Weight & Age

Question
My further reply. Hello Again, and thanks for your further explanation. However, I do not eat white breads; nor have I since I was a kid. Nor do I eat an excessive amount of sweets - ever. I always eat wheat breads, whole grains, lots of fresh fruits & veggies (although I'm not a veggie), and I have walked "forever." I was not, and am not, asking about diet pills. I am an intelligent, mature woman who spent a lifetime working as a professional in the legal field, and am not one of the "uninformed older women of yesteryear." I was just asking if you had any suggestions of what might "kick" my body into losing the weight that seems to stay (or return shortly after I lose some of the weight) and return no matter what I do, or don't do. My "advanced" age might have something to do with it; I don't know.
Thanks


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Followup To
Question -
I am 68, female, and 5'2". Up until age 55 I was thin my entire life. I then put on weight & have been unable to lose it. I've been on many diets; lost 28 lbs (only about half what I need to lose) on weight watchers; then could not lose another lb, and I tried for 3 solid months. I then gained all I'd lost back again & again weigh about 170. I mainly eat healthy, but have a sweet tooth & like breads. The sweet tooth only appeared in the past 10 yrs. I am solid all over; not heavy some places & thin others; when I gained, I gained all over. What can I do, short of staying on a permanent diet? I walk for exercise, but not regularly; I do not enjoy just walking for the sake of walking; only when I'm doing something. I hate other kinds of exercise. When I was thin I never did formal exercise; only the things I enjoyed as part of my life & never had a problem.  Thank you for your insight.
Answer -
Naomi,

Sorry that I may have kind of confused you with my answer. But there really wasn't a question either. Other than asking what you could do to lose weight. I guess I was trying to find a way to satisfy your cravings for breads and other complex carbohydrates and sugars. Eating the whole wheats and whole grain breads are better than eating the white bread. When you eat food with white flour in them they cause a spike in insulin which causes more of the simple sugars that come from the white flour to go into fat stores and may cause unwanted weight gain. If you are strcit and stay away from sweets for a couple of weeks then those cravings will go away somewhat. Walking is a good exercise, but for most people it does give good enough results. Doing some sort of cardio exercise is best (elliptical, jogging, cycling, stairmaster). You NEED some sort of exercise. And if youwere looking for my answer to be on the lines of some sort of diet pill, then you've come to the wrong place. Many of those pills contain gurauna which is equivalent to taking speed (amphetamines) only it's legal to take it over the counter in these pills. I hope this clears up some things.

Leigh-Anne

Answer
Naomi,

I didn't mean to imply that youw ere stupid or anything (regarding the diet pills). Some people know that they don't really work, and that they can cause harm, but it's almost like an addiction, and they can't seem to stop taking them.

Becoming older does make it harder to lose and maintain weight. You might ask your physician the next time you see him/her if you can have your thyroid checked (via a blood test called a TSH) to make sure everything is alright in that department. Sometimes thyroid problems can make it hard to lose weight, or can cause excessive weight gain even though you may not be eating any differently.

I would like to recommend that you you free weights, or become a member of a gym and start lifting some weights. This will build muscle which will boost metabolism and help your body burn calories more efficiently. However, you still need to combine this with a cardio workout.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me again.

Leigh-Anne

I hope our corresponding has helped you somewhat.

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