Over 40 and need to lose "over 40" lbs - advice?

I always been a big guy, except for the times when i am a small guy... In the last 20 years I have been 175lbs - 265lbs. I seem to have an easy time gaining weight and frankly when I get in the grove of a very restrictive diet I lose 5-10lbs a month. At any rate I am now over 40 and weight is catching up with me (245lbs right now) and as much as I enjoy being fat I need to drop 50lbs for heath reasons. Yes I enjoy being fat, okay not being fat specifically, but the only way I have found to be thin is to be fairly extreme in my diet and cut out booze, bread, sweets and just eat veggies, lean meats and fruits and that lifestyle I don't find much fun.

Any advice on getting back onto a healthy track?

Two easy things you can do right away:

1. Go cold turkey on juices and sodas. Soda in particular is terrible for you. Drink water instead.

2. Walk as much as you can. That means parking in a spot a good distance from your destination, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.

Good luck.

done on the juice and soda (long ago). I could up my walking though.

Don't do Adkins. It has its own health issues and too many people bounce back once they add carbs back. However you can cut out all refined sugars. Not just soda but cookies cakes candy ice cream etc. Only eat fruits to satisfy your sugar urges. Don't replace the sugar w pretzels and chips. Sometimes we eat out of boredom or thirst.

Drink an entire glass of water before every meal. It forces you to eat less. Eat slower too. Sometimes the brain is behind the stomach.

Also, as painful as it is, cut out beer and wine. Keep drinking liquor just not with mixers.

Finally add in some basic calisthenics. Nothing major. Just push ups. Squats. Lunges. Pull ups if you have access to a bar. Body weight exercises can be enough in the morning and evening to get you moving again. Start slowly. Don't wear yourself out.

I'm older than you and have found what works best for me, because I enjoy good food and beer, wine and cocktails is to:

1) Make a real effort to cut out dessert, bread and pasta except once a week. Of course, avoid chips, crackers unless you are served them at a party.

2) drink good beer no more than once a week. If it isn't good beer, don't drink it.

3) Add more tasty steak, fish and chicken dishes along with great salads and veggies. A couple of very good glasses of wine. That way I'm full, satisfied and don't feel I'm missing anything. I eat potatos and other carbs only if they are offered to me. So I have them, just not frequently.

4) We are all getting more and more sedentary. Find a couple of different things to do during your week that you enjoy to give you a regular, air gulping, sweaty workout. I rotate bike riding, hiking, eliptical machine at the gym along aerobics/body sculpt classes so I don't get bored. The last one is especially enjoyable since I'm the only guy in these classes and the view from the back row is very enjoyable.

5)The key is daily activity. A Fit Bit or similar monitoring devise can be very motivating. I've seen people drop a ton of weight by committing to 10,000 steps a day and not changing their diet by much.

6) I eat eggs most mornings but found that a good cereal once or twice a week is good for the system and helps to eliminate carb cravings.

Good luck!

1. Crash diets are bad for you and hopeless - you will fall off of the wagon. Think of it as a change in lifestyle instead - something less drastic that can be maintained.

2. Get a couple of books to get you in the mood - there's one called 'your best body at 40" or something like that. There's some interesting stuff in there. The other one I read was "Clean and Lean" - aimed at girls really but some sound general principles. Which leads me to...


3. Cut out hidden sugar. Be aware of the calories in what you eat (I weigh my muesli every morning). Cut down on the booze. Eat clean. Cheat once in a while, but just be sensible.

4. A calorie tracking ap helps - myfitnesspal is what I used. A hassle to start with but it really works if you stick with it and don't cheat yourself.

5. Exercise sensibly and find something you like to do. Walking, biking, whatever. If you don't enjoy it you won't do it.

6. Eating is the main issue. Exercise is secondary. Both are important, but watching what you eat is the big thing.

7. For a bonus point, get a good personal trainer. £50 an hour for one hour a week. Keeps you honest and they will make workouts interesting.

Bottom line - I was never fat but and I had a history of exercising but at 39 I was out of shape. By eating and exercising sensibly and using the ap I dropped 1.5 stone steadily and sensibly over 8 months. I'm 41 and in great shape now. Better than I ever was in my 30s.

Last word - I say to friends of mine that at 40 you make a choice - you're either going to work to keep in shape, and have a healthy and long life. Or you're going to choose the path of middle age fatness and mediocrity. Its your choice and yours alone.

Best of luck.

Also, get better sleep and make sure the exercise includes muscle-building, because the body probably is naturally losing some muscle and therefore isn't burning as many calories at rest. In addition, use a multivitamin and maybe separately a multimineral, to fight cravings. Use spices on leans meats to better tolerate their healthfulness, and allegedly some of them boost metabolism.

Edit: the oft-ridiculed Dr. Oz has a long weight-loss list that's worth viewing.
http://www.doctoroz.com/slideshow/dr-ozs-100-best-weight-loss-tips

You should also read The Antidote To Ageing by Muir Gray, which explains why the majority of supposedly 'age-related' illnesses are nothing to do with ageing and simply a result of neglect of the body. It isn't very long so you can put it on your kindle and read it in no time.

To echo what most have already said, diet/nutrition is probably 90% of it. Weight lifting, in my opinion, is the best option. I'd mix weight lifting with high intensity interval training (HIIT); which essentially is short bursts of sprints. Can be done on a treadmill, local track, or even in between telephone poles on a random street. Should be done with short rests, you don't want to fully recover between sets as that eliminates the point of the workout. Doesn't have to be done with running either, HIIT can apply to weight lifting in exactly the same way.

Stick with a good diet and workout regularly, rest will follow.

If you really want to lose weight, yes, it's 90% diet, and 10% exercise, however, if you still want to eat and be a foodie, you have to run. I'd say 4 miles 3 - 4 times a week, and you can still eat a good bit. Work up to that, of course, don't jump into it.

I'm of the mind that if you eat 1900 calories of chocolate or 1900 of veggies it doesn't really matter with weight loss in a vacuum, but you'd be lethargic without getting nutrients and very hungry. So, the macros and micronutrients matter for your well being and more important than healthy, your cravings!

Eating lean proteins will increase satiety, as well as healthy fats, such as avocados and nuts, but go light on the latter portion of the pendulum when you're trying to drop a lot of weight. Only complex carbs (whole wheats) and fruits, for your carb side. You can't drink alcohol and lose a lot of weight for the most part, and you'll probably lose some control and eat a bunch of peanuts, etc.

One other thing that may help, and this is a little bit more debatable, but in the morning you tend to have more willpower, and if you're not that hungry in the morning, skip breakfast, have a coffee instead and wait until around noon for lunch. You have the most discipline at this part of the day, and you'll be intermittent fasting.