[canadjineh]

Hi all: I'm 50 and although I did not lose at a rate of MORE than 2 lbs a week, I did lose the 30 lbs in 3 months. When you only have a relatively small amount to lose, it is much more difficult.
I did the Ideal Protein diet which is a NORMAL amount of protein with very low carbs. Maintenance has been easy because they have a plan to phase you in properly to healthy normal eating (not old habits) with normal amount of carbs. I won't explain too much because you can get more info from the clinics/doc offices where they coach you. There's also a whole forum on 3FC for IP 'losers.' This works very well with Diabetes type 2. I don't have that problem but know others who have.

Here's a snapshot of my meals - just one day this week from MyFitnessPal food diary.
I have been maintaining easily for over a month with no difficulty - VITAL though, is to keep your carb poor (relatively speaking) meal separate from your fat poor (relatively speaking) meal. Large amounts of carbs along with large amounts of fats at the same meal trigger insulin surges and easy storage of the fat in the meal.

BREAKFAST Calories Carbs Fat Protein Fiber Sugar
Cottage cheese - Lowfat, 2% milkfat, 0.75 cup (not packed) 153 6 3 23 0 1
Irene's - Cheese & Onion Bread - gluten free, 1 slice 120 18 5 6 5 3
Kraft (Canada - Calorie Wise Greek Feta & Oregano Dressing, 0.5 Tbsp (15ml) 15 1 2 0 0 0
Spaghetti Squash - Fresh Steamed, 0.75 cup cooked 32 8 0 1 2 3
Add Food Quick Tools 320 33 10 30 7 7

LUNCH
Generic - Bell Peppers-mixed (Yellow, Orange, Red), 0.66 cup 12 3 0 0 1 1
Lettuce - Red leaf, raw, 1.25 cup shredded 6 1 0 0 0 0
Market Pantry - Tequila Lime Chicken Breast, Ultra-thin Deli Slices, 3 oz (56g) 90 2 4 14 0 0
Kraft Cracker Barrel - Cheddar Cheese Old Reduced Fat, 90 grams 270 0 18 24 0 0
Cucumber - With peel, raw, 0.25 cucumber (8-1/4") 11 3 0 0 0 1
Brianna's - Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing, 1.5 Tablespoons 90 4 8 0 0 3
Add Food Quick Tools 479 13 30 38 1 5

DINNER
Rice - India Gate Basmati Rice Premium White, 0.66 cup cooked 99 23 0 2 0 0
Beef - Ground, 95% lean meat / 5% fat, patty, cooked, broiled (hamburger), 1.33 serving ( 3 oz ) 201 0 8 30 0 0
Squash - Zucchini, includes skin, raw, 0.5 medium 16 3 0 1 1 2
Vegetable - Celery Stalk 7 -8" Long (Kym), 1 stalk 6 1 0 0 1 1
Veggie - Broccoli (Raw), 1 Cup (91g) chopped 30 6 0 3 2 2
Onions - Raw, 0.25 medium (2-1/2" dia) 12 3 0 0 0 1
Fresh is Best - Salsa - Medium, 120 ml 40 8 0 2 0 4
Danone - Oikos Greek Yogurt 2% Plain, 43.75 g 33 2 1 4 0 1
Halal - Plain Yogurt (0%), 0.165 cup 20 3 0 2 0 2
Asian Home Gourmet - Spice Paste for Indian Meat Curry Rogan Josh, 26 g 80 6 6 0 2 2
Danone - Silhouette's Yogurt 0% Pomegranate Blueberry, 100 g 40 6 0 3 0 4
Add Food Quick Tools 577 61 15 47 6 19

SNACKS
Vega One - Protein Smoothie - Tropical Tango, 1 scoop 90 4 0 15 1 2
Quaker - Rice Cake - Buttered Popcorn, 3 cake (9g) 105 24 0 3 0 0
Add Food Quick Tools 195 28 0 18 1 2

Totals 1,571 135 55 133 15 33
Your Daily Goal 1,590 199 53 80 25 60
Remaining 19 64 -2 -53 10 27

You can see the macros for my meals - a negative number at the bottom means I have technically gone over my suggested (by MFP) amounts of macros. A positive number means I still could have used more of those macros.

BUT YES, IT CAN BE DONE GIRLS!! I lost 8% body fat while I did this - down from 29.5 to 21.5% - and still holding there. I have health issues that affect the amount, duration and intensity of exercise so it isn't just all that.
I post my maintenance meals on the forum thread "Maintenance What Are You Eating Today IPeeps?" if you want to see more. Not everyday is higher fat, some are higher carb.

Liana

[fitforlifeinthenw]

Ideal Protein is the only diet that works for me. The only thing I hate is the cost of it! The food tastes great, it's super easy and the pounds and inches melt off. There were some weeks I lost 3 lbs. and other weeks 2 lbs. but it was consistent. Not only am I peri-menopause, I also have under active thyroid and it's next to impossible for me to lose weight on any other diet. I simply love it with the exception of their maintenance. I just don't agree with all the food that they advise you can eat and keep the weight off. My coach even agrees and has altered the Ideal Protein Maintenance with more of a Paleo Diet. I personally have moved on to the Paleo Diet for maintenance and will never return to eating wheat of any kind and any starchy carbs and I have never felt better. Great energy throughout the day! I do monitor my protein intake. There is a formula you need to do per body weight on proper amount of protein per day because too much of that will cause you to gain. I also stay away from table sugar (I use stevia in the raw) and eat only berries and avoid all starchy veggies like potatoes. I will eat sweet potatoes once in a while because they are half the amount carbs than white potatoes and I continue to eat 4 cups of veggies per day. If you purchase the book "Wheat Belly" or "Grain Brain" you will never want to eat wheat again and that includes gluten free grains like rice flour etc. which really spike your blood sugar. Keeping your blood sugar stable, will keep the weight off to avoiding crashing. People have had success with just removing sugar, wheat and starchy carbs from their diets according to the "Wheat Belly" book. Excellent book with great recipes too!

Here is a little information I would like to share. There was a study done on on blood sugar tests from food. They gave three people, three different foods to see which one spiked their blood sugar the quickest. The three foods were a piece of whole wheat bread, a snickers bar and tsp. of table sugar. Guess which was the worst of the three? The whole wheat bread and the least was the snickers bar. Probably due to the protein of the nuts which probably slowed down the process of the blood glucose rising. I was pretty shocked given all the whole wheat bread I have purchased in my life time and thinking I was purchasing something healthy. Not so much IMO.

[canadjineh]

Originally Posted by fitforlifeinthenw

Ideal Protein is the only diet that works for me. The only thing I hate is the cost of it! The food tastes great, it's super easy and the pounds and inches melt off. There were some weeks I lost 3 lbs. and other weeks 2 lbs. but it was consistent. Not only am I peri-menopause, I also have under active thyroid and it's next to impossible for me to lose weight on any other diet. I simply love it with the exception of their maintenance. I just don't agree with all the food that they advise you can eat and keep the weight off. My coach even agrees and has altered the Ideal Protein Maintenance with more of a Paleo Diet. I personally have moved on to the Paleo Diet for maintenance and will never return to eating wheat of any kind and any starchy carbs and I have never felt better. Great energy throughout the day! I do monitor my protein intake. There is a formula you need to do per body weight on proper amount of protein per day because too much of that will cause you to gain. I also stay away from table sugar (I use stevia in the raw) and eat only berries and avoid all starchy veggies like potatoes. I will eat sweet potatoes once in a while because they are half the amount carbs than white potatoes and I continue to eat 4 cups of veggies per day. If you purchase the book "Wheat Belly" or "Grain Brain" you will never want to eat wheat again and that includes gluten free grains like rice flour etc. which really spike your blood sugar. Keeping your blood sugar stable, will keep the weight off to avoiding crashing. People have had success with just removing sugar, wheat and starchy carbs from their diets according to the "Wheat Belly" book. Excellent book with great recipes too!

Here is a little information I would like to share. There was a study done on on blood sugar tests from food. They gave three people, three different foods to see which one spiked their blood sugar the quickest. The three foods were a piece of whole wheat bread, a snickers bar and tsp. of table sugar. Guess which was the worst of the three? The whole wheat bread and the least was the snickers bar. Probably due to the protein of the nuts which probably slowed down the process of the blood glucose rising. I was pretty shocked given all the whole wheat bread I have purchased in my life time and thinking I was purchasing something healthy. Not so much IMO.

Hmmm.... that's funny.... When I went to maintenance, there were no specific foods I was advised to eat to keep the weight off, just to separate my carb poor meals from my fat poor meals. They also advised (both the coaches and the videos from IP) not eating the usual processed prepared foods but cooking fresh from scratch. I have to be gluten free anyhow so I don't use a lot of the usual starch carbs most North Americans use and I've always 'eaten healthy' with just stevia in our house (although I may use a packet or two a month - it's mainly for my husband's coffee) and very little prepared food with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. I didn't use only Ideal Protein packets to lose the weight, I also like Vega Tropical Tango Protein smoothie powder and Garden of Life Raw Protein in Cacao Kiss (both vegan) and used them in place of some of the protein packets. It's very easy in North America to get enough protein 1/2g per pound of our weight (approx.) so no worries there.

[JeanniesPlace]

I lost at least 2 pounds a week for a very long time. Started at 315 and hit 246 recently. I seem to be resting now!!

Message me. I just lowered my calories to around 1,440 and drank tons of water. I also had a good support system. Now I'm on this forum because it came very highly recommended!!!!!!

Jeannie

[Kscott]

Originally Posted by geoblewis

I only want to hear if it is possible...can age 50+ women lose at a rate faster than 2 lbs/week. If you have experience losing a good bit of weight, more than 20% of your body weight at a quicker rate, I want to hear about it, how you did it, etc. And I want to know what sort of exercise you did during that time.

(Really, I just want anecdotes. Not advice. I'm just curious to see if it's possible.)

I think it really depends on how heavy you are. Certainly if you're accustomed to eating 3000 or more calories a day and cut back to less than half 1200 calories a day you're going to peal off weight quickly at first, and then you will slow down in rapid weight loss as you get nearer your goal.

Someone who is accustomed to eating 1800 calories a day and goes to 1200 will lose 1 pound a week. It's only math.

Younger people have a higher metabolism meaning they burn more calories due to having more muscle mass and as we get older we lose some of that mass. Obviously younger people do get obese, but as usual it's because they're eating a lot more calories than they're burning.