Okay over 50 and can't drop the weight!

[Susan126]

Breakfast . . . what's that???? It's true I am not a breakfast person. Coffee that's my breakfast. But I will try ANYTHING to help me stop eating at night!

[mimitabby]

I've never had a weight problem so i feel a bit out of place here except to say
I never eat anything after 8pm (unless it's a late dinner out) and I always always have breakfast. I've been doing this since i was a teenager.
Living at my father's house with 2 stepsisters and my natural sister; I was t he only one who listened when he told us we should eat breakfast. Into adulthood, the three of them always have had to struggle with weight.
Doesn't need to be a big breakfast; i eat two slices of whole wheat toast with butter and honey or jam, a 4 oz serving of 100% fruit juice, and 2 oz of protein every "normal" morning. On weekends i often have nice omelets and potatoes and stuff.

[PinkBike]

susan,
its menopause and it just plain sucks.
i always have had a totally flat stomach and now i got a "pooch." and love handles. i gained 20 pounds in the last couple years and i totally cannot lose them.

i dont believe its the losing-fat-but-gaining-muscle because i've always been muscular and also because my clothes dont fit around the hips/waist.

i'm still trying tho. i'm doing weight watchers, but not real successfully. i mean i'm following it To The Letter and still not losing. my problem is its just now our racing season so i cant follow WW daily points portions when i ride a century or metric century every weekend. still, i'm staying under my total points for the week when i factor in activity points.

so i will be going after it in december tho, when our racing season slows. i'm determined to lose 20 pounds. i'm going to look into the food combining because i just cant understand why i cant lose weight with WW or south beach, especially with all the riding i do.

[Kano]

Doc tells me ALWAYS have breakfast containing protein FIRST thing in the morning, no refined carbs, not many of the other carbs, plenty of water and NEVER skip meals. Lost ten pounds each of the first two months on this plan, then this past month, I had a crazy schedule, missed meals on occasion, cooler weather made it less easy to drink lots of water, and weight loss was only two pounds.

I'm not missing any more meals, and I'm making sure I drink water! AND I'm laying off the diet sodas again! (my water substitute of choice)

I'm fueling on protein for my rides, not carbs, and I'm faster and stronger on my bike than ever!

Oh, and for what it's worth, the belly seems to be the last thing going!

Karen in Boise

[annie]

Breakfast . . . what's that???? It's true I am not a breakfast person. Coffee that's my breakfast. But I will try ANYTHING to help me stop eating at night!

Yes, that's me, too. I have a very difficult time eating in the morning! But I'm trying.......... food AND coffee. Gotta have the coffee. Something whole grain and something protein and that's about all I can handle.

The menopot... LOL!! It's not really funny, but I have to laugh. Better than crying. All we can do is try our best to fight it.

I have a confession. It is late at night here. I am soon to bed. I just ate a bowl of chili! It was yummy!! It wasn't a big bowl, but it was my dinner and I added cheddar cheese AND lite sour cream. Oh so delicious! I so want more, but not going to go there. And now I won't be hungry for breakfast in the morning. BAD girl, me, I know. Yet I do it anyway. Nice to know I am not alone.

Annie

[OakLeaf]

The key for me was just to make myself eat breakfast. No matter how huge and nauseous the whole idea made me feel.

It was really counterintuitive, to force myself to eat when I wasn't hungry, so that I would wind up eating LESS throughout the day. But that's how it worked. I don't remember now how long it took for my body to adapt to the idea, but it wasn't long. A week or two, maybe.

[SillyMia]

I am a bit comforted knowing I am not alone. And Ladyicon I tried to cut out "sugars" today. I did pretty good too. On my way to work today I bought a black Americano instead of my usual Mocha at Starbucks. I had chicken and rice for lunch. For dinner I had chicken again and rice again and some wonderful green vegetables. I was doing pretty good and then I had hot chocolate. So I almost made it through today without sugar. But it was a big big improvement from my usual daily intact. One step at a time!

Nights are the hardest part of the day for me. I can stick to anything up until evening and then all heck breaks loose! I can turn down cake, cookies, ice cream from dawn until dusk but once that sun goes down . . . I don't know what takes over me. A Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde thing. Ok I confess, I'm a night snacker!

Sometimes hot chocolate is hard to resist. I don't know if this is going to help you at all, but it helps me when I'm cutting down on calories/fat. Buy unsweetened dark chocolate (a bar/chunk) and put it in a food processor to shred it. Keep it in a container and when you want hot chocolate, mix your shredded chocolate with non-fat milk (or soy) and sweeten with splenda. It's amazing. I use a hand-held mini mixer and maybe it's my imagination, but after seeing the ingredients in powder cocoa, I think it's good for me!

[Pax]

My honey is a complete fitness and health guru, so I eat VERY healthy (even do the 5 fruits and veggies every single day). We eat a balanced breakfast, we watch our portions, we limit alcohol...and I still have this freakin' belly. I think the best thing for me would be to just not eat...ever! Bet I'd drop weight then.

[Tuckervill]

I've been studying wellness and health as a hobby for the last 3 or 4 years, with an eye to increasing my wellness and changing my body. I'm not claiming to be an expert or anything, but I feel relatively educated about my specific issues, goals and choices.

One of the things I make great use of is to listen to people who have more experience than me. I read from a wide variety of sources. When I hear the same message from several different credible sources, I put stock in it and often adapt it for my use.

Mimi said she'd never been overweight so she didn't know if her experience would help. But it does. If you've always been overweight (I wasn't always), you don't know what it's like to be healthy weight or what the habits of healthy people are. If you were once healthy and now fat, listening to an always healthy person might trigger memories of habits and choices you made as a healthy weight person. (So thanks, Mimi, for your input.)

One of my biggest sources of encouragement is the National Weight Control Registry. http://www.nwcr.ws/ It's a study of people who got down to a healthy weight and kept it off. It's hard to mine the data there, but when I've seen it referenced there are certain things that most of those on the registry do consistently to keep their weight down.

The two that stick out in my mind are 1) eat breakfast, and 2) exercise EVERY day. That's how they control their hunger and their weight. So I eat breakfast, and I exercise as much as I have energy for, with my goal to be doing something active every single day. It can be gardening or walking the dog on the days when I don't ride or have an exercise class.

Another thing I do is keep it all in perspective. I never work so hard at exercise that I'm going to be so sore I won't want to do it again. Especially for a beginner, this is an important concept. It's self-eliminating, though. The more you work out, the easier it gets. The more you work out, the more you know you can do. This is something I'm learning best through cycling longer and longer distances. Just keep at it, for the long haul.

Another thing I've done is change one little thing at a time. I started with Diet Coke. Five years ago I began resisting Diet Coke. I replaced it with hot tea, iced tea (no sugar) and water. Then it was artificial sweeteners. Last year it was high fructose corn syrup. I've tried to eliminate french fries, but that won't happen until I no longer have PMS! I've changed my cooking. I only shop on the outside walls of the grocery store (meat, produce, bread and dairy).

These little changes add up (littlechanges.com) to big changes.

One thing I DON'T do is read or hang out with people who aren't serious about their health or educating themselves. (I don't mean my personal relationships--I mean online, etc.) That's a reason I don't do sparkpeople anymore, because there are so many failures the successes are hard to find. The successes are who I need to hear from. I know everyone is on a different path, but I only want to listen to the ones who are on my path, or have my goal. (I'm not that narrow-minded about everything, I promise!)

What good would this forum be if it was populated mostly by people who bought a bike at Wal-Mart, rode it around the block once a week for 2 weeks and then quit? We'd have to dig through all that to read about Fredwina's brevets or Runningmommy's triathalon, or Lisa's 3000 miles. That's what most of the diet sites I've been to are like. So I don't go there.

Have I lost any weight? Yes. On December 26th I weighed 206. It's almost November and I weigh 186. That is very, very slow. Lots of people would not be happy with those results, but I'm much more mature than I was and so I'm happy. I can ride my bike 50 miles and run on the arc trainer for 12 minutes. I can do push ups! I can do 30 reps with 10 lb dumbbells. I can hike for 5 miles. I can lift my grandson over my head and hold him up to the ceiling (in a short room ) like my dad used to do to me.

You ladies here are quite an inspiration to me. All of you who are over 40 and are competing in races and tri's and just riding your bikes--you're like who I want to be. I'm seeing myself in a new way because of you. (You younger ones are an inspiration, too, but I just can't relate as much to being 30 anymore.) My goals were modest at first, but through you and through my successes, I see the possibilities I didn't dare imagine. So thanks! I can't wait to learn something new today!

Karen

[Zen]

The two that stick out in my mind are 1) eat breakfast, and 2) exercise EVERY day. That's how they control their hunger and their weight.

Another thing these people do is eat mostly the same things all the time. It's not as boring as it sounds. I found I actually like oatmeal and I like beans. The thought of a sugary cereal or sausage gravy and bicuits does cross my mind but doesn't stay there long. The harm outweighs the good. Which is not to say I don't have those thing once a year or so.

I can do 30 reps with 10 lb dumbbells.

Try switching that up to 15 reps with 15 lbs...

[Pax]

I've tossed this out before but this thread seems a good place to do it again. My honey and I have switched to a primarily plant based diet, it has allowed for some weight loss but more than that it has changed our "numbers" tremendously, my cholesterol is MUCH better, blood sugar/resting heart rate/blood pressure are all "optimal". Reading The China Study and implementing the changes outlined in it has changed our lives significantly.

[Tuckervill]

I can do 30 reps with 10 lb dumbbells.
Try switching that up to 15 reps with 15 lbs...

Oh, that was just something we did in class today--just a random example. I like lots of variety in my exercise.

Yes, I eat oatmeal every day, too, with dried fruit and nuts. I won't give up my brown sugar in it, though! I have to have SOME vice!

I would be very happy eating a certain set of foods with variations on occasion. I haven't gotten tired of oatmeal in about 18 months of eating it every day. I could never get tired of hot and salty french fries, either. But I have tired of salads. In the winter time, they're the hardest thing for me to eat, because I like hot food. I'm going to spend a lot of time learning about soups this winter. yummy.

Karen

[Tuckervill]

Queen, I've been taking Christiane Northrup's advice and eating "meat as a condiment". Of course, that means more plant-based food. This lets you off the hook when people offer a slab of ribs at a cook-out when they notice your plate piled high with veggies, which happened to me at a tailgate party this weekend. I can still have some of all the meat I like the most, so I don't feel deprived at all.

Karen

[emily_in_nc]

Another thing these people do is eat mostly the same things all the time. It's not as boring as it sounds. I found I actually like oatmeal and I like beans. The thought of a sugary cereal or sausage gravy and bicuits does cross my mind but doesn't stay there long. The harm outweighs the good. Which is not to say I don't have those thing once a year or so.
Try switching that up to 15 reps with 15 lbs...

Yes, Zen is right. In addition to eating breakfast ALWAYS and doing some form of exercise every day (cycling, walking, running, lifting, hiking, kayaking, gardening/yardwork, just something) and not feeling "right" if I don't, I eat a fairly repetitious (though healthy) diet. A final factor that has helped me maintain a weight loss for 6 years now is eating out very rarely. The portion sizes and temptations of restaurant meals make it so much harder for me to control my weight. I only eat lunch out about 1-2 times a month with a friend, and dinners out are VERY rare as my DH loves to cook and isn't crazy about eating out. We'll go out for birthdays, anniversary, and on vacation, but that's about it. And no fried food...well, only a couple of times a years. Fries just aren't on my radar. Nor are sodas.

Yes, it might sound a bit boring, but I'm slender, in good health, and fit, and want to keep it that way. It does take diligence, especially as we get...ahem...a bit older (46 and peri-menopausal here).

Emily

[kelownagirl]

I've tossed this out before but this thread seems a good place to do it again. My honey and I have switched to a primarily plant based diet, it has allowed for some weight loss but more than that it has changed our "numbers" tremendously, my cholesterol is MUCH better, blood sugar/resting heart rate/blood pressure are all "optimal". Reading The China Study and implementing the changes outlined in it has changed our lives significantly.

Can you give me an idea of what a typical day's food intake might be Queen?