Anonymous wrote:Meh, 47, 145lbs, 5’4. I look good, have muscle tone and soft curves. Love food and have two daughters who are in shape but also love to eat. I would hate to pass along any disordered eating. Examine yourself.

I'm not a disordered eater and love food. I did finally figure out how to be healthy. You're only 47 years old. It's easy to have muscle tone. I was you too.

BTW - My problem with food has reversed. I don't want to eat enough but force myself so I don't lose muscle.
High class problem. You don't have to be hungry to be thin. Get to the gym and have your muscle/fat analyzed with their Inbody machine so you know your status. There are also home scales that can give you much more info to work from than pounds. Pounds mean nothing, you can be thinner and weight more because muscle is more compact than fat.
Sorry about all the typos (poor auto correct)

Meh, 47, 145lbs, 5’4. I look good, have muscle tone and soft curves. Love food and have two daughters who are in shape but also love to eat. I would hate to pass along any disordered eating. Examine yourself.

I'm a lot older than most of the people on this thread and have leant a lot about being healthy this past year.

- BMI is outdated. A better measurement is % body fat vs muscle.
- After 40, our female bodies start loosing muscle at an accelerated pace. This can be Sarcopenia (skinny fat) which means if you are on a restricted diet, your body will eat its own muscle to maintain vital functions. Over time you increasingly need to maintain weight. Whereas if you maintain grow/maintain muscle, you can eat more since your body works much harder (burning more calories) to digest protein
- Bone loss also starts at this age and accelerates as a part of aging. This is critically important for your 60's and beyond
- The hard part is this happens in a period when we are busier than ever with family and career.
- Some people do this naturally but I didn't. This is what I had to change to:
- Lifting weights 3X week progressive. Prioritizing that over cardio. I do both but always strength first
- Allow for recovery time. Your muscles first breakdown before rebuilding. During this period it is very important to eat enough protein to support that process. Rule of thumb is 0.5 -1.0 grams per pound of body weight. Ideally you would start your day with at least 15 grams, and eat again within 1 hour of working out.
- Intermittent fasting works for young woman below 40 but for most over 40, it leads to sarcopenia/muscle loss.
- As you increase your muscle mass, your metabolic rate goes up meaning you can eat more to just sustain your vital functions. To lose lbs you would eat slightly below the active calories earned (from day's exercise)
- I'm in my late 60's which makes this so much harder than if I had started 25 years ago. But it's working. BTW the stress never stops because our parents age and we find ourselves needing to be physically stronger to help. And, to make sure we are functionally. strong and mentally agile for as long as possible. So much more important than how we look, although I must admit that I enjoy that side effect.
- I'm no expert but I thought I would share some of the problems I've encountered this past year and what I learned.

You have to learn to live without carbs once you’re middle aged.

Healthy fats
Low carb
Walking

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone who's easily thin truly like food?

Yep. I love food. I have coffee for breakfast most days, but enjoy filling and satisfying lunches and dinners, full of animal products, veggies, and a smaller amount of carbs/starches. Occasionally I’ll enjoy something like ramen for lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat it with substantial foods like eggs and pork belly, and balance it with a good dinner full of meats/seafoods and veggies. If I have a sandwich, I make sure it’s got a good amount of meat vs the bread. If I eat pizza, I take my time to enjoy a few pieces. Occasional fast food is also enjoyed, but not the super-sized meals of my youth. I’m happy with small fries and a cheeseburger. I feel like I’m enjoying the foods so many others are too scared to eat, so it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. I don’t snack and I’m not hungry between meals.

-42 years old-5’4”, 118 lbs.

42 is young! I Didn't start gaining weight until 50.

This. At 42 I was the same size as 30 with no effort. The weight gain of middle age comes at 45 or later. It was shocking--I saw it in myself and all of my friends. We were the same size our entire lives and then suddenly, bam. Everyone was heavier despite eating the same, exercising regularly, etc. Late 40s is rough on women thanks to the hormonal shifts.

Anonymous wrote:Where are all of you who are 5"6 and 120 lbs or 5"4 and 110 lbs and think you're fat living and who do you associate with? Certainly not in my neighborhood lol. I don't see anyone that tiny practically ever but certainly they seem overrepresented in this forum compared to the general population.

DCUM has always been Lake Wobegone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone who's easily thin truly like food?

Yep. I love food. I have coffee for breakfast most days, but enjoy filling and satisfying lunches and dinners, full of animal products, veggies, and a smaller amount of carbs/starches. Occasionally I’ll enjoy something like ramen for lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat it with substantial foods like eggs and pork belly, and balance it with a good dinner full of meats/seafoods and veggies. If I have a sandwich, I make sure it’s got a good amount of meat vs the bread. If I eat pizza, I take my time to enjoy a few pieces. Occasional fast food is also enjoyed, but not the super-sized meals of my youth. I’m happy with small fries and a cheeseburger. I feel like I’m enjoying the foods so many others are too scared to eat, so it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. I don’t snack and I’m not hungry between meals.

-42 years old-5’4”, 118 lbs.

42 is young! I Didn't start gaining weight until 50.

thanks for sharing?

You're welcome!

Usually weight gain comes from menopause.

Always a BMI ff 17-19. At 44 I was suddenly at 22; am now bmi 25. I have aswlays worked out 7 days a week so it is not the exercise; it is the diet.

Yes I am always hungry. Growling stomach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i’m 46yrs old and yes. It gets worse each year that goes by. To remain thin I must spend most of my waking hours hungry. I have to basically obsess over food and do jedi mind tricks to hold off eating. I take a lot of advil for the hunger headaches. I think i would remain thin without hunger if i worked a very manual job such as being a landscaper installing decks and patios. If i exercised a good 8hrs a day i think i could eat full meals and be satisfied. it’s disturbing how little food i have to eat to maintain a BMI of 22.5. Im not even skinny. I do lift weights at an intense boot camp 3xs a week and hop on the Peloton 3 days. However to eat a “normal” amount i’d need to at least triple my exercise load and my joints would probably crash out.

I am 39 and a size 2/4 and I guess I do care about being thin but this sounds f ing psycho to me. Why not eat three full meals of healthy food and just accept your weight? If your daily routine has you taking Advil for hunger headaches you are doing it wrong.

Agreed, if you are having daily headaches from hunger just eat something. Your body is not happy. I don't even know why exactly hunger would cause headaches, are you missing out on some important nutrients?

But I am basically a fatty for this forum (BMI of 25, also trying to lose a few lbs) so you can decide for yourself which is worse.

Yes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are all of you who are 5"6 and 120 lbs or 5"4 and 110 lbs and think you're fat living and who do you associate with? Certainly not in my neighborhood lol. I don't see anyone that tiny practically ever but certainly they seem overrepresented in this forum compared to the general population.

I am 5'6" and 181 and the women who are 5'2" and 100 pounds are all, 100%, unemployed. They have hours to exercise and it doesn't matter if they are hungry because they don't have to accomplish anything. I'm sure they feel pity for me, but different strokes. I'm done with this forum, y'all can talk about disciplining yourselves to ignore hunger in peace.

My 9 year old is 55 lbs and her best friend at the same height who is super lean and muscular (of a difference race so genetics play a huge role here) is 85. So the difference you are upset about can be genetically influenced bone density and muscle. I wouldnt go so far as to call people unemployed.
For my racial group I hit overweight at 22 bmi.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are all of you who are 5"6 and 120 lbs or 5"4 and 110 lbs and think you're fat living and who do you associate with? Certainly not in my neighborhood lol. I don't see anyone that tiny practically ever but certainly they seem overrepresented in this forum compared to the general population.

I am 5'6" and 181 and the women who are 5'2" and 100 pounds are all, 100%, unemployed. They have hours to exercise and it doesn't matter if they are hungry because they don't have to accomplish anything. I'm sure they feel pity for me, but different strokes. I'm done with this forum, y'all can talk about disciplining yourselves to ignore hunger in peace.

While that's not my body type, this is not true. I have worked with women with that body. A lot actually. And many in their 40s and 50s. I had a boss like that-- department director, long hours. She definitely dieted (was actually weird about food) but I also think she was just naturally super petite. She was also a very anxious person-- she was constantly in motion and she probably burned calories just sitting at her desk because she was so fidgety. She also had two teens.

I've also worked with other women with that body type though who were not super weird about food or fidgety like that. One was a runner (also had teenage kids). Another I don't know what she did to stay thin. They both ate normally though --healthy food but not limiting amounts unreasonably. I used to eat lunch with them several times a week. Salads with grilled salmon or chicken, normal dressings, that kind of thing.

Anyway, some people are just built like that. If they were starving and really working at it, they hid it well. Neither seemed vain at all though.

Yeahhhhhh…. I am 5’2 114, so not quite as thin as the women first poster was grouching about. I work like 50 hours a week and am a single mom with full custody. Being thin is most certainly not a full time job for me at least.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are all of you who are 5"6 and 120 lbs or 5"4 and 110 lbs and think you're fat living and who do you associate with? Certainly not in my neighborhood lol. I don't see anyone that tiny practically ever but certainly they seem overrepresented in this forum compared to the general population.

I am 5'6" and 181 and the women who are 5'2" and 100 pounds are all, 100%, unemployed. They have hours to exercise and it doesn't matter if they are hungry because they don't have to accomplish anything. I'm sure they feel pity for me, but different strokes. I'm done with this forum, y'all can talk about disciplining yourselves to ignore hunger in peace.

While that's not my body type, this is not true. I have worked with women with that body. A lot actually. And many in their 40s and 50s. I had a boss like that-- department director, long hours. She definitely dieted (was actually weird about food) but I also think she was just naturally super petite. She was also a very anxious person-- she was constantly in motion and she probably burned calories just sitting at her desk because she was so fidgety. She also had two teens.

I've also worked with other women with that body type though who were not super weird about food or fidgety like that. One was a runner (also had teenage kids). Another I don't know what she did to stay thin. They both ate normally though --healthy food but not limiting amounts unreasonably. I used to eat lunch with them several times a week. Salads with grilled salmon or chicken, normal dressings, that kind of thing.

Anyway, some people are just built like that. If they were starving and really working at it, they hid it well. Neither seemed vain at all though.

Anonymous wrote:i’m 46yrs old and yes. It gets worse each year that goes by. To remain thin I must spend most of my waking hours hungry. I have to basically obsess over food and do jedi mind tricks to hold off eating. I take a lot of advil for the hunger headaches. I think i would remain thin without hunger if i worked a very manual job such as being a landscaper installing decks and patios. If i exercised a good 8hrs a day i think i could eat full meals and be satisfied. it’s disturbing how little food i have to eat to maintain a BMI of 22.5. Im not even skinny. I do lift weights at an intense boot camp 3xs a week and hop on the Peloton 3 days. However to eat a “normal” amount i’d need to at least triple my exercise load and my joints would probably crash out.

I am 39 and a size 2/4 and I guess I do care about being thin but this sounds f ing psycho to me. Why not eat three full meals of healthy food and just accept your weight? If your daily routine has you taking Advil for hunger headaches you are doing it wrong.