Everything is the same yet... Highest I've Been in 2 YEARS!

[Sebani]

Hi guys

I seriously need your help here. I'm getting so frustrated/discouraged with what's happening and I need help and answers.
A little backstory on my weight loss journey... My weight has fluctuated for over 10 years. I started wanting to lose weight at 15 when I was roughly 155-160lbs which is a lot for a 5'5.5 15y/o girl. I managed to lose weight over the course of a year to a rather healthy 135lbs and since then I've been fluctuating by 20lbs! Gain, lose, gain lose throughout high school. Then, at 135 going into university, I gained the freshman 25 going back up to 160! Again I managed to lose some, back down to about 150 by the end of my undergrad career. Then I entered a professional school. By 2nd year I got back down to 135lbs which was great!! I started light weightlifting and even got down to 130!! I was super happy and content with where I was at.

Fast forward 2 years and I managed to stay at 130 but now that I have graduated and started working, I'm starting to see the scale go up again. I am now back up to 135lb which is by no means heavy but I don't want this to be the beginning of one of those massive fluctuations. I've been fighting all summer to get back to 130 but I've only been going up. I am completely honest when I say I don't think that I am eating significantly differently than when I was in school. I would say maybe I'm eating slightly more than usual but I can recall how I ate back as a student and it was quite similar.. yet everyday, the weight on my scale goes up and I die a little on the inside

I actually find myself even hungrier and 'starving' now than I did back then. As i typee this, I feel so hungry but I'm afraid to eat anything because the scale number will increase in the morning. I know that I'm not as active as I was at school either but I'm not inactive either. I go to the gym about 3x a week and I've even added on cardio! (I used to gym 5x a week, weights only no cardio).

Can someone PLEASE help me. I'm seriously at a loss of what to do. I'm extremely discouraged and I can't fathom what I will do if my weight keeps going up like this. Seriously I need advice. fast

I also only burn about 1600-2000 calories a day depending on my activity level. I find that very low based on what I see other people posting.

Anyways please please please help me figure out what i'm doing wrong.

tl;dr: essentially eating the same, slightly less active than 2 years ago yet gained 5lbs. about to kill self because i cant figure out what's different

[Healthfirst]

Good Morning Sebani,

I couldn't help but relate to your predicament haveing been there myself. I should tell you I am a 57 year young now healthy woman who has gone through hell and back again with health issues which caused weight issues. Fortunately I have an amazing Doctor who helped me to get to a healthier place and weight with the proper medications and diet.  I am unfortunately like most people and I like the bad for you food and would always put some weight back on and have to lose it all over again.  It wasn't untill recently I pulled out a book my doctor recomened, a fabulous diet called "Fat Flush Plan" by Ann Louise Gittleman PhD., C.N.S.  that I have decided to commit to follow her healthy eating plan for life as I am frankly tired of always fighting my weight.  Now I will tell you that this diet requires a lot of prep and cooking time so if you don't cook or like to cook this is probably not the diet for you but I will also say I can promise you that you will lose close to 10 lbs in 2 weeks just by eating very healthy w/o any exercise, now I'm not saying don't exercise as it is oh so very good for you,   But if you have just a little to lose then 2 weeks is not so bad of a commitment.  Basically it is a liver cleanse diet and it goes on to tell you how to maintain your weight loss by continuing to eat healthy.  Most of us have livers that do not function properly b/c of our diet and no amout of dieting or exercise will help if your liver does not work properly.   There are certain foods that are taboo and cause water retention (not just salt) and weight gain.  This diet offers a wide variety of foods and even good fats, yes we need fat to lose fat.  There is  nothing wrong with eating eggs, avacados, nuts just to mention a few just in moderation like anything else.  I would suggest if you are interested in getting the book, read through it 1st and reread it again if need be there is a lot of information to absorb.  You don't have to order her products you can substitute them with over the counter supliments from a good health food vitimine store.  With a little figuring (reading and rereading) I got it down to these two Supliments to use in place of her products.   I use "Borage Oil" 1200mg with 240 mg of Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLC) Cold Pressed Hexane free and Chromium GFT.  These are taken 3 times a day with your meals along with a certain amount of Flaxseed oil depending on what other fats are on the menu for the day and plenty of protien, all kinds not just chicken and fish.  Know also that it is normal to fluctuate 3-5 lbs from you morning weight to your evening weight so you should always weight yourself at the same time every day.  Morning and night to start just so you can see the pattern, and we all have a weight loss pattern we are all unique.  

Two of the biggest culprets in weight gain are sugars and grains.   If you eat a lot of processed foods and grains sugars are hidden everywhere, read you ingredients and don't focus so much on the nutritional information.  Just as a side note Cancer feeds on sugar so if your family is genetically pre disposed to Cancer you should seriously eliminate sugar from your diet.  Cancer can not grow in an alkaline environment so keeping your body alkaline is very important and it is fairly simple.  Take a tablespoon of Apple cider viniger or the juice of half a lemon everyday mixed with water and stevia to sweeten it up.  I prefer a hot lemmon water first thing in the morning.  My final bit of advice is all calories are not equal for example you can't expect to eat all your calories from any one food and expect to lose weight unless you are eating only vegitables.  And the orriginal food pyramyd is upside down and we don't need near as many grains as it says we do unless of course you are a serious athalete.  There are some good healthy grain substitutes so do some research.  Good luck to you on your journey.  if you have any questions feel free to ask 🙂 

[divedragon]

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 I am completely honest when I say I don't think that I am eating significantly differently than when I was in school. I would say maybe I'm eating slightly more than usual but I can recall how I ate back as a student and it was quite similar.. yet everyday, the weight on my scale goes up and I die a little on the inside

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Sebani,

I may be wrong here, but based on the above paragraph I infer that you really don't know how much you are eating.  You may honesty think your are eating the same, but you don't really know.  Use the Fitbit app or find another to track your food intake/calories and be meticulous.  Every person I've ever known who can't loose weight complains, but never tracks their food.  Its the only way I can ever loose weight.  Everyone who does track their food that I know, looses weight.  Make sure you track what you drink as well as what you eat. 

I think you're doing most things rights.  What I can't measure is the intensity of your workouts, so you might consider upping the intensity.  Add some Hight Intensity Interval Training.  Intensity is something that is difficult for most people because, quite franky, it's unpleasant.  Its also easy for us to convince ourselves we are pushing it when we really aren't.  Sometimes you have to really look at your effort and ask, "Could I do it harder?  Could I do more weight, run faster, run harder, go longer."  Make sure it's your body that hits it's limit and not your mind.

Men typically have an easier time of losing weight than women do and the reasons seems to include more muscle mass and the hormone testosterone; however, since both sexes produce both testosterone and estrogen, the difference is in the amount.  When I read about men's health to loose fat and build muscle, its all about the hormones.  In addition to advice of ways to increase testosterone, there are as many suggestions as to how to reduce estrogen.   I have no idea if the same techniques would work with women (probably to a lesser degree if they worked at all), but they might be worth a shot.  To increase Testosterone drink pomegranet juice, onion juice(best when mixed with other fruits and veggine) and do only compound exercises when weight training (bench, squats, rows, etc).  To reduce estrogen, avoid soy and eat a lot cruciferious vegetables.

The final thing I can offer is to attempt Intermittent fasting.  You can read some of my posts here on fitbit or just google it and read for yourself.  Here again, women seem to have less success than men, but it might be worth a shot if nothing else than to help control your calorie consumption.

I wish you success in your attempt.  Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions or concerns.  I'm not an expert in nutrition or exercise - I just read a lot (and I've battled weight all my life too).

[Raviv]

The thing you need to do is a get a data set.  You don't feel like you're eating more than you were back then but:

1.  You don't really know whether that's true or not unless you track what you actually do eat.  It could be that you're eating the same number of calories but different macros.  Or it could be that you're eating the same foods but the portions being served have increased over the years.  You don't know for sure unless you track, at least for a couple of weeks.

2.  You're not the same person that you were back then.  Hormones are different, your age is different, your stress is different - you're a different person.

I also see that some of the panic is not about the 5 pounds - it's about where you think those 5 pounds are leading, and I get that.  But you do want to remember that it wasn't the end of the world when you gained before, and you did get back down to where you wanted to be, and that life was still good even when the scales were telling you different.

Don't stress about it.  To be honest, stress can cause weight gain all on its own (cortisol increases and then fat stores go up - it's a protective mechanism).  Just try tracking your food and activity for a few weeks and see if maybe there are some simple changes you can make.  You might be surprised at a couple of unhealthy habits or foods that have crept into your life and just switching to something healthier could make all of the difference.

[Sebani]

@Raviv @divedragon thanks for your input and advice. I tracked what ate today so let me write it down for you:

Breakfast
3 slices of chicken breast deli meat (50 cals per slice)
a small portion of seaweed salad. Measured to be roughly 150 calories
a small coffee with a splenda and milk

Snack
A tuna and rice crackers package you can get from costco. 6 thin rice crackers and a small can of tuna. I think the whole thing is about 200 calories

Lunch
Campbells cream of mushroom soup. No more than 300 calories

Snack
Peanuts 2 handfuls (overestimate to 400cals but I'm pretty sure it's less than that)
Munched on some salt and vinegar chips (about 150 calories)

Dinner
1 quarter leg from swiss chalet
steamed veggies
1/2 a bun
caesar salad LIGHT LIGHT dressing
Let's say that's about 400 calories

Trust me when I say this, I am STILL hungry despite eating about 1800 calories in a day. What the f*ck and I weighed myself just now, I clocked in at a whopping 137.5! motherF. It's ridiculous. I know how much I lose overnight so I can estimate that I will be 135.5-136 tomorrow morning and that means I GAINED. Tell me why this keeps happening. PLEASE!

[Raviv]

But you're still not weighing and tracking. You're guessing and estimating.

You don't have to do it forever, but until you know why things aren't working the way they should, you need to get real data, not just guesses.

If each of those foods were off by as little as 10%, then your actual intake is more like 2,000 calories. And I would be willing to bet it's off by more than that.

[Healthfirst]

Hey Sabina, I agree hormones and  Cortisol play a big part in how our body changes, in a few years even. From what I can see of what you eat in a day sodium is in most everything you are eating and not much of it is whole food.  Now whole food simpley means real down to earth non processed foods. There are some processed or canned foods that are acceptiable in small amounts but watch the sodium and sugar levels and ingredients.  If there is an ingredient in a food you don't know or can't pronounce you probably don't want to put it in your body.  A nutritionist once said to me "Read your Ingredients not just the nutritional values"  low sodium products are fine but too much added up in a day is simply too much.  If we bombard our liver with processed food constantly it cant process the fat and therefore it retains it, simply and in a nutshell. Coffee is ok in moderation but you must know caffien is in lots of foods like chocolate for instance and too much caffien is hard for the liver to process. once again suggest if you are truly interested in finding out why you are continuing to gain waight and can't lose, read the Book I suggested "The Fat Flush Plan" by Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S., if nothing else it will give you insight into things many people have no idea about, how we eat and what happens to our metabolisim.  Losing weight and keeping it off is not as simple or easy as calories in verses calories out If it were I would not have had the struggles I have had in the past.  I would also suggest you find a good holistic doctor and have your hormones, cortisol & thyroid levels tested.  I'm not suggesting a quack I have a doctor who is actualy a GP but thinks way outside the box and will treat with medication when needed and has a lot of great information about foods that heal.  he is on Facebook and you could follow him also, just search  https://www.facebook.com/williamfibromyalgia.spurlock.  I guess you just simply can't treat your body badly with bad fast processed foods and expect it to treat you well.  I wish I had someone tell me what I know now at a younger age, quite possibly I would not have had the health and weight issues I have had over the years and trust me it only gets harder as you get older.  Best of luck ❤️ 

[Healthfirst]

And yes I agree tracking you food consumption is crucial to weight loss you might be surprised and how much you might be eating/drinking in a day.  My fitness pal is also a great app and had a different data base than Fitbit so I go back and forth from each, if I can't find a food on fitbit I go to my fitness pal and it is usually there.  My fitness pal also gives you nutritional info like sodium, sugar, carb levels in food as well.  You might want to check out "Good Carbs" and "Glycemic Index"  some veggies like potatoes and corn are full of starch and sugar and are not the best things to be eating if you want to lose weight.  White flour, rice are also not great.  I personally chose not to eat Wheat as the GMO wheat we eat now is not processed the same and is not something a person should really eat on a regualr basis.  "Wheat Belly" bye William Davis, MD is also a great read.  It basically tells you the history of how wheat has change over the centuries and how it processes in our bodies.  Now if you must have bread like me sprouted wheat breads are great like Ezekiel & Quinoa is a great rice substitute.  Well that's it for today I'm sure I will think of something else to tell you tomorrow, Have a great day 🙂

[divedragon]

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@Sebani wrote:
@Raviv @divedragon thanks for your input and advice. I tracked what ate today so let me write it down for you:

Breakfast
3 slices of chicken breast deli meat (50 cals per slice)
a small portion of seaweed salad. Measured to be roughly 150 calories
a small coffee with a splenda and milk

Snack
A tuna and rice crackers package you can get from costco. 6 thin rice crackers and a small can of tuna. I think the whole thing is about 200 calories

Lunch
Campbells cream of mushroom soup. No more than 300 calories

Snack
Peanuts 2 handfuls (overestimate to 400cals but I'm pretty sure it's less than that)
Munched on some salt and vinegar chips (about 150 calories)

Dinner
1 quarter leg from swiss chalet
steamed veggies
1/2 a bun
caesar salad LIGHT LIGHT dressing
Let's say that's about 400 calories

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So you're still guessing at your calories.  I went to the Swiss Chalet website and checked the nutritional info.  You actually consumed 510 calories without the bun.  Just an ounce of salt & vineger chips is 160 calories an ounce of peanuts is 161 (don't know what a handful means, but maybe you can estimate from there).  you didn't mention the quantity of soup you had but there are approx 180 calories in a can not counting the calories if you made it with milk instead of water.  Based on my math and some assumptions, you're final total was pretty close at 1800.  Did you have anything else to drink?

1800 calories is probably close to your BMR for the day so that diet wouldn't have you loosing weight unless you did a lot of exercise.  You should probably target around 1400 calories to start loosing, but try not to go below 1200.

As to being hungry, that is probably being triggered by your liptine which is one of the primary hormones that tells us it's time to eat.  It's known as trend hormone.  Each time you eat, liptine is release along wtih insuline.  Your body monitors how and when its released so that it 'learns' when to expect food.  If it doesn't get it, it tries to tell you you are hungry.  You have to ignore it and change the way your body is responding to food.  You are going to be hungry for a while, but it will start to pass after about 2 weeks.  When I get hungry I imagine its not hunger pangs I've feeling, but my body breaking down the fat.

You may also be insuline resistent.  You can discuss this with your doctor and there are drugs that will help overome this if you are, but intermittent fasting can help with this too. 

So based on what you've told me, your caloric intake I believe is still too high.  Since we can document 1800 calories if you had any 'hidden' calories you've one from maintaining to gaining.  Also, consider your monthly cycles in your weigh ins.  Water retention may have a lot to do with it.  Weigh yourself only once a week on the same day at the same time.  This will give a more consistent picture of your trends. 

Again, recognize due to your 'habits' you're going to feel hungry.  That is something you have to overcome with will power in the short term, but it does get easier.  Continue to track your intake, but don't guess, know!  Weigh your food if you have to at least for a while.  Use the nutritional labels and restaurant websites to understand the calories you're consuming.  Feel free to continue to communicate your habits with me and I'll try to help you all I can.  Good luck.

[Sebani]

@Healthfirst @divedragon @Raviv You guys are all being really helpful and supportive, I appreciate your comments and I am listening.

Today I accurately documented my food with my food scale. I'm still STARVING but I came in at my goals for the day. I'm MOST likely going to gain weight though knowing my body. I also drank 1.5L of water.

[Healthfirst]

This meal plan looks much better today but I would ditch the bananas for now they are a very high glycemic food.  If you must go for nuggets at a fast food place chick filet is a much better choice otherwise you are eating pretty much cardboard and add in a Salad no dressing no crutons or cheese any veg you like (you can make and bring your own dressing using 1 tbsp of Flaxseed oil, Lemmon juice and a bit of stevia to your taste).  Try adding the Borage oil 1200mg with GLA 240mg and Chromium GTF 200mg with each of 3 meals a day,  you need the fat to burn the fat.  You should add in a tbsp of Psyllium Husk mixed in with 1tsp of  R.W. Knudsen's pure cranberry juice with a glass of water and stevia to sweeten it up, first thing in the morning, about 15 mins later drink the juice of 1/2 of a lemon with stevia and hot water (lemon helps you to lose weigh) then wait about 15 more mins for breakfast.  switch out your olive oil for flaxseed oil careful it has a low burn temp.  try some leafy greens vegtiables and a cooked vegitable or cooked greens (steamed in a a bit of low sodium chicken broth) for lunch instead of your banana nut package.  try to stay away from winter veg also for now but pretty much any other veg is fine.  Have a psylium husk drink mid evening befor bed also this is for fiber.  You want to try to have a granberry water (1 tsp. cranberry concentrate with 8 oz of water inbetween meals and 20 mins before lunch and dinner.  and at lots and lots of plain water as wel, you can google how much for your body weight.  I know this sounds like a lot to do but I'm certain if you increase your vegtiable consumption dramatically and add in the supliments and oils I mentioned you should not feel hungry.  I typically eat 1200-1600 calories when I am doing the Fat Flush Plan diet.  The chromium helps you to not feel so hungry and the borage oil and flaxseed oil help you to process you fats better and quicker so they are not hanging around and going into storage.  Eggs are great! snakcs or meals 2 a day. 2 tbsp of Flaxseed oil a day as well.   you may want to check into a good Whey protien Shake in the mornings for breakfast.  Natural Grocers (if you have one in you area) has their store brand and is WAY less expensive than name brands and just as good for you.  A protien shake consists of 1 scoop or protien powder (about 120 cal), 1c mixed berries, 1 tbsp flaxseed oil, stevia to your liking, about 1cup ice and 1 cup water. you can play with the ice and water amounts but when you get it right you have a nice thick milkshake consistancy.  I made one for my husband ontime and he thought it had icecream in it.  This is just a basic start to the fat flush plan diet but it should get you started.  2 weeks should get you anywhere from 5-15 lbs, everyone is different and I usually lose 10 when I do it.  The Fat Flush Plan book has a 2 week diet menu, it also has a 2 week phase 2 menu where you can start adding carbs. It also has a Phase 3 to help you continue on in a healthy eating lifestyle for hopefully the rest of your life. Well that's about it in a nutshell but reading the book will give you the science behind it and is well worth the effort for your health's sake not just your weight.  Trust me when I say this you will not continure to keep your youthful health if you don't eat well.  Around 40 or so all hell broke loose in my body and at my lowest I seriously contemplated buying a scooter to get around shopping.  I did have to use the ones at the stores that provided them.  On that note it is time for my breakfast and a 20 mile bike ride to run an errand.  buy the book ❤️ 

[Raviv]

I do like the more recent foods a little better.  Honestly, it looks pretty good.

Have you tried having a glass of water when you start jonesing for some food and it's still early?  That seems to stall it a bit for some people.  Also, getting really involved in a project, so you're distracted an not focusing on "When can I eat again?" like I'll sometimes do.

Eventually your body should adjust to smaller portions, unless you're doing a whole lot of cardio and not accounting for it by increasing your calories accordingly.  In that case, your hunger would be telling you to... well, increase the calories to match the increased output.

[divedragon]

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@Sebani wrote:

I'm MOST likely going to gain weight though knowing my body.

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Now for the next tip: STOP STESSING!  It increases cortisol and prevents or slows down fat burn.  A positive attitude can help too so when you are hungry, I want you to close your eyes and replace that feeling mentally with the idea that the feeling you are having is the your body breaking down your fat.  Imagine the blood flowing through your fat stores, telling them to give up energy.  The fat cells are breaking open and SEE the ketones flooding into your blood.  KNOW that you are metabolizing fat.  Keep a positive mental attitude.

I just weighed myself and lost another 3 lbs in the last week.  I have been practicing Intermittent fasting for the time and I'm thrilled with the results.  I eat really only 1 meal a day, but it contains all the calories I've set for myself (15-18 hundred), but you can eat 2 or 3 meals so long as the calories don't exceed your daily allotment.  You can put your feeding window at anything less than 8 consecutive hour, giving you 16 hours in the day that you are NOT eating anything (water, black coffee, tea are allowed).  You sleep half of those 16 so you'll only be hungry at most 8 hours.  Embrace that hunger and don't dwell on it.  See it as a good thing, not a bad thing.  You really are a long way from starving and you'll be retraining your body to release hormones more naturally.  It may improve insuline sensitivity and help you loose weight faster.

[hermitstyle]

Honestly, unless you weighed all of that and scanned the barcodes of the food or got the nutritional data from http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/, you're still probably eating more than you think.  You don't need to go on any crash/fad diets, you don't need to add anything special, you don't need to take a whole lot of supplements or vitamins, you don't even need to cut food out.  You need to get a scale and weigh everything that goes in your mouth.  I can promise you that the packet of oatmeal you had for lunch typically weighs more than the serving size that is recommended, so you're eating extra calories.  It might not seem like a lot, but those extra calories add up in the long run.  Stop stressing.  I know it's hard, trust me, I'm trying to lose my last 15-20lbs from the almost 70 I've lost so far and I feel like I'm never going to lose it, but it's taking it's time.  Felling hungry?  Drink some water.  Feeling hungry and you're not doing anything?  Maybe you're bored, get up and move around.  I've lost all of this weight basically on my own, never cut out any foods or went on any special diet.  I have days where I just go overboard, but just log it and move on.  You can't take it back.  You'll lose the weight when your body wants to and where it wants to.  There is no way around that unfortunately.

[Healthfirst]

not sure what made you think I don't wear a helmet, always do 🙂 

[Healthfirst]

Raviv, not sure what made say "you should always wear a helmet"? always do that would just be plain stupid not to but I do see a few people out there that think they are impervious to accidents and head injury, like the unfortunate runner in my area (who was so plugged in to her headphones that she did not hear the warning from a biker and lost her life b/c of the unfortunae collision God rest her soul).  I also have a head light and a tail light on my bicycle that I use in all light conditions.  What I'd like to see is foot traffic a little less unplugged so they can hear a biker when they give them the waring "passing on your left" that is provided they are using the right lane as they should.  you just can't imagine the carlessness I see on the trails some days.   

Hermistyle,  

The Fat Flush Plan is not a "Fad diet in fact it was published in 2000 and not her first book on the subject of Healthy Eating.  It is in fact a lifestyle eating change pure and simple and consists of pure whole foods. The few suplements used are scientifically proven to help "Flush" out the fat and bloat from year of abuse to our bodies. I agree weighting and scanning foods when possiable is crucial to a positive outcome.  

I can see that this is probably a much younger audience than myself and have not yet experienced the negative impact of not eating a whole food diet for too many years.  I like yourselves always though I was eating fairly healthy.  Until you experience being siriously Ill I would suggest you don't make remarks like "Fad Diet" untill you have done the research.  

On that note I do believe I am going to leave this conversation b/c it is probably falling on deaf ears, no one can change the way they eat unless they want to.  Most bad food is addictive plain and simple, so much crap goes into processed foods to make you want more and to make it cheaper to produce, you have no idea the cost manufactuers go to target your taste buds.  Lables are misleading and the FDA allows it, once again READ the INGREDIENTS.  Those chocolate covered almonds that sound mostly healthy have Shelac (you know, the stuff used to finish wood furniture) to make them shiney. Just because a food is labled Non GMO or Organic does not mean it has healthy ingredients in it.  Sugar is sugar reguardless of its form be it refined, in grains, fruit or veg, or othewise and is highly addictive.  Sadly I wish I had somone to give me advise on my not so great eating habits years ago but it mostly did not exist in my youth and people who ate healthy were dubbed, fanatical, crazy or just a little weird.   So I shall go on my fanatical, crazy, weird say and bid you all good luck and good health 

[Raviv]

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@Healthfirst wrote:

Raviv, not sure what made say "you should always wear a helmet"? always do that would just be plain stupid not to but I do see a few people out there that think they are impervious to accidents and head injury, like the unfortunate runner in my area (who was so plugged in to her headphones that she did not hear the warning from a biker and lost her life b/c of the unfortunae collision God rest her soul).

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That was not a comment to you.  That's my signature line.  It comes at the tail end of every post I write.  I have had five total knockout concussions over the years, the most recent being about 4 years ago, so I felt it was an appropriate slogan, injecting a bit of humor into conversations.

It's also the most common remark I hear after telling people my life story.  So it's kind of my tagline.  Not directed at you.

[rpw]

Your metabolism is changing.  What worked for you last year may not work anymore.  I have found that I need to constantly revisit my strategies as I age. I'm 46 now and still feel like I'm pretty fit (certainly the most fit of my work colleagues my age), but it gets harder every year.  But also more rewarding.

One thing I found was that weight training works much better for me for weight loss than any amount of running/cardio. I could run all day and not lose anything, but a 30 minute weights session will kick my methbolism into gear and burn those calories all day.  I also do a lot of TRX/Crossfit for core work, which I think has helped with things like backaches and so forth.

Good luck!  You can do it!

[48785]

Spoiler

I agree with you Sebani.

[48785]

Spoiler

I agree with you Sebani.