2019 - I WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON'T GIVE UP!! HERE WE GO!
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Good morning ladies!
I’m sorry i’ve been a bit MIA.. its been a very busy (but good) week leading up to my last day last Thurs.. and since and most of it has involved of course.. food and drink! It’s been wonderful but I’ve been keeping an eye on the scale; I did have a loss but this morning I was back to my last logged weight so I won’t be changing that today ☹ but its ok because I know it wont be long before im losing again (positive thinking, right?) I just need to rein in the excess eating of the past few days; its funny when you start realizing just how big restaurant portion sizes are especially because i’ve been cutting down at home – I even went out and bought 2 smaller dinner plates cause the ones I have are huge – and i’ve been using the smaller ones for my actual dinner meals. But its a very slippery slope and of course, god forbid I should only eat a few of the fries and send the rest away...once you start eating out a lot you want it all again.... every day!
I had eggs benedict yesterday morning when a friend took me out to celebrate and I didnt eat the English muffin – which in reality prob had less calories than the peameal and eggs and hollandaise sauce but in my head it was like.. nope I wont eat that. So I ate the home fries instead.. oh ya.... uh huh right there’s logic for you – NOT! I would have been perfectly happy with just one egg too but of course it comes with 2 portions and I ate IT ALL... so as much as it involves me actually cooking, im kinda looking forward to a few days where I can get back to better choices! Anyway.. I will have a lot of time on my hands now to make that happen lol – not that it seems real yet – just feels like i’m on regular days off !! ok.. nuff about me...
I may go backwards reply wise as im doing this in an email with mfp on a split screen beside it so I can read thru everything again as I write... so bear with me!!
Suzy – my little mountain climber!!! You will forever be my inspiration as “I know a lady who climbs mountains!” im so glad the weather was perfect for your hike and that suspension bridge... yikes! Im not afraid of heights but I am not a fan of bridges lol.. well done you!!!! I bet the calves are screaming a wee bit but they are cries of joy for sure! That article about cardio after ST was perfect timing for me – and made perfect sense for my own goals of gaining muscle and losing weight - i’ll splain in another long boring post later but thanks for posting that link!
Vail - love the chart!! Its something i’ll have to draw on too while I get used to being retired and learning to change to a new routine. I’ve been seeing consistent weight loss posts on your feed – it must feel awesome to not only be back at your maintenance level, but i’m thinking you might actually have gone below it by now? You mentioned you were doing a circuit cardio class that actually had a lot of ST in it – hows that going? And yes about the trap of believing i’m burning more cals than I think I am its so true!! I have never used any of the exercise I do as part of my weight loss journey (as far as letting myself eat back any exercise cals i’ve logged) but I think in my head I still give myself “permission” if i’ve done some exercise to eat more or eat crap. And yes on the math part.. when you start taking away the warm up time, the explanations, and for me with pb the down time between games waiting for a court.. the actual time spent DOING is much less in reality than in my head! And as far as fumbling in the dark – girl i’m fumbling right along with you!! Hows the slimmer world programme going btw? Is the new group helping out motivation wise?
Gail/Milove – how are things in your parts of the world? Inquiring minds wanna know lol!!
Ok i’m going to post this first before I lose it...
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So just as a final note im just putting out there my own personal goal and plan for the last .. ( I think its down to 18 weeks now Suzy? ) left in this year!
I have the weight training/fit class for older adults starting in 2 weeks..its only once a week and i’ll miss 2 classes while in Italy but i’m hoping it will give me some “plan” that I can also use at home in between. That said.. I have decided I have to actually get off my *kitten* and begin something ST wise at home til then, so today my goal is to create a little space at the end of my living room; just big enuf for me to be able to get on the floor and for a chair.. I spent some time yesterday online looking at various sites for ST for older adults yada yada.. and also learned the importance of warming up before hand as we get older!! So I have saved 3 sites – a warmup of 8 exercises to do first; then 3 chair exercises (squats, leg lifts, calf things, hip rotation kinda things) then 6 ST exercises using the dumb bells I have at home (yep I dug em out and dusted them off – its just a wee set of the 1,3 and 5lb ones) and it may not seem like much of a routine, but I will be doing something and that is my main goal now.. to actually START something.
And I admit.. setting it up there is because I can turn the tv around to that end of the LR... and I have made a deal with myself that if I am sitting on my *kitten* watching TV at night (which I seem to be doing a lot of the past few days) then at every commercial break I must get UP first of all.. and then do some kind of stretches or exercise.. whether it be ankle rotations, heel/toe taps, the bridge thingie on the floor, wall pushups.. ..hell even marching in place.. yada yada .. but something during every commercial. I’m hoping this will at least be a start and will hopefully then lead to doing more once i start the classes. So that’s my goal for September to incorporate this as a daily plan to move more and sit less!!
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p.s. these are the 10 warmup exercises suggested before any cardio or ST moves - says to pick 4 or 5 of them and do for 30-60 seconds.. would be interested in any thoughts about yea/nay? thanks!
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/g26554730/best-warm-up-exercises/
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Sounds like you have a very solid and well thought out plan Snoozie! I never thought about it before but my dad keeps barbells next to his recliner and every once in a while when I’m visiting he will just pick them up and do a few arm curls and such. He will follow up with a few push ups and sit ups. He’s 88 and can still do all of that, plus a few one arm bent knee push ups! So...great idea on having yours set up where you can easily reach them and be constantly reminded to “just do it!” Thanks for the warm up link. I think what she’s doing in the link is what I’ve been doing as actual exercise! I need to up my warm up game!!
I’ve scheduled my appointment to get my blood work done. Finally!!! I’m really really scared that my A1C, triglycerides and LDL are going to be terrible. But I’m done burying my head in the sand. Time to face the music.
I usually don’t eat my exercise calories back either but after our hike on Sunday I was starving that night and yesterday. I don’t know how much of that was actual hunger and how much was justification after that challenging hike. By the way, my calves are still screaming at me. I got up at 3:00 am to use the loo and could barely walk. My sleep addled brain took a minute to catch up and I must have looked hysterically funny trying to walk! 😂
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Thanks Suzy - im great at planning its the execution where i usually fall down hard - so crossing my fingers! SERIOUSLY on your dad?? omg... ok he's my new hero... he can still do more at his age than i can do at all now!! so yes im hoping having them nearby will inspire me to jsut do it!!
I did have a wee laugh picturing you hobbling to the loo... but it was a sympathy giggle!! and i think it was pure need that drove you to eat after that hike!! weirdly.. i have been eating better but eating.. more often i guess (before this past week).. little snackages during meals too.. and thats when i was starting to lose... i found these grissol little rounds - like melba toast but soft crisp not break your teeth hard and bought a tub of bruschetta mix and they make a great snack with 4-5 topped with the bruschetta.. i nuke em for about 10 seconds after i put the topping on just enuf to take the fridge cold off... and it makes a nice mid afternoon snack and low cal but filling and more veg in me..
ohhhhhhh suz.. i know you;re nervous but i am so glad you sched your blood work to get done!! I know its scary but knowing what your numbers are (be they good or needing a little work) gives you a baseline to move forward from - just think of it as simply another tool like the scale.. uselful but only one part of the whole equation right? so much more goes into taking care of ourselves including the R&R time lets not forget; and knowing your numbers is just another one you can use like the others.. nothing more!
i need to get UP cause i've been sitting at hte puter for a bit as people are sending me photos from the retirement party and im sifting thru ditching the ones in which i look horrible LOLOL.. and saving the rest onto a flash drive... but im already breaking my own rule about sitting too long so off i go to start up the cleaning again... i remember that study a while back that showed housework burned more cals than the gym so best keep that in mind so maybe i'll wash the floors too!! haaaaaaaaaaaa2 -
That bridge looks exciting! You are so adventurous! I'm glad you had such a great hike. It sounds very hard!1
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OH My!! it is for REAL!!! You are finally retired!! AWESOME! I have been so busy with nights that I haven't had time to read up or even think about how many days have gone by.
Yay! on the mountain trip...you make it seem like a walk around the block, Suzy. So proud of you !
Nite....it's 1:19 here....just leaving work. gotta turn around and be back at 12:30 lunch time...
ugh!! snoozie, I can't wait until I MAke it to retirement. ENJOY!!!2 -
Okay....had my blood drawn today. Now we wait for the results. 😬 I had my mammogram done a couple weeks ago (it had been four years) and it was good. Had a bone density test done last week and waiting to hear back on that. I’m trying to take responsibility for my health. Having to take my parents to all their doctor appointments has opened my eyes to how important it is to get and stay as healthy as possible now. I do have an issue with my right hand called “trigger finger.” I got a cortisone shot this week and am hoping that will resolve it because I sure don’t want to have surgery on it. I thought it was just arthritis so I’m glad I got it checked out. Getting old is not for wimps.
Snoozie we want to see your favorite retirement photo!!!!
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Wow Suzy good on you!!! (and ty for the reminder i'm due for a mamo this year too)! very glad yours was good - did your bone density one involve laying on a bed with a foam wedge under your knees? thats how they did mine and i told the tech if she could hook me up with a glass of wine, i'd have a lovely nap LOL.. that was a nice and relaxing test i must say!
omg on the trigger finger - i had to google it to see what it was; never heard of it but holy hell it sounds very painful - fingers crossed the cortisone shot will fix it! Sounds like you covered all the bases and i dont know how it works in the states but here my doc gives me a copy of the results for all the blood tests if i want it... i dont usually take it but i DO record the numbers she tells me for my A1C, cholesterol (HDL and LDL and BP etc on the "notes" feature of my phone when she goes over them with me, so i can look back and see the differences.. just a thot if you dont get a copy there, the phone can come in handy (or you can ask your doc if you can voice memo the results when they go over them with you - or even old school and jot em down on a piece of paper LOL.. ANYWAY you may not want to do it at all just a few ideas...
and no .. its not for wimps at all! We all need capes to wear for sure
Most of the photos have other people in them Suz and i can't post those, but i'll try to find one of just me in there LOL.. i beileve there may be one of me and Marvin my therapy monkey (we were complaining one day that we were never working when the "stress doggie" was brot to our work (it was some new program they tried but we just wanted to play with the dog) anyway one of my guys as a joke gave me a stuffed monkey to use instead and he became known as Marvin - and of course since my ultimate phrase at work become "not my circus, not my monkeys" the past few months, Marvin was doing double duty! haaaaaaaaaaa
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Yes, of all the medical tests that one can go through, the bone density is the absolute best!! 😂 My lab results will be available on (what else but) an app that I can access at will. It has all my past reports so that I can compare and keep track (of course I don’t have that many out there right now 🤣). So far my finger is showing no change whatsoever but it still hurts at the injection site. So weird...trigger finger...never heard of such a thing and then, whammo! I’ve got it. Jeez!
Marvin sounds like a keeper to me. So funny! I hope you’re enjoying your freedom!
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We have that online option here but I never use it because i think if i tried to decipher the numbers on my own it might freak me out if i didn't understand something LOL.. so i let my doc tell me (still a little ostrich in me too!) But i never thought about using it for the ease of tracking past and future reports.... i may have to rethink that!
As for the cortisone shot - i've heard it can take a few days for it to "kick" in, and i have to admit when i googled trigger finger it sounded so painful - so hoping the shot will help out soon and you get some relief!
If you feel like sharing your blood test results when they come in Suzy i'd like to hear about them, but totally get it if you'd rather not share, specially cause i know this was a huge step for you getting them done
I'll add 2 of the pics (one with marvin) and i cropped out one of my bosses faces on the other; they aren't great pics but i'll put them in my profile pics rather than post them here..
So... i'm one of those people who takes 2 suitcases for a weekend away right... and i thot the other day i should do a full trial pack of the little 20" carryon i'm taking to Italy.... and I did it! Now i may have to change out a shirt or 2 depending on the weather forecast a week before we actually go, but I got it down to 16.8 lbs. so I was pretty damn proud of myself. I hefted it up over my head to test it and that sucker is still pretty heavy lol.. so i may try to pare it down a bit more since we are travelling by train most of the time i do not want to lug more than i have to.. but it took some of the stress off knowing that I can do it LOL..
ok.. enuf babbling i'm off to walk at the lake.. my knee is a little sore i think cause im trying to wear my sneakers with the orthotics more and more before we go.. and i played pb in them yesterday.. prolly not the best idea but.. there ya go. I do believe i may stop at the farmers market on the way back and yes.. a cinnamon scone may find its way into the veggie bag !!1 -
Yay!!! Good for you! I know it’s a daunting task to figure out what to pack but you did it! You’ll be so glad that you just have the small bag when you see others struggling with their big suitcase. 😂 You’re going in September, right? How exciting!
You’re going to really shake your head when you hear that I don’t have a general doctor. I just got the lab to do the test. I know, I know...I should have a doctor that oversees my health but I just haven’t ever got one. My husband and I keep saying we need to find one. I have an OB/Gyn and then I go to whoever I need to for whatever is bothering me. Head in the sand!!! I’ll work on finding one.
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Ohhh I forgot things work slightly differently in the states in regards to family doctors etc. So do you read the blood test on your own and how do you know if they’re good or bad? (That may sound dumb but I really don’t know I’m not sure I could read my results even now And know what they mean? We do have walk-in clinics here but for me personally I’ve had the same family doc for the last 20 years And I kind of a like that she knows my entire history over the years and what to keep an eye out for but that said I know it’s different in the United States Sorry I have a new phone I’m trying to figure out And the site looks a whole lot different on this one0
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No, most people have a general practitioner (family doctor) that they go to for years and years. I’ve just never been the type to even go to a doctor so I just bury my head in the sand and hope for the best. Not a smart approach, I know. The lab report comes back and tells you what your levels are and what the “normal” levels are, it highlights wherever you are outside the recommended range. I’ve never been outside the normal range on anything but my cholesterol numbers (triglycerides, LDL, totals and such) and they weren’t that bad. I’ve just ignored it...again, head in the sand...way down deep in the sand. Not a good idea I know but 🤷🏻♀️. I’m trying to be better about it now. I’ll probably find a doctor and take the report to them. Maybe. We’ll see.
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ohhhhhhhhh i get it - didn't realize the reports would highlight anything outside normal so you can read em yourself.. quite clever really!! And as far as a getting a doc - ya not a bad idea BUT the most important thing is that you overcame your fear and had the tests done Suzy.. and THAT was a huge accomplishment; im really proud of you because i know any of facing anything that scares us or that we would simply just prefer to ignore (and i'm guilty of that myself on many things - i am the Queen of Procrastinating on things like dental appts, and many other things so i can appreciate what it took for you to have the tests done... so you take a bow girl cause you burst free of that sand!!1
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Soooo...my mom is in the hospital again. She had a small stroke and she’s fine, they’re just running some tests and observation for a couple days. Anyway, I’m sitting there listening to the doctor talk about what causes a stroke: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history, diabetes. And I’m thinking, “wow, this could be like a huge wake up call for me.” Even before I get my bloodwork results, I’m really opening my eyes to the fact that I’m not taking good enough care of my health. I may climb mountains but a stroke could take me out in a heartbeat. Time to take responsibility. 😳
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Got my bloodwork report today. My triglycerides went up and are high, my ldl level is high but a bit lower than last time. So I really need to get my cholesterol under control. Any suggestions on how to do that through diet? I need to do some research on that.
The really good news is that my A1C is 5.4!!!! Totally in the normal range!!!!! I am so relieved! Wow! Whew!!
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woo hoo on the A1C suzy.. that is AWESOME!! ABSOLUTELY well within normal you must be dancing on sunshine!
When i was trying to bring my cholesterol down, i learned some of it is genetic and nothing we can do about that, but there are some dietary changes you can make... for me i cut down my red meat (wah) and if i recall, a handful of walnuts a day was supposed to help lower cholesterol. I can't remember off the top of my head anything else .. something maybe about bran buds rings a bell.. a small amount of those every day as i seem to remember the only way i could get them down was to put them in a spoonful of yogurt? but definitely research any new info that might be out there..
BTW... just an fyi... when i have my cholesterol checked, i'm not supposed to eat meat 24 hrs before, or alchohol - before the test. I didnt realize that before and The one time i had pork chops for dinner with wine casue i didnt know.. my numbers were up a bit Next time i didn't eat anything with cholesterol for 24 hrs the day before.. think i had pasta for dinner and a salad for lunch - and oatmeal instaed of eggs lol.. and that test was better. So i dunno what you had for dinner the night before the test... or if it really makes a difference at all lol.. but there ya go!!
So im thinking you are in a happy place - having braved the tests and found out your A1C is awesome.. bit of a relief no doubt and a great baseline to have moving forward - proud of you!!1 -
I went back and looked at my log...I had lightened up chicken enchiladas and red wine the night before. 🙄 I did some reading and yes, nuts are a good addition. I think I’m going to add fish twice a week (my husband should just love that...not!). In fact we’re having salmon tonight and he has never EVER eaten salmon and has always refused...he will be thrilled!
I’m planning on:
1. Fish twice a week
2. Many many more veggies
3. Nuts (almonds and walnuts) for a snack
4. Whole grains (cereal is one source but I’m not sure how else to get this one in)
5. Maybe experiment with eating beans? I’ve never really cooked beans.
6. Daily exercise
7. Cut out sugar and processed food as much as possible
I’m going to really try and stick to this and then have my triglycerides and LDL checked again in maybe six months? If I don’t see any changes then I may have to consider medication. Both my parents are on statins and have been for years.
But yes, I am so relieved about the A1C results!
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Suzy - that sounds like a very excellent AND do-able plan... i didn't know almonds were on the list; the whole grains is a prob for me too as i'm supposed to be upping my iron, and cereal here is fortified with it.. im not a big cereal person so am trying to eat it 2x a week and got a fibre 1 brand... are the beans for cholesterol lowering or to incorporate more veg and legumes? i don't cook beans either - i do occasionally enjoy one of those 5 bean salad things... but i think the pre made ones are loaded with sugar
I think 6 months is a good time frame; that's my usual unless my A1C is high then she makes me get it every 3 months..
i gather hubby is not a fish fan LOLOL. well, there are a load of diff ways to prep fish (i sadly always do mine the same way but rumour has its theres loads ha.. ) and if he isnt a fan, maybe try a less fishy fish for him - a white fish like haddock or halibut? i've heard of a few recipes with spinach on it and tomato sauce or other things - which might help hide the fish taste for him and make him a little more willing to eat it LOL.. BUT i think it's awesome you are making these changes and have thought out what you want to do... well done!
speaking of veggies.. i asked the lady at the farmers market if she could mix a batch of yellow and green beans together instead of buying one of each cause its only me... she said sure.. but when i got home, instead of the little one pint container of beans, she had given me the huge basket size. well holy @#$# i would have had to eat them for 2 weeks to get rid of them. And i'm trying to waste less food these days - anyway i went online and learned i could blanche them for 3 min and then freeze them for up to a year.. so i did it.. and now have a stash all ready to go for a quick and easy side dish. Phew!!1
