Did your attitude towards life change as you aged?

[ideologyhunter]

Toni: Nothing much worked for me on weight loss 'til I tried water aerobics. I'm in my 9th year of it and have maintained a healthy BMI since the 5-month mark, back in 2011.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Toni: Nothing much worked for me on weight loss 'til I tried water aerobics. I'm in my 9th year of it and have maintained a healthy BMI since the 5-month mark, back in 2011.

It sure isn't as easy as it used to be. My strategy is to get out of the house and stay away from food as much as possible. Eating healthy has never been an issue but when you're older, even if you eat healthy the weight seems to hang around.

The other thing is that the weight isn't as muscular as it used to be so it's a double whammy trying to remove the pounds. But we shall endure!

I'm curious how much of your time is spent on the water aerobics.

 

[rousseau]

 

[Toni]

Yep. But this is actually true:

When I first started gaining weight, I was alarmed because I had always been at or below ideal weight, soI started very carefully tracking calories, which I had never done for myself before. I know that I ate more than I had before because I didn't want to show the doctor that I usually skipped breakfast or more or less combined breakfast and lunch. At the time and to this day, almost all of our food is made from scratch and we use relatively few processed products. This is a deeply ingrained habit from the days when we were very poor and it was very important to make every food dollar (or $0.05) get the most nutrition for the cost. So toting up all the calories and I came out at a maximum of 1400 cal/day. The doctor looked at what I recorded and the calories and said that I should be losing a pound or two a week at that intake. I agreed. And yet, I was not losing, I was gaining weight. Note: if anything, I ate MORE when I thought the doctor would look at my diet/caloric intake than I generally do.

Same pattern now, although at some point, I gave up losing weight and relaxed my prohibition of eating sweets. I've never been much of a bread eater, and my ideal diet is mostly fruits vegetables (ideally raw) and yogurt and fish, with some pasta and occasionally rice and less frequently, potatoes. Homemade soups are staples in the cold weather months. Not cream based, either. When I was working long hours, most of those years my lunch was: a cup of plain low fat yogurt with fresh fruit, usually berries, and water. Breakfast was a bagle (no butter or cream cheese) and water. Boring but I'm really not very food driven and I wanted quick, convenient and something I didn't really have to think about much. Dinner: Whatever we were having. Although we are no longer vegetarian, we still eat meatless meals a couple of times a week, at least. We eat out less than once a month--mostly because we don't have many decent dining choices nearby. With this diet: I gained another 15-20 lbs.more than my already much too great a weight. This is a LOT for someone my height and frame. After I left that job, I dropped 10 lbs and then we lost our last dog and...gained it back. Clearly the walks are important and I'm making an effort to replicate this former amount of walking and increasing it as I lost weight while walking my older dog who was able to do less and less every day. In other words, I lost weight with very modest exercise.

My meals are mostly the same although I'm once again more inclined to eat a combo breakfast/lunch and it's about half the time bagel or bagel and eggs and the other half of the time left overs from dinner earlier in the week or maybe some pasta with mushrooms and parm cheese once every week or two. Fruit: apples, oranges, bananas, berries, grapes in the afternoon. If I ate early, I might eat a piece of whole wheat toast/peanut butter. Then dinner which is normally some protein source (cheese, lean meat, fish, occasionally chicken) grilled or broiled or sometimes braised. Never fried. Plus salad and maybe pasta or rice, rarely potatoes. Our big indulgence is when my husband makes pizza which is loaded with veggies and usually sausage but not much and cheese.

I recognize that I need to go back to no desserts but aside from eating desserts more often than is good for me, it's definitely not my diet. I mean, I think that maybe I'm eating too much but when I have lunch or dinner with friends who are much thinner (and my age), they look rather surprised at how little I eat while I feel satisfied to stuffed. I've never been much of a drinker and that's still true. I maybe drink 3-6 beers in a year. I maybe consume 3-6 bottles of wine a year, including what I use in cooking. Hard liquor? Virtually zero. No soda except ginger ale on the rare (once a year maybe) occasions I have an upset stomach. Mostly, I drink water and tea and in the winter, once every couple of weeks: hot cocoa made from scratch, with real milk.

For my family, there is a strong history of obesity. I was the only one who, as an adult, was at or under my ideal weight. I'm sure genetics play a strong role here but my diet is extremely different than the diet I grew up on and the one that my siblings still maintain. I'm thinner than any of my siblings but weigh much more than I should. I'm also more physically active and as far as I can tell, my diet is much, much healthier, with few processed components, and far less salt and sugar and fat.

 

[rousseau]

For my family, there is a strong history of obesity. I was the only one who, as an adult, was at or under my ideal weight. I'm sure genetics play a strong role here but my diet is extremely different than the diet I grew up on and the one that my siblings still maintain. I'm thinner than any of my siblings but weigh much more than I should. I'm also more physically active and as far as I can tell, my diet is much, much healthier, with few processed components, and far less salt and sugar and fat.

Yea, genetics are definitely a part of it too.

In terms of diet I believe the aim shouldn't be too few calories, but rather eating exactly what you need, but getting those calories from mostly healthy sources. I've lost and/or maintained my weight this way, but the loss is slow, and only possible when my diet is pretty much perfect. Mostly this means no refined sugar at all, or very sparingly. And this has to be coupled with daily exercise too.

I'd think a bullet-proof diet and water-aerobics would be a great combination.

But yea, genetics are something you can't get around.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Toni: Nothing much worked for me on weight loss 'til I tried water aerobics. I'm in my 9th year of it and have maintained a healthy BMI since the 5-month mark, back in 2011.

I'm curious how much of your time is spent on the water aerobics.

I do a one-hour workout every other day. I would describe it as medium intensity, with approx. 35 to 40 minutes in various water-jogging reps, and the remainder in the deep end with a float belt and hand buoys. Going every other day keeps the workout from getting to be a drag, and it's enough to keep my appetite directed to leaner fare, I think.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

I actually lost a lot of weight as I aged. In my 20s I was less than obese but definitely heavy set. Now decades later I am slim, and borderline too much so. I have not changed my diet at all so I am not sure what's going on there.

 

[southernhybrid]

I weigh what I did in high school. . Since we are talking about our struggles with weight, I'll share mine. I started to gradually gain weight in my 30s and became a bit too chubby for my satisfaction in my late 40s. So, I started walking a few miles most days, and I also started counting calories again, like I did in high school. I found that I could lose weight by cutting back to about 1500 calories a day, as long as I remained active. Over the course of a year or so, I lost 30 lbs. and got down to my high school weight.

Then I started having arthritis in my feet and the long walks were no longer possible due to the pain, so I joined Curves. Curves helped me maintain my weight but it really wasn't that great of an exercise program. So, about five years ago, I joined the local senior center and started doing aerobic exercise for 45 minutes three days a week. I made new friends in our wonderfully diverse group of women, who's ages ranged from 50 something to 90. Now, I can easily eat over 2000 calories a day of whatever foods I want and still maintain a weight under 120 lbs.

I do love vegetables, very small portions of meat, plus lots of carbs. I must have lots of carbs. I tend to think that there is no one perfect diet and different things work for different people. For example, one of my exercise friends just told me she is losing weight on the fasting diet which is very popular right now. I, on the other hand am a grazer. I eat cereal for breakfast with fruit, then I snack pretty much all day long every few hours. Most of my meals are fairly small, by American standards, but when I add up my caloric intake, it's almost always at least 2000 per day.

Here's a few more things that have worked for both me and my husband. We both weigh every morning. If we are up a pound, we cut back for that day. If I miss my exercise group, my weight will start to increase. There has been research recently that supports the idea that while exercise alone doesn't usually cause much weight loss, it does help one maintain the weight loss they've already accomplished. It also helps if one cuts back on eating along with increasing exercise.

Plus, exercise is now believed, according to some research, to be more important than one's weight. In my group, many of the woman are obese, but they keep on working out. I think if nothing else, it's helped them from gaining more weight. So, if you can't lose the weight, at least establish a good exercise program.

I do agree that eating habits and weight gain are probably somewhat connected to genetics. I think not being able to control one's appetite may have a genetic link. So much of who we are is based on our genetics. But, there must be more to it because we have never had so much obesity as we do these days. Perhaps some of it is due to the abundance of high caloric food that first world people have available. I tend to think that eating in restaurants has also been part of what has caused so much obesity. Just look at the caloric content of meals in chain restaurants. It's not unusual for one meal to have nearly the number of calories that an average person can eat in one day without gaining weight. And, then there are sweetened beverages and breads that often are provided in restaurants. We have changed the way and the amount of what we eat over the past several decades, making it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Most people no longer know what a normal portion size is. It's a lot harder to maintain a healthy weight these days than it was when I was a child.

I ate breakfast two hours ago and I'm getting hungry right now so I think I'll go get a snack.

 

[Toni]

I weigh what I did in high school. . Since we are talking about our struggles with weight, I'll share mine. I started to gradually gain weight in my 30s and became a bit too chubby for my satisfaction in my late 40s. So, I started walking a few miles most days, and I also started counting calories again, like I did in high school. I found that I could lose weight by cutting back to about 1500 calories a day, as long as I remained active. Over the course of a year or so, I lost 30 lbs. and got down to my high school weight.

Then I started having arthritis in my feet and the long walks were no longer possible due to the pain, so I joined Curves. Curves helped me maintain my weight but it really wasn't that great of an exercise program. So, about five years ago, I joined the local senior center and started doing aerobic exercise for 45 minutes three days a week. I made new friends in our wonderfully diverse group of women, who's ages ranged from 50 something to 90. Now, I can easily eat over 2000 calories a day of whatever foods I want and still maintain a weight under 120 lbs.

I do love vegetables, very small portions of meat, plus lots of carbs. I must have lots of carbs. I tend to think that there is no one perfect diet and different things work for different people. For example, one of my exercise friends just told me she is losing weight on the fasting diet which is very popular right now. I, on the other hand am a grazer. I eat cereal for breakfast with fruit, then I snack pretty much all day long every few hours. Most of my meals are fairly small, by American standards, but when I add up my caloric intake, it's almost always at least 2000 per day.

Here's a few more things that have worked for both me and my husband. We both weigh every morning. If we are up a pound, we cut back for that day. If I miss my exercise group, my weight will start to increase. There has been research recently that supports the idea that while exercise alone doesn't usually cause much weight loss, it does help one maintain the weight loss they've already accomplished. It also helps if one cuts back on eating along with increasing exercise.

Plus, exercise is now believed, according to some research, to be more important than one's weight. In my group, many of the woman are obese, but they keep on working out. I think if nothing else, it's helped them from gaining more weight. So, if you can't lose the weight, at least establish a good exercise program.

I do agree that eating habits and weight gain are probably somewhat connected to genetics. I think not being able to control one's appetite may have a genetic link. So much of who we are is based on our genetics. But, there must be more to it because we have never had so much obesity as we do these days. Perhaps some of it is due to the abundance of high caloric food that first world people have available. I tend to think that eating in restaurants has also been part of what has caused so much obesity. Just look at the caloric content of meals in chain restaurants. It's not unusual for one meal to have nearly the number of calories that an average person can eat in one day without gaining weight. And, then there are sweetened beverages and breads that often are provided in restaurants. We have changed the way and the amount of what we eat over the past several decades, making it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Most people no longer know what a normal portion size is. It's a lot harder to maintain a healthy weight these days than it was when I was a child.

I ate breakfast two hours ago and I'm getting hungry right now so I think I'll go get a snack.

Honestly? I don't really like eating much and I strongly dislike feeling too full. I actually enjoy the feeling of being slightly hungry. And I don't actually eat much. As I've mentioned, when eating with friends, they often ask if that's all I'm having, usually take leftovers and at holiday meals, I find I put a lot on my plate and....eat very little of it.

For me, I think the biggest need is to move more, although when I started gaining weight, I was chasing 4 young kids all over a large house and carrying laundry up and down 2 floors, etc. in addition to walking to do a lot of errands, taking little kids to and from school, etc. For years, I never actually felt hungry. I simply ate when I was feeding the kids/husband. On the rare occasions no one else was around for the day, I maybe ate....toast or a bagel. Or yogurt. With fruit. I don't drink anything except water and tea and a very occasional glass of wine and even rarer beer. I am certain I don't drink a six pack over the course of a year.

Your metabolism sounds like mine in my younger days. My best friend had inexplicably gained weight during her last year of high school and was trying to lose weight so she insisted on twice daily weigh ins and would be extremely frustrated because I would gain a pound or two over the course of a day--and lose it all by the next morning. I ate much more than she did--didn't think a thing at all about what I ate or how much. She was living on egg whites and vegetables and not losing a pound. A few years later, she was down to her usual weight (and eating normally but healthy) and has maintained a healthy weight while I struggle to not gain more each year.

 

[jab]

I thought old people were supposed to grow more fearless and speak their mind more. The opposite has happened to me somewhat, because I feel that I am more vulnerable. Aldo I feel a lack of respect/ prejudice against old people in our society.

That's an interesting thought. I speak my mind less too, partly due to vulnerability, but it's also equal parts 'maybe this is a waste of energy'. I tend to only initiate conversation if I'm going to learn something or have a productive exchange.

Yes, lower energy is also a factor for me.

 

[rousseau]

I thought old people were supposed to grow more fearless and speak their mind more. The opposite has happened to me somewhat, because I feel that I am more vulnerable. Aldo I feel a lack of respect/ prejudice against old people in our society.

That's an interesting thought. I speak my mind less too, partly due to vulnerability, but it's also equal parts 'maybe this is a waste of energy'. I tend to only initiate conversation if I'm going to learn something or have a productive exchange.

Yes, lower energy is also a factor for me.

I'm in my early thirties so I don't know that it's lower energy for me, as much as it's an increasing awareness of what and who is really important to me. As my time becomes more crunched I focus and prioritize more, and a part of that is recognizing that arguments on the internet and with my friends and acquaintances are usually fruitless.

 

[Toni]

I thought old people were supposed to grow more fearless and speak their mind more. The opposite has happened to me somewhat, because I feel that I am more vulnerable. Aldo I feel a lack of respect/ prejudice against old people in our society.

That's an interesting thought. I speak my mind less too, partly due to vulnerability, but it's also equal parts 'maybe this is a waste of energy'. I tend to only initiate conversation if I'm going to learn something or have a productive exchange.

Yes, lower energy is also a factor for me.

I want to say that I’m more inclined to say what I think and to care less about how I am viewed by others and to take zero shit but I have friends who remind me that that was always my charm: that I said what I thought and took no shit and didn’t care if it wasn’t the ‘cool’ thing to think/say/do.

 

[southernhybrid]

I weigh what I did in high school. . Since we are talking about our struggles with weight, I'll share mine. I started to gradually gain weight in my 30s and became a bit too chubby for my satisfaction in my late 40s. So, I started walking a few miles most days, and I also started counting calories again, like I did in high school. I found that I could lose weight by cutting back to about 1500 calories a day, as long as I remained active. Over the course of a year or so, I lost 30 lbs. and got down to my high school weight.

Then I started having arthritis in my feet and the long walks were no longer possible due to the pain, so I joined Curves. Curves helped me maintain my weight but it really wasn't that great of an exercise program. So, about five years ago, I joined the local senior center and started doing aerobic exercise for 45 minutes three days a week. I made new friends in our wonderfully diverse group of women, who's ages ranged from 50 something to 90. Now, I can easily eat over 2000 calories a day of whatever foods I want and still maintain a weight under 120 lbs.

I do love vegetables, very small portions of meat, plus lots of carbs. I must have lots of carbs. I tend to think that there is no one perfect diet and different things work for different people. For example, one of my exercise friends just told me she is losing weight on the fasting diet which is very popular right now. I, on the other hand am a grazer. I eat cereal for breakfast with fruit, then I snack pretty much all day long every few hours. Most of my meals are fairly small, by American standards, but when I add up my caloric intake, it's almost always at least 2000 per day.

Here's a few more things that have worked for both me and my husband. We both weigh every morning. If we are up a pound, we cut back for that day. If I miss my exercise group, my weight will start to increase. There has been research recently that supports the idea that while exercise alone doesn't usually cause much weight loss, it does help one maintain the weight loss they've already accomplished. It also helps if one cuts back on eating along with increasing exercise.

Plus, exercise is now believed, according to some research, to be more important than one's weight. In my group, many of the woman are obese, but they keep on working out. I think if nothing else, it's helped them from gaining more weight. So, if you can't lose the weight, at least establish a good exercise program.

I do agree that eating habits and weight gain are probably somewhat connected to genetics. I think not being able to control one's appetite may have a genetic link. So much of who we are is based on our genetics. But, there must be more to it because we have never had so much obesity as we do these days. Perhaps some of it is due to the abundance of high caloric food that first world people have available. I tend to think that eating in restaurants has also been part of what has caused so much obesity. Just look at the caloric content of meals in chain restaurants. It's not unusual for one meal to have nearly the number of calories that an average person can eat in one day without gaining weight. And, then there are sweetened beverages and breads that often are provided in restaurants. We have changed the way and the amount of what we eat over the past several decades, making it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Most people no longer know what a normal portion size is. It's a lot harder to maintain a healthy weight these days than it was when I was a child.

I ate breakfast two hours ago and I'm getting hungry right now so I think I'll go get a snack.

Honestly? I don't really like eating much and I strongly dislike feeling too full. I actually enjoy the feeling of being slightly hungry. And I don't actually eat much. As I've mentioned, when eating with friends, they often ask if that's all I'm having, usually take leftovers and at holiday meals, I find I put a lot on my plate and....eat very little of it.

For me, I think the biggest need is to move more, although when I started gaining weight, I was chasing 4 young kids all over a large house and carrying laundry up and down 2 floors, etc. in addition to walking to do a lot of errands, taking little kids to and from school, etc. For years, I never actually felt hungry. I simply ate when I was feeding the kids/husband. On the rare occasions no one else was around for the day, I maybe ate....toast or a bagel. Or yogurt. With fruit. I don't drink anything except water and tea and a very occasional glass of wine and even rarer beer. I am certain I don't drink a six pack over the course of a year.

Your metabolism sounds like mine in my younger days. My best friend had inexplicably gained weight during her last year of high school and was trying to lose weight so she insisted on twice daily weigh ins and would be extremely frustrated because I would gain a pound or two over the course of a day--and lose it all by the next morning. I ate much more than she did--didn't think a thing at all about what I ate or how much. She was living on egg whites and vegetables and not losing a pound. A few years later, she was down to her usual weight (and eating normally but healthy) and has maintained a healthy weight while I struggle to not gain more each year.

I'm not sure if it's true, but the claim has been made that our metabolism continues to increase for several hours after a good intense aerobic workout. I think it might be true because doing aerobics has made it very easy for me to maintain my weight, even when I eat too much.

Are your thyroid levels within norma limits? Do you have any health problems that might contribute to a lower metabolism? If not, I encourage you to find an intense workout that you like, or are at least are motivated to do. I pretend that my workouts are my work days. I leave the house at 8:30 AM and I"m back home by 10 or 10:30, depending on how much I socialize. I usually have to find little tricks to help me do what I need to do. It may be weird, but it works for me. I don't like to feel full either. That's why I graze. Sometimes I have very little appetite in the evening, so I eat a small dinner, but I must have a scoop of vanilla ice cream every night. Sweets are my weakness but I only eat them in very small portions. So far today, I've had two very small cookies, two tiny pieces of dark chocolate, two small pieces of dried pineapple, and one small chocolate pretzel. The caloric content of those snacks was probably about 150. Husband is getting ready to make delicious minestrone soup. I love vegan food better than anything, but due to my cook and my problems with anemia, I need to eat some animal protein. I hope you will find some form of exercise that works for you.

 

[Tammuz]

I wouldn't call myself "old" just yet, but I'm not quite "young" either. ... But yes, my attitudes have changed a bit over time. When I was in university in my early 20's I was extremely shy, introverted, petrified of rejection, and generally unhappy. But when I hit 30, I got a new challenging job, a serious girlfriend and a whole lot of confidence from both of those. These days, I'm still an introvert, but I've stopped worrying too much about what other people think. Now, I'm happy.

Wisdom comes with age. ... Usually.

Confidence really is the key to a lot of success. That was something I knew back in university too, but I also knew that confidence without SOME foundation of competence was foolish. I didn't know that I was under-valuing myself, and I suffered for it.

So it is not too late for me then, even though I soon hit 31?

Otherwise, a very interesting post of yours.