How would you start losing weight in your late 50s?

[Madeinitaly]

I’m 5ft 2 and weigh 11 stone. I’m so disgusted with myself as I’ve never been this weight even at my heaviest, but am not sure how to start losing the weight. I’m late 50s so guess age doesn’t help. I feel as if I’ve a tyre around my waste which bothers me a lot. I’m on ADs for anxiety and worry if I come off them I’ll feel worse than I am now.
Where Would you start? Thanks

I’m 57 and a year ago I started Mounjaro. I’m 5’7, weighed 16.5 stone and was verging on a size 20. I was desperate to lose weight but couldn’t stick at anything. I’ve now lost 5 stone and am a 12/14. I feel so much healthier. It’s not for everyone and it’s not cheap but it has absolutely worked for me.

Don't be disgusted at yourself. Do you have disordered eating or have you just found you've gained weight despite eating and exercising as you always have?

Lots of sensible ways to lose weight. Firstly eat healthily at a calorie intake suitable for your size. Do some fasting or at least don't graze. Low carb might be easy for you to stick to for a while and get a good start.

Honestly some people's bodies really work against them in menopause, I found I couldn't lose weight on 1200 cals at 5'6 and eating less made me tired and miserable.

I take a microdose of weightloss injections now, they have little effect on my appetite, I eat around 1400 cals a day and yet I've gone from bmi 26 to bmi 24 in 10 weeks. It must be the anti inflammatory and insulin sensitivity effects. Im only aiming for bmi 22/23 then will take a low dose long term, it's costing me £15 a week.

I’ve yoyo dieted all my life. I was early 50s and 12 stone 9 and at 5ft 1 I felt hideous and my dh was overweight as well and we both decided to do something about it. We started Wli (Mounjaro for us) and a year later we are both over the moon with the results. I am now 8stone 4 and he lost over 8 stone. I am 55 and I’ve never been this weight in my life except when I was a child 🤷🏻‍♀️

Where do you buy the microdosing level at £15 per week please?

Don't be disgusted with yourself. Life gets in the way, and it's no surprise that the changes which come with ageing, especially for women, have a part to play too.

I personally would start with the traditional route: healthier eating, resistance training, regular cardio and building good habits. Injections would be a plan B. Not because I think the injections are bad. They clearly have an important place and can be life changing for many people. But if you can get the same result through healthier eating and exercise, you are avoiding the side effects, the ongoing costs and the possibility of needing long term medication that go with injectons. Some friends have had issues with affordability. There is currently no solution to the weight gain on stopping issue. That's a big one for me, personally.

I did a quick search and there are some fantastic threads on here. There are also great groups with tips and suggestions on Facebook, and I suspect Instagram etc

I would do intermittent fasting. It works. If you do 16:8 and eat two meals per day, and walk every day (aim for 10,000 steps), you will lose weight.

Dr Mike Diamonds on YouTube has been amazing for me. Simple tricks like walking after eating and just getting more sleep. He focuses on menopausal women too.

Eat MUCH more protein - it's like natural ozempic and kills your appetite. You don't need to feel hungry, just change a few habits. Also take it gradually, as your body gets used to it. The worst is to overdo it and give up.

A tiny improvement every day lasts much longer than a massive shift.

Start slowly, make small sustainable changes. You don't need a strict diet, you need a new way of living. Look for ways to eat that will nourish and honour your body, find movement that makes you feel better mentally and physically. Don't punish yourself. Give it time.

”eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. Ie eat real food, only eat to satisfy your hunger, and focus on veg and fruit with less fat and sugar.

Work out what your weaknesses are and do what you can to fix those - do you snack a lot? Eat big portions? Alcohol is full of calories.

If you want to calorie count I’m using NutraCheck, but you probably don’t need that to get you going.

It gets so hard as you get older
i drop to 1600 calories a day yet it doesn’t make a difference.

What have you tried so far @Madeinitaly ? It is hard to know what to suggest without some idea of a starting point. What do you currently eat and what sort of activity levels do you currently have? Other than taking ADs, are you on any other medication? Do you have any long-term conditions? Are you post menopause now?

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that there are a million diets out there - all of them work, if you stick to them. The biggest problem is sticking to them long-term.

I used WLI to get a grip on my own weight in my mid-50s and it has been life-changing for me, but I have no idea if that is a route you want to consider.

Have you considered Mounjaro or Wegovy tablets? I have gone from size 16 to size 8 in a year and feel fantastic.

I started with Voy, bmi 26 and menopause is sufficient for gp led clinic. It was maybe £120 for a 0.25mg pen which I took at half doses over 6 weeks because worried about side effects.

Switched to swift doctor, less than £100 for the 0.5mg pen, again half doses over 6 weeks.

I'm now taking 0.5mg doses from a 1mg pen, £100 and I'll keep it for 8 weeks which literature says is fine as long as refrigerated. Will stay at this dose then titrate down when at goal weight. Plan to go to 0.5mg pen for 0.25mg doses over 8 weeks. Swift doctor let you do 8 week orders and stay on.

I've never lied about my weight or medical conditions.

If you don't want to click count Healand Clinic will provide microdose even for slim people but it's expensive.

All of this is Wegovy, Mounjaro is more expensive and imo too effective, I didn't want to lose weight too quickly or have excessive appetite suppression.

You just buy a normal pen and do fewer clicks. So a pen might last eight weeks instead of four.