I never had a weight problem in my twenties and thirties. I ate what was considered a great diet at the time–low fat, high complex carbohydrates and meat as an ingredient. I exercised moderately three times per week. All was good.
There had been times where I might have put on a few pounds. But just cutting back a little for a few weeks always returned me to my normal weight.
Something Changed When I Hit my Forties
I watched myself incrementally gain weight. I didn’t understand why–I hadn’t changed anything I was doing.
So, I upped the amount of exercise. I cut back a little on food. To no effect. The weight kept going up little by little. And I was unable to stop it.
When the scales showed 130, I was horrified!! It probably doesn’t sound like much, but when you spend most of your adult life in the 120 range, hitting 130 was a big deal!
A few years later, and that weight was up another 23 lbs. I’m not a big person, and I’m small-boned. That was a lot of extra weight for me.
And I was completely bewildered. Because I trying to lose weight and definitely trying not to gain.
No One Told Me
I didn’t know nor did anyone tell me that women past the age of 40 gain weight more easily and lose it more difficultly than we did when we were younger.
We are going through physiological changes associated with aging.
I’m sure many of you are still carrying weight you never lost completely after giving birth!
Our lifestyles as working adults with families see us feeding ourselves in ways that are convenient but cause us to gain weight!
No one warned us.
No One Could Tell Me What to Do
It’s painful to want to be a slender woman again and not know what to do.
Women our age are a special group, and there are a lot of us!
According to National Center for Health Statistics, in 2018, nearly 70% of women over forty were either overweight or obese.
And we are under-represented in resources to specifically support our weight loss efforts.
I tried multiple times to lose my weight. I even tried BEFORE I was technically considered medically overweight.
I tried various programs and strategies, spent several thousand dollars, and had some modicum of success.
A couple of times, I got within 7 pounds of my goal weight, BUT….
I never reached it.
And because I did not achieve my success, I abandoned my efforts and regained the weight. Can you relate?
Losing Weight was Puzzle
It’s like I had part of the pieces of the weight loss puzzle but I just could not put it altogether.
I had gaps in my understanding and knowledge, and nowhere could I find the solutions.
No one could tell me what to do when I hit a plateau.
No one told me that the closer you get to your goal weight, the slower the weight loss.
No one could tell me what to do about it!!
I had to figure it out for myself.
And, I finally did put the pieces together, lost the weight, and became the slender woman I used to be.
I have maintained the loss and now I want to help other over 40 women to lose your weight and maintain it in a sustainable way.
When I talk with women about weight loss, the question I am asked most “is “how did you do it?”
What I tell women is that I didn’t do just one thing, but I did a lot of things consistently.
My journey to becoming a slender woman was built on small changes in habits and small goals that created a weight loss mindset. And that’s why I say weight loss is MIND-set and why it is a theme for this blog.
Let’s talk about the MIND acronym: Movement, Inspiration, Nutrition, Daily
Movement is …
Our means to burn fat. Some people call it exercise, and I like movement better as a word.
Because some people think of exercise negatively, and maybe even hate it!
So we’ll call it movement, and we’ll regularly share types of movement, how often, how long, etc.
But you’ll to accept that to lose weight and keep it off in a sustainable way, you will have to stimulate your metabolism and burn fat calories.
Inspiration is …
Any activity or information that keeps you motivated and engaged. Now granted, losing pounds or inches alone can be very motivating, BUT …..
Actual weight loss does not happen every single day. So we can’t wait around for that one pound or that half inch to motivate us. We need strategies other than the scale or the tape measure.
Nutrition is …
What you’ll be eating. It’s not just the amount–merely cutting calories won’t get you to your goal. Perhaps when you were 25, but not when you’re 45.
You’ll be doing more food prep than you might used to, and on this blog, you’ll find recipes and cooking tips that make meal prep easy and fast.
Accept the fact that you’ll be saying good-by for a while to some of your favorites. You’ll eat carb restricted meals and we’ll talk about why.
Daily means ….
Consistent habits and goals. I said earlier that losing weight requires doing a lot of things consistently. It means changing some old habits, creating new ones.
Movement, Inspiration and Nutrition efforts have to fire on all cylinders to create synergy to propel your weight loss.
Mindset requires you to build the habit of moving, eating right and inspiring yourself EVERYDAY. .
It’s holding yourself accountable–because YOU are the only one who can ride the bike, fix the food, monitor and adjust your attitude.
Losing Weight After 40 Blog will be here to help you to do just that everyday.
And be on your way to becoming a slender woman!!