Weight Loss For The Over 50 year old Crowd

[duckwonder]

One thing people tend to screw up when dieting is they think they should stop eating. WRONG! Not only will your body react by trying to conserve every calorie and cause you to gain weight, you will also feel like crap. Studies have shown women that eat the farm style breakfast with eggs, potatoes, toast, pancakes are likely to loose more weight than those that have a yogurt and rice cake. Their bodies have the fuel it needs and keeps the metabolism up because of it. They also feel better and do more.

Another study showed took 50 inmates, half received  half their daily portion, the other half received double. As expected the first half lost weight, the other gained but after 6 months they stabilized as their bodies adjusted to the new intake routine. 6 months after they returned to the regular diet they had all returned to the pre study weight within a pound or two. That shows that a diet is a long term thing and seeing real results take a long term effort. Fad diets have you quickly loosing a little weigh, a lot of water and you body will return to its old weight when you return to your old ways.

What doesn't work are shortcuts. Short term changes in diet hoping for long term changes in weight. 

I agree whole-heartedly with Jim and Stargazer on their full posts.  I used to work in the industry many moons ago.  Just because I Know does not mean I'll do it.  I quoted the above as an example of what happened after my crazy experience of virtually not being able to eat for 6 months.  Just because I did not have the enzyme production and had to live this way temporarily did not make any of the regular, known truths any less true, therefore I put on a bunch of weight when my enzyme production returned and I could eat more food again.  The experience was similar to the "fad diet" effect.  It's small, long-term changes that Add health (we always think of subtracting when dieting, and as Jim said, that is false) and energy.  Eating 5 meals a day (3 regular meals and 2 snacks) plus 64oz of water per day are recommended in the industry.  The "more" we eat, the more energy we have, the more option we have to burn it off, and as long as we are getting the nutrients and a variety of healthy foods, and that we burn slightly more than we take in in calories, that's it.  Pretty simple really.  For exercise, it's a choice of how to burn slightly more calories than we take in, or simply maintaining weight, and knowing that muscle mass helps burn calories most efficiently, so low-weight, lots-of-reps is still a standard recommendation in addition to any exercise. It's making the changes that is difficult.  Especially when we love carbs and sweets as much as most of us do.

 

[blmkid]

I went gluten free Paleo/Primal.....eliminate red meat last year....no longer miss it. 

A typical day of food for me:

Breakfast 7:00 AM   Protein Load early to get my energy up

3 Whole Eggs scrambled in coconut oil 
1/2 Avocado
2 Tbs Salsa
2 Bacon or Sausage
Coffee
WATER

Lunch
2 oz Cheese
1 Apple
2 Tbs Almond Butter or Peanut butter
WATER

Dinner
Salad
Large bowl of every fresh vegetable that looks good. 
5 oz of Chicken or Tuna (sometimes no meat)
Salad dressing made by mixing olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some salt and pepper
WATER

Snack
Celery with cream-cheese and nut-butter
WATER and more WATER

This amount of food is actually quite filling once you get past the sugar withdrawal. I also switched to stevia as it has a different glycemic impact on your body than other sweeteners.

Making a new grocery list, with VagaboundSusan's post in mind. Will start eating breakfast of 3 scrambled eggs scrambled in coconut oil. Have 2 slices of Canadian bacon (that's right, Andrew). With my coffee. Maybe 2 coffee. Stevia. No honey.

Doing some research on something to get me going good. Too strict of a switch to no suagr would only be failure for me. Baby steps.

Couple link's I'm studying on. Concerned about diabetes?  "[font=ProximaNova, -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont,]Simply put, you should avoid any foods that our primal ancestors did not have access to. This obviously eliminates processed foods, like Oreos and potato chips. However, it also eliminates foods like wheat and corn, both of which have been introduced in the past 100,000 years."[/font]
Link: https://www.healthline.com/health/primal-diet#overview1[/SIZE]
Grocery shopping list of choices: Link: https://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-shopping-list/[/SIZE]

[font=Merriweather, Georgia, serif]“We try so hard to hide everything we're really feeling from those who probably need to know our true feelings the most. People try to bottle up their emotions, as if it's somehow wrong to have natural reactions to life.” [/font]
[font=Merriweather, Georgia, serif]   - Colleen Hoover -[/font]

 

[VagaboundSusan]

Baby steps.

[font=Merriweather, Georgia, serif]“We try so hard to hide everything we're really feeling from those who probably need to know our true feelings the most. People try to bottle up their emotions, as if it's somehow wrong to have natural reactions to life.” [/font]
[font=Merriweather, Georgia, serif]   - Colleen Hoover -[/font]

Baby steps are good. Mark's Daily Apple was my go to site in the beginning. I had many concerns about eating this way and the possibility that it may raise my already high cholesterol. At 30 my first my numbers were above 300! Insane for a young woman of normal weight. Now at 51 I am at 221, Triglycerides 73, HDL 72, VLDL 15, LDL 133. Although these numbers sound high, my ratios are really good. Every 6 months these numbers continue to drop and I am elated.

Sorry, I had a moment of standing on the mountain here........

 

[andi]

This is what I'm trying to figure out. My hormones changed and I gained 40 pounds. Now I'm down maybe 15, almost 20 pounds from the high weight, but the thing I do is to have a quota of fruits and vegetables to eat each day. If I focus on what to eat rather than what NOT to eat, it helps. But I don't see how I'm going to keep all those fruits and veggies around me on the road. I especially eat frozen veggies (there are many, many kinds) because then I don't have to spend a lot of time preparing them. I guess I'll need a bigger freezer in the Scamp? Or can I convert the whole mini-fridge (Dometic) to a freezer?

 

[tripper]

I went gluten free Paleo/Primal about 5 years ago for health reasons and the weight just fell off. Part of this included changing my mindset from food as a treat to food as fuel. I now eat for energy, health and stamina (with the exception of holidays ). Paleo/Primal diet consists of healthy fats, fresh fruits and fresh veggies. When craving a sandwich there is gluten free bread but it can be expensive. I lost over 50 lbs in less than 6 months without exercising but this is not a diet. Because the weight was coming off my activity level began to increase. This is (for me) a life long plan. I chose to eliminate red meat last year to give my heart a fighting chance against the medications needed to keep my illness tampered and no longer miss it. 

A typical day of food for me:

Breakfast 7:00 AM   Protein Load early to get my energy up

3 Whole Eggs scrambled in coconut oil 
1/2 Avocado
2 Tbs Salsa
2 Bacon or Sausage
Coffee
WATER

Lunch
2 oz Cheese
1 Apple
2 Tbs Almond Butter or Peanut butter
WATER

Dinner
Salad
Large bowl of every fresh vegetable that looks good. 
5 oz of Chicken or Tuna (sometimes no meat)
Salad dressing made by mixing olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some salt and pepper
WATER

Snack
Celery with cream-cheese and nut-butter
WATER and more WATER

This amount of food is actually quite filling once you get past the sugar withdrawal. I also switched to stevia as it has a different glycemic impact on your body than other sweeteners.

No matter what your choice is fresh is always better. I never knew that I enjoyed food as much as I do now. It was like all the sugar and chemicals had numbed my taste buds and senses, now cauliflower gets me excited :blush:.

There is a ton of recipes on-line for cleaner, low-carb lifestyles. This is one of my favorites:
https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/menu-plans-new

That is pretty similar to the way I eat - Primal/Paleo. I do eat some cheese (very low carbs there) and occasionally ( 1 or 2 days a week) something off the diet like Kefir or a chorizo burrito.  I have lost easily 50 pounds. I eat a lot of fruits and large portions of steak and such but the diet still sheds pounds. I typically meal for me might be a 1 lb t-bone steak, a pear and an apricot. I drink a lot of coffee or green tea with Stevia and coconut milk. I am just hitting 50 and can tell you cutting out all the carbs really gives you a big energy boost. I do not restrict my caloric intake at all, just what food and drink I consume.  Since doing this lifestyle change I have been in the best shape of my life. I also know some people who intermittent fasting works well for. If you combine the two, paleo/intermittent fasting, you really drop weight fast.

This is me at 50, probably in the best shape of my life, due to cutting out all the bad carbs/grains.  It really works amazingly well.

 

[Duke]

Whats worked for my organism, now in mid-sixties, is Low Carb / No Carb / Intermittent Fasting.

Down 75 pounds from top (over a couple years of half azzed adherence) with 30 in last 60 days.
My organism was overweight but not radically.

No Carb means just meat & water. Interesting 30 day experiment!!
~ no, there is NO minimum amount of carbs on a-n-y pyramid, veggies are another subject and other solutions apply.

Kinda the ATKINS diet made easy: meat & water...not chemical meat, ie bacon salami, et cetera. real meat.

Prodigious results!

My "kids" saw me last weekend, 1st time in several months and were shocked!

Oh yes, I'm feeling more nimble and am riding the bike again.

More energy than ever, intermittent fasting serves me well. Worthy learning process.

Belief Systems are up to each to challenge, my old ones (BS) served me: not.
Chosen replacements work.

BlmKid, thx for the thread & reference to Janice Joplin

Sure remember her from performances @Electric Factory in Philly!

Duke

 

[duckwonder]

This is what I'm trying to figure out. My hormones changed and I gained 40 pounds. Now I'm down maybe 15, almost 20 pounds from the high weight, but the thing I do is to have a quota of fruits and vegetables to eat each day. If I focus on what to eat rather than what NOT to eat, it helps. But I don't see how I'm going to keep all those fruits and veggies around me on the road. I especially eat frozen veggies (there are many, many kinds) because then I don't have to spend a lot of time preparing them. I guess I'll need a bigger freezer in the Scamp? Or can I convert the whole mini-fridge (Dometic) to a freezer?

A freezer on the road is a challenge.  I don't have one and don't know many that do, but that's fantastic if you can.  My plan is to eat veggies raw toward the beginning of a trip and eat cooked veggies toward the end of a trip.  When I say "trip," by that I mean 2 weeks without a grocery store, not everyone needs or wants to wait that long between grocery stops.  More frequent grocery stops would keep you in fresh food indefinitely.

 

[wasanah2]

I'm old enough to remember a time when eggs were good for you, then they were bad for you, then just the yolks were bad for you and then they were good for you again.
I had 3 children.  The oldest was told to put to sleep on the tummy, head to the side.  Second child put to sleep on the side (invariably, it would roll one way or the other).  Third child, you MUST put the child on his/her back.
I read Adele Davis' books on health food to avoid cancer, and I followed _Let's have Healthy Babies_  religiously and drank a ridiculously awful smoothie with raw eggs (raw eggs were good then) in it every day while pregnant...and come to find out, the queen of healthy food to keep you from cancer, died of cancer.
I remember when coffee was bad for you...and then miraculously, today it's good for you.
Oh and bottled formula is best for baby when babies 1 and 2 were born, then it's breast milk for baby 3.
I'm a little young to remember cigarette commercials, but I do recall hearing about one where a doc came on and said certain filters made cigs safe!
Lots of urban legends about sugar, diet sweeteners, honey, stevia, and the dreaded high fructose corn syrup.

Here's the truth.  We all burn sugar.  If we don't give our bodies sugar, our bodies MAKE sugar.  You throw a healthy sandwich in your gut and your body works to make it into sugar.  You put a steak in your tummy and it will turn to sugar to fuel the fire.  Pecan pie, sugar.  Veggies, same thing.   As long as you are getting enough liquids, protein and enough electrolytes and vitamins and minerals, it doesn't matter what you put in there because your body is fueled by the sugar your body makes.

Your body is so efficient that it stores the extra as fat!

Weight loss over 50 is the same as weight loss under 50.  Just eat less than you burn and your body will release the fat stores.  It's true that the body slows down with age, but there are differences in people too.  A teenager with weight issues can have more difficulty releasing the fat stores than someone much older.  It's all individual. 

I guess I don't believe everything I'm told any more, even if it's from a doctor who says that certain filters make smoking safe.

So someone else on here said it first; if you produce more sugar and burn more than you need, it'll get stored as fat because our bodies are so efficient.  Burn the fat storage (which also gets turned back into sugar), and you see a slimmer you.

I'm of the thought that we can spend a lot of money on special "healthy" foods and really, your body doesn't care because it's going to turn it to sugar anyway.

 

[VagaboundSusan]

I'm old enough to remember a time when eggs were good for you, then they were bad for you, then just the yolks were bad for you and then they were good for you again.
I had 3 children.  The oldest was told to put to sleep on the tummy, head to the side.  Second child put to sleep on the side (invariably, it would roll one way or the other).  Third child, you MUST put the child on his/her back.
I read Adele Davis' books on health food to avoid cancer, and I followed _Let's have Healthy Babies_  religiously and drank a ridiculously awful smoothie with raw eggs (raw eggs were good then) in it every day while pregnant...and come to find out, the queen of healthy food to keep you from cancer, died of cancer.
I remember when coffee was bad for you...and then miraculously, today it's good for you.
Oh and bottled formula is best for baby when babies 1 and 2 were born, then it's breast milk for baby 3.
I'm a little young to remember cigarette commercials, but I do recall hearing about one where a doc came on and said certain filters made cigs safe!
Lots of urban legends about sugar, diet sweeteners, honey, stevia, and the dreaded high fructose corn syrup.

Here's the truth.  We all burn sugar.  If we don't give our bodies sugar, our bodies MAKE sugar.  You throw a healthy sandwich in your gut and your body works to make it into sugar.  You put a steak in your tummy and it will turn to sugar to fuel the fire.  Pecan pie, sugar.  Veggies, same thing.   As long as you are getting enough liquids, protein and enough electrolytes and vitamins and minerals, it doesn't matter what you put in there because your body is fueled by the sugar your body makes.

Your body is so efficient that it stores the extra as fat!

Weight loss over 50 is the same as weight loss under 50.  Just eat less than you burn and your body will release the fat stores.  It's true that the body slows down with age, but there are differences in people too.  A teenager with weight issues can have more difficulty releasing the fat stores than someone much older.  It's all individual. 

I guess I don't believe everything I'm told any more, even if it's from a doctor who says that certain filters make smoking safe.

So someone else on here said it first; if you produce more sugar and burn more than you need, it'll get stored as fat because our bodies are so efficient.  Burn the fat storage (which also gets turned back into sugar), and you see a slimmer you.

I'm of the thought that we can spend a lot of money on special "healthy" foods and really, your body doesn't care because it's going to turn it to sugar anyway.

This is what I always subscribed to as the diets that have come and gone over the past several decades have been obscene at times. I will argue that all calories are not the same and how your body handles them is different. When you feed your body a meal made up of mostly starchy or sugar based foods it will have a quick surge like a starter battery but all that extra energy does not get stored properly. If you start your day with a meal made of healthy protein and fats your body prepares for the long haul and satiety lasts far longer.

 

[Kia girl]

I am not 50 but i can say from experience that there is no such thing as a diet because once you lose and stop you will gain back. The way I have loss and kept off most of my weight is low carb high fats. I maintained a horribly low weight doing this. Like I said though once you stop you gain the weight quickly so you have to make it a lifestyle change. Look at Atkins, it can help. I didn’t follow that but it is similar to what I did.


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[Duke]

I am not 50 but i can say from experience that there is no such thing as a diet because once you lose and stop you will gain back.  The way I have loss and kept off most of my weight is low carb high fats.  I maintained a horribly low weight doing this.  Like I said though once you stop you gain the weight quickly so you have to make it a lifestyle change.  Look at Atkins, it can help.  I didn’t follow that but it is similar to what I did.


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Agreed Kia girl.

"Rinse & Repeat" -prove of no use in "losing" weight, as my olde belief systems simply "find" it, again.

Simply had to change that structure of BS...aka: Belief Systems. Oh: they were CHALLENGED!!

I too implemented a modified Atkins approach; plus- added 'Intermittent Fasting'...for-the-win!

Duke

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

+2 on modified Atkins.  I eat more raw veggies than he allows.

One thing that has helped me that I haven't seen mentioned: I concentrate on eating during meals, I do not read the newspaper, I do not cruise the 'net, I do not play games.  I concentrate on eating slow, chewing my food well, savoring the taste and texture of my food.

blmkid, this is my normal daily diet:

After getting up: coffee and cream in ~ 2:1 ratio, along with meds.

Lunch:
 - if driving: lettuce wrap heavy on sliced meats, with mayo, onion, cheese.
 - if stationary: 2 strips of bacon, 1 egg scrambled with cream and lots of chopped veggies added.  Sometimes add ground flaxseed.
I also take 2 tsp. psyllium (fiber) in water.

Dinner, one of the following:
 - large salad with as many varied veggies as I can stuff into my frig, with 8 oz of chicken, 5 oz tuna, or 8 oz beef, vinegar and oil dressing.
 - 2 burgers or 3 brats in flatbread (2 net carbs), mustard and as much chopped onion and tomato as bread will hold.

Water to drink.  Sometimes tea or more coffee.  Chocolate milk once in a while as a treat.

Snacks:
 - baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, string cheese.
 - apple, orange, other good traveling fruit (also not on Atkins induction diet).
 - 72% cacao dark chocolate (I am a chocoholic so I need my daily fix).
All treats (except chocolate) MUST be shared with the beagle, although he never shares his treats with me.

I eat and enjoy traditional holiday foods with family, I just try to eat moderately and go on a strict Atkins Induction diet for a week or two after to get back to normal.

 

[blmkid]

2 eggs now to start the morning's, 3 was too many. 

 

[VagaboundSusan]

2 eggs now to start the morning's, 3 was too many. 

I am hungriest in the mornings  and eat like a farmer going out to harvest. Great job blm, you will find your comfort zone.