Senior Golden Sneakers - July 2010

Sandydur

My second day home after surgery. I was there for 12 looooong days this time. I am getting my strength back lots sooner this time. Still not up to doing much "chatting." I just wanted to say hi and thanks for all.

I know I speak for all of us Irene, we miss you and pray for a speedy recovery!!

weaklink109

Irene,

I am glad to know you are home. Thanks for giving us an update. Take care of yourself, and we will look forward to hearing from you when you feel more like posting. :explode: :explode: Happy 4th!!:explode: :explode:

Barb

Lafla

Hi everyone! What a glorious day we have, the sun shining and a gentle breeze to dry my clothes. Bad, bad girl hanging clothes on a Sunday but with the crazy weather you gotta do what you gotta do! I think the Lord may just like to watch clothes dry as much as I do! I am still trying to find a good time for our annual Edmonton holiday. Neil really looks forward to it, I think because we are a captive audience and he loves to go to the mall. He has lost enough weight that I really should buy him a few new things so we shall see. I will be looking for shoes as I have better luck there. This darn bunion is becoming a real nuisance. My sister, friend and I are planning a trip to Victoria, British Columbia in Victoria to watch the Canadian National figure skating championships. So some things in the future but for now just plugging along. I am going to stop checking Dave's paralysed face daily as the change is minimal although certainly better than what it was. I think it may be more noticably improved if I check every few days instead. For an impatient personality he is doing very well. The Dr. told him to rest while he is on medication and he is even doing that!!

Irene -- So glad to have a post from you. You take your time and rest, we will always be here when you are ready to post. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Marie -- You are right about the early frost. I am hopeful that it will come later as we had such a late start. However, my tomatoes now have the little yellow flowers, the zucchini will be producing soon, my two potato plants look healthy and my strawberries are doing great! The hail didn't seem to bother them. Oh yes, the herbs look great too. You would have had a good laugh watching Dave and I cover the strawberries. I was doing it myself, cut the first piece of netting which immediately seemed to shrink to half the size, bewildering so I figured I did it wrong. Dave came along and couldn't figure out how I could not have measured correctly. So he cut the next piece which also 'shrunk'. At that time he realized that they had rolled the netting up on an angle but we were able to stretch the piece out on the lawn and get it done. I am not sure that these strawberries are worth both the cost and the trouble. However, there will be no more strawberry stealing by my robins!

Barbie -- You will love the raised garden.

Take care everyone and keep smiling. Gayla

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Irene, I'm wishing you a speedy recovery and return to more energy and your return to posting :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: Gayla, I am envious of your trip to Victoria to see skating.......we're not that far from Victoria

---

about 20 miles by car and 90 minutes on the ferry but we can't seem to get it together to make the trip

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Barb, I think our best fireworks memories are of fireworks over the Columbia River.....two different years we spent the 4th of July weekend in hotels in Portland.....one year we sat on the deck outside the banquet room at the Red Lion and watched and another year we were in a hotel near the airport where we stood in the parking lot and watched planes taking off until it was time for the fireworks.

:flowerforyou: Today we went to a band and chorus concert in the park......it was about 50 degrees, cloudy, windy, and drizzling. We wore warm jackets, wool socks, and hats and brought a blanket for our laps. The concert included "the Star Spangled Banner", "America the Beautiful", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and "God Bless America"........the band played four John Phillip Sousa marches including "Stars and Stripes Forever" (my favorite because I played the piccolo in high school), a portion of the 1812 Overture ( without cannons), and the Armed Forces Salute with the songs from all the branches of service with an invitation to veterans to stand when their service music was played. We'll watch fireworks on TV tonight (or tomorrow since we'll be recording the shows from New York, Washington, DC, and Boston)

:flowerforyou: Marie, Jake has one tomato and many flowers on his topsy-turvy plants so he is very excited.

It should be warmer tomorrow and even warmer the rest of the week.

CALIECAT

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th. Jery and ricky did not get the tree cut down. ricky said too many wires and the tree was too tall. So we ar looking for someone whos dos it for a living.
may have someone.
you know I can tell I am getting older for the things I use to do is so much harder now days.

I trtied to cut all of those veggies up And what a job, And I have another mess for Jerry to clean up. He will make me give it all up If I keep doing that. I grated the zuccinie and thought about making a Bread but barbie cat kept speaking to meSo i just grated carrots onions squash and stired them al together , wiill freeze them and put in a soup on of these days.When Gayla get her first freeze.But boy am I tired. I can have a pot of soup much sooner than if I waited for our first freeze. I got some tomatoes to freeze. i heard you cna just wash them good and freeze them whole and when they thaw out the skin come right off, So may do that.
This morning I seen another elder lady out walkin with her walkerwith her little dash hound. Don't know where she lives but much be on the next street from us if so she is walking further than me and Sammy. I would have to put alease on Sammy if we walk her block. I see her out in her yard with a chair moving it around to pulled weeds.
Kathy bought one of her puppies with her and he would not play with Sammy but did go walking with us. He follow the wheels on my Walker. Only 7 weeks old.So cute did not get a picture of them. Well been a busy day. Time to get back in ther to my mess. See uopi guys later Marie

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: Marie, I used to make zucchini bread all the time, now I use zucchini as a vegetable, steamed, grilled, roasted, or in soup......I think it's much healthier that way..........how does Sammy do on a leash? my dogs are so big and naughty and easily distracted that I always have a leash on them when I take them out.

:flowerforyou: today as I was leaving the dog park I saw two of my line dance friends and their Boston Terrier in the little dog yard.....they said that their dog liked big dogs so I took Brandy and Sasha in and they played with the Boston Terrier.....it was really cute to watch....eventually some birds flew over and my dogs chased the birds and ignored the other dogs

:flowerforyou: today we have the sunshine and warmth that would have been perfect for the outdoor concert yesterday :laugh:

CALIECAT

Sammie does fine on a lease he still get one on when Jerry take him in the car. so they can get out and go find a tree or grass,It is just much easier with the walker for him to be off so He wont get tangle up in it. up in it. We just got back from a short walk.I know if I an get rid of my baking pans. I got one more cake to make. It will be a oinapple coconut cake made from a box cake mix. They are easy to make. However i can't find any 7 minute Frosting and will have to make it from scatch. this is to take to my ex family reunion It will be my last cake
In a couple of weeks. I am also taking hot dogs just to get rid of them I have about 5 Pkg in the freezer Will be making brocolli salad.They are looking for a large crowd.

Irene, Hope you ar doing OK. Happy 4th.

Marie

CALIECAT

ITHOUGHT FOR TOMORROW A NEW DAY A NEW BEGNINING

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with
perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
~ J.B. Priestly

weaklink109

Marie,

You picked a good night to post that quote. I had a day where the best laid plans went off track, and I finished it feeling as though I pretty much didn't get anything accomplished--except for those two chocolate chip cookies that crossed my path and called my name.:noway: I "accomplished" "taking care" of both of them!!:grumble: :ohwell:

Anyway, I needed to be reminded that tomorrow is another day. So thank you.

Barb

BirdieM

My second day home after surgery. I was there for 12 looooong days this time. I am getting my strength back lots sooner this time. Still not up to doing much "chatting." I just wanted to say hi and thanks for all.

Thinking of you and sending hugs and prayers!!!!!
BirdieM

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: Marie, I have a friend who has trouble with her knee that makes walking difficult but she can ride her bike so she takes her three little dogs along when she rides her bike and she says the same thing about leashes........the dogs are fine running along beside her but the leashes would get tangled.....i hope you and Sammy find a good way to take your walks together.

:flowerforyou: it is a beautiful day and the raised bed will get built today...we are very excited.
:drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

CALIECAT

Oh how exciting. How many will you have?

viliberty1957

In the hospital I occasionally heard "code blue" and silently said a prayer of those involved. At other times I heard cheerful little bells ringing. I asked a nurse what that was. She said, "Oh, another baby has been born." How marvelous is God's plan. Always new opportunities, new choices, new life. God Bless

BirdieM

In the hospital I occasionally heard "code blue" and silently said a prayer of those involved. At other times I heard cheerful little bells ringing. I asked a nurse what that was. She said, "Oh, another baby has been born." How marvelous is God's plan. Always new opportunities, new choices, new life. God Bless

You are so right! He doesn't close a door without opening a window!
Take care and God Bless.
BirdieM

BirdieM

I hope everyone's 4th of July weekend went well! :flowerforyou: We were soooo busy! :noway: We spent Sat. cleaning the house that we were moving our daughter into yesterday! July 4th was a cookout and a baby shower. And, yes, we spent July 5th moving and entire apartment to a house and unpacking as well as putting beds and kitchen cupboards togather!!! What a day!!!!!!! :noway: It was so humid and hot....in the 90's! :drinker: :drinker: Lots of water and even some pizza! I was ready to just about faint and they ordered pizza!:ohwell: At that point.....being sensible kicked in, as we were between 2 houses with no food!!! I really am not even a little bit worried about it, as I figured I must have burned over 2000 calories moving boxes all day as well as doing the treadmill for an hour in the morning! (It may seem odd to exercise on a day that you will burn so many calories, but sometimes, for me, the exercise gets me in gear and warms the muscles up!) But We worked from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM and were absolutely pooped!!!! Today I am back at work and finding myself starring at the computer:laugh: :laugh:
So haven't had time to read posts but just dropping in to say hi!
Have a great week!
BirdieM

CALIECAT

Irene so good to see you dropped in. We really missed you.
That was al ong time in the hospital. I thought my 7 days was bad,
I am atill recocerving, I did have sugergy on my artierias, Which was pretty dagnerous to my Kidneys but they seen to be Ok. The dye they used One of my doctors was pretty upset over it. She told me not to let any of the docters to do that again. But they told me I was having a heart attack and if they didn't check it out I could die. So what is a fellow to do.Seems like all Doctors are on a
difference wave link.:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: MArie

Have a good nite.

viliberty1957

MARIE , I can see we are on the same page. After being super healthy all my life this is hard to adjust to.

EVERYONE. One thing I have learned for myself is that we are very complex beings. I started on MFP in January. I worked hard at it, and no matter what, my weight stayed essentially the same. That is when I started blaming myself for whatever....not exercising enough.....eating too much.....etc. When I would look at my exercise bike I would feel utterly exhausted and helpless to do it......then feel guilty for that. I would check my food log and think I can't possibly eat less. My tracking would say, eat like this and you will weigh so much in a week. Never happened.

To make a long story short, I was actually losing FAT. It was being replaced as I went along with a tumor and abdominal fluid to match the loss. Six liters of fluid alone. Since surgery (two weeks) I am down 10 pounds. I'm gettin a new primary doctor. She should have caught this long ago....especially since I kept telling her. I went to cancer check-up, told the Dr. things felt "wrong" and was in the hospital within a week.

So.....the fact of the matter is.....trust yourself when you think things are "wrong". There is sometimes a lot more going on than what the scales say at the moment. God Bless. I hope this helps someone else.

weaklink109

Irene,

I am so glad they figured out what was going on, and you are right to trust your own instincts. I recall the sister of one of my former neighbors who kept insisting she didn't feel "right" had some strange feelings, of always feeling "full" kind of like she needed to "go" but that wasn't the issue. By the time they figured out she had ovarian cancer, there was nothing they could do. This was about 25 years ago, so the treatment options may be different now, but her story has always stayed with me.

I hope you continue to make a speedy recovery. We are all pulling for you!!:flowerforyou:

Barb

Lafla

Hi everyone. Everytime I start a post here I look out the window before I give my weather news. It seems it changes so quickly. It is cloudy right now with the sun shinging through. Yesterday Neil got caught in a heavy downpour. He was not impressed and looked like a drowned rat. Today is WW night and I really don't want to go, not that I don't want to attend the meeting. I really don't want to step on the scale. I never weigh between but I know it can't be good when we have eaten out daily this week and as the week has gone on the discretion has decreased. I will go and suck up the humiliation and feel like a bad girl and then look forward to a better day tomorrow. By the way, Marie, great quote.

Irene -- Thanks so much for sharing your story. You are often in my thoughts and I am pulling for you 100%.

Marie -- If you like to bake cakes, bake cakes! You don't have to be the one to eat them to have the pleasure of seeing your work being enjoyed. Sometimes it makes us feel useful as we do something for others. When I am right on my program I can cook or bake anything without feeling a need to eat it BUT when I am weak I will eat anything!! I hope you enjoy the family gathering. Is Alice going with you?

Birdie -- Wow, you got a good workout!! You will likely see your weight go down this week. This is your fortune teller speaking!

Barb -- I hope the raised beds get done and that they turn out to be exactly what you wanted.

Take care everyone. Gayla

CALIECAT

Hi gayla, Was wondering about you. I am really looking forward to this reunion for my best friend and her husband will be there. She married to a nephew of my late ex husband. And I went to California with her when he husband Walt was in the Navy to help her with her son. We both got a job out there and had a blast. her son is in his 50 now and now has The same thing as my brother that just passed away in Feb. So sad.

I don't think my docctor is going to approved me getting an electric motor chair. Afraid i will just give up. And I guess she is right Sammy and I are still walking a little,

We are waiting for the rain to start here just anytime.

Iirene Thanks for sharing your story. hope you are feeling better now,.How is your doggie?

Barbiecat My step counter quit workin do you know where you can find batteries
for them? I have'nt a clue.

Barbs Have you sold any houses yet since you got your license?

Birdie. How much more weight do you want to lose.

Elli sure missyou around here?


Jeffrey. Guess yoou are getting some much needed rest.

Sandy Sammy had a playmate over here the other day. He was jut too young to play with Sammy. It was only 7 weeks old. it is
So cute. I took it for a walk.He follow you feet.

Jakeyou are really stayin with it. Good for you,

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: Marie, I'm sorry that you won't be able to get your electric chair but glad that the doctor thinks you're still a good walker.......keep on keeping on......we bought new batteries for our pedometers at Radio Shack...if you don't have the direction book with the battery number or you can't read the number on the battery, then take the whole thing in with you and they can figure it out......the one raised bed will be pretty big and it isn't finished yet.....it's been hot the last two days so the workers have been smart and not worked too long...my pumpkin, marigold, and sunflower seedlings are eager to be transplanted and a friend said she'd bring me some romaine lettuce starts next week.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: irene, I'm glad the doctor finally got open minded and figured out what was going with you and took care of it....I love hearing you attitude of gratitude

:flowerforyou: Gayla, your weather sounds even stranger than ours :laugh:

:flowerforyou: Barb, hearing how it is at your house, I can't complain about our heat.....we don't have air conditioning so we notice every bit of it.......when the front door is open to create a breeze, the dogs bark at everyone who walks by.

weaklink109

Marie,

I appreciate your asking after my new work, but I got my INSURANCE license, not real estate, so the answer to your question is "no" - I haven't sold any houses. I think what might have tripped you up is that I was a real estate (mortgage) collector in my former job.

Maybe your doctor wants to keep you up and walking as long as possible. I have a friend who used to sell those chairs, and when I discussed the possibility of getting one at some point for my mom when it got to that point. My friend said the chair should be avoided for as long as possible in order to maintain mobility for as long as possible. I know on some level it would make things "easier" but everything happens for a reason. Good luck!!

Barbie,

It is "down" to 86 on my patio, and 71 degrees inside, thanks to my AC:drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

Speaking of "hot" --I have calories to burn. I did a 5 miler this afternoon, and thanks to the breeze, it wasn't bad. I did drink 48 oz of water while I was outside!!:drinker: :drinker: After my walk, I went to the produce market and bought 1/2 a flat of raspberries to split with my mom, as well as some more of their WONDERFUL yummy Bing cherries. I plan to have raspberries with Greek yogurt tonight for "dessert." Did you know a cup of raspberries has less than 100 calories and EIGHT grams of fiber??!!

When it gets a little cooler out, I will take the critters out for a walk. We didn't go out this morning as it got hot too quick to make it worthwhile.

Hello Irene, thinking of you!!:flowerforyou:

Barb

jeffrey71

Don't Pay the Ransom!

I escaped again! I have a lot to tell you all when I can get time to put it all down. Most is good! LOL I am well and training hard still. I feel great!

It looks like Amanda is getting married. More on all this later!

Everyone else is "normal". LOL

Take care!

Jeffrey

Lafla

Hi gang! I should be in bed, it is 2 am but I wanted to tell you that the WI went well and I was down 3 pounds. I feel a bit ridiculous going on about how I would show a gain. It is a bit puzzling to me but I guess I did better at restaurant eating than I thought I did. Thinking back, I did eat a lot of salad which likely helped and I did try to keep the portions on the small side. Anyway, it worked out and I am happy about that. I got home and Neil was having a bit of a fit, angry at his Dad for something I couldn't figure out. It was not likely anything much but he obsesses until it is huge in his mind. It didn't go on long and he was happy when he went to bed. However, I won't be surprised if he starts up in the morning. Dave will have to use kind firmness as I will likely be at work when he gets up. I had to stay up awhile to 'decompress' after Neil's rant. Ready for sleep now. I don't start work until 10am so I should have a good sleep. As my Mom used to say "I better sleep fast".

Good night my friends, sleep tight. . . Gayla :happy:

marlouise

HELLO EVERYONE, I have been looking for pals close to my age, that share the same eyes as I do each day. I am determined to loose my weight and reach my final goal of 145-150. Right now diet is playing the major role, I do exercise however I have not been able to win this slump I'm in. I think though I work too hard and am just tuckered out. I have two jobs, my work week is 12 days with 14 shifts. I'm hoping as I loose the pounds,the energy level will rise. I feel bad about not exercising, deep inside I know I want to do them, however a spark has to ignite the motivation. I started at 202 pounds and am at 174 now, feeling better, a little more off then I will be wearing smaller sizes.

My birthday is Feb 1957.

I'm hoping to find a home here, it is a wonderful web site, and I see a few do share with WW, I also am a member. I also see some beautiful flowers growing in your gardens, I have a yellow thumb, it matches wonderfully with the dandylions I grow.

Hope to hear from you.

Marilyn

CALIECAT

Hee is a quote from a good friend of gayla, Phoebe and myself. Who lost her weight 7 years ago on WW. she has her own system and it work for her We met her on another board of a WW system. She lost 50 lbs and most amazing thing she kept it off after 7 years. I am so proud of her. She has been raising 2 grandson and cook regular meals and follow her Program. Here is her story::::::
Chapter: Everyday Life
Seven Years Tuesday, June 22, 2010




It’s very rare that I put a weight entry out for the public. I keep them private and store them under the ‘Weight’ chapter. However, on Memorial Day I made it to 7 years that I have been on WW Maintenance. It’s been such a struggle at times that I refuse to say I ’celebrated’ the day. It was more a milestone than any kind of rejoicing.

Of all the things that WW wants everyone to do while losing weight, I found the journaling to be the most important for me. I HAVE to write it down each day, all the points I eat. If I don’t, I wander away from the maintenance and then it becomes a slippery slope. I’m all over the place. One good day, two bad ones, and no sense of control. It’s a guideline for me. I can say I did good all week or I’ve had a bad day only once this week. It’s written there for me to SEE.

I set a goal of losing 50 pounds. Then I lessened it to 45 because I thought 50 would be too much of a loss. I did this as I was getting most of the weight off. It took me seven months to lose 45 pounds. After I hit goal, I lost another four pounds over a few months. I had a fear of gaining it all back and wasn’t eating very much. That cannot last and I knew it. Eventually I gained back those four pounds and stayed at 150 for several months.

I increased each point value to 60 calories when I started on maintenance. I try to keep the points at 22 to 24 per day. This is an average day. If I can get my walk in, I can deduct 3 to 4 points and I can also eat a little more, if I so choose, and still write down 22 to 24 points.

One thing I don’t do is count ANY of my liquid as points. I just let it go because it’s rare that I have anything to drink that has calorie value. Most days it’s two cups of coffee in the morning. Starting at 11AM, I grab my thermos of water and have it with me the rest of the day. I drink water with all meals and sometimes have a cup of coffee after supper, if it’s decaf in the pot. I take my coffee black. If I happen to buy a cappacino or have a glass of orange juice, I enjoy it and don’t even bother with how many calories there are in the cup or glass. I drink some soda infrequently and it’s always diet. Water is my drink of choice. If I drank beer, alcohol or regular soda all the time, it would have to be counted. But I don’t have to worry about that.

The biggest mistake I’ve made since being on maintenance was during the Christmas holiday of the first year, 2003. I decided that I was doing so well that I would take a vacation from counting points and relax from Thanksgiving to New Years. It was a gigantic mistake!! It literally took months to get myself motivated to get back on the program. My mind knew what to do, my body rebelled. I gained 5 pounds, too. And January is not a good month to go back to being on a strict schedule, I really don’t care what kind of resolution I came up with. It wasn’t working because it wasn’t the kind of thing that you see with dieting. If you diet, you see results. If the clothes are slightly tight around the waist, just live with it!! And I think the depressing weather, along with not being able to get out everyday had something to do with it. It was probably around mid-February that I finally got back on track and slowly lost the 5 pounds over several weeks. By April, I was able to buy new shorts in the size I wanted and THEN I felt really good about it. I never allowed myself to even give a thought to such a thing again!!


I eat 3 or 4 points for breakfast, quite often it’s Special K. Lunch is 5 points and if I have a snack in the morning and afternoon, it’s 1 or 2 points. Supper is 10 or 11, depending on what we are eating. If we are going out, I try to keep points during the day for the meal. I don't eat after 6PM. I've found I sleep better when I don't eat in the evening. I hate when I'm asked to go for ice cream or meet someone in the evening, but it happens sometimes. I have no time to plan for it and it ends up a bad day unless I can find something for only a couple points, not always an easy thing to do. And drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water each day is important.

I’ve been told a couple years ago that the weight gain, which I’d never had a problem with before, was due to the change of life. I would gain 10 and lose 10 on and off for years. Never had a weight gain of this magnitude before. If it’s true that it was the change of life, I gained weight, my hair curled for two years and I had hot flashes. In the end, my hair went back to being mostly straight and the hot flashes ended. I was left with the weight….and thanks to WW for helping me to get rid of it and keep it off!!

lculian

bump!

CALIECAT

HELLO EVERYONE, I have been looking for pals close to my age, that share the same eyes as I do each day. I am determined to loose my weight and reach my final goal of 145-150. Right now diet is playing the major role, I do exercise however I have not been able to win this slump I'm in. I think though I work too hard and am just tuckered out. I have two jobs, my work week is 12 days with 14 shifts. I'm hoping as I loose the pounds,the energy level will rise. I feel bad about not exercising, deep inside I know I want to do them, however a spark has to ignite the motivation. I started at 202 pounds and am at 174 now, feeling better, a little more off then I will be wearing smaller sizes.

My birthday is Feb 1957.

I'm hoping to find a home here, it is a wonderful web site, and I see a few do share with WW, I also am a member. I also see some beautiful flowers growing in your gardens, I have a yellow thumb, it matches wonderfully with the dandylions I grow.

Hope to hear from you.

Marilyn

hello Marilyn. what a cute puppy. we love animals here and think they are part of the group.

what is his/her name You will hear from us . I am the oldest the younger ones will be bye sonner or later. hope you enjoy being with us. We are glad to have you. Just wanted to drop in and say welcome before I shut this darn thing down for the night. See you later. Marie

gigi46

I just finished reading all the members post for July, what a great group, Gayla so sorry about Dave, glad he is doing well.
Gayla told me about the group previously, I will like to be part of your group. So nice to hear about everyday happening in you lives.
Have a wonderful July everyone, hope to hear from you soon:drinker: Gigi

Lafla

Hi everyone from sunny Saskatchewan! It was a work day so got home late and had to watch Dancing with the Stars! So sad to see Alex have to go home, def. one of my favorites. I will look forward to him returning next year.

Gigi -- So nice to see you here! I know you will love this group of motivated people. Glad to have you here. Thanks for asking about Dave. He is doing better every day and it seems to be healing faster than the Dr. said which is a very good thing,

Marilyn -- Welcome to you as well.

Marie -- Thank you so much for posting Kay's story. Tell her it is very motivating. I wonder if she would mind if I took it to WW. I just may have to post on her blog and ask her.

Today wasn't the best eating day I could have had. It is never good for me to have a long workday, I become so weak (in the head!!).

Hope everyone is having a great sunshiny day. Take care and keep smiling. Gayla