Losing Weight in my 60s

I’m 67. Since I was 15, I’ve dieted, gained, and lost weight, multiple times. My closet once contained 4 different sizes of clothing that would fit me at different weights. I lost weight (and then gained it back) on Weight Watchers — at least 3 times, Jenny Craig, and by counting calories. When I began my last weight loss journey — in 2019 — my weight was 40 pounds heavier than was healthy for my body. My family history included diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, and I was afraid that I would develop one of these conditions. I was 65 when I started this last weight-loss journey, and I expected it would be very difficult to lose weight. My family spoke about our “slow” metabolisms and my mother had told me that she gained weight if she ate more than 800 calories a day.

In my daily life, I am a pediatrician. While I had minimal formal training in nutrition, I frequently cared for adolescents with anorexia, bulimia and obesity. I admit — I had limited success in helping overweight teens lose weight. I became inspired to again lose weight when my daughter, who is also a physician, was able to successfully lose her excess weight. My daughter told me about Katrina Ubell MD’s podcast “Weight Loss for Busy Physicians”. This podcast was my first introduction to a different way of eating, as well as my introduction to managing my mind around eating and life. I became a podcast “junkie” and started listening to Katrina’s podcast as well as the podcasts “Weight Loss for Foodies” and “Thinner Peace in Menopause”.

The more I listened, the more interested I became in this way to approach eating and thinking. I eventually joined Katrina Ubell’s Weight Loss Group where I received weekly coaching and learned about thinking in a way that improved my life. My plan is to write about many of the lessons that I’ve learned — and am still learning. I also want to thank Corinne Crabtree and her teachings as well as the coaches from The Life Coach School. These coaches have inspired me to learn to coach so that I can teach and inspire others.

I’ll be writing about how I successfully lost weight and am maintaining that weight loss and how I have learned to think differently so that I can manage the ups and downs of my life successfully.