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I am looking for an elders group for males or males and females. Weight loss and add muscle.
I would like to benefit from the experiences of elderly members. I am 78 and want help in losing weight and adding muscle. I am muscular but need to lose 55 pounds. I like intermittent fasting and a mixed diet. I also want to talk about exercises for balance, walking, etc. Let me know if you want to share ideas or recommend an existing group.
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I'm not sure if 54 is 'elderly' but I guess I'm getting upwards into that range :-)
I've been working on weight loss for years, off and on. Most recently I've been working to lose weight for a bit over 10 weeks in my current streak. Here's a few things that have been working for me:
The number 1 change I've made this time is that my doctor has gotten me onto Mounjaro (It's like Ozempic, only better.) Fortunately my weight plus pre-diabetes qualifies me for Insurance coverage. This has been a total game changer for me, as it very handily suppresses the appetite and eliminates food cravings. I've been able to skip breakfast (16:8 intermittent fasting) and maintain a 12-1600 calorie diet without much difficulty due to this wonder medicine!
Walking! It sounds to good to be true, but nothing else has a big-a-bang for the buck as just walking a few minutes each day. I get up 30 minutes earlier than my usual time and just head out to the parking lot. As a bonus, I live in a condo perched on a hillside. My 30 minute 'walk' is very flexible (I can do it all in my building lot, which is level, or extend to traverse the complex and add up and down hill segments.) I usually try to get in a hill climb component at least 3-4 days a week, which gives me a really great workout. in 30-40 minutes I can get 3500 steps, 15-20 flights of stairs, 12-15 minutes of cardio and 4-5 HIIT reps all in one exercise!
Strength training. Personally, from pervious experience I know that once I have lost any substantial amount of weight my metabolism begins to tank, making it almost impossible to continue losing weight. My doctor recommended strength training to counteract this effect. building muscle (which burns more energy than fat) theoretically counteracts the reduction in BMR rate as you lose fat. so far this seems to be helping me. I picked up some cheap resistance bands and a floor mat and try to get 2-3 days of workouts in per week. I'd recommend Caliber as a good strength training app with great support for body weight and resistance band exercises
My last go-to is our Pool here at the condo. you can get a good strength workout in the pool just by swinging your arms and legs vigorously, with much lower stress and strain on your body that full blown bodyweight exercises. I have an 84 year old neighbor who does his total fitness routine in the pool. He's had 4 complete sets of knee replacements previously, and this lets him get a good workout in without wearing out another set... :-)
The Caliber app recently recommended to me to include 'mobility' exercises, like 'shoulder displacements' and 'resting squats' The squats in particular are hard for me, and I find it much easier to do them in the water.
Aug 2 2023 I was 156 lbs then started to track saturated fats keeping them between 13 and 22g, cholesterol about 200 mg no higher than 300mg. Today I weigh 144 lbs.
I'm 71, 5' 8" go to a 50+ Gym 5 days a week, Tai Chi forms everyday for 1/2 hour, a bit of Yoga, everyday I do a headstand and crow pose. I sometimes use my apartment building indoor pool and walk pretty much everywhere.
Hello, I'm a male 66 now and started using this app July 2021. I started out at 334 and for the last 6 months i've been at my goal weight of 185 to 190. I count calories and don't worry about what I eat as far as the type of food. Pizza is a once a week thing for me on average. Riding a bicycle indoors and out has been the biggest plus for me. My daily calorie intake is dynamic. I have my BMR set to 700 and activity level set to zero. The remaining calories for the day come from my FitBit. I don't worry about falling off the wagon for a day here and there around the holidays. Just be good for a day or two after and I'm back on track. Just had my yearly checkup with the doc and he said everything looks great. Good luck with your journey.
WOW! What an accomplishment, @Bob_Kidd_1957! Thank you for letting us join you along your weight loss journey. The dedication that this requires should not be taken lightly - we're very impressed!
Way to go @heniek! Wishing you the best health and happiness in 2024!
Watching saturated fats and cholesterol keep me away from foods like pies and sausage haha! I go to a seniors gym and quite a few don't really train seriously or properly.
My friend 72 who I show how to train in his apartment fitness room will make excuses when I ask him about his workouts.
To add to the discussions, I'm 75 and have use the Cronometer Food Tracker for several years. I get a DEXA body composition scan every 6 to 12 months to check my fat mass, lean muscle mass, and bone density. I do cardio by cycling (indoors and outdoors), resistance training, balance and flexibility exercises. I'd like to lose 10 lbs this year, but will attempt it slowly so I don't lose muscle along with fat.
Even though people say I'm too scrawny and weigh 145 lbs at 5' 8", I want to get down to 140 lbs. I only just discovered the slider for weight loss or gain.
Summer of 2022 I got covid, after 3 weeks went back to advanced yoga and the gym lifting heavy. I woke up one morning with a little nerve pinch on my left side and thought nothing much about it. By evening the whole nerve across my lower back was all inflamed and then the next day down the front of my legs and even sacroiliac joint.
During that time I couldn't walk with pain, it took 6 months too heal enough to lift again and even now just getting back to advanced yoga. I had gained weight but knocked that back over time.