFitnessPal and stay to 1200 calories a day plus at least 25 minutes brisk walking and can lose 2lb a week.

I'm 46 and 5'5 and trying to lose 10lb from a start weight of 10'5lb.

The second I have a glass of wine or eat any bread it creeps back up though.

I literally have to stick to the calorie maximum otherwise there's no point.

You need to weigh your food and cook from scratch more often because processed food has ‘minimum’ weights not actual; and most meat is also the same. All it takes is a slightly larger chicken breast than normal for you to go over your calorie limit