40+ Club: Fall Fitness Fanatics

hewhoiscd

Barbell Day: Squats, Seated Overhead Press, Deadlifts.

Another good day with the Deadlifts. My 1st five reps at 214lbs felt very good, so I decided to up the weight another 10lbs and did another 5 reps at 224lbs. That felt good too Looks like I'll reach my next goal of 255 (1.5x my body weight) way before the end of the month. Squats were a bit of a downer today. Was focusing more on form (videoed everything) and wore myself out before I got to my work set. On the plus side, I think I have my form down much better now.

*TxMs: Glad your Mom is doing better! Must of been scary

*zebras: Good luck on the competition! IMO, vacations are the best time to really buckle down. Not only do you not do the normal over eating, you are eating healthy. A double whammy of goodness

*alf: grats! Saw the pics on FB

*Robin: I live in Central Florida. Weather has been pretty much perfect lately.

*swissmiss: it sounds almost cliche by now...but sodium and water weight is the likely culprit. I doubt you over ate by 7,000 cals this weekend to gain 2lbs

singfree

Good evening!

Today was one of those strange days...weather-wise. At times the sun was out (briefly) and at other times it looked like rain. Still cool out, but in the 60s.

I took a longer mountain hike today on a different trail. I'm not so afraid that I'll run into a snake in the cooler weather, so, I am back to hiking regular mountain trails. This one is much more demanding than any of the others, which will burn a lot more cals.

Robin, I've had P90X since the very beginning, several years now. It does work, however, i don't really like exercising at home. I'd much rather go to the gym or exercise outdoors. Right now I use it as a supplement to my other exercises if I feel like adding another routine. If you like video exercises at home, I highly recommend it.

Alf, sending prayers your way!

Take care everyone!

Swissmiss

AWW sing, with the cooler weather comes the spiders. EWWW. I can handle snakes much better than spiders.

Well, Chris, that does explain why the weight comes off me so fast. I am down three pounds from Monday. Salt is my big downfall. I crave anything salty. Are you going professional with the weight lifting? You are doing great.


TxMs, I love reading of your classes. Makes me want to sign up. I would love to do the spinning class at the Y but it is the same time as the strength class and I don't want to miss that one.

zebra, you are doing wonderful with your exercising. Why not go ahead and log during vacation? Might be interesting. You will see where you are doing bad and you may be surprised at how good you are really doing.

alf, is this your SIL's first baby? Does she know if the diabetes will be gone after she gives birth? I hope that is the case for her.

I ate a bad lunch today. One fried chicken leg and one thigh. Believe it or not, they left me still feeling hungry. I guess that is what junky, fried foods do to us.

JPriceGA

Hello all!

I went MIA for about 6 months... now I'm back. I'm glad you're still here!

Jan

zebras

Welcome back Jprice!

Swiss, we won't have internet where we are going, and I don't have fancy cell phone with the app. We are going to try to eat very well and exercise a lot, one exception is Stella's in Castine, Maine. I proposed to the chef last year after eating the Mac & Cheese appetizer. They sent out word that they accepted, never did meet him/her. We are renting a little cottage with a little kitchen, so we'll cook more, and eat out less. I was very surprised that despite the cabin's rusticness, they had a food processor amongst the kitchen equipment. I never use mine, despite working for the company that makes the brand we all know, I think I've used mine twice since I bought it.

hewhoiscd

Fire in the apartment next to mine. Grease fire on the range. Multiple fire trucks. Evacuated the entire block, but they got it out. All is well now.

zebras

Chris: Thank god it didn't spread to your apartment and everyone is ok!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: Aw Zebras, I am sorry that you will be without internet access. Can you write down your diary the old-fashioned way? Great the you will be able to cook your own meals. What company do you work for? I have a KitchenAid food processor plus about everything else that they make.

Chris, so glad that everyone is alright. Was there much damage?

:flowerforyou: Welcome back Jan !!:flowerforyou:

zebras

Swiss: The other one! LOL The parent company is also the big hair dryer company. Sorry, I'm big on not putting any personal info out there on the web.

Got my two hours in at the gym. I have tried this week some serious (for me) intervals on the treadmill, and it definitely feels like its working me better than the way I was doing it. Then I did an hour on the elliptical. I forgot my earphones for my Kindle, so I had to straight read on it, so when I was doing the intervals, I started getting confused as to whether it was time to hit the page turn button or change speeds. So, when I was done with serious one minute intervals, I change my speeds based on my page turns, didn't work out too badly. LOL My Kindle is my lifeline at the gym, if I couldn't read or listen to a book, I would last about 5 minutes.

Texssippian

Hi all! Leaving this pm for Tucson for the wedding of a good friend's daughter. I am staying with then tonight to help with a bridesmaid's brunch tomorrow and the staying at a hotel next two nights. My mom was discharged from the hospital yesterday and did fine by herself last night at her house. Since this is follow-up from surgery she had in August, all the extra stuff she needed at home (bathchair, tub handles, nonslip tub mat) I had gotten her in August so she was ok. My siblings and siblings inlaw can take care of her.

JpriceL welcome back!

Chris: hope there was not too much smoke in your apt. I really cannot handle smoke.

Zebras: have fun on your vacation. We try to stay in places with kitchens when we travel. I find we eat much healthier that way.

Swiss: keep up the strength training. We women need that weight bearing to keep our bones healthy (along with calcium and vitamin D)

Sing: glad you are enjoying your hike.

Have a great weekend everyone! TxMs

hewhoiscd

In addition to the fire in my neighbor's apartment yesterday...my dad went into insulin shock again just before lunch since he forgot to eat breakfast. This time though, my Mom knew what to do and he was OK. Then this morning, before I go into work, I find him acting confused in the kitchen, so I fix him up some food and then he is OK. He forgot to have a night time snack before he went to bed. Guess I am going to have to force him to eat before I go to bed and before I go to work

*zebras: Thanks

*Becky: thnks Their kitchen is pretty much toast I believe.

*TxMs: I hate smoke as well, and it certainly didn't help my sinuses any.

LadyPersia

I will be back. Just want to send some blessings your way. So much in the forums and I have too many deadlines this week. Hugs everyone..welcome back JPrice

alf1163

Hello to all!!! :drinker: Well, it is Friday, check in day! I am extremely dissapointed with my body. :sad: I weighed 127.2 this morning. I am up close to 4 lbs since Aug. The weight keeps creeping up despite everything I am doing. I dont know what else to do. I drink tons of water, about a gallon or more a day, keep the sodium low (less than 2000 mg) most times under 1300, exercise 5-6 days a week a combo of strength trng, cardio, yoga, I eat healthy 85-90% of the time, I log in most meals. I am wondering if I am eating too much but then again I feel hungry sometimes. I really think my body is changing and I dont like it, I just dont know what else to do. Chris, remember when I said I felt bloated, I was really trying to say that my middle is looking and feeling thicker, bigger, not bloated really...it is like the lbs I've gained have been mostly in my midsection and I hate that. I also think stress can be the culprit? I have been feeling stressed in the past couple of months, mainly problems with my husband. I wanna scream!!!!! I need to figure this out, I guess...the good news from me, my niece and SIL are doing well, they went home yesterday. Today I dont go to work and planning on doing another session of Bikram which I loved so much a week ago plus I have a massage scheduled today. Yay!! :drinker:

Swiss, Bikram is also called hot yoga. It is done in a room that is 100 degree temperature. I truly enjoyed it last time so I am going back today. It consists of 26 poses, the goal is not to leave the room the entire session, 90 minutes. I tried all the poses and I think I did pretty good for my first time.

Chris, good to hear you didnt have any fire damages!!! hey you are looking great!!! Glad to hear your dad is doing well. My dad has diabetes and I always tell him he needs to eat often. My parents live in PR so there is no way I can monitor that much, they will be here for 2 wks the last part of Oct. I am excited about that. They are in Sacramento now and from the pics my sister has sent me it looks like he has gained weight.

Tex, have fun in AZ!! Glad to hear your mom is doing well.

Zebras, have fun in your vacation!! About your privacy, is that the reason your picture just shows your cat?

LadyPersia, blessings to you too!!

Not much going on this weekend for me. Need to work on some Zumba songs, clean house, buy paint, etc. Hopefully do some relaxing. Take care!!! :flowerforyou:

zebras

Alf:

Yes, that is the reason why I only post my cat. Its funny I'm easy going about most thinks in life, germs, meeting new people, travelling, looking both ways before I cross the street LOL but I'm a little paranoid about online identity theft, etc. So we will stick with Yogi's pic.

Good news for check in day and the beginning of the gym's wight loss challenge, lost 2.6 lbs since two weeks ago weigh-in, which probably means I lost more, as I was not eating carefully before the official weigh in at the gym.

So, off to Maine over the weekend, with no internet, so I'll talk to everyone in a week!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: zebras, congratulations on the weight lose and have a wonderful time in Maine. We will be watching for your return.

:flowerforyou: alf, do you think that maybe you are suppose to weigh a bit more? I know that I can not weigh what I did when I was in my 20s. I would look horrible. Stress can cause weight gain and it is usually in the stomach area. It looks like you are doing all the right things. And, I know that you are very active.

Chris, a lot of the time a diabetic needs someone to guide them. They are really living hard lives. That disease is horrible.

hewhoiscd

Barbell Day: Squats, Bench Press, Bent Over Rows. Some improvement over all, not as much as I would like. But I'll take a little progress over none at all

*alf: Thanks Have you taken before and after body fat measurements lately? Stress is bad Just imagine what it would be like though if you didn't have all that exercising to de-stress yourself So, keep it up!

*zebras: grats!

*Becky: He's doing better today. Just have to get him int a routine and make sure he sticks with it. Thanks for the compliment I am far far far from pro status, lol. No plans to go pro. I want to be as strong as my body can *reasonably* get. Pros have to be unreasonable

hewhoiscd

Barbell Day: Squats, Seated Overhead Press, Deadlifts.

Form finally starting to get better on the Squats, I'm cautiously optimistic about the next workout Increased my deadlift weight to 241lbs, but only got 3 reps out of it. Next time I'll get 5!

Dad is doing well. I bought him one of those pedal things you can use to cycle with while on a regular chair. He says he'll use it, we'll see...

LadyPersia

Happy Weekend

StiringWendel

Hi all. Back from a good trip to Florida to see the in-laws. We had a great time. My eating was good but the activity levels were way down. I was going absolutely crazy about that yesterday before we headed home. It was very easy for me to see how many changes I've made in my life over the past three years from the eating to the activity. I loved seeing my family, but for my own body and health, I must say it is good to be home! I turn around and visit my mother in three weeks, but she kind of understands me a bit better and knows I'm addicted to moving around. She was even asking me what kind of food I wanted today when I talked to her. So it should be a good visit.

alf, I'm sure you already know this, but given our ages, the increasing size around the midsection is actually pretty inevitable. It is hormonal. Higher estrogen levels keeps more weight in the lower body, and as our estrogen decreases, it moves up to the tummy area. Again, it is inevitable. Stress (which results in the the production of cortisol) also can lead to more bloating around the midsection so that could be playing a part of it as well. But the weight gain is something different. While I completely understand the psychology behind the weight gain, I think it is really important to step back and ask yourself whether there is any issue with weighing 127lbs. Because there isn't. If you'll recall, I was 97lbs at my lightest two years ago. Today I weigh 108. A year ago, I was completely upset with myself about weighing SO much. It took me a long time to realize that I'm still a very healthy (and very light) weight for my height even though I'm not at my lowest. My in-laws last saw me about three weeks before I started losing the weight nearly three years ago and really made alot of comments to me this week about how they think I might be a tad too thin right now. I can only imagine what they would have said if they'd seen me 10lbs lighter. But things like that give me a good, healthy perspective about my weight. My body simply prefers to be around 110lbs as I found 100lbs much too hard to maintain (had to be hungry all the time). So keep monitoring your weight (to monitor for possible thyroid problems and such) but also give yourself a bit of a break and remember that you are very thin for your height, even at 127lbs. Be pround of that because you have every reason to be proud of it. :flowerforyou:

Hope to catch up with the rest of you more this week. I hope to have more time to post than what I have done over the past couple/few weeks. Enjoy what's left of the weekend! Happy Columbus Day!!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: stiring, I am now wondering is I have always had low estrogen? I have always carried my weight above my waist. Oh well, if that is the case, it didn't keep me from having nine pregnancies.:bigsmile:

Chris, I am just so impressed. I don't know anyone else who can do this at this time. My husband used to be quite a weight lifter. In his college days someone suggested that he go into competition. But, it would involve shaving his body and he wouldn't do that. Anyway, after a couple of shoulder injuries (one of them requiring surgery), he can not lift like he did before. He does have more defined muscles than any other guy I know who is 60 years old.

We rode our biked to Cracker Barrel yesterday morning. I really ate too much but also burned 250 calories.

hewhoiscd

Didn't have a workout scheduled today, but ended up getting a bit of a power cardio workout anyway I pushed a guy's pickup truck all over the parking lot while he popped the clutch trying to get it started, lol. First, I was surprised that I was able to get it moving at all. Next, I was surprised that I was actually able to get it going at a pretty good clip. Then, I was surprised I was able to do it 5 times and not be dead, lol.

Gotta love it when the real world validates your fitness efforts

singfree

Good evening!

Sorry I've been missing the last few days, but I've been sick with a cold & flu since Wednesday. I was off work on Thursday night, sick all weekend and off work again last night. Don't get me wrong, I usually go to work and suffer, but this thing really put me down.

I will try to catch up with your posts, but right now I am pretty busy at work!

Have a great day!

LadyPersia

Good evening!

Sorry I've been missing the last few days, but I've been sick with a cold & flu since Wednesday. I was off work on Thursday night, sick all weekend and off work again last night. Don't get me wrong, I usually go to work and suffer, but this thing really put me down.

I will try to catch up with your posts, but right now I am pretty busy at work!

Have a great day!

Feel Better

Swissmiss

sing, I am hoping that you get better soon. Take care of yourself.

Chris, you have gotten so much healthier. Here is the proof.

Robin1117

Good morning,

Stiring--so great to hear from you. I have missed your input. Glad you had a great time in your travels! So when you were traveling did you have to stop all your insanity/Px90? Did you do Cardio instead? I can imagine that must have been a shock to your system to be away from it. I'm at the point now if I don't do strength exercises for 2 days I can really feel it--kind of an itchy blobby feeling. YUCK! I'm sure it would be even tougher for you.

What you said to Alf is really interesting. i have said to myself over the last year that "I'm ready for changes, I know my body will have them as the years go by and will adjust". But......the problem is, when the changes occur, it's probably very difficult to identify what exactly the trend is, and then of course, figure out what to adjust to address the changes. I can relate to the question about whether we really are the weight we should be. It would be so hard to train our minds to think we are A-OK at a higher weight. I probably could stand to gain 10 lbs--but believe me, if I gained 2 I would be in crazy "oh no" mode as well. Even if we look ok, that gets us into a new clothing size too....yikes!

Alf, hugs to you in trying to figure this whole thing out once again.

Not much new here, except yesterday I tried to practice my fly casting--the first time since my lesson a few weeks ago. I ended up losing half of the fly rod down the river and was soaked from head to toe trying to catch the part that flew off. That image is just like in the River Runs through it, right? Well, my hubby set me up w/another rod for today--one that does not break into 4 pieces--so I should be good to try practicing again today. I think it's the last nice day for awhile so I'm looking forward to it.

have a good day everyone! Robin

alf1163

Good morning everyone!!!!! :drinker: I read some of the posts yesterday but didnt have time to post myself. I have some people doing some home repairs and painting. Getting ready for family to visit next week. My parents are arriving on the 17th but they are staying with my brother the first week and with me the second. Then my sister from SC will be here on the 19th, my little brother who lives in PR is arriving on the 20th (surprise to everyone, shh), my nephew and his wife and baby the same day and then my older sister on the 21st. They are all coming to see the new addition to the family and also celebrate my husband's 50th birthday (21st). I am so excited but I am also very busy trying to get things done. My older brother (the baby's father) doesnt know the siblings are coming, he only knows about my parents. He will be pleasantly surprised.

Sing, I hope you get better soon. :flowerforyou: Poor thing!!! I got my flu shot about 2 wks ago, I really hope I dont catch any flu bugs. Cross my fingers!!

Stiring, great to hear that you had a great time with your hubby's family in Fl. And thank you for your advice. I really need to accept the changes that are going on in my body and try to embrace aging as much as possible. I am not going to stop taking care of myself though. I see a lot of people who just give up and stop taking care of themselves and blame it all on aging. LOL

Robin, thank you for your understanding as well. I was trying to picture you in the river all wet LOL isnt the water very cold? Brr!!

Chris, congrats!!!! :drinker: It must have been a great feeling!! It reminded me about the time I was leaving church and noticed an older lady had fallen and couldnt get up. There was no one around and I told her I could help her. She doubted me because she was a tall and larger woman and I was as she said "little". I told her how to place her legs, got behind her, bent my knees and lifted her like nothing. When she stood up I soon realized how big she was and was amazed at my strength. :drinker:

Well gotta get ready, workers coming back today to finish painting. Have a great day!!! :flowerforyou:

sdereski

Hi All,

I've been around, but not posting very much. This injury is really getting me down. :sad: I feel so frustrated that my body cannot move with the easy fluid way I am used to it having it move. It is now one month that I have been struggling with this. The good news is, I finally get to see a physio on Friday. I am positive it is my hip flexor and am trying to do the stretches and rest like advised, but it is so hard. I have been trying to modify some of my workouts, but every movement is a chore. :grumble:

The weather has been spectacular here - unseasonable warm. Record high temps are being set all over the province. As a result of this beautiful weather, I have been out riding my bike as it does not seem to bother the hip flexor, and I'm still getting a bit of a workout.

My eating has been all over the place, but got mad yesterday and told myself I needed to focus and get this party started again!
It was our Thanksgiving and we had our family meal on Sunday. I did so well, until meal time. It's not that I ate junk, I just ate too much. I do this to myself time and again!
Yesterday was a better eating and exercise day. But I still struggle with the sugars. They are EVIL!:devil:

I have my day planned out for today - so here's hoping I can stick with it!

Sing - I hope you feel better soon. :flowerforyou:

Alf - how exciting to have all your family coming for a visit. It is a lot of work getting everything ready, but oh so wonderful when you are all together!

Chris - you are amazing! You must be so darn proud of yourself and how far you have come. I think of you and your workouts often when I am doing my strength training...and when I struggle to drink all my water in a day.

Swissmiss - you have 9 children??!! Blessings to you. I always said I wanted 9 kids, then it changed to 6 as I got older. When I got married, I said 4 and ended up with 2. I always felt like my family was never complete. I guess that's why I always refer to my granddaughter as "my baby". :laugh:

Robin - I was chuckling at your description of your fly fishing practice. Sounds like fun...I think.

have a great day all. :flowerforyou:

hewhoiscd

Barbell Day: Squats, Bench Press, Bent Over Rows. Also worked on my chin-ups.

Felt good, although it seems like slow progress. I looked back in my records to see what I was lifting a few months ago, and that was encouraging

*silvana: Thanks It gives me motivation to know that I motivate others.

Try to substitute refined sugars for natural, like honey and fruits and veggies. Also, try and get away from simple carbs and go with complex carbs instead. Both helped me kick the sugar habit. Hip Flexors take a long time to quiet down in my experience. Hope the Physio helps out! Keep your head up and just do your best

*alf: Wow, sounds like a full house! Yes, it was a great feeling It's amazing what we willingly give up when we let ourselves get unfit.

*singfree: Hope ya get better soon! I can feel my sinuses trying to get infected, hope I can fight it off.

Swissmiss

My goodness...everyone is writing long posts !!!!

Chris, you have definitely improved. Doesn't it feel so good?

sdereski, some injuries just take a while to heal. The older we get, the longer it takes. Give it time. You will heal better that way and will be back to normal soon. Since you can not be as active as you want, you will need to watch carefully what you are eating. I didn't do that when I had my surgeries. I got bored and ate a lot. Not a good idea. Oh, I only have eight children. But, I should have nine. I lost the last one.:frown:

:flowerforyou: alf, how exciting that your family will be all together. Unfortunately, the only time I see my sister is at funerals. Too many families are like that. But, you are from PR and I know that to you your family is very important.

:flowerforyou: Robin, do you eat the fish that you catch? I really do not know much about it but a lot of my friends fish just for the fun of it but won't eat the fish. I would sure love for someone to catch some catfish for me. Then I wouldn't have to go to Cracker Barrel.

StiringWendel

singfree, I hope you get to feeling better. I'm sorry to hear you've been so sick. Take care of yourself and thanks for checking in with us. :flowerforyou:

Chris, you are doing great! Don't you just love tracking improvements? It never ceases to amaze me when I look back on a few years ago and I couldn't do one push-up on my toes, and the last time I did P90X (this past spring), I was knocking out over 300 in that Chest/Back workout without thinking twice. Celebrate your progress!

sdereski, I'm sorry to hear about the injury. The key is to let it heal. It will take time (alf had a hip flexor injury a couple of years ago and it took months to heal if I recall correctly). As Swissmiss pointed out, the key right now is to make sure you eat right. I've suffered a number of injuries over the years (I'm currently fighting tendonitis in both of my arms) and instead of thinking about what I can't do, I do what I can do and focus on doing the best with that. So if you can do anything like shadow boxing (no kickboxing, of course), upper body weights, etc, you can still get a good workout without impacting that hip flexor. Do what you can and forget the rest.

Robin, I finished P90X in May and have been focusing more on cardio this summer with Asylum and my Insanity/Asylum rotation. But I hear you about the strength training. I hate going too long without it. I didn't do anything on this last vacation (to Florida), and I was going crazy (very literally) by the fifth day. I visit my mom in a few weeks, and I'm definitely taking workouts with me on that trip. I was hoping to get some running in while we were in Florida, but it didn't happen. So I figure if I take my workouts with me, I can control my ability to workout a little better than I did last week. I'm absolutely addicted to activity, that's for sure. It's kind of sad because I was cleaning this morning, and just doing that kind of activity made me feel good. You can only imagine how good my workouts have felt these past few days!!!

About accepting changes in our bodies, it is tough. And I struggle with it all the time. But I also recognize that some things are just going to happen, and I'm going to do everything to prevent that which doesn't have to happen from happening that's for sure. But the trade-off I've promised myself for that is to not sweat too much about that which I can't control. And I can't control all of the aging process, so I'll accept what I have to and work my butt off to prevent what I don't have to accept.

alf, your time with your family sounds great. I hope you have so much fun. Like I said above, I totally agree with you about not throwing in the towel and chalking it up to aging. I won't do that either. I still think I'm too young to be my age! :laugh:

All here is going well. I'm doing a week of whatever workouts feel good right now after coming down from some tough rotations. I leave for my mother's house in a few weeks so there isn't enough time to put together a complete routine in these three weeks so I'm doing what I want to do right now and it feels great. Today was a good kickboxing workout followed by a tough lower body routine. Tomorrow I'm thinking about doing a tough circuit workout. We'll see. Like I said above, I'm fighting tendonitis is both my arms right now, so I'm trying to lower the weights a bit on the upper body workouts to let them heal. This isn't the first time I've been down this road with my arms so I know what I need to do to take care of them. A few weeks of lighter load and I should be good as new.

Hope this finds everybody well!