Actually, no. Quite a few things according to Mum were difficult.
Sugar, butter, bananas, certain more exotic vegetables, and sometimes meat was still an issue in '52. In Scotland anyway.
Tins of powder egg & milk were easy. In fact, thousands of tons of post war stocks were an issue. We had a mass produced lampshade that was made, according to Papa, from compressed dried milk & resin. Then Bakelite came along of course!
Wasnāt that the soft, tasteless, cut and wrapped white bread loaf? I suppose it made a change to the ābrickā white loaf chock full of ācreta preperataā (Chalk!) added to supplement the calcium in the diet.
Since I wrote this topic my heath and has changed, mainly since January of this year. My weight loss hastaken two years.
As a lot of you will know I am coming up to 88 years old next month. All this year my legs, muscles and joints have got weaker and more painful and the doctors and consultants I have seen up to about six weeks ago were absolutely useless, one surgeon assured me that they could operate on any complaint but, it may mean that I could end up losing both legs. Eventually I decided to try to have an appointment with a GP who was a male doctor for a change, and he after spending twenty minutes examining me and doing different tests on my legs, advised me to start going to the Gym. Apart from the aches and pains in my legs I was finding if I tried to stand still I was inclined to sway or fall over. I could not stand on one leg are stand still with my eyes closed, I would fall over. The reasoning for his advice in sending me to a Gym was that my legs were weak and the muscles etc needed to be strengthened up. He said the unsteadiness I was experiencing was due to my legs not being able to do what my brain was trying to tell them to do. I am sure you can imagine what I thought about that advice. Anyway six weeks ago I started to go to the Gym and use the equipment that I was being advised to use by the Gym instructor. Oh, it was painful, for the first two weeks going there every other day but it did get easier. I can now stand up from a chair without any help and also not start to wobble about when I am stood still. This doctor explained to me that the people who should be going the the Gymās around the country should be any one over the age of 65 or who has retired, not just young people.
As far as my weight is concerned I was 14stone 5lbs I have got it down to 11stone 4lbs and am aiming for 10 stone 7lbs. mainly to help me reduce the back pain I have. You may wonder how I did it. I decided to stop eating bread, potatoās biscuits cake and chocolate( have a sweet tooth). I do eat fruit that is in season at any time of the day. After about seven days of this it got easier by the day, so much so that most days I only have coffee for breakfast and sometimes for lunch too. My evening meal is some sort of meat with a mixture of vegetables but not potatoes. This sustains me throā most of the next day. I now do not like the feeling of being full any more, when I start to get this feeling I stop eating.
Iām almost doing the same, although a few years younger than you and for slightly different age-related reasons!
Having the ācorrect weight,ā taking appropriate exercise, eating fruit regularly, and cutting out most of the fatty starch seems to work miracles. Regular deep sleep helps a lot too.
A lonely packet of chocolate digestives has now sat in the cupboard untouched for a couple of months!
Iām facing similar health issues, although approximately 30 years your junior. My lazy lifestyle and āchoiceā of work (do we ever really have much choice?) resulted in gradual weight gain over a period of 15 years. Five years ago, I decided to change job, cutting out weekly overseas flights/hotels/food/drink, not to mention reduced income! The result has been a gradual loss of 3st in weight, with another 2st to go. Health issues have not completely gone away, but I dread to think where I might be without me having taken decisions 5 years ago. Carbs were (are!) my enemy
Some way to go still - your message has re-inspired me to double down in my efforts; itās never too late, not too soon, to begin the journey.
I wish you all the best in your continuing successes
Hereās my take based on what women going to health professionals have told me and me having two close relatives with IBD, which restricts uptake of iron.
Women have a tendency to treat women patients as women. Male doctors treat them as a mechanic would a faulty vehicle. Other peopleās observations, not mine.
Lockdown has destroyed the mobility of thousands of old people, as the muscle wastage they suffered has struggled to recover. Muscles hold stores of iron and women are particularly susceptible to muscle wastage, as they have less to lose in the first place.
My own view is that walking at least 40 minutes two or three times a week is helpful. High intensity training (HIITs) doesnāt have to be over rigourous. Just put your muscles under strain for just under a minute and your brain decides they need building up. For around 40 seconds your muscles are using up energy stores before your brain starts sending in reinforcements. Stopping using your muscles at this point tricks the brain.
I saw a programme where just clenching your fists for 45 seconds, several times a day can have benefits for chair bound oldies.
I did Kegel exercises and planks prior to a abdominal surgery. Both were hugely beneficial.
Brilliant!. You have a few years on me, but not that many. I also have lost over 2 stone at 11st 3 lbs with another 7 lbs to go. Nothing too drastic just a proper diet. I saw myself trying to get out of My MX5 reflected in a shop window, came home and put the car up for sale !
Common sense arrived with the realisation that it was me and not the car at fault.
We are happily re-united with (relative to age) graceful getting in and out.
Long may this continue
Well done! The right kind of exercise and maintaining the right weight are essential for us older folks.
Walking regularly, 30 minutes briskly three times a week and some sensible weight bearing exercise and a good diet. Iām 75 and pre and post COVID we drove three times from Santander to the Algarve by the scenic route, almost no motorway and traffic free roads. 2,500 + miles each time and with a replacement knee and a plate in my spine.
As Bob Dylan sang, keep on keeping on!
I have just hit 11stone 0 Lbs today and I am still clinically obese, according to my doctor. Only another 7 Lbs to go then I will be the weight am supposed to be, I hope, unless they change the rules,.
There are no ārulesā.
Muscle weighs more than fat. Iād rather have a muscle bound 25.1 BMI than a fatty 24.9 BMI.
Besides, what if you are short? That affects your BMI whereas someone with longer leg bones but otherwise exactly the same body is considered āhealthyā.
Hi Sgt_Slow, all it takes is a bit of will power to cut down on what you eat. I found that after about a week of eating very little you get used to feeling hungry and when you do, have a drink of water. Cut out bread and potatoes and anything with sugar in it. Now occasionally, when I over eat and get the feeling of being full, I feel so uncomfortable that it doesnāt happen again for months.
I found that after a month or so that I could miss out breakfast and/or lunch quite happily as long as I drink a glass of water when I feel hungry. It might be a good idea to ask your partner, if you have one, to help you achieve your ambition to lose weight. Remember this, you should also do some physical exercises as well as dieting not just running. I go to my local Gym for one hours exercises every other day.
Oh, yeah, I know what I should be doing, Iām just not doing itā¦
As I said, Iām very strong and find myself in the gym 3 times a week. A fair amount of cardio too, and Iām easily fitter that a lot of lads that come in at 18/19/20 years old.
As others have said previously there are some simple keys to losing weight.
Firstly you have to have a calorie deficit in simple terms ie put in less than you burn off. However that is over simplistic and can leave you hungry and low on energy.
On the āburn offā side you need to stimulate your metabolism and the best way to do that after 40+ years is to go to the gym and build some muscle. Having some muscle stimulates your metabolic rate and burns what you put into your body faster. Cardio is not the key here after 40+ hence you see lots of middle age cyclists carrying around sizeable tummies.
Then on the input side, yes you need to watch your calories but you need to put decent stuff into your body. 1800 calories of vegetables is clearly better for you than 1800 calories of ice cream! Eat fresh vegetables and either chicken or steak for high protein content. Your metabolism will burn protein easier than carbs. Cut out beers they cost you over 200 calories each, instead drink clear spirits if you want a drink. Healthy protein filled foods will leave you feeling full even if you are on a calorie deficit.
Lastly and most importantly⦠be accountable to your self for keeping it going. Without that you will fail.
Buy some scales that input to your health app on your phone so you can monitor progress.
Eat healthy for 80% of the time and go to the gym 3/4 times a week and you will see results.
Absolutely the only.way to lose weight is >calories-in, <calories-out. You canāt beat thermodynamics.
You could lose weight eating only cakes and sweets, but itās not the healthiest option, and itās not sustainable.
The key difference; itās not a temporary diet. Itās a lifestyle change. It needs to be infinitely sustainable, so it canāt be living on 500 calories a day.
For consistent weight loss, most people should be aiming for a ~200 calorie per day defect. That would be 1400 in a week, which is approximately 1lb.
Weigh yourself no more often than once weekly, but preferably only twice per month. You donāt need ultra fine resolution on your diet progress, because if youāve eaten slightly more carbs one day, you may hold onto half a pint of water more. For actual weight loss, you need a longer trend, not skewing the numbers if youāve had a big dump directly before you weigh yourself.
Adding muscle by resistance training is excellent. It comes with the adjacent benefits of higher bone density and stronger ligaments and tendons too - great at preventing injury. Extra muscle mass (to a point) can be beneficial in reducing the severity of a fall, accident or other illness too.
Doing cardio is still vital.
So. Many. Gym bros. Will say not to bother. Wrong. They are demonstrably wrong. The heart is arguably the most important muscle you should be training. Doing 150 minutes of light cardio per week (brisk walk, stair machine, gentle rowing or cycling, or slow easy jogging, swimming etc) or 75 minutes of intense cardio (fast running, hard cycling etc) has the most profound effect.
Training longer or harder still has benefits, but there is a diminishing return on effort and time invested past that stage.
Yep i agree with all of that⦠and for sure didnt mean bypass the cardio. I make sure i walk 10,000 steps a day on top of gym work. I guess my point was that Cardio is not a replacement for resistance training.
I was happily cycling 200km a week + up until last year and felt pretty fit! but noticed that i couldnt shift some thickness around my middle. Once i employed a fitness coach and started reading about it i realised that past a certain age then out and out cardio is not a silver bullet for weight loss.
As you rightly say its a lifestyle change. Eat decent healthy protein rich food during the week that tastes nice. Do resistance training for muscles that increase your metabolism and absorbs protein. Make sure you still do your steps or minor cardio work
I actually weighed myself every day in the morning. For sure there are ups and downs as you point out because of different foods and alcohol etc but without a doubt when i had a calorie deficit one day the next day would generally show a small loss which accumulated over time into an overall trend, My garmin scales show both daily, weekly and monthly trends and they definitely reflect what you eat and train over the given period.
Weekends for me are mostly let your hair down and have within reason what you want⦠want a curry, burger, sunday roast⦠go for it! want to drink 6 pints while watching the football or a bottle of wine with sunday dinner then go for it. But back to the discipline during the week and litlle by little it all trends downwards.
Spot on.
Echoing what Chaz said above. If you want to lose weight, you must have a lifestyle change and effectively eat fewer calories than you consume. And you have to learn to read what the labels say and think before consuming the daily allowed sugar content (28 g per day btw) in a mouthful.
Keep your meals together (letās say 8am, 12-13, 18-19) fasting helps with losing weight
Donāt snak - prefer to have whatever you want to eat with a meal - this is to reduce the glucose peaks so that the body uses up the internal energy storage.
Eat more fiber, porridge is excellent (mix it with some musely add nuts, berries, and Greek yogurt). avoid preprepared cereals (they are full of sugar).
Exercise wonāt get you thin. The max energy consumption you will get from exercise is 15-20% of your daily energy consumption and thatās if you are an athlete. But as it was mentioned there are health benefits. However, do not go to the gym and then have a meal because chances are that you will overeat compensating for the ālost caloriesā