Just Not Gaining Weight

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:20 pm

After a certain age, just not gaining weight can take effort for women. Maybe men, too.

I know that some women still have little problem losing weight and for some nothing seems to work. Then it becomes an issue of how much you're able (and willing) to do. The woman who wrote the article has made some drastic changes to her diet and increased the amount of exercise she does.

I have one friend who looks nearly the same now as when I first met her 30+ years ago. What does she do? Nothing, though she has always had good eating habits. She doesn't deprive herself, but she doesn't overindulge, either. For health reasons, she exercises much like I do -- long walks with the dog and just the activities of daily living.

I have another friend whose eating habits were always good, but as she hit her mid-40s and 50s, pretty much gained about 25 pounds "overnight" without any changes in diet or exercise (and she exercised far more than I ever have). She increased the exercise and got more careful about what she ate and -- nothing. No changes at all. Then she realized it didn't matter if she was more careful about diet and exercise or not. She didn't gain any more, but she didn't lose, either.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:34 pm

I weigh 125ish now.. I'd like to think that with a modest diet and exercising, if I naturally gained 25 lbs or so in 25-30 years, it wouldn't be a big deal. If for some reason I gained weight despite really good habits like I have now, it would be okay. That's what I'd like to think, anyway.

NoSRocks · Post by **NoSRocks** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:53 pm

Great post, wosnes! Also helped to put my mind at ease/confirm what I 'suspect' has and will happen with my own body this past couple of years.

Now that I am in 'full blown' menopause, coupled with my under-active thyroid and just a general tendency to gain weight, even when I was much younger

I do indeed have problems keeping weight down and I too have been having similar experiences to what young gettheweightoff posted re. stepping on the scale and finding I am several lbs up, regardless of what I try to do. It is very frustrating and I am trying to lay off the scales and focus instead on habit. I did manage to lose 10 lbs my first attempt of No S (just over a year ago) and I guess in hindsight i should have been contented with that. Now, I will be "happy" to remain at 170 lbs and not go UP!! Maintenance after all is more important than weight loss - particularly at an age where I am finding it difficult to lose anything and I will just have to accept this, albeit reluctantly.

Another great post I read recently and I apologize for once again forgetting the poster's name : one cannot help or control what weight they are, at the end of the day, the body decides for itself. How very true! Yes, of course one can't expect to lose if gorging on sweet foods at every occasion - the emphasis here on the word 'expect' because as we all know, there are those 'lucky' individuals who seem to be able to eat what they like without gaining and sometimes, even myself (not so much these days!) am surprised that I didn't gain such and such after eating 'x' and 'y'!!

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:01 pm

I keep this in mind. I'm 46 and happy with my weight. But I'm becoming more careful about my eating and have started hitting the weights hard to hang on to muscle mass.

However, it seems once you are through menopause the weight can come off, judging by the experiences of some of our over 50 women.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:46 pm

Blithe Morning wrote:
However, it seems once you are through menopause the weight can come off, judging by the experiences of some of our over 50 women.

I think some women have more trouble than others, but I've found that "some" of it comes off fairly easily, but the rest -- forget it.

librarylady · Post by **librarylady** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:12 pm

I think that for at least some women losing weight becomes easier after menopause (easier that is than during perimenopause, which is the time when your hormones are going crazy). However I think that mostly women by their fifties realize that they are never going to have "that girlish figure" again - and that's ok. After a certain age after all you need to choose between your face and your . . . well your nether quarters shall we say. You get too skinny as you get older and you just look scrawny!!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:42 am

I think the hard truth may be that people, women probably more than men, would have to cut their food intake more than they want to in order to lose fat after a certain age. If you cut the food intake, it will come off. Only the individual can know if it's worth it. Even people who have good habits will probably need to eat less as they get older, unless they stay pretty active or get more so. But it does seem that the ectomorphs have an advantage, though even they get a little pooch in the tummy.
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funfuture · Post by **funfuture** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:34 am

I'm one of those people who put on a stone as soon as they hit 40 - and then gained another one slowly but steadily in the decade after that. I do think peri-menopause is a very strange time for some of us re our weight. I know my mother was the same - put on stacks of weight around 4/50 (we have the old photos to prove it). She lost the weight once she was in full menopause and I suspect I will find it easier to get my weight down again now too.

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:42 pm

Blithe Morning wrote:However, it seems once you are through menopause the weight can come off, judging by the experiences of some of our over 50 women.

Over 50 does not equal "through menopause," alas. Average age is 52, I've been told... but this is an area where I'm "above average."

(I'm 54, btw.)

Still, I've been pretty successful with loss/maintenance with No-S, whereas I was NOT before. (Three rounds of Weight Watchers, going up and down... the "down" with great effort... from about age 44-50ish, IIRC.) But I had some other circumstances that also played a part - had a baby in my 40's, and my exercise levels plummeted for a few years as a result.

Managing weight is complicated, and individual. Everyone has to figure out what works for them. The No-S system is hands-down the absolute best for ME.

Starla · Post by **Starla** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:48 pm

I'm with KCCC - 54; still in peri-menopause hell, but able to consistently lose weight with vanilla No S. This is something that obviously varies tremendously from person-to-person; I just don't want someone in the 45-55 age range to think they're doomed to gain weight without draconian measures.

vmsurbat · Post by **vmsurbat** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:38 pm

Starla wrote:I'm with KCCC - 54; still in peri-menopause hell, but able to consistently lose weight with vanilla No S. This is something that obviously varies tremendously from person-to-person; I just don't want someone in the 45-55 age range to think they're doomed to gain weight without draconian measures.

I'm right with you both. Lost weight on vanilla NoS despite my age (early fifties), hormones ("peri-menopause hell"), and thyroid issues. And I eat some of everything--even white carbs(!) but my emphasis is always on real food, with plenty of veggies and salads and homemade "everything"--bread, salad dressings, BBQ sauce, desserts, etc.