Being 40 and losing weight

Lik3

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Is it too late to start losing weight at 40? It seems to me like I would be turning back the clock if I were to lose weight. My goal is to lose over 100 pounds and I now wonder if it will be harder since I have turned 40. I am no longer in my 20-30s and in that regard I feel kind of old whenever I am around even 30 year olds sometimes. I wonder if I am making too much out of things. I am a diabetic with other health issues. Will they worsen as I age despite my weight issues?
 
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sisbarn70

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Its never to late to lose weight. It is a lifestyle change and won't happen over night. The year I got divorced I also turned 40 and lost about 100 lbs. Since we split custody of our youngest child I had time to exercise more. I walked at least 2 miles every morning and sometimes in the eve too. We have a gym at work so I'd do a couple miles on the elliptical too. It took time to build up to that but it is possible and can help with your diabetes too. I was able to get my high blood pressure under control and get off the meds. Our family doc was proud of me :) Make sure you have supportive...and sometimes tough friends to help you meet your goal. Good luck to you :)
 
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LanceM

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It's definitely not too late. Mid January this year I returned from holiday and got on the scale. I hit 118kg. I have been over weight for at least 20 years. God just impressed on me that it was now time to do something about it. Four months down the line I now weigh 90kg, run 10km 5 to 6 days a week and look and feel great. Don't wait another day. Start exercising and eat less. It's worth it.
 
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S.ilvio

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Hi everyone. Never been in here before, the 40's section I mean. :)

As a 43 year old I can confirm that losing weight is indeed possible. I've lost 35 punds in the space of a year.

I work out everyday, eat well (but only proper meals at Breakfast lunch and dinner, NO sugary snacks or drinks!!!).

Good luck. :)
 
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True Scotsman

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Is it too late to start losing weight at 40? It seems to me like I would be turning back the clock if I were to lose weight. My goal is to lose over 100 pounds and I now wonder if it will be harder since I have turned 40. I am no longer in my 20-30s and in that regard I feel kind of old whenever I am around even 30 year olds sometimes. I wonder if I am making too much out of things. I am a diabetic with other health issues. Will they worsen as I age despite my weight issues?
It is harder when you get older. I'm 48. I used to be able to lose 20-30 pounds relatively easily by just watching what I ate. Now even with exercise I find it hard to lose 10 lbs. I am in the same boat as you. I need to lose 95 pounds. I've started biking again and am really enjoying it. I average about 10-11 miles every evening and I try to hit the mountain bike trails a couple of times a week. I've lost 11 pounds which is the most I've been able to do in years. I'm starting to get into shape and that feels great. Just take it one day at a time and you can do it. My wife balked when I told her I need to buy a $2,000 fatbike. She started to protest but I just interjected that I would be saving lots more in medical bills if I lost weight and got into shape. She just closed her mouth and nodded. Now she is starting to ride with me.
 
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True Scotsman

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No, it's not too late to lose weight at 40. I'm 47 and have lost 39 pounds so far. I've combined exercise with eating less. It makes such a difference in how you feel when you get that excess weight off.
That's awesome. That gives me hope. So far I have the exercise thing down but the eating less is much harder. I love to cook and I love food.
 
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smarch

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That's awesome. That gives me hope. So far I have the exercise thing down but the eating less is much harder. I love to cook and I love food.
You sound so much like me. I've always not had trouble doing exercise as I enjoy doing different exercise activities. The eating part was also the part I couldn't get down for the same reason of liking food and cooking or baking. I stepped on the scale one day and had a fit when I saw what it said. I've been using MyFitnessPal online to keep track of my calories which is very helpful and an eye opening experience as I've never much paid attention. I like knowing exactly what I'm eating calories wise instead of just trying to eat less because it's so easy to not realize how much you're eating in a day's time. I think the thing that kept me motivated was that when I started eating the amount of calories it recommended for me to lose weight, I saw some results on the scale right away. It did level off to the 1 pound a week if I stayed on target but in the beginning I lost some pounds faster. Since I like to exercise, I was happy there was a place to put your exercise in and then you get more calories to eat that day. I also like that I don't have to completely cut out desserts, candy, ice-cream, starch or whatever else. I've never been on a diet before because I like food and hated the thought of completely cutting something out of my eating. Of course, now I'm eating less of that kind of stuff because I don't have enough calories in a day's time but I like being able to have a treat if I don't run out of calories. I also remember that tomorrow is another day and if I didn't get to eat something I really wanted, I will just make sure I eat that the next day before I run out of calories. I do sometimes plan ahead and put in what I think I'm going to eat that day ahead of time to see how many calories it is and if I need to cut back or will have extra. If I do badly one day, I just get back on track the next day. If I know I am going to have a high calorie day, I will try to do lots of exercise that day to counter that if I have the time. Well, good luck. I wish you well.
 
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FreeSpirit74

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It is harder when you get older. I'm 48. I used to be able to lose 20-30 pounds relatively easily by just watching what I ate. Now even with exercise I find it hard to lose 10 lbs. I am in the same boat as you. I need to lose 95 pounds. I've started biking again and am really enjoying it. I average about 10-11 miles every evening and I try to hit the mountain bike trails a couple of times a week. I've lost 11 pounds which is the most I've been able to do in years. I'm starting to get into shape and that feels great. Just take it one day at a time and you can do it. My wife balked when I told her I need to buy a $2,000 fatbike. She started to protest but I just interjected that I would be saving lots more in medical bills if I lost weight and got into shape. She just closed her mouth and nodded. Now she is starting to ride with me.

I'm a cyclist, too (paved bike trail rider). I've been riding since I was 8, but about 5 years ago I pulled my old 12-speed out of my parents' basement and started to do focused, measured rides. I dropped about 40 pounds doing that, plus contra dancing on the weekends.

I hear you about paying out $$$ for bikes. I just had to replace the '87 Zebra Sport road bike I'd owned since I was 12, because it got toasted in a fire at my apartment building. That bike cost about $200 - I just bought a new Fuji Tread cross-terrain 16-speed, plus all the "trimmings" like cycle computer, for $1100. That is actually a motivator for me - I spent too much money last month for me NOT to ride! ;)
 
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True Scotsman

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I'm a cyclist, too (paved bike trail rider). I've been riding since I was 8, but about 5 years ago I pulled my old 12-speed out of my parents' basement and started to do focused, measured rides. I dropped about 40 pounds doing that, plus contra dancing on the weekends.

I hear you about paying out $$$ for bikes. I just had to replace the '87 Zebra Sport road bike I'd owned since I was 12, because it got toasted in a fire at my apartment building. That bike cost about $200 - I just bought a new Fuji Tread cross-terrain 16-speed, plus all the "trimmings" like cycle computer, for $1100. That is actually a motivator for me - I spent too much money last month for me NOT to ride! ;)
That's not too bad. The specialized fat bike I'm getting is over $2,000. Any comment about spending too much not to ride is motivating.
 
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FreeSpirit74

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That's not too bad. The specialized fat bike I'm getting is over $2,000. Any comment about spending too much not to ride is motivating.

Heh... I had to Google to see what a fat bike is. The tires are HUGE!

That's all right... I had never heard of a cross terrain bike either until 3 weeks ago. Or handle bar shifters.
 
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LadyApostolic

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I am 40. Over the last two years I have lost 150 lbs. I didn't spend a bunch of money or start some intense workout. I just made a conscious effort to change my habits. It started with changes in the way I prepared my foods. Then I started changing portions.Then I changed the types of foods. I started moving more. Parking farther away from the store makes you take more steps. Then I started walking to the closest store from home when I wanted something minor. Now I can walk two miles a day.
It is never too late to get healthier. It may take a little longer than it once did, but you can do it. It also helps to ask God to help you become healthier.
 
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TheDag

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Yes you can lose weight still. It may be harder. What has helped me is making sure I eat better as in more healthy foods. So sandwich for lunch instead of burger or other greasy food. Think about how much you are actually eating. Making sure I had breakfast as well. Having breakfast helps get the metabolism going in the morning instead of later in the day when it is already close to half way through. Making sure you walk places where you can. Most people don't need to pay expensive gym fees especially when most of the trainers at a gym really have little or no idea as to what is good for you. There is plenty of gym equipment that they have seen used in medical fields so they put it in a gym. However they put weights on it which is what makes it bad. Do some walking and eat healthy and you will get fitter and lose some weight. Personally I can not comment on how diabetes will impact on this.
 
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ToBeLoved

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My understanding of loosing weight at or over 40 is that our metabolism naturally slows as we age. So, it is never a bad time to loose weight, but it does get harder as we get older.

That's why I hear more and more people around 40 lifting weights. Since muscle burns more calories than fat, many people have combined their cardio and weight training to try to kick it in a little more so as they gain more muscle, they will burn more calories. Also, I believe that we loose muscle naturally as we age. (It is so depressing).

The other thing that people are doing that I hear really works is this 'spurt' type of workout. What you do is combine high cardio, with low cardio for example walking very fast, yet having short spurts where you run. The short running spurts are suppose to kick your body into a high cardio mode without you having to maintain high cardio which would be running spurts for your whole workout.

Your body when you are done, is continuing to metabolize based off the high cardio periods that you worked out, rather than the fast walking.

I hope this helps someone. It does work, if only I liked to do short spurts. lol.
 
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ToBeLoved

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Does anyone bribe themselves?

For instance, this is off topic, but I've been trying to bribe myself to quit smoking by telling myself that I can have all the money I use to spend on ciggs for 6 months to do whatever with. It is helping to change my mind.

Anyone bribe themselves to do stuff they do not want to do?
 
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Ekim

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one thing I noticed when I got old is it is hard to switch exercises, if you are biking and then decide to start running the transition is more stressful, best to just pick an exercise and do the same thing everytime.

I've also noticed if you exercise an hour your body will learn to release enough fat for an hour of running. If you run less than an hour it will dump too much fat into your blood, and this is bad for you. Too much fat being released is bad. I've experimented found it to be true. when too much fat gets released into my blood it really screws up your body, your blood vessels most of all.
Your vascular system is largest organ system in your body. bigger organ system than even your skin. It is the most important system, soon as you get a clot in the brain or heart, you are dead so really all other organ systems are actually subservient to vascular system. All other systems are compromised to preserve functionality of cardio vascular system. Once you start getting endothelial/vascular dysfunction you are in big trouble that is sign your body has large healing/repair deficit.
 
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