WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR DECEMBER 2011
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Whoa...so many posts this time, including sad news, which is such a shame to hear.
It sounds like everyone is very busy with the holiday season, and lots of temptation seems to be around (as it does here in my life). It is quite strange sometimes to read your posts as sometimes the USA sounds like a different world, not just a different country...I am just starting (a little) to understand some of your ways and food and things. It is very enlightening, but it seems to make us Aussies sound a bit boring..we just seem to celebrate Christmas and that's that, even though we are multicultural.
I have been as busy as busy for the last four days getting everything ready for Christmas here (now it's 5.40pm Christmas Eve)...I haven't achieved everything I had wanted to, but what the heck?...Christmas will just be a little different this year. I'm sick of trying to be a perfectionist. There might still be dust on the mantelpiece amongst the decorations, but who will care but me? (and only if I let myself)...certainly not my mum or my two children.
Our Australian Christmas tomorrow .... get up and open presents (we are not great Church-goers in this country), then a festive lunch of cold ham and prawns and salad and antipasto. Icecream for dessert. And to add to all that we have cashews, crisps, a gingerbread house, shortbread, Christmas (fruit) cake, lollies and chocolates. Lots of people here do have a hot turkey dinner and plum pudding, etc, while others have seafood or seafood bbqs, but we have decided to do it differently and also make it as easy as possible this year (no baking except for the cake). There are only the four of us and we can really please ourselves. At 3pm, sadly, my children go to their father's for 24 hours, but I will make the most of that by just relaxing and watching the big "Carols by Candlelight" concert held in Melbourne every year on Christmas Eve, that I will be recording tonight. It always makes me feel Christmassy. Boxing Day I will relax mostly and tidy up a bit as well.
Then I have a week off work until after New Year (so many public holidays here at this time of year that I only needed to take a couple of day's leave, and we have our financial year at the end of June, so no pressure with that). The children have very long holidays here around Christmas to February of about 6 to 8 weeks, so I need to give them some of my time at home. No vacations for us though as it's too expensive at this time of year.
Well, I'd best go and make our dinner...going out to look at Christmas lights on houses tonight (unlike you there a minority of people here actually decorate the outsides of their houses, so we have to drive about 20 minutes to see a street where they all go crazy with them). I have been in the USA for Christmas twice (my brother lives in Washington DC) and the USA is an entirely different experience at Christmas time.....magical! It is much more laid back here, even though it is the big celebration of our year, which is a shame....I'd like us to take a leaf out of your book, but maybe it's just too hot here to be bothered...lol.
It's looking like it's going to be a hot one tomorrow....urk!
All the best to everyone on this thread for the festive season, whatever you may be celebrating. And in case I don't get to it again before then, happy New Year to you all! I hope that 2012 brings you lots of happiness! :happy:0 -
Merry Christmas, Kathie!0
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New "here..." Just saw the tread for the first time today.... It's been a difficult December for me because a relationship that began last year at this time has not worked out & I have been letting myself fall apart over it. Can't seem to nurse myself back to health and am turning to food to comfort me.... It doesn't work, by the way, so if any of you are thinking of trying it: I wouldn't recommend it...
Am going to try to keep myself from over-indulging over the next week and wll try to drag my depressed little self over to the gym when it is open. Happy Holidays, Everyone. Hope to join you in January. 0 -
Pam - thanks for mentioning that a chest strap on a HRM is important. I know there are some that are like a watch, but they aren't as accurate. Thanks, I'd forgotten about that fact. If I can't change the battery myself, I take it to a jeweler and he has the tools needed. . I can change the battery in the chest strap myself, but I need to take the reciever to the jewelr. But at least I have the HRM working that day.
Robin - I feel so bad for you, but you have a wonderful way of making lemonade out of lemons (Kiera's passing)
Ladies - where is the birthday cake displayed on the HRM? I will look for it this year. I probably didn't use my HRM in previous years on my birthday, so I didn't know about it displaying a cake. Is it on the screen where the time is displayed? Didn't even know it did this.
Have a wonderful holiday, everyone. Today is Christmas Eve, I just know that I'm going to go over on the calories, so I'm not even going to be tracking. Yesterday Jessica mentioned about wanting to have a Christmas dinner, she wants a ham. I'm not big on ham, too much sodium for me. I may have a little, but I'll probably work on finishing up the christmas Eve leftovers.
Denise is here. Last night I lost it, I went downstairs and just said to her "Denise, we only get to see you 3 days out of the year. The least you could do is spend some time with us. You can watch TV any time" and then I started crying. As expected, she's going to do what she wants to do. She wouldn't even eat dinner with us, said she wasn't hungry. She's looking so thin, Jessica said she's 99 lbs. Every time I think about it, I thanks goodness for waterless keyboards. I really don't want to put a damper on Jessica or Vince or even Zac's holidays. So I've got to get over this at least for now. Maybe what I should do is have a good cry right now and get it out jof my system.
Welcome Jeneba!
Well, I'll probably want Jessica to go to the store with me. Need to get the veggie try, also. Been somewhat dizzy. Couldn't do yoga today. Don't know what it is with me, this happened a while ago. I really don't like the feeling.
Michele0 -
@michele, i am sorry, i agree with you though maybe a good cry and get it out of your system for now...to resolve later....
@jeneba....welcome.....sorry about your relationship...feel better..
we celebrate tonight(noche buena) and tomorrow Christmas day...tonight its the traditonal cuban fare of pork, rice, black beans, and yuca....along with lots of foods to nibble at and loads of dessert(i make a guava cake)tomorrow its a breakfast with my sons, before one goes to work and the other two are traveling....will try and log my foods(though i will be guessing for the dinner)but i will be going over FOR SURE, i will start to eat healthy on the 26th....
my friends i wish you all a very happy holiday/ Merry Christmas,i hope we all have a great time and enjoy our families...big hug :flowerforyou:0 -
so much to do today so no time to dwell on our loss. I am making chocolate creme brulee for our big family dinner tonight with my dad and his new family. I am also making a broccoli cauliflower cheesey casserole. I haven't even begun packing for our week in San Diego and we leave tomorrow morning. I had also bought a Groupon for Curves and it expires this year so I have to go use it today. We also have to take Bodi to the Kennel for his doggie vacation. I am not sure how it will all get done but it will. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.0
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hello women over 50! can i join? i'm 51 and getting back to being active after a bad accident couple of years ago. i joined MFP 2 months ago, the day i was allowed to throw away the horrid crutches.
how does this work? check in once a week or something?
ps. i posted a question in general diet forum which maybe some of you know the answer to? this dieting when over 50 thing is hard.....0 -
New to MFP and loving it! Thanks for starting this post! For me, my goal is to write everything down I eat, no matter what, and to stop eating a couple hours before bedtime. I also want to try not eating in front of the tv so much. I grew up being able to eat all I wanted and was skinny. As an adult, i was a runner. Then I got in a car accident, got married, had 4 kids and the weight just kept creeping up. At this age, I have to work so much harder to lose it; I still exercise daily too! Anyway, glad to finally find support and tools! Thanks and God bless you!0
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Hello ladies
I've been rushing around all day so haven't had time to say hi. I went shopping with my DD#2 and her DH and then visited mother-in-law in the nursing home before coming home to prepare all the food for tomorrow. I then sat on the sofa and pretty much passed out for an hour! I NEVER do that. My DH didn't want to disturb me and was creeping around until the alarm on the cooker went off.
Still quite a bit to do, but I want an early night if possible. As it is now 7pm, I'd better get a move on!
Have a fantastic time whatever you are doing. You are my favourite bunch of ladies, even though I've met not a one of you.
Love to you all.
Amanda x0 -
Hello ladies!Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.Welcome all you new members.This is an awesome group.
Hope santa is good to you all.
Can`t wait to see my 2 grandkids from IN.Haven`t seen since June.
Enjoy family and friends,don`t get too friendly with all the Christmas goodies.
HUGS
jane0 -
Hi Ladies:
I am only stopping in for a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best wishes for you all.
I will be back soon, family will be here soon so I have to run.
Love, Cathy xx0 -
:flowerforyou: Kathie, thank you for sharing about Christmas in Australia.......as someone who has always lived in the Northern Hemisphere, I am accustomed to the winter themes of Christmas and Hanukkah and have found it difficult to imagine their celebrations in a place where it is summer. so much of what I know about the lights of the holidays is based on the premise that they take place during the darkest time of the year thus I guess it's not surprising that people don't light up their houses In Australia in the summer like they do in the US and Canada in the winter. At this time of year, sunset where I live is at 4:20 PM and sunrise is 8 AM......when I walk my dogs in the morning from 5:30 to 7:30 it's mostly dark and a lot of people still have their Christmas lights on.
:bigsmile: Welcome to all the new members.....I hope you'll stay with us.......this thread will be much more active after the holidays.
:bigsmile: I made latkes today and will make them again tomorrow.......that's the only holiday cooking I do, otherwise we eat normal food......we had lunch with a group from my line dance class yesterday and i had Chinese chicken salad without the dressing and a very yummy roll without butter.
:bigsmile: :bigsmile: Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate
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Trying again with the picture. Merry Christmas to all!
R<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jipsyjudy/6567041675/" title="DSC00862 by jipsyjudy, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6567041675_fdb3bd512a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="DSC00862"></a>0 -
OK. I haven't figured out how to post pictures here yet.0
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New "here..." Just saw the tread for the first time today.... It's been a difficult December for me because a relationship that began last year at this time has not worked out & I have been letting myself fall apart over it. Can't seem to nurse myself back to health and am turning to food to comfort me.... It doesn't work, by the way, so if any of you are thinking of trying it: I wouldn't recommend it... Am going to try to keep myself from over-indulging over the next week and wll try to drag my depressed little self over to the gym when it is open. Happy Holidays, Everyone. Hope to join you in January.
Been there, done that...know the feeling. I feel for you. Strangely enough, I turned to food during my relationship (says something about the quality of the relationship) and started dieting when I came out of it, in order to feel better about myself, and it has worked.
Things will get better...believe me...it just takes time. Happy Holidays to you!0 -
Happy holidays everyone!
Our Christmas day is almost over now. A beautiful day...warm and sunny and 27 degrees (81 F)....perfect for Christmas and not too hot, thank goodness.
A very successful day at home here with Mum and the children, and now I have the evening to myself. I ate way to much...my meals were healthy but funnily enough it was those darn licorice allsorts that did me in Never mind, tomorrow is a new day!
Fortunately there was no bad news today, although there is a cyclone (hurricane) approaching Darwin (right up North of the country) as I type, so hopefully that will be OK. In 1974 that city was completely wiped out by Cyclone Tracey on Christmas Eve. But we'll have none of that this year thank you :laugh: Just a lovely season for all
Merry Christmas and happy Holidays!:flowerforyou:0 -
OK. I haven't figured out how to post pictures here yet.
are you using the BB code?0 -
Hi! I think I found the right board for me. I am 53. I am a teacher of preschool children with special needs. My job is very stressful as demands relating to paperwork and evaluations for teachers have increased tremendously in recent years. Often, I think I would like to leave the profession, but eventhough I have 30+ years in, I need to be 62 before I can retire with benefits. The children and collegues bring joy to my life, but I have been dealing with the stress by constant eating, habitually fluctuating between coffee and sweets, not to mention the weekend wine and pastas.
I have a husband who is thin and eats healthy food. I have now shared my goal with a few women at church and a few siblings. I am determined once again to lose this weight. Like most of you, probably, I have lost several pounds many times only to gain it again. I really have never worked on maintaining weight and keeping good habits.
My recent bloodwork results showed cholesterol and triglycerides high. I cannot wear most of my clothes. I cannot stand looking at this person in the mirror knowing it is me.
So...I will appreciate the "motivation and support" here! Hope I can help others as well.0 -
Thank you Barbie! I finally go it right.0
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:bigsmile: Judy, your family looks great
especially the furry ones :laugh:0 -
Happy holidays, everyone!
I've been missing-in-action on the board for nearly two weeks. I think the last thing I posted about was my friend having a 4-day relapse on alcohol after four years of sobriety. She's doing quite well now. The good news is that I still haven't smoked. Ten-and-a-half months! It was tough the first two days with my friend since she smokes and there was no way I was going to ask her to not smoke. But I got through it.
What I didn't do was stick to tracking my food and sticking close to this board. I went to a lot of AA and Nicotine Anonymous meetings, but my attention to healthy eating went right out the window. I'll confess: since I didn't want my "days logged on" to stop, (although I think it did), I was coming in a putting a quick add calories for the day, just to log in. I was guesstimating either 2500 or 3000 calories! I have definitely gained weight. I'm hoping it won't be the whole 8 pounds I'd lost. I'll get honest tomorrow and get back on track. But there's another party tonight and I already had two Christmas dinners today.
I'll admit I'm disappointed in myself since I was doing so well. I'd consistently logged my food HONESTLY for something like 60 days. That was somewhat of a miracle for me. My "healthy" habits generally don't last much longer than 2 or 3 weeks. I have 15-and-a-half years of sobriety from marijuana and alcohol. As I've mentioned, I hope to be celebrating a year of being nicotine free on February 8th. The cigarettes were a ten-year struggle to quit. I'd had 2 years and 10 months. I was a cigarette smoke for 40 years. Hardest thing I've ever done.
Well, maybe the second hardest. We don't have a choice about eating. It's something we have to do to live. We have a choice about what, when, and how we eat. But I'm a firm believer in the concept of addiction as a disease of the brain. For me, it's one disease, many manifestations. The two remaining "compulsions" are overeating and overspending. My credit cards are now safe in blocks of ice in my freezer!
I'm choosing to NOT participate in Overeaters Anonymous be two 12-step programs at a time is plenty! Weight Watchers is too expensive. Also, I have a big problem with feeling deprived on a strict diet. It just sets me up for failure and we know where that can take us. MFP was appealing to me because it would get me in the habit of a food journal and my "techie" nature liked being able to do it on my phone or PC. The "free" part was attractive, too, along with the community.
There was a "discussion/debate" on this board a few weeks ago about people keeping their food diaries public or private. I'm thinking about the idea of making mine public, just so I'll have some accountability. But that means overcoming my history of shame and guilt from my mother about whatever food I put into my mouth and about being overweight. And I wasn't even grossly overweight as a child and teenager. Just about 20 pounds overweight. Boy, to have just 20 pounds to lose now!!! It's more like 80 pounds for me.
I just need to get back to the "one day at a time" mentality with my eating and making wiser choices. I can still treat myself occasionally, but I can do that with just a taste or two instead of the whole, giant piece, and I can make it fit into my daily goals. I'm pretty generous with myself right now with a daily calorie goal of 1800. I still need to bring exercise into the mix. But I was loosing up to a pound a week, which my doctor said was the way to do it.
OK, I know I have a tendency to do long posts, and who has time to do all that reading? But I appreciate being able to express myself in the company of women who understand me! Thanks for listening!!
Beth0 -
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: The book I'm reading now ""Younger Next Year for Women
Live Like You're 50----Strong, Fit, Sexy---Until You're 80 and Beyond" makes a good case for squats. It says "Strengthening your quads is also the best thing you can do to prevent bad knees" Strengthening your quads, the shock absorbers of your body, means you're much less likely to fall and get injured. And strengthening your quads, the biggest muscles in your body, means they will burn more calories even on"idle". So when in doubt default to quads" :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: so with that in mind, I joined a challenge to do 100 squats a day for 100 days.
:bigsmile: Beth, I'm glad to hear from you again.:bigsmile: I have some friends in OA and FA and they tell me that a big part of their programs in planning your food for the day in advance, writing it down, and sticking to the plan.......also they use the same 12 Steps as your programs and they do the program one day at a time.......the MFP community could provide the opportunity for sharing with people with similar challenges.and making your food diary public would be a perfect place to plan your food ahead of time.
:bigsmile: I am still fighting with the three pounds I acquired from my month long Thanksgiving celebration.:sad: :sad: :sad:0 -
It's been a difficult December for me because a relationship that began last year at this time has not worked out & I have been letting myself fall apart over it. Can't seem to nurse myself back to health and am turning to food to comfort me.... It doesn't work, by the way, so if any of you are thinking of trying it: I wouldn't recommend it... .
Hi Jeneba -thanks for your post - I am new here both on the site and to this thread and I can sure relate to your comment - and completely agree - turning to food really doesn't cut it - although I too have been giving it a good run these past several days
Thanks to reading your comment - my treadmill has been beckoning to me and I got the strength up to throw out the chocolates, so I send wishes back to you that you make it to the gym like you want to - here's to a new day and new resolve to move forward !!
PS - I am grateful to have found this thread - it seems like just what I need My goals right now are just to take it moment by moment, recover from my grief over my relationship ending, and not eat myself into oblivion - and especially to not scream at the contradiction that this is all happening at a time of year when social convention says we are supposed to be joyful and celebrating !! 0 -
Hi All!
Busy, wonderful holiday....way too much food. But tomorrow I start logging my food again and getting some movement going. it will be nice to do something that isn't shopping or cooking or driving to go shopping.:drinker: I'm going to start from scratch and be more patient with myself this time. From reading the posts for the last couple of months...the most successful ladies are the ones that take their time. As Beth said...One Day at a Time.
Beth....I love reading your posts. It's great you were able to be so supportive for your friend. You should be very proud of all your accomplishments....inspiring.
Judy....wonderful family picture!
Barbie...Everytime you mention a book...I want to run out and get it. Guess I'll be visiting the library tomorrow! I'm on vaca this week, so I'll have plenty of time to read.
Jeneba....I hope you can find some balance. Relationships can be so hard. This is a great support group. If you read back in the posts, you'll see there are a few of us that have been a bit blue lately for a variety of reasons. We've visited the fridge for comfort, to get rid of boredom or anxiety...you name it. We're here any time you want to chat!
Kathie....Thanks for the view from the other side of the world. I wish i could quit my job and just travel around and experience the rest of the world. Maybe in my next life!
Robin...I am so sorry to hear of Kiera's passing. Our pets are a member of our family...and we miss them terribly.
Harmony....Like I told Jeneba...this is a great thread for support. We've all had so many life experiences and can share what does and doesn't work for us....and cheer each other on! Congrats for jumping right in, throwing out the chocolates and hitting the treadmill!
Anyone....There are no rules. Check in and post as often as you like. I pop in and out alot during the day and try to keep up with everyone. Sometimes I spend waaay too much time and have to remind myself that I have laundry to do:laugh:
Welcome to all the new ladies!
It's time for me to clean a very messy kitchen!
Chat with everyone tomorrow...
Rita0 -
Pam - I'm with you. I KNOW that I went over today and I will tomorrow. I'll try to watch it, but I'll go over just the same, I know it now. But....the good thing is that I'll give Jessica, Zac, and Denise leftovers, send cookie leftovers to Bryan, and then I'm DONE, as in no more for a while at least. Had 2 glasses of wine, you know, wish I had another right about now. But I don't think we have any more of that wine left over (which is probably a good thing)
Does anyone make pies from scratch? I will make one at Christmas time. Seems the Stayman (Wine Sap) apples I tried this time didn't get "mushy". Now for my question: How do you prevent "juice"? (which reminds me that we have apple cider, think I'll have some)
anyonebutme - jump right on in! Post as often as you can.
jesuslover - welcome!
Yes, Kathy, thanks for sharing. I have a hard time imagining a christmas dinner being a barbecue. Interesting, tho..
Welcome praisinggod...you've come to the right place for support
Between Christmas Eve and today, I've been WAAAYYYY off on my eating. There is that little voice that is wispering over my shoulder "oh, you don't have to worry tomorrow". But I know that if I don't get right back on track, I'm doomed. I can't go to the gym since I need to be home because my oldest daughter ripped her contact. Fortunately, her eye MD is down here so she needs to go early tomorrow and hopefully, they can give her a sample contact. That's what she had, they just never sent her the prescription. Denise is anxious to leave, what else is new??? So I'm going to do a new Jari Love DVD that I got for Christmas tomorrow a.m., and I'm determined to get back to healthy eating, I've wrapped up a lot of the cookies for Jess, Zac, and Denise to take back with them. What's left is very little, along with some cookies that Vince likes that really don't appeal to me (unless I'm really stressed).
beth - you are a real good friend, and a strong person. Long posts are just fine.
Remember I said the other day that I was dizzy? Well, Vince mentioned that he thought it might be sinuses. I didn't feel any sinus pain, but I decided to take some Sudafed anyway. Today I'm not dizzy. Are the two related? I don't know.
Haramony - we are so glad to have you.
Here's hoping everyone has a great evening. Gotta take a shower. I'm determined that I'm going to get back on track starting tomorrow.
Michele0 -
good afternoon, ladies
@jipsyjudy....what lovely family
@beth...congrats onbeing smoke free....as for your post i love to read them...speaking for myself this time of the year, with all the goodies i cant resisted nor do i really want to...i just try to log and be more careful than i was i the past...
@barbiecat...i got on the scale today and 2.2lb gained, but i did love eating my goodies...make to healthly eating today
@harmony14..welcome
@topaz2986/rita ...glad you are back
@anyonebut me...welcome
@jesuslover...welcome
@praisinggod...welcome
we had a wonderful christmas eve and christmas day, shared with family and friends, now back to eating healthy and exercise...got on the scale this morning i put on 2.2lbs, not suprising...im not too upset about it though....had a great spinning class and now to have my lunch of greek yogurt, bluberries and some cereal for crunch.....iam happy to get back to my routine....hope all had a wonderful holiday:flowerforyou:0 -
Wow - I just have to say this - I have been taking a few minutes throughout the past day or so to read some of the back posts on this thread. It makes me even more grateful to have found it. You are all so amazingly supportive of one another and encouraging. And thanks to everyone who has taken a minute to be so welcoming to me. I hope I can be as supportive and motivational for you.0
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made it to san diego safe and sound. didn't make the best choices yesterday other than walking to the store (about 1.5 miles round trip) today I did choose well at breakfast and then walked about 4 miles so now I won't feel so bad about other food choices I make today. It is easy to let the sunshine wash away the pain of losing Kiera. this was a great time to have the vacation.0
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