A woman of a 'certain age', I now find losing weight an uphill battle. Have had some success with the 5:2 regime but now find that it takes more time to shift weight so have decided to tackle the NFDs (non-fast days) with a more targeted approach to calorific intake. Would like to lose 25lb by the end of the Summer as I have a wedding to attend in October and have absolutely NO intention of turning up looking like a beached whale (which I currently feel I resemble)! Does anyone else on here use 5:2?
Also, I've heard that resistance exercises are better at my time of life ... any advice / feedback greatly appreciated. Thanks in anticipation!
Written by
SkibbGirl
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Take a look at the Welcome Newbie post in the Pinned post section at the right hand side or at the bottom if your on a mobile. Have a look at the nhs 12 week plan, many members have had success following this plan. Use the BMI checker to work out your daily calorie allowance.
Below the Pinned posts are the Topics where members share a range of weight related subjects.
Take your measurements at the start together with a photo so you can see the changes on the days the scales don't move.
We have daily weigh ins so why not come along and join us. You can find the weigh ins on the Home page in the Events section on the right. Just click on the post in Events and record your start weight and any loss/gain or maintain for the week.
To get the most of the forum be active, share tips, recipes and experiences. Read some of the posts they are very motivating.
Thanks very much Rose. My plan is to start as from next Monday (probably not a great idea as we roll on into Easter, but if I don't start then I may never start!) and that should take me through to the end of June. I have a holiday in June and am under no illusion that I will be as good as I should be, but the motivation of (hopefully) having shifted some significant weight by then will keep my enthusiasm up ... well, that's the plan.
I know what you mean you have to start somewhere and there is always something like Easter getting in the way. It is good to have a target to aim for like an holiday as it will keep you motivated.
I'm not sure about any of the above but I'm sure you will get lots of support and with the very knowledgable guys on here you will be looking good for your wedding attendance 😊👍
You are right! Over the age of 40 we tend to find it harder to lose weight mainly because we start to lose muscle tone (if we have not stayed active all our lives). To get a little technical - there are 'mini factories' in muscle called mitrochondria that burn the glucose with oxygen (create energy/burn calories). The bigger and the more effective these 'factories' are, and the more of them there are - the faster we burn our calories - ie boost our metabolism.
One of the best ways to speed up the rate at which we burn the calories (even at rest) is to build muscle tone - so you are spot on about resistance training!
But cardio (walking especially outside - up hill!) is fantastic for our overall health and wellbeing AND gets more oxygen into us (to burn those calories in the muscle tone!)
Oh and the more relaxed you and the deeper you sleep - the better your metabolism works to burn calories.
Sorry, I hope this wasnt too technical - I just find it helps sometimes when we understand WHY we are doing something and not just doing it because we think we 'should'.
The exercise itself (at any given time) will be responsible for between only 10 - 30% of your calorie burning (the majority of our calorie output is just about keeping us breathing, digesting etc) - so dont exercise to burn the calories of the food you have just eaten - but exercise to relax, oxygenate, and build the muscle tone so that you burn more calories overall - even when you are NOT exercising! WHAT you eat still remains the most important - stick to a whole food / mainly plant based diet - avoiding all processed foods and drinks where possible.
Best of luck - I know you can do it! Visualise yourself doing all those things and the weight dropping off, not just to look fabulous at the wedding (which I'm sure you will!) but for ever!
Thanks so much for the technical advice - makes perfect sense, especially as I have never been particularly active. As I've become older I have found my tastes have changed with regard to processed foods and white bread / pasta so now I tend to eat more brown rice, wholemeal bread and pasta - although I do love the indulgence of a buttered slice of thickly cut white bread once in a while (guilty pleasure). I think my sweet tooth (chocolate), however, will take some taming!
Hi. I am not a huge fan of 5:2 as at some point you will return to eating normally and tend to put all the weight back on. Your goal is very achievable as by the end of September we are talking about 26 weeks. So just by eating a proper balanced diet with a daily calorie reduction you should easily lose a pound a week. I think most people on this site aim for that?
wildlyprecious has some good points about toning and training with weights. One small point most people forget when we talk about low intensity exercise, high intensity like HIIT and weight training is what we call the afterburn. So a low intensity walk will burn good calories while you are walking, so if you walk for about 15 minutes and a fair clip you are probably burning about 60 cals. But there is very little after burn with this and you will probably end up burning about 80 cals. A study done in the USA has people doing 45 seconds of HIIT in 15 second bursts, they burnt about 10 calories during the exercise but when the afterburn kicked in they burnt about 80 cals. But remember they only exercised for 45 seconds. However this has to be regulated and relate to your current fitness levels. People who are carrying a lot of extra weight starting with a slow to brisk walk will probably be enough.
So weight training with a medium intensity for half an hour will burn about 120 calories (this depends on your weight). But this is not the important figure, the real difference is when you are sitting at home resting the bodies metabolism is still chugging away mending the muscles and working to keep up with your exercise. But you will need to lift with good intensity and a good weight that you can lift for about 8-12 reps. Not just pulling the weight down and still having a chat with your buddy. I saw two ladies training and they did not stop their conversation once throughout their whole workout. Don't think they were really putting the effort in. When I train clients for the first time they tend not to chat a lot, too busy pushing the weight and calling me names lol!
If you are not sure I would always recommend getting advice from a PT, as we can put you on the right path, give you a structured programme that you can use and more importantly make the programme progressive as you get better. I see so many people with ragged bits of paper that their friends have given them and they are doing the same weight and the same reps and wondering why they are not progressing.
You are definately going in the right direction chosing wholemeal! Well done! It might be worth, to boost weight loss, cutting back even on the wholemeal wheat products and definately anything with sugar and instead loading up with more veg / legumes / protein.
I know exactly what you mean about the chocolate! Do you like dark chocolate? A good 'trick' is to really take your time and savour a small piece of high quality dark chocolate - giving your brain the time to register the pleasure and satisfy its cravings - rather than eating a larger amount of lower quality milk chocolate. The cocoa element isn't the problem, (that's good for you) it's more the high sugar content that's to blame.
It takes a little bit for your tastebuds and brain to get used to different foods, and not crave the sugar/carbs - but it is entirely possible - and such a relief when it does!
Just eat plenty (probably more than you think you need) of the good stuff (plant based whole foods and fresh protein) so that you are not hungry - because feeling contantly hangry and light headed makes it 100x harder not to give in.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Newbie
Newbie here. Is this too fast?
newbie
I'm a newbie!
