I started weighing and tracking everything I eat and it’s made a huge difference. I was eating healthy food and not pigging out but I was underestimating my caloric intake by a enough to make a difference. I’ve lost 15 pounds and haven’t been doing anything very different.

It’s all the extra O’s.

Anonymous wrote:Could you measure success with how well you can move your body, and how your body is keeping up with whatever your physical desires are - instead of the number on the scale? That's what my husband and I are moving towards - can we keep up with the kids? Can we hike like we want to? Can we pick them up like we want to, or take the bike ride they want to do, or do whatever physical activity they want to do? If so, we are doing OK.

Thank you for this. I don't think most people on this thread can, and it's a way of thinking that is probably antithetical to the way most of us were raised ("job 1 is to look conventionally attractive no matter the cost"), but I'm glad some of us escaped.

Steps really don't mean much - 10k steps walked vs 10k steps run or 10k steps up stairs will be dramatically different. Exercising more intensely in combination with weights will help tremendously.

Lift weights. That is only way you will see results.

OP, try strength training. If you build up muscle, your metabolism will increase.

I suspect my stomach issue is organ fat build up that is difficult to lose.

Midlife fat isn’t magical. I’ve heard that excuse from so many of my clients. It’s fat. It will go away if you change the way you eat and the way you move. I’m 55. I’m the same weight I was at 16. The only time I gained was during pregnancy. I have had to change the way I eat as I’ve aged. People who stay fit and healthy through middle age and beyond are typically health conscious and not fooled by ridiculous fad dieting.

I think that past a certain age, if you don't want to have the common midlife fat, you have to get serious about exercise. Even if we're not eating more, we are naturally losing bone and muscle past a certain age. Even maintaining a stable weight, our bodies look different, not as good as they used to. If you want to fight back against that, you need to do more than walk 10000 steps. Weight training and efficient HIIT make a big difference. Build muscle.

do a detox. you'll feel great too.

I’m mid 40s and just lost 10 lbs on weight watchers. I need to lose another 10. Counting calories and eating moderately never worked for me. This point system just works for me somehow.

I'm 50 and have lost 7 pounds since March. These are "vanity" pounds. A back injury forced me to change my lifestyle. I walk 30 minutes a day, minimum and I weight train with 15lbs+ weights 2-3 times a week. I also stopped sitting on my a$$ -it hurt too much- and, consequently, I stopped mindlessly snacking. I never once felt hungry or deprived and I never counted calories in my life. I've maintained the loss since May, so I'm pretty sure the weight is gone for good.

No. I held on to 10 lbs after baby #1, another 10 after baby #2, and then 20 more slowly added by the time I was 50. I decided to get real about the calories I was consuming, stop consuming so many, and ramped up the exercise. Less than a year later I’m almost back to pre baby #1 weight. It was neither super easy nor super hard, just a different mindset and totally doable.

Could you measure success with how well you can move your body, and how your body is keeping up with whatever your physical desires are - instead of the number on the scale? That's what my husband and I are moving towards - can we keep up with the kids? Can we hike like we want to? Can we pick them up like we want to, or take the bike ride they want to do, or do whatever physical activity they want to do? If so, we are doing OK.

I eat moderately, always good food. I do 10,000 steps a day but the older I get, I just gain. If I ate a lot I would somehow make peace with being chunky; I’m just thick with a stomach. I’m resolving that I have to do coolsculpting.