{"id":34381,"date":"2025-10-06T23:21:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T23:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/i-lost-60-pounds-in-my-50s-and-ive-never-felt-stronger-heres-how-i-did-it-and-kept-the-weight-off\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T23:21:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T23:21:36","slug":"i-lost-60-pounds-in-my-50s-and-ive-never-felt-stronger-heres-how-i-did-it-and-kept-the-weight-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/i-lost-60-pounds-in-my-50s-and-ive-never-felt-stronger-heres-how-i-did-it-and-kept-the-weight-off\/","title":{"rendered":"I lost 60 pounds in my 50s, and I&#8217;ve never felt stronger. Here&#8217;s how I did it and kept the weight off."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/68e00dd5cc993f9955cf8190?format=jpeg\" alt=\"The author is working out at a gym.\"\/><figcaption>TK<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Kelly Kanaras<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>In the 20-plus years since I got married, I went from a size 8 to a size 16.<\/li>\n<li>Then, something happened on a family trip that changed my perspective and lit a fire in me.<\/li>\n<li>I started eating clean and embraced many new forms of exercise. Now, I feel better than ever.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I didn&#039;t start out overweight. On my wedding day in July 1993, I weighed 130 pounds and was a size 8. Many years later, when I had packed on some pounds, my (now ex) husband saw a picture of us on our honeymoon and asked what happened to me.<\/p>\n<p>You know what happened? I had two high-energy sons less than 20 months apart and didn&#039;t feel like I was getting the support I needed. I was depressed, and my appearance was the last thing on my mind. By the time 2019 rolled around, I weighed around 200 pounds and was a size 16.<\/p>\n<p>Then something happened that completely changed my attitude. In the summer of 2019, while on a family trip to Myrtle Beach, I got a glimpse of a life I didn&#039;t want to live. Though the condo we were staying at was oceanfront, you had to walk through a large pool area and then over a little bridge that spanned some dunes before even getting your toes in the sand. My mother-in-law made it halfway over the bridge before she got too tired to continue. While her son, grandson, and great-grandson headed down to the beach, she had to stay at the pool.<\/p>\n<p>I remember thinking how badly I felt for her, knowing she was missing out on precious family time. And I vowed then and there I was going to get healthy and lose weight so that would never happen to me.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>I needed the to understand why I wanted to lose weight<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I don&#039;t think the most important key to losing weight and maintaining it is the diet or the exercise. For me, it is the &quot;why.&quot; You have to know your why. My mantra became, &quot;I want to be as healthy as I can be so I can do the things I love with the people I love for as long as possible.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, I knew the often-mentioned obstacles to weight loss, such as how metabolism shifts as women age. But one surefire way to make me want to do something, is to tell me it can&#039;t be done. I love a challenge.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/68e3ef791c1f80efbec4ff1b?format=jpeg\" alt=\"The author poses while dining outdoors waterside in 2018.\"\/><figcaption>The author in 2018, before she started her weight-loss journey.<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Kelly Kanaras<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>I went hard<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I started the Monday after we returned from our beach vacation. My plan was simple: eat clean and aim to exercise six days a week with a combination of strength training and cardio.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back, I can see that I attacked my weight loss goals with a slightly obsessive vengeance. Within the first month, I took Krav Maga, yoga, boxing, and Fight Fit classes to see what I liked. <\/p>\n<p>As my routines evolved, I lifted weights, I did the heinous burpees and mountain climbers, and even participated in two Murph Challenges (look it up \u2014 it&#039;s brutal).<\/p>\n<p>Though my approach might seem drastic to some, it worked for me. I enjoyed moving more every day and made sure to incorporate strength training, which I think made all the difference in my success.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/68e3f0dd5dbc4fd10daa4207?format=jpeg\" alt=\"The author competes in a Savage Race in 2022.\"\/><figcaption>The author competing in a Savege Race in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Kelly Kanaras<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>I changed the way I ate<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In addition to all of the exercise I took on, I started eating clean \u2014 focusing on whole foods in their most natural state like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins while avoiding processed and sugary foods.<\/p>\n<p>I also tracked my calories with the MyFitnessPal app, which calculated a target for me based on my age, weight, activity level, and sex. I didn&#039;t cut carbs or follow a fad. I wanted something sustainable, and this strategy has continued to work for me.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>I&#039;ve kept the weight off and feel amazing<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>By the time I took a trip to Maui in February 2020, I was down 25 pounds. And within about a year, I had dropped 60 pounds and was a size 6 (Special thanks to Poshmark for making it affordable to replace my wardrobe several times on the way down).<\/p>\n<p>It&#039;s been over five years since I had my aha moment, and I&#039;m 57 now. I have run two Savage Races (6 \u00bd miles of mud and obstacles) with my son, achieved Level 2 in Krav Maga, and yes, I wear a bikini to the beach again. I refuse to get the memo that women of a certain age should cover up.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to looking great, I feel great, too. I recently went zip lining with my boyfriend, who is 12 years younger than me. I feel energetic and healthy and people are regularly shocked when I tell them my age. Most importantly, I&#039;m living out my goal of being able to do the things I love with the people I love.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TK Courtesy of Kelly Kanaras In the 20-plus years since I got married, I went from a size 8 to a size 16. Then, something happened on a family trip that changed my perspective and lit a fire in me. I started eating clean and embraced many new forms of exercise. Now, I feel better [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}