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For those of you over 40 please tell us your best tricks for losing weight and keeping it off.
Don't say basic stuff that we all know such as "I eat more sensibly and exercise every day". Please be more specific about the changes you've made, which supplements you added that you think helped with your weight loss [or general well-being]. What did you change specifically in regard your food intake and/or exercise routine?
Losing weight in your 20s is a piece of [chocolate] cake but once you hit your 40s it's game over, or game on, depending on your point of view. Gaining the weight is so easy but losing it is so much harder.
Thanks for all input!
P.s. - I'll get the ball rolling-
Two years ago I gave up all soda pop, even the diet stuff, and then eventually fizzy water-based ones. As a result, I lost 15 pounds. That's 15 pounds of permanent weight loss. When I do indulge in drinking pop once in a blue moon, my body's bloated, gassy response reminds me why giving it up was a very good idea.
I didn't read this whole thread, but I'm not even thirty, and I've started to notice that I've gained quite a bit of bulk in my stomach region. I don't really know how to diet, and I've actually read that cutting calories is bad for you, but, then, that's the advice most people give us; cut calories, and you will lose weight. Cutting calories may be a good idea if you are over your recommended calorie needs for the day, but can't starving yourself actually cause you to gain weight? If that's the case, what is the solution for those of us who just want to lose the fat and feel normal again?
I don't know if this is applicable to me or not, but my dad is in his seventies and doesn't worry about anything he eats, but he leads a very active lifestyle and easily burns the calories he consumes. He is not overweight by any means, even though if I tried some of his eating stunts, I would probably be a very large woman. He can eat a tub of ice cream in one sitting, although he doesn't make a habit of it. You would think that he would be huge, but he isn't even one pound overweight.
Cutting calories is not starving yourself. It's giving yourself what your body requires. For me, it happens to be about 1400-1500 calories. So the solution if you want to lose weight is to cut slightly back if you're not currently overeating. As far as losing in your tummy area, you'll just have to cross your fingers. I think mine will always be a problem, I think it's something I inherited from my mom. She was always thin but had what I called "the bowling ball."
Cutting calories is not starving yourself. It's giving yourself what your body requires. For me, it happens to be about 1400-1500 calories. So the solution if you want to lose weight is to cut slightly back if you're not currently overeating. As far as losing in your tummy area, you'll just have to cross your fingers. I think mine will always be a problem, I think it's something I inherited from my mom. She was always thin but had what I called "the bowling ball."
It's not that simple. There's "having fat" and "being overweight." You can be underweight, and still have fat. In such a case, cutting calories won't solve the problem.
What you eat can contribute to fat areas, even if you aren't overweight. How you exercise also can contribute to it. If your idea of exercise is a half hour of running your usual daily errands, then you are probably severely lacking in muscletone, and you'll see flab where there should be definition.
If you eat only 1000 calories per day, but that 1000 calories consists of starch and sugar and very little of anything else, then you will probably find yourself with a lovely round belly - and skinny arms and legs. You also might find diabetes in your future.
The person you're responding to doesn't eat a lot of calories in the first place. But most of what she eats is junk. That, combined with that 1/2 hour of "running errands" as her only form of exercise is why she has a pot-belly. She needs to eat BETTER - and she needs to look up "exercise" in the dictionary.
I disagree with this. IF someone is fat/obese I believe they DO need to give up things. Just like if someone is diagnosed with lung cancer, they should give up smoking, not just "cut back a bit". Or if someone is diagnosed with liver disease, they should stop consuming alcohol, not just "limit their drinking to only a cocktail or two per day". If a person is fat, they need to give up eating the foods that are horrible to them like cake, sugars, soda, ice cream, deserts, etc.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Three years on Weight Watchers telling me I can eat "anything I want" just in moderation. Well, some people can't eat some things in moderation. Trust me. I spent three years trying.
People don't tell alcoholics that they can "just have one beer". We know better (or we should). Folks don't tell heroin addicts to "just shoot up on occasion". More and more we're finding that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine to some people. And for those people, trying to moderate is as ridiculous as a smoker trying to just smoke on occasion.
Not for everyone, but for some people, the only way to take weight off and keep it off is to have the hard conversation with yourself, and accept the fact that there are some trigger foods you might have to cut out for good. And if that's hard, well, I don't know why people are of the mind that weight management is supposed to be easy.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Three years on Weight Watchers telling me I can eat "anything I want" just in moderation. Well, some people can't eat some things in moderation. Trust me. I spent three years trying.
People don't tell alcoholics that they can "just have one beer". We know better (or we should). Folks don't tell heroin addicts to "just shoot up on occasion". More and more we're finding that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine to some people. And for those people, trying to moderate is as ridiculous as a smoker trying to just smoke on occasion.
Not for everyone, but for some people, the only way to take weight off and keep it off is to have the hard conversation with yourself, and accept the fact that there are some trigger foods you might have to cut out for good. And if that's hard, well, I don't know why people are of the mind that weight management is supposed to be easy.
I go to WW too, and I agree that some of their policies need to be modified for some people. They have a program called Simply Filling that does not allow all the foods the point system does.
I also would not eat any of their pre packaged desserts or snack foods, since I think they are full of stuff nobody should ever eat. It is wise to keep in mind that, while many are successful on WW, it is basically a business which needs to keep members paying dues and buying their snack foods.
So you are smart to adapt any diet plan to your own specific body. I know what my pitfalls are and I could lose more if I chose to eliminate them, but I try to find a balance without feeling deprived.
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but once you hit your 40s it's game over, or game on, depending on your point of view. 
Gaining the weight is so easy but losing it is so much harder. 
