I think everyone who mentioned clothes meant existing clothes. Agree that sizing is all over the place… unless you buy Italian-made clothes. 
I’ve been following @MichaelNKat’s advice and I’ve lost 25 lbs so far. I was beginning to think the needle on my scale was broken.
I think the keys, for me, have been finding out how many calories a women my age and height needs/day and sticking to it, using MyFitnessPal to track what I eat (4 small, healthy meals/day plus snacks when I get hungry), paying attention to what combinations of food fill me up, and adding weight bearing exercises to my routine. I eat fewer treats than I used to, but I do build some into my diet. When I’m hungry, I eat, but I fill up on healthy foods. It doesn’t feel like a diet because it’s not. And I’m not hungry all the time.
I did have to reduce portion sizes, steam and bake foods instead of saute them, cut down on breads and pastas, and replace high calorie meals with low calorie versions. It’s taken time to adjust my diet so it works for me, but I feel good. The weight’s come off slowly (a pound a week or so), but the way I’m eating is a lifestyle I can live with so I think it will stay off.
Read or listen to the science writer Gary Taubes’s books: Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It or Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease. It’s the carbs, especially the starches, but carbs are also in beer and fruit. Fat isn’t that bad. I found both to be interesting reading. Well, listening since I read them via audio CD.
As mentioned by the folks in the Diet and Exercise thread:
http://www.amazon.com/Always-Hungry-Conquer-Cravings-Permanently/dp/1455533866
For those interested in weight training and the benefits to bone density, the most current studies are finding that for load bearing and resistance training to have maximal benefits, it’s necessary to do high velocity resistance training. See the following:
http://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2474-13-78
Because you are over 50. Welcome to being an “old lady.” Need to work harder at just about everything.
I dye my hair, work out five days a week for at least 45 minutes to keep fit and maintain weight, rarely eat beef, pork or dessert. Limit cheese and other high fat dairy.
I apparently am doing something ok, as people usually think I am younger. Is this ok? Shouldn’t I look my age? Why are we constantly trying to look younger?
Working out and good diet is healthy. The rest is ego.
If your diet and health are ok, probably no need to worry.
@MichaelNKat what exactly constitutes “high velocity resistance” training?
Ludwig’s book and research is really not as radical as it seems. There is nothing inconsistent between what he promotes and basic concepts of eating well balanced meals consisting of appropriate portions of all 3 macronutrients from healthy unprocessed food sources. Where he raised a “stir” is in debunking and exposing the fake science driven by the food industry that promoted profit driven cheap processed carbohydrate added sugar foods. So much of what he says is right on point, from the genesis of the “science” that led to high carb, low fat diets to the impact that has had on on insulin resistence, metabolic syndrome and cellular response to food. But it’s also been misconstrued by many who turn the science of it on its head and then argue that high fat, low or no carbohydrate eating is the way to go. The reality is that both fats and carbs are needed in our food plans in appropriate proportions. Both high and low glycemic carbs play an important role in meeting our energy needs, particularly if you are physically active. The key is to get these macronutrients from healthy unprocessed food sources and to understand the quantity and ratios for each that are appropriate for your needs. But make no mistake about it, if you eat unrestrained quantities of food even based on Ludwig’s nutritional concepts, you will gain weight.
@mathmom, see the links I posted in #64. One of them goes into depth about the protocols of the study that was done, including the structure of the exercises. In a nutshell, high velocity resistance training focuses on high speed movements during the concentric contraction phase of exercise movements. Plyometric exercises, power generating exercise movements (speed X resistance) are familiar forms of this. What the study did was have subjects perform the exercises so that instead of 2-3 second concentric movement phases, the concentric phase was done as fast as could be done while maintaining proper form.
@MichaelNKat Both your post and your links are written by and for scientists. Please break it down for a layperson person who goes to the gym. I have no idea what the concentric contraction phase or plyometric exercise is.
LasMa, “plyometrics” is what we used to do when we were kids. 
http://www.m.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/a-z/what-is-plyometrics
Contrave is said to be highly effective, and they offer a coupon that makes it affordable. Combine it with Topamax, say 100-125 after titrating up, and you will lose weight.
@LasMa, normally when lifting weights, when doing the movement that shortens the working muscle I.e. think pushing or pulling (called concentric contraction), the movement is done at a pace of anywhere from 1-3 seconds and the movement where you lengthen the working muscle as you lower the weight against gravity (called eccentric contraction) is done at a pace of about 3-4 seconds. With high velocity resistance training, that first part is done at a speed of under a half second. Think in terms of explosive power. So if you are doing a bench press, it’s when you do the the movement of pushing the bar away from you, when doing a squat, it’s when you push up with your legs and hips to stand, when doing a leg press, it’s when you push the weights away from you and straighten your legs. The second part of the movement, the lowering of the weight against gravity, is then done at normal speed. This type of exercising is often referred to as plyometric and can be applied to things such as power lifting and alternative forms of exercising or movement patterns done in sports where explosive power is often required (think jumping in basketball, sprinters coming out of the blocks, various track and field events where velocity against load is important to performance).
This type of exercising is not something to just “jump” into, however, particularly as we age and become more susceptible to injuries. It’s important to have a good foundation in proper form and in base strengthening. Speed can result in bad form that leads to injuries. Explosive movements can put significant stresses on ligaments and tendons. When first starting out with high velocity resistance training, it’s a good idea to use a trainer who can teach you the technique and monitor your form.
Yeah, , Contrave, the perfect solution for most people. Not.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/20140911/contrave-weight-loss-drug?page=1
Earl- why would you even post something like that?
I think one huge problem, as has been discussed in the other two threads dealing with exercise/weight loss, is that people are really not very active. Going to the gym for 30 minutes can’t undo sitting on your butt the rest of the day, which is what happens with the majority of people who don’t have “active” jobs like construction, nursing, retail etc. I was even guilty of that myself- thought that since I run competitively and log about 35 miles a week, it was OK to not worry about sitting at my computer or in meetings a lot of the day. Wrong. The FitBit has been a huge help in getting me up and moving- as has my adjustable/standing work station.
It’s also important to work out hard enough to increase your heart rate. If you are talking on the phone while you walk or are on the elliptical, you aren’t doing much good. You aren’t sitting, so there is that, but, yes, you do need to get sweaty and breathe hard for some portion of your exercise. That’s why I’m not a big fan of walking as the main component of a fitness program. Walkers usually aren’t pushing themselves enough to get the needed benefit. It burns calories- about 100 a mile- which is good, but there is more to exercise for health than burning calories.
As a non-athletic type person (but I thought I was “active”) I fully agree with MOWC - and have reaped the results of adopting exactly what she says. Walking is great - many miles? Even better. But alone, especially if you already have unsatisfactory weight, it’s not going to do the trick - unless you are a REALLY quick walker! Look at your MPH walking and the sweat on your brow. Those cute exercise clothes are made for many trips to the washing machine AND to take sweat!
Nutritional intake tracked for proof.
Portion size.
Consistent exercise schedule w/both cardio and strength training/conditioning (doesn’t need to mean lifting barbells!)
Motivation
No excuses. No excuses. No excuses.
“Regular people” CAN do this! But it’s not a temporary effort. It’s a lifestyle change.
So burpees would be good? The problem with jumping is that my broken toe never healed properly. I’m not sure how much jumping it will take.
This is an extreme, but DH and I were talking about this NYT article a few weeks back. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0. It is a compelling read. One of the men from the biggest loser’s metabolism has slowed so much that if he eats more than about 800 cal/day it turns to fat. How can he manage that? I struggle with trying to stay at 1200 cal or less. The research showed that for many, their metabolisms slowed during the weight loss but did not recover. That is really unfortunate.
Burpees are a great exercise. Throw a push up in between the down and up movement and you’ve got a exquisitely efficient and effective whole body exercise :).
With regard to the bone density benefits, it’s still not entirely clear to me where body weight based high velocity resistance training falls in the efficacy continuum. The lead study I linked to was based on high velocity progressive resistance training where external resistance loads were progressively increased in the application of the high velocity training. One would think that the same principle of high velocity training would apply to fixed load body weight resistance training so that, for example, ballistic push-ups would be better than “regular” push-ups and body weight squats with a ballistic jump when coming up would be better than “regular” paced body weight squats. Also, while there are all sorts of ways to apply concepts of progressive overload to body weight training, I just haven’t stumbled upon any studies or literature addressing the topic of how this particular modality of resistance training impacts on bone density. I’m inclined to believe that doing body weight exercises with high velocity concepts would be beneficial. If it works with external resistance why not with body weight resistance. But there’s no data I’ve encountered on that.
Part of the puzzle too is that you need to pick exercises that target the specific bone structures you need to strengthen. So squats and leg presses for hips and pelvis and bench presses and shoulder presses for the bones of the gleno-humoral joint and scapula for example. When it comes to burpies, which joint and bone are you targeting? Maybe the “perfect” burpies would be with Dumbbells and shoulder presses added in. So you would squat with the Dumbbells held at shoulder level, lower the Dumbbells to the floor for hand and arm support as you extend your legs back in a plank, clean the Dumbbells back to shoulder level as you come back up from the squat and finish the movement with a dumbbell shoulder press. Repeat 9 more times, then fall over :D.
Being chased by a bear while wearing a heavy backpack?
I’ll do burpees with DH when we’re on vacation-we do both walking for me, and I’ll follow his routine for crossfit. AT some point for me burpees morph into a yoga series-plank, up dog, down dog, plank, when I can’t do burpees anymore.
The biggest loser guys gaining all of their weight back-I think there is more to that story than their metabolisms getting screwed up. I don’t think it’s at all healthy or good the way they lost weight, but I do think there’s something else going on there with regards to maintenance.
As for someone recommending a pill-there’s no magic bullet. Ask those poor people who took fen fen back in the day and damaged their hearts.