40+ Club: Summer Slimmers

cardigirl

My update: well, I've been super busy at work, and it looks like that trend will continue. Boo. Working most weekends and extra hours during the week doesn't leave a lot of free time, but i'm still working out 5-6 days a week, and still working with the trainer.

My weight loss is very slow, but I am noticing that I am leaning out a bit. Which I like a lot. Still, the scale drives me nuts. Cannot get under 140 no matter how hard I try.

I ran my first 5k in May and loved it. Need to sign up for another one sometime soon. It was so much fun to be running with all those people. My time wasn't the greatest, but I came in under what I thought i would so I feel good about that.

The main thing that has kept me off of MFP is that my daughter left for Africa the first of June. She is with the Peace Corp and is in Sierra Leone, so a lot of May was spent getting her ready to go. I miss her like crazy, but she seems to be acclimating okay over there. She will be gone for 27 months. :sad: But I am very very proud of her for wanting to do this.

So, now that she has been "launched" I want to FOCUS and try to get to running longer distances. I enjoy running when I do it, but I am darn slow at it and I want to try to get to be able to run 4 and 5 miles regularly.

I am trying to get caught up on everyone's story. I'll be certain to check back in more regularly!!! Missed this place!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: doriekaye...Glad to see you back into exercising. I went several months doing nothing so, I know how hard it is to get back into the swing of things. Keep up the good work.:flowerforyou:

:flowerforyou: cardigirl...sorry to hear that you and your daughter will be separated for a period of time. I will be praying for her safety while traveling and while doing her work. Working out 5-6 days a week while keeping to your full schedule is great. And, try to forget the scales. You are looking better, more toned and that is the most important.

Well, off to a new week. Can't wait to get going on my job.:sad: I have only two hours till I begin.

Robin1117

Good morning. I have been MIA for awhile and so behind, so sorry I haven't had a chance to look at all that I missed.

This has been a tough few weeks. Some of you who I'm connected w/here may have seen my posts, but on Mem. Day weekend I received a call that my father had been in a serious cycling accident. I went to California the next day and it has been a whirlwind ever since, with the result being my father's funeral last Sunday. I'm really sad, shocked...maybe even in disbelief too at this tragedy.

So, here I am back trying to find my routine again. The difference being that I'm not my usual happy self, I'm a sad, over-tired one who breaks out in tears every time I am alone and start to think. My son is also now home on summer vacation--today would be the first day. It's going to be a little harder to get in the workouts to the level I had been doing before (unless I start very early and I'm so tired it has been hard to do that.....). I'm kind of sad about this because exercise over the last few weeks has been really therapeutic for me and I'd like to do more, not less. Anyway, change, change, change.....maybe I'm not great with it. But I'll be working to figure out how to approach this summer so that I can fulfill my goals--that includes some healing as well as trying to stay strong, as well as my son's.

take care, and hope everyone is doing well. Will hopefully be a little more bright and cheery next time I post....Robin

Swissmiss

Robin, I am so sorry to hear of your dad. And, to have the funeral of Father's Day must have made it extra hard to deal with. I will be praying for you. I recall that my mother passed away right before Mother's Day. That day just isn't the same anymore. I hope that you have someone you can talk to. And, remember that stress is not good for our bodies. In fact, stress can cause us to not lose weight. But, on the other hand, be sure to take as much time as you want or need before getting back into a normal schedule. Exercise is a wonderful way to release a lot of stress.

alf1163

Robin, I am so sorry for your loss. The posts here dont have to be cheery all the time, feel free to vent your emotions. We all understand and will be supportive. Give yourself time to grief. We are all here for you.

Cardi, great job keeping up with your workouts while being so busy at work!!!! And congrats on running your first 5K. They are so much fun. Give yourself time and increase your distance little by little. Soon you will be running 10K and I foresee a half marathon in your fututre. I miss running.

Welcome to the newcomers!! Keep on posting.

Swiss, I love how active you have been in the site! You have made a great comeback!!!

I dont work today but I have a busy day with meetings concerning my son. I also teach Zumba tonight. Dorie, send me some of that rain. It hasnt rained here since early May!! I am watering my lawn right now. We are under watering restrictions so we can only water once a week with sprinklers and only during certain times of the day. Crazy!!!! A lot of the lawns in my neighborhood look awful. Mine is pretty green cause I take care of it. LOL

Have a great day!!! :flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

Robin, I'm so sorry to hear about your father. Take time to take care of yourself. As Swissmiss said, you've been through alot of stress, so listen to your body. If your body is telling you it is too tired to workout, then don't workout. If you think that it is your emotions holding you back and not your body, then find something you feel like doing and do that. Just listen to yourself and trust yourself right now. Again, I'm so sorry. What a tragedy. I'm glad you are back home and safe, and enjoy this time with your son without worrying about the workouts. You'll get back to them and I doubt you'll skip a beat in terms of weight and conditioning when it is all said and done. :flowerforyou:

cardigirl, SO good to see you again. I'm amazed at your daughter going into the Peace Corp. I so admire anybody who can do that. I have no doubt you'll miss her, but what a wonderful thing she is doing with her life right now. I LOVE your new profile photo. How inspiring!!!

To all the newcomers.....welcome!!!

I've been pretty busy here but doing well. My eating this weekend wasn't great. DH and I spent Friday out at the US Open Golf Championships which was fun. But, sadly, we couldn't take in any food which left us in the hands of others for food all day. We did as well as we could, but, unfortunately, there wasn't anything outside of a banana on the menu boards that I considered 'healthy'. We were also out and about all weekend which made our eating somewhaat erratic, but it could have been far worse. I'll be back on track today, no doubt. As far as workouts, I've started my third week of Asylum and am really enjoying these workouts.

LadyPersia

Robin....My hugs go out to you. I lost my Dad in April and I completely understand your feelings. Take every moment slowly....HUGS

The house is empty The boy is at BS camp training for most of the summer to be a paid counselor. Just me and hubby. Really feels weird though.

Have an awesome week. I'm going to run before the rains come.

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: alf..I would love to send you some rain. We are so tired of it here in Ohio. Farmers are having trouble getting their fields ready and planned. I thought it was going to be dry today so I left my hooded jacket at home. Sigh....it is raining.:ohwell:

:flowerforyou: LadyPersia...enjoy the time you are having with just your husband. I get that once in a while. Possibly not enough. We still have two at home but they are quite busy doing their own things most of the time.

:flowerforyou: stiring...I would love to see what you ate this weekend. A person can not live long on only bananas.:laugh: But, maybe they could if they were living on a tropical island without any outside contacts. No, they could always fish. Oh well, glad that you are back home were the food is healthy.

tladame

Ehh...I overindulged a little at our Father's Day BBQ yesterday. I won't deny myself a BBQ burger once in awhile! But I didn't have to finish it off with all the other stuff I ate too, LOL. I did the 6-week six-pack workout in the morning, and I felt so guilty about what I ate during the day that I also did the 3-day shred that night! As it turns out, I weighed the same today as I did yesterday. Whew! Normally I'll do one workout or the other in the morning, never two in one day.

It's so weird when I eat foods I'm not used to anymore. At the end of the day, I usually feel crummy. My husband jokes, "That's what you get for eating so healthy!" Ha ha.

doriekaye

Robin,,,so sorry about your dad, I lost my Dad last Sept. and my Mom 3 years ago. Take things easy, do only what you feel you can do. It won't help you to overdo it. Spend time with your son, my kids were the reason I didn't just dissolve into a big depressed puddle. I hope things look up soon. Hugs to you.

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: tladame ...I think your husband may have the right thoughts on this. We do feel bad if we eat bad when we have been doing so good. And, this is a good thing. (Oh no, did I sound like Martha Stewart?)

:flowerforyou: doriekaye ...what would we do without our kids. They are such a blessing.

I used the weight machines at the Y last night and then rode the stationary bike for 15 minutes doing intervals. Burned only 194 calories. I was hoping for more.:grumble:

Givemewings

Hi. I'm new! Just started last week.

Texssippian

Hi all!

Robin, I am so sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself.

We finally got some rain last night here in north Texas. There was lightning about 40 minutes into the river, so we had to cut it short. Got in three laps running forward and two and half laps running backward. We will get a make up session the beginning of July. Also went to the trainer last night so I got a double work out.

Neighbor down the street had a garage sale on Saturday. We bought several pieces of furniture for our daughter's new apartment in Austin. Nice furniture that weighed a lot so extra weight lifting in addition to going to gym.

Welcome all the new people. We may get more rain today, hopefully not enough to close the water park and cancel river tonight. Take care all! TxMs

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: Welcome taniadawn...hope you find support to help you.

:flowerforyou: Tex...sounds like you are getting quite a workout. Good for you.

Classes at the YMCA begin tonight. Going to take Deep Water Power.

Cletc

@TaniaDawn

Welcome!

I started a while ago but threw in the towel, so I'm "new" again this week

:laugh:

Swissmiss

I think I forgot to hit "post reply", so I am having to do this over. I always go shorter on the second time. Really aggravating to have a lot in a reply and then lose it.

:flowerforyou: Cletc, I am also a repeat. I was here a couple of years ago but then left for other sites. Well, I have found this one to be the best, plus I had a friend who kept after me to return. Bless her heart. So, here I am.

Went to Deep Water Power at the YMCA last night. Very disappointed..burned only 180 calories. I need to get into something a bit more active. I feel it is too hot to do the spinning class. I do have Zumba DVDs at home that I should be using. I have the Zumba Fitness kit. Only problem is that when I ordered it (about a month ago), they were offering only 4 DVDs. Now I see that if I ordered it now I would get a total of 7 DVDs. I am thinking of calling the company and see if I can somehow get the other three.

nlsalvatore

Hi - I am new to this group. My name is Nancy - I'm 41, I'm a PA girl, and I have been on MFP since January. I love it and have found it to be the most motivating thing for me in regards to living a healthier lifestyle. I just found this thread and skimmed through the posts - what an amazing group! I can relate to everything being posted here! Have a great rest of the week! You're a very supportive group - great to read!

alf1163

OMG!!! What is that????? IT IS RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Doing the Happy Rain Dance!!!!! I know I know, for most of you,no big deal. But it hasnt rained here since early May. They said we've had about 1.5 inches this morning, last time we had that amount was in September!!!! The downside, people having car accidents. :noway: They dont know how to slow down when it is raining.

Welcome to all the newcomers, wow!!! Stay with us...we can help each other with our struggles and celebrate our accomplishments. :drinker:

Swiss, that class sounds like fun!!! I am going to the Zumba convention on Jul 6 and I am getting licensed to teach Aqua Zumba. I am not very sure if I will try to pick up another class to teach but I am eager to try it. I've heard it is great. Dont worry so much about the calories burned working out especially when you lift. Weight lifting is so important especially when we get older and you might not burn many calories while doing it but you will burn more calories at rest and become stronger and leaner. Also watch your diet, try to eat clean most times.

Cletc, what matters most is that you are back. Don't give up!!!

My husband and I are going to court today to finalize the guardianship process. We have an 18yr old son who is mentally disabled/severely autistic. It still bothers me that we as his parents have to pay the legal system to become guardians of our son who cannot protect himself, but that is the legal system. As of now, there is nothing we can do about it. And we will do anything to continue to take care of our son.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!!! :flowerforyou:

zebras

Alf I would gladly send you the rain we are going to get today. We had a crazy storm Friday night during rush hour. In several places cars got stuck on roads that flood under the train trestles. Other roads were blocked off due to trees down and flooding, so It took me an hour to go the 7 miles to home, only to find a trailer truck up in a blaze in the Wal-Mart parking lot right in front of my condo. So, glad it was confined to their paring lot!

Welcome all the new folks, so nice to see so many posting.

I got 2 hours in at the gym last night. 90 on the elliptical and 30 on the treadmill. Thank god for Kindle text-to-speech and Audible books. I'm too ADD to last very long doing anything, unless my mind is thoroughly engaged with something. Even at lunchtime at work, my lunch bunch comes out a few minutes later than I do, and I'm reading away while I eat.

sdereski

Good Morning,

I'm back from my weekend away and have been crazy busy since. It is our Black Fly Run race weekend this saturday, of which I am the race director, so lots of last minute things to do.

I've been asked to give a presentation to our local Rotary Club and speak about "my passion", which is running, so was up late last night working on a slide show. Thought that might be a little more interesting than me talking about running to a bunch of old guys. :laugh: It's tonight, and I work best under pressure.

Had a great weekend in Duluth at Grandma's marathon. I did not run it, but my daughter-in-law did and she did amazing! I was SO proud of her. She is only 27 and this is her second marathon.
It was so fun to be on the other side of the fence and watch and cheer the crowds on instead of being cheered on. I got to see the front runners race to the finish and then see a couple of my friends while they ran their last few miles. The weather was crappy - cold, rainy and windy, but the runners loved it. We also celebrated well that night. :drinker: I am sure I drank more that one night than I have in a year. But, it was all good. Have really been trying to eat very clean and for the most part have done very well - with the exception of Saturday night's drinks.
the scale is moving in the downward direction....very slowly, but, at least it's moving. If I lose a pound a week I will be happy. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm working on it.:laugh:

I changed up my weight training routine - instead of circuit and doing upper body, core, lower body on each of the days I go. OMG - is my butt sore!!:noway: In the 2 months that I was doing the circuit workout, I was never sore, so I knew I had to change things up some. Hope this works to smooth out the bumps. :laugh:

Have a great day all - time for me to get some work done! :flowerforyou:

LadyPersia

Welcome all the new comers So nice to meet you!

Cardi- I am struggling wih weight also. I range between 145 and 140. Haven't moved for four months. After my initial 30 lb loss. Congrats on the 5k. Thats one of my goals. On the children note....Bravo Mommy! What a fabulous experience for your daughter.

Robin----more hugs

Swiss...Thank you for your motivation and deep water sounds awesome. My hubby loves just having me around:explode: :laugh: :yawn:

Alf..good luck with court. :flowerforyou:

Have a great rest of the week everyone.

Kim

tladame

Welcome Nancy! I'm 41 as well.

mkwood10

Hello all.........thought I should let you know I'm still alive! :laugh: :laugh:
Things have been crazy busy at work, and I can't seem to catch a break at home either......summer is flying by.......where the heck has most of June gone? We're building a deck on our house - only been in it 18 years and I FINALLY get to buy patio furniture! :happy: :happy: Needless to say, I haven't been able to work out consistently in several weeks, but have been able to maintain and not put on any more pounds. My motivation is shot, but I know it'll come back one of these days, so I've decided not to beat myself up over not working out consistently.

My shoulder's really starting to feel better - the recommendation from my work space ergonomic evaluation was to lower the height of my desktop to 27" instead of the standard 29" height and buy a "comfort" keyboard. The keyboard isn't a traditional ergonomic one (I hate those), but has the slant of the keys a bit different and keeps the hands/wrists in alignment instead of forcing the hands outward to hit all the keys. Getting used to the changes has been a slow process, but I'm consistently feeling better and the chiropractor says he can see progress as far as keeping my neck and shoulder adjusted properly - yeah!! :bigsmile:

Haven't had time to read all the posts, but did catch a few........

Robin, ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))) I'm so sorry for your loss. Cherish the memories of good times with your dad and don't stress out over the chaos of the last weeks.

Newbies.......welcome!! This is a great site and has been my sanity saver many, many times.

Old friends...........hope all is well with all of you; will try to get back here more often!

Marla

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: Hi Marie....I guess it has been a while since I have seen your face. Glad to hear from you.

:flowerforyou: sdereski...thanks for telling us what routine you are using at this time. I like to know what others are doing and maybe add it to mine.

I have a HRM that I use to check my heart rate, of course, but also to see how many calories I am burning. I NEVER burn as many as I see others here burning. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? The most I have ever burned was about 350 doing an hour of very vigorous Zumba. I mean the sort of Zumba where I would have trouble catching my breath. Not in an unhealthy way just a very hard workout.

tron3002

Hello everyone! Sorry for being MIA but I haven't had much to report. Instead of exercise yard work and rentals took priority. I think web have two out of the four rented out. *crossing fingers*. The third has someone looking at it this weekend and the fourth isn't done being remodled. Let's pray they are all rented out by July so I will have extra money to put towards bills. Wouldn't that be great!

My daughter bought P90X and Insanity and is in the middle of copying me the insanity program. Hopefully I will get that within the week so I can get started. Shes so funny, she texted me and wrote "disk 3 done are you ready to die" :laugh:

Alf.... That is so strange having to go through the legal system for your son. But I guess considering he's considered an adult and normally he would be responsible for himself that makes sense.

Robin.... I am so sorry for your loss. Please take care of yourself during these difficult times. :flowerforyou:


Swiss... I know what you mean about calories burnt. I don't know how people get such high numbers. I want to get an elliptical because I heard you burn quite a bit.

Stiring.... Hope you are doing well. You always seem to be doing something fun... I need to come hang out with you. :laugh:

Swissmiss

Alf, that is frustrating. What is happening to this country???? We don't really even have the right to raise our children in our own ways. The government has to always be in the middle of everything...telling us what we can and can't do. We, as citizens, are losing our rights. Years ago this wouldn't have happened. I could go on and on but I won't.:grumble:

I hope that today finds everyone in good health and living clean lives. Be sure to drink water.:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

zebras

Good morning friends!

I almost forgot to the leave the gym last night! One of my friends from work found me at the gym, so I switched from the elliptical to a treadmill so we can workout next to each other, and by the time she was ready to stop, I had worked out over two hours. What a difference it makes when you have someone to talk to!

Swissmiss

I found information on calories burned using weights. Just enter the session in cardio. The calories burned are only estimates and could be way off but we can get an idea of how the count.

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: zebras, that is great. I need someone to go with me to the YMCA.

According to the scales at the Y I am losing.:happy:

StiringWendel

Swissmiss, regarding what your HRM monitor is telling you, here are some thoughts. Are you sure it is programmed correctly? If so, then it is going to be relatively accurate. But just relatively....not totally. HRMs aren't the be-all and end-all when it comes to accurate calorie burns. There are a few things many don't take into consideration that can throw off the counts a bit. But, aside from that, I'm not sure that your calories burned are that far off. I know when I was wearing mine, the most I ever burned on a workout was 400 calories and that was the longest, toughest Insanity workout (full-on 60 minutes of absolute high intensity work) and I think I burned something like 404 calories. I remember it because I was surprised to see the calorie count top the 400 mark. I've done it on other workouts, but only those lasting upwards of 75 to 90 minutes and, again, intense. When I was wearing my HRM, I would say my average calorie burn for an advanced (but not Insanity) 60 minute workout was 275-325. For less advanced workouts, my average would be 200-225 or there abouts.

I found wearing my HRM to be a disincentive for exercise, so I've chucked it aside. Haven't worn it in about 18 months. I had to remind myself that I wasn't working out for the calorie burn alone. I was working out for the benefits of working out--increased strength, endurance, flexibility, improved overall metabolism, body shape, etc. In other words, it isn't just about the calories burned. In fact, I've really had to work at separating working out from anything regarding food.....and this is something I struggle with alot. In other words, I try not to workout with the notion that if I do, I can eat more. While that's a positive side-effect, I really try to focus my workouts on the physical benefits of the actual exercise, not the food benefits. That's a tad counter to MFP, unfortunately, but I found I was beating myself up after a tough workout when I realized I'd burned 'only' 260 calories (or whatever). There was NO reason for beating myself up because I'd worked out!!! So, for me, I needed to make that separation so that I could focus on the positives of what I was doing.

zebras, great workout!!! Sounds like the time flew by! Hope you can meet up with your friend again sometime at the gym!

tron, so good to see you. Be careful with those Insanity workouts. They are killer! In fact, I'd recommend you do the fit test before you start them. Normally I ignore stuff like that, but these workouts really are tough, and I think it's better to make sure you can do the moves in them before you jump in so you don't get injured. Just a suggestion. Hope you're daughter is doing well! How's your brother and his family? Have they moved?

mk, so happy to see you. I've been thinking about you. I'm sure it's a busy summer for you, especially with all the changes in your family. When does you husband leave again? I think it's not until the winter, right? I hope not. Glad to hear you shoulders are feeling better and the ergo study seems to have worked. What a relief that must be for you!

All here is going well. It is hot and humid but....it's summer, so I guess that's to be expected. Still doing good on the workouts and have cleaned up my eating....so, again, all is well!