Gaining weight as we get older

There's a prevalent misconception, especially in the U.S., that as you get older, you're supposed to gain a little weight.  A Dear Friend of mine has said this to me more than once, when I was bemoaning my extra pounds and talking about losing weight in the last few years.  Is this because people just want to explain away their own extra pounds?  If you're supposed to gain weight as you age, it's pointless to try to lose the weight, so no need to try to do anything about it!  About a month ago, I told DF that I had gotten down to 138.5lb, and she was very surprised, as in "You mean you actually are only 5lb away from your weight 15-20yrs ago?"  She didn't SAY that, but that was the subtext I was hearing.  In fact, when I started Dukan, I wasn't sure I could get back down to my true weight of approx. 135, now that I was "older".  However, I did have a hidden advantage.  My mother's side of the family all live in Finland, and a significant number of my female relatives around my age (49yo, +/-5 yrs) are in great shape.  They all do some sort of exercise (pilates, dance, biking), and they have certainly not put on the mysterious extra poundage as they age, so if they could look great, I could too.

So here I am at 137.75lb, with 3-8lbs to go.  My "normal weight" in my 20's & 30's was 125-135. Have I lost all my fat and am I a stick figure?  No!  I look fit, but I still have that annoying padding on my abdomen (which I'm hoping to finally eliminate in the next few weeks).  This means that I've lost 20lb of fat, and a lot of that was unhealthy visceral fat.  For those of you that look at the Dukan True Weight and wonder if it's too low, it's not!  Depending on your situation, it might even be a little higher than what your goal weight could/might be.  Everyone should decide on their own, of course, what their goal weight should be, but don't tell yourself that you're older now, and it's impossible to be at the weight you were at when you were younger.  Not true!  A few weeks ago, I put in a lower start weight and "average" weight on the Dukan website, but everything else the same, and I got a lower TW, so I'm going to see how I feel in the 130-133 range.