Thank goodness for this forum. I’ll try to tell my story in a nutshell. 45 yr old woman. 5’1”. I have been thin – 105-110 lbs most of my life, always eating whatever I wanted, until the dreaded big 40. My weight started creeping up a little, but I figured no big deal, I’ll just cut back a bit, exercise a little, it will be fine.. Um, no.. It didn’t work, but it always worked.
Anyway long story short-ish… 5 years later I am now a solid 135 lbs. I cannot lose even two lousy pounds. I eat pretty well, no white bread, lean protein, whole grains. I eat small amounts during the day, rarely eating big meals. (Mind you, changing my diet was incredibly difficult, my diet had always been full a bad carbs, fried food, fast food, butter, pasta.) I usually keep calories around 1,200 a day. I have a sedentary job which requires me to sit from 6:00am to 3:30pm. I am able to stand at my job (adjustable desk – I answer phones for a living), but that causes lower back pain.
My size 8 jeans are tight and I grew a muffin top. Never ever had one in my life, I know boo-hoo, my hub says who cares. I care. I look at myself in the mirror and I feel like crying, I used to think I just need to keep plugging away and I will win, but it’s only getting worse. I eat perfectly and exercise as best I can day after day and I can’t lose ONE pound. However the one day I eat even just a little bad thing – 2 slices of pizza – I gain two pounds. Come on! Seriously?
As for exercise, I try. But as you all know, it’s not easy. I have two kids in middle school, and I need t be a chauffeur after work. I try to walk at my lunch at work which is precisely 30 minutes. It’s darn cold in the northeast so I admit I’m not so diligent these days. I used to go to a gym, but having to be at work at 6, I cannot go in the morning, and after work I have to get home. By 7pm I am beat. I do have an elliptical, I work out with weights when I can, I actually love to do it, but there is always pressure to be doing something else – kids, dog, hubby, house, laundry, cooking,, etc etc etc. I have however noticed I am much stronger and I have more cardio endurance than when I was young and thin.
To make matters a bit worse, I have developed chronic lower back pain. It’s so frustrating that when I have time to work out I dread now because of the pain after.
I have had my thyroid tested, all good there. I have been taking Zoloft for about three years, I;ve read that it can cause weight gain. But it has helped immensely with my diagnosed depression, I am so scared to stop it.
I hate complaining, I know so many people, including my mother, who have struggled with weight for their entire lives. Today was the final straw for me, I weighed in at 136.4. I feel like there is simply no hope. Gosh, this is so long, I am very sorry. I just have had enough and have no one to turn to. Thank you for reading...

I think exercise is the key. I turn 40 next month. I have always had a weight problem, but the closer I got to 40, I knew the harder it would be to lose weight. I found something that changed my life!! Have you heard of Crossfit? (I have a website I could give you the address if you want info about how I started crossfit 5 months ago, and what it has done for me) 5'4" I was a size 14, weighed 172-180. 5 months later, I weigh 155, size 8 and more energy than I know what to do with. (two girls, one in middle school/one in elementary) If you can't get to a crossfit gym, you can do workouts at home (but working out in a group setting and in front of your trainer and other people work better for me) Good luck- let me know if you want more information about crossfit.

Welcome!

I'm much younger than you (30) but I have also realized that I can't maintain my slimmer figure by eating small amounts of crap either. I think eventually life catches up with us (my 2 kids are when it changed).

How long have you been consistently counting calories?

Time to find a workout for pre-6am. There are numerous workout videos available, some don't even need equipment.

Welcome.

I know you are going to do great; I encourage you to know that you are capable of anything if you want it enough and set your mind/heart/soul to it.

Hi jojalis and welcome!

We are very close to the same age and I sure hear you about the difficulties of weight gain in our 40s! I am always struggling to maintain. I surf these boards a lot for ideas, though I don't post much.

To me it seems that one of your big problems is a relatively sedentary lifestyle, without much time for formal exercise (plus you have back pain).

i would like to suggest something that has been helpful for me. It's something I ran across on 3 fat chicks: a Fitbit Zip (you can google it to find the company's website). It's a tiny pedometer that you can carry in your pocket. It counts all your steps plus calories burned for the day (based on BMR plus activity) and syncs with a smartphone. I've found it very motivating because it feels like every step counts. I try to add in extra steps whenever I can and see how many I can get every day. I don't worry so much about "formal" exercise sessions. Also I like the fact that it gives me an estimate of how many calories I'm burning each day.

Anyway, just a suggestion! Good luck! Weight loss is a struggle at any age