Hello,
My name is JoAnn, and I am 58 years old. I live in Texas and I am hoping to find people near my age that is struggling with weight and hoping to get it off in 2005!
I have been on diet after diet, and I can honestly contribute 30 extra pounds from me dieting! Now, my plan is to do the No Diet Approach (bascially controlling the portion size) and drink more water, and exercise.
I was wondering if there are others on this site, that is going through the same thing?
Hoping to hear from you!
JoAnn in TEXAS

I am intrigued by this approach. There are several different books and web sites with a similar approach--which one are you using? How has it worked for you?

Incidentally, not a good idea to list your e-mail address--could get picked up by spammers. People who want to contact you can PM (private message), then you can give them your address if you want.

Just a hint.

Thanks for the hint about the e-mail address. I did remove it.

About the plan, I have been reading "Seven Secrets to Slim People". Are you reading any books on this No Diet Approach method?

I have not really started yet. I am shooting for Jan. 1. What are your thoughts about losing your weight for 2005?

Hope to hear from you,
JoAnn in TEXAS

I was wondering if it is just myself and Catlover who are over 55, that need to lose weight??? Where is everyone on this site, who is serious about losing weight and over the age of 55?

Hope to see you guys post on soon! 2005 is upon us, and we need to get really back into GEAR!

JoAnn in TEXAS

Hello!

I think you'll find that there are others over 55--such as myself! But sometimes it takes awhile for folks to trickle in.

I have tried different plans, and the thing that happens to me is that I get SO TIRED of all the effort involved that sooner or later, I leave the plan. I like the idea of the No Diet diet because I think basically it comes down to energy in (food) and energy out (activity) regardless of whether one is eating low fat, low carb, WW, etc. etc.

I am trying to control portions and also trying to eat on a schedule so I don't snack all the time. I also drink a lot of water, in part because I have gotten kidney stones a couple of times and have to drink lots of water to avoid them.

I've been visiting 3FC since last May. I lost weight then, have gained some back, lost some, gained some--the usual cycle. For the new year I have added a low impact exercise class in addition to walking. Walking is such good exercise!

Let's go in 2005!

Jay

Hello, my name is Sheri and I am 52 and live in the Washington, DC area. I have lost about 35 pounds (very slowly) through healthy eating and exercise since summer 2003. I subscribe to no particular plan. In addition to being over 50, which makes weight loss very difficult, I also have hypothyroidism and take hormone replacement, both of which make weight loss even more challenging.

As a result, where most folks could lose 35 pounds in a few months, it took me a year. But slow and steady is just fine with me (though frustrating), because it has been proven that weight lost slowly stays off longer than weight lost rapidly. I spent most of 2004 maintaining the loss vs. losing more weight, and that has been frustrating. But I stuck with it and have continued to see changes in my body from cardio, weight training and toning workouts.

My goal in 2005, though, is to get back to the business of losing weight, so I am taking a new look at what I'm eating and how I'm working out and making some small changes that I hope will get me back on track again.

Good luck to all of us!

So. glad for you to have posted! It is so good to know I am not in "this" alone!

JoAnn in TEXAS

Hi,
Joann, it's me, Ali1948 from the other BB, the NDA thread. I am more active on this BB than the other one, so I thought I would join in.

I'm 56 yrs. old, have struggled with my weight my whole life. I've been on so many diets, only to gain back the weight plus more! I get tired of counting points, calories, and/or carbs and go off the diet. I agree, it is awfully hard to lose weight as you get older. I used to be on HRT, but have recently gotten off it. Maybe the hot flashes will help melt some of this FAT!

My goal for 2005 is to start eating better and start exercising.

Aleka

Hello Ali,
I am 58 now, and been down the menapause road already! And I can honestly contribute these extra 30 pounds to my menapause. Between harmone replacement medication and just not feeling well enough to exercise or being able to trully concentrate on my eating plans, I gained these extra 30 pounds.

I was lucky enough to NOT have much of the hot flashes, I just felt moody all the time. My sister not only was moody, she was HOMICIDAL!!! It is awful how menapause effects women all so differently! I know it changed my entire physic. I use to have somewhat of a figure, now I look like a round matronly old lady, in my opinon. :-(

But, this year, with the NDA approach, exercising, and drinking water, I plan to change the way I look and feel. I know I can never look like I did when I was 30, but I want to look and feel as well as I can for the age I am!

How to think slim
by Pete Cohen

Sports psychologist, Pete Cohen, of the Lighten Up slimming programme explains how losing weight could be all in the mind. People often ask me why I run a slimming programme when I’ve never had a weight problem. My answer is that I know how to be slim without subscribing to a popular diet and I can teach you how to be slim too.

When I first started working as a personal trainer 12 years ago, I noticed that a lot of my clients didn’t care very much about being fit and healthy and they certainly weren’t exercising for fun. All they wanted to do was lose weight. I’d start by advertisement designing the perfect exercise programme for them and, when they failed to stick to it, I’d turn my attention to nutrition and give them diet sheets. Of course, they didn’t stick to those either and that was when I realised that the answer must be somewhere else.

I began to study the habits of all the slim and healthy people I knew. After all, if you want to find out how to do something it’s best to learn from people who do it best.

In my opinion dieting doesn’t work. All it does is make you more anxious about food and disrupt your metabolism. So, let’s assume that you’re ready to suspend your belief in dieting for a while and think like a slim person. How do you go about it?


1. Change your focus
The most important thing of all – and it’s something that slim people take for granted – is belief in yourself as a slim person. If you think of yourself as overweight you’ll find it difficult to lose weight and keep it off. We all live up to our self-images. When I ask a group of people on the first week of the Lighten Up course what it is that they want, they usually say something like, ‘I want to lose weight.’ When they say that, I know they are actually picturing the weight they want to lose, right there and then. They are seeing the thighs or the beer belly or the bum or whichever bit of them they like the least – and what you see tends to be what you get. What they should be focusing on is how they actually want to look, rather than the weight they want to lose. Slim people have a much better self-image and getting slimmer involves having a more positive picture of yourself. If you imagine yourself looking gorgeous in a bathing suit, you’re much more likely to behave like that person. It will encourage you to stop overeating or eating unhealthy foods in much the same way as an inspirational photograph on the fridge door might stop you from snacking.


2. Understand your hunger
Slim people eat based on how hungry they are and when lunch time or tea time or dinner time comes around they don’t just fill up their plate because the food is there. Subconsciously, they judge how hungry they are before they start eating. Similarly, if they feel full during a meal they stop eating.
The next time hunger pangs strike, imagine you have a scale in your mind from one to ten. One means you’re not hungry, ten means you’re starving. Check where you are on that scale before you put anything into your mouth. Only eat if you’re registering six or above – but don’t let yourself get up to nine or ten because then you’ll be so hungry that you might risk overeating. You can also use the scale to judge how full you’re getting.


3. Think about what you eat
Now imagine you’ve registered above six on the hunger scale and you’re ready to eat. Don’t just stuff the nearest hamburger into your mouth. Stop and ask yourself how the food you want to eat will make you feel half an hour or so after you’ve eaten it. Will it give you energy or will it make you feel heavy and sluggish? Think about a couple of different things you might eat, how they’d make you feel, what they’d smell and taste like, then make your choice.

Good morning,
Joann, that is a good article, thanks for sharing. Are you still on HRT? I got off it after all the controversy. Since I had a hysterectomy 11 yrs. ago, I was only on Premarin and was on it from day 1. I am hoping that now I'm off it I can lose weight a little more easily. But...time will tell.


I hope you all have a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Aleka

No, I do not take harmones anymore. However, I did take them probably for about 7 years, before the controversy. So, I probably have done the damange to myself by taking them, but I would not have been able to live without the harmones! What is the old sayomg? "Damned if you do and damned if you don't!

The one thing I know for sure, after menapause, you will NOT lose weight without some type of an exercise, unless you plan to starve yourself to death! I know that from experience. I have not exercised this entire year of 2004, and I have not lost at all, either. So, I am proof of what happens when you don't MOVE!

Good luck to you in this new year of 2005!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!

Hello,
I can relate to what you said about losing weight after menopause. About 3 yrs. ago I joined WW and the only time I had any big losses was when I exercised and ate below my point range. If I exercised and ate within my point range, I would only lose a few 10ths of a lb. It was very frustrating. Anyway, good luck to you also in 2005!
Ali

Hi Ladies well I am 62 and I think I have tried every diet there is out there I join here last Jan and was doing prety good til about Sept . then it was Christmas I was 174 and now I am 185 not good and I just dont know what made me fall off but I love to walk and drink water so just have to pick up where I left off and carry on I got rid of all the sweets no more no more ....just veggies and fruit and healthy stuff in my fridge . I have the Lesley Sansone walking tapes for the winter when it is to cold to walk out side . I am in Canada so it gets pretty cold well wish me luck for 2005 Jean

Hi Jean,

Welcome! I love Leslie Sansone's tapes. I have a whole library of them. Which WATP tapes do you have? I have the ones with the weighted balls and love them. I am 56 and have had a weight problem my whole life, and I think I'm the poster child for yo-yoing. I've just had enough. Looking forward to your posts.

Aleka