Fabulous at Fifty+ .... A home for those of us 50 and older on IP!
Welcome to the new home of Fabulous at Fifty + !! This is the place to share our thoughts, ideas, challenges, frustrations, and most importantly our joy of being 50+ and on IP. Welcome everyone!
How exciting to have a home for those of us in the second (and perhaps better) half of our lives. I've been on the board since last fall, but I'll introduce myself to those who don't know me. I've been overweight since my late 20's and have been on just about every diet known to man. Some of those diets were successful, but never for that long. Two years ago I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. My oncologist cured me of cancer, but told me if I didn't get serious and lose the weight once and for all a stroke or heart attack would do it instead. She told me to check out IP. I do think things happen for a reason, and truthfully if it wasn't for me having cancer, I wouldn't have heard about IP. I haven't been this thin in over 25 plus years and now I know I will be reach goal and stay there as I now have the tools to do it. Thank you Dr. Smith and IP for giving me back my life, and for my IP friends for giving me the daily support to go on.
So share your story if you would like to and lets have some fun too!
I am so glad we have a home for those of us who are more experienced!!
I have struggled with my weight since my late 20s. In my 30s, lost 50 pounds from my then all-time high of 180. Then it crept back at an alarming rate - until I hit my new high of over 200. I am dealing with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the usual hormonal issues that come with being 50-ish.
When the scale hit 200+, I made up my mind to do something about it - and here I am!! Happy to have found IP and all of the wonderful people here!
I'm Cape Cod Momma. Guess where I'm from! I've not always been heavy. It wasn't until I hit my 40s that I put on my weight. As a wife, mom, grandmother, business owner and a woman that no longer sleeps very well, the pounds crept up on me. I've done WW, Atkins, South Beach, etc. I did loose about 30 pounds and kept it off for about a year. And once again it came back. When I got my breast cancer 2 1/2 years ago I kind of didn't worry about what I ate. Yikes! Those 30 came back like lightning. The cancer was gone in surgery and radiation but those pounds were still here. My oncologist gave me the thumbs up to do IP and here I am. We laugh a lot in our family so this is another thing to enjoy. My husband and 40 year old son are doing it with me. Those darn guys lose 2 pounds to my 1, but I'm tough. My goal is 50 pounds. This is the best diet I've ever been on. Easy to follow, easy to lose as long as you follow the rules. My hot flashes (I'm sure caused by the carbs since I went thru menopause years ago) are GONE! They stopped within days of starting.
IP ROCKS!
i'm susan...51...and have been heavy my entire adult life. i was very active as a kid, a cheerleader in school, played sports and was on the swim team and a jr. lifeguard at the beach for 2 summers!! then i got married at 18, had my first child at 19 and then had 4 children by the time i was 25. yes....4 kids ages 6 and under. during that time i gained over 50 pounds with each pregnancy. by the time i had my 4th child i was staring 200 extra pounds in the face! i never learned how to deal with that. never. spent the next 20 years raising my kids, foster parenting many others, and then went though a sad and unwanted divorce, having been told...i don't love you, i don't want you and i dont need you... then i had to learn how to live ALONE for the first time in my life. i think i spent that entire first year crying myself to sleep and stuffing my emotions with food! add on another 50 pounds to my already over loaded frame and now i was 250 pounds overweight. i didn't care really.
i was an overachiever in school, made the honor roll most semesters, always seemed to give more than asked for. i would take in stray kids, stray dogs, and even stray families...i guess i over-loved....because i knew what it felt like to be un-loved. if i set my mind to do something, there wasn't anything i couldn't do!! i went back to college after my divorce and made the deans list for 2 years in a row and graduated with a 4.0 and one of the top in the class!
so why....WHY....couldn't an educated, smart, resourceful, inventive, creative, loving lady....conquer the task of losing weight?? i have NO idea!
it would infuriate me to lose 20 pounds and GAIN BACK 25!! i did that year after year. i saw that scale creep closer and closer to 400 pounds. i cried at the thought. i wept. i remember watching football with some friends and seeing a lineman come on to the field and being announced...as MASSIVE...and weighing in at 320 pounds. i weighed MORE than an NFL lineman! i was MASSIVE. i went and hid in the bathroom and cried as friends watched the football game and cheered. pathetic.
how could i give so much of ME to every good cause and help so many others when i couldn't even HELP myself?? how could someone who was so dedicated to giving have so little self esteem?
i stumbled on IP accidentally...when i saw another lady, (wuv) talking about it on 3fc. i was struggling to lose weight but could not afford to join IP or buy the foods at that time. now a year later, i have seen her lose so much weight and get her life back!! i finally was able to start ip using both ip products i order online and alternatives.
i don't know if i can do this until the end...but i want to try. i want to get my life back. i want my next 50 years to be healthy and full of the sparkle that is in my heart. i'm tired of being fat. i'm tired of being envious of others who have succeeded at weight loss. i want to become a success story. i want to have HOPE.
i want to be fabulous at 50!!
Last edited by rainbowsmiles; 08-19-2012 at 01:45 PM.
Lizzy63 thanks for the name suggestion for this new group (I think it was you). I also like the "more experienced" quote. You are definitely doing something positive for yourself. My one true challenge with IP is getting my body to lower it's body fat and hold onto muscle. As my coach likes to say, "Once on the other side of menopause, your body holds on to the body fat like gold." Regardless I thought for sure that once I was on the other side of menopause that the weight loss in general would be slow, but I haven't found that to be the case unitl I had lost about 80 of the 95 pounds I have lost. At that point I felt like my body needed a break so I hung out in phase 3 for a couple of months over the summer, and now I'm back to phase 1 till I reach goal.
Thanks for setting this thread up Dana.
I'm Barb, I'll be 51 in November. I have never been slim, though my real weight issues hit in my 20's. I have discovered with IP how carbs have been one of my major issues throughout my life. Other diets never addressed that for me, and allowed me to eat enough carbs to drive my cravings and hunger for more. I just could not stand to stick with them. IP has been wonderful.
I'm Cape Cod Momma. Guess where I'm from! I've not always been heavy. It wasn't until I hit my 40s that I put on my weight. As a wife, mom, grandmother, business owner and a woman that no longer sleeps very well, the pounds crept up on me. I've done WW, Atkins, South Beach, etc. I did loose about 30 pounds and kept it off for about a year. And once again it came back. When I got my breast cancer 2 1/2 years ago I kind of didn't worry about what I ate. Yikes! Those 30 came back like lightning. The cancer was gone in surgery and radiation but those pounds were still here. My oncologist gave me the thumbs up to do IP and here I am. We laugh a lot in our family so this is another thing to enjoy. My husband and 40 year old son are doing it with me. Those darn guys lose 2 pounds to my 1, but I'm tough. My goal is 50 pounds. This is the best diet I've ever been on. Easy to follow, easy to lose as long as you follow the rules. My hot flashes (I'm sure caused by the carbs since I went thru menopause years ago) are GONE! They stopped within days of starting.
IP ROCKS!
Thanks for sharing your story. It looks like several of us have had to deal with cancer, but look how good we are doing now in taking care of our bodies. I just read the other day how in some cancer studies they are having success in proving the benefits of low carb diets in dealing with aggressive cancers. It sure is nice to have company (your husband and son) while doing IP, even if they lose at twice the rate. I'm doing this with a friend who lives in another state, and we just met up in July for a one week vacation to celebrate our accomplishment on IP so far. We have a before picture together and now we have an almost at goal picture too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbowsmiles
great thread dana
i'm susan...51...and have been heavy my entire adult life. i was very active as a kid, a cheerleader in school, played sports and was on the swim team and a jr. lifeguard at the beach for 2 summers!! then i got married at 18, had my first child at 19 and then had 4 children by the time i was 25. yes....4 kids ages 6 and under. during that time i gained over 50 pounds with each pregnancy. by the time i had my 4th child i was staring 200 extra pounds in the face! i never learned how to deal with that. never. spent the next 20 years raising my kids, foster parenting many others, and then went though a sad and unwanted divorce, having been told...i don't love you, i don't want you and i dont need you... then i had to learn how to live ALONE for the first time in my life. i think i spent that entire first year crying myself to sleep and stuffing my emotions with food! add on another 50 pounds to my already over loaded frame and now i was 250 pounds overweight. i didn't care really.
i was an overachiever in school, made the honor roll most semesters, always seemed to give more than asked for. i would take in stray kids, stray dogs, and even stray families...i guess i over-loved....because i knew what it felt like to be un-loved. if i set my mind to do something, there wasn't anything i couldn't do!! i went back to college after my divorce and made the deans list for 2 years in a row and graduated with a 4.0 and one of the top in the class!
so why....WHY....couldn't an educated, smart, resourceful, inventive, creative, loving lady....conquer the task of losing weight?? i have NO idea!
it would infuriate me to lose 20 pounds and GAIN BACK 25!! i did that year after year. i saw that scale creep closer and closer to 400 pounds. i cried at the thought. i wept. i remember watching football with some friends and seeing a lineman come on to the field and being announced...as MASSIVE...and weighing in at 320 pounds. i weighed MORE than an NFL lineman! i was MASSIVE. i went and hid in the bathroom and cried as friends watched the football game and cheered. pathetic.
how could i give so much of ME to every good cause and help so many others when i couldn't even HELP myself?? how could someone who was so dedicated to giving have so little self esteem?
i stumbled on IP accidentally...when i saw another lady, (wuv) talking about it on 3fc. i was struggling to lose weight but could not afford to join IP or buy the foods at that time. now a year later, i have seen her lose so much weight and get her life back!! i finally was able to start ip using both ip products i order online and alternatives.
i don't know if i can do this until the end...but i want to try. i want to get my life back. i want my next 50 years to be healthy and full of the sparkle that is in my heart. i'm tired of being fat. i'm tired of being envious of others who have succeeded at weight loss. i want to become a success story. i want to have HOPE.
i want to be fabulous at 50!!
Susan you are fabulous, and you are doing SO great. I believe you will make it to goal. I know I hit a road block at about the 8th month mark both on the scale and in my head. Those two months off mainly maintaining really helped me a lot and now I'm back on phase 1 to reach goal. I could so relate when you shared the story about watching football with friends. How many times would I hear about some guy that was "really big", and he weighed the same or less than I did and was much taller.
You are now taking care of yourself first, great job! And here's to the next 50 years...
Thanks for setting this thread up Dana.
I'm Barb, I'll be 51 in November. I have never been slim, though my real weight issues hit in my 20's. I have discovered with IP how carbs have been one of my major issues throughout my life. Other diets never addressed that for me, and allowed me to eat enough carbs to drive my cravings and hunger for more. I just could not stand to stick with them. IP has been wonderful.
Welcome Barb! I also found out after many diets, that carbs were the big issue for me as I think they are for most people. It sure is hard to stick to a diet when all of the cravings are still there and you are continuously hungry. You can only last for so long on that kind of diet. IP is great!
You all are so inspiring and just feel from your sharing that we have a common bond.
I did not have a weight problem until I was 40 and found out that I had Stage IV cancer of cervix and uterus. It was a long haul but have been cancer free for 23 years now (hint, does that tell you how old I am). Don't ask me why, I believe it was because of the hysterectomy and the estrogen I began to add on weight. As the years have gone by, I have had some major health problems, like pulmonary embolism, heart attack, acute kidney failure but hey, I am still alive and kicking and for that I am thankful. It seemed that with each crossroad though I kept adding on 20 more pounds and 20 more pounds ++.
I can understand about the sadness and desperation as I have been there. Two months ago I reached rock bottom, just sobbing my eyes out about my weight and how I had let myself go. Where had my pride gone and my self esteem?
I had two friends that have done the IP diet and have both reached goal weight. I did go to the initial consultation with IP, bought one weeks worth of food and decided that I could not afford to to the IP program and choose to do alternative. The only obstacle I had when starting the diet is that because of my blood clotting disorder and on blood thinners, I could not have Vitamin K (vegetables). My doctor believes in IP and has worked with me, doubling my warfarin in order to accommodate all the veggies.
So far, so good, it is working.
I don't know whether this is true or not, even for women who can control their eating (which I did not), it is said that at 40, 10 pounds is added for every decade. I chose to more that double that average per decade.
Every morning my day starts with this site and everyday I receive the incentive to know that my new learning experience of eating healthier is because of each of you. Thank you.
Introducing myself here too. I'm 50. I started gaining weight in my late 20's, I've struggled with thyroid issues. But all seems to be good now. I started IP 10 weeks ago at my all time high weight approaching 250. As of my Friday WI, I was down to 208 and wearing the smallest size I've worn in decades. I love this program, mostly because it's bringing quick results and it's not complicated. I feel my life changing, I can also feel my eating habits, likes and dislikes changing. I look forward to visiting with all of you in our "experienced" age group. I think I'm going to love my 50's! I'm excited about this thread.
Hi all,
Great to have a place where we can share our personal and unique age related diet issues. I'm 55, soon to be 56 (Friday) and learned about IP from a friend, an oncology nurse, who had lost a great deal of weight in a short time and felt healthy. I respect her and so wanted to learn about it. The previous year (pre-IP) my weight, which was largely in the 155-160 range for years (size 10ish), started to fluctuate wildly and went up to 181 pounds at 5'5 1/2" (now shorter by 1/2 "). I could gain 5-6 pounds overnight and it would take 3 weeks to come off. I went on IP in 2010 and lost about 35 pounds.
Then we move - my husband decided to retire early and we moved out of state for several reasons (it was a happy move, a good move - just a little complicated to explain). I work full time still. In the process of selling our house and buying/building a new one, we eat out and eat what's convenient. I end up gaining all the weight back. No blame on anyone else - I could have made better choices but I didn't - I wanted to try the new restaurants and their specialty items. And the wild weight fluctuations are happening - again 6 pounds gained overnight and hanging around for weeks, despite cutting back but not on a formal diet. I am gaining a huge amount of midriff this time, more than before and arthritis is spreading.
So by this January I want to start IP - my husband doesn't really want me to since it cuts back on his restaurant ventures...By February I decide to go back to IP. In January I also saw my doctor for blood work since I suspected I had thyroid issues and my hot flashes and night sweats were making me miserable. In early February, I started IP, thyroid medication (armour), and bio-identical HRT creams. In the first two weeks, I lost a nice amount of weight and I lost the hot flashes and started to sleep so much better.
I learned about 3FC in Feb 2012, a complete godsend as I depend on this website for my education and motivation as my husband is not so happy with my reluctance to stay home for dinner for the first month so I can control what I'm eating and not fall off the plan. I use alternatives - btw, first time on IP in 2010, used only IP products and had a coach. In 2012, re-start IP and a new and only clinic w/in 1 hr drive in my new town lost my order and so I quickly learned about alternatives and never looked back. I lost the same amount of weight in the same period of time so I believe alternatives work just as well at 1/4-1/3 the cost. With the savings, I buy gadgets to assist my weight loss/health journey (omron body composition scale, actifry, nesco dehydrator, hamilton beach mini ice cream maker, etc.) as well as new clothes.
I'm closing in on goal, but not toeing the line like I was. Today I made myself a brownie, using the Big Train choc chip brownie mix for my "birthday cake" as tonight we have a bbq with friends and we always celebrate each other's birthday. My celebration is tonight. So, everyone else will have a regular brownie for my "cake", I'll have my low carb version (1 2" sq has 140 cal, 8 g net carbs). However, I just let my guard down and I've eaten 8 of them this afternoon. This is the worst transgression I've made since February...that's 64 carbs today in brownies alone. I better drink all my water and not have any more. Have to learn to take just a little mix out and make just one or two at a time. Have to say, it was among the best tasting chocolate sweets I've had on IP so far...clearly dangerous.
Anyway, thanks Dana, for pulling this thread together. It will be nice to have others in our age range to chat with about diet and health in a truly supportive way.
And to all who posted right before me today, thank you for posting, I look forward to getting each of you better and supporting you as you become your "best self".
Two years ago I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. My oncologist cured me of cancer
Quote:
Originally Posted by capecodmomma
When I got my breast cancer 2 1/2 years ago I kind of didn't worry about what I ate. Yikes! Those 30 came back like lightning. The cancer was gone in surgery and radiation but those pounds were still here.
IP ROCKS!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueskywyoming
I did not have a weight problem until I was 40 and found out that I had Stage IV cancer of cervix and uterus. It was a long haul but have been cancer free for 23 years now
.
my heart goes out to those of you dealing or having dealt with cancer. STRONG AMAZING BEAUTIFUL SURVIVING WOMEN!!!!!!!
Fabulous at Fifty+ .... A home for those of us 50 and older on IP!
You are definitely doing something positive for yourself. My one true challenge with IP is getting my body to lower it's body fat and hold onto muscle. As my coach likes to say, "Once on the other side of menopause, your body holds on to the body fat like gold." Regardless I thought for sure that once I was on the other side of menopause that the weight loss in general would be slow, but I haven't found that to be the case unitl I had lost about 80 of the 95 pounds I have lost. At that point I felt like my body needed a break so I hung out in phase 3 for a couple of months over the summer, and now I'm back to phase 1 till I reach goal.
). Don't ask me why, I believe it was because of the hysterectomy and the estrogen I began to add on weight. As the years have gone by, I have had some major health problems, like pulmonary embolism, heart attack, acute kidney failure but hey, I am still alive and kicking and for that I am thankful. It seemed that with each crossroad though I kept adding on 20 more pounds and 20 more pounds ++. 
