Wellness

[hawkeyegirl]

I am 65 and have been doing Jazzercise and Zumba plus lots of walking.  Have gained a few pounds instead of losing, it is so frustrating.  I am careful about eating, and only eat light snacks after 6 pm.  Maybe some of it is muscle?  But still have the flab.  I am 5'4". And weigh in at 148.  Any ideas about why no weight is coming off?

[Annabellethecat66]

As someone who is overweight, not obese but overweight, I DO need to loose a few pounds....OK, several pounds.

I think it's fine to not stress over being overweight; but I also think there is a line to not get real fat.

There is nothing healthy about being very overweight.  I think we all realize that, at least I do.

I'm petrified of getting diabetes.  After coming from rehab with my knee surgery (and seeing so many people who've had feet and toes cut off due to diabetes) I'm going to work at loosing at least some of those extra pounds.

Am I going to stress out about it?  No way.  However, I'm going to work at making some smarter choices.

[SilleeMee]

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@hawkeyegirl wrote:

I am 65 and have been doing Jazzercise and Zumba plus lots of walking.  Have gained a few pounds instead of losing, it is so frustrating.  I am careful about eating, and only eat light snacks after 6 pm.  Maybe some of it is muscle?  But still have the flab.  I am 5'4". And weigh in at 148.  Any ideas about why no weight is coming off?

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For me the best thing I have found to help with flab and firming is to lift weights or use resistance bands. I have this exercise chair from evine...Nano Gym. It really helps me maintain and firm my muscles. I have gained muscle weight but I am smaller in size because of using this chair. I also use ankle weights for donkey kicks for my butt. @hawkeyegirl

Nano Gym 

[hawkeyegirl]

Thanks for the advice!  We do use some weights in Jazzercise, but could stand to do more.

[willdob3]

@hoosieroriginal

To achieve the "heavier" BMI of 23-29.9, most people over 60 would need to lose weight. 

[hckynut]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

@hoosieroriginal

Everyone's got an opinion .....  not that long ago, I read an article from a medical website that said BMI is not the most accurate barometer ......   if you have a lot of muscle mass, your readings will be very inaccurate.

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@Tinkrbl44,

I had my 1st Submersion Body Composition Testing in 1983. It was then and still considered the Gold Standard  for an individual's body composition. As I said previously, BMI does nothing but use some formula concocted by(?) to give numbers that mean absolutely nothing to most real experts in the field of a human body's physical makeup.

Nothing new with or about the accuracy of the Submersion Testing I first had done almost 35 years ago, and several times after. BMI is, in my opinion, just that, an opinion  not based on physiological fact, just an arbitrary formula created by (?)

hckynut(john)

[hckynut]

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@hawkeyegirl wrote:

I am 65 and have been doing Jazzercise and Zumba plus lots of walking.  Have gained a few pounds instead of losing, it is so frustrating.  I am careful about eating, and only eat light snacks after 6 pm.  Maybe some of it is muscle?  But still have the flab.  I am 5'4". And weigh in at 148.  Any ideas about why no weight is coming off?

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@hawkeyegirl

Body weight is only numbers on a scale. It tells you nothing about the amount of fluid/muscle, or fat tissue in your body. It is well known the muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue. A person that loses fat and replaces it with muscle tissue CAN have higher numbers on a regular scale, but muscle also takes up less space on a human body than fat tissue.

With doing the exercises you mentioned you should at least be feeling better and stronger overall. If a person does the same repetitive forms of exercising over and over again, their body becomes acclimated to that amount of effort, and it performs them with less effort. I personally have always used Interval Training.

Used this in my competitive running days/speed skating days, and also when recovering from my 2 heart attacks and several other major physical recoveries. Used them over the last 4 months to go from my lowest point ever in physical fitness, to now being in the upper 3% of all men in the USA in the 70-80 age category, and I am 78.

Give that a try, a body needs to be given differing types of physical work, or it gets acclimated to the same over and over type of training and exercising.

Sounds like you are doing good to me.

hckynut(john)

[Tinkrbl44]

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@hckynut wrote:

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

@hoosieroriginal

Everyone's got an opinion .....  not that long ago, I read an article from a medical website that said BMI is not the most accurate barometer ......   if you have a lot of muscle mass, your readings will be very inaccurate.

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@Tinkrbl44,

I had my 1st Submersion Body Composition Testing in 1983. It was then and still considered the Gold Standard  for an individual's body composition. As I said previously, BMI does nothing but use some formula concocted by(?) to give numbers that mean absolutely nothing to most real experts in the field of a human body's physical makeup.

Nothing new with or about the accuracy of the Submersion Testing I first had done almost 35 years ago, and several times after. BMI is, in my opinion, just that, an opinion  not based on physiological fact, just an arbitrary formula created by (?)

hckynut(john)

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@hckynut

Thank you for your input ...... for a long time now, I have also believed that BMI means pretty much .... nothing.

Years ago I met with a very fitness oriented man who wanted to purchase a life insurance policy.   He was a body builder ... anyone looking at him could see he didn't have an ounce of fat visible .... but he wasn't "over-built".  Anyway, about 2 weeks after meeting with him, he got a letter declining his application .... because he was overweight  .....   conclusion: by the height & weight given on the application.

So I did the only thing I could do ..... I disputed the declination in a letter, and included photos of this applicant.    They immediately approved his application.

[willdob3]

As mentioned, BMI has nothing to do with body composition and was never meant to be used as a judgement on one's weight being healthy or not. 

[hckynut]

@Tinkrbl44

Similar story as the one you told me. A good friend and co-worker of mine was a Power Lifting City Champion and also entered the Light-Heavyweight Body Building Competition. He applied for a job with our City Fire Department.

His application was also turned down because of his height/weight ratio. His body fat measured 3% at that time in the early 1980's. He had to fight that denial and it took him well over a year to win that battle. I really don't know that these bureaucrats ever changed those ridiculous qualifications for Fire and Police Officers. They might still have their heads up their proverbial **ses for all I know.

hckynut(john)