fair, fat & forty - HELP!

[virgin_moneysaver]

well, 2 out of 3 actually as I'm a brunette (oh go on I'll admit it - I'm 42)

I've been watching my weight since I was 14 - & I've been to a structured diet group about 4 times over the years, twice to help with post-pregnancy weight but I'm finding it hard to keep the inches off even though I'm not eating any differently & I just don't want to join a group again - its been about 4 years

so even though my weight has been the same for the last 4 years 10st 12 -11st 6 - I'm 5 ft 8 by the way I'm gaining inches around my middle & hips & BACK FAT - whats that all about?

so where am I going wrong or is it down to my age (what happened to 40 being the new 30?)

and is it me - but why do slimmers in the press weigh the same as me & are shorter but say they are now a size 10 - 12 - I just don't get it

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fc123]

Hi, I have always been slim (5' 6" and 9 or 9 1/2 stone)but put on "fatty stuff" around the middle @ 40.
I accidentally lost a stone by shopping and cooking in a MSE way! (everything from scratch + no crisps, biccies etc at all)
plus walking loads to save bus fares...however the lower back had a covering!
unfortunately ONLY serious exercise will sort it out...........i started swimming again 7 wks ago (40 fast lengths 5 mornings a wk before work @ 8am...oh to find the discipline to walk to the pool has been SOO difficult)
BUT I had a good look in the mirror and DEFINATELEY, my cellulite is disapearing plus the back fat and my back has got some really nice muscles showing through!! and my tum is flat again!...which , now when i have to get up and go to the pool is all the incentive i need.

PLUS EAT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH MODIFIED CORN STARCH (OR JUST CORN STARCH) AND NO HYDROGENATED FATS AT ALL.........hs includes even stuff that's marketed as "slimming" or "healthy"....avoid those (its difficult) and the weight jst drops off slowly but without any hunger or dieting.:D

[Terrylw1]

Hi,

Well as far as the size to weight ration of the slimmers in the press goes...it can be down to body composition. Muscle weighs more than fat (muscle also burns fat for energy so adding more helps you lose weight on top of exercise & diet) which may account for that as they may have been on a programme of weight training.

Toning is useful e.g. weights, resistance...as well as cardio as it adds more muscle and makes your muscle leaner and longer. So, your build will change slightly making you appear more leaner.

So, if you combine diet, cardio and some resistance...you are attacking the problems across 3 fronts.

[Techno]

Same boat here (and also brunette) Have never really had to worry about my weight - was always 9 to 9 1/2 stone but then hit 41, got a sedentary job (and it started creeping on) then dog got old so no dog walking and now I'm not very keen on what I see in the mirror (know what you mean about the back fat ugh!) With work colleagues have decided to start power walking then running after work and when our new pool opens may well follow your example fc123 and try swimming in the morning too

[fc123]

Haven't swum for about 10 yrs (did a swimathon then) and it's SOO boring! plus the goggle eye marks last for 4 hours!! so, nice flat tum but eyes look like a candidate on 10 yrs younger!
But it was the only thing i could fit into my day plus you don't need fancy kit or big holdall of stuff...it's becoming a really impt part of my day now so am not going to give it up!! plus great for the lungs

[virgin_moneysaver]

thanx guys - I'll have to up the dog walking - I'm not one for swimming as I did a lot when I was younger & my frame is already wide & my shoulders seemed to get bigger - in fact my upper frame is quite good, no bingo wings yet - & my legs are ok - been renovating a house for the last 2 years so lots of up & down the ladder & on & off the platform (DIYers step machine!) - its just the middle - I'm not one for crisps but will have the odd biscuit (but don't have them at home) or cake if there's an occassion at work

just thought - I've got one of those twist & sculpt machines gathering dust in the garage - will they be any good for middle or just for legs - it was delivered 2 weeks before we moved so it got put in the garage & its stayed there ever since

[dorry]

hi :wave:

I seem to be having the same problem, I was always 9stone 12 lb, always.
but since starting my new job, sitting down alot, I have put a stone on and I am mortified:eek:

I will try upping the dog walking and maybe go back to swimming??

god, what happens to us in our 40's yak!

[Techno]

What we all need are lots of money, personal trainers, chefs who cook delicious lowfat meals (and no access to the biscuit cupboard). That's how all these clebs do it:j

[alanalea]

What we all need are lots of money, personal trainers, chefs who cook delicious lowfat meals (and no access to the biscuit cupboard). That's how all these clebs do it:j

Wrong, what you need is an 'on call' personal surgeon who performs lipo and lifts at all hours... that's how celeb's do it :rolleyes:

[virgin_moneysaver]

again to day reading 'The Mirror' - woman there who's lost weight she's 5'2" now only weighs 12st 6 lbs and is a size 12!!

I was watching 10 years younger not so long back & DH asked if I had the money would I have surgery - Doh! - I'd tell the surgeon to start at my ankles & work his way up

[wyebird]

It depends which shop you buy your clothes from and which bits they cling to!
Sometimes I can borrow my size 8 daughter's stuff (ok her socks :-) ) and other times I need a size 16 to do up accross my ample chest (sounds better than fat back!)

[Terrylw1]

Blimey V Moneysaver - fair play if she's lost weight but at that height and weight she surely must be in the middle of losing more???

Twist n step machines work like rollerblading. They will work your legs, bum & abs. Any twisting motion forces your side ab muscles to contract to stabilize you. It's the same as doing crunches and twisting in the motion or at the top of the motion.

[virgin_moneysaver]

Blimey V Moneysaver - fair play if she's lost weight but at that height and weight she surely must be in the middle of losing more???

Twist n step machines work like rollerblading. They will work your legs, bum & abs. Any twisting motion forces your side ab muscles to contract to stabilize you. It's the same as doing crunches and twisting in the motion or at the top of the motion.

thanx for the heads up on the twist & sculpt

my point about the lady, fair play to her on losing so far, but my point was I'm a stone lighter & 6" taller & I can't get nowhere near a size 12 - mind a pair of 36DD gets in the way - you know my point ladies, you find a nice shirt, it fits you across the shoulders & the waist but pulls across the buttons - & I've tried the advice with the empire line cut to emphasize the bust & minimize the hips - nice smock thingy from Marks & Sparks - I just looked 6 months pregnant

and my husband wonders why I hate clothes shopping & live in joggers when I'm not in work

[Terrylw1]

thanx for the heads up on the twist & sculpt

my point about the lady, fair play to her on losing so far, but my point was I'm a stone lighter & 6" taller & I can't get nowhere near a size 12 - mind a pair of 36DD gets in the way - you know my point ladies, you find a nice shirt, it fits you across the shoulders & the waist but pulls across the buttons - & I've tried the advice with the empire line cut to emphasize the bust & minimize the hips - nice smock thingy from Marks & Sparks - I just looked 6 months pregnant

and my husband wonders why I hate clothes shopping & live in joggers when I'm not in work

Well, all I can say is that my GF is about 12 stone (5ft 8inches) and needs to lose 2 stone per her GP. She's closer to a size 16 so I really don't see how someone 5ft 2inches could possibly be a size 12 without a medieval contraption of some sort to get her in to it!!!

Clothes fit on some ways but she always has trouble with the shoulders. I'm a bloke and I can easily see that a lot of women's clothes makers go for a very typical fit which doesn't actually reflect the true bodyshape of a woman who is a couple of stone over where she wants to be.

Although, I don't always believe GP's since one told a previous GF that at 8.5 stone at a height of 5ft 7inches that she needed to lose 2 stone!!!

BTW - a tip. Work on your abs and get them toned up. Poor abs contribute to poor posture and make you slump forward as well as leave your stomach looser than normal. So, if you strengthen those muscles, you will get a posture correction and will feel less of a hang in that area. Always works for me if I've been off the weights for a few months, since as soon as I start again my stomach flattens without losing any fat in the area.

[shoequeen]

WEighs more than me - shorter than me - claiming to be a smaller dress sizxe than me. It always connfused & irritated me too. Until I figured it out. "Claiming"...!

It's a little white lie. And if they have one size 12 skirt that does up, even if they cant sit down - well good luck to em. I weaned myself off womens mags (saving £3 ish per week) and it stopped worrying me!

Depending on which bit of my body it covers, which shop it comes from & what the fit is I can be any dress size from an 8 to a 16. I doubt I'm alone.

If you're healthy dont worry about a bit of wobble in the right places. If you're unhealthy its not your dress size thats the problem. Tackle the hrealth & the clothes come next.

[BigMummaF]

Unfortunately I have always been over-weight, so have had nothing to 'get back to'. OK, not as bad as I am now, but the smallest I've been in adult life was after suffering from Jaundice for six months & living on nothing more than boiled chicken [retch!]& poached white fish.
I've never aspired to be athletic in any way, apart from a little badminton at school & dancing down the disco, always preferring my books for sciences & maths. Little thought has been put into how those of us who have a natural calling to intellectual over physical persuits can address the balance.
The family have generations of folk who would be classed "obese", and annoyingly always dismissed as an excuse. But seeing as it is in my genetic make-up isn't that like saying I can change my eye colour or facial features?

"Experts" are quick enough to tell us it's easy to lose excess baggage, but until they've lived a life-time in an obstinate body, how the hell do they know!

[virgin_moneysaver]

BTW - a tip. Work on your abs and get them toned up. Poor abs contribute to poor posture and make you slump forward as well as leave your stomach looser than normal. So, if you strengthen those muscles, you will get a posture correction and will feel less of a hang in that area. Always works for me if I've been off the weights for a few months, since as soon as I start again my stomach flattens without losing any fat in the area.


well I will try my twist & sculpt as an earlier poster said it could help the abs - my history with my belly though isn't due to excessive overeating but having had 2 ceaserian sections its a totally different shape to a fat belly

apparently there is such a thing now as a mummy tuck where they deliver the baby by c-section & give you a tummy tuck before stitching you up! - my uncle did say after the 2nd one they should have inserted a zip, just in case

[HannaB]

I have bought one of those "twist and step" thingys from Argos yesterday(about £35, cheapest I've found). I am just wondering how long it takes to see results? I'm trying to lose the spare tyre I've gained since I've quit smoking (c. 1 stone, eek!)

I do ten minutes three times a day at the moment.

[Terrylw1]

Well, with most exercise you see the real benefits 3-4 weeks in terms of fitness & cardiovascular health. Being an ex smoke, that will greatly help you lungs so well done.

I think if you are eating heathily as well and if you increase it as you feel more able, you should see results week on week. You need to be doing 20-30 mins 3-4 weeks but you shouldn't push it after the smoking until you feel ready as you will have a lesser lung capacity to a non smoker at the moment.

CLA is supposed to help smokers not put the weight on when they quit. CLA is also supposed to work well for the mid section.

That added weight will soon come off though.

[Fizog]

I suppose the size 12 shorter than you but weighing more could be like me a size 16 UK but oh size 12 US.....sizing.!!!
I must admit I always think no way when I see those women but saying 'Shona has lost 10 stone and now weighs 11 stone 7 and is a slim size 16' doesn't sound right does it. A bit like the tabloids the 'beautiful' Tara posh girl double barrelled surname I don't work but go to parties and spend Daddies money wouldn't look so good in print as the 'average looking bit dim' Tara.....