I lost 11 lbs , im 50 and 5 ft tall, the holidays have put weight back on me and I am terrified of the weight gain!!!

[evry1noswen]

I put on weight when I turned 49 and now I am a young 50. I have an 11 and a 7 yr old. I weighed under 112 lbs tops all my life and then I went up to 129 and got down to 115. The cold weather and the holidays hit and i gained weight back and I hate it!!! I need some help any suggestions welcome, my elliptical broke and I can t get out much to walk in the snow. I used to jump rope but now that hurts my knees. How can i get my active mins in? any suggestions welcome! and nice to meet you all!

  huggs Wendy

[CarolS · Accepted solution]

Hi Wendy, I can feel your frustration.  I'm 5'3", 55 years old and in 2008 I hit an all-time high weight of 146!  Excercised my tail off, counted calories and lost 23 pounds.  I gradually slacked off on the exercise, quit counting calories, and my weight crept back up to 142.  Yuck! 

I purchased my Fitbit One at then end of June and have lost 20 pounds mostly by walking and some counting calories.  Running hurts my knees, so I walk, walk, walk with short jogs thrown in.  I'd say half of my walking is on the treadmill.  If I set a pace of 3.8 MPH I'll get active minutes.  If you have access to a treadmill, you might give it a try.

All the best to you!

[JenniLacey · Accepted solution]

How many calories you eat is more important when it comes to weight loss. You lose weight by eating less calories than you expend.

Your body burns calories just existing; organs functioning, breathing, etc. Even if you just laid in bed all day. This is called your BMR (basal metabolic rate), it differs depending on your age, gender, weight, height and lean body mass but can be estimated. Fitbit already estimates your BMR for you when you set up your account.

Next you burn calories by moving around and doing the basic things everyone does to live; running errands, housework, light walking, etc. Activity that doesn't get your heart rate into the cardio zone (60%+ of MHR).

Add these numbers together and even without exercise you are burning calories. I'm going to guess here but based on your height/weight, you'd probably burn somewhere around 1600-1800 cals without exercising. (Your fitbit will estimate your calorie burn and how much you should eat based on your goals.) That means if you ate 1300 cals/day, you'd lose 1/2 or more lbs/week. I know that sounds like a slow loss but for those already close to or in their healthy BMI and especially without exercise, a slower loss should be expected.

My point is, you don't even need cardio to lose weight. In fact, many people find it just increases hunger and they eat back most of what they burn. However, you may be lucky and not have to eat back what you burn and it can speed up the process.

Cardio IS important for cardiovascular health and general fitness. At least 30 mins of moderate-high intensity cardio 3x a week for heart health. If you're housebound, there are plenty of aerobic videos. Personally, I just jog in spot and jump around in my living room. 😉

Another point is that much of your holiday weight gain is likely just bloat or fluid retention. When we eat more than our bodies are used to and more sugar/sodium, we retain more fluid. Cut back on your sugar/sodium intake and you'll watch the pounds melt away in the next week or two. Honestly, I don't even glance at the scale until 2 weeks after a major holiday.

[Inga · Accepted solution]

1) a cheap rebounder is under 50 bucks and you can walk while you are watching a movie or TV in the evening

2) eating less is easier than exercising more 😉 

[bflogal13]

Check out sparkpeople.com. It works with fitbit and has daily 10 min excerise videos. It's a great website and everything I enter downloads to my fitbit. It has a free verision or you can upgrade for 3.99. I even got my husband to use it and he loves it! You can also download the app to your phone. Hope this works for you. Good luck!     

[xmodel]

Wow we sound like kidred spirits.   My name is Jo.  I'm a young 52.  If you put blonde hair on your photo that is pretty much me.  I'm struggling to get 10lbs off.  My eliptical broke as well ($495 to get it fixed....really!!!).  As you get older...I know I know but I'm finding time and time again that 50 is a turning point in many ways...that my joints just can't handle what they used to.  I tore my left meniscus just before thanksgiving.  I'm finding that a variety of movement seems best.  So now I walk two miles each day on my lunch hour and I bike 30 min on my stationary bike 4 times a week at home and free weights when I can fit it in my schedule.  I shoot for three times a week.  Sometime I'm lucky if I make it one time a week.  I try my best to fit fitness into my day as best as I can.  Yes parking at the far end of the lot, etc etc.  All those tips you have heard time and time again over the years.  Between the railroad steps and the subway steps I do 21 flights a day.  Acording to fitbit it does add up.  So my advice is fit it in your day and vary it as much as possible.  My boyfriend bought us both the fitbit force to keep us on track so we keep the 10lb goal in site.  Acts as a nice tap on the shoulder if I feel the need to eat something or if I forget to drink water.  Nice to meet you Wendy and good luck. 

[tallson]

Some form of exercise should be a part of every healthy lifestyle. But exercise increases appetite so in order to be sated what weight loss you achieve is trumped by your increased consumption. But that doesn't mean exercise is for nothing, undoubtedly you are healthier in a myriad of ways. Weight loss is achieved mainly through eating the right foods. Protein, fat and carbohydrate intake must be balanced in  a way that sates your appetite but gives you the chance to reduce fat stores, usually slowly. After all you didn"t gain the exta weight overnite so why expect to lose it so.  Good luck to you

[Kimberk24]

So the food log on sparkpeople will transfer over to fitbit dashboard?

[LeanneBlais]

How come I cannot see how many calories I burn in one activity? Like for instance, why can't I get a total cal. count of all the calories burned from a 5am-6am workout? I have to add them up myself from the bar graph? Please help!

[robert01]

Good point re getting active minutes on the treadmill.....i'll try it.

[EricD]

Hi Wendy. I feel your pain, lol. I do a lot of excercise because i love it, not just to keep the weight off. I actually enjoy walking in the snow. It takes more preparation, mores clothes, effort etc. but I still do it all year long. I have a pic of frost covering my facemask when I was in sub-zero temps. Anyway, i have excercised most of my life and found diet to be the key to weight loss or keeping it off, not cardio. Healthy eating, fresh stuff, no fast food, little as possible on the processed stuff and moderate portions. I can eat far more healthy foods without gaining weight than junk food. No sodas or HFCS which can be hard to do in the processed food world. I sweeten with honey. Fresh fruits, veggies, lean protiens, whole grains etc. it's nothing new but we forget in our hurried world. I limit my caffeine intake (raises my stress levels, and sleeplessness) and I don't take medications ( I believe they stifle weight loss or promote weight gain). for instance, I use apple cider vinegar for acid reflux, low salt intake because I have borderline high blood pressure (genetics i guess) etc. I know that in my experience as well as others doing loads of excercise can be negated by what you eat. On the other hand, eating healthy you can lose weight with very little excercise. Counting calories is ok but not as important as the calories you eat. So if you eat 500 calories of junk food as opposed to 500 calories of healthy food your body can't use them and you will remain hungry. Plus, processed/fast food is engineered to promote hunger not satisfy it. There are some interesting books on the subject. "politically incorrect nutrition" and "salt, sugar, fat" are 2 of them. I try hard not to eat out. It's expensive, I never feel satisfied and always suffer afterward because of the salt/fat, high carb content of the food. Oh, and age, it's a bummer but i eat healthier, excercise more (walking) than i ever have in my life, hardly ever drink and it's much harder to keep the weight off than it used to be. High impact excercises are a no no. I see a lot of runners on here but I walk. After many back surgeries, shoulders, knees I don't do those things anymore, thats why walking is so great. Anyway, I wish you luck but just remember, eat healthy. I stay away form the junk and I never get cravings for them. They are like a drug. The minute you use them you have to go through a "withdrawal period" to calm the cravings again.

[josephz2va]

Well there's always setting up a membership at work's gym if you have a fitness center indoors. Break times at work is a good time for exercises as well. Stairwell climbing, laps around the building floors, amongst other things at work.

[gabee]

Just checked out sparklepeople thanks for the recommendation x

[txmomof3]

I've been pulling up my HuluPlus and searching "Fitness videos" and there are so many.. also, Youtube on my tv, you can search a ton of videos on Youtube and there are some great workout videos.. To get the kids involved, I also pull up some songs and we dance around the house to burn the calories since it's too cold to go outside 🙂

[JerriAnn]

I bought a hula hoop from Dicks sports store. And I have an air stepper bought on line. I also bought

a Bodygym that Marie Osmond sells on QVC. The Bodygym is my favorite. Plus I walk at least 20,000 steps a day. Go to QVC and type in Bodygym she was on all day yesterday selling it. It is only around

$40. Worth every penny.

The exercises keeps my weight down but I don't lose . The trick is to keep a record of your calories.

Write it down. And I really hate doing it. But the calories can add up way too fast. I heard the guy

from Biggest Loser say to lose weight means 20% exercise 80% what you eat.    

[JerriAnn]

buy a hulu hoop.And write down everything you eat. I too gained weight after I had  my kids! But I got lazy and was eating out alot (burger King and any fast food available.) And drinking soda/pop by the liters.

I was working six days a week, married, and two sons. We all love eating out . I sure do regret being so

stupid. When I was tired I didn't care. Not a good habit to teach your kids either.

I haven't ate at McDonalds or any other fast food in a year. And believe me it is still hard to pass them by.

Lost 25 pds in the past year. It has been pretty slow going for me.  

[teanne]

Hi Wendy, I am 63 and 4"11". I lost 20kilos on Weight Watchers, I had shoulder and knee surgery and the medications and not working put 15 kilos back on me. I purchased a Fitbit on the 3rd may just gone and so far I have lost over 6 kilos. I lost this weight by putting on my music and dance around my lounge room for 90 mins. This gives me 10,000 steps. I have salads for lunch then off to work where I put in up to 10,000 more steps. (Sometimes, more or less) I burn up to 3,000 calories a day and I set my food intake to 1,200 per day. I can't eat anymore than that? I hope this helps you some. Good luck. 😀

[prettyjm04]

I lost motivation around August,I started fitbit March found out July I was pregnant and lost my baby.it took me couple of weeks to moved on with the help and support of fitbit friends i am back on the track,and I love to drink coffee and I found this Italian slimroast coffee and it helps me lose more weight.Now i weight 112 from 127.Anybody wants to try this coffee just message me and i can give free samples.