Each year that goes by, I need to eat less and less to maintain my weight. At 52, I'm at about 1500/day according to my Lose It log, and bumping right up against 25 on the BMI. When you actually start recording measured amounts, that's not much. I've been determined not to let myself get "overweight", but feel like I'm losing the battle.

Aging sucks.

Rather than eating small amounts of high calorie food, it sounds like you might need to find some low calorie foods that you can eat more of in order to "fill you up". Something like celery, carrots, grapes, or apples.

Drinking water helps curb hunger too.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Rather than eating small amounts of high calorie food, it sounds like you might need to find some low calorie foods that you can eat more of in order to "fill you up". Something like celery, carrots, grapes, or apples.

My usual snacks are carrots, a banana, some nuts, etc. I haven't eaten a candy bar in a very long time.

I went from a high carb diet (potato / pasta with every meal), to low carb over the last year and lost 40 pounds. Wife is onboard with it too, since it caused significant changes to her food prep routine.

The best change overall for me personally was not feeling ravenously hungry much of the day since the low carb diet stopped that.

If you're already doing low carb that won't be much help though.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Each year that goes by, I need to eat less and less to maintain my weight. At 52, I'm at about 1500/day according to my Lose It log, and bumping right up against 25 on the BMI. When you actually start recording measured amounts, that's not much. I've been determined not to let myself get "overweight", but feel like I'm losing the battle.

Aging sucks.

1500. Geez. I hear you. Right now munching on a sweet pepper, and trying to decide if I can splurge for dinner (I shouldn’t). I told a friend last summer that I’ve decided I don’t want to be skinny if it means I can’t enjoy good food. I don’t mean fast food or junk or sweets or candy. I mean well prepared good food. Life is too short.

I was naturally thin in my youth without much effort. Never had to work at it. It does indeed suck getting older and having your metabolism come to a standstill.

Perhaps something with a bit more fat with each meal. That takes longer to breakdown and digest therefore the hunger pangs come later.

A palm full of nuts, say 6 to 8 pieces, of almonds or cashews might be beneficial.

I'm in the same boat as you, so best wishes to you.

Instead of being "borderline" when it comes to weight try slimming down even more.

I found that at 6'3" I gain weight very easily if I weigh 210 or more but I don't gain nearly as quickly if I am at or below 200.

As I've gotten older (getting close to 50 now) I know I have to stay active and watch what I'm eating but if I use 203# as my "cut off" I can enjoy more of the food I like.

It is also worth getting some bloodwork done to check out your testosterone levels. A Dr. friend of mine told me as we age and our testosterone levels decline we gain weight much more easily.

quote:

Originally posted by rsbolo: A Dr. friend of mine told me as we age and our testosterone levels decline we gain weight much more easily.

That's true, but it is also a very natural part of aging. HRT is playing with fire, IMO.

Water. You should be drinking 2-3 liters of water a day. It fills me up and totally suppresses my appetite.

^^^^^^

I already do that. A kidney stone 10 years ago got me in the habit.

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.medicinenet.com/ea...eight_loss/views.htm

Get out and walk a few miles. That makes some room for a goodie to two.......

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Each year that goes by, I need to eat less and less to maintain my weight. At 52, I'm at about 1500/day according to my Lose It log, and bumping right up against 25 on the BMI. When you actually start recording measured amounts, that's not much. I've been determined not to let myself get "overweight", but feel like I'm losing the battle.

Aging sucks.

It's not aging. You're literally starving yourself. Eating less is not the answer.

Read "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung, "Why We Get Fat, and What to do About it" by Gary Taubes, and "The Big Fat Surprise" by Nina Teischolz.

More fat, cut out most carbs.

I've had trouble losing weight my entire adult life. Since I made this change in April I've lost a bunch of weight (50lbs) and feel so much better physically and mentally.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Perhaps something with a bit more fat with each meal.

This.

Fat satiates you much better that apples, carrots, or celery. I'm not saying don't eat those, as they are good for you, but incorporating fats will keep you from being hungry much longer.

As an example: I could have a bowl of instant oatmeal and an apple for breakfast and be hungry again in about an hour vs. having an egg fried in lard and a piece of toast with butter and I can make it to dinner time without being overly hungry.

I’m the opposite. In my line of work I will go 14 hours and not even think about eating. Then I end up eating one giant meal. It’s terrible.

I don't count calories.

What I do is eat 5 small meals a day (meal every 3 hours) Meals consist of:

Meal 1 @ 9am.: 3 egg whites & 1 with yolk (all hard boiled)

Meal 2 @ noon: Grilled chicken over romaine lettuce with a splash of balsamic vinegar

Meal 3 @ 3pm: 1 protein bar that only has 3 grams of sugar and a handful of unsalted almonds

Meal 4 @ 6pm: Dinner which may be a steak, chicken breast, pork chop, or salmon with a green veggie like asparagus, spinach, or broccoli

Meal 5 @ 9pm: A slow releasing low sugar protein drink

I eat like that and I incorporate a light gym work out 5x's a week and some cardio 3x's a week.

In 2003 I weighed 280lbs.
I am 6'4" and according to my doctor I should weigh between 190 and 206lbs.
At the time my wife was doing weight watchers so I thought why not give it a try.
By the end of 8 months I was down to 206lbs. I did not like the way I looked so I went to 115lbs and felt great. I maintained it till around January of 2015 then maintained between 220lbs and 225lbs.
This past September my wife and I went on a cruise and I let my self go through the holidays. I got to 253lbs and felt like shit all the time so two weeks ago back on weight watchers.
In my first week I lost 7.8lbs and feel much better.
During the entire time I have been on weight watchers I have never felt hungry. With the latest version of weight watchers their are a lot of foods that are now free. In other words you can eat as much as you like till you feel full.
Weight watchers to me is not a diet but a lifestyle. People complain about having to wright everything down but after a while you just know what you can eat, what is free and what has a point value.
By the way I am also 52 and am planning on getting down to 200lbs before late spring or early summer.
Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you.

P.S I lost all my weight by reducing my intake of certain foods and not exercising. I may buy a small stair stepper this time around.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Each year that goes by, I need to eat less and less to maintain my weight. At 52, I'm at about 1500/day according to my Lose It log, and bumping right up against 25 on the BMI. When you actually start recording measured amounts, that's not much. I've been determined not to let myself get "overweight", but feel like I'm losing the battle.

Aging sucks.

Two suggestions.

First, cut down on Carbs. The "typical" American diet has way too many carbs and the result is Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and just not being healthy.

Second, start doing some Aerobic exercise daily. BTW, the difference between Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise is the balance between Oxygen In and Oxygen Consumed.

Aerobic means that the two are in balance so you can conduct a conversation with an exercise partner without any gasping for breath. I'll also note that Aerobic exercise is mainly fueled by Fat, so it's often called the "Fat Burning Zone". It is also an exercise state that most find enjoyable once they build a routine of daily exercise.

Anaerobic exercise is much more intense and your muscles will be slowly starved of Oxygen, which means you will be "out of breath" and not able to gasp out more than a few words. You'll also feel your muscles starting to burn as Oxygen Depletion sets in. Finally, Anaerobic exercise is mainly fueled by Carbs and once you run out of Carbs you will "run out of Gas". Keep pushing past that point and you'll start consuming muscle tissue. Quite simply "no pain, no gain" is now considered 100% WRONG.

However there are benefits to a moderate amount of Anaerobic exercise. It can help build stamina, increase HDL Cholesterol, and increase cardiac and pulmonary capacity. So a good exercise plan should incorporate a MODERATE (10-20%) amount of Anaerobic exercise. So a reasonable plan could be doing 2-3 miles of walking with a 1/4 to 1/2 mile jog at the end. BTW, two miles at a brisk walk would take about 28 minutes for a healthy individual, so your total exercise time might be just 35-40 minutes or so.

BTW, I'll be 63 in a month, my BMI is 22.6, Body Fat is 14.0%, and my resting heart rate is 46. Yeah, I am an exercise Junkie. Started by getting off the couch mid May in 2015 after about 40 years as a couch potato. Started by simply Walking. By Mid summer of 2015 I found that once I hit the 3 mile mark I'd start getting well warmed up and "loose" and then the Endorphins would kick in. Lost almost 50 lbs that first year and now my weight is stable but the Body Fat keeps inching down because I'm slowly building more muscle.

Finally, a final thought you want to consider. As we age we produce less and less Growth Hormones. One reason for this is because it allows us to live longer. Because Growth Hormones are like gasoline on a fire for someone with an aging Immune System and Cancer. Quite simply Cancer grows a lot slower when you don't have many Growth Hormones in circulation. As a result it becomes more and more difficult to build muscle once you pass 50 and somewhere around 70-75 you will lose the ability to increase muscle mass. Means when you hit 50 you need to start building some muscle tissue while you can so you can maintain a decent level of activity when you pass 75. I'll also state that my personal theory is that if your burning Growth Hormones up building muscle and bone mass that starves any stray Cancer cells you may have. Quite simply exercise can reduce and slow Cancers and that is something that has been proven in numerous studies.

MNSIG: Booya season is here! That'll take care of your hunger!

http://m.startribune.com/in-mi...st-a-stew/335078691/

My weight loss effort isn't hindered by hunger – don't really have a problem with that. Instead, it's the nutrition advice that demands that I eat X servings of A (and B, and C, and …) every day.