40+ Club: Spring Fitness Challenge

Texssippian

Hi all! Back from my trip to Mississippi to see family and celebrate my father's birthday. He would have been 81. (He died a little over 2 years ago, but we celebrated his memory.) My little sister and I made Greek food: roasted Greek chicken and vegetables to eat on pita bread with tzatziki (mint cucumber yogurt sauce), baba ganoush (eggplant dip), spanakopita (spinach filling in a phyllo dough crust), tabouleh (bulgar wheat salad with parsley and mint and cucumbers) and basmati rice with parsley. We bought some lemon hummus which was wonderful! There were 12 people at my mother's house and there were still LOTS of leftovers. My mom said she could eat the leftovers three meals a day for the rest of the week and be happy.

My 9 year old niece will be making her First Communion in early May. She is not a very frilly kind of girl but wants me to make her a smocked dress with lace like the one I made our daughter when she made her First Communion. That is the next planned trip other maybe a quick trip to Austin to see our daughter.

It is beginning to look like spring here in North Texas. The pear trees were gorgeous in Mississippi last weekend. They are just beginning to bud here. Our redbud in the backyard is budding out too.

I went to my second ballroom dancing class last night and danced with the instructor again. When I got home, I showed my husband the waltz and the two step. He was able to do both of them, so I am hoping I can take the class again and have him take it with me. We got his old bike fixed up for me. I am hoping to ride this weekend.

Have not had time read about everyone, but hope all is well. Take care! TxMs

niknik43

Yay! A 40+ group!

I joined FitnessPal about a year ago, lost some weight and then strayed. After moving twice in one year, I went totally nuts eating what I wanted when I wanted and gained some of my weight back. I then convinced myself to try other (dangerous) weight loss programs and was miserable, hungry, and out a significant amount of money. Now I'm back to the tried and true...counting calories and exercising. Who did I think I was kidding?! :ohwell:

I'm re-committing to myself and weight loss...

Hope it's ok if I join/stalk/chat here!

KimKelly65

Happy Hump Day!

Catching up on everyone's posts.

Stiring - good for you with the better eating and I hear the P90X is hard!

Sing - Glad night shift is working out for you...keep up the good work at the gym!

Texas - Always wanted to try ballroom dancing but my hubby says "No way", maybe I'll try by myself??? Sounds like you had lots of fun in Miss.

Alf - I really like green tea. I don't drink coffee so tea is my substitute for something warm on cold days. I'll have to mention the mixing to my hubby.

Welcome NikNik and everyone else. This is a great group for motivation and sharing.

Im doing okay. My daughter is sick, so I've had to hurry home after work to be with her when my hubby leaves for school. She is finally feeling a litlle better and Im hoping to make the gym tomorrow after work. Its been since Monday and I'm missing it.
Eating has been good but Im somewaht low on my calories...hope it won't back fire?? Just been too busy for my snacks at work and then at home with a sick kid, I've been eating light. We'll see Saturday.

Good night!

gbryant

Hello All,

Just wanted to share that I ran for 20 minutes today without stopping. May have only been a slow 12 min mile pace, but I have not been able to run for that long a time since a surgery I had in 2007. I thought I was going to die, but my nookbook really helps me to not think about my running and just read my book.

Alf, I wanted to cut back on Mt. Dew so I started drinking coffee, I think I might try your half coffee half tea.
niknik - welcome, I just started this thread also about a week ago. I really like it. Hope you do to.

Hope every one has a great day tomorrow!

niknik43

Thanks for the warm welcomes!

Is there an agreed-upon weigh in day or does everyone have their own schedule? I like weighing in on Fridays...

Made a verrrryyyy yummy "confetti spaghetti" dish for dinner with spaghetti squash, red and yellow peppers, zucchini, and chicken. Oh, and lots of garlic. Delish! But...I came in UNDER my calories for the day so I think I'll grab an Activia before I go to bed.

Hope everyone had a great day!

StiringWendel

Good Morning!

niknik, welcome!! We usually check-in on Friday. It isn't a mandatory weigh-in day or anything like that because people started here at varying times on varying schedules. But we've established Friday as the day to check-in with weight changes (if desired) or simply a run-down of how the week went in terms of eating, fitness, energy, motivation, etc. And I totally understand how disruptive moving is....I, too, moved twice in a year (Nov 2009 and Oct 2010) and I still feel like I'm recovering/adjusting to it. I'm glad you've come back to MFP instead of pursuing those dangerous weightloss programs!

alf, your breakfast sounds SO good! How did the doctor appt go? I hope you got a chance to talk to him about your foot.

TxMs, glad your trip to Mississippi went well. Your Greek food sounds delicious! I hope you're able to get your husband to take ballroom classes with you. That sounds like so much fun.

KimKelly, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she is feeling better. Don't worry too much about eating under your calories as long as it wasn't TOO far under your calories. Your metabolism won't slow down that quickly, especially if you are keeping your calories within a couple hundred of where they should be (and definitely above 1000-1200 a day).

gbryant, congrats on the running!! That is amazing!!! Keep up the great work!

All here is going well. I'm on Day 3 of P90X and really loving being back to it right now. My eating is much improved (thankfully). I'm still fighting that mentally, but I know I just need to stick with it and re-establish healthier eating habits. I'm trying to change my diet up a bit to eliminate some of my fattier proteins. I'm not a big 'meat' eater (by that, I include turkey, chicken, fish, etc....not just beef because I'm definitely not much of a beef eater), so I have a tendency to turn to things like peanut butter, eggs, nuts, etc. for protein. While those foods are incredibly healthy, I think I've been leaning on them a tad too much over the past few months and it is time to dial back a bit. I don't need that much protein anyhow, and I'm just loading up too much on high calorie foods. So I'm trying to add more fruit back into my diet (something that suffered during this past winter) and leafy greens. We'll see how it goes.

Enjoy your day!

alf1163

Hello!!!!! Well, I had a very healthy lunch packed and snacks for work but I got invited to go to lunch to celebrate a co-workers birthday. And of course they went to a chinese rest. :noway: I ordered the veggie delight and only ate half of it, I did eat the egg roll. I cannot remember the last time I had chinese food so that is ok.

niknik, welcome!!! You are in luck, first this is a great group and we do check in on Fridays. :laugh: I am sure you will be right on track very soon, looks like you are already. :drinker:

Stiring, the Dr. did not have extra time to talk about my foot. :noway: :grumble: gotta love Tricare!!! You have to "try to get care" LOL but what was nice was that he made a appt for me and it is on Mon morning. In the meantime I am taking it easy but I am still teaching my classes. It doesnt hurt as much now...

gbryant, I am assuming you use the treadmill. I still tripped whenever I tried to read while walking/jogging on the treadmill. I havent used mine in a while. Congrats on your running!!! I love running and do miss it.

kimkelly, hope your daughter gets better soon. I am trying to drink more green tea, I do love coffee since I was a teenager!!!!

Tex, your trip sounds awesome. It is great that you are able to get together with family so often. Isnt the weather in TX so beautiful these days!!!

Have a wonderful day!!!! :flowerforyou: Check in tomorrow!!!

tron3002

Welp, I have been busy running everyone's errands but my own... Well not true, I have done my own to but it sure feels that way.

I went on the treadmill for 20 minutes today. got off because my daughter stopped by but I plan on going back on later on. I'm gonna try to run 2 laps.

gbryant

Alf - yeah i use a treadmill, The first day I tried to read and run, i just about did the same thing.
I make the print large now when I run, I have to turn the page every few seconds but at least it keeps me from tripping. lol. Sorry to hear about your foot. I hope it it better real soon.

StiringWendel

Good Morning!

alf, I'm sorry you didn't get any answers on your foot....yet. But at least you got another appt quicker than what you have in the past. Hope they can help you out!

tron, good to see you. Great job in keeping up with the running!

gbryant, I can't get coordinated on the treadmill enough to run and read at the same time. I would definitely fall off! :laugh:

All here is well. I've eaten very cleanly the past four days (post training and trip and such). I'm feeling better about that. I've also worked out every day this week. Today is Day 4 of P90X (Round 2). I'll do some cardio and then YogaX. I'm so glad I learned to love the latter workout. I remember dreading it the first time I did P90X. But after a long week, I'm really looking forward to it today.

I have a book recommendation....if you are looking for a book to cut through all of the noise and mess about what to eat in terms of what is healthy, what isn't, whether organic really is better, etc, I highly recommend reading 'What To Eat' by Marion Nestle. It is a long book (over 500 pages), and I read it in about 20 page increments. But I finished it yesterday and found it to be perhaps the best balanced book I've read on what to eat. She presents the data and pretty much leaves it up to you to make the decisions (which I like), though she certainly puts in some recommendations as well. But it isn't too one-sided (except against food company marketing, and I totally agree with her), and I appreciate that.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

gbryant

Just a quick post this morning to say I weighed my self and I have lost 2.2lbs this week. Yeah.
Hope you all have a great day!:happy:

alf1163

Good morning everyone!!!! :drinker: Well, I can say my eating was pretty good this week. I taught 4 Zumba classes. I am resting today but I am planning on starting, once again, some kind of resistance trng even with very light weights and some yoga/stretching workout this weekend. I really feel that I need to do some extras in addition to teaching Zumba. I stepped again on the scale today and "gained" .2 oz :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: no biggie...I am 128.4 I am changing my ticker to see if that motivates me to continue on this same path. Want to get down to at least 125 before our trip to Orlando in May to celebrate my son's 18th birthday. My Baby!!!!!!

Stiring, thank you for the book recommendation. I will check it out. Many yrs ago I went to a conference and she was a speaker. She is great!!!! She is not related to the Nestle Co Family...she made sure we knew that. :laugh: She is a very smart woman with a lot of experience in the health/food industry. She does a lot of research. Enjoy Yoga X, I got to love it as well, but not very fond of the length of the workout. :noway:

gbryant, congrats on your weight loss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :drinker: :drinker:

Tron, take care of yourself first!!! I know it is easier said than done but...

I hope everyone has a blessed Friday and a great weekend!!! My son is going to respite camp again so my husband and I are planning another outing with other couples. I just hope he controls himself with the drinking and we dont eat out at 2am. I dont want him to end up in the hospital again!!! :grumble: :noway: Well, I am not going to let it happen!!!! :flowerforyou:

niknik43

Good morning everyone!

I had a crazy busy day yesterday (basketball tournaments for one of my sons and my daughter's 5th birthday) I was busy, busy, busy and didn't make very good food choices. I even treated myself to a piece of cake...:ohwell:

BUT...I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm down another 1.6 pounds! We're going to have a ridiculously busy weekend (more basketball tournaments and my other son has a rodeo in a town 4 hours from us which means eating out) but I'm even more determined to make good choices. Funny how a little loss can kick start your motivation!

YAY for you, gbryant! 2.2 in a week?!!! THAT is AWESOME!

@ Alf: Thanks! It feels good to be here!

@ Stiring: Yes...can anyone say HCG and HUNGRY?!!!

I bought a fitness ball and TiVo'd a 60 minute fitness ball program. I've been hitting it about 3 times per week and really like it. I'm thinking about buying the Zumba dvd's I see on TV, tho. Has anyone else purchased them? What do you think of them?

Hope everyone has a safe and sane weekend...

mkwood10

Hello all...............finally found a few minutes to check in. Life's been more than the normal "crazy" the past few weeks - I'm ready for the merry-go-round to stop so I can get off and rest!!!:laugh: Haven't had time to catch up on the thread; hope everyone's doing OK.

Still struggling with back/shoulder/neck issues, more shoulder than neck/back these days. On the advice of my chiropractor, bought a new pillow and am attempting to teach myself to sleep on my side. I've been a stomach sleeper forever, and I believe that's what was causing some of my shoulder issues. So.......teaching an 48yr old a new trick of sleeping a different way is interesting, to say the least!!:laugh: I will admit the neck is feeling better, but still feels strange to not arrange myself in my "normal" way when I get into bed!! Other than that, doing about the same with workouts; seems like I can consistently make it to Curves twice a week, but that 3rd time is hard to get! Had my annual yesterday. Good news - total cholesterol is down 20+ points from last year with good HDL, LDL and TRI levels. Vitamin D levels awesome, and no, I haven't been tanning to boost them! Bad news - blood pressure was high, wouldn't come down and has been consistently rising for the past 18 months, so I'm now on a 5 day blood pressure check with instructions to contact my primary care manager if I can't get it to consistently register below 140/80. Yikes - don't know what's going on with that!! I don't salt anything, don't even cook with salt most of the time (and sea salt IF I do have to use salt). So, bought a blood pressure monitor at lunch today; we'll see what happens from here. High blood pressure and heart disease do run in my family, especially my mom's side; another great legacy to deal with...:frown:

Have a good weekend all!! :flowerforyou:

tron3002

Friday check in day.... Sunday is when I normally weigh myself. Dreading that because the first week I worked out an hour for 5 days and gained 1.5lbs Last week I worked out an hour for 3 days and gained 1.8 lbs. This week I've only worked out (so far) 3 days for 30 minutes each. Been a busy week. I know I'm getting stronger but the scale still irritates me.

I looked on Duffy's blog and she hasn't posted on that for a while. Gosh I hope she's doing ok.

Alf... Its so nice to have time to be a couple again. I was just talking (turned into an argument) about how I think time with family is important and all's he ever wants to do is work. They need a workaholics anonymous for him to join.

Robin1117

Hi all, hope everyone is good! I'm a little behind on reading but am going to catch up now.

Things here are ok! I had a tough week last week with some travel and not-so-great eating, and no exercise. Amazing how no exercise for a few days can put you in a bad mood! Anyway, started the week really on a mission to get back on track and I think I did with flying colors. Exercise--all on plan. Eating has been on plan too. I'm going out of town again for the day and night tomorrow, visiting a friend of mine who is kind of a chow-hound, so I assume I'll eat poorly but it's just for a day.....how much damage could I do in one day?? I think I'm good with it considering I should have my weeks exercise goal almost complete by tomorrow....

Anyway, I did my 30 days on the 30 day shred and have been continuing on extra days on level 3 just to feel stronger. I haven't figured out what I want to do next to mix things up but I know I can't go back to the full time hour on the elliptical. I think I'll just keep with it until I decide. Overall from that program I feel nice and strong and feel like I toned some areas by my stomach and bum but haven't been on the scale. No thank you...not just yet.

Have a great weekend everyone! Robin

altushe

Hi all. Well, appears I did not find the answer to my edema as it is back, depsite no change in eating or exercise since I returned from Colorado. The doctor attributes the temporary respite to the altitude but advised to stay off gluten as that did seem to make a difference. She is testing blood for celiac and a number of other possible issues. Got some results back this week (none particularly good) but won't have celiac and other antibocy tests til next week. Never the less, dreading my Sunday weigh-in since it seems the water retention is back and will likely cause a discouraging outcome.

It is so depressing to think that I feel the healthiest I've been (eating healthy, maintaining a normal weight and exercising regularly) and I am experiencing health issues. Not a good feeling... Hopefully whatever is wrong is treatable once they figure it out.

Going away on business next week but will try to keep up.

Hope everyone is well.

Victorious_One

So, I've been on total IV nutrition for the past five weeks because I was protein depleted. I found out that the treatment usually makes people gain about 25 lbs! Yowza! I've only gained about 5-7, so I feel blessed with that. I had weight loss surgery, so that means that the surgery is doing its job: I'm losing from the surgery, but gaining a bit from nutrition. It's more important than ever for me to be able to eat what I need to by mouth so I can get off this IV bag! I have to wear it 12 hours per day. Anyway, that also means that the scale is not very helpful to me right now. I really have to focus on my eating and fitness, and let the pounds fall where they may until I can get off the IV and get back to normal.

I need a water-drinking challenge! Help! :frown: I haven't yet searched for a walking challenge, but I may start one for 40+ folks if I don't see one going on. I have GOT to get off this chair and get moving!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

KimKelly65

Hi everyone,
Happy Saturday! :happy:
SO the scale did not budge this week??? I did eat out when away with my daughter at Purdue but I made smart choices and didn't over do it. I also was below my calorie allowance almost everyday. Could it be a plateau? Am I building muscle that weighs more?? Should I be worried? Im still pleased with my progress so far, but you all know that the scale makes us crazy!!! :grumble: HELP!!!

I am very happy to report that my pants are baggy and my tops are too! Its not time to measure myself but maybe I should to get an idea of my accomplishments. OH well.... enough obsessing. I will still be strong, this isn't all about weight loss as much as about getting healthier. Right???? (And I did not gain) :ohwell:

GBryant = Congrats on your. 2.2 pounds!! WOO HOO!

NikNik - YAY!! Way to go on your weight loss!

Altushe - I hope you can get some answers asap about your edema issues. Don't let it get you down, you are healthier now and your body will be able to bounce back form this issue easier. Have you had any shortness of breath or feelings of fatigue? (Sorry its the Nurse Practitioner in me coming out) Please take care of yourself and have a safe trip.

Tron - loved your post...I hate my scale too!

Well its rainy and chilly today and I have lots of errands to run. So Im off and running.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

alf1163

Well, last night I wrote what seemed to be a novel here and when I hit reply I was out of the internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :explode: :explode: So this might be short....:laugh: I am doing well. Ortho Dr. gave me a referral for phys therapy, he is retiring. So if/when I follow up it will be with a different doctor. My hubby got himself a 2011 Camaro Lt charcoal color, really cute...can I say "mid life crisis"!!!! :laugh: :laugh:

niknik, congrats on the weight loss!!!! I am a Zumba instructor. I have heard the videos are really good and also the video games. But some say doesnt compare to a live class, check one out near you if you can. And hopefully the Instructor will not dissapoint you, we are not all created equal. :noway:

Mkwood, sorry to hear about your shoulder problems. I guess they dont go away that easily, Im still going through the same issues. :grumble: Take care of your high BP. 140/80 is not horrendous, but it can be better. Did they take it manually or with the machine? The other day it was 139/96 with the machine and the tec took it manually and it was 118/62, within minutes, go figure. Also diet, exercise and stress reduction can play a big part. Congrats on lowering your cholesterol!!!! :drinker:

Robin, I too love 30 day shred. I always did two to three sessions at a time. You might want to try that but not everyday. I did it every other day, I would do 1 & 2, then 2 &3 (my favorites) after a month or so doing that then I increased it to all three sessions. That was back in 09 when I was a lean mean machine. I felt so powerful!!! I think it prepared me for P90X and Chalean Extreme.

Tron, perhaps surprise your hubby with dinner reservations, etc. Someone has to start it and it sounds like it has to be you. Hang in there!! :flowerforyou:

Altushe, I hope you get answers soon. Sorry to hear...but dont give up and continue eating healthy and exercising.

Victorious, do you have a dog? That could be a good excuse to get out there and walk...start slow and build up to at least 30 mins a day. Water, I am a water addict, I drink about a gallon a day...but you can set a goal of drinking a cup or two with every meal and increasing little by little.

Kimkelly, if your pants and tops are baggy there you go!!! You are definitely losing inches!!!!! :drinker: If you are doing heavy weight lifting and putting on muscle you will not see a lower weight on the scale but will see a leaner you which it sounds that is going on. Congrats!!!! The weight on the scale can mean sooo many things that it is easy to go crazy just by using the scale. Plateaus are very normal if you have not changed your routine for a while or you might have to tweak your eating a little bit. But again it sounds like you are doing the right thing.

Have a great weekend!!! :flowerforyou: