60 yrs and up

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Replies

  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,725 Member
    nsk1951 wrote: »
    Yep ... we who have been working on our weight for a long time have all found ways that work for us ... and that is exactly as it ought to be ... your taste buds, your lifestyle, your comfort with preparing meals, your dietary needs or restrictions ... no one plan can possible work for everyone, or maybe not even for the next person!

    You have to do the work. There is no fast and easy solution.

    Hear hear! Truth. 👍
  • coblujay
    coblujay Posts: 688 Member
    Celebrating those milestones with you, @AnnPT77 ! I tend to eat the same things for breakfast and I try to make it a lower calorie meal so I still have room for lunch and dinner. MFP estimates my calorie goal at 1200, which has been a challenge, but then I have one indulgence meal a week, or at least have done so for most of this weight loss journey. After a bit of a slide over vacation, I'm back at it today, with a primary goal of logging everything again and getting back to my exercise plan. For the newbies, you can do this and it will be worth all those days when you win by saying no to what you really want to say yes to. While it's still a challenge, it gets easier as you start seeing results.
  • nsk1951
    nsk1951 Posts: 1,304 Member
    edited June 2022
    Today I had a new adventure .. my first community lunch at the Senior Center in my new community. There was a very small turnout; not at all like the lunches at which I used to partake at the Amherst Sr Center (which serves a much larger population district than this one does.) .. Still, it was pleasant to meet the handful of new faces; whose names I forgot even though I tried to say them 3 times to seal them into my memory. Also, it is a step in the attainment of a goal I had set for myself when I moved to this new city a couple of months ago ... to get out socially in this new community and make acquaintances, hopefully form some friendships.

    The lunch we had today was really quite good and a Nutritionist organized the components to provide a balanced meal ... mashed potatoes, spinach, chicken with mushrooms in a light sauce, whole wheat bread with a pat of butter, applesauce, milk, and pineapple juice. I brought the small can of pineapple juice home with me as that would have been "over the top" in terms of carbs. And, surprisingly, it was quite tasty given that it was cooked with no added salt or fat in any of the dishes. I'll have to try to duplicate the chicken recipe because it was tasty.

  • Timberlan127
    Timberlan127 Posts: 237 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Pdc654 wrote: »
    Welcome to all the new people!! I'm doing ok right now. I've had a couple of hungry days but I've hung in with them. Eating more protein has helped me with the hunger. I've been walking more. Progress is slow but steady with some fluctuations still happening. I have found if I just keep doing the right things they even out over time. This is a tough journey and it's hard not to get impatient sometimes. But I am feeling better and feeling more in control of my progress. I hope you are all doing well. The good weather should help us all to get out more and move more.

    Restarting exercise for me was a very slow progression since I was recovering from a bad couple months of vertigo and I had just spent 2 years basically just sitting on my couch. I was worried about making my lower back pain worse (exercising did just the opposite) and I was worried about falling due to the dizziness from the vertigo. So I started with a very slow 5 minute walk around my house where I could steady myself with a wall or countertop if I needed. I added a minute a day and gradually increased my speed. I think the slow progression was key to getting back into exercise. It helped me avoid injury and build my confidence that I could indeed do this.

    I'm finding the same thing. With me it is my knees. But slow steady progress seems to be helping them too. I try to do a little more each day. The only discouraging part I'm finding is that I can't seem to move faster without risking a fall because the knees seem to give out on me now and then. They also hurt more the faster I try to walk. I'm hoping as I lose more weight that will improve.

    In general, I've found that the stronger/fitter I get, the less frequent or severe chronic pain (or even discomfort) is. Finding the right level of challenge - to make progress but not injure myself - is the challenge.

    So far (🤞), I've found that patient progression will let me do nearly anything I want to, that isn't completely contraindicated by some prior injury/problem. The trick is finding the right patient route.

    When first working out, it was harder to distinguish discomfort that was maybe unpleasant but wasn't making things worse, from pain that was deepening some underlying problem/injury and making things overall worse long term. With experience, it seems like I can better distinguish between those things in the moment, and better manage them.

    Weight loss has definitely been a help, a big one, for me. It helped balance as well as the stress on joints.

    That gives me hope. I have read that before. I can already feel some difference. The knees don't hurt as much as they did when I started. I need to find some exercises that will strengthen the muscles around the knees. I can walk with no problems but stairs, getting out of chairs, or walking up hills are all tough. So I know the muscles around the knees are not as strong as they should be. So that is definitely something I need to work on. I'm glad to hear that the more I lose the better the knees might get.
  • Timberlan127
    Timberlan127 Posts: 237 Member
    swimmom_1 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Pdc654 wrote: »
    Welcome to all the new people!! I'm doing ok right now. I've had a couple of hungry days but I've hung in with them. Eating more protein has helped me with the hunger. I've been walking more. Progress is slow but steady with some fluctuations still happening. I have found if I just keep doing the right things they even out over time. This is a tough journey and it's hard not to get impatient sometimes. But I am feeling better and feeling more in control of my progress. I hope you are all doing well. The good weather should help us all to get out more and move more.

    Restarting exercise for me was a very slow progression since I was recovering from a bad couple months of vertigo and I had just spent 2 years basically just sitting on my couch. I was worried about making my lower back pain worse (exercising did just the opposite) and I was worried about falling due to the dizziness from the vertigo. So I started with a very slow 5 minute walk around my house where I could steady myself with a wall or countertop if I needed. I added a minute a day and gradually increased my speed. I think the slow progression was key to getting back into exercise. It helped me avoid injury and build my confidence that I could indeed do this.

    I'm finding the same thing. With me it is my knees. But slow steady progress seems to be helping them too. I try to do a little more each day. The only discouraging part I'm finding is that I can't seem to move faster without risking a fall because the knees seem to give out on me now and then. They also hurt more the faster I try to walk. I'm hoping as I lose more weight that will improve.

    In general, I've found that the stronger/fitter I get, the less frequent or severe chronic pain (or even discomfort) is. Finding the right level of challenge - to make progress but not injure myself - is the challenge.

    So far (🤞), I've found that patient progression will let me do nearly anything I want to, that isn't completely contraindicated by some prior injury/problem. The trick is finding the right patient route.

    When first working out, it was harder to distinguish discomfort that was maybe unpleasant but wasn't making things worse, from pain that was deepening some underlying problem/injury and making things overall worse long term. With experience, it seems like I can better distinguish between those things in the moment, and better manage them.

    Weight loss has definitely been a help, a big one, for me. It helped balance as well as the stress on joints.

    I agree with @AnnPT77
    I had a Tibial Plateau fracture in 2015 (put back together with 3 plates and 20 some screws) and since I could not get down on my left knee and very hard to get up if I fell down. After losing 100 lbs I can actually get on my knee to do "girl" pushups! And like Ann said better balance and going up & down stairs, etc. is much much better. More normal. Whether it's true or not they used to say for every lb you lose it's 4 lbs less pressure on your knee. Not sure how that is determined but my knees are much better.

    Thank you!!! I like hearing this. I have also read that every pound puts 4 lb. of pressure on the knee. So no wonder the knees are hurting. Knowing that you both are doing better without the weight is added incentive to keep going. It is very hard to get up if I fall. Thought of falling is scary. I used to get down on the floor all the time and sit there to do things. Now I never get down on the floor. Added weight puts so many restrictions on a person. Thank you for all the encouragement.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    edited June 2022
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Pdc654 wrote: »
    Welcome to all the new people!! I'm doing ok right now. I've had a couple of hungry days but I've hung in with them. Eating more protein has helped me with the hunger. I've been walking more. Progress is slow but steady with some fluctuations still happening. I have found if I just keep doing the right things they even out over time. This is a tough journey and it's hard not to get impatient sometimes. But I am feeling better and feeling more in control of my progress. I hope you are all doing well. The good weather should help us all to get out more and move more.

    Restarting exercise for me was a very slow progression since I was recovering from a bad couple months of vertigo and I had just spent 2 years basically just sitting on my couch. I was worried about making my lower back pain worse (exercising did just the opposite) and I was worried about falling due to the dizziness from the vertigo. So I started with a very slow 5 minute walk around my house where I could steady myself with a wall or countertop if I needed. I added a minute a day and gradually increased my speed. I think the slow progression was key to getting back into exercise. It helped me avoid injury and build my confidence that I could indeed do this.

    I'm finding the same thing. With me it is my knees. But slow steady progress seems to be helping them too. I try to do a little more each day. The only discouraging part I'm finding is that I can't seem to move faster without risking a fall because the knees seem to give out on me now and then. They also hurt more the faster I try to walk. I'm hoping as I lose more weight that will improve.

    In general, I've found that the stronger/fitter I get, the less frequent or severe chronic pain (or even discomfort) is. Finding the right level of challenge - to make progress but not injure myself - is the challenge.

    So far (🤞), I've found that patient progression will let me do nearly anything I want to, that isn't completely contraindicated by some prior injury/problem. The trick is finding the right patient route.

    When first working out, it was harder to distinguish discomfort that was maybe unpleasant but wasn't making things worse, from pain that was deepening some underlying problem/injury and making things overall worse long term. With experience, it seems like I can better distinguish between those things in the moment, and better manage them.

    Weight loss has definitely been a help, a big one, for me. It helped balance as well as the stress on joints.

    That gives me hope. I have read that before. I can already feel some difference. The knees don't hurt as much as they did when I started. I need to find some exercises that will strengthen the muscles around the knees. I can walk with no problems but stairs, getting out of chairs, or walking up hills are all tough. So I know the muscles around the knees are not as strong as they should be. So that is definitely something I need to work on. I'm glad to hear that the more I lose the better the knees might get.

    @Timberlan127, will your doctor refer you for physical therapy? That really helped me. According to what they told me, for many people, strengthening muscles around the knee is an important intervention, and good physical therapy people are really skilled at figuring out which muscle groups are the main problems.

    In my case, it wasn't so much knee strength (I'd already been working out for probably a decade by then), but more related to some tightness in my hips, and they gave me exercises to help that. In addition, they gave me great assessment and instructions to help me walk and (especially) climb stairs in ways that would reduce stress on my knees in the future.

    It may not apply to you, but some advice they gave that was extremely useful was the observation that as I went up stairs, I was sort of using the leading/front leg's knee to pull myself up, which is more stressful. They encouraged me to think about pushing from the lower/back foot, when climbing stairs - that put more of the work into the calves, not so much on the knee. I can feel a difference, when I work on that.

    For knee exercises, maybe see what "Bob & Brad" on YouTube have on video: They're professional physical therapists each with decades of experience, and they have videos on many topics, self-help oriented. (I think some of their advice about diet isn't exactly on point, but that's a bit out of their professional scope of practice, so . . . .). Their exercise recommendations seem good.
  • nsk1951
    nsk1951 Posts: 1,304 Member
    Hi @danfinn01 and welcome.
  • annliz23
    annliz23 Posts: 3,742 Member
    danfinn01 wrote: »
    I am a male and will be 71 in two weeks. Got lazy for a couple of years...easy to blame covid but that wouldn't be true, just lazy. We did move in the last year which did add stress (eating). Fortunately one house sold moved into new house and I am now being extremely careful. I have lost 20 lbs since the end of April by watching what I eat and now trying to walk 12,500 steps a day. My blood pressure is still elevated today it was 156 over 90. That makes three days under 160/95 which means I can now start getting back to swinging kettlebells which I happen to like working with. They are fairly easy to use and are both aerobic and anaerobic!!! I will start using tomorrow and plan to use three days a week.

    Good luck
  • bethe
    bethe Posts: 79 Member
    Just got back from a five day trip, helping friends pack up to move houses. Lots of strenuous activity, and I had to be extra mindful re: the muscle I pulled in my back last week. I of course fell off my diet, but oh well. I'm home now and back at it.
  • Timberlan127
    Timberlan127 Posts: 237 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Pdc654 wrote: »
    Welcome to all the new people!! I'm doing ok right now. I've had a couple of hungry days but I've hung in with them. Eating more protein has helped me with the hunger. I've been walking more. Progress is slow but steady with some fluctuations still happening. I have found if I just keep doing the right things they even out over time. This is a tough journey and it's hard not to get impatient sometimes. But I am feeling better and feeling more in control of my progress. I hope you are all doing well. The good weather should help us all to get out more and move more.

    Restarting exercise for me was a very slow progression since I was recovering from a bad couple months of vertigo and I had just spent 2 years basically just sitting on my couch. I was worried about making my lower back pain worse (exercising did just the opposite) and I was worried about falling due to the dizziness from the vertigo. So I started with a very slow 5 minute walk around my house where I could steady myself with a wall or countertop if I needed. I added a minute a day and gradually increased my speed. I think the slow progression was key to getting back into exercise. It helped me avoid injury and build my confidence that I could indeed do this.

    I'm finding the same thing. With me it is my knees. But slow steady progress seems to be helping them too. I try to do a little more each day. The only discouraging part I'm finding is that I can't seem to move faster without risking a fall because the knees seem to give out on me now and then. They also hurt more the faster I try to walk. I'm hoping as I lose more weight that will improve.

    In general, I've found that the stronger/fitter I get, the less frequent or severe chronic pain (or even discomfort) is. Finding the right level of challenge - to make progress but not injure myself - is the challenge.

    So far (🤞), I've found that patient progression will let me do nearly anything I want to, that isn't completely contraindicated by some prior injury/problem. The trick is finding the right patient route.

    When first working out, it was harder to distinguish discomfort that was maybe unpleasant but wasn't making things worse, from pain that was deepening some underlying problem/injury and making things overall worse long term. With experience, it seems like I can better distinguish between those things in the moment, and better manage them.

    Weight loss has definitely been a help, a big one, for me. It helped balance as well as the stress on joints.

    That gives me hope. I have read that before. I can already feel some difference. The knees don't hurt as much as they did when I started. I need to find some exercises that will strengthen the muscles around the knees. I can walk with no problems but stairs, getting out of chairs, or walking up hills are all tough. So I know the muscles around the knees are not as strong as they should be. So that is definitely something I need to work on. I'm glad to hear that the more I lose the better the knees might get.

    @Timberlan127, will your doctor refer you for physical therapy? That really helped me. According to what they told me, for many people, strengthening muscles around the knee is an important intervention, and good physical therapy people are really skilled at figuring out which muscle groups are the main problems.

    In my case, it wasn't so much knee strength (I'd already been working out for probably a decade by then), but more related to some tightness in my hips, and they gave me exercises to help that. In addition, they gave me great assessment and instructions to help me walk and (especially) climb stairs in ways that would reduce stress on my knees in the future.

    It may not apply to you, but some advice they gave that was extremely useful was the observation that as I went up stairs, I was sort of using the leading/front leg's knee to pull myself up, which is more stressful. They encouraged me to think about pushing from the lower/back foot, when climbing stairs - that put more of the work into the calves, not so much on the knee. I can feel a difference, when I work on that.

    For knee exercises, maybe see what "Bob & Brad" on YouTube have on video: They're professional physical therapists each with decades of experience, and they have videos on many topics, self-help oriented. (I think some of their advice about diet isn't exactly on point, but that's a bit out of their professional scope of practice, so . . . .). Their exercise recommendations seem good.

    @AnnPT77 Thank you!!! I have been considering that for a while but keep putting it off. It's time I try something new. It's scary to think my knees are so weak that I have trouble getting up off a chair. I definitely need to start doing something about it. In the mean time I will try Bob & Brad on You Tube. I hadn't thought about looking on You Tube. You always have such great ideas. Thank you for taking the time to share. Just knowing that you have been through some of these things and are doing better now helps a lot.

  • ShelleyBeth_61
    ShelleyBeth_61 Posts: 4 Member
    @mybentley7
    Congratulations on your successful start! How do I friend you?
  • mybentley7
    mybentley7 Posts: 32 Member
    edited June 2022
    @mybentley7
    Congratulations on your successful start! How do I friend you?

    They've made it really complicated to friend someone on mfp, at least on the app. First you click on the person's name, and then you click on view profile, then you have to click on "mfp profile", then you click on the friend icon, which is the one with three little people characters. From there you can send a friend request.
  • gocat55
    gocat55 Posts: 3 Member
    Hi - just turned 60 and I’m starting on this weight loss journey yet again. Would love to make friends and be a motivational buddy. Add me!
  • BCLadybug888
    BCLadybug888 Posts: 1,707 Member
    edited June 2022
    edayff wrote: »
    Hi- I am 67 and just lost 110 lbs and am looking to get muscle 💪 back up, lost alot of muscle while dieting. Starting weight maintenance program now to try to maintain weight at what it is but need muscle mass back.

    Good for you 👏 👏 👏 and for everyone reading this - make sure you eat lots of protein while losing weight to preserve as much muscle mass as possible!
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    Hi all,
    Reading all your posts but have been dealing with life’s issues, so I haven’t posted recently. Things are looking up, and I’m much more positive about my weight loss and focusing much more on my health. I’m of the same mindset as BC ladybug. I’m focusing on eating right at present, and will try to focus more on exercise when I get to about 200 lbs. at that point I’m hoping to get more energy.
  • BCLadybug888
    BCLadybug888 Posts: 1,707 Member
    Hi all,
    Reading all your posts but have been dealing with life’s issues, so I haven’t posted recently. Things are looking up, and I’m much more positive about my weight loss and focusing much more on my health. I’m of the same mindset as BC ladybug. I’m focusing on eating right at present, and will try to focus more on exercise when I get to about 200 lbs. at that point I’m hoping to get more energy.

    😘
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    Ok, now I feel a bit silly.
    Ridiculous and Ann, you’re both right. I think I’m making excuses. Exercise does seem to give you more energy , as strange as it sounds.
    I’m going to try to drag myself to the gym tomorrow and see what I can do. I’m so tired of feeling drained and exhausted. Also, I need to just move my body, so I don’t feel so stiff.
    One reason my goal was 200 lbs. is that at that weight I hope to stop taking one of the prescription drug’s whose side effect is tiredness. I hope when that happens, my energy will increase.
  • bethe
    bethe Posts: 79 Member
    Ok, now I feel a bit silly.
    Ridiculous and Ann, you’re both right. I think I’m making excuses. Exercise does seem to give you more energy , as strange as it sounds.
    I’m going to try to drag myself to the gym tomorrow and see what I can do. I’m so tired of feeling drained and exhausted. Also, I need to just move my body, so I don’t feel so stiff.
    One reason my goal was 200 lbs. is that at that weight I hope to stop taking one of the prescription drug’s whose side effect is tiredness. I hope when that happens, my energy will increase.

    Yoga is a great option too. Start gently and go from there. Frankly, the people who benefit from it the most are those of us who are stiff, carry extra weight, have mobility issues, etc.