Is it just me or is anyone else trying to figure out why eating less doesn't equate to weighing LESS?
I've been working out pretty faithfully for about two years. It seems like the more I exercise, the more I gain.

OK...my trainer tried to tell me I gained muscle and muscle was heavier than fat. WHATEVER!

I went to my aerobics class this morning as i do every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Why doesn't that class get any easier? Why, why, why?!
Is anyone else feeling the pain???

Beverly
www.talk2bev.com
author, WHATEVER! A Baby Boomer's Journey Into Middle Agr

Your instructor is correct, muscle is heavier than fat it just doesn't look like it. If you are faithfully exercising and as you say eating less than you need to look at my food choices, something your eating is not right or you would be losing. Theres also the very popular belief that you must eat (the right foods) in order to lose weight, eat to keep your metabolism working correctly. If you don't eat your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto the fat instead of shedding it.

Bamgibb,....girlfriend, I feel the pain too! It just ain't fair that we have to work so darn hard to loose a few pounds...and those pounds are HARD to come off at this age. I walk everyday and go to Curves. Plus all the daily stuff I have to do! Shoot, I'm pooped...I need a nap!

The quickest way I have ever lost any weight was on the 'Atkins' Food Management Plan.

Tell you the truth, it is work too! But, the benefits are fast, and ego satisfying. Really ... I need to start it again. Since my initial weight loss (at the age of 58) I have gained back a few pounds, but have also enjoyed not 'working' at losing weight. That gets overwhelming at times too. Just get tired of thinking about food, and if this is right or not, if it will make me gain more weight or not, are my carbs right, are my proteins right etc ...

Would love to come to the place where it is just eating without all the fuss. What about you?

Me too!!!! I am sick of constantly battling the food thing!

Sherri

Go for Dr McDougall's Program and you can eat heaps and loose weight. That's of course if you love your starch vegies!!

Chatty Lady,

Where can i see your food choices? I've been so busy today I haven't time to sit down and eat a real meal. I ate a turkey burger and potato sald with a glass of apple juice. I had some soy milk earlier but that's it.

Bamgibbs, I would eat the turkey burger as long as the bread is whole wheat or a cracked grain bun. I would eat cole slaw instead of the potato salad for the fiber and veggies. I too bought and follow the McDougall plan pretty much. Basically I won't eat anything white, potatoes, rice, bread, pastas. I do eat brown rice, 7 grain bread, sweet potatoes, and spinach and carrot or wheat pastas. No fatty meats, but plenty of white meat chicken, very lean steak, pork and I love fish. My favorite is Talipia. I drink sugar free cool-aid or crystal light or just water and soy milk in oatmeal.....I just don't buy the bad foods so I am not tempted. When taken to dinner I get baked or broiled fish with squeezed lemon, steamed or grilled veggies on the side and salad with vinegar and olive oil dressing. The vinegar cuts any fats you nmay have eaten.

Chatty lady - it sounds like you are on the right track!
Everybody differs in the way they metabolize foods, along with food preferences of course. As we know some folks do great on a low-carb regimen(Atkins, South Beach, basic bodybuilding diet)and some do well on a very low-fat vegan diet. But in general, extremely low-fat doesn't work long-term for women - that mode was designed for male heart patients. We need a bit of healthy fats for hormonal balance, for one thing.
Increasingly, as we get older, refined starches(esp. just about any flour product) and sugary things are not our friends. To see what I mean, just try eliminating these completely from the diet for a couple or three weeks, and notice the difference. Flatter tummy, anyone? Lots of times, weight won't budge until you do that, especially if you are wheat-sensitive. If you notice a big difference after your wheat-free trial, then you can pretty much figure you have some degree of sensitivity(not an allergy - there's a difference!)to wheat. Some folks are gluten-sensitive, which pretty much torches certain other grains out of the diet, or have undiagnosed celiac disease or IBS too.
Dr. Susan Lark has very informative stuff on her website about why women over the age of 40 frequently have a tough time losing weight, as well as other great women's health info. Wheat sensitivity is more prevalent than commonly believed, and it seems to be the main refined starch that's everywhere in Western culture, which adds to the problem! To replace the bread, rolls, crackers and other commercial baked goods in which wheat is ubiqutous unless specifically stated otherwise on the food label, try cooked brown rice, sweet potatoes, or millet, and if you MUST have a tortilla, try sprouted whole-grain varieties from the natural food store - way better than the regular flour ones! A bit of non-wheat Essene or Manna bread is good too, and very satisfying. There's a magazine that I've seen at the healthfood store called "Doing Without"(or something like it)for folks who are gluten-sensitive, with alternative food suggestions and recipes.
Load up on non-starchy veggies and some low-sugar fruits along with some lean, clean protein - this is the bodybuilder's way, esp. when having to drop any bodyfat for a competition. Their diets are extremely stringent, but the rest of us can take a few tips from them - because it works!
Another tactic is to vastly increase the proportion of raw produce in the diet, and lessen the amount of other denser food. Now with the warm weather upon us and with more seasonal variety, this is easier to do. Lots of raw recipes out there on the web too. Many people have had stunning transformations doing this, and not all were young, either.
In general, unless you have alot of muscle and are EXTREMELY active, at our age one has to eat at least 10% less than formerly, due to the fact that a menstrual cycle is no longer present(it uses up quite a few calories the week it is present)and the somewhat of a metabolic slowdown that comes with age. But all is not lost in that department - a solid weight-training program/Ashtanga yoga and reasonable cardio and clean diet as mentioned above can turn this around. It just might take a little longer!
To lose weight, a gentle walk around the local park won't do it, although if you've never done anything, it's a good place to start, and increase your effort a bit each day, and do something each week about improving the diet. It takes a several-pronged approach that includes both serious diet AND exercise. It has to be part of your day - first you'll start feeling better with more energy after the initial tiring break-in period, and in due time, changes will start being visible, as in a looser waistband(non-elastic) on the jeans! That latter is a good indicator, as fat is being lost.
Dietarily, for myself, lean, lighter proteins(both animal and vegetarian), alot of raw produce, with very little dairy and starch and not much in the way of sugary things keeps my weight low and my energy up. Pasta, leavened bread and crackers are only occasional indulgences. If I had followed the Standard American Diet of fast fatty foods featuring lots of red meat, dairy, sugar and alcohol, I would be dead about now, and if I weren't dead, I'd likely be 50 pounds overweight with several major degenerative things going on!

Cara4art, very interesting read!! I totally agree with you there and I pretty much follow what you advocate in your post.....eating less is true but I find that the starchy vegies are good for me. Plenty of fibre, tasty and filling. For me they don't stack on the pounds.....I eat them daily!!! But I do exercise with walking the dogs, my treadmill and yoga each day.

But the thing I wont give up is the glass of wine with my evening meal!!