50+ with 50+ To Lose Group

KeriA

New open group - Hi I am Keri, I am 58 and live in Seattle. I have almost been on MFP for a year and when I joined I found a group called Join Me 100+ Pounds to Lose and it was a great group but only a few of us post on the thread now and I love them but I feel need a new group too. Groups are a great way to get support on MFP.
ABOUT THE GROUP
I am going to keep this group open with the only limit being those who can somehow identify with the title. I feel that getting older you have an increased challenge in losing weight. I also feel that issues are different if you have a significant amount to lose. So I don’t care if you are 39 or if you have 45 pounds to lose if you feel you belong here you do. That being said this is a serious group with the common goal of getting fit, healthy and doing what I feel is one of the hardest things to do - lose a significant amount of weight. It is one thing to lose 30 pounds. It is another to lose much more. If you have just started or on the last 50, you are welcome.
Rules are very simple: Check in once a week at least but I will be checking daily so more is fine. You let us know your goals for the week, month, season or by any timeline you have determined for yourself. Report on how you are doing, what is challenging to you and what you have learned. I hope we get to know each other so if life is getting you down or up let us know.
ABOUT ME
I have been on MFP since August of 2010. I have friends of all types on here and love it. I not only log daily but I read updates and blogs of my friends daily. I have had success in that I have lost more than 27 pounds but I have had my challenges too and have more to go. I am doing this slowly and in a way that is sustainable for me over the long haul. I want to put my health first and that is the main reason I am losing. I exercise and I balance my calories with my burned calories. I do not have any foods that are off limits but like others have said some are just not worth the calories. Since I live on the west coast you may have submitted your diary for the day before I log in for breakfast but I will be on here unless I am out of town and can’t log and I don’t travel much. Although I am not imposing much structure on the group others may suggest weekly challenges and report on them as a part of the thread. What I will be doing is checking in each day.
OTHER GROUPS
There is a wonderful group called 50+ that is open. Many of those who started it up have reached their goal and are a wonderful resource for newer members that are not as far along. I just want to be a part of a group of committed people who are in the midst of this great adventure.
LOGISTICS
After so many posts the thread will end and a new thread will be created with the same name. For the first few times I will put an update with the address of the new thread. Anyone who wants to join this group may friend me just let me know when you do that you are joining this group so I will add me. If you don’t add me I will try to send you a friend request letting you know why I am adding you. However the most important thing about MFP is for it to work for you to get healthy and reach your goal so if you have a profile picture fine, if not fine if your diary is public fine if it isn’t fine. If you want to add each other as friends fine but if not that is fine too. If I send you a friend invite it is just that - an invitation not a must for the group. I am doing it for one to facilitate communication. One way to find the thread is to bump it periodically so it is near the top of My Topics on the Community Board.
Welcome and I will post my goals for my self below.

KeriA

I will start with my goals I have set for the summer:
1. 1 hour or more of exercise daily (but a day of rest now and then is probably good)
2. 8 glasses or more of water daily,
3. keeping under my calorie goals,
4. getting enough sleep,
5. making healthy meals at home,
I also want to spend some time with my new Zumba DVDs.

My exercise right now consists of a pretty rigorous Aquafit Class twice a week which among other things helps me keeps me well strtched and provides great resistance training, A Zumba class once a week or more if my favorite Aquafit teacher is gone, I am on Week 6 Day 1 of C25K which I do as the first part of my almost 5K walk around Greenlake in Seattle 2-3 times a week. I am trying to work in weight training one day a week.

My weight loss goal is generally 1 pound per week but since I have been in a plateau for a while I would take a bit more for a while. I want to be under 200 by 2012 and hit a healthy weight sometime next year.

I am doing a 100 mile challenge right now, C25K and a 5 pound in August Challenge as well this month.
How about you?

dfeledichuk

Well I am not quite 50 but well in my 40s with over a 100lbs to lose. I too am trying to keep things sustainable. I try to eat under 1350 calories a day, but am not following any diet, nor will as I can't sustain them, I eat the foods I want just in smaller portions. I am trying to walk at least three miles a day.

I started in May and have lost 36lbs so far. I am doing the Move Your *kitten* challenge with a goal of walking 100 miles this month, I find that challenge the most motivating as I cannot lose weight it seems without exercising. I am also in a measurement challenge and three weight loss challenges right now. What I like about MFP is it seems like I am responsible to someone when I weigh in, it keeps me motivated.

My goals:

1 To walk over a hundred miles each month including the winter when it gets -30 here daily.
2 Drink at least 8 if not 10 glasses of water a day
3 No eating after 7:00 pm - I really struggle with this one!
4 To be under 195lbs by my birthday in February
5 To ultimately get under 160 hopefully sometime next summer
6 To keep off all the weight I do lose

Thanks for starting this group Keria!

KeriA

Great goals dfeledichuk, I think I chose the name since it seemed more catchy than 40+ with 50+ to lose. We both are serious about this it seems to me. You are making great progress. I hope that I can get my loss to go a bit faster soon. Great to share this effort with you.

greenhydrangea

keriA: you are awesome!

_gwen

My name is Gwen, I'm 49, with now about 45 lbs to lose. I'd like to turn 50 and not have 50 to lose. (ever again too).

Keri, I live on the other side of the lake from you.

MFP has been great for me. First, it make it very easy to track my food, which I think it an important part of figuring out how food affects me as well as monitoring my calorie intake. Second, because of the online community, it always fits my schedule. There are tens of thousands of people to draw on for help, whether it's fitness advice, moral support, or a challenge.

My goals:

1 For my doctor to tell me I no longer have hypertension
2 Cholesterol <150
3 To reach my goal weight of 150lbs.
4 To figure out how to keep off all the weight I do lose, and be genuinely happy about doing it.
5 Get an awesome new wardrobe.

My August goals:

Weight goal for August is 4 pounds, to 192.5. That will put me solidly in the "Overweight" classification.

My non-weight goals are to do Couch to 5k training three days a week, two additional walks per week, and if my !@#$ weight bench gets here, to figure out a upper body / lower body weight training schedule.

Aug 6 is photos and measurement day for me. Stay tuned.

grannysquare1

I would love to join this group. I'm 64 with 60 pounds to lose. I've just been told I have a heart problem. So weight loss is a must do. I'm new to MFP and this site, but it looks wonderful. I started using it to track my calories and more importantly my salt. Right now I'm restricted from exercise. I have some tests scheduled next week, and depending on those results, my doc will start adding exercise. So for this week, these are my goals.

1. Keep my salt intake below 2500 daily.
2. Keep my calories below 1330.
3. Drink my water
4. Take my meds on schedule

I hope I can add some exercise to it next week.

KeriA

GreenHydrangea you are awsome too!

Gwen welcome to the group. Do you mean you live on the Eastside? Nice to have another Puget sounder! What week of C25K are you on or are you about to start. I just did Week 6 Day 1 this morning! Great goals and 4 pounds a month is how much weight loss I strive for too. I too plan to really concentrate on Maintenance when I get there too. If you maintain for at least 2 months your body will recognize your new weight as its regular weight and help you maintain. I love MFP too.

Grannysquare welcome and thanks for the add. It looks like many of our calories goals are similar. Hope the tests turn out great! I think you will be glad you joined MFP.

It looks like you could call this a group now. Yay!

As I said above I just did Week 6 Day 1 of C25K this morning which means I "ran" 2 intervals of 5 minutes and an interval of 8 minutes between intervals of 3 minutes. I put quotation marks on ran since my runs are more like a very slow gentle jog. Sometimes in the middle I may ease into something resembling an actual run. I find that my jogs are easier on me than walking really fast. I have injured myself trying to walk fast once and so far so good with my jogging/running.

It is really nice to meet all of you.

Happy August Everyone!

_gwen

Do you mean you live on the Eastside?

Kirkland, to be precise. Near Costco.

What week of C25K are you on ...

Week 1. My first run was on Sunday. Walked yesterday. I intended to do week 1/run 2 this morning but slept through my alarm so I'll call it a rest day. I plan to do run 2 tomorrow morning, then another rest day on Thursday. Depending on how my knees feel, I'll do a run/walk on both Friday and Saturday. The program definitely pushes me to work a bit harder. Changing speed as I'm walking also feels good. I've never been a runner so I'm slowly feeling my way around.

SallieBeige

I would love to join this group.
Like Gwen, I am nearly 50, with nearly 50 pounds to loose.

I have a very demanding job - so not much free time. KeriA, I admire the exercise time you manage to fit in.

My goal is to start losing weight . Any amount will do I have been on diet for 5 years and the weight keeps piling up.
I am really anxious to reverse this trend!

KeriA

Do you mean you live on the Eastside?

Kirkland, to be precise. Near Costco.

What week of C25K are you on ...

Week 1. My first run was on Sunday. Walked yesterday. I intended to do week 1/run 2 this morning but slept through my alarm so I'll call it a rest day. I plan to do run 2 tomorrow morning, then another rest day on Thursday. Depending on how my knees feel, I'll do a run/walk on both Friday and Saturday. The program definitely pushes me to work a bit harder. Changing speed as I'm walking also feels good. I've never been a runner so I'm slowly feeling my way around.

My brother works in Kirkland. I've never been a runner either. I just wanted to intesify my walks but as I get into it I am finding I am starting to get hooked. I haven't even run long enough for the runner's high. I probably don't go fast enough for that either. Just take it at your own speed and it will go well. I think.

KeriA

Sally welcome, I love those simple goals! I think I am getting out of a long plateau. I think gaining is so easy as we get older that stopping the gain is a big accomplishment. Looking forward to getting to know you.
Keri

meabonl

Count me in too. I just turned 50 and definately have over 50 to lose. When I started I told myself I'm going to kick the scale hopping. So just once a month for me. On August 18, 2011 I will find out how much I've lost. I'm from Colorado but have family in Washington. My son is stationed there at Fort Lewis, but is currently deployed to Afghanistan. I want to be at least 40 lbs lighter the next time he see's me. I started taking tap dance lessons and love it. Wish me luck.
My goals are:
1. To lose weight for my health
2. I was told I have high blood pressure so want to get it down without meds
3. Add more excercise in my day.
4. Be the best I can be and then strive to be better
Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday.

KeriA

Hi Meaboni,
Glad to have you join us. Great goals too. My son is one of my greatest supporters. He is 25 and was so excited when I told him I had "run" for 20 minutes. Your son will be so happy with any progress you make. You both deserve it! It is so cool you are taking tap. My daughter takes it and she has suggested I do to. I do have a Zumba class and I love dance. It is a great way to get moving. I definitely want to hear how it goes.

You have all made my Tuesday!

KeriA

Hi All
here is the list of those who have joined our group so far

dfeledichuk
_gwen
grannysquare1
sallierbeige
meabonl
jimswife1
and GreenHydrangea visited too!
KeriA

I think this is a great start and more all welcome

jimswife1

I found my group, yay. I will be 45 on September 14th and I have 50+lbs to lose. I just got temporary custody of my 2 year old grandson, so I have a great reason to get this weight off.

Goals for the month of August:
1. Go to the gym Tues - Sat
2. 8 glasses of water daily
3. Stay connect with My Fitness Pal
4. lose 12-15lbs by my birthday
5. Use my ab machine at least 3 times per week
6. Use the HRM I bought

KeriA

jimswife you have found your group, welcome. Looking forward to getting to know you. I can't wait for grandchildren.

dfeledichuk

So I am totally motivated to be walking this month and the exercise is going awesome but eating is another story. I am feeling kind of blah now. Even though I am under my calorie goal for the day I feel yucky.... I feel like I overate at supper and just don't feel great. Felt the same way last night. I am currently working on my PhD and have a paper to write but I think I am going to head out for some kind of walk in a bit just to get this heavy feeling in my stomach gone. Then get back to writing.

KeriA

The night before last I submitted my calories after a healthy dinner and MFP told me my calories were too low and I checked and it was right but I had a big breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, a few snacks and a very healthy but low calories dinner. I felt just right but I hadn't eaten enough.It just somehow didn't make sense to me. It felt like I had eaten normally so why have I gained weight over the years if what seems like a normal day isn't enough. Probably it is the exercise that put me under. So I can see why you feel like you feel the heavy feeling. Hope your paper goes well.

_gwen

How much were you off? MFP squawks if you are a single calorie below 1200, but says you are over if you are spot on 1200.

Bah! computers. There is no reasoning with them!

KeriA

Gwen you might have something there. I was actually down a couple hundred so that is why I did eat a bit. Yes I think if you hit your target on the mark it should say something better than it does.

jimswife1

I am generally under in calories. I tend to eat higher protein and less carbs because of the diabetes, which makes me full for longer periods and leads me to be under calories with the exercise included. When I reach a plateau, I will rework things, but until then, I like the way I eat.

KeriA

I thought I should come on here and say Good morning but there are a couple of problems with that. It isn't even morning on the west coast and for most of you it is even later. I will say good afternoon since it is good afternoon here.

I thought I would get things started by giving a little background on myself trying not to repeat too much in my profile. I am married with two kids. I should be an empty nester soon but am not so sure that I will be. My son came back from college and told us he wanted to be a singer-songwriter and we said go for it. He did great but realized he wasn't going to get rich and now he is in law school. He loves it and he is doing well. It turns out being an english major worked out better than we all thought. He had a great summer associate position this summer and is on a break before he starts 2L. My baby is going to be a senior in high school, doing well and was so fortunate to get a summer (paid) internship. She wants to be a bioengineer or scientist. My husband is a civil engineer working for a county doing storm water quality work - let's keep Puget Sound clean! This brings me to me. I am an unemployed Urban Planner. For part of a year I taught at the Community College level on a temporary basis at a College near where Gwen lives. Then last year I started taking some classes in Computer graphics and web design that I thought might be useful if I ever got a planning job again. When the tuition assistance ran out I had taken most of what I wanted so now I am looking for a job fulltime. Until this week there has been nothing in my field. I have excellent credentials so it is hard to let it go. I even have some other skills but so many other fields have been hit as well. It probably doesn't help that I am older.

I was really doing well losing late summer and early fall last year but the school schedule sort of slowed it down especially at the end of the quarters so I was really happy to get out to concentrate on my health and getting a job. The problem was I seem to have reached a plateau. I think I am slowly getting my self out of it. I have lost a half pound then again another half pound every two weeks. So my issue is trying to get the loss to speed up to a whopping 1-2 pounds a week while I have this chance to concentrate on this.

Don't think though that I don't understand the challenge of losing when you are busy. It was not long ago that I had a fulltime, challenging job, a long commute and was a fulltime parent as well. With my unemployment I do not have all the weight loss bells and whistles but I make do. If I get a job I will get a hrm, and a smart phone or a data plan for the phone I have now. I have an ipod that my son has hidden somewhere that I could put my C25K podcasts on if he would dig it up for me. I just use my phone timer and it works well.

_gwen

I am generally under in calories. I tend to eat higher protein and less carbs because of the diabetes, which makes me full for longer periods and leads me to be under calories with the exercise included. When I reach a plateau, I will rework things, but until then, I like the way I eat.

Same here. When that inevitable plateau comes, I'll start eating back my exercise calories.

If I need to give myself a calorie bump to get to 1200, it's usually nuts or some peanut butter on an apple

_gwen

... now he is in law school. He loves it and he is doing well. It turns out being an english major worked out better than we all thought.

And if he doesn't turn out to like law, he can also be a technical writer. I know plenty of former lawyers who turned into writers. Pay isn't that bad either.

KeriA

I am generally under in calories. I tend to eat higher protein and less carbs because of the diabetes, which makes me full for longer periods and leads me to be under calories with the exercise included. When I reach a plateau, I will rework things, but until then, I like the way I eat.

I think we were posting at the same time since I didn't see this. Yes this is I think why I was under. I had salmon for dinner and just a bit of brown rice, salad and vegetables. I am thinking I am going to eat if I am hungry and try to stay above 1200 generally otherwise not worry . I had plenty of carbs in my lunch and breakfast. I had had nuts earlier so that is why I was surprised by the note.

greenhydrangea

Ok, I'm jumping in mid-stream. I'm happy to be here! {just a little unclear on how groups work. this is my first one.}

I am 56 (although my profile says I'm older, because I made a mistake when I entered my info, and have never edited my profile). I have between 20-40 pounds to lose. I began this journey because my doctor scared the heck out of me due to a few high blood pressure readings. I want to get my BP down and keep it down, this means I must exercise for the rest of my life and I must keep maintain my weight loss.

My goals thru December:
1. Lower my blood pressure (doctor's orders) so I don't have to go on BP meds
2. Lower sodium
3. Get back to my weight from last summer. check! achieved this this week!
4. 8 glasses of water daily---doing pretty good on this, but was low two days this week, dang.
5. 30-60 minutes of exercise daily (walking mostly, but want to do C25k)
6. Stay within my calorie budget and eat more consciously and wisely.
7. Add push-ups into my routine (have an app called "100 pushups"--this is a wild goal for me, my pushups are on the shaky side, i.e. I'm starting the program at the lowest level. Can only go up from here!

Things I want to try: Zumba! Cycling.
Challenges I want to overcome: my gym shyness (does anyone else have this?)

KeriA

Welcome GreenHydrangea,
I am OK going to the gym for classes but weight training intimidates me a bit and I just realized this is what I really need to add. I am OK with most of the cardio machines but even though I have used the tread mill I do not like it. It is just a bit scary still for me. I would rather run outside. Haven't really tried the stair stepper. I asked the fitness people how to use the elliptical and he was almost rude but I really love it now. It is my favorite along with the rowing machine. about 2-3 years ago I asked for my membership for my birthday present that year.
Keri

_gwen

... have an app called "100 pushups"

ooh... I'll have to check that out!

I don't have gym shyness, but I have a gym 'ick' issues. I have space at home and I was gifted a treadmill, so that works for me. I like to listen to iPod apps or books on tape/CD.

greenhydrangea

I don't have gym shyness, but I have a gym 'ick' issues

Funny, Gwen!

Part of my gym shyness has to do with the fact that lots of people I know (and work with) go there. It is inexpensive so I don't want to go anywhere else.

CRody44

Hi! I’m Chuck. I would like to join. I’m 66 with 77 pounds down and 80 pounds to go.

My goals:
1. To walk 30 minutes, four time a week, 500 minutes per month.
2. To workout 30 minutes, three time a week with resistance bands.
3. To get off my diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol meds within a year.
4. To stay within my diet, 1800 calories, < 2000mg sodium, < 60g fat 6 days a week.