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Weight loss for older people?
My mom is almost 65 and she's pretty heavy. It has got to the point where it's affecting her life quality - she often has joint pain, heart problems, clogged arteries... She has to lose weight, basically. Problem is, I feel like she has no motivation to do so. She never even tried doing it. I researched a bit online, and it seems like older people have it harder to lose weight, not just mentally, but also physically because they have less muscle mass and stuff. Is there anyone more knowledgeable on this topic?
Muscle mass is essentially unimportant when it comes to losing weight.
Weight loss is best approached through lifestyle changes, which means that motivation is the number one key. If she's unmotivated to change her lifestyle to a healthy one, one has to wonder if there are any underlying mental issues or troubles. I would suggest starting there if possible.
In terms of sustainable strategies, I find the best thing to start working towards for an unmotivated participant is slowly cutting out troublesome foods. Sugary drinks are a good start - it's very easy to swap coke to diet coke, get artificial sugar in your coffee and in general stop drinking calories or significantly reduce their intake. Try and remove, limit, or replace desserts. No cake is best, followed by a fruit dessert or something else instead of cake, and then finally less cake. After desserts you should be targeting excessive meals - limit the unhealthy saturated fats (oil, butter, cheese, etc.) and sugars where possible. Some dietary fat is healthy, the goal should be to shift to more unsaturated versions of fats (fish, nuts, avocado, etc.). The next target should be to gradually increase sources of fiber - switch out white breads for their darker counterparts, brown rice instead of white, and add more vegetables to dishes.
Activity wise, walking is one of the healthiest and one of the easiest things that people can do to start getting something in. As I mentioned earlier, depression or other mental issues may make this difficult, but the good thing is that just a few weeks of regular physical activity regardless of intensity will help with mental health. So if you start by getting her walking, you may be able to get her more motivated to do something a bit more moderate to intense eventually.
For the joint pain, I'd suggest getting her on glucosamine. It really doesn't matter much what it's paired with (MSM, chondroitin, etc.) - what matters is that she should be taking 1-2g daily. It's not a night and day difference, but by and large it helps reduce the joint pain for most people who take it. It's also quite cheap (go find the cheapest bottle that contains 1-2g glucosamine daily, ignore the more expensive formulations) so it's not a big deal if it doesn't happen to work for your mother.
Thanks, this is extremely helpful! I just ordered the glucosamine pills.
No problem, my DMs are always open to you or anyone else who has fitness/health/wellness questions.
It's true that having a higher muscle mass makes you burn more calories, but it's not essential. Weight loss is first and foremost your diet. You have to encourage her to cut back on what she's eating, and be conscious about what she's eating. Sugar is usually the main culprit. Carb rich meals get broken down to sugar eventually. One thing that can help is find a new hobby or something to help distract from eating. If she's 65 walks are a good starting exercise. Nature walks, walks around the block etc. Appetite takes some time to readjust, so the first few weeks will be tougher. It's easier to wean her off than to outright start an intense diet. Some foods are more satiating than others. Off the top of my head, eggs come to mind (rule of thumb for feeling of fullness is protein, then fats then carbs). My roommate recently brought home a brand of noodles called miracle noodles. They're made from mushrooms and are extremely low in calories. I recommend them as a base with a lower than usual quantity of rice/bread in meals.
Thank you, that's some great info!
I used to work with a center for community health workers -- there's some good info in the thread already, but one thing I didn't see mentioned was that for older adults, people often times don't want to go through changes alone. If you're able go on walks with her or see if there's any programs in your area that might have a gym "buddy" system or a CHW program-- then I'd say you might have some success there.
The other thing is -- most people don't know how to set goals for themselves. Specifically, a broad goal of "losing weight" isn't really useful, since it's important to know everyone's history. Has your mother's weight been stable? Increasing? Fluctuating? Sometimes, maintaining a weight (even if it's unhealthy!) can be a reasonable goal, rather than increasing. Goals that are achievable and measurable (ex. "lose 5 lbs in 2 months") are encouraging because it triggers a reward system in our brain! Sometimes having a goal of "losing weight" without any numbers attached to it can discourage people if they "only lose 5lbs".