I lost 50 pounds 9 years ago and stayed very fit for 6 years. Age, injuries, motivation waned and I gained even more back.

I'm 51 one now, and finding losing harder than when I was 42 and even exercising my body hurts so much.

I may never run marathons again, but walking long distance daily has my joints aching after. Ankles, heels, hips.

I don't want to take up cycling, but I may have to.

Any advice and encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

Cycling but like anything you gotta want to do it. The great thing is your muscles are going to be sore but not your joints. I rode 45 miles yesterday morning and had a normal day afterwards. I'm 53 for reference. Is a bit easier to carry that extra weight on a bike and the truth is I weigh now what I weighed when I started but I've done two Murph Challenges and now do a kickboxing oriented HIIT workout three times a week. I initially lost about 20 pounds but it's been replaced with a decent amount of muscle in the legs and shoulders. I look considerably better than six years ago before I started and feel a lot better as well.

I'm working on getting back into marathon shape and I've found cycling to be a great tool these days. I've currently got 2 kids under 2 years old so the days of having the energy and time to get up early and run are much harder to come by (the two month old was up at 4 this morning and once he finally got settled down the almost two year old woke up lol). I'm in Houston so it'll feel like 95 pretty much as soon as the sun is up. I've found I can get on the bike even when it's the afternoon and get an hour of cardio in without having a heat stroke. When I ride early the trails are busy but they're nearly empty in the afternoon so that's another positive. It's easy to toss on a camelback and knock out an hour on the bike whereas I'd struggle to run 3 miles in the heat.

I'm a little younger than you (mid-40s), but I managed to lose a good deal of weight in the first half of this year. My exercise was a combination of weights and various cardio (ranging from daily dog walks to jogging to rowing to indoor cycling), generally trying to do something beyond just walking the dog 5-6 days a week.

None of that would've made a huge dent in my weight without a reasonable diet. Got in a rhythm of eating about 1,800-2,000 calories a day (generally a protein smoothie for breakfast, sandwich on low carb bread with carrot sticks for lunch, chicken with roasted veg for dinner).

Incorporating some resistance training- even really light stuff- may help get those joints and tendons feeling better in addition to keeping some muscle mass. Then you can do your cardio via walking as much as you can tolerate, and then see where you go from there.

Rudyjax said:

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I may never run marathons again, but walking long distance daily has my joints aching after. Ankles, heels, hips.

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Consider getting some accommodative orthotics in your shoes. We sold the heck out of them at Tri Shop and I still use them to this day. For me, it's the difference between sore feet and joints and feeling great.

Nixter said:

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Rudyjax said:

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I may never run marathons again, but walking long distance daily has my joints aching after. Ankles, heels, hips.

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Consider getting some accommodative orthotics in your shoes. We sold the heck out of them at Tri Shop and I still use them to this day. For me, it's the difference between sore feet and joints and feeling great.

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I had some when running. Might make a difference. It's mostly my ankles in the morning. It's not plantar faculties, which I've had. It takes a good 5-10 minutes of walking to stop the pain and every time I get up I'm in pain.

How much red meat and alcohol you taking in?

50 pound weight gain is going to have more to do with bad diet than exercise and if walking has you in that much pain, then you've got something going into your body it doesn't like.

For me at least, I am a bit younger than you, but I've reduced my consumption of dairy, alcohol and red meat significantly. I've also pretty much cut grains out of my diet that have little to no fiber in them. I find when I eat those things excessively, I end up with a bad gut, sleep like ****, then repeat the bad eating cycle.

No red meat and probably too much alcohol. I'll see if cutting it out makes a difference.

Get a hot tub and use it daily. No...really. Made a huge difference at our house (44 and the wife is 41).

about not drinking fruit juices and red meat being one of the healthiest things you can eat.

My 2 cents on diet..

What I have found is being in tune with hunger and satiety is important. Many of us eat when we are not hungry due to external cues (i.e. time of day, eating in front of the tv, stress eating, eating out boredom).

Keeping track of food and beverage intake has been shown to be helpful for many people (myself included). I use the app Lose It! and it helps me keep track of what I'm eating and the calories/macro-nutrients that are in my diet? Is it 100% accurate? No, but it is consistently inaccurate which helps me identify trends and track intake. In my experience (I'm also an RD), when people track what they eat and drink, they are often surprised when they see the results on paper (or a screen). And yes, most of us underestimate our sugar/dessert/sweets intake and overestimate our vegetable intake.

People often bash processed foods but I think we need to really focus on the ultra-processed foods (highly processed carbs). Some processed foods have value (pasteurized milk, yogurt, cut and peeled baby carrots, and calcium-fortified foods are some examples). Ultra-processed foods have been linked to increased inflammation (among other health issues) and usually don't have much, if any, nutritional value. As another poster has said they are often addictive to many people. And unfortunately they are plentiful in our food environments. Research has shown that a Mediterranean-style diet and the DASH diet have a number of health benefits including decreased inflammation. Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and seeds are a good source of nutrition along with a diet rich in vegetables and fruits. These should be consumed in place of fast foods (especially fried), ultra processed foods, and sweets/desserts.

As with any diet change the key is do it slowly so the changes stick. The book Tiny Habits is a really good book. Most of us have spent decades "perfecting" our dietary habits. Waking up one morning and deciding to do a 180 on your eating habits is likely going to end in failure and frustration. I tell people to make a list of the changes they want to make and work on them one by one. If you eat crappy meals, start by improving one meal. Once that becomes a habit, work on the next.

Does all this mean that you have to eliminate all unhealthy foods? No - just eat them periodically so when you do you enjoy them (and you don't have the guilt later).

A balance of cardio and weights is also important.

P.U.T.U said:

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Compare the nutrition of an apple and apple juice. When juices are processed from fruit it takes out a lot of the benefits of fruit like fiber and nutrients like potassium. Plus fruit is not as calories dense as juices so for those looking to lose weight fruit juices are not a good choice. Trying to lose weight? Eat your fruits and vegetables, don't drink them.

The sugar in fruit is mostly fructose, it ends in -ose so it is a sugar and your body processes them in a similar manner, not exact since your body processes lactose a little different from the rest (you have glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose). In the end they are all sugars and your body treats them as such.

The fear of sugar is overblown? Then why are over 70% of Americans overfat? Notice I didn't say overweight, I said overfat so let's not go down the BMI rabbithole. Look at most processed foods, they are loaded with sugar. Go to some place like Italy and compare the sugar content in their foods like bread to ours, sugar is not the third or fourth ingredient like it is on most wheat and white breads like here.

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Because we don't know how to teach people how to eat.

There's no arguing that processed foods with extra sugar + fat mixed in a very tasty concoction makes it more difficult to stay at a lower body fat percentage. But it doesn't make it impossible.

If you eat 100 grams of pure simple sugar every day but kept your overall calorie intake reasonable, you won't gain weight.

Plus, the carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity (the model where most 'experts' claim that insulin directly leads to fat storage and that's how you get fat) is not the entire picture, because it doesn't take into account fat BURNING that occurs daily, depending on your overall calorie intake and expenditure. Fat accumulation occurs when the NET DIFFERENCE between fat storage and fat burning is off

P.U.T.U said:

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I have always told people to earn their carbs, starting your day off with sugar or a bagel spikes your blood sugar level. A better choice would be eggs with avocado and fresh sourdough if you need some carbs. Eggs are some of the most nutritious foods out there, avocados are loaded with healthy fat, and the fermentation of sourdough has several benefits.

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"Spiking your blood sugar" doesn't mean anything in the long run. But that phrase is used so much it's like some nutritional boogeyman. Spiking blood sugar is a short-term mechanism that is then balanced by other mechanisms to keep everything in check.

What I tell people is that "You don't need carbs to live. But they really make everything in your body run better"

True Anomaly said:

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P.U.T.U said:

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I have always told people to earn their carbs, starting your day off with sugar or a bagel spikes your blood sugar level. A better choice would be eggs with avocado and fresh sourdough if you need some carbs. Eggs are some of the most nutritious foods out there, avocados are loaded with healthy fat, and the fermentation of sourdough has several benefits.

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"Spiking your blood sugar" doesn't mean anything in the long run. But that phrase is used so much it's like some nutritional boogeyman. Spiking blood sugar is a short-term mechanism that is then balanced by other mechanisms to keep everything in check.

What I tell people is that "You don't need carbs to live. But they really make everything in your body run better"

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Haven't you ever noticed a crash followed by ravenous hunger if you eat something carb rich early in the day? Happens to me every time I have avocado toast or a bagel. Just sayin...

Issue is most people are on an insulin spike roller coaster and not the kiddie rides. Then they keep on going right off the rails

P.U.T.U said:

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Compare the nutrition of an apple and apple juice. When juices are processed from fruit it takes out a lot of the benefits of fruit like fiber and nutrients like potassium. Plus fruit is not as calories dense as juices so for those looking to lose weight fruit juices are not a good choice. Trying to lose weight? Eat your fruits and vegetables, don't drink them.

The sugar in fruit is mostly fructose, it ends in -ose so it is a sugar and your body processes them in a similar manner, not exact since your body processes lactose a little different from the rest (you have glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose). In the end they are all sugars and your body treats them as such.

The fear of sugar is overblown? Then why are over 70% of Americans overfat? Notice I didn't say overweight, I said overfat so let's not go down the BMI rabbithole. Look at most processed foods, they are loaded with sugar. Go to some place like Italy and compare the sugar content in their foods like bread to ours, sugar is not the third or fourth ingredient like it is on most wheat and white breads like here.

1 in 3 American adults are prediabetic and over 40% are diabetic or prediabetic. So yeah there is a huge sugar epidemic in the US. Going from the food pyramid to the myplate is a step in the right direction but most people still have no idea how to eat healthy, hence how almost half of the people in the US consume way too much sugar.

Red meat is very nutritious (especially grass fed or wild hunted) as most contain vitamins A, B, C, E, iron, selenium, zinc, etc. as well as essential fatty acids. Plus you have beef, elk, bison, elk, and lots of choices that vary in fat content.

I have always told people to earn their carbs, starting your day off with sugar or a bagel spikes your blood sugar level. A better choice would be eggs with avocado and fresh sourdough if you need some carbs. Eggs are some of the most nutritious foods out there, avocados are loaded with healthy fat, and the fermentation of sourdough has several benefits.

Apple


Apple juice (I used Simply since they claim to be on the healthier side)

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It's about the serving size. 295 ML is about 295 grams, which is 1.7x more.

What about fiber?

True with that. It my point is the service size on the juice is significantly higher.

Geriatric Punk said:

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True Anomaly said:

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P.U.T.U said:

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I have always told people to earn their carbs, starting your day off with sugar or a bagel spikes your blood sugar level. A better choice would be eggs with avocado and fresh sourdough if you need some carbs. Eggs are some of the most nutritious foods out there, avocados are loaded with healthy fat, and the fermentation of sourdough has several benefits.

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"Spiking your blood sugar" doesn't mean anything in the long run. But that phrase is used so much it's like some nutritional boogeyman. Spiking blood sugar is a short-term mechanism that is then balanced by other mechanisms to keep everything in check.

What I tell people is that "You don't need carbs to live. But they really make everything in your body run better"

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Haven't you ever noticed a crash followed by ravenous hunger if you eat something carb rich early in the day? Happens to me every time I have avocado toast or a bagel. Just sayin...

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Have I experienced this outside of a overall calorie deficit? Not really

It's really really REALLY hard to lose weight and not feel hungry and/or sluggish and tired at some point. You WILL feel some hunger, unless you're on a drug to help control that feeling specifically.