After a discussion with my wife regarding lifestyles, as in men are allowed to eat more than women, we sat down and looked at one of Rosemary Connelly's books. In one of her books she publishes tables showing daily energy requirements and they make for interesting reading.
For 10 stone women aged 30-59:
Basic requirement1374 kcal just to stay alive
sedentary 2060
Active 2340
very active 2610
For the same 10 stone woman over 60:
basic 1174, sedentary 1760, active 2000, very active 2230.
As a 75 year old man weighing about 13 stone
Base rate is 1555, sedentary 2332, active 2644, very active 2954. Yesterday my fitbit recorded 10696 steps, about 5 miles, mainly as result of a good morning walk, which puts me firmly into the active category.
For men and women being very active creates an extra calorie burn of about 500 cals which can be satisfied by extra food , or by using the 500 calorie requirement to burn fat. For the over 60's who are, or have to be sedentary , the amount of food they can eat is more limited at 1760 calories.
She also identifies the top ten excuses:
I have a slow metabolism, I can't exercise, I'm on HRT, It's my glands, I don't have time, I eat hardly anything, I work irregular hours, It's not fat it's muscle, it's my genes, I can't lose it since I had children.