Best strategy and tactics for losing weight at 70?

I use the Miss Piggy diet:

Never eat anything you can’t lift!

I thought about exercising today.

It’s the thought that counts.

I love love love the Leslie Sansone Walk at Home program, there are free videos available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-8fyND0sPmNQt4GdHzDNbAgwhrTXUzO5

I also love that my fitbit watch reminds me to get up and move every hour - you don't need one with all the bells and whistles, a basic model only costs about $100

Stop all alcohol. Cut down auger. Move. Put the fork down.

Depending on solar flares, phases of the moon or something, my scale says I've either lost 9 pounds in 4 months or 11 pounds, so I'm pleased. I've been using the stair lift to the second floor less often to work up to climbing the 14 steps to Youngest's apartment, perhaps that made a difference? The 14 steps proved tiring but not exhausting when I visited him two weeks back. I still walk the one mile daily either on the treadmill or outdoors.

8/8/23 - 2:00P
From: ElizabethAR37

Weight--a lifelong battle! I weigh proportionately about the same now as I did after losing 80 UNneeded pounds when I was 22. I've lost height due to back problems/age; I'm just under 5'1" and 92 lbs. (was 5'4" before 3 back surgeries in my 20s). Until a few months ago, I walked at least a mile every day--rain, snow, sleet or heat--and am hoping my back will improve so I can resume being more active. I try to get up and walk around the house/yard every hour or two.

I eat one meal a day, usually a large salad w/chicken or fish and 1/2 a roll. I have a protein main dish 1-2X/week and 1/4 serving of dessert 2-3X/week. Grapes are my go-to snack, with the occasional chocolate or cookie. Works for me but people are all different and need to find what works for them. I don't have a lot of wiggle room so need to stick pretty close to my "plan". I do cheat from time to time though, and if I gain 2-3 lbs., I cut back on food intake for a few days.

It's harder to lose and even maintain a lower weight in old age, but I hated being a "Chubbette" (brand name for clothing targeting overweight girls w-a-ay back in the day) and I have no desire to be overweight again as an old woman.

Ann losing that much weight and keeping it off, Elizabeth too, is a real feat. I was a Chubette at 20lbs over what the school nurse thought I should be.

I think at a certain age, we do not need 3 meals a day. I have to eat something in the morning or my blood sugar drops. I have not eaten lunch in years. I just snack. My biggest meal is dinner and for some that is small. But I am comfortably full when I leave the table. My DH and I split our meals when out. My DH is the same weight he was 40 yrs ago when we married. He goes up and down but is still the same size.

I think we need to get away from needing to eat 3 meals a day. Less is best, I think the quote is. Eat when ur hungry.

I lost 70 pounds at age 69, and kept it off until the pandemic, and since then, I’ve I’ve lost about 50 more. I’m now 79.

I was relatively healthy at 265 pounds but very uncomfortable and very unhappy about my size, 60 pounds of which I’d gained while my mother was full time care in my home.

Anything that you attempt MUST be done with the FULL SUPPORT of your physician(s).

I omitted all “white” foods, including sugar, salt, most white veggies, grains, all dairy except yoghurt.

I ate ONE meal a day, no snacks, coffee with light cream and Stevia in the morning, tea or coffee with light cream and Stevia at noon, the an ENORMOUS salad of dark leafies or a humongous spinach omelet at 5 pm every day, repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat………I ate blueberries or grapefruit or Granny Smith apples every night for dessert, and took several supplements and a good multivitamin every day.

I had previously been unsuccessfully on Metformin and several blood pressure medicines, all with lousy side effects, and very little benefit. Following my first large loss everything I was ever tested for normalized (until a 5 week Covid infection).

I do NOT ever recommend ANY “diet” to anyone. All of us who have a weight related issue need to commit to finding a long lasting healthy way of dealing with the problem.

For ME this way of life worked from the beginning and continues to work right up to this day.

I weigh right now what I weighed when I graduated from HS.

Stress weight is insidious. Carrying too much weight is dangerous. The best possible care for caregivers whether their caregiving is current or was in the past, is an imperative.

Think it through, examine where and when and why and what you’re eating, decide what you can do to change one or more of those things, set your sights on an IMPORTANT goal (mine was wanting to be the HEALTHIEST GRANDMA that my unborn grandchildren could have (I now have FOUR!), and BE GOOD TO YOURSELF.

Hard but NOT IMPOSSIBLE. DO IT!

I'd recommend Weight Watchers, because it worked well for me, but I hear they're going to get rid of their common sense program and start pushing Ozempic as a way to lose weight. I hate the idea of taking drugs to lose weight.

Bottom line -- eat less, move more, and drink a ton of water every day. Eat as many fruits and vegetables you like each day, keep the red meat, sweets, and processed foods to a bare minimum.

Two months later, I seem to be playing around with a 5 pound loss that pleases. I feel a little "different" when walking or exercising. Basically, I cut down quantity and left the exercising to walking 1 mile daily.