Fifty Plus (50+) - Aren't losing those last several pounds a real killer???

I luckily managed to drop about 13 pounds of the weight I put on in Nov-Jan from being laid up by taking in less calories and increasing the exercise---or just doing exercise period. It took a few weeks but at least there are soem visible results. I still need to lose at least another 4-5 lbs to get down to my former weight. I'd love to lose about 10-12 more but I haven't been that low since High School.

I seemed to have plateaued which is fairly normal for me. To lose the remainder I've really got to pick up the miles which is challenging given I'm still slightly "handicapped" plus work is so busy I'm limited on the weekday riding.

Thankfully DST is not too far off!

Very true jppe,

I was up to just beyond 180 lbs. when I got disgusted with myself and made my goal the 155 that I was before I turned 45 (approx.). The first 10 came off easy, the next few not quite so easy but do-able.

Was stuck at 165 for a year, now stuck at 162. I know, no mystery, ride (exercise) more, eat less (or eat smarter).

Progress very slow . . .

Rick / OCRR

:lol: I'll let you know when I get to a place where the last few pounds are a realistic possibility. :lol:

Very true jppe,

I was up to just beyond 180 lbs. when I got disgusted with myself and made my goal the 155 that I was before I turned 45 (approx.). The first 10 came off easy, the next few not quite so easy but do-able.

Was stuck at 165 for a year, now stuck at 162. I know, no mystery, ride (exercise) more, eat less (or eat smarter).

Progress very slow . . .

Rick / OCRR

Rick,
Exactly my experience. I was down to 168 at year end, came up a little when I stopped paying attention then got it back off now up again because I stopped paying attention again. I know from past experience that when I get in the 160s the weight loss is very slow. my goal was below 160 by mid June, I need to get back on the wagon (or bike)

I'm having trouble with those FIRST few pounds, the heck with the last few!!

Boy, do I know what you are saying. Pulling my own teeth would be easer I think. I lost 55 pounds and it wasn't all that hard once I got serious. But the last ten just won't go away. Can you hear me screaming!! In fact now, I am having a time not to gain weight. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Between Mid-Dec and Early Feb I gained nearly 10 pounds. Why? I was hanging out with Old Folks and their Senior Buffets! There must be something in that buffet food because the extra weight is sticking like glue.

A friend of mine and I have resolved: No More Old Folks. No More Senior Buffets.

+1 It's not just that last 10 pounds but the chunk of flab around the middle.

"To lose the remainder I've really got to pick up the miles"

I don't think adding miles will help. The human body wants to replace any and all energy lost, whether it's through riding a hundred miles or simply sitting in front of a computer. The more you ride, the hungrier you will become. You could lose the weight just as easily - or with just as much difficulty - by NOT exercising.

Exercise has some wonderful benefits. I rode today. And I had five pieces of pizza tonight for dinner.

"To lose the remainder I've really got to pick up the miles"

I don't think adding miles will help. The human body wants to replace any and all energy lost, whether it's through riding a hundred miles or simply sitting in front of a computer. The more you ride, the hungrier you will become. You could lose the weight just as easily - or with just as much difficulty - by NOT exercising.

Exercise has some wonderful benefits. I rode today. And I had five pieces of pizza tonight for dinner.

Actually, not true... At least according to the few studies I've seen that tried to correlate appetite vs amount of exercise. Turns out it's not a simple relationship. Anaerobic exercises like resistance training at or near max capacity do indeed increase appetite. However, for aerobic activities, appetite actually decreases as duration increases, and it does the same as intensity increases up to lactate threshold.

My personal theory about why those last few pounds are so hard to get off is that if exercise is a significant part of your weight loss program, you will eventually start to increase muscle mass, especially as you get strong enough to stay aerobic at high output. Since muscle is denser that fat, you may continue to loose inches, but the speed of overall weight loss decreases.

Let me hasten to point out that this is pure, unadulterated speculation on my part without a shred of empirical evidence to support it. But it's my story, and I'm sticking to it :D If those scales you can buy that purport to be able to report % body fat were a bit more believable, they might be helpful in sorting this out.

-Bert

you will eventually start to increase muscle mass, especially as you get strong enough to stay aerobic at high output. Since muscle is denser that fat, you may continue to loose inches, but the speed of overall weight loss decreases.


There's my answer - it is all muscle. Would someone please tell my wife?

Yes :notamused:

The speed at which the last several pounds come off is inversely proportional to how FAST new poundage is added when one can't ride due to an injury -- even if eating habits don't change.:eek::(:cry:

When my weight ballooned to over 194 pounds from 167 I found that the first 10-12 pounds came off very quickly. As I started getting into better shape, the weight loss tapered off and I actually did start putting on some more muscle mass, mainly in my legs. I'm down to about 178 and I still want to increase my endurance and take off another 10 pounds.

I also find that my appetite decreases significantly after a workout.

I have to agree that doing more miles really will not help well not usually. In facts, in the case of weight loss, taking weight off too fast is usually a really bad idea. To lose weight quickly, you have to do really drastic things. It is better to change your life style and lose weight gradually. One can not maintain drastic measures indefinitely. But changing your lifestyle gives you a much better chance of losing the weight and keeping it off.

I have to agree with that. More miles will make you fitter but only diet will make you lose weight. A pound a week off for the first bunch and probably less than that for those last few seems to work for me.

The other thing you have to take into account is your age and family history. From 25-40 I was about 165. From 40-50 I went up a few pounds. After 50 another 5. By age 55 my weight had crept up to about 194. Then the sleep apnea problems started. That's when I decided to declare war on my weight.

It's taken longer but my weight has been slowly but gradually been going down. I'm not the first member of my family where this has happend and they all managed to get to weight off. In my case I was older when I experienced the weight gain and I'm expecting that it will take a long time to get it off.

The thing is, that even when I was over 185 my doctor looked at me and said.

"You know, you don't look fat" But I sure as hell felt fat.

+1 It's not just that last 10 pounds but the chunk of flab around the middle.

Where the heck did my waistline go?? :)

I have to agree that doing more miles really will not help well not usually. In facts, in the case of weight loss, taking weight off too fast is usually a really bad idea. To lose weight quickly, you have to do really drastic things. It is better to change your life style and lose weight gradually. One can not maintain drastic measures indefinitely. But changing your lifestyle gives you a much better chance of losing the weight and keeping it off.

+1,000,000

That's how I lost my weight -- veeerrrrrrrrrry ssssslllllooooowwwwly. Initially, about 1 lb./month... then, when we started cycling, the rest melted off at the rate of about 2 lbs./month. :) Took about 5 years in all, but during that time I established a permanent lifestyle to which I still adhere through good times and bad. However, losing the last several pounds was most difficult because I was riding much harder and longer which required more calories, so the challenge was fueling the rides and recovery without overeating.

I have to agree with that. More miles will make you fitter but only diet will make you lose weight. A pound a week off for the first bunch and probably less than that for those last few seems to work for me.

The other thing you have to take into account is your age and family history. From 25-40 I was about 165. From 40-50 I went up a few pounds. After 50 another 5. By age 55 my weight had crept up to about 194. Then the sleep apnea problems started. That's when I decided to declare war on my weight.

It's taken longer but my weight has been slowly but gradually been going down. I'm not the first member of my family where this has happend and they all managed to get to weight off. In my case I was older when I experienced the weight gain and I'm expecting that it will take a long time to get it off.

The thing is, that even when I was over 185 my doctor looked at me and said.

"You know, you don't look fat" But I sure as hell felt fat.

My personal experience from last year was when I increased my mileage in a week from 200 miles a week to 600 miles in a week, and ate more (and hydration stayed neutral), I lost a good bit of weight-and very noticeably where I wanted it to be lost. For me I've got to dramtically increase the caloric output. I already have the caloric input at a pretty minimal level so if I reduced it much further I run the risk of not having sufficient energy to ride long distances.

It seems that the last 20 lbs is my brick wall. I hope to see progress when I get back to riding consistently.

My personal experience from last year was when I increased my mileage in a week from 200 miles a week to 600 miles in a week, and ate more (and hydration stayed neutral), I lost a good bit of weight-and very noticeably where I wanted it to be lost. For me I've got to dramtically increase the caloric output. I already have the caloric input at a pretty minimal level so if I reduced it much further I run the risk of not having sufficient energy to ride long distances.

:eek: I would be sleeping 12 hours a day and having people shovel food into me if I rode that much! :lol:

The last 50 pounds is hard for me to lose! 10 months ago I was tipping the scales at 275. I hit a low of 220 before the holidays, and then ballooned up to 242 in a month! Since January, I have gotten my weight down to 233, but it's like my weight hits 225 and my body becomes a weight magnet!

As I've gotten lighter, exercise is becoming easier, and so I'm doing it more frequently, but it is absolutely about diet for me. I would say that exercise is only 10-15% of the weight loss equation (in my experience).

I would have been glad to maintain! My body does not look like that of a cyclist (5' 11", 199 lbs). I picked up 4 lbs last fall, but have been maintiaing.

my pants dont fit much tighter. I have increased the weight I lift by about 5 lbs in my workouts, so , that is some of it.

my PCP is not concerned..... just my vanity

Two years ago when I started cycling again I weighed around 187. Took off almost 10 pounds and felt pretty good at only 2 pounds over my weight at age 25. Problem is when you get to be 76 your normal day is not inclined toward activity. Virtually all your peers are pre-disposed to sitting, chatting and eating. It takes a real almost superhuman effort to hit the bike particularly during the winter when its the bike trainer in the basement. Am now at 180+ one or two pounds but that is attributable to Maine winters and too many goodies used as a distraction. The few pounds around the waist are really locked in.

It's all about portion size. Don't deny yourself the things you love, just control the portions. Gastric bipass is just portion size. You can eat huge portions of some things and small ones of others. It's also activity. Living in an area where activity is year around makes it easier, but winter places have gyms, too. ;)

It's all about portion size. Don't deny yourself the things you love, just control the portions. Gastric bipass is just portion size. You can eat huge portions of some things and small ones of others. It's also activity. Living in an area where activity is year around makes it easier, but winter places have gyms, too. ;)

And, probably amazingly to a So Cal person, some of us walk in the snow and refreshing cold, some of us bicycle, ski, snow shoe, shovel and even make snow angels.

Yes, we have outside activity all-year-round even in the colder places.

I took a post-it-note and wrote on it.

U R
2 FAT

Took a cell phone image of it and saved it to the phone. Everytime I open up my phone I'm reminded that I will loose the last 5 lbs.

And, probably amazingly to a So Cal person, some of us walk in the snow and refreshing cold, some of us bicycle, ski, snow shoe, shovel and even make snow angels.

Yes, we have outside activity all-year-round even in the colder places.

Well said. Winter activities burn lots of calories because part of the energy is spent just keeping warm. I love the cold and snow because I have things I love to do only in that kind of climate.

Very true jppe,

I was up to just beyond 180 lbs. when I got disgusted with myself and made my goal the 155 that I was before I turned 45 (approx.). The first 10 came off easy, the next few not quite so easy but do-able.

Was stuck at 165 for a year, now stuck at 162. I know, no mystery, ride (exercise) more, eat less (or eat smarter).

Progress very slow . . .

Rick / OCRR

Your just a few pounds under me. I did manage to hit 159 just before the holidays, now back up to around 163-165. 155 would be ideal. Maybe this summer I can get there. If only my other hobby's of beer brewing and cooking weren't so counter productive to losing weight and cycling

I've hesitated to post this, because of the controversy it's likely to provoke. But here's my experience.

Since about age 30 I was around 168 pounds (5' 11") and always had a little flab around the middle that I wanted to get rid of. My highest weight was 175, I always exercised about three times/week. I remember in 1999 someone said "Hey let's run a marathon," and my thought was "Yes, that will let me finally get rid of the flab." I trained really hard and ran it, but lost no flab or weight.

Around 2000 I started eating less, with the standard "low-fat" diet. Brown rice, whole-grain foods, etc. I was hungry all the time.

In 2008 I went to six days/week of exercise.

In 2009 I started researching the obesity epidemic, and reluctantly concluded that it was caused by increased consumption of carbohydrates. The more we try to combat obesity through low fat diets, the more carbohydrates we eat, and the fatter we get.

In 2010, being convinced that low-carb diets are safe, in support of my wife's diet, I went low carb. This is what happened:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a39/TromboneAl/Deleted/WaistSizesWithHighlights.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a39/TromboneAl/Deleted/WeightAl.jpg

Click here for a post about this stuff. (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/good-calories-bad-calories-book-report-synopsis-46963.html)

I still weigh 155.

I'm not going to defend this stuff here. Many of you will have the same reaction I did years ago when my BIL went on a diet like this (namely, "you're an idiot"). But I'm posting it to show that it can be easy to lose those last several pounds.