Any Forty-Somethings out there who are struggling?

stmirli

stmirli

Cathlete
I am 48 and my body seems to have completely changed pretty much overnight. I have to work twice as hard just to maintain and practically starve myself to drop weight. My perimenipausal symptoms seem to interfere with my health goals and I have seen my body change before my eyes.

Any tips, or similar stories would help. I would love to know that I am not alone.
 
I am right there with you. I'm forty-nine. I took off about 4 months due to an injury and managed to stay relativity steady with my weight and size. Then when I started back, it is like my body is rebelling. I have actually gained weight and inches over the last 8 weeks of solid workouts. I am so frustrated. I am trying to eat better, but its like every time I splurge a little, the calories just stick to me. I did have someone suggest getting my hormones checked, but since I'm not having any other symptoms, I doubt that mine is hormonal. So I don't have any words of wisdom for you except to let you know you are not alone.

Jean
 
Thanks for your candid reply. My mother told me that she had the same problem at my age, so I thought it was genetic as well. I can work out every day, eat well, and gain 2 pounds in a week. I think I may just put my scale in my closet and forget about it. It is SO hard not to get frustrated.
 
Welcome to my world and many others. It is harder to lose weight and keep it off. I'm 50 and been in peri-menopause for years.
My suggestion is to use a good calorie counter app or website.
Be sure to get enough calories if you are working out. I got vertigo and a fever from lack of calories.
Be consistent in your workouts and don't add stress either.
As my Mom says portion control and no white flour.
 
My husband and I gave up grains a year ago, right before our 49th birthday and that helped a lot. The fat melted off both of us.
My body is less forgiving and does not tolerate processed food, period. I look at bread, cookie, or cupcake and I gain weight. :mad:It stinks, but that's what I have to do to stay lean.
 
Thanks. I don't do any white stuff, but feel very lethargic if I don't do any carbs at all. Maybe I'll try again and stick with it for a while to get my body to adapt. I have been ravenous lately and am using water to try to curb the hunger.
 
I'm only 42.. and I'm seeing it is harder to lose now. I am overweight by about 15 pounds but to get where I really should be is a out 25 pounds I think.
I exercise eat good healthy food I'm on myfifnesspal counting calories all my friends on there seem to be losing... but not me. I have tried eating more Cal's Ann's eating less nothing is working. I have added weight lifting and I have notice arms are not as fllabby but. Still overweight. I'm not giving up though I feel like I may b on to a brakethrough but ill never know if I stop. I do feel like quitting sometimes. I even have CRIED about it. This is hard! I guess if it was easy every one would be thinner LOL. You can do this...
Hope we both can see progress soon!!!
 
I have a condition called PCO which means that my body basically has thought I was much older for a long time. What helps gals with PCO is a lower/healthy carb diet. For me that means no commercial cakes, cookies, breads. I do better with quinoa, lentils, hummus, or fruit for my carbs. Start keeping a food diary. You might try an elimination diet to find out which foods are the culprits. I discovered that I could have sprouted grain bread in moderation but not bread with 'dough conditioners'. For me it wasn't the wheat. I do ok with organic dairy but not regular dairy. I do not eat any commercial chicken except foster farms (but only the salt free.) The key is having a small cooler packed with loads of tasty and healthy foods available. I do like some of the rice crackers with hummus as a to go snack. I make my own.

I discovered that I did very poorly on any nuts. Some people can eat them. Me, only walnuts were ok and then I had to weigh the portion.

Definitely get your thyroid checked.

Switching from butter to organic coconut oil has helped too.

I'm just throwing stuff out there now. I know how frustrating this can be. I put on about 20 lbs over the last 6 months because I had a dental infection that was causing my body to produce cortisol (like being on prednisone.)

I feel nothing but sympathy.
 
stmirli said:
Thanks. I don't do any white stuff, but feel very lethargic if I don't do any carbs at all. Maybe I'll try again and stick with it for a while to get my body to adapt. I have been ravenous lately and am using water to try to curb the hunger.
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Yes, you will feel like crap until your body adjust. :(Your body has to learn to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs. There is a 2-3 week adjustment period.
If I eat carbs in the form of any grain, I gain weight, can't control my cravings, mood swings from the carb highs & lows, and I walk around feeling as though I'm starving to death. I would eat and then say to myself, "Is that it? I'm still hungry!". I feel 100% satisfied eating this way, but I had to detox off the processed food first. I eliminated dairy in the beginning. I added a very small amount (greek yogurt, cheese) back after 3 months. I told myself I would add oatmeal if I needed it, but I haven't felt the need for it.
I've invested in some good Paleo cookbooks and searched for recipes online.
Here are a few of my favorite recipe sites-
Everyday Paleo from Sarah Fragoso - Paleo Recipes and Paleo Talk Podcast
ROCOFIT HEALTH & FITNESS
 
Yes, I am 47 and still have a little ways to go, the middle is the worst! I am an extreme carb lover and until I give that up, I guess I will be always struggling, especially with my middle. I am glad I have "Cathe" though! I couldn't imagine where I'd be without her excellent core work!
 
You are not alone.... and to top it off.....I injured my knee in December and just now started back running.....the weigt is just not dropping off like it used to.....I've been off fried foods since January, very limited white flour and processed foods....but I really super bad crave sweets...dark chocolates and fruit
 
I am 48.

What you are concerned with and suffering from has been a very common theme of late. Here are several previous threads, which may be of some use to you.

http://cathe.com/forum/f95/am-i-just-getting-old-289062/
http://cathe.com/forum/f97/help-my-body-has-shifted-menopause-289136/
http://cathe.com/forum/f97/need-advise-cathletes-help-288226/

I'll be a broken record. I seem to be saying this a lot -

There is no one magic recipe or perfect solution. We are all different, with different chemistry, and as you pointed out, different genetics. Aspects of some dietary programs may work for you, while other aspects may not. Same is true with exercise; some people need high intensity effort while others become depleted by it.

The key here is to discover what works for you.

Like you, I cannot go carbohydrate free. I, too, lose energy and become lethargic, and I’ve discovered I also start to become a little –uh – too fragile, emotional, and overly sensitive. Our bodies and brains need carbohydrates for fuel, for repair, and for hormone productions.

It is worthwhile logging your calories and your macro’s on a nutrition tracking website to see where you are at with your energy in and energy out.

I attempt to keep my carbs and protein fairly balanced. I feel best when the ratio is close to 2:1...carbs to protein. What does this look like. 4 oz of protein with 50 grams of carbohydrate. I eat a good quality fat at each meal, 10 grams is about the right amount for me. (I just stumbled across this blog – that was informative – and echoes my experience: Serotonin and the Carbohydrate to Protein Ratio – 180 Degree Health) I had a good laugh when I realized, just now, that my total ratios usually are very close to Sear's "Zone."

Much to my dismay I felt a lot better when I stopped running. I was becoming too depleted by long, sustained runs. I do a lot more weight lifting and a moderate amount of medium intensity cardio.

Finding that perfect balance is an ongoing puzzle. For example, if everything else stays the same – energy in/energy out – and I make a little change like I eat too many nuts or don’t take the dogs for a walk - the scale goes up.

But here are specifics for what is working for me (broken record, again):

I’ve had to eliminate – by exhaustive personal trial and error – the following foods:
Cow Dairy
Sugar in all forms – including fresh fruit, dried fruit, agave nectar
Corn
Legumes, especially peanuts
Grains (wheat –especially white flour, gluten grains...and lately even brown rice, but YMMV*)
Coffee and black tea

---what does that leave? ----
Veggies, eggs, and potato for breakfast
Veggies, salmon and sweet potato (yam) for lunch
Large green salad, protein of some variety for dinner
And Bowl of oatmeal at bedtime (to which I add 1 tsp coconut oil, ground flax seed, cocoa powder and stevia)

I hope this helps you on your personal journey.
:D
Report back your own findings when you have the time. I know I'd like to hear what you've discovered.




(*YMMV- your mileage may vary)
 
I am 49 and perimenopausal. I have been able to lose that last dreaded 10 lbs recently just by logging my food. Really. I was eating too much. Once I started honestly logging, I dropped that weight really fast and it has been pretty easy to maintain.

That said, I eat reasonably "clean". I do, however, eat sugar (not so much while I was losing) and tons of carbs. But they are clean carbs, i.e. brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat flour, stuff like that. I'm in the camp of I just don't feel good if I don't eat carbs.

It is hard to realize how much I cannot eat if I want to maintain my new weight. 1800 calories or less a day, which isn't really that much food. I was pretty naughty over Memorial Day weekend and have just had to fight back. It's a constant process. I was probably eating closer to 1500 calories a day when I was losing. That does not include exercise calories. Every now and then I will have a day where I blow it out on calories (like over Memorial Day), but just get back on track right away. The key is to string together "good" days and space out the "bad" ones!
 
Thanks, Janis. About 3 years ago, I was laid off and had much time to devote to fitness and health. I joined a gym and took 1-3 classes daily and ate close to a vegetarian diet. I dropped 20 pounds in 6 months.
Once I started working full-time, I did not have the time to devote to this plan, and over three years I gained 30 pounds. I know I got to where I wanted to be before, and can get there again, but in such a short period of time, I can see that it is harder to get the same results.
I eat a clean diet, mostly veggies, lentils, quinoa, no dairy, sugar or white stuff, only ww bread, and lean proteins like buffalo, fish and chicken breast. I take black cohosh for hot flashes, but have a lousy two days when I get my period. I am close to incapacitated.
I now have more free time and am concentrating on daily workouts with Cathe, and yoga for flexibility. It is pretty amazing how quickly your body remembers the way it used to move, and I have only had one day of such soreness that I had to take the next day off. Variety and challenging workouts are best for me because I truly have to push myself to exercise. Staying fit and healthy through this aging process requires much dedication and hard work.
 
stmirli said:
Staying fit and healthy through this aging process requires much dedication and hard work.
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Indeed!

However, as you pointed out, "It is pretty amazing how quickly your body remembers the way it used to move" and I'll add, the body also seems to have a remarkable (and miraculous) ability to heal itself.

I, too, am doing more yoga, and since I am doing less depleting forms of exercise, I feel more sustained by food. This combination of yoga and requiring fewer calories, I think, just might be the "Fountain of Youth" we have all been questing for.

Like Geomom, 1500kcal seems to be the gradually lose number, and too many days above 1800kcal seems to be the gradually gain number.

This is true for me too, "Variety and challenging workouts are best for me..." not so much because I have to push myself to exercise, but because if I become bored or complacent lethargy sets in. I am always obsessively planning my rotations, months in advance, to keep the tendrils of lethargy at bay.

What is great about this forum, and others like it, is we can become encouraged and inspired by others, and know that we are not alone in our fight against lethargy, complacency, and the signs of aging.

:D
 
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This is depressing
My post was meant to be encouraging, not depressing! Hey, I LOST the DREADED LAST 10 during perimenopause! That's good news, it can be done and wasn't really that difficult once I put the science (calories in/calories out) behind the process.

Throw in a Cathe workout most days and really, not that hard, just watch the calories.

It is a tiny bit depressing to realize the small amount of food your body truly needs, but it's totally doable and most days I eat a treat which I try to keep in the realm of anti-oxidant dark chocolate or a fruity something-or-other, but still delicious!
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ITA with Geomom! I think there are some pretty inspiring examples in this thread. It's not depressing at all.
My only regret... I wish I would have started the Paleo lifestyle in my 20's. I have more energy now than ever. I'm turning 50 this August and I wear a size 2/4 my abs are flat and defined. Best part is that I do not feel like I'm starving to death!!:cool: I don't count calories, but I do watch my fruit intake. I eat a ton of fresh veggies everyday.:D
 
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