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-   -   Weight Gain and Getting Older (https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus-50/650387-weight-gain-getting-older.html)

DnvrFox 06-01-10 06:04 AM

Weight Gain and Getting Older
 
How many of you are having to fight harder and harder to maintain (or lose) weight as you gain more years?

I have managed to lose a few pounds with extreme effort. I probably burn about 7,000 KCal extra (from a non-exercising person) each week from swimming, weight lifting and bicycling, and I have just about cut out all sweets, eat veggies, fruit, chicken, little red meat, no fast food, etc., etc. But, I always have to work at it, and still need to shed about 10 more pounds.

I am proud to say that I went on a 7 day cruise and did lose 2 pounds. But, hey, it is tough!!

I think this starts showing up more as you reach 65+.

Any thoughts on the subject?

jdon 06-01-10 06:24 AM

You mean it gets harder? Say it aint so!

NOS88 06-01-10 06:32 AM

Yeah, it's a struggle for me too. When in my late teens and early 20s I could add or drop 10 to 15 lbs to make different weight classifications with ease. Not so easy today. :(

cyclinfool 06-01-10 06:33 AM

It got harder for me at age 45 and is near impossible now.

kr32 06-01-10 06:35 AM

I find it a little harder now but before I really never tried to. I just weighed myself today at work( yeah posting at work) and lost 3 lbs last week. woohoo 183 today.

DnvrFox 06-01-10 06:42 AM

One of the things we noticed on the cruise is that the large number of folks from Formosa and other ASian countries ate almost entirely fruit for breakfast. However, that could be that they did not find other foods they like, even though Asian foods were prepared and offered daily.

In any event, every single person there of Asian descent who was apparently not from the US of A was skinny.

kr32 06-01-10 06:43 AM

No sumo wrestlers then?:innocent:

DnvrFox 06-01-10 06:46 AM


Originally Posted by kr32 (Post 10895014)
No sumo wrestlers then?:innocent:

None except me!!

stapfam 06-01-10 06:48 AM

20 years ago and my weight was constant at 140lbs. Never varied how much I sat around watching the kids grow up- but I also never bothered about any weight gain either. Then I started cycling and weight stayed constant as I put on Muscle and lost a bit of flab but I also felt fitter and leaner. 3 years ago and weight crept up to 150. Still not a problem but weight gain did not stop there. This winter I was at 155 and that feels heavy. I would love to lose 10lbs but it just will not go. Lose 5 of them occasionally with a lot of work but that seems to come back very easily.

Sculptor7 06-01-10 07:25 AM

My weight used to be easily controlled when younger as long as I rode my bike and kept active. Could eat any kind of dessert and junk food I wanted. Now I find that I have to really work at it. Weight now is 177-178. Only a few pounds more than when I was young in my twenties and thirties. At just under 6 feet that's not too bad but it requires either more abstinence than I would prefer or more exercise than I can usually find time for. Fortunately having an older home that constantly requires maintenance and being retired makes it easier to burn up calories. Just can't seem to lose that gut although at times I almost convince myself that I can see my abs.

The Weak Link 06-01-10 08:34 AM

Without ice cream, fame and fortune have no meaning.

billydonn 06-01-10 08:38 AM

If you weigh less than 160 pounds please just keep that to yourself. (Why isn't there a flyweight forum for them?) This is akin to people posting from Florida in the winter.

BluesDawg 06-01-10 09:31 AM


Originally Posted by billydonn (Post 10895448)
If you weigh less than 160 pounds please just keep that to yourself. (Why isn't there a flyweight forum for them?) This is akin to people posting from Florida in the winter.

But he's only about 4 feet tall. ;)

maddmaxx 06-01-10 09:35 AM

I suspect that there is a formula similar to max heart rate.


Something like base weight + Age......................or maybe it's LBs +1.

cyclinfool 06-01-10 10:02 AM


Originally Posted by The Weak Link (Post 10895423)
Without ice cream, fame and fortune have no meaning.

I have been pining for my favorite - Peanut Butter Pandemonium - but alas, not until the end of June will I partake.

Louis 06-01-10 10:43 AM

Yup, count me in. After a low milage '09 season, I 'porked up real good'. It's been nearly impossible to get back to normal.:notamused:

Louis 06-01-10 10:45 AM


Originally Posted by BluesDawg (Post 10895681)
But he's only about 4 feet tall. ;)

:lol:

Pat 06-01-10 10:59 AM

Well stop aging dern it! As people age, their metabolic rate declines. Regular aerobic activity does help stem the metabolic rate decline, but it still declines.

Just be happy that you are a guy.

Ladies have it really tough. First women probably need more nutrients than men. Women are smaller and have less lean body mass for their weight. That means ladies have to eat "sensible" and "nutritious" food. Guys can eat a fair amount of junk and still do OK. Of course, there is one compensation, my wife treats me like a living trash can. Anything edible she does not want, she expects me to devour.

But even worse, if you look at TV, Movies, Models, commercials and ads, those women are almost all way below any weight that anyone would consider healthy. I can not figure out how that one came about.

So we guys have it relatively easy.

RonH 06-01-10 03:45 PM

My wife says she's tired of cooking so we end up eating out a lot. :o
There goes the waistline. (

DnvrFox 06-01-10 04:04 PM


Originally Posted by RonH (Post 10897673)
My wife says she's tired of cooking so we end up eating out a lot. :o
There goes the waistline. (

And you never learned to boil water?

freeranger 06-01-10 04:38 PM

Guess I'm lucky--I'll be 60 close to this coming Christmas, and I am able to eat what I want, as much as I want and not gain weight! I've always been that way, and my weight doesn't seem to vary regardless of how little or how much I eat. Got a few years to 65 yet, but so far, so good in the weight area. BTW-I'm 5"10-1/2" last time I checked (used to be taller) and go around 167 lbs.

Long Run Nick 06-01-10 05:20 PM

There is an old formula: exercise for fitness/eat for diet. I have consistently--and I mean consistently run-- between 40-50 miles per week for just over 34 years(over 71,000 miles). In my 30's and 40's and even into my mid 50's I stayed around 140 lbs (5'10"). At 66, I hover between 145-150. I ran a little more than 2,700 miles last yr--the most since the early 80's--yet I have put on some pounds. I admit I eat a lot of high calorie stuff: Hagen Daz (SP), loads of desserts and never think about caloric intake. A foot injury has greatly reduced my running. None in 12 days. Last time I missed that much running was back in 1997. Got back on a bike 4 weeks ago after not riding in 12 yrs and have ridden over 650 miles. I see a problem. When I ride I get hungrier than when I run. I stop and knock off a milk shake and other sweets and can keep riding. It will be interesting to see how my increased calorie intake will affect my weight.

My observations of people's eating habits are that most folks eat way more than they need. We lose very few people in this country to starvation. Way more medical issues appear from over eating. I wouldn't eat 12 hrs prior to running a 50 mile race. I would drink some cokes eat some fig newtons and chew bubble gum during the race. 8-9 hrs later I would finish and did not starve to death. I see folks ingesting several tubes of GU before a 5K race. Sorry for getting on a soap box. Believe me we can get by on a lot less food than we think we can. Nick

ModeratedUser150120149 06-01-10 07:18 PM

Many people do not have a realistic assessment of their Basic Metabolic Rate. That is the number of calories it takes just to keep a sedantary person alive. Here is a link for a BMR calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

In addition many people grossly overestimate the number of calories it takes to perform certain tasks. I'll leave it to each individual to find references for that. I got my awakening many years ago when I discovered an ordinary peanut contains enough calories to keep the brain going for a full day.

The fact of life is that, as others have said, one must do supplementation as one gets older in order to stay within calorie limits and get the proper nutrition. That means using protein powders and other elements as though one were a competitive athlete. It would be nice to get all the nutrition from food but in reality we elders can't afford the calories to eat enough to get "proper nutrition".

I do a fairly decent job now but for a long time I kept a food log of every bite and every drink that went into my mouth. Now, I know what my BMR is and about how many calories each thing I do requires so I don't have to do so much paperwork. The trainer at my gym says: "You are an athlete. You must eat and train like any other athlete of whatever competitive level". I add to that the lesson from the book "An Omnivores Dilemma ". Then I finish with the proposition that just because something in the supermarket isn't full of bacteria doesn't mean it is healthy to eat. That rules out about 90% of what is on the shelves and makes shopping much simpler.

So, Yes, health and fitness used to be a struggle. Now it is just the lifestyle of me and the people I associate with.

I should add that I am not portraying myself as a paragon of fitness. Today I'm about a net 13# heavier than I was 30 years ago. I rationalize that is because I pump iron now and didn't then. But, it is just that rationalization.

LAriverRat 06-01-10 07:38 PM

For years i was 175 then at about 55 stated to gain until i hit 213 last year. Then picked up the bike and now at 190. Just cant seam to get to 180. I yo-yo between 187 to 194. Lost two pounds today after my ride of 40 miles. I am at 192. Ice cream, cake, beer, chips, dip, soda oh my! I guess i will have to go back to grazing in the fields again and quit eating the for mentioned items. (but i like them!).

waldowales 06-01-10 08:05 PM

I weighed 142 lbs for thirty years. Quit smoking eight years ago and gradually porked up to 175, mostly right in the middle. I've been trying for years to get down to 150. I made it to 160 once, but now I'm back up to 165. I eat about half of what I did twenty years ago, no snacks between meals, and exercise regularly, on and off the bike. Very discouraging. I'm seventy years old.


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