WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR FEBRUARY

jam0525

Hopeful- going to the gym will get easier the more you go.

Sally- there are jerks everywhere, but I have found some of the most fit people at the gym are the most helpful. I don’t want you to fall of the elliptical, but I bet you will find more help than hindrance at the gym. Good luck.

Mj-On the family meals- I cook a healthy vegetarian meal for me and then I add some meat on the side for the others in the house. I am not a vegetarian per say, but it seems to work out well this way. My hubby and son are both meat and potatoes guys, so it is hard when you have family. Spaghetti squash is a yellow veggie that is the size of a football. You cook it in the oven, cut in half, and cut side down in an inch of water for about 20 minutes until you can scrape it out with a fork. It is naturally sweet, so it doesn’t need much. We do the sauce thing too and use it for pasta.


Super Bowl Sunday - We are going half and half: half healthy snacks and half of the usual stuff. I have shrimp, stuff to make a 3 foot sub with lots of veggies just like subway does. The usual chips and dip and we are making nachos and veggie grilled cheese. (think grilled cheese with only 1 slice of bread with lots of veggies broiled instead of sauteed in butter). For cheese and crackers we have hard non-processed cheeses and low sodium crackers made with whole wheat. It will be our dinner instead of having dinner and then snacks.

While I am not sure how it will work out, it was the best compromise I could come up with for the 6 of us.

Jeannie

pannet

Hello everyone! Joined MFP in January at the suggestion of my daughter-in-law and have found it to be very helpful in keeping me mindful of how much I eat or don't eat!
I just saw this thread and wanted to say hello and chat with and get ideas from others over 50 (though I'm wayyyy over!).
I am eating better and more often though not often enough sometimes. It's the "exercise" that I don't fit in...though presently I'm packing up a house and all that moving up and down should count for something!!
Will check back with you all daily! Have a good evening everyone.

hooah_mj

MJ,

I was supposed to be going to a Super Bowl gathering tomorrow, but the friend who was going to have it has a dog breeding business and she has two females due to deliver in the next couple of days, plus one of her Sphinx cats is about to pop, so after a phone conference last night, we decided to forgo the gathering for now.

Nevertheless, since I always buy and prepare all the food, and she pays for her share, I had already developed a menu, that took into account one guest's diabetes, my host's need for non-spicy fare, and my own desire to not fall too far off my program for the day. Since I have introduced healthier options into the potlucks we have 3 or 4 times a year, my host and hostess actually REQUEST certain things that they would have turned up their noses at if they were shopping for themselves.

So for your benefit and anyone looking for food ideas for tomorrow.... here goes:

Veggie tray--carrots, plum tomatoes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower.
Dips-low-fat ranch, hummus, and peach mango salsa.
Chips--Trader Joe Flax Seed Tortilla Chips to eat with previously mentioned dips
Home made Chili--made with 1 parts 7% lean ground beef to 3 parts ground turkey BREAST (If you are not familiar w/ground turkey, don't make the mistake of buying any ground that does NOT say BREAST or WHITE. This has a light enough flavor that you can season it properly and no one will be able to tell it is there. If you use unspecific ground turkey, it will be mostly dark meat, and have a very strong taste that is impossible to overcome, unless you spice it to the hilt.) I also use reduced sodium diced tomatoes in my chili, as well as reduced sodium canned beans.

I season my meat while it is browning, but keep it pretty mild. I chop up jalapeno peppers as a side, so anyone who wants to feel steam coming out of their ears:noway: can make their chili to suit their taste buds. I also have shredded low-fat cheese, chopped sweet onion, and light sour cream as sides. I bring small whole grain dinner rolls to eat along w/the chili.

My hostess LOVES lemon meringue pie, so I get a sugar-free one from WalMart that is always a big hit. That takes care of her and my diabetic friend as far as dessert is concerned. Her hubby and I are partial to ice cream, and since he doesn't spend anytime in the kitchen, all he knows is the reduced fat no added sugar Dreyer's (AKA Edi's in certain parts of the country) Butter Brickle is just fine with him. I also planned to bring fresh blueberries along as they go well with the pie as well as the ice cream.

For beverages, everybody brings whatever they want.

So, I don't know if this helps anyone with last-minute ideas, but I hope so. As for me, I have to figure out what I am going to have around here tomorrow for ME. I am not making chili just for myself, so I think I will get some thin sliced roast beef and a parmesan jalapeno roll from the bakery and make myself a hot beef slider with low sodium broth for aus jus. A little beer, and some of those TJ chips with hummus and I can party with the best of them.

BFN

Barb

PS: Go Packers!! Go Pittsburgh!! Doesn't matter to me who wins, since both teams are at the other end of the country from me, but I do think it is going to be a very interesting game because they seem pretty evenly matched.

weaklink109, thanks so much...I didn't even see this post....so glad I checked back:happy:
I will most definitely do your veggies tray, dip(s) & chips!
How long do you have to crock pot the chili? It's probably too late to plan for it, but NASCAR is just around the corner :bigsmile:

The hubs would love-love your " thin sliced roast beef and a parmesan jalapeno roll from the bakery and make myself a hot beef slider with low sodium broth for aus jus" Now that I could certainly do....sounds delish add your pie and ice cream & we gotta party :laugh:

So grateful to you for sharing you menu :flowerforyou:

mj

hooah_mj

Mj-On the family meals- I cook a healthy vegetarian meal for me and then I add some meat on the side for the others in the house. I am not a vegetarian per say, but it seems to work out well this way. My hubby and son are both meat and potatoes guys, so it is hard when you have family. Spaghetti squash is a yellow veggie that is the size of a football. You cook it in the oven, cut in half, and cut side down in an inch of water for about 20 minutes until you can scrape it out with a fork. It is naturally sweet, so it doesn’t need much. We do the sauce thing too and use it for pasta.


Super Bowl Sunday - We are going half and half: half healthy snacks and half of the usual stuff. I have shrimp, stuff to make a 3 foot sub with lots of veggies just like subway does. The usual chips and dip and we are making nachos and veggie grilled cheese. (think grilled cheese with only 1 slice of bread with lots of veggies broiled instead of sauteed in butter). For cheese and crackers we have hard non-processed cheeses and low sodium crackers made with whole wheat. It will be our dinner instead of having dinner and then snacks.

While I am not sure how it will work out, it was the best compromise I could come up with for the 6 of us.

Jeannie

Jeannie I do like your 1/2 & 1/2 idea. The shrimp would be a big hit, as well as the homemade subs....the pizza & wings, oh well...I'll start planning for next year....Come on Cowboys

As for the meat & potato guys...I have 3 of 'em :noway:

Thx,
mj

exermom

Izzy - hey there!

barbie - it IS great to mark boxes when you are moving on all four sides. Vince is a nerd -- that's what the kids call him. What he also did was make up a sheet with a small description of what the boxes contained. For example: there was box K1 ("k" for kitchen) and on the sheet I would write a small description "pots and pans". Then, as we unpacked the box, we would check it off. We had some boxes in storage, so we had to put a column for that, "storage, storage but need to have access to (like Christmas wrapping paper), apartment"

mj - checked out that kenesis. It reminds me a lot of the TRX. Is it the same?

Barb - sending you some chicken soup

Today is ds's birthday. With the time difference, we called him at 9:00 our time (it was about 5:30-6 his time) I didn't get to the yoga class, but I did a yoga DVD. Tomorrow I think I'll do the hula hoop on the Wii.

A short prayer:
Dear God:

For 2011, all I ask for is a big fat bank account and a slim body.

Please do not mix up the two like you did last year.

Amen

Sally - I have the FT7 also. Wish that it would display a stopwatch and the heartrate on the same screen. Actually, it doesn't have a stopwatch feature, but I can manage with what it has -- this thing that tells you how long you've been exercising. But it shows that and the time of day. I really don't care about the time of day, I'd much rather have the heartrate displayed along with the length of time. Oh well.....

I still find it the hardest thing when I go out to eat, you really have to ask lots of questions as to how the food is cooked and specify that you want things without sauces etc. I've found that since being in Paris, I've gotten more and more pickey about desserts. The desserts over there were FANTASTIC. I remember having this lemon thing, it was so lemoney. That's because they used real lemon, not lemon flavoring. I'm finding that the breads and desserts over here just don't quite match up. Not that that's a bad thing, not eating the refined breads and desserts.

Gotta think about what I'll give up for Lent. What is everyone else giving up? I'm thinking that maybe cakes, etc. desserts.

mimi - oh, I just love spaghetti squash!

mj - you buy a spaghetti squash (usually around 99 cents to $1.29/lb). I split mine in two and take out the seeds, then steam the both ends (put in a dish with water in the oven at about 350 for 30-45 minutes). When it is finished steaming, you can use a fork to scrape out the strands which look a lot like spaghetti but I think they have even more flavor than spaghetti.

Welcome pannet!

Hope everyone has a great evening

Michele

mimi7grands

Barb and Jeannie, you are seriously making my mouth water with your descriptions of menu ideas. I haven't tried cooking the spaghetti squash in halves. I usually just pierce the whole squash with a fork a few times then microwave it. I'll bet the other way is better though and will give it a try. I cooked acorn squash that way the other day (removed the seeds, cut it into a few chunks, put some water in the pan, covered it, and baked it). It was delicious.

I'm about to sit down to a big plateful of roasted mini-peppers, sliced baby eggplant, and fingerling potatoes - all roasted, of course. It feels good to get back to "normal."

BTW, I am turning into a doting dog mama. Who'da thunk it! Isabella (Izzy) is a darling. The hardest thing is going to be knowing what to do with her when I go out. I can leave her inside for an hour or so, or even two. But I can't see leaving her for much longer. I wish she were big enough to stay out in the yard and play with my DD and SIL's dog, Bodie. But Bodie's about 80 pounds and Izzy is 10. (Never mind that we have hawks nesting close by and I don't trust them not to decide Izzy would make a fine snack.)

Izzy and Bodie play great indoors. Bodie lies on the floor and just moves her head around while Izzy jumps all over her. They did have one funny interchange the other day. Izzy was jumping over Bodie's head. Bodie lifted her head at the same time and launched Izzy. :laugh:

Traveling will be interesting too. I'm planning to visit my daughter in Pasadena next month. She has 2 big cats (1 sort of mean one) and a small place. I can't leave Izzy with anyone as I don't trust her outside and I can't expect anyone to have her indoors all the time, especially as she takes a lot of watching (still doing a little potty training). Oh the things I didn't think about before adopting Izzy. Good thing too!

SallyCC

Jeannie...Thanks for the reassurance about the people at the gym. They really have been great.

Michele...I did try the monitor tonight and was surprised that it was not as complicated as I thought it was going to be. I didn't even realize about the stopwatch it doesn't have...but that doesn't concern me. I need to get used to the info I need and how to get it.

MJ....Spaghetti sauce can be a nice change. My husband is a very traditional type of eater so I thought that spaghetti sauce would be too "weird" for him. I didn't present it as a substitute for pasta but told him it was a new recipe with veggies. I used a recipe from the cooking light bulletin board (http://community.cookinglight.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8) and he really liked it. That website and bulletin board is a nice resource for recipes.

mrsanderson404

Oh how I have grown to love Starbuck's Grande Skinny Carmel Macchiato!!

Love the Super Bowl ideas....I'm going to a friends tomorrow and know it will be treacherous around the buffett....think I will bring hummus and lots of veggies!!!

hooah_mj

I haven’t begun to meet everyone here, but wanted to say hi…to the rest, I can’t wait to meet ya’ll :flowerforyou:

@ Nyll54 I’ll be your sister anytime!
Must’ve read “Green Eggs and Ham” to the grandson 2,000 times! Hope you caught up on your sleep :yawn:

@ msh0530 Grandbabies with superpowers are what makes our lives as grandparents magical! Love it, thx for letting me "jump in"

@ jam0525 so sorry about Sandy Fire. Love my Wii for strength training, also. I’m right there with you concerning the ticker…committed to update good or bad! Love those furry kids

@ sveltewisher you would be my husbands hero…lunch outside of Home Depot…classic!

@ barbiecat after years of Uncle Sam moving us back and forth around the world, I can say it sounds like you got things under control…can’t tell you how many times the hubs shipped off the ol’ frying pan!
Line dancing? Awesome!

@ AliceLMS so great to have you here! Oh how you’re going to love the Wii…esp. zumba…congrats on the 2lb drop!

@ tiarapants I’m with ya on throwing out the BP meds! Love my grandbabies, too :smooched:

@ Bmorrow Howdy to a fellow Texas Lady, love Bastrop. You got my prayers..hubs travelled extensively while serving in the Army.

@ MacMadame Love your description of BodyMedia FIT. I just started using a simple HRM & it’s really helped me keep my workouts genuine. You mentioned Excel, I’m very impressed that you use multiple tools to monitor and record your results…really impressive.

@ rjadams It’s great to hear that you get in your walk first thing…wish I could get moving soon after coffee. Hope you can find some after hours dreadmill workout…

@ mynyddisamrs 6 weeks ‘til your cruise…how wonderful, hope you can reach your goals and have fun shopping for some lovely new clothes. So sorry about your Mum…my Mama is 80 and recently suffered another stroke. Think it’s been a good wake up call, tho. She’s working out 3 - 4 times a week now! Looks & sounds amazing.:bigsmile:

@ SallyCC I completely understand about the eye-sight and aging….I had to get a new phone that had the extra large letter/number function just to be able to read my text messages! Thank goodness I can read my HRM…
Funny-funny, I love how delicately you presented to your hubby, “a new recipe with veggies” very very clever! You must have read my mind! Ha ha ha :laugh:

@ Hopeful53 Thanks for sharing your “first experience” at the gym! My 80 year old mama just had her first go round in a gym, so she can testify that you’re never too old to start! Bet you’ll love it. Really Love the UK, we were stationed near Harrogate…sure miss those fish & chips (w/vinegar), yum... the beer was way better, too :drinker:

@ joylaut You’re as funny as the others here…I sometimes act like a kid, but look like one? Thanks for the echo:blushing: Really like your profile pic…my kids are everything to me, too! Good news about Mr. Groundhog, he didn’t see his shadow so spring is on its way. Must be why your hyacinths & daffodils are in full bloom already.:flowerforyou:

@ Exermom Thanks for the spaghetti squash preparation directions…what I found on-line was a little confusing:huh: Looking at the TRX, I can see how the Kinesis Wall could resemble it. The main exception is in the pulley system of weights. With every movement the cables retract back into the unit, so you’re pulling/stretching outward with weighted tension.
Really love your “Dear God” …same here, pls

@ mimi7grands Izzy and Bodie both sound darling! I have Macabee, Zeke, & Twinkie…a Catahoula, Basenji, and a Heinz 57. They add just the right kind of lovey craziness to our family. Oh, are you right not to leave Izzy out w/a mama hawk nearby! :noway:


Ladies, I'm really enjoying all the lovely conversations on this thread. Thanks again for allowing me to join your exclusive, albeit all-welcoming group! Happy SuperBowl Sunday to everyone!

mj

weaklink109

I posted Michelle's "prayer" on another thread, giving her credit for it, of course. And while I was there, I saw a story that I thought would tickle your funny bone, posted by a very humorous guy named"RoadDog":

One dark night outside a small town in Minnesota , a fire started inside
the local chemical plant and in a blink of an eye it exploded into massive
flames. The alarm went out to all the fire departments for miles around.

When the volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the chemical
company president rushed to the fire chief and said, "All our secret formulas
are in the vault in the center of the plant They must be saved. I will give
$50,000 to the fire department that brings them out intact."

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off.

Soon more fire departments had to be called in as the situation became
desperate. As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer
was now $100,000 to the fire department who could bring out the company's secret files.

From the distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came
into sight. It was the nearby Swedish rural township volunteer fire company
composed mainly of Swedes over the age of 65. To everyone's amazement,
that little run-down fire engine roared right past all the newer sleek engines that
were parked outside the plant.

Without even slowing down it drove straight into the middle of the
inferno. Outside, the other firemen watched as the Swedish old timers jumped
off right in the middle of the fire fought it back on all sides. It was a
performance and effort never seen before.

Within a short time, the Swedish old timers had extinguished the fire and
had saved the secret formulas. The grateful chemical company president announced
that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000,
and walked over to personally thank each of the brave fire fighters.

The local TV news reporter rushed in to capture the event on film,
asking their chief, "What are you going to do with all that money?"

"Vell," said Ole Larsen, the 70-year-old fire chief, "Da first thing ve
gonna do is fix da brakes on dat focking truck!!"

auntiebk

She's baaack!


Last night was the first "Line Dance Explosion" 4 different teachers, 4 hours of dancing and fun, (only danced 2.5). Best was getting my friend Carolyn to come. Hope the organizers will be able to do it again soon, but if not, there's the First Friday night Hoedown with the Hokum High Flyers from idaho.

This morning tore apart the office so DH and BIL could move stash headboard and footboards behind desks. De-framed the mattress to lower bed so Robby wouldn't fall off and hurt himself... again... This afternoon, deck finally thawed out enough for me to remove the leaves that got caught in November's early surprise snow... too bad they stained the newly painted (Sept) deck ;( Sweeping and rakin, [W]owwww my obliques! added benefit: less time to boobtube, drink, and snack. YAY!
Healthier choices, if you told me a year and a half ago that I would be HAPPILY exercising 1-2 hrs, 4+ times a week, I'd have said YOU LIE! The key for me has been finding Line, Scottish Country and Zumba dance classes.
No Superbowl parties for us, I have to work and Joe isn't a big football fan. He'll record the puppy bowl for me so I can de-stress after being on call.

Barbiecat- I'm way behind on the posts, where will you move to? Sure hope Jake labels on the sides of the boxes and not on the tops, like my DH, impossible to read with others stacked on.:ohwell:

Barb- :flowerforyou: great tip about the turkey breast vs unspecified. We're moving away from canned beans, to soaking and cooking dry. Takes longer, but easy enough to do while otherwise occupied in the kitchen, thriftier, and I can control the sodium... LOL! Just read the Swedish volunteer firefighters story! :laugh:

Sally- glad you found helpful people in the gym:huh: . Know its just my own insecurity but I HATE :grumble: going to the gym, never been comfortable in that environment and am delighted that I never have to go back. The dance hall (and back yard and wii fit) is my workout space!

Amanda- yes please pics of you in red velvet!

Faye- you said it right time to get back to losing... and not just my same 2 pounds for the past many months.:noway:

Rebel- time for me to try another of you skinny Tuesday challenges... ;>

Robin-con VERY grats :flowerforyou: on being employed again and on walking that early in the morning. Your daughter sure didn't fall far from the tree, what a stunner!

Mary- no posted loss in a year?:explode: Your honesty and persistence inspire me to renew my efforts. Love the t. edison quote, I keep finding another of the 10,000 ways...

Alice- power walk and Joyce Meyer? Gal nothing can stop YOU!:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

MacMadame- with you on weekly ticker adjustment . . If it doesn't get bumped up, then I don't get the "Lost x lbs" morale boost when it finally goes back down.

joylaut- upping activity reduced my way too high cholesterol to just over the edge of normal range and helped persuade the dr that I didn't need to take any pills... :bigsmile:

VickieM I too used to so love the cold weather and now hate it. Back when I lived in the Bay Area, drove the dogs to Yosemite to play in the snow just for the day! Now that I live in Idaho where winter lasts for seven months, :brokenheart: I'm fantasizing about retiring to So. Cal, something this native San Franciscan was always too snooty:huh: to consider.

Jeannie my heart breaks for the loss of you dragon. . . :brokenheart:
now there's one sentence I never imagined typing.

Alice please check out the negative reviews on Amazon of the zumba wii game before you invest the $$. I did ... and decided to wait for the next version. Meanwhile, if no classes nearby, there are tons of Zumba videos on youtube.

Jackie so sorrry about mum ... safe and warm is really good and not inconsequential! :flowerforyou:

michele your prayer made me snort my tea! Add me to the list!:laugh:

SMVQ How could you not dote on darling little Izzy? Will you Sherpa Izzy with you to Pasadena? A folding nylon crate might make a safe haven from the mean :devil: cat...

mj does the wii zumba game really work well for you? Did you zumba before? The Austin area is one of my favorites, especially the German communities, bakeries and breweries:drinker:

Viv, Chiclet, Kackie and all the others I failed to reply to, please know I'm reading your posts and rooting for you all... just out of time and energy :yawn:

And to all who shared their spaghetti squash recipies, you've overcome my resistance and I WILL try it soon.

Welcome to all the newbies and returnees-like-me. Together we CAN do this!

LM_105

Hello all on a grey Sunday in the UK!

Thanks to Weaklink109 (Barb) and Hooah-mj and Jan0525. My daughter is much better and yes, A&E here is accident and emergency rather than the arts! lol! It was a scarry time.

Have just had the eldest daughter and hubby over for lunch and now about to sit down and work out all my finances etc. a job that must be done! The primary reason for this at this time is that the eldest daughter and hubber (ED+H) want me to go to Florida with them in September....I am told it will be very hot.... and my current weight will not be good in the heat so even more of a motive for getting fitter/loosing more weight!

Hope you are all having a great day!

jam0525

BTW, I am turning into a doting dog mama. Who'da thunk it! Isabella (Izzy) is a darling. The hardest thing is going to be knowing what to do with her when I go out. I can leave her inside for an hour or so, or even two. But I can't see leaving her for much longer. I wish she were big enough to stay out in the yard and play with my DD and SIL's dog, Bodie. But Bodie's about 80 pounds and Izzy is 10. (Never mind that we have hawks nesting close by and I don't trust them not to decide Izzy would make a fine snack.)

Izzy and Bodie play great indoors. Bodie lies on the floor and just moves her head around while Izzy jumps all over her. They did have one funny interchange the other day. Izzy was jumping over Bodie's head. Bodie lifted her head at the same time and launched Izzy. :laugh:

Traveling will be interesting too. I'm planning to visit my daughter in Pasadena next month. She has 2 big cats (1 sort of mean one) and a small place. I can't leave Izzy with anyone as I don't trust her outside and I can't expect anyone to have her indoors all the time, especially as she takes a lot of watching (still doing a little potty training). Oh the things I didn't think about before adopting Izzy. Good thing too!

Mimi- If you have a small room you can lock her up in it with a gate. A bathroom will work just fine as small as she is. Dog gates aren't that expensive and you can leave her in there with water, a blanket and some toys. The gate will help her keep from feeling so isolated vs shutting the door. I've done it both ways. Where we are we have a 40 pound rule, if a child or a pet doesn't weigh 40 pounds, don't leave it alone outside.

Jeannie

jam0525

Barb- I loved the story!

To all the newcomers - Welcome! There are so many of you joining us this month I dare not try to do individual hellos in fear I'd miss some one. Looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Mimi- You were an inspiration for our veggie grilled cheese dish. Adding the one piece of bread to the bottom of the veggies and putting melted cheese on top made it teenager approved. Now, I want to try adding in eggplant. We just did tomatoes, onions, peppers.

We do this thing where we pick something healthy we don't eat and try to get use to it. It has really increased the variety of fruits and veggies we eat. 2011 is the year of mushrooms and cooked carrots.

Have a great day all,

Jeannie

jam0525

Barb- I loved the story!

To all the newcomers - Welcome! There are so many of you joining us this month I dare not try to do individual hellos in fear I'd miss some one. Looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Mimi- You were an inspiration for our veggie grilled cheese dish. Adding the one piece of bread to the bottom of the veggies and putting melted cheese on top made it teenager approved. Now, I want to try adding in eggplant. We just did tomatoes, onions, peppers.

We do this thing where we pick something healthy we don't eat and try to get use to it. It has really increased the variety of fruits and veggies we eat. 2011 is the year of mushrooms and cooked carrots.

Have a great day all,

Jeannie

Missevanston

Hi there! I am "new" to MFP I started my latest weight loss journey on January 3 and joined MFP on January 13. I am so glad be here! I really enjoy tracking my food and exercise, and it is working!! I am pleased to find a group for us slightly aged ladies. I am not 50, but will be 48 in May.

I have been exercising six days a week, plus walking 4.5 miles a day at work. I have reduced my calories to 1300 - 1500 (which a lot compared to how I used to just eat anything and everything, no matter the calories, fat, sodium, etc.). I am learning so much and find the site's support to be just what I need! Yesterday, I participated in a Skinny Saturday Challenge, and I did it! Thanks MFP!

For February my goal is to maintain my progress! I have calculated that in order to meet my larger goal of losing 67 pounds, I need to lose 2.5 pounds per week, 11 pounds a month. I can do it here!

Mimi

tiarapants

Hello ladies

I'm happy to report another three pounds gone. I made sure it was good and gone before changing my ticker as I'm officially in maintenance mode, but would still be happy to lose a few more pounds, especially as I'm going to have a period of inactivity after my heart surgery next month.

DH is still in Miami, so I'm not having to cook for him - which is making life much easier, foodwise. I've kept myself busy whilst he's been away. On Friday I stayed at DD#1's and got to spend loads of quality time with the grandbabies. They are 12 weeks old now and growing more and more gorgeous by the day. At one point in the evening my daughter suddenly realised that she had her hands free of babies and treated herself to a manicure. She was so appreciative of that - isn't it amazing how little things like that can brighten a day. On Saturday morning I took the twins off mummy and daddy nice and early and we had a couple of hours all to ourselves whilst their parents caught up on some sleep. I'm not sure who enjoyed it most!

Saturday afternoon I went over to see my sister and her brood. We dropped the youngest off at an afternoon party (a huge group of five and six year olds going crazy in a 'disco') and went for some retail therapy. My turn to go crazy! I always end up buying more when I shop with my sister - she is terrible for encouraging me. It was fab to try on clothes that look so tiny and to find out that they fit me! My head still hasn't caught up with my body yet and I forget I'm not a larger lady any more.

This morning I met my son and future daughter in law in the coffee shop. We were there for nearly two hours, chatting about life, the universe and everything. We also popped into a couple of little shops nearby and FDIL and I tried on more clothes and bought a few too. DS then insisted that he was shopped out so we went our separate ways and I visited mum in law at the nursing home before hitting the supermarket.

Tonight I'm going to have a good 'try on session' of my new clothes and try to sort out some of my older ones to give away. Since this time last year I've gone down 12 dress sizes!

Off to have some of my homemade lentil soup now.

Robin - would love to see some more pics of your beautiful daughter and her equally scrummy mummy!

I just cannot reply to everyone individually, but I am fully caught up with all the posts and love reading them all. Love to all my old friends and welcome to all my new friends - we seem to be getting to be a much larger crowd (although individually smaller!)

Make the most of what you've got today and try not to worry over small things.

Love

Amanda x

MacMadame

I think I'll wear this around the house. I have to wet the chest strap and I was going to try it the other day when we were shoveling but I thought there is no way I need a wet strap around my body in this weather!!

I'm not sure that particular model works wearing it around the house. A lot of them need you to be doing activity to be accurate. But don't worry about the wet chest strap. It's just to kick start how wet it will be when you sweat so you don't have to make it very wet. In fact, I usually just skip that step because my strap seems to work fine without added moisture.

Do you find the numbers of calories burned on the exercise part of MFP close to what a HRM or your program says??

They are all slightly different. Except the FIT is really bad a biking. It thinks I'm taking a walk or a slow jog! I have tried moving the "armband" to where the CS rep said to move it but I think I'm going to put it on my leg like one of the customers on FB suggested.

Here's an example:
3 hour bike ride yesterday
HRM: 1541
MFP: 1632
FIT: 823 <-- clearly way off

But today, at the gym, I got:
HRM: didn't wear (forgot to charge it)
MFP: 322
FIT: 547

In this case, I'm pretty sure the FIT is more accurate. I had to fake my Group Power class as there isn't anything like that in the database and the Couch to 5k is walking and running so I put walking 4.0 mph but it really was 4.35 mph. That's a big problem I have with the MFP database entries. They aren't fine enough so sometimes you have a choice between, say, moderate and vigorous and you know moderate is too few calories but vigorous is too many.

I sure could use some advice on how to substitute the rice and pasta...brown rice is a no go w/these silly kids & wheat pasta is great for spaghetti, altho they prefer white & creamy w/anything else.

Have you tried mixing it -- half whole grain pasta and half white flour pasta? My family doesn't like the whole grain pasta so I get Dreamfield instead. I do get the whole wheat noodles an they are okay with them.

I've also tried those shiraki noodles but no one liked them.

I can't find spaghetti squash in my grocery so I haven't tried that yet.

so I have set some limits where the cokes & snacks are concerned - weekends only.

I set my limits by just not buying much of it Then, if the kids and dh want more, they have to get it themselves with their own money. It's interesting to see that play out. DD will use her allowance to buy junk to supplement what I get but ds would rather use his money for gas for his car. :laugh:

I always end up buying more when I shop with my sister - she is terrible for encouraging me.

For me, it's my daughter. She has no concept of money (well, she is 12, but still) and she's always tell me "buy it, it looks cute on you".

pannet

That story is tooooo funny!!!

weaklink109

That story is tooooo funny!!!

If you mean the one about the firemen, I am glad you enjoyed it.