Your best advice for losing weight after 40 (patient, stomach, walk my dog)
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I've twice lost over 20 lbs. in the last 5 years, and each time gained all or some of it back - not because the diet was bad, but because I'm rather addicted to binge-eating. I'm over 50.
I'm trying again, resolved not to backslide, or at least to eventually get to my goal - at least 60 lbs. lost - and keep it off. I'm so far doing as before, a system that works for me: cut down the carbohydrates to about 75-100 g. per day, add more water, drink diet soda (I always have), eat less red meat (maybe once or twice a month), eat lots of low-calorie vegetables I enjoy (1/2-3/4 fresh peas, and all the kale and spinach and cucumbers and tomatoes I want) with a fat-free dressing or vinegar, egg whites and 100-calorie packets of walnuts and almonds are my friends (no more than 2 a day and usually just 1), no bread (it just stalls the weight loss), a handful or two of fresh blueberries a day, 1-2 peaches daily in the summer. I've recently added a 1/2 cup of fat-free milk daily. I sometimes cook skinless chicken breasts or thighs, or pork chops, try not to eat more than 5 oz. of it per day. And I often heat up Weight Watchers entrees in the microwave, though never more than one per day. I watch sugar content (though I need to learn more about it) and don't eat/drink stuff with high fructose corn syrup unless it's one of the last ingredients listed and even then, not very often. I tend to usually not have more than 1000 calories per day, and sometimes have less.
I hate exercise. I should do more. I manage to walk 25-35 minutes a day (more when the weather's cooler) with my dog; and for some of that time, I push myself to walk fast. I hope to increase my stamina.
With this diet, though maybe with a bit less fresh fruit, I was able to lose 40 lbs. last year.
I think the best method is to find a diet that you can keep to for a reasonable amount of time and that works for you, and if you cheat, don't eat a ton and get right back on the diet. My own emotional investment in a diet is tied to results; if I don't get any within a week or two, I tend to get upset and am more likely to cheat.
My advice is to cut out all the junk/snack foods along with sodas and so-called fruit-like juices.
Water and green tea are terrific.
Eliminate processed white foods such as sugar, white flour and run like the dickens from anything that contains hydogenated or parially-hydrogenated fats (most baked goods and junk foods have these nasty fats).
Say goodbye to high dairy fat from ice-cream, whipped cream, and processed cheeses.
There ya go! You'll not only lose weight but be healthier and filled with energy.
I have used Suzanne Somers books for years and eaten that way and it has worked very well for me. My Dr. recommended the HCG Protocol and I use Somersize in between. Great benefits, no flabby skin. Excellent energy levels and they work excellently together. I have lost over 80 lbs and kept it off.
I eat junk, and the weight came off with reducing junk, increasing whole foods, and exercise. In fact, MOST people who lose weight -successfully- and gain fitness, do so by reducing junk, increasing whole foods, and exercise.
A bite of cheesecake isn't "fattening." A slice, however, is. A soda is not fattening. A 1-liter bottle every day, however, is. A single-serving sized bag of potato chips is not fattening. A 5-ounce bag three times a week, however, is.
Foods are not fattening. OVERCONSUMPTION of foods is fattening.
The vast majority of people who are NOT obese - DO eat those foods you insist are fattening. What makes them different from the people who eat the same foods and get obese? A few things:
1) genetics plays a part. It's not a deciding factor, but it does enter into the equation.
2) OVERconsumption, proportionate to an individual person's metabolism. If your body metabolizes 2000 calories less efficiently than my body metabolizes it, then you WILL gain more weight than I do, when we both eat 2000 calories worth of the same foods. So you will simply need to eat less of it. You can still eat it - just less.
3) Lack of exercise. If I need 1200 calories of food to maintain a no-loss, no-gain, just by waking up and moving to the couch, and not doing anything all day long - and I eat 1500 calories and do the same thing - I WILL gain weight. However, if I eat 1500 calories, and add enough exercise to burn 300 calories, I will continue to maintain that no-loss/no-gain status. I can get that 300 calories burned by standing up and pacing the living room for 12 hours, instead of sitting on the couch for 12 hours. It's not that difficult.
If eating a whole slice of cheesecake, a 5-ounce bag of chips, 2 litres of coca cola, and a half a fried chicken every single day, 7 days a week, and having zero exercise routine at all makes you gain 20 pounds a month...
Then eating a BITE of cheesecake, a single-serving sized bag of chips, 1 8-ounce glass of cola, and a chicken breast with the skin peeled off only once a week, and eating salads, fish, and drinking water the rest of the week, and walking around the block for 30 minutes per week, will make you LOSE weight. But you're still able to eat cheesecake, chips, fried chicken, and drink soda.
It's basic math and basic physics. It's also nothing new, and millions of people who are NOT obese, are following this general guideline every day.
The thinnest woman I know eats candy and junk food in small amounts daily. She drinks half a can of regular soda daily. She also eats the rest of the time in a healthy manner and exercises often.
I got down to my lowest weight while eating a snickers bar every day. It fit into my daily calorie amount. Now I have given up candy, I am up at least fifteen pounds. I was trying to eat healthier, but even healthy foods can have too many calories. I will return to calorie counting and shoot for an 85/15 division. ( 85% healthy, 15% whatever I want) that gives me 200-250 calories to play with every day.
45 here, 60lbs over weight. In the past I've dieted combined with excercise and would lose 20-30 then plateau and get frustrated then end up gaining it all back.
Again I am working on dropping. So far I've been able to stablilze my diet..mostly vegtables, greens, chicken, turkey. I drink 50-60oz of water a day. What I'm having a problem with is portion control. I am a fast eater and that is a huge problem with trying to keep the portions down. Also I find the more I work out (usually walking, and biking) the harder it is for me to maintain my portions. The only other things I drink are coffee and bourbon. It is going to be tough but I think I definitely need to eliminate those two things as well.
As it is I loose maybe a pound a week, sometimes nothing. I never see the drastic drops I hear people have. It is very frustrating sometimes.
46 here, about 50 lbs. overweight. I am now counting calories, and have been for about 2 weeks, and eating about 200 calories above my BMR and I have lost two pounds so far and already getting into clothes I've been hanging in the "dream closet." I was maintaining my high weight at the exact same number for years so I was probably eating about 2200 calories per day. Now I'm eating 1700.
I know I should be doing weights to boost my metabolism and walking to help my weight loss along a little quicker.
I lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks by cutting out all wine/alcohol, no other changes. So if vino with dinner is your thing that's all you may have to do for a minor weight drop.
I lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks by cutting out all wine/alcohol, no other changes. So if vino with dinner is your thing that's all you may have to do for a minor weight drop.
This is very true. I love my wine, but when my weight creeps up a few lbs I just cut it out and the weight comes right off. Alcohol is a diet killer, but life is a balance. You make adjustments that you can live with in the long run.
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