Best strategy and tactics for losing weight at 70?

People don’t get the natural exercise like they used to. My mom and grandma hung clothes on a clothesline for years before buying a clothes dryer.

We only had one family car. My dad took the car to work. We walked, rode our bikes or took public transportation everywhere. It’s a shame that we have to deal with crime these days. It was perfectly safe when I was a kid.

We played outside. Went to the park as a family, always had some sort of game, like baseball going on when we picnicked.

We were extremely active. No such thing as kids playing video games back then. Our parents joined in playing games. They didn’t sit around watching us play.

Our parents cooked homemade dinners for us. We weren’t fed fast food. People are so busy that they turn to fast food. There are lots of healthy dishes that can be made just as quickly as driving through a fast food line.

We can easily slip into habits. We should be mindful about the habits that we are teaching to our children and grandchildren. I rarely allowed my children to eat fast food when they were young.

One habit that I have is that I read labels at the grocery store. I have high blood pressure. I have it under control now but it was running really high when I was caregiving for my mom.

My oldest daughter has diabetes, so I watch out for high levels of sodium and sugar.

Burnt,

You were almost a vegan!

I don’t eat meat at every meal. I never put meat in the veggie soup I make. I will sometimes add a can of rinsed beans if I want to add protein. I don’t put meat in my split pea or lentil soup.

I do put meat in my red beans when I make red beans and rice.

There is plenty of protein in other foods without eating a ton of meat!

Vegans won’t eat any byproducts, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, etc. I eat all of these but in limited quantities.

I do like plant based milk. I drink oat milk in my coffee everyday. I hate sugar in my coffee or tea though.

I feel exactly as you do, everything in moderation is the key.

I gained a lot of weight when I was pregnant! I had a high risk pregnancy and was placed on bedrest. It took me a while to lose it! It is best to lose it slowly though to avoid losing muscle.

Go vegetarian for a while with cutting out sugar and reducing your salt intake. No desserts, no beverages with calories. I don't eat anything sweeter than a piece of fruit unless it's a special occasion. You will lose weight. I'm not anywhere near my 70's but I was a good 100 pounds overweight. How I lost it was I went vegetarian but also cut out cheese and most dairy. I still used a little half and half in my coffee and ate some butter. Maybe a little once a week on a potato.

I limited bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta to one (measured) serving twice a week. If I ate a potato or rice, I knew that I could have two slices of bread, or one cup of cooked pasta that week and no more. You have to do portion control.

You will see that weight come off even if you're older. You'll feel better too.
A few years ago I had gained so much weight because my life was so miserable living with my mother and being her caregiver.I just gave up. I slowly dug myself out of that whole and I started with the vegetarian diet. It works and it's easy.

PR, that's wonderful news!

I am slowing increasing my time on the treadmill, set at an incline at 2.5 miles per hour. I'm up to 8 minutes mist days.

I used to be able to do 20-25, but have fallen into some bad habits of sloth since the pandemic. Time to get back to "fighting weight"!

May not be the best, be in a place with no heat and not eat much.

I agree with someone else - Try Weight Watchers. You just need the online version. But know this involves tracking what you eat, and most likely changing what you eat and/or the portions. It WILL work if you do it. They run specials quite often - like $10/month for 6 months.

Exercise alone is a much harder route, IMO.

I don’t understand why more gyms don’t build indoor pools instead of outdoor pools.

Outdoor pools are only used in the summer. An indoor pool and walking track would be useful for all year round.

Plus so many gym pools are used by swim teams. They close off the pool and members can’t swim.

We have an athletic club here with an indoor pool.

Depending on solar flares, phases of the moon or something, my scale says I've either lost 9 pounds in 4 months or 11 pounds, so I'm pleased. I've been using the stair lift to the second floor less often to work up to climbing the 14 steps to Youngest's apartment, perhaps that made a difference? The 14 steps proved tiring but not exhausting when I visited him two weeks back. I still walk the one mile daily either on the treadmill or outdoors.

I'd recommend Weight Watchers, because it worked well for me, but I hear they're going to get rid of their common sense program and start pushing Ozempic as a way to lose weight. I hate the idea of taking drugs to lose weight.

Bottom line -- eat less, move more, and drink a ton of water every day. Eat as many fruits and vegetables you like each day, keep the red meat, sweets, and processed foods to a bare minimum.

Congrats Pronker.

I hardly eat and don't lose weight very well. I gain 2# every Summer in water, high humidity where I live. I like being 3# down. I am 5ft tall and just those few #s makes me feel better. I am not very active so probably should get into walking. A friend got a dog and walks him from her house to the park. She lost 20 lbs.

I lost 70 pounds at age 69, and kept it off until the pandemic, and since then, I’ve I’ve lost about 50 more. I’m now 79.

I was relatively healthy at 265 pounds but very uncomfortable and very unhappy about my size, 60 pounds of which I’d gained while my mother was full time care in my home.

Anything that you attempt MUST be done with the FULL SUPPORT of your physician(s).

I omitted all “white” foods, including sugar, salt, most white veggies, grains, all dairy except yoghurt.

I ate ONE meal a day, no snacks, coffee with light cream and Stevia in the morning, tea or coffee with light cream and Stevia at noon, the an ENORMOUS salad of dark leafies or a humongous spinach omelet at 5 pm every day, repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat………I ate blueberries or grapefruit or Granny Smith apples every night for dessert, and took several supplements and a good multivitamin every day.

I had previously been unsuccessfully on Metformin and several blood pressure medicines, all with lousy side effects, and very little benefit. Following my first large loss everything I was ever tested for normalized (until a 5 week Covid infection).

I do NOT ever recommend ANY “diet” to anyone. All of us who have a weight related issue need to commit to finding a long lasting healthy way of dealing with the problem.

For ME this way of life worked from the beginning and continues to work right up to this day.

I weigh right now what I weighed when I graduated from HS.

Stress weight is insidious. Carrying too much weight is dangerous. The best possible care for caregivers whether their caregiving is current or was in the past, is an imperative.

Think it through, examine where and when and why and what you’re eating, decide what you can do to change one or more of those things, set your sights on an IMPORTANT goal (mine was wanting to be the HEALTHIEST GRANDMA that my unborn grandchildren could have (I now have FOUR!), and BE GOOD TO YOURSELF.

Hard but NOT IMPOSSIBLE. DO IT!

I've never had too much trouble with weight or tried any dieting plans. However, over the years my weight has crept up so I wanted to lose about 15 lbs (at age 80). I decided to try Noom, an online program that has a psychology-based curriculum but also very helpful information about food and exercise. I lost the 15lbs in about 8 weeks and never felt deprived. I'm now in a maintenance stage of the program and holding steady. Like Alva, I'm hypothyroid and on medication. I get less exercise than I should but am trying to rectify that. And I've definitely changed my eating patterns; I thought I was eating healthily before, but learning from Noom I have made some lasting changes for the better.

Mediterranean diet : fish , vegetables , Olive oil . Exercise . No sugar , Processed foods . Organic .

Thanks for your update on this post, Pronker. Good work!

Changing out my snack from potato chips and ice creams to vanilla yogurt with berries and museli did this for me over course of about three months.

Hard to say what will work for someone else without knowing eating habits, for certain.
Like stopping smoking it is "try, try, try and try again". I am hypothyroid and I take levothyroxine. I am kept more toward the hypo than the hyper purposely, because edging up toward hyper will get my atrial fib in a more rapid snit. So leaving me on the edge of hypothyroid means, yes, lots of walking and less eating to maintain at about 143#. I am 5'7" and at 81, I have definitely less drive to cook, less to eat. Staying stable for now. Good luck, Pronker. Let us know how it goes.

Two months later, I seem to be playing around with a 5 pound loss that pleases. I feel a little "different" when walking or exercising. Basically, I cut down quantity and left the exercising to walking 1 mile daily.

I have heard people say the expression, “Eat to live, rather than, Live to eat!”

I thought about exercising today.

It’s the thought that counts.

Fancy gadgets and walking videos are great (it's easier said than done), but the mind is the biggest weight-loss tool.

The fancy technology wasn't around a long time ago, nor were the next new weight-loss "know it alls" doing YouTube videos, but most folk were a lot healthier in, say, the 1940s and 1950s. They were dressed to the nines (elegantly dressed), and they ate food that was clean, no processed garbage that we find everywhere these days. Most importantly, they were mindful of how they looked.
 
I also like the other suggestions folks here have provided. As I said earlier, whatever works for the individual.
 
With weight-loss "experts", there are only about 50 million to choose from :-O

I loved Richard Simmons too! I'm in my 70s and Noom has worked for me. I spent years on WW, but I needed a change and the psych lessons on Noom made the difference. You still have to record what you eat and stay within a food budget. Check it out

"I've not done any BMI analysis."

It takes seconds. There's many BMI calculators online. Just put in your height and weight and voila, your BMI is shown.

Some sites require more detail such as gender and age. These may be more accurate but the basic calculators give you a good idea where you stand (or sit!).

Stop all alcohol. Cut down auger. Move. Put the fork down.

8/9/23 - 4:15P
Fm: ElizabethAR37

To anyone concerned that I may be starving, I'm not. I've been following my eating plan in general for 65 years more or less and have been in pretty great health until old age (now 86) started catching up with me the last few years.

I'm sure I join others in being glad "Chubbette" is no longer in business! It was definitely no fun being directed to that section as a 'tween/teen. All black, navy and dark brown shapeless or tent shaped matronly clothing. Curvy girls can dress in styles similar to their slimmer peers now. Yay for progress!

Lately my diet and workout mainly consist of exercising poor judgement.

:)

Consider Pellet Hormone Replacement Therapy. Our doctor encouraged my husband to try it for several reasons. My husband's results convinced me to try it and I've been on it for 2 years. I've always been active, as I approached 60 found I was struggling to keep my muscle tone up even though I was still doing pilates and walking regularly. I was slowly accumulating fat and 10 pounds had crept on.

The pellet therapy gave me more energy and my ability to develop muscles came back. I won't go into the other benefits in detail, let's just say there will be an effect on your sex drive.

I think some people eat plenty of food but they are starving themselves of the proper nutrients needed to be healthy.

They are getting excessive amounts of calories, but it’s all empty calories that cause weight gain. Plus, there are tons of sodium in fast foods. Sugar and fat too!

So many people drink sodas all day long. They drink tons of empty calories. Same thing with alcohol.

Others do silly and dangerous fad diets. They may lose weight but they don’t keep it off because they didn’t lose it in a healthy way.

Exercise and diet go hand in hand. My neighbor lost weight in a healthy way and she is keeping her weight off. She looks and feels great.

She even splurges on food once in awhile when she goes on vacation. She says that the trick is to start eating healthy again after returning home from vacation.

She will gain a few pounds on a trip. She takes it off though because she eats well the majority of the time.

I use the Miss Piggy diet:

Never eat anything you can’t lift!

I wonder how much genetics comes into play. I have been thin all my life. My mom, aunt and grandmother were the same.

I do feel that being active makes a difference too. I walked or rode my bicycle to school everyday. I weighed 96 lbs when I graduated. I don’t weigh much more than that now.

Also, my mom and grandmother never served us fast food. That wasn’t a thing back then. They cooked healthy meals so I never developed a taste for fast food. I never gave my children fast food.

Ann losing that much weight and keeping it off, Elizabeth too, is a real feat. I was a Chubette at 20lbs over what the school nurse thought I should be.

I think at a certain age, we do not need 3 meals a day. I have to eat something in the morning or my blood sugar drops. I have not eaten lunch in years. I just snack. My biggest meal is dinner and for some that is small. But I am comfortably full when I leave the table. My DH and I split our meals when out. My DH is the same weight he was 40 yrs ago when we married. He goes up and down but is still the same size.

I think we need to get away from needing to eat 3 meals a day. Less is best, I think the quote is. Eat when ur hungry.

8/8/23 - 2:00P
From: ElizabethAR37

Weight--a lifelong battle! I weigh proportionately about the same now as I did after losing 80 UNneeded pounds when I was 22. I've lost height due to back problems/age; I'm just under 5'1" and 92 lbs. (was 5'4" before 3 back surgeries in my 20s). Until a few months ago, I walked at least a mile every day--rain, snow, sleet or heat--and am hoping my back will improve so I can resume being more active. I try to get up and walk around the house/yard every hour or two.

I eat one meal a day, usually a large salad w/chicken or fish and 1/2 a roll. I have a protein main dish 1-2X/week and 1/4 serving of dessert 2-3X/week. Grapes are my go-to snack, with the occasional chocolate or cookie. Works for me but people are all different and need to find what works for them. I don't have a lot of wiggle room so need to stick pretty close to my "plan". I do cheat from time to time though, and if I gain 2-3 lbs., I cut back on food intake for a few days.

It's harder to lose and even maintain a lower weight in old age, but I hated being a "Chubbette" (brand name for clothing targeting overweight girls w-a-ay back in the day) and I have no desire to be overweight again as an old woman.

I read a summary of a book titled something like "French women don't get fat." The author says things like eat healthy, smaller portions, get some exercise, drink water, etc.. Maybe worth looking into. There's one thing I might disagree with though, from what I've seen French women, and men for that matter, eat lots of sweets like pastries, cakes, chocolates, crème deserts, etc.. If I had to guess it's the ingredients and quantities used that make all the difference. Flour in the US is different than in France. So is the butter. So is the sugar, etc.. Far more people in France smoke cigarettes' as well but DON"T do that! Stop immediately if you do. Also, don't drink alcohol, even wine. Go for a walk instead.

I've been walking for an hour most days for years and I have managed to keep my BMI "normal".