Hello, I am 73 years old and wonder if it is too late for me to lose 50 lbs. I have been leading a very sedentary life for years with just gardening and snow removal for exercise. I used to do some walking. I am at wit's end now and have just purchased a tread mill to get me going. I also have COPD and so far I can't walk on the treadmill more than 12 minutes at a time but am hoping to increase that. I am also purchasing a pedometer to help keep track. I don't enjoy vegetables or many fruits but will try my best to add more. I will be journaling using the WW old points books (I lost 50 lbs. with this many years ago). Like many others, weight has been a lifetime battle with me. I love food but all the wrong things. I need to break numerous bad eating habits so this first week will be tough.
Would love to chat with any other member.

Well, I'm back from the grocery store. Stocked up on "good" food. A toasted tomato sandwich sounds good to me right now. Threw out some high point junk food. Any help and advice sure would help. Need all the support I can get.

My aunt who is in her late 70s used to weigh over 350 pounds and only started her weight loss a few years ago. Here are some things she did to help her lose weight.

- Keep a food journal (if you don't know the calories, you can at least see what you are eating)
- Walk every day (she walked on a treadmill to avoid twisting an ankle on uneven terrain outdoors)
- Strength exercises (push-ups on a counter top, created weights in the garage using cement in tin cans on pulleys)
- Danced to music (nothing complex, just moved in a circle but focused more on moving all of the body instead of just feet)

My aunt got down to 130-140 with just these simple things.

I used to do Weight Watchers, too. And doing the point system is really helpful. Just have faith in your plan and stick with it

Thank you so much Laifierr, All you your suggestions are great. I'm going to try the treadmill for the same reasons and will try 2-12 min. sessions and gradually increase. I'm pretty sure I have a set of weights but they might be too heavy for me now...I'll check. I used to love dancing so will add that too. I also plan on starting stretching exercises as I am now getting stiff after doing outdoor work and I never used to. Thanks again.

Older people (past 50) who are not active should eat no more than 1,600 calories per day. If you are not used to wild activity, you should not do it unless cleared by a doctor. Some gentle yoga type exersise is good for strengthening muscles. Also light weight lifting. It is because you may risk fractures. Something like water arobics maybe okay. Perhaps your local YMCA or pool have these?

As far as diet, I find that eating calorie dense food, like oatmeal in the morning, with a lot of fiber, and a salad, some soup, is good. Calorie dense food makes you feel fuller than lighter food. Also remain well hydrated. You can lose weight but it may be slower than you would want.

If you have a doctor, see him or her first. If you have something like diabetes or heart problems you may need to take other measures.

Karrine, I am 76 years old, been overweight my whole life and am still determined to get in shape. I see that we are both in Ontario. We should buddy up. I have had COPD for years but it seems OK now.

I know you are in Ontario but it's a big place. I'm 90 minutes from Ottawa and 3.5 hours from Toronto - Ontario is a big place! Do you care to share your location?

Laifierr, I forgot to mention that your story about your Aunt losing so much weight in her 70's is encouraging. Thanks again.

Giselley, Thank you for your post. 1,600 cal. a day sure isn't much but I'll give it a try. I need to work out how many WW points that would be. Your other suggestions are great too. As a matter of fact I purchased oatmeal and beans this morning. I'm not big on soup unless it's home made but I do eat some. I'll also be careful with the exercise and I have a doctor appt. on Sept. 15th so I'll get a few questions together to ask him

Ruth, I live in Kitchener, Ontario which is about 60 miles west of Toronto. I would love to buddy up. I'm new to the site so how do you do that?

A warm welcome to you Karrine! I don't think it's ever too late to lose weight and improve our health and fitness.

I wish you all the best with your goals!

Hi Karrine
last night i put up a very old photo of myself. Just for kicks. But really I am 64 years old. And proud of it. (photo will be taken down within a few days) The way I lose is to go low on the calories and the carbs. It made a big difference to combing both. No formal diet book guru group etc. Just my own choices within those parameters. I personally found that doing one without the other had much lower success rate.

You are Def not too old to lose weight. Not at all. Glad you are here. Have you seen the thread for people who are older? Some people enjoy posting there. Others prefer other threads. Some get wild and post in lots of different ones

Tai, thank you for the warm welcome and encouragement.


Flower: thank you for your support. I have an old picture of myself up right now and will post a more recent one asap. Going low on cal.&carbs together is a good plan. Bread has always been my downfall but with my limited points per day I am really restricted so that will help. I'll likely move to the 50+ thread after my first week. Thank you again for your post.

Oh boy, today is going well food wise but I am really stiff from exercising. I'm too fat to do sit ups anymore. I did take it easy just doing stretching exercises but I'm so out of shape again that I'm hurting. If I'm still hurting tomorrow I'll take a day off before doing any more. I would like to be down 16 lbs by Christmas (2 lbs. a week). More would be great.

Karrine! As others have mentioned, no, you are not too old! My step-mother lost 50 lbs in her 70's doing water aerobics (She has bad knees so water exercises worked best for her.) You mentioned wanting a toasted tomato sandwich. Yum! My only suggestion is to make sure you are using whole grain/whole wheat bread. It has slower-burning carbs, which is more filling and better for your health and your weight loss. Good luck!

[B]Jacqui: Thank you for your support and information about your Mom. It is encouraging. By the way, I sure enjoyed my toasted tomato sandwich yesterday with 2 tbsp. Calorie Wise Miracle Whip and will have it again today for lunch. I had beef barley soup for supper that you can buy at M&M for only 3 points. I try to use whole wheat bread every now and then but always revert back to white which I know is just junk. I have a hard time with that but will try perhaps cracked wheat bread to see how I do with that.

How do you get your diet ticker tape? I went to their website and can create one but can't get the ticker in this site. Thanks again for your help.

For tickers, I have seen a lot where you cut and paste or copy and paste their HTML code and paste it into your signature line. I am sure you need to manually change the numbers yourself.

This is an old photo too. It's wishful thinking.

Hello, Karrine. Kudos to you for how well you are doing on your program and please be assured it is entirely possible to lose weight and get fit at any age. And, at any age, but especially as we age, be sure and see your doctor or health management provider on a regular basis and let them be your guide as to calories and exercise that is right for you. We are all different.

Re the ticker, you have to be on the site for a certain number of days and have a certain number of posts. I think it is 20 for each. When that occurs, an option will appear in your settings that will allow you to paste in a ticker.

At the top of the forum there is a section for posting questions and someone will explain it better than I am.

Have a great day.