Senior Women: Get Honest About Fitness and Weight Loss Strategies

[SunsetRunner]

Hello Ladies,

I've been a Fitbit user for many years, but as I age I'm finding it very hard to accept the weight gain and body changes I've experienced as I approached and reached my 60th birthday. I wonder if women of this age would be willing to share what has worked for them, such as strength training, increasing active minutes, amount of calorie deficit, addressing sleep problems, etc. I hope we can inspire and help each other. Here's to enjoying life and feeling healthy and comfortable with ourselves!

[cbetty1025]

I turned 65 last fall and am having a hard time accepting that I have gained all of this weight back. I used to be so active: from 40-56; then having to give up downhill skiing, aggressive bike riding, jogging and roller blading; all due to injuries and damage to my knees, then feet issues along with shoulder surgeries/ This all contributed to the excessive weight gain. 

Looking forward  to getting some encouragement from this group of Senior Women. I have read the book "It Starts With Food" and have discovered that sugar and carbs are my biggest enemies; but I seem to gravitate to them when in stress situations and/or boredom, lack of proper planning on groceries. 

I have all intentions of buying and eating the things that I should eat more of: greens, vegetables & fruits, less sugar and carbs. Then I fall off track, be it making it for my husband---who needs to gain weight! End of ranting for now! LOL

I will be following and picking up support from here. Thank You All in Advance!

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Cbetty1025,

sorry to hear about those issues, sounds rough. I agree with your thoughts on food. I’m still able to handle some strenuous activity but finding lap swimming to be not only challenging but restoring. I actually feel better when I finish my pool session. I’m going to check out that book.

Get hubs some ice cream in a flavor you don’t like 😊. 

[cbetty1025]

I'm trying to make it a point to get up and move hourly. I love to sew, knit and read.....while vacationing in Florida. I am within walking distance of the beach, but allergies are flaring right now. I try to go for that walk for at least a half hour; to hour and do it just as the sun is starting to set; less people to dodge. Shooting for the 250 steps hourly! And, bought some Slim Fast for chocolate sweet flavor....so as not to crab snack (more bad carbs). Drinking natural juices in between water and coffee. I even went meatless at breakfast with only one slice of sourdough toast--no jam. Getting back to my Weight Loss Mottos of: Less is More Healthy! One Day at a Time! One bad habit at a time! More Walking ~ Please! Namaste`

[Bogdel]

@cbetty1025, I am jealous to hear that you are so close to the beach! (smiling).

I was never as active as you used to be, although I was in pretty good shape most of my life. However, and as soon as I turned 50, the scale started to go up. Four years ago (2016), the doctor told me that my cholesterol was high and that I was "prediabetic". That shook me up - not to mention that I was not very happy with my weight, my looks, and my energy level. So, I started doing some research on reversing the "prediabetis", which led me to Dr. Joel Fuhrman's books, "Eat to Live", and "Reversing your Diabetis". This, along with the fitbit, was a life-changer. 

Based on Dr. Fuhrman's sugestions, I replaced most "white foods" with Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, Seeds (and nuts). The acronim for this is G-BOMBS. 

I still use meat, occasionally, but mostly as a condiment, rather than as an aliment. 

At the same time, I bough my first fitbit, which was has helped me enormously, because, in addition to logging my food intake on this app, I also joined a Weigh Loss challenge group, on fitbit. I was timid at first, and I sat small goals. But when I saw that I lost 10 lbs in the first 6-week challenge, I was very encouraged, and I kept getting back on the next challenge, and then on the next, and the next, until I was close to my ideal weight. 

Oh, it felt so good to get rid of all 14 and 16 size clothes, and get back to my normal size 10-12! My blood sugar was back to normal within the first year, and it's been normal ever since. I am still working on my LDL, which tends to oscilate.  

Last year I lost my fitbit, and sure enough, I gained a lot of weight back - not as much as I used to have, but if I didn't get this new fitbit, I probably would have gotten back to where I used to be. 

The lesson for me is that, if we want to stay healthy and slim, we need to work on it daily. It has to be a lifestyle. So, here I am, back at it! 

Nice to meet you all, ladies! Let's stick together, and let's encourage and inspire each other to health and fitness!

[Bogdel]

@SunsetRunner , and All, 

May I suggest, that, when we reply to each other, we click on Shift and @, which will immediately display the list of members in this group. We can then select the name of the person we want to address (or mention). The name will then show in our text in blue, as above, and ensure that the person we address will be identified, and will be able to reply (in the same way). 

Best wishes to you, all. 

[cbetty1025]

Thank You for responding to my message. I know that most of my problem is “not as active as I once was”. Translated: I need to get up and move more on a daily basis!

Secondly: I need to reevaluate what I eat! Let me explain that I am temporarily at the beach, for another “7” days, or possibly an additional 10 days if we need to stay quarantined. The strip of land between the ocean and the Sound have been closed off and we now have a permit to go get groceries, If needed. It is eerie to say the least but we are keeping ourselves occupied; my husband is in his glory fishing, going out after dark when no one else is on the dock. I am knitting, reading, cleaning, sewing, cooking and repeating as needed. We occasionally watch a movie together 😊

When getting groceries, I am buying turkey meat, chicken, eggs. Fruit juices for now, as the veggies and fruits don’t look too healthy themselves. ☹ When first here, I was going out to eat with friends, lightly fried fish (fish being the healthy part), having fries with that, Waffle House double pecan waffle, lots of juices with Captain Morgan, cakes & ice cream, ice cream Mixers at Culver’s w/Oreos, cookies and Cheetos. I REALLY REALLY FELL OFF THE WAGON and sadly, I put on TEN Pounds, even though I was walking the beach at that time!! When my girlfriend went home, I said to myself: “this has to stop and only you can do that”. I haven’t had very much of these in the last two weeks, if “none” at all.

The beach is CLOSED and they are watching it closely. So, I have to get my head out of the TV and out of the sand, and take a nightly walk around the parking lot; as well, a morning walk around a few blocks….a mile or two would do!

I, too, now have pre-diabetes, classified as obese and was told to read the book: “It Starts With Food”.

Stay Strong~Stay Healthy~Walk On
Betty

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Whyshoshoni]

@cbetty1025, 

I can’t imagine how hard it is to be so close to the beach, yet so far.  I look forward to walking the beach all year long.  But I just cancelled our annual vacation to Pinellas County beaches in June. It makes us so sad, but that’s how it is right now.  

But remember, your body doesn’t care if your steps are in the sand or in a parking lot. Just crank up Jimmy Buffett on your earbuds and go to Margaritaville or Kinja and get those steps!  Good luck and stay healthy!

[LionLady]

Hello everyone! I turn 60 this summer. Back in 2009, I lost 15 pounds in about 4 months by commiting to getting out and walking briskly for 45-60 minutes every single day. That was all I changed. To my amazement, I quit craving "crap" - ice cream, chips, etc. But when life happened and I wasn't able to continue walking, all my old habits (and the weight) came right back.

I've been a "Fitbit-er" since 2012 when I got a Fitbit Zip. I try to be active, but I work in the grocery business so not eating All. The. Food. is a continuing problem, more so as I've gotten older. It was tough to sideline old habits that got me where I was a year ago - 35+ pounds overweight and feeling sluggish, miserable and not happy with myself. I'd lifted weights with a personal trainer for over a year, so I was feeling fit and stronger, but still carrying too much weight. My feet hurt after a day at work, I didn't move as easily as I wanted. 

I finally made a change in what I ate and how much. It wasn't easy. There was backsliding. There were binge days. There were times when the scale moved the wrong way. I kept plugging away at it. Weighing myself every day. Thinking about, was I really hungry or just eating because I was bored? Or eating this much because I always had...

I started out by tracking what I did eat. When writing it down, it became clear how I ended up where I was: Sugary cereal for breakfast, Two Nathan's hot dogs, loaded with cole slaw and a beer for lunch. Half a pizza for dinner.  A cocktail plus a snack bowl full of Cheez-its as a bedtime "snack." 

Small changes, over time. Mostly changing how I thought about what I needed to eat, vs what I wanted to eat. I now eat a bigger meal at midday (I love a big colorful salad for lunch) and a smaller dinner. I lost the 35 pounds over a year. My daily allowance was 1300 calories. It isn't as tough as it seems. I avoid artificial sweeteners, they just taste wrong to me. I'd rather allow myself real sugar in moderation. Focus on foods that are more filling/satisfying (think "fluffy" calories) over just tasty. For instance 20 grapes has roughly the same number of calories as 20 raisins, but the grapes will satisfy you longer. Fitbit helped keep me on track with my activity. I learned that when I didn't get enough sleep, I tended to crave/nibble high calorie things during the day. I stopped cleaning my plate or stuffing myself because something was SO GOOD. I use smaller portions and enjoy the heck out of what I do eat.

Fitbit helps, but what and how much you eat is the real heart of the process of losing weight, if that's what you want to do.

[LionLady]

@Thistledew  don't give up when you "fail" at keeping within your calorie budget! Just keep plugging away at it. Nobody's perfect, and you can't move forward if you quit every time you stumble.

I lost 35 pounds over six months with the goal of 1200 calories a day, more if I exercised. I've kept the weight off since August with a creep of about 4 pounds over January and February. Being house bound for the most part (Covid-19 avoidance) it is a challenge, but the later sunset and warmer weather at least I can get back outside! Our Y will be closed until the end of April at least. We've had to improvise.

Find a jazzy music station and dance around the kitchen while you're waiting for the coffee to brew, improvise. It gets easier.