MaggieGirl135’s Challenges
MaggieGirl135
Posts: 1,033 Member
March 9th. Hi there! I’m new to the group. I’m currently on my last few days of vacation and would love to share my ongoing story. I will give more information once I’m home and able to use my laptop. I’m creating this thread to bookmark it now to readily find it upon my return. Looking forward to chatting with you ladies!!! Maggie
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Welcome Maggie. Can’t wait to learn more about you and what challenges you want to take on.0
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Hi there, hello! I have returned from my vacation and ready to get back to it! My husband and I were in Hawaii for a couple weeks and just returned to our home in Colorado. We have been repeating the phrase, Beach Body, for a half a year now to encourage us to stay the course of getting into shape prior to our arrival to the islands. I gained only 2.5 lbs during this whole vacation and am soooo pleased it wasn't more! Eating a lot of seafood and walking around balanced out the alcoholic drink every couple days or so and desserts of a much greater frequency.
I am on the high side of the normal BMI scale. I was lower, but gained a few pounds in the few weeks prior to my vacation (confession: I wasn't tracking then (and I sure wasn't tracking on vacation)). I am 5' 3.5" (lost a bit of height (1/2") for the first time a year ago at my annual doctor's visit (still displeased about that one, more for the impact on the BMI scale than anything else)). I am 60 years old and am retired.
So, my husband and I were of the joking mindset (and frequent mention) of 'before Hawaii' and 'after Hawaii', so it almost feels like my 'after Hawaii' goals are similar to New Year's Resolutions. One big difference though, I am planning for these to be dynamic goals and adjusting when needed. My long term UGW as been 135 lbs and I was within a pound and a half of that a few weeks prior to our trip. At that point, I came to the realization that I need to drop that to 130 lbs, and even possibly, 125 lbs.
These are my initial goals:
Food Tracking:
-drop my additional Hawaiian weight using 1200 calories/day, a calorie budget I have followed off and on for a half of a year (off for special events, holidays, girls' trip)
-increase to 1300 calories/day after that and until I am at 135 lbs.
-increase to 1400 calories/day after that until I am at 130 lbs and re-evaluate at that point
Exercising:
-continue with my regular exercises: 20 min on the elliptical machine, weight training, and stretching. This is 1.25 - 1.5 hours of exercise, most days, typically 6 days/week. I enjoy this and can't imagine not doing this (this is a newer concept for me, possibly surreal). I find the cardio really helps to lose weight and the weight lifting for building muscles. In the past half year, I have lost 5-10 lbs, about 1" on the critical measurements, and built muscles enough for them to show a bit (just a little) and to improve my shape. #1 area for improvement (read: less of it) is the 'tummy area' (between the bikini line and belly button). #2: bust (yes, less, please).
I do not eat back any of my exercise calories because, with exercising most days, it is just my baseline of movement. And no concerns anyway, as my elliptical machine says I burn only 150 calories maximum, even though I am on an incline with some resistance. Why oh, why, do we not get any credit for the other exercises!!!
These are my fitness goals and thanks for allowing to have this space to share. I will update on occasion and will read all of your posts and encourage you in your endeavors. Oh, and sorry for the long post, future ones will be shorter!1 -
Welcome to the team! Love reading about your goals! 😄0
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Lost 2 of the 2.5 lbs of the Hawaiian weight. I’m not pretending though, I know it is just water weight (but still weight!).
Thanks for the welcome @sls631 and @beccaboo1276414 !!!0 -
Great goals!!1
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Great welcome post. I need to learn more about elliptical training. The stationary bike really pushes me but man does my butt hurt when I get off that seat. Ouch!0
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@sls631 My husband and I bought an elliptical machine when it got cold here last fall/winter and we could no longer walk in our neighborhood (and the gym was long since dropped by us due to the virus). It’s great! He greatly preferred “ellipticating” (our silly, made-up word) to using a treadmill due to him having joint problems. I always thought using an elliptical was so much harder than a treadmill, from the (very) few times I used them at the gym. Elliptical (vs. treadmill) had to win on the purchase decision because of his joints, as elliptical machines are more gentle on the joints than treadmills. I don’t find it hard to use at all; I don’t know what I was doing at the gym, lol. I am slowly working up to my pre-vacation incline and intensity (resistance) levels, but I have increased my time by a few minutes to 25 minutes. Probably 30 min will be my max. Bikes hurt my tush (recumbent ones don’t). The girl parts are ok, but, ‘ouch’ on the butt-bones. Is anyone else here with me on this?1
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Oh, and an update:
I lost the 2.5 lbs from our vacation and just bit more. I’m not quite as low as I was a couple weeks prior to the trip. Continuing with 1200 calories/day just for a little longer. Knowing I’ll be increasing my calories is tantalizing!1 -
I like to stay around 1200 calories but it's hard.1
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It is hard and it takes a lot of planning as well as tracking before anything goes in your mouth!1
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I am here with you sista’. Thanks for the elliptical update. I want to do some hiking in June so the idea of changing the incline is appealing. Will look at some videos and see if I can incorporate ell Into my rotation. Was thinking about stairmaster but I think the knees would revolt. Congrats on weight loss.1
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I vote for the elliptical. I don't have one near me right now, but it is a really good workout, and very gentle on the joints.
I have a recumbent bike which is kind to my rear. A standard stationary bike is an ouchie!
Wtg on your loss! 🌸😄0 -
Hello, ladies! Here is an update on my progress...
Well, I have lost my extra vacation weight and more and am sitting at 138 lbs. My lowest was 136.6 lbs, so I guess that is my next mini-goal, although I am aiming for 135 lbs (then possibly lower). I have increased (as planned) my calories to 1,300/day and that 100 more almost seems luxurious! I am still exercising most days, most commonly six out of the week, sometimes only five. I have gotten back up to my pre-vacation incline and resistance on the elliptical (a canned fat-burning program) and continue with weight training and stretching.
So, I have come to the conclusion that downhill skiing is not really my thing (I sooo hate getting off of those evil ski lifts). I will continue to do that a couple times a year, but I am going to try cross-country skiing next year. Like downhill, you can rent the skis (and bindings and boots). My husband and I think that he will be able to do this physically (he can do quite a bit physically, but there was no way he should try downhill). This is our plan for next winter. Although we are not far from ski resorts, you can cross-country ski in any local park. We scoped out which two parks (within several miles of our home) and where to rent the equipment (also just a few miles away). I'm excited for this and my husband is more than willing to try it. Prior to two years ago (when I started downhill skiing (I'm newer to Colorado)), I had only downhill skied once and cross-country skied once, both times as a teen. Cross-country skiing, I recall, was much easier than I anticipated, so I am hoping that holds true at my older age!
I hope you all are doing well (and losing weight quicker than I). The weather has been beautiful here, in the 60's. We will, no doubt have more snow sooner or later. We get snow into April, for sure, which seems rather wrong!
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Wtg! You are doing great!! Cross country skiing sounds fun. 😄0
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We don't get much snow here so I have never skied.0
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Well, we got another 5-6" of snow; it is hard to believe it was in the 60's just a few days ago and the ground having only a few spots of snow on it.
We have an exciting day of having the plumber come and play with two toilets; the work is minor. My husband is an all-round handyman, but he does not do plumbing (and neither do I!).
Status update: I have met (and beyond) my mini-goal of 136.6 lbs; I weighed in at 135.4 lbs today!!! I'm sure it will take a bit to get to 135, my original UGW, but it is all good. When I get to 135 lbs, I will be increasing my calories/day to 1400 . I know that I will need to lose five more pounds for sure, to reach 130 lbs. I would guess that my maintenance calories/day is 1700. Time will tell.
The last two days using the elliptical machine were do-able, but boy, I am working! There is no way I could do that without some fast-beat music to rock to!
Have a great day! Maggie1 -
You are doing great! I wish I still had access to an elliptical.
A few years back, some guys at the gym were teasing me about only doing 20 minutes on the elliptical, and this other guy took up for me and said my 20 minutes were better than their workouts (lifting weights) at 60 minutes!
Wtg!0 -
My hubby does practically any kind of maintenance work as it was part of his formal job. I am a long way from being able to increase my calories but am certainly looking forward to it.1
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So, I had another goal, more of a desire than hard and fast goal, of weighing in at my doctor's office today at a weight (obviously, wearing clothes and using their scale) that recorded me at a 'normal' BMI (spoiler: I did). My height of 5' 3.5" was truncated to 5' 3" (wrongly!) for the calculation of BMI. Well, they also truncated my recorded weight of 139.4 lbs to 139 lbs (totally acceptable, of course!). Anyway, their calculation put me at 24.2 BMI. I did it! I have been bouncing at 135.3 and 135.4 for days, with one weight at 136.2 (initial UGW = 135 lbs). And then yesterday, a day before The Reckoning, My husband and I went out and ate Chinese food. I had Kung Po Beef which translated into more food than I normally eat, a heck of a lot more salt than I normally eat (our diet is typically low salt for my husband), and beef (higher calories than my usual tofu). My weight this morning rocketed up ~2.5 lbs to 138.8 lbs; I wasn't sure if I would make it under the always present BMI wire, lol.
Anyway, I went because of some joint problems and managed to get signed up for some PT. I went for a bit last year for another problem and I really hopes that it works this time just as well. I'm sure it will. The two (!) problems aren't as bad as the problem I went in for last year, so I have high hopes.
I continue to count my calories at 1300/day and exercising 5-6 days a week. My next goal is reaching 135 lbs for at least a split-second and then I increase my calories to 1400/day and change my UGW #2 as 130 lbs.
I am reading all of the posts you ladies are adding and I wish you all the best in achieving your goals.
Today is super-windy today (and yesterday and tomorrow), but mild out, needing just a light jacket. Although it is sunny, we do have some clouds. It's all good because there is no snow (at least not coming down, there are a few patches on the ground in the shade, but I am studiously ignoring them). Enjoy ladies!1 -
Going to get cold here and spit some snow maybe on Friday. And it's so not welcome as we are trying to get our garden and transplants started.1
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You have done so well in your goals! Woo hoo!
Physical therapy helped my joint pain a lot!0 -
Really admiring your energy levels. The last three weeks I have drifted away from any weight and fitness planning or even mindfulness. Not that I have been a couch potato (yard work and house cleaning) but a terrible stress induced eating plan. So I challenge myself to at least one elliptical ride workout this week. Thanks for posting and inspiring me.1
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@sls631 I'm glad that you feel my posts are of benefit; sadly, my enthusiasm for the food side of the ledger is waning. I do get my exercise in and every day, I don't hesitate in starting my exercises, but I am aware I want to get the elliptical work done and over with! It's not that I don't enjoy it (at least a little bit), it's mostly that it is a lot of effort. Yet, I can do it. I think there is a laziness component inside of me when it comes to cardio. FYI, by 'every day', I mean six, sometimes five, days a week. That is 'every day', pretty much to me. I aim for every day excluding Sunday (only because we go to early church services and I can't easily exercise beforehand). Once I am showered for the day, regular exercise is out the window! My husband and I have yet to switch from the elliptical to walking in the neighborhood (3 miles, more of a hike, due to elevation changes). We love it and yet, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I have been wanting to get out to the parks, though. We have to scope out two new (to us) parks that are nearby and fairly level. We need to check them out for suitability for beginner cross-country skiers for the coming winter.
Btw, and I think this may be an infomercial for exercising, but it has been a big positive in our lives (hubby and me). I have exercised off-and-on throughout my adult life in 'playing' outdoors, but also in the gym/home with purposeful exercise. We purchased a Bowflex machine a year ago February (a bendy-rod strength-training machine). You know how you hear that after about three months of exercising, you should start to 'see' muscle improvements, definition, toning, whatnot? I have always found that to be a bit bogus for me. Yes, I certainly feel it (DOMS) right away and start to feel more energetic/healthy (whatever that means because I have always had energy and have been healthy (for which I am very thankful)). But, now, with having worked out most days each week for over a year, I can say that I started to 'see' results after a half year. And that was before I dropped the 10 lbs or so in the past six months. I can see more muscle definition. Be assured, there is no bikini competition in my future (having children certainly can wreck havoc in the tummy area)! And also know that I have never gone over-the-top in my weight lifting. I have very slowly increased my weights, with many times lowering them for a time, if I felt it was a bit too much/hurting. In the warm months, my husband and I walk the neighborhood and this past October, we purchased the elliptical machine (because I don't walk in the cold). That was the same time I restarted logging food and reduce my calories. Even with appropriate core exercises, I do think that the love handles have all but disappeared due to the weight loss, not exercises. I am unsure of that, though. I only have a 'whisper' of them left. The stomach, however, may be a lost cause!
You all may remember from my earlier posts, that I gave myself 1200 cal/day, to drop 2 lbs/wk. I pretty much was able to achieve this, even with less weight to lose. But, significantly, I would not track or restrict my food for holidays, vacations, or social activities. So I would have sometimes weeks of dropping 2 lbs each week, followed by a spike of weight, and then getting back to losing. I calculated this to be about 1/2 lb/week. I think that is funny! It seems to be a lot of effort for only 1/2 lb/wk. I did lose the weight in an acceptable manner for me, though. Two pounds a month is still 2 lbs/mo!
Anyway, I have (very loosely) been doing 1300 cal/wk and I just have lost my desire to track closely and keep to my calorie budget. I am thinking to just raise it to 1500 cal/day, but then I would still have to track. I am also thinking (more strongly) of not tracking and just modify my food intake by my daily weigh-in. I understand the variations of the scale, but without logging food, it is the only guide I have. Scary territory!
I am open to any input, thanks, Maggie2 -
@sls, your house and yardwork is great exercise! You'll get back to your desired routine, but pat yourself on the back for what you have done! It's great!
@Maggie, I like your daily commitment to being 5 or 6 days a week. It gives flexibility to your routine!
I would suggest you rotate in and out of tracking. That's what I used to do before I became diabetic. It worked quite well while I was losing 118 pounds. It gives you some hint as to what you're actually eating without wearing you out with daily tracking! It helped me adjust my food portions.
A half a pound of week doesn't sound like much; however, it is within a perfectly acceptable range. It does add up too! I have one mfp pal who loses .5 pound most weeks, and now she is down 47 pounds! I'm in favor of increasing your calories. You are doing your exercise which I think is doing the best for the health of your body, and for that, you should be very proud!
You are inspiring me, as I am still getting well from the long term affects of Covid, and trying to exercise again. I do love to walk, and will be doing that more often, even if it is just short walks for now.
Thank you so much, ladies, for participating in this group! 💕1 -
@beccaboo1276414 I am sorry to hear of your extended COVID symptoms; I have heard of others with this (primarily here, on mfp). It sounds frustrating with the desire to get back to life as before.
I, effectively, have rotated in and out of logging, just simply of not doing it on my ‘fun’ days (holidays, vacation, social events). The big difference is, that on those days, I was making no effort to keep my calories to their budget. I think it has the potential to be very helpful, when also minimizing calories on non-log days.
I had another thought, too. I don’t count my exercise calories because I pretty much exercise every day and sort-of count my exercise inclusive of my baseline calorie expenditure. I understand that mfp does not work in this matter, calculation-wise, but I also really don’t know how many calories I am burning. Various monitors are inaccurate and usually overestimate calorie expenditure, including mfp’s estimates. As well, mfp doesn’t easily allow calorie expenditure logging for weight lifting (you have to input each exercise separately). My elliptical machine says I burn about 170 cal during my 25 minutes of its fat-burning program, which includes an incline and resistance. So…I changed my goals to lose 1/2 lb per week, but changed my activity level from sedentary to light activity, the next level up. This is an effort to be similar to me really being sedentary with purposeful exercise. This gives me 1410 cal/day.
At a certain point, I have to pick some strategy and just move forward, lol.
Random observation from today… I don’t usually eat pizza because I find with the salt and the carbs, I pop up a couple pounds the next day and just don’t like to see that. My husband will occasionally pick-up a pizza and I will then typically eat usual food at home. Well, today, we both got a pizza (my husband gets gluten-free, so I get a regular pizza). Since he gets the ‘meat-za’ or ‘all the meats’ kind and cannot eat the sausage (may have gluten), the pizza place tosses his sausage on my pizza for free. So, I had a small hand-tossed sausage pizza and ate half of it. I was super-surprised to find out that it was only 690 cal. I typically only eat at 425 cal or so for lunch, so this was a much bigger lunch than I’m used to. (We eat our biggest meal of the day, midday.). I’m commenting here on my surprise of the calorie count, but also of still feeling full now mid-late afternoon. I think I may very well like a higher calorie allotment/day!
Hoping you ladies are all doing well and not overly bored with my ramblings!1 -
Sometimes it is helpful to carb cycle and calorie cycle.1
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@MorticiaAddamsMSFS I’ve heard of carb cycling and calorie cycling, but I’m just not exactly sure what they are. Meaning, super-high carbs one day or a few days followed by low carb day/days? I have thought about having my calories maybe 100-200 less most days and then applying those saved calories for probably only one day per week where I have social stuff and will eat more. I appreciate your time to explain this.0
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I am unsure what exactly carb cycling is technically speaking, but I can tell you that when my blood glucose is on an upward swing due to stress or illness (when I average 150 grams of carbs per day), then I can bring my blood glucose down when I eat 70 to 100 grams of carbs per day for a few days. It's not just the blood glucose that goes down; it's also the insulin (hormone) that will decrease.
Insulin drives our appetite, so anything one can do to help decrease it, will have great health benefits.
Lower Carb eating helps it. Exercise helps it. Eating fresh, natural unprocessed food with fiber helps it. Time restricted eating helps it.
A side note:. Doctors rarely check the insulin level. One can have a higher than normal insulin level for years which can sadly, over time, lead to diabetes.
For more info on insulin levels, you may wish to check out Dr. Fung on YouTube.
I followed the Fung protocol for years which worked well for me in terms of daily time restricted eating. I "fast" at least 12 hours per day, and usually 14 hours. I hate the term fasting as so many people take things to extreme and fast for days. The benefit can be had doing a daily fast, and it's not too hard to adjust to it. It will be hard in the beginning, but I adjusted to it fairly well I'm time.
Fung was lower carb high fat, but the high fat doesn't work for me. It just raised my cholesterol. Hence, I do lower carb, moderate fat, usually olive oil. I also had to give up diary due to inflammation issues. I subsituted oatmilk in my coffee, barista blend, instead of my former, beloved cream. 😆
Hope this isn't too much info. Just wanted to tell you about insulin. I could have helped myself more years ago if I had known about it.
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@beccaboo1276414 Thanks for the explanation. I really don’t pay attention to macros, but I did look back in my diary and I seem to eat around 125-175g of carbs a day, at least when I’m tracking! My mom was diabetic later in her life and I know that she would eat 30g of carbs at each of her three meals. I don’t recall how many carbs she ate for snacks, but I would guess 15g.
My husband wanted to get out of Dodge, so to speak, so we spent a few days around Pueblo, CO. We stayed at a bed-and-breakfast, a historic mansion in the area. We went to the Great Sand Dunes national park one day, about two hours west and went sand boarding (seated, not standing, no skill required). We only went down once or twice because, as anticipated, it took a heck of a lot of effort to get up the sand dunes.
Before we walked to the dunes, still in the parking lot, we talked to a lady coming back from sand boarding. We were discussing with her the level of difficulty walking up the dunes and she looked at us and said that we shouldn’t have any problem because we both are fit. So cool! For the record, I did not run to her and kiss her.
When I was talking to the wife of the couple who owned the bread and breakfast and we were discussing food, there were two different occasions when she said that I was thin (referring to me being able to eat more of the food). Now, I am not thin, by any stretch of the imagination. When I was getting ready to leave this morning, I freakishly kept looking in the full length mirror in our room because of these comments. I’ve got to tell you that I really think that this is the difficulty that I have had in losing the bit of weight that I needed to lose for years and years…knowing that my weight was somewhat okay. The thing is, I am heavier than I want to be and 10-15 lbs heavier than before children (I am on the high side of normal BMI now). You would think that these comments would make me less inclined to lose a few more pounds and yet, I think it has been enough to get me back to calorie counting. I have really struggled over these last few weeks, being just a few pounds shy of at least my initial, supposed UGW 135 lbs (10 lbs higher than before kids).
Just some random thoughts. The month of May is a fairly tame one for us, so I think I’ll restart calorie counting tomorrow (yes, tomorrow, lol!) and continue through all of May. I mentally cannot commit to more at this time.1 -
Holy Ka-moly, ladies! I made an apple-blueberry crisp to use-up apples that were looking sad and I tried a recipe that I have had forever, but never tried. I had to covert it to gluten-free (for my husband) and I used apples instead of peaches. When making crisps/buckles/cobblers, my GF substitutions work well. That is not true for all items. Although I have several tried-and-true crisp recipes, I wanted to either add this one fully to my recipe collection or give it the boot. It was super-scrumptious! I had to cook it extra long because of either or both: converting it to gluten-free or high altitude (in Colorado at 7,850' elevation). Elevation is usually not a problem for crisps (cookies and cakes are another issue--I joked that if not for the lip on my cookie sheet that my last batch of cookies that I made would have stretched all the way to Wyoming. It's a joke that can really only work here, with people who understand the struggles of high altitude baking. For the record, for non-US folks, WY is the state just north of CO. I do think, however, it was just the recipe (or maybe the apples made it extra wet?). At any rate, I decided it was too moist for company (meaning, the recipe would get the boot).
Why the Holy Ka-moly comment? I made it into a meal to determine the calories and then ate a quarter of it. That was a hit just shy of 600 calories!!! For a quarter of it! (Gee, Maggie, would the one full cup of sugar and one full stick of butter have given it away?).
None-the-less, I will still eat my popcorn hors d'oeuvres (low calorie, eaten pretty much every night that we are home) and even couple it with my planned wine. Tomorrow is another day.1
