Tips for Losing Weight After Age Fifty

I was fairly healthy and thin when I was younger. I'm tall, 5'8+1/2, and my normal weight was 145. Any less than that, and people complained that I looked emaciated.

I put on weight during my late twenties due to pregnancy, but took it off in my early thirties. I was thin for about five years and then had two more babies. That was the beginning of the end for my gorgeous slender figure. I tried doing aerobics and lost the pregnancy weight and got into great shape, but with the frustrations of raising two particularly challenging young children (on my own - I ended up a single mom) I had a hard time continuing my exercise fanaticism.

Then there was a court case and a lot of misery concerning two of my older children. I lost custody of them. (I still had my oldest child, and my two youngest to raise.) Traumatized, I started putting on weight at the rate of about ten pounds per month in my early forties. I got up to 230 and slowed down.

About that time I visited a doctor who proclaimed that my blood pressure was too high. He put me on Atenolol. Later a nurse-practitioner added a second medication, Adalat. I took those medications for about fifteen years - until I finally realized that Atenolol was keeping me from being able to lose weight effectively. It lowers the heart rate to such an extent that aerobic exercises don't work to help control weight gain.

In 2001 I also had a hysterectomy. The doctor who did that said I had hypothroid disorder - which contributes greatly to weight gain. Hyperthyroidism is often caused by fluoridated water. I started taking synthroid (Levoxyl, Levothyroxine) for that. So there I was on three medications, and struggling to lose weight.

In 2003 I made a valiant attempt and got down to 210 before I hit a plateau and couldn't make any progress. Frustrated, I gave up. In 2006 I dropped down to 202, but again hit a plateau. Over the next few years I again gained weight. So now I'm trying to lose weight, yet again.

I'm a BIG fan of Barrie Konicov's hypnosis and subliminal recordings. This angel of a hypnotherapist helped me quit smoking in 1992, helped me gain self-confidence, and helped me become an avid novelist with his creative writing recording.

Now I'm turning to him for help with weight loss.

You can find all his recordings by clicking over there on his image...

But first, let me assure you I truly believe his recording can help me lose weight. I've been listening to it every day for a while now. I listen to the self-hypnosis recording while I'm falling asleep at night, and listen to the subliminal recording while I'm working on the computer, writing, exercising, or doing housework.

Important note: I recommend the original subliminal music over the baroque, but you can click on the samples and listen for yourself. He sells the recordings as MP3s, casettes, or CDs.

I've noticed that since I started this program I'm eating less and not feeling so hungry constantly. If I do start feeling compulsively hungry, I listen to the subliminal, drink a cup of peppermint or camomile tea (depending on the time of day) and pretty soon I have my food cravings under control again.

These recordings really work if you allow them to and make a commitment to work with the program. The MP3 download costs only $19.95, a super reasonable price, I believe. I also bought the "Lower Blood Pressure" recording recently. I'm more than 100% satisfied and hope you will be too.

This cup reminds me of two of my favorite affirmations from Barrie Konicov's weight loss recording (see above) ... the sayings I used are "Losing weight and feeling great," and "Eating less and enjoying it more."

Seriously... buy Barrie Konicov's weight loss recording. I recommend the original subliminal music over the baroque. I don't think you'll regret taking this step if you really want to lose weight.

Like I mentioned at the top of the page, I'm a vegetarian, and my diet is simple. Here are some of the foods I commonly eat:

1. Vegetable soup - I make this about once weekly from celery, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, garlic, onions, potatoes, and whatever else looks good at the time. I add a tiny bit of salt, some pepper, parsley, and oregano. When I serve it I sprinkle it with garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and pepper.

2. Quesadillas made with whole wheat tortillas and sharp cheddar cheese. Hot sauce on the side.

3. Occasionally I add refried beans to the quesadilla and call it a burrito.

4. Fruit salad of oranges and bananas.

5. Vanilla organic yogurt with toppings of organic berry juice or unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon.

6. Unsweetened applesauce.

7. Peanut butter with celery.

8. Sweet Nothings organic juice bars. Fudge flavored (actually carob) - only 100 calories each, but pricey.

9. Small servings of unsalted roasted peanuts (only 8 peanuts at a time as there's a high calorie pricetag, but that's enough to stop cravings.)

10. Raisins

11. Air-popped popcorn

12. Oatmeal with wheat bran, wheat germ, flax seed meal, and applesauce as sweetener

13. LOTS of pure springwater...

Well, that's about it. I also drink peppermint tea in the morning and camomile tea at night. I like to keep my diet simple and rarely vary things.

I've been working on increasing the time I spend on my recumbent exercise bike. There are no local gyms so that's not an option for me. Right now I'm cycling thirty minutes daily.

I also take walks - about 45 minutes several times each week... but I want to make that a daily routine also. I also love walking with Leslie Sansone videos!

I'm starting something new this year: Yoga! Well, of course this isn't new, but I haven't done any yoga for many years so it is sorta new to me. I'm using a video for training. (see below)

The last thing I'm doing for exercise is weight lifting. I'm using 5lb hand weights and strengthening my arms, shoulders, and upper back. Muscle burns more calories so development of muscle is a primary weight loss technique that in my opinion should not be ignored.

I've heard it said that the best exercise is one that you enjoy. Of all these, I love my walks and walking videos the best!

A year ago my boyfriend suggested to me that I should quit taking my hypothyroid medication. I FREAKED. "I can't do that! I NEEEEEEED it!"

As of today I've been off the pharmaceutical medication for about six months, with no disastrous consequences.

From researching on the internet I learned that most hypothyroid problems come from an iodine deficiency. I'm now taking a drop of Lugol's Iodine Solution daily, and don't miss the synthroid at all.

It was a hard decision to make, to get off the pharmaceutical medication, because like with hypertension, it is drilled into us that we're going to have to take synthroid the rest of our lives. And who does that benefit? Drug companies, mostly.

I discovered there are a lot of people on the internet complaining that synthroid doesn't even take care of the symptoms. That got me to thinking. Had synthroid stopped me from being fat? Had it stopped my hair loss? Did it make me less tired? The answer to all three questions was NO.

So why was I taking synthroid? It was merely because the doctor told me I'd have to take it the rest of my life. More research taught me that the synthroid does make the blood's level of thyroid hormone look balanced, but it doesn't eliminate hypothyroid symptoms. There's another medication a lot of people are switching to: Armour, which is made from pig thyroid. Well........... I'm a vegetarian and didn't consider that a reasonable alternative for me so I kept researching and discovered herbal alternatives. One was made from bladderwrack, avena sativa, and coleus. I learned that the bladderwrack has iodine, and latched onto several bottles of that and the other herbs and dumped the synthroid. Then I found out about pure Lugol's iodine and switched to that.

Don't just take my word for it - please do your own research on YouTube and the rest of the internet. And consult your doctor.

I consulted my nurse practitioner and she was upset with me for refusing further medication, and felt I was a fool. She'd never heard of hypothyroid being caused by iodine deficiency! To me, that said that she'd been trained to push pills, not to understand the underlying cause of the disease. Enough said.