Eat less but don't deprive yourself. Minimize carbs but don't cut them out completely. Exercise with particular emphasis on weights to maintain muscle tone.

The big one is to avoid eating out because restaurant food is really a killer when it comes to diets what with fried food, too much salt and excessive portions.

I'm 54, past menopause and lost 35 pounds over the last year. I use myfitnesspal, and eat no more than 1650 calories a day. There is beer and twinkies in there, but I don't worry about tyoes of food because I think that is gimmicky and not sustainable. I eat what I like, just a lot less of it. 1650 doesn't go far, it is hard to eat out.

A LOT less food, and I weigh everything.

It's tougher at 50+ but not impossible. Stay away from quick loss or deprivation diets. Cut out a few hundred calories a day, especially from processed foods, and find a way to burn a few more calories through any means possible. If through dieting and exercise you can cut/burn 500 calories a day you can lose a pound a week. Dieting is the key. A donut can be 200 calories. A Coke 140 calories. An hour of vigorous walking only burns about 400 calories. By being cognizant of what you are eating every day and cutting out a few things (do i really need that donut?) can make a huge difference. I was a jerk tonight and ate a Klondike bar with 190 calories. It tasted great but I should have skipped it. I need to swim for 30 minutes to make up for it. Dumb! For me dieting is the key and working out is great for basic cardio and fitness. But without dieting, my workouts won't help peal off the pounds.

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for some inspiration on weight loss in middle age. I am a 55 y.o. female and have a lot of weight to lose. It feels so much harder to lose weight in my 50s than the last time I tried losing weight, in my 20s. I know I have to eat less and exercise more (calories in, calories out) but is there some particular strategy/approach or combination that worked best for you if you lost weight in your 50s? TIA

I lost weight. No rice bread or pasta. Still drinking my wine. Have a cheat day one time a week usually for some French fries. Slowly it is coming off. Went from 149 to 124 in 3 months. Not stopping yet! I eat a lot of Trader Joe's rices cauliflower inplace of rice or pasta.

Calories in, calories out. And make them good calories. If you cut out too many things you love you won't stick with it. The best way is to make it slow and steady versus quick loss dieting which never sticks. Don't weight yourself every day. Target a pound a week or two weeks. Cut out a few hundred calories a day and burn a few hundred calories a few times a week and you can make slow, steady progress without a lot of pain. There is no doubt that it is tougher to lose weight as you get older but it can be done with determination.

Intermintant fasting would be migraine hell for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Not feasible for those of us who workout frequently and intensely.

Do you do intense exercise 7 days a week? If not you can do IF on your moderate exercise or rest days

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Me too, down 15# in 4 months. It's fairly painless, just stop eating by 8 pm and don't start till noon. I exercise several times a week and this keeps me from sticking on plateaus.

Anonymous wrote:I heard an interesting story on NPR last week. A researcher was talking about how difficult it is to burn enough calories to lose weight through exercise.

For example, running several miles will maybe burn a few hundred calories, which really isn't much at all.

Exercise is great for overall health, strength, endurance, etc., but is generally not going to help you lose much weight. The KEY to losing weight is simply to eat less.

If you pack on enough muscle mass you will also just burn more. Running in itself won't necessarily burn that much off, but the muscle mass you develop in some of the largest muscles on the body will have you burning more calories just sitting

Anonymous wrote:Should add, I actually found it much easier to lose weight now. I seem to have more will power and less interest in sweets than I used to. Also more recognition that it's a health issue, whereas in my 20s it was only about looks.

This is so true, I just finished losing 20lb and still going. I seem to have more will power and not being run by my appetite when I was younger. I ran mine off and changed, slowly, diet over 6 months. I really don't want to go to 5 guys anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Not feasible for those of us who workout frequently and intensely.

I exercise and have found a way that this works. I don't think exercise necessarily means you need to eat a lot more ... you just need to know when you must eat.

I don't control when I eat. I work full time and spend my evenings running my kids to activities. I have to eat when it fits into my schedule.

I love that excuse.

the mommy martyr

You can't say no to an activity or two?

I do.

I work FT, have two young kids and refuse to sacrifice my health for anyone. What good am I morbidly obese or worse, dead?

I have two kids. They each do only one activity, but it's every weekday. You have young kids who don't need 2500 or 3000 calories a day. You really have no clue about my life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Not feasible for those of us who workout frequently and intensely.

I exercise and have found a way that this works. I don't think exercise necessarily means you need to eat a lot more ... you just need to know when you must eat.

I don't control when I eat. I work full time and spend my evenings running my kids to activities. I have to eat when it fits into my schedule.

I love that excuse.

the mommy martyr

You can't say no to an activity or two?

I do.

I work FT, have two young kids and refuse to sacrifice my health for anyone. What good am I morbidly obese or worse, dead?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Not feasible for those of us who workout frequently and intensely.

I exercise and have found a way that this works. I don't think exercise necessarily means you need to eat a lot more ... you just need to know when you must eat.

I don't control when I eat. I work full time and spend my evenings running my kids to activities. I have to eat when it fits into my schedule.

You can control it if you prep food for a few days and taek it with you. Brown bag lunch and dinner to eat while running your children around. Is it easy - no. But unless someone is force feeding you, you can control when you eat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Not feasible for those of us who workout frequently and intensely.

I exercise and have found a way that this works. I don't think exercise necessarily means you need to eat a lot more ... you just need to know when you must eat.

I don't control when I eat. I work full time and spend my evenings running my kids to activities. I have to eat when it fits into my schedule.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting. And it's working. Give it a try

Not feasible for those of us who workout frequently and intensely.

I exercise and have found a way that this works. I don't think exercise necessarily means you need to eat a lot more ... you just need to know when you must eat.