40+ Club: Fall Fitness Fanatics

JuliaSoCal

Here I am...

I have pretty much figured I am close to my "done" weight, so I have picked another goal for 20011.

I want make my eating habit regulated internally rather that externally. By that, I mean I do not want to panic just because I have not logged my food for a few days. I want to be able to "know that I know" that I am doing well. Does that make sense? I spent too much time fretting about food this past December, and do not want to do that again.

Julia

singfree

Bravissima Julia!!!!!!

We are generally creatures of habit, and food is not different. By this time you KNOW what works and what doesn't work in your day-to-day diet. Trust your instincts and you will be fine. It's really not good to go into panic mode when you eat an extra cookie or full-fat mayo on your sandwich. Just keep a mental note of it, and move on. I am not able to log my food on a consistent basis, so I don't do it at all. I know that over the holidays I've eaten nothing but junk and I put a few pounds back on. Frankly, I'm amazed that with my poor eatiing and lack of exercise, I did not balloon up completely! Even now, I'm not going to panic--but, I've decided to eat senisibly and exercise daily and I'm sure I will be fine.

You're doing great, so enjoy the new "you"!!!

cardigirl

Happy New Year!!!!!

Sorry to be late with the greetings!!! The build up to Christmas and New Year's was so busy work-wise that the time just got away from me.

Like everyone else, my eating was not the healthiest during the two weeks, mostly because of homemade Chex mix being around and a certain type of cookie I cannot resist, fudged oatmeal. So I didn't maintain my weight, as I had hoped. I gained a pound. :laugh:

I am so surprised at that, because honestly, I was consuming mass quantities of cookies!!! LOL.... revving up the metabolism with exercise must have worked for me.

As far as goals for 2011, well, I hope to get the BF% under 18, become a better boxer and to run a 5k. I didn't run one in 2010, which was a goal, so I want to really try and complete that goal this year. I was hoping to receive a heavy bag for boxing practice but Santa did NOT come through, so I"ll just have to practice on my kids.

It's good to read all of your posts and to see how everyone is doing.

Julia, thanks for posting the link to your pictures. You look wonderful!!!! Congratulations!!!

SIng and Stiring, I'm so glad you got to meet up, and on New Year's Eve! How fun!!!

Sing, it sounds to me like the steps you are taking with nutrition and focusing on strength training sounds awesome!!!

Stiring, I've been trying to find the bread recipe but have not. Do you mind posting it again?

Kadetr I like the 10000 steps idea! It is hard to work in enough activity when the winter closes in.

Alf, your new picture is amazing!!! LOL at your husband wanting you to act your age, I like Sing's suggestion! You look about 25 years old, so act however you want!

Texassippian, I thought about you and your Mr. Holiday during the Christmas season. Glad you had a good Christmas!

Cef, the new workout wear sounds wonderful! My kids did that for me last year, and I loved it!

Everybody else, Happy 2011!!! Here's to a healthy and fit new year!!!!

tron3002

Well I got the generator out from in front of my folded up treadmill and behind the couch now all's I have to do is clean the wood floor so I can pull it out and get started!!! Yay me! :happy: Bought some batteries so I can get started on my Wii again. I bought the biggest loser program along with the golds gym so I will have a variety. :drinker: Just not looking forward to the weigh in. :sad:

Alf... I just love all the zumba pics you post on facebook. It looks like so much fun.

cardigirl... I didn't know you were into boxing. That sounds like a lot of fun too. Maybe I should practice on my husband!:laugh:

StiringWendel

Love seeing all this activity here today!!! :drinker:

singfree, I think your idea of a day of varied weight lifting would be terrific. That would shock your body and cut down on the potential of overuse injuries. Another idea if you can't get past that 'guy thing' about the third day is to do two days of splits and one day of total upper body. For instance, do Chest/Back on Monday; do Shoulders/Triceps/Biceps on Wednesday and do them all on Friday. That way you hit each body part twice (which is good) but maybe you could hit the muscles slightly differently when you aren't trying to hit all of your muscle groups in the same workout. Again, just a thought. Regarding protein, everything I've read/heard supports what you said your exercise physiologist has recommended. Americans, by and large, have no need for extra protein in their diet because of the amount of meat (by that, I include chicken, turkey, fish, red meat, etc) we eat. I think a balanced approach across the board is the best idea....maybe slightly more protein when focusing on strength training; slightly more carbs when focusing on cardio. But I don't think any drastic changes need to be made.

kadetr, I think you've probably nailed a key issue in how you are feeling right now. I can't imagine that an extra two or three pounds would make you feel significantly heavier. But if you aren't as active as you once were, then your body makeup might be changing, and that will make you feel differently. So I think you are doing a great thing in trying to assess your activity level and maybe attacking it from that end. Glad you like the bread!

Julia.....GREAT idea!!! It really isn't pleasant being obsessed with the amount of calories in food all of the time. I know I spent months and months afraid of all social obligations because I couldn't properly assess how many calories were in the food. Once I dropped that and started relying on myself instead of a number, I realized I COULD do it very successfully without counting calories. I'm back counting right now, not to limit what I'm eating, but to remind myself again of what I'm eating. This is the first time I've counted calories in probably over six months. I think it will last for about a week (if that) because, aside from my sweet eating over the holidays, I haven't allowed myself to get off track when it comes to meals. So, yes, trust in yourself and you will be SO much happier!!

cardigirl, so good to see you again!!!!! I've missed you and wondered if you had left us forever. I'm so glad to see you back. :flowerforyou: Congrats on successful maintenance over the holidays! I love your goals for 2011. I'm sorry to hear you didn't get a punching bag, but the kids will substitute just fine. Seriously, I hope you get one soon. And if you do, let us know how you like it. My husband and I have been looking at one for years, but haven't taken the plunge. I'm curious how often I'd use it, so any feedback is good feedback. I'd be happy to send you the wheat bread recipe. I'll do it via PM if you can just let me know what size loaf your bread machine makes (1, 1 1/2 or 2 lb).

tron, great job on getting everything ready for what looks like an active year! Don't worry about the weigh-in. Wipe your slate clean and just start fresh without beating yourself up or worrying about the scale.

Boy, I can't describe how much better I feel now that I've cleaned up my eating. Makes me wonder why I ever eat junk to begin with. Surely I'll figure that out some day.

kbefit

This is great! So glad I found this!

LadyPersia

Having a hard time with motivation today

singfree

Good morning!

Cardi, dear lady!!! I also thought you were gone forever. Actually, I was thinking about you yesterday and was wondering what happened!! A woman getting under 15% BF is a tremendous accomplishment. LOL about the heavy bag! :laugh: Anyway, if you stray from us again, you will be spanked...and in the altered words of the Soup Nazi, "No Cookies For You"!!! The other gym I used to go to had a heavy bag, actually 2 of them. My wrists get sore sometimes when I lift heavier weights. I just know I will break my hand if I hit a bag.

Lady Persia, we all feel a lack of motivation at times. You just HAVE to get up and do it. Even I lose motivation somtimes, and I LOVE to work out. There are times (as som of you well know) that I work out way too much and my body pays the price. I'm not 20 years old any longer and my body demands that I treat it right.

kbefit, welcome to our little group! We've been here for several YEARS and we are not going anywhere. Stay with us, won't you?

Stiring, I hear you loud and clear about variety in my workouts. I do like the idea of splits. I've never really done them because I am a nut when I get in the gym, thinking that I have to do every exercise known to mankind each time I'm there. I must remind myself of that, because after getting back to the gym after the holidays, I want to go full-out and maximize my workouts. That, of course is not the way to go. You would think that I would have learned something about myself with this concussion...I am not indestructible. I am also thinking more intellegently about protein. A slight increase during the strength phase and more good carbs when I do cardio. That last few strength sessions I've been having a slight irritation in my right scapula when I did upright rows @ 70 lbs. I told my exercise phys. about it and he said by all means to stop doing it for a while and then go back at a lighter weight. He also said that my body was giving me a warning before something far more serious happened.

Yesterday I did my usual workout at the gym, then some rowing. After work I chose a few dumbbell and a few KB exercises to do. I finished it up with a few sets of decline pushups. I'm going to take Stiring's advice. That was my 2nd upper body workout of the week, and I need to give it a rest for a few days. My body is stiff, not sore, and I need to let the muscles repair a bit. I will do one more lower body workout today and some more rowing. I think I will (gasp!!!!!!) do some stretching and power walking on the treadmill the rest of the week. At home I will probably throw in an Insanity workout.

BTW, Stiring, how is the new KB? I forgot to ask you what weight it is. I really like doing 2-arm KB swings. That really works many muscle groups.

Tron, take it easy on the hubby! Don't sweat the weigh in tomorrow. Just report how you are doing with your eating and exercise. That scale will drive you CRAZY!!

Have a great day!

clioandboy

Hi there, is there room for one more in this Club? I am a 40+ fitness fanatic who is soooooo frustrated at the moment, I have an injured calf and cannot get out running, so I'm starting to climb the walls. This is after a December full of excess and feelings of being pretty toxic! NOT A GOOD COMBINATION aarrgghh! My motivation is fluctuating and I am having difficulty getting back on the wagon especially with not earning hardly any exercise calories (I eat my exercise cals) and worse of all I got a hrm for christmas with a speedbox and it is sitting in it's box bof!

sorry to be mizzo from france please do not exclude me from the club I arent always mizzo

singfree

clioandboy, Bienvenue!!! I see that you are from France. We are very glad that you are with us. Please check in often and join the fun!

StiringWendel

Good Morning!

singfree, I thought you'd done a P90X rotation which, of course, is splits. I used to think each body part needed to be worked in each workout AND at least twice a week until I started doing STS and P90X. Both those programs use splits and pretty much work each body part just once a week. That's where I learned that less sometimes is enough. Watch those upright rows!!!! They are really tough on the shoulder joint, so listen to your exercise physiologist.

The kettlebell work is going well. I've only used it twice, and I'm still trying to get used to it. It feels very different from anything else I've ever done, and I'm sensitive to injuries that can be caused from using it. So I'm really trying to work on making sure I keep my form right. My husband got me a 15lb bell, and it is actually about the right weight for me right now given that I'm learning. Thanks for asking!!

kbefit, welcome!!!!

LadyPersia, like singfree said, we all lack motivation at times. Try to ask yourself what is going to make you feel better--sitting on the sofa eating chips or getting some activity and eating a salad? The chips and sofa may sound more appealing in the moment, but imagine how you'll feel right after you do it or tomorrow when your hands are so swollen from the salt you can't bend your fingers. That's the kind of thing I always think about when I'm considering eating things that I want but know they make me feel poorly or when thinking about skipping a workout. I've found that giving in to those impulses makes me feel good only for a short time, and then I pay for it. Just gutting through the impulse makes me feel badly for a little while (while I'm doing a workout I don't feel like doing or eating a salad instead of chocolate cake) but I feel so much better for a longer period of time.

clioandboy, welcome!! Do you have the opportunity to do any other exercises that won't aggravate your calf injury like lifting weights with your upper body or riding an exercise bike (if that doesn't hurt your calf) or something like that? That might help you through this period. I hear you because I HATE being injured and always want to throw in the towel. But if you can find something to do, that might help. It won't be as good as running but few exercises are as good as running. But it might help. You've done amazing in losing weight and are so close to your goal, so don't give up!! And I think your goal is very reasonable. I'm just an inch taller than you and shared a similar goal (mine was 120). And I've been to France many times and LOVE it. In fact, my board name (Stiring Wendel) comes from the name of a town in France.

All here is well. I got in a good intense workout this morning and am going to do some yoga later. The eating is much better, and like I said yesterday, I'm feeling much better as a result.

Enjoy your day!

singfree

Stiring, I completely forgot about P90X!!! I stand corrected!! I did the whole thing several years ago, but I might choose one workout when I get bored with other workouts.

Texssippian

Hi all! We are still in the Christmas spirit. Now that is 12th night (the day the three kings visited the Baby Jesus), we can start taking down the decorations. The kkids (young adults in their 20s) are still as home and can help this year. Yea! I post some pictures before we start ot put stuff away.

I had a quick trip to St. Louis yesterday. Left Love Field in Dallas at 7:15 am and returned at 5:00 pm.

We met with our trainer at her house on Monday instead the gym. It is amazing how she worked us with a mini tramp and 5 and 10 pound free weights.

I am going to do a real triathlon later this spring so I need to get cracking. (I did a personal one when I turned 50 two years ago, just the distances at the natatorium and then on the exercise bike and treadmill at home.)

Clioandboy: Can you get into the water? You can get a really good workout with no weight bearing particularly if you do deep water exercise.

Need to be short because I have work due to the CEO... Take care all! TxMs

alf1163

Hello!!!!!!!!!!! Glad to see so many of you on here. Today is a Holiday in Puerto Rico, Three Kings Day. I really dont celebrate it much anymore but my decorations are still up as well. I will take them down this weekend, probably tomorrow evening. My eating is really good lately, not perfect, but good. My brother sent us some goodies from PR and I had to eat some!!! Other than that is back to eating clean 90% or more of the time and drinking lots of water!!! :drinker: Exercise, Zumba of course, 4 days a week, no other cardio. I really want to start a resistance trng program. I want to plan it this weekend. I want to split upper and lower body. I really would like to stick with Cathe's butts and guts video twice a week and on alternate days a 30min upper body program. I really dont want to lift very heavy right now, need to start slow. I might look in my Oxygen magazines for some exercises to do. I still feel my shoulder injury from time to time. Stiring, what do you recommend?

Stiring, if I were you I would really consider becoming a personal trainer. I know you would be a great one!!!! You are an inspiration and you know your stuff!!!! This is your year to help others achieve their fitness and health goals!!

Sing, the picture was just fine...what are you complaining about, your hair?? :laugh: just kidding with you...glad to hear you are back on track. As far as my husband, he is a very strange creature :grumble: :noway: he was even jealous when my BIL was visiting on a business trip and wanted to go to my Zumba class. He thought that was not acceptable, excuse me??? And to this day he doesnt want to have anything to do with him...how ridiculous. I havent even mentioned this to my sister or my BIL, that is just plain embarrassing!!! Sing, help me understand!!!

Tex, good to hear from you!!! Wow that was a quick trip, was it work related? Glad you enjoyed the Holidays! I've always dreamed of doing a triathlon. Let us know how the trng is going.

Cardi, I always knew you would come back!!! :drinker: :drinker: Thanks for the compliment! That pic was taken on new year's eve in downtown SA. 5Ks are so much fun. I really miss running!!!!

Hey Tron, I like to see you in Facebook...what's for dinner? LOL :laugh: I am having a blast teaching Zumba and my students are so much fun and so loving and supportive.

kadetr, snowshoeing sounds like so much fun but intense!!! I learned how to ski when I lived in Germany. Last time I did it was about 13 yrs ago. I wonder if you never forget how to do it, like riding a bike...:laugh: I would love to try it again. Congrats on your success!!!!

Julia, WTG on your decision to focus more on listening to your body. When I started using this site 3 yrs ago I was obssesed about counting calories and logging in everything, which in the way was a good thing because I learned a lot by doing that. But it was so time consuming...I was about 30 lbs heavier then. I stopped logging in my foods about a year ago because now I know more or less how much I really need to stay healthy and I try to listen to my body more. It has worked, I have been able to maintain the weight that I lost and feel great as far as food intake is concerned. Keep up the good work!!!

Welcome clio!!!!!

Ok gotta go!!!! :laugh: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

tron3002

Hello New Members!!! Glad you found us....

Alf... LOL yea, I ask that a lot I think. It gives me ideas sometimes so I 'm not always serving the same boring stuff... I really like facebook. Besides a few select people I'm only friends with family members. Great way to catch up with loved ones so far away.

Stiring... I'm thinking about taking my ticker off so that I can start fresh. And as for you becoming a personal trainer, thats an awesome idea. You not only know the exercise part but you are also very knowledgeable and you aren't afraid to find the answer if you dont know something. I think who ever has you as their personal trainer will be lucky.

Sing & Stiring... Its so great that you both got to meet. And as for your picture, I thought it was wonderful.

LadyPersia

going to have a great workout with all the snow tomorrow:)

cmw9696

Hello there! I stumbled across this just a bit ago...looks great! I would love to follow this thread!

cmw9696

Oh yeah, my name is Christine, and I am an MFP addict. Will be turning 41 this month(Jan 30)... I started MFP 10/31, & have lost 14 lbs!!! Yeah me!

singfree

Good Snowy Morning!

Yes, it's really snowing quite hard right now. The drive to work was tough because with the snow coming down hard and the roads were completely covered, making visibility in the dark almost nil. I am soooo thankful for a Subaru on days like this. I have to go over one mountain on the way to work, and an all-wheel drive car sure helps!

Friday reporting day. I can happily state that this has been a breakthrough week for me. I am trying to control my diet better (doing fairly well) and my exercise has been consistent. I've noticed a big difference already. The leanness (is that even a word??) is evident in the mirror. Well, I attribute part of that to a better diet and I am losing some of the bloat that I've been experiencing the past month or so. I have not reduced my calories, except for eating less junk food, and eating more nutritious food. So, all in all it's been a pretty successful week for me.

mrsward, welcome to our group! Join the fun and post often.

stiring, are you getting any of the white stuff in DC? It looks like the storm that's coming on Tuesday is going to slice through VA and head out to sea. We are only "supposed" to get a liitle snow out of that storm...we'll see...the weather guys are pretty bad at predicting snow totals. Glad you are enjoying the KBs. They really work the body in a way that you cannot get with other weights. And, it's kinda fun throwing around that bowling ball with a handle!

Alf, I will NEVER complain about my hair!! At 56 I still have a full head of hair and it's really not too gray. A few people asked me if I dyed my hair. :laugh: I haven't had to deal with that...yet! I, too, would like to do a tri...except for the swimming and running parts!!! :laugh: My goal is to do a "century" ride on my bike (100 miles in one day). My poor butt couldn't take it.

Tonight we are heading "up the hill" to our favorite restaurant and have a drink and a lite bite. We haven't been there in quite a while.

Have a great weekend!

StiringWendel

Good Morning!!

Friday check-in.....this has been a much better week for me when it comes to eating. I haven't had any junk food all week (minus a couple of pieces of dark chocolate early in the week) and I feel SO much better. I also think I look a little less puffy, but I'm mostly pleased with how I feel, especially when I wake up in the morning. I haven't adjusted my calories at all and, unfortunately, now I'm getting hungry more, so I might need to rethink my healthy foods a bit. But, all in all, I'm doing much better. I've also had a great week of workouts. I've been focusing on endurance workouts for the past four weeks, and while they aren't my favorite, I think they are helping slim back down after the Christmas cookie fest I enjoyed. :blushing: I decided yesterday to stick with this type of rotation for another seven weeks before embarking on a second P90X rotation in March.

singfree, no snow here! I understand they might have had a flake or two in the District, but it looks like this storm passed north of us. They are talking about snow on Tuesday but after the debacle over Christmas where they predicted a major storm and we got nothing.....I'll believe that when I see it. Good job on getting your diet under control as well. Enjoy your evening!!

mrsward9696, welcome!!! Congratulations on your weight loss so far. I read your profile, and you sound really driven!!! I'm impressed. What exactly is a duathlon? I know that probably sounds like a stupid question, but I'm not familiar with what activities make up a duathlon.

LadyPersia, enjoy the snow!! And stay safe!!!

tron, thanks for your kind words on my becoming a personal trainer. It is still something I'm battling myself with. I keep thinking 'Who'd want to train with a 45/46 year old woman?' But I've promised myself I'm not going to look at myself through the lense of my age this year, so I'm trying to push that out of my mind. Your encouragement and all of the other encouragement I've received here helps. You guys are the best. :flowerforyou: I think your idea of taking your ticker away and just starting fresh is a great idea.

TxMs, so good to see you! You really have been a traveling fool lately, haven't you? I can't wait to see the Christmas decoration photos. I'd like to see what Mr. Holiday put together for this year. Good luck on training for a triathlon!! Sort of like singfree, I'd love to do a triathlon, except for me....I'd need to skip the swimming and biking part. :blushing: I think that leaves me training for something involving running. My husband has talked about training for a half-marathon this year, and I'm thinking that's a good idea. There is one in DC in March, but I don't think we'll be ready for that one. We'll see......

alf, your husband really is jealous, isn't he? That's a little strange about your BIL. My BIL came and stayed with me in LA while my husband was away, and my husband didn't think twice about it. I was wondering what the neighbors were thinking because my BIL arrived just after my husband left and left about 20 minutes before my husband came home. I'm thinking a nosy neighbor might have misinterpreted that!! When I mentioned it to my husband, he just laughed.

Regarding recommendations for getting back to strength training, I'm curious if you've talked to your PT about it at all. I would recommend it if you have the opportunity to go back to him/her about your shoulder. If not, then I would suggest that you start really light and avoid all exercises that put unusual stress on your shoulder (exercises like tricep dips, chest flies, and upright rows). I also would avoid things like pull-overs, pull-ups and even tricep overhead extensions. For chest, start with pushups (on your knees or against a wall if necessary) and see how that goes. If you want to do chest presses, use dumbbells and if you need to lighten up on your injured side, do so. Don't worry about lifting lighter on one side than the other if you need to. For back, rows are probably your best bet, especially one arm rows where you can adjust the weight for your injured side accordingly. For triceps, kickbacks are going to be your best bet to start out with. If you are up to it, try lying extensions with dumbbells (and adjust for your injured side as needed). For biceps, try both standard bicep curls and hammer curls to see if one is better than the other since you are suffering from bicep tendonitis. If the bicep work is too much, don't do it. As far as shoulders, you don't need to work them if you work the other muscles, but if you do want to work them, start light! I'm talking 3 or 5lbs, and do lateral raises, front raises and rear raises. If any of those bother you, don't do them. You might want to avoid overhead presses until you get your strength back. If you do overhead presses, do them with dumbbells and your palms facing in to take some of the pressure off your shoulder joint. These are just some suggestions based on what I've done to rehab my shoulders, but your injury is very different from mine. So listen to your body and don't do anything that hurts!!

Well, I've already done an Insanity workout today and am going to do a total body endurance strength workout in a few minutes. I hope you all have a great Friday and enjoy the weekend. And for those getting snowed on, be safe and warm!!