40+ Club: Spring Fitness Challenge

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  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,816 Member
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    Hi all!

    alf, it's good to see you back!

    gbryant, temptations ARE tough but at least you are aware where the issue is, and that's a step in the right direction. You don't always have to say 'no' but if you start saying 'no' a little more than you used to, you're moving in the right direction.

    niknik, congrats on the weight loss! Don't give your husband's failure to notice your weight loss a second thought. My husband didn't pay much attention either.....until I got to the point other people were really noticing. As you said, you are doing this for you, and I think that's a great approach.

    Victorious_One, sounds like a great dinner last night!

    TxMs, I was wondering if your husband had changed his tune on the garden. I look forward to more amazing photos of your veggies later this year!! Oh, how I wish I could have a garden. Some day.......

    LadyPersia, sounds like you had a great weekend!

    singfree, glad you enjoyed your Friday night. A 30th birthday party? I remember turning 30....vaguely. :tongue:

    All here is well. We had pretty weekend....a tad cooler than I would like, but sunshine all around. This morning....not so much. Woke up to thunder and lightening. I didn't do great with my eating this weekend but....oh well. I'm back on track and that's the important thing. I'm in my first recovery week of P90X, and this week I'm focusing on my Insanity workouts. This morning I did Max Interval Plyo. It's a toughie, but it felt good. I'm feeling better about how I look right now, but I think if I were to weigh myself, I'd find that I'd really like to lose about 5lbs. So I'm not going to weigh myself. :laugh:

    tron (and for others interested), you recently asked about duffy. She updated her blog last week. I just thought I'd let you know. For those curious, she seems to be working her way through recovery right now. She continues to amaze me.

    Hope you all enjoy the day!
  • alf1163
    alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the talk about plants, flowers, spring, makes me more motivated about planting some flowers myself. Last year I did not at all!!!! So this year I am really longing to do that...something simple but with lots of color!!!! Are tulips easy to care for? How do they do in the Texas heat? Probably not for this area... I am taking this week off from Zumba. I have a friend teaching my classes. I really feel I needed a break. Started PT for my foot today. The therapist found a lot of weaknesses in my range of motion etc so he said he will have me work on those areas. On Fri I have the PT eval for my hip. We will see...I just hate to not teach and be there for my students but I also have to take care of myself. I dont mind getting a sub if I am going out of town but I have never taken a week off in over a year teaching and just stayed home. It feels weird. Eating was not that great this weekend either for me but I am moving on...still no sweets no alcohol though and there have been plenty of times to give in...

    Stiring, thank you for updating us on Duffy. I havent seen her on FB either...glad to hear she is ok. And you are amazing yourself!!!

    Sing, great to hear from you. Glad you had a wonderful weekend!!! My husband and I are going to see West Side Story this Sat. I cant wait. And then we are going to go dancing somewhere on the Riverwalk...I love it, so pretty. Any of you have been to San Antonio and the Riverwalk?

    Glad to hear from all of you and your almost spring adventures...Lady Persia, Tex, Victorious...

    Have a great one!!! :flowerforyou:
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,816 Member
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    Good Morning!

    alf, I think it is great that you are taking a week off from Zumba. No doubt your body will thank you. I'm glad the PT is going to be working with you on your foot, and I hope you get some good answers/help as well on your hip. You've been fighting these injuries so long that I think the break and PT sessions will do you wonders....or at least I hope so. I've never been to San Antonio. My husband travels there alot with this current job he's in, so I'm hoping to go along with him at some point. If I do, be sure to know I'll be letting you know because I'd love to meet you! I've heard great things about San Antonio, and we have a good number of friends who have settled there post-military life.

    All here is the same. I started the day with an Insanity workout which was fun. My eating is cleaned up again. Looks like my pattern is going to be good six days a week with one day a week where I kind of do whatever. I'm okay with that right now.

    Enjoy the day!
  • KimKelly65
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    Hi everyone,

    Love all the posts about spring and planting. Still too early here in Ohio but I will have my small veggie garden, flower beds, and flower pots this year. Excited with the warm weather we are having this week, but it will all change very soon and back into the 40's as we head into the weekend. Thats Ohio for ya....:grumble:

    I did the mini heart marathon and we walked 5K in 51 mins. YAY!!
    My friends noticed how easily I kept up with their pace and it felt great. Looking forward to our next walk. :happy:


    LadyPersia - great plan, working in the yard for exercise. I love tulips and Im hoping mine bloom this year...too little sun where they were planted, may need to dig them up in the fall and replant. My daffodils are coming up and are just starting to bloom.

    Alf - Time off from Zumba will help heal your foot and hip. Im sure your students will understand and be glad when you are healed and back again.

    NikNik - Congrats on your weight loss!! WTG!

    Hope everyone has a great week!
  • alf1163
    alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    OMG Stiring, I would be delighted to meet you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can hang around town or workout together or both!!!!!! Yes, definitely let me know. My job is very flexible and I pretty much take off whenever I want to. I'm already excited and you have not even set a date yet!!! LOL Yes, the break feels really nice but I am telling you, I truly miss teaching. As I mentioned in my last post it feels really weird being home and not teaching. It is not going to be a true rest time since I've been working at my other job, running errands and need to practice new songs for next week. Also on Thu I am doing a Zumba demo in downtown for the City Manager and a lot of the Directors of different City/Govmt Depts in SA. It is a 45 min class. I'm a little nervous about it but I think it will be fun. :)

    Oh Stiring and Robin, I was talking to my husband about bread and bread machines...which ones do you have? Is it really simple to make bread? Expensive? I am really tired of looking for good breads that dont have so many preservatives and weird ingredients.

    Wow, where is everyone today????? I hope all is well. :flowerforyou:
  • Victorious_One
    Victorious_One Posts: 174 Member
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    I everyone. Happy Wednesday!

    I found a way to cut out 2/3 of the carbs in my protein shake. I'm having a party! :laugh: I hope it shows up on the scale, whenever I can get a new one or get mine fixed. It's one of those fancy types that gives your water & body fat percentages with your weight, so I'm hoping we can get it together.

    I'm still not walking, though. I did get my phone fixed, so my music is ready. The weather is terrible today, and I think I'm getting my husband's cold. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it for at least a day.
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,816 Member
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    Good Morning!

    Kim, congrats on the mini heart marathon!!! That's a GREAT walking time!!!! Glad you enjoyed it. We're having the same weather pattern as you right now here in the DC area. They're even talking snow over the weekend. I'm disappointed because we were planning on going into the city for the Cherry Blossom festival....but in snow? I'm not so sure about that.

    alf, I look forward to meeting you too.....sometime hopefully soon! I had thought about coming down there this May with my husband as he has a one week conference, but there is talk that might be canceled so I don't want to invest in a ticket if there is any uncertainty. So the next visit may be in October. I'll keep you posted for sure! It doesn't sound like you're taking much of a rest week, but I still think the change in routine will help your body. The Zumba demo sounds like fun!! And I have no doubt you'll do great!!

    Victorious_One, good job on finding a food solution that works for you. I hope you don't feel too poorly and that you get back to feeling good soon.

    All here is well. I started my day with a Turbo Fire workout, and I think I'm going to try a new Bootcamp workout I got later today. It looks like a toughie!! I should probably love it. My diet is good, which makes me happy. I wore a pair of jeans yesterday that I haven't wanted to even attempt to put on for a few months, and they fit fine. So I must be doing something right!

    Enjoy the day!
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,816 Member
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    alf, I forgot to mention bread machines in my last post....and it is too l late to edit it. So....here I am again.

    I have a Zojirushi machine. It's expensive...I'm not going to lie. But when I was looking for a machine, I decided to go for a small one (I have their mini bread machine which makes 1lb loaves) and something reliable. It takes up very little counter space, and for that, I love it (especially since I've had three kitchens in the less than two years I've owned it). I have nothing but positive things to say about my machine. I actually ordered it from amazon.com. That being said, I know you can get machines for much less. Hopefully our good friend zebras (who we haven't seen in forever!) may be reading this thread because I know she just replaced her bread machine as well. But, for the life of me, I can't remember what brand she got, but it sounded like a really great machine. Hopefully she'll chime in.

    I love my bread machine. I have no idea how much making my bread costs in comparison to how much it would cost me to buy bread because on this issue....I just don't care. I hate all the crap they put into most loaves of bread so much that cost on this one just isn't an issue for me. I've used my bread machine to make a good number of things now....cinnamon rolls, hamburger buns, sub rolls, pizza crust, etc. I'm so happy I have it.

    If you have any more questions, please let me know. I'll try to help out. And, again, hopefully zebr
  • LilOlMe69
    LilOlMe69 Posts: 89 Member
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    Morning everyone! SOOO ready for spring, it's still freezing here , but the sun is shining! Hope this is the start to a beautiful spring! Happy Hump Day Everyone! :D
  • zebras
    zebras Posts: 600
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    Stiring, Yes, I'm here, lurking away!

    Alf:
    I bought a Breadman for about $100.00 recently from Amazon. It works very well, but its very noisy. I really wanted the full size version of what Stiring has, but we are on financial lockdown right now, but we only eat bread made by our machine, so I considered it necessary to replace my former machine, rather than switching to store bought bread. Stiring gave me this wonderful whole what recipe, which either one of us will share if you get a machine, I have a great recipe for French bread and cinammon raisin bread too. And I have three serious bread machine recipe books, if you decide to get a machine I'd be happy to share them. Any machine you get, you just measure the different ingredients into the machine, and push a button or two, and hours later voila! To avoid dissapointment, if you do get a new machine, don't rely on their printed recipes, this machine's book the first recipe I tried was totally off. In fact I recommend testing with the French bread recipe I have as it requires the fewest ingredients. You won't go back once you start using one I can't speak to cost, because I haven't calculated what the different ingredients cost and amounts used in each recipe, but I'll try to remember to do that next time I buy ingredients.
  • Robin1117
    Robin1117 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Hi there! I'm sorry I have been MIA for a week or so. I have been here but a little unmotivated. Cabin Fever has set in, definitely.....

    So Alf and Stiring--the Bread Machine. I have the Zojorushi as well--it's a 2 lbs machine although I make all the "medium" recipes, more like 1 1/2 lbs. I LOVE it. I'm pretty sure my hubby bought it on Amazon too. I have been making pizza dough, focaccia, pita breads and all different types of regular breads. It's so easy, and so healthy and really does not take up any time. I'm thinking tonight about making flour tortillas and just looked up a recipe...might be interesting. I also wanted one because I wanted to choose the good ingredients that go inside w/no preservatives, and also for my son's nut allergy--we have to avoid nuts and I get so tired of reading labels because everything cross-contaminates w/nuts. Anyway, highly recommended. Hope we sold you...you'll love it!

    Stiring--sounds like you have been doing great--a variety of exercises and clothing still fitting--yay!

    I'm so looking forward to spring too. And can't wait to start gardening. And my favorite thing is coming up: searching for wild leeks (ramps) and morel mushrooms....only a few more weeks to go!

    Will catch up on all the posts and check in on Friday!! Take care everyone! Robin
  • tron3002
    tron3002 Posts: 440 Member
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    We finally got power back!!! YAY!!!! We woke up Sunday to 4 ft of snow and no power or cell service. Finally got the power pack still no cell servings. It just started snowing again, I just pray it holds off til my son gets home from school. The school sent home a not yesterday saying that when it snows the buses are gonna drop my son off MILES away from my house. Its so annoying. They need to get the old bus driver back that wasn't afraid to drive in the snow. I wouldn't care as much but we only have one 4 wheel drive and my husband has to take it to go to work.
  • LadyPersia
    LadyPersia Posts: 1,444 Member
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    good day for snow filled NEPA...some spring eh?
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,816 Member
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    Good Morning!

    Glad to see both zebras and Robin check in!!! :drinker: alf, I hope you're convinced about bread machines now. :happy:

    tron, I'm so sorry to hear about your power issues! That's horrible. I hope your son made it home safely.

    LadyPersia, it looks like spring has morphed into winter, doesn't it? I don't like snow talk this time of year. :grumble:

    All here is well. Working out and eating well. I've got meetings both today and tomorrow at the Pentagon, so I've got a couple of busy days ahead.

    singfree, where are you? I hope all is well with you. Check-in when you get a chance.
  • zebras
    zebras Posts: 600
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    Thanks for missing me Stiring. LOL

    Alf, did we inundate you too much with bread machine stuff? I tend to babble too much when I get excited about something.
  • LadyPersia
    LadyPersia Posts: 1,444 Member
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    Namaste....

    Well I have dug out 10 inches of snow from my 280 foot driveway and I found poping thier heads around my rock wall crocus. They are almost ready to bloom. Winter is getting kicked away no matter what:)

    Alittle crazy here with my family but the Dr Oz show was Awesome. Had alot of fun. Even got to speak to him and he had to remember my name for part of the show. NYC is still our favorite place. Doctors tomorow for BP. New meds are ...ehk....but Im doing it.

    Blessing of good health and a fit ..mind, body, and spirit to all!!


    Remember to Breath deep and least twice today
    Kim
  • alf1163
    alf1163 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    All this talk about bread machines makes me want to buy one right away!!! I am just not so sure I will use it a lot especially when they are so expensive. I do appreciate all the suggestions and offers to send recipes. I was looking at them online. The Z one, mini, is at the AAFES (military store) store online, sold for $175, no tax. I wonder if the store has it, I might check it out or call.

    Zebras and Robin, great to hear from you both, it's been a while. And Stiring of course, with all of your great ideas.

    Yeah Sing, where are you????

    Lady Persia and Tron, cant believe you are getting so much snow. It has been like summer here in San Antonio, in the high 80's low 90's!!!!! I love it!!!!

    Will check in tomorrow!!!! :flowerforyou:
  • niknik43
    niknik43 Posts: 36
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    Oh, boy. Just when I thought I was doing really well...I have to worry about my bread now, too?!!

    I just realized that my fantastically yummy and satisfying BK chicken tendergrill sandwich that I've been eating for lunch almost daily (no mayo) has 1,100 (YES...one thousand one hundred) grams of sodium. Yikes! Needless to say...no more tendergrills for me. But I thought I was doing really well by eating the whole wheat or multi-grain sandwich rounds (they are yummy and only have 100 calories). How many calories is in a slice of the homemade bread? Sigh...I guess I need to read the label on my sandwich thins.

    On a personal note...I weigh in tomorrow and was going to ask then but since I'm here I'll just get it over with. I've been working out three to four times per week for 45 minutes to a hour each time, alternating cardio and strength training with light weights. I feel it. I get my heart rate up to 120-125 and sweat (not a great deal, tho, because I'm not a really sweaty type of person...). I can definitely feel muscle formation in my arms but am wondering about my tummy. It seems to be "hollowing out" for lack of a better description. Meaning, I can see more of my waist but the skin of my stomach has really started sagging...like it's melting...or empty and now the skin that's left behind is really hanging. I'm just wondering if any of you have had this same phenomenon or if it's normal. I'm hoping that it IS melting away and that underneath is that six pack I KNOW I was born to have. HA! :laugh:

    By the way...I want to thank you all. When I feel a tough day coming on, I just turn on my computer and read your comments and thoughtful encouragement. Thanks.
  • JPriceGA
    JPriceGA Posts: 508 Member
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    bump
  • Texssippian
    Texssippian Posts: 235
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    Hi all!

    Spring is definitely here in North Texas (Dallas - Fort Worth area). Blue bonnets and prim roses are blooming along the highways (thank you Lady Bird Johnson). We have one yellow iris blooming and lots of iris buds. If you want to see a great display of different iris, go to argyleacres.com. Argyle is a little town north of Dallas and Fort Worth. These people have an amazing array of iris for sale. I learned about them in a watercolor class I was taking. We now have lots of different iris from them. Hubs keeps buying vegetable plants...

    Zebras! Hello! Glad to hear from you.

    Alf: I have been dreaming of bread machines all day too! I like to buy the frozen bread dough. I defrost it, let it rise and then bake it. I give it to new neighbors when they move in and to all neighbors for Christmas. Everyone asks for the recipe but I tell them it is a family secret. (Don't tell my neighbors...)

    Lady Persia: So sorry you are still shoveling snow. We will be cutting the lawn this weekend.

    Hi Tron. Always good to hear from you.

    Niknik: I am very sodium aware. We really do not eat out very much because of the sodiujm content. You are doing great. Keep up the slow weight loss and exercise. Consider adding more ab workouts.

    Speaking of ab workouts, we went to our trainer tonight. She had us do the "plank", a yoga position targeting abs. My husband with the big beer/food belly can hold it for a minute and I struggle with 15 seconds???

    Enjoy the springing of spring! Those of you with snow: we will be in the 100s in the summer so enjoy the cold. We will pay big money for it in the coming months!

    Take care all! TxMs