60+ minutes of exercise per day to maintain weight after age 50

[OakLeaf]

You know, I wonder how long it takes before one's metabolism resets itself.

I'm 3-4 years post menopause and spent a good part of the last six months flat on my back or belly with my injury. But I haven't gained any weight. Lost a lot of muscle mass obviously, lost a lot of cardio fitness, body composition isn't near what it ought to be, but if all they're looking at is the number on the scale, it hasn't happened to me (yet).

Glad I'm starting to be able to ramp up again before the weight gain starts.

[emily_in_nc]

You know, I wonder how long it takes before one's metabolism resets itself.

I'm 3-4 years post menopause and spent a good part of the last six months flat on my back or belly with my injury. But I haven't gained any weight. Lost a lot of muscle mass obviously, lost a lot of cardio fitness, body composition isn't near what it ought to be, but if all they're looking at is the number on the scale, it hasn't happened to me (yet).

Glad I'm starting to be able to ramp up again before the weight gain starts.

I think it's different for everyone. I am not officially in menopause but peri-menopause. My weight gain began about a year ago as my cycles started getting longer between (2-3 months instead of less than a month). But my slower metabolism may well be due to less high-intensity exercise and dietary changes, as I mentioned above. Hormones may have an impact in my body composition changes, though; I know that is fairly common around menopause for many women (more weight carried around the waist and abdomen and less in the legs).

[shootingstar]

Nearly 5 yrs. ago, when I cut back drastically on my white rice and bread intake, it was not for weight management. It was to deal with my sugar crash feelings due to certain high glycemic foods and after getting a near diabetes 2 blood test reading (with 2 tests to make sure). However most likely by changing ....subconsciously this part of my diet probably has contributed to weight management. But it doesn't feel like "hardship" for me.

When I was in my mid-30's, it was obvious to me that weight gain just naturally came whenever wintery snow and ice resulted me in not cycling at all for at least 5 months. Toronto has more moisture in the air so snow remains slushy and icy on the pavement longer. During cycling season in those years of my life, I was cycling annually at least 25% more than what I've done annually in the past 2 yrs.

Whereas in Alberta, the winter air is drier, it is ALOT colder here but evaporation of melting snow and ice is faster. So I winter-cycle short distances at least on weekends or whenever pavement is dry. Then we get snow again.

So while I do attribute menopause as slowing down my metabolism somewhat, I know there are other factors. I think the key thing now, is that for same amount of weight I gained annually after winter, I have to work harder to get it off through exercise and ongoing mindful eating.

I'm still not good since I do snack on desserts with coffee several times per week. But in hindsight 85% of my diet now is food-wise healthy. I rarely eat deep fried foods simply because deep fried foods are not my preference in general. Probably because my childhood diet had very little deep fried foods. I have very little processed foods..except a small bag of chips once per month or less, but that's just been a unconscious evolution. I've never cared for soft drinks/pop. Never, not even as a child. I have canned soup maybe 2-3 times per year.

With the exception of desserts, how I eat is still fundamentally at home, is still what I ate as a child/teen growing up --minus the rice and bread. So, enormous proof that how influential good or bad childhood/teenage diets can be...even over 50 yrs. later for me.

It's just that I don't consistently eat lunch which is probably not good. Instead I have been eating more for breakfast in the past 8 years...meaning just more than just a glass of milk. But not into bacon, eggs etc. for brekkie at home unless we're at a hotel.

Because I start work early daily (7:30 am and it's an office job) and end earlier (4:00 pm), I now usually eat supper well before 7:00 pm which is better for my metabolism now.
All of these factors-- when I eat, what I eat and frequency/non frequency probably contribute to present situation, in addition to what exercise I do/don't do at various times of the year.

I noticed myself each time when we were in Hawai'i, I definitely was not motivated to do alot of cycling with the higher humidity and heat combined with more intense/brighter sun. and for past few decades, I definitely am not a beach baby lying out in the sun.

[Crankin]

Emily, I would also find it very hard to run, ride, etc. in the temperatures you experience. When I lived in AZ, I *never* dreamt of exercising outside, thus, I was a gym rat. I regret that I was so much in this habit, that I didn't use the cooler time of year (winter) to do more outdoor activity, because it took me a long time to become an outdoor person. I had lived in MA 10 years before I started cycling, although I had made a small (and I mean small) attempt at cross country skiing starting in 1991; fully dressed in layers of cotton , I may add! I also missed out on exploring some of the beautiful natural terrain near where I lived in AZ. Almost 2 years ago, DH and I went to AZ for his mom's memorial celebration. We did some hiking in a county park that I had never been to. Sure, it was not super close to where I lived, but still, only a 40 minute drive. I sincerely regretted this, but I just never would have braved the elements.
I think intensity is the key, too. I spent about 2 years in my mid forties burned out on the gym, doing less and less each time I went there, and gaining some perimenopausal weight (15-20 lbs.). When I started cycling at age 48, the weight started falling off, without too much of a change in my diet. I wasn't eating horribly, but I am much more "clean," now. Like ShootingStar, I have pretty much eliminated white breads and rice, except on very rare occasions. In fact, I try to even avoid all grains during the week. I don't think i could ever go totally Paleo, but adapting some those eating habits and adding in boot camp (strength and balance) has gone a long way in helping me maintain my weight and fitness. I haven't eaten junk food or lots of sweets in years, so that's not a problem for me. If I have dessert once in awhile, I enjoy it and get back on track.

[shootingstar]

I guess my biggest comment to any women who won't be approaching perimenopause until a few years/decades later is:

It's great there is alot of info. more than ever for women about perimenopause and menopause, whole books and talk/concern. But it is nothing to be fearful/overly concerned.

However it important to have a healthy attitude towards it all and that having/changing to healthy habits and exercise now, not to be forced to change in perimenopause/menopause (when there may be other things going in life), will make the whole business of weight management abit easier later as one ages. This preventive approach then becomes so embedded in one's daily ife that one doesn't think about it all the time. You just do it, practice it, like brushing your teeth or taking out the garbage (is that good analogy??). Because if you don't do either of these things, you know you will physically not feel great eventually.

[Melalvai]

I have an opinion, which I will entirely fail to support by offering any facts, that one's activity level BEFORE age 50 may have as much to do with fitness as your activity level AFTER age 50. If you are already exercising 420 min/week, it'll be easier not to drop to a poor fitness level if/when age-related metabolic changes kick in.

By the way a bunch of people around here are doing one mile a day Thanksgiving through Christmas. It was a suggestion in Runner's World, the idea being that if you go out for a mile, you're likely to go further, and even if you don't, it's still a mile. Depending on their fitness level some of them are doing a mile walk, or 10 min walk, or 10 min run, etc. But it's daily, whatever you choose.

[malkin]

It was a suggestion in Runner's World, the idea being that if you go out for a mile, you're likely to go further, and even if you don't, it's still a mile.

In for a dime, in for a dollar.
I do the same with practicing piano. If I sit down at all, I know I will do more than just a little.
(Of course it usually works the same way with drinking beer too.)

[jobob]

By the way a bunch of people around here are doing one mile a day Thanksgiving through Christmas. It was a suggestion in Runner's World, the idea being that if you go out for a mile, you're likely to go further, and even if you don't, it's still a mile. Depending on their fitness level some of them are doing a mile walk, or 10 min walk, or 10 min run, etc. But it's daily, whatever you choose.

That's kind of what DH and I are doing now, although not quite so deliberately.

We both drifted away from cycling, and the pounds were coming back on at an astonishing rate so a couple of weeks ago we started walking. We're very fortunate to live w/in 1/4 mile or so of the Alameda Creek Trail, a very nice MUT that leads to Coyote Hills Parks by the SF Bay with lots of flat & hilly trails, so we have a great resource literally in our backyard. And there are lots of other great hiking trails within a very short drive that we're starting to discover after having lived out here for, oh, a couple of decades ...

So we're trying something new. We've been heading out together for 3-6 mile walks roughly every other day, and I'm really enjoying getting to know places that I used to zoom by (heh heh) on my bike, and tromping up steep dirt trails that I was never inclined to ride up & enjoying the lovely views when I get up there. We've been doing this together because DH and I have both needed to get moving, although I have no qualms about heading out on my own on the days he wants to ride his bike instead.

Meanwhile my bikes glare at me ... I reassure them that this is just a break, I'll start cycling again sooner or later ... maybe.

Anyhow, I like that idea of committing to doing (in my case, walking) at least a mile a day every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas, Melalvai. It's an attainable goal and would motivate me to get me off my butt. So thanks for that!