40 and older with 10lbs or less to lose

singfree

OK, this has not been the greatest week for me. I usually hit the gym daily at 5 am and noon. Due to outside factors, I did not get to the gym (5 am) for 3 days. I did do a few days of bicycling outdoors. It feels good to break it up a bit. I also had a few "cheat " treats. Nothing earth shaking, but I was disappointed in myself. Today I am back on track. I think my body needed the rest for a few days. My thinking is that the change of pace will help in my never-ending quest for fat loss.

Next Sat. 3/28 I am getting some routine bloodwork done. This should tell me how I am doing internally.

The experts are correct. The closer you are to your goal, the results become painfully slow!

duffyzmom

Everyone take care - Swiss I hope you are able to recuperate fully. I'm glad the doctor is keeping a close eye on you but definitely be careful as you hill.

Sing: maybe this change of schedule is a good thing. I know what you mean about painful progress. I've been stuck at the same weight for quite awhile now and am trying to focus on the more subtle changes in my body. When I pulled out my old 6 week body makeover journal, I was shocked to see that my measurements are actually better than they were 5 years ago at a weight 5lbs lighter than my current goal.

phetz: Good point about the rash decisions! I know that when I get to that angry hungry point I tend to just grab something anything. Even when I'm eating in the 1200 calorie range, if I eat 6 times a day that doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

mcelledge

Hi ,
I'm right there with you. 49 years old. lost 22 lbs last year Jan 2008-July 2008 have maintained pretty much up and down 1 to 2 lbs. but still want to lose 5 more. It is very hard . I am down to only allowed 1200 calories a day . that is soooo hard. i am staying hungry. picked up bad habit - eating at night. last year i wouldnt eat after 7:30 PM. THis is getting harder. SO!!! i joined Curves for Women I'm hoping it will help me tone up where i've gotten flabby from losing that weight. I have to do this - my daughter is getting married this summer and i want to be the best i can be. So hang in there!! We ca do this. Any ideas send them my way.

singfree

Welcome mcelledge to our group! You've come to the right place for friendly (and caring) support. Right now, the only question I have is why you are allowed 1200 cals per day. Something tells me that you are not eating enough. Now please don't misunderstand me. I mean, you might want to increase your cals. slightly and see what happens. Evening snacking is not really a bad thing, it's the quality of those snacks that could be the culprit. Maybe something like a smoothie would curb your appetite and satisfy any cravings you might have. Since you joined Curves, you will probably need a few extra cals to fuel your workouts.

MrsDanceBartley

I'd like to join, but I have 18lbs to lose. Will you take me?

I am 47, have always been fit and eaten well. A nasty divorce, coupled with meeting a wonderful man caused me to stress eat and eat because I was happy at the same time! My new man is also 6' 4" and eats junk (he is getting better) and does not put on weight!

We are getting married September 26th so this is a huge incentive to lose the weight.

I have my first dress fitting mid June and would like to be 140lbs by then if not less. I am 152lbs now and I know I can do it. For the wedding I'd like to be about 130lbs.

Keeping up the fitness is tough as i have a job with irregular hours, but i am getting back to it - ran 5K on the treadmill last night.

I've tried joining groups here but not found the right one yet. I have a feeling this may be the one!

I guess my immediate goal is 12lbs so I neraly qualify for the group!

singfree

Welcome to you, runningratty2! Don't worry about the amount of weight you want/ need to lose. We are a bunch of like-minded middle-agers who want to be around to see our grandchildren grow! Please continue to post. Your husband-to-be is a lucky man (having you and can eat anything).

MrsDanceBartley

Singfree, you made me smile with your comment.

By the way call me Jane or Ratty for short!

Swissmiss

mcelledge--since you are only allowing yourself 1200 calories a day (that is what I am trying for also) be sure to eat more then just your meals. Never, never, never let your stomach become empty. Keep fresh fruits and veggie, fat-free cheese snacks, rice cakes, etc. close at hand. Have one of these between your meals. You will be more apt to not overeat at the next meal and you will be eating healthy snacks.

Swissmiss

By the way--the three pounds I lost the other day have found their way back to me.:sad:

duffyzmom

Welcome Ratty - Congrats on your upcoming wedding.

Swiss: You aren't weighing yourself too often. I understand I'm a scale junky. I'm doing much better only a couple of times of week now compared to daily. The daily look at the number was driving me nuts because it would vary so much despite always weighing at the same time. I'm really trying to let go of the number and focus on how I look and feel.

singfree

Well, gang...another Friday...you know what that means...another reporting day. For those new to this thread, welcome! We usually report our success and frustration on this day. No pressure, just include any info you think might be useful for the others.

As I reported the other day, my week has not been super. A few cheat treats and a few missed workouts (not by choice). All in all, I broke even for the week. No real progress, but no setbacks, either. Next week will be strict. Next Sat. 3/28 is bloodwork day. Oh boy! I hate needles. Super clean eating next week. I'm looking forward to good results in my workouts, too.

Have a great weekend!

MrsDanceBartley

My challenge is staying good over the weekend - always so hard for me.

Hope you are all doing well.

Swissmiss

There may be a reason for the three pounds of weight gain. There are other issues. I am waiting for a call from my doctor. This could all be due to my surgery two weeks ago.

duffyzmom

Happy Friday! Ah yes, another report day. Food wise I've been good except for my scheduled cheat day last Saturday. On the other hand I drank more this week than normal. I usually allow myself a glass of red as a evening treat and don't view that as counterproductive given its health benefits. This week though I did enjoy a couple of coronas (I blame on the temps in the 70s - in Michigan that's like caribeean weather). I was wishing we had bought corona light but Costco doesn't stock them.


I did end up losing the half pound gained last week and another half so down 1 lb from last week. The big news is yesterday I went to put on my size 6 khakis and they were really baggy so I pulled out my skinny jeans (the size 4) and they fit. Woo Hoo!! It has been almost 2 years since I've been able to fit in them. Now I will say they are a generous 4 but that's why I bought them in the first place Hubby got kind of teary eyed when he saw me in them :laugh:

Other updates:

I am running and just putting up wit the stupid pain in my neck. (Which isn't husband but osteoarthritis:laugh: ) Like Sing I'm getting bloodwork done soon. My physical is Monday morning and I hope to discuss alternatives for my neck pain then.

3 more weeks on Power 90 and my upper body is really starting to look toned - just wish the mid section would come along.

I will do another exhaustion test for the hundred pushups challenge this weekend- I am hoping to get close to 30.

The kids and I start the couch to 5K program today so that we can run our local 5k on June 6. Really looking forward to spending the time with them.

My goal for the next few weeks is really watch my alcohol intake. I'm a basketball freak so I will just have to enjoy March madness with limited beer and junk. I am also going to use the Flat Belly diet for the next few weeks and see if it helps with this weight around my waist. I blame the kids: 1 was 10 lbs and the other 9 so I may just have to accept a little softness there no matter what.

Keep up the good work

duffyzmom

There may be a reason for the three pounds of weight gain. There are other issues. I am waiting for a call from my doctor. This could all be due to my surgery two weeks ago.

I hope that doesn't mean something was left behind??? Please take care and keep us informed.

singfree

Great work duff, as long as the clothes are getting looser, you know you are on the right track. The fat loss should pay dividends in your running. Sorry to hear your neck is still giving you problems. Swissmiss, take care..we're pulling for you. Jane, we all know how hard the weekends can be on the willpower, just do your best to minimize the damage.

phetzgetfit

good luck singfree with the doctor report.

No weight loss for me this week but no gain so I'm counting that as a win. I'm doing really well with the food diary and being honest there and I managed to get in more water this week...boy that's a tough one for me and I really need to correct that, particularly since my favorite exercise is bikram yoga and we sweat the whole time.

So, my challenge for myself this week is to fill two big jugs of water each night before I go to bed, add some lemon to them which makes me tolerate drinking it more, chill them overnight and then the next day not stop drinking til they are gone!

Also, i weighed in too much this past week and made myself crazy over the ups and downs. So I'm going to stop that. I guess I'll weigh in both thursday and friday from now on as I'm taking part in two groups that have different weigh in days. But I'm putting the scale in the dark recesses of the closet for the rest of the week.

StiringWendel

This week has flown by for me. I've been concentrating on increasing my calories another 100 a day (I am now falling between 1400-1500....and really pushing the 1500 the past couple days). I haven't really felt like I've been dieting this week because I'm just not hungry anymore. But, lo and behold, I lost 2 1/2 pounds this week! I'm sitting at 121.8, 1.8 pounds from my goal.

I would like to lose about another 1/2 inch from both my waist and hips, but, to be honest, I'm not really worried about that OR the final 1.8 pounds because I'm beyond thrilled to have lost this 21 pounds since January. And like Duffy, I'm in size 4 jeans! I've rarely been a size 4 because of my body shape, though I do wonder if the current size 4 is the size 6 of yesteryear (and I was a very comfortable size 6 for years). But, also like duffy, I'm losing weight where I don't necessarily need to lose weight--so you aren't alone, duffy! When people talk about body shape, I say I'm neither apple or pear. I'm more like 'Christmas Tree'! :bigsmile: Oh, well. It's a small sacrifice (literally) for health and fitness.

Now that I feel like I'm pretty much done with the losing part of my diet, I'm going to continue to slowly increase my calories over the next month to just short of my maintenance goal (about 100-200 calories short or so) and then hold it there while I finish this STS program (which I will be doing through the end of July). I'm thinking the final 1.8 pounds may find their way off my body during this time. But, ultimately, my thought is to try to get my mind completely wrapped around what I can eat on any given day without any (or, more accurately, many) cheats. Then when I finish STS, I'm thinking I will probably reintroduce about 100-200 calories of 'fun stuff' (like a glass of wine or a couple of pieces of dark chocolate) back into my diet, and I should be able to maintain from there. But I want those items firmly seen by my mind/body as 'luxury items' that I can do without when I'm not working out, and I think I should be able to get that mindset over the next few months. Or at least I hope so.

I'm getting great results from STS and seeing muscle in places I've never seen muscle before (and I've lifted weights for years). I am really going to try to keep my diet as clean as possible while I continue doing the program because I want to be able to see the end result and not have it lying under a layer of fat. I haven't had any cheat foods (sweets, alcohol or things like chips) in over two months. I don't think it is going to be too much of a problem to continue this for another four months. It is much easier for me to think about having no/few cheats with the goal of fitness in mind than it was about a month ago with weight loss in mind. I don't know why that is, but I can only imagine that fitness seems to be more positive to me than weight loss because I often feel when I'm trying to lose weight that I'm having to punish myself for all my poor food choices of the past.

During this time, I'm also really trying to educate myself on diet and nutrition, including clean eating. Right now, I'm listening to the audiobook of Michael Pollan's 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', which is quite interesting. I figure anything that makes me think twice about what food I'm eating is a good thing right now, and this book is definitely doing that. If anybody has any recommendations for books on proper nutrition, I'd love to hear about them.

Moving on, welcome to our new members!! I hope you keep posting.

Swissmiss, I hope everything is okay with you. Please keep us posted.

phetzgetfit, I agree that no weight gain is a win! I found when I increased my water intake, the weight really started coming off me easily. It is amazing what something as simple as water can do for a person. And I've always been a water drinker, but I guess I just wasn't drinking enough.

duffy, congrats on your results this week! Running a 5k with your kids sounds like so much fun.

singfree, best of luck on your upcoming blood work. I'm sure it will show tremendous improvements.

Off to do a killer leg workout, and then get ready for this charity auction I'm attending tonight. I hope everybody has a great weekend!

will4change

Please let me joing I ma going to be 43 this October and it is just not much fun anymore... I keep most of my clothes from when I was 125 lbs (it is only been 12 years ago ha ha) and her I'm at 160 lbs. My biggest problem are carbohydrates, I can care less if I did not have any protein in a day, I walk/jog on my treadmill 4-5 time per wk and feel great after that as the 6:00 p.m o'clock approches it is time to checking inthe kitchen and much mindlessly.. I can't join any GYM at this time as time, I keep track of the calorie burned and fell like I can replace them at night... So I tryed to walk in the evening but that kept me awake, yes that is also one of my big problem I can't sleep more that 5 hours at night ans it gets me very tired. I really really would like to get down at least 15 lbs, my joints ache all the time and I'm such an emotional eater... I got so tired of eating salds, and tuna penut butter and oatmeal that the though of it make me sad. I weigh myself once a wk and yes I don't see much change but I ma not ready to give up yet. I only joined this Jan.
Any suggestions will be very much appreciated....

singfree

Wecome will4change! Yes, breaking the high carbohydrate addiction can be challenging. They say that man cannot live on bread alone. Oh yeah? When I am in Europe, I definitely CAN live on bread alone. The Bavarians have a saying that beer is liquid bread...I quite agree!

I think that you need to analyze your diet. I'm sure that you are eating far too many carbs each day. You are not working out hard enough to eat such a carb-rich diet. You should limit your carb intake and increase the protein. There are many resources online that can give you ideas about what carbs, proteins and fats would be appropriate for your lifestyle.

Good luck, and check in often. We are here to offer help and friendship.

2BLean

Hello Everyone ~ Just checking in myself. Been doing good and eating well. As I reported last week I was going to weigh in last Sunday. Which I did. Not even a LB has been lost since my 3#'s down 60 days ago. :grumble: Which is quite a bummer for as hard as I am working and eating so well? I had been doing a 30 day “phase” of my current workout that involved heavier weights so I was glad I didn’t gain I suppose…… The inches are coming off but not the LB’s. I too may need to get some new pants …… which is great but confused about the weight not following?!?! Someone recently told me it is because I don’t have that much too lose and so my body is comfortable where it’s at!??! Ideas/Suggestions? :ohwell:
Sometimes I feel like maybe I am not doing the eating part right …. Like I should eat more. But I am following along the guidelines of MFP calories. Always way under on the carbs & fat though.

StiringWendel – On the STS program. I have looked into that and think I would really love it but I don’t have a bench or a bar to do pull ups on. Is there modifications?!! What “killer” workout do you do for legs also that you have mentioned? Is it also a STS workout?

Hope you all have a great weekend – :flowerforyou:

singfree

Good goin' 2BLean! I agree about the weight thing. Last time I checked the scale it was stuck, but the clothes were looser, as if by magic! Like me, your scale is going to find its own proper weight. Concentrate on what got you to this point, that is, good food and exercise. Rather than working on a little weight loss, look in the mirror and determine what body part(s) you would like to improve. If it is fat loss, increase cardio a bit. Muscle definition, use a bit more weight and exercies specific to attack the "problem" area. Believe me, that is exactly where I am today. Have a great weekend!

Don't sweat the details...just sweat!

jimswmn

Hi...I'm 49 and have 12 pounds to go.

singfree

Bobbi, if you would lose all of that hair (I saw your picture), I'm sure the 12 lbs would be gone. Seriously, welcome to our group!

2BLean

Good goin' 2BLean! I agree about the weight thing. Last time I checked the scale it was stuck, but the clothes were looser, as if by magic! Like me, your scale is going to find its own proper weight. Concentrate on what got you to this point, that is, good food and exercise. Rather than working on a little weight loss, look in the mirror and determine what body part(s) you would like to improve. If it is fat loss, increase cardio a bit. Muscle definition, use a bit more weight and exercies specific to attack the "problem" area. Believe me, that is exactly where I am today. Have a great weekend!

Don't sweat the details...just sweat!

Thanks ~ I'll just keep at it! Thanks so much for your encouragement! :flowerforyou:

Swissmiss

Welcome will4change. This is the place for any help you may need. If you want to build those muscles (and you should to lose the weight) then you need to eat that protein.

2BLean..Your measurements can sometimes tell more than the scales. Also if your pant size is going down then all is well.

Bobbi..You and I am about at the same when it comes to how many pounds we want to lose. We can keep each other encouraged.

singfree..You are always a wonder inspiration for all of us. Thank you.

I went ahead and purchased a Polar F6. Can't use it for another four weeks but as soon as I get my doctor's OK I am ready to go. I have yet another set back with my surgery today. The doctor wanted to see me on Monday but I already have an appointment for Tuesday so that is when I will see him next.

StiringWendel

Welcome will4change and jimswmm!

will4change, I found it interesting that you mentioned you are an emotional eater. Without getting too Dr. Phil or Jillian Michaels on you, it might benefit you to attempt to understand what emotions trigger your eating. I'm an emotional eater as well, and I've spent the better part of the past two months trying to figure out what responses I have and trying to change them. For instance, I learned that after a tough day, I craved a glass a wine. When I was feeling particularly happy, I wanted a fattening dinner (usually hamburgers and fries!). Perhaps there is some biochemical reason for my cravings, but, ultimately, I think it all boils down to me thinking 'I deserve this' (in the first case) or a feeling of 'Let's have fun!!' in the second case.

And, slowly, I'm substituting those responses. So, now, when I have a tough day, I might have a second cup of tea at night (because I love my evening tea, but usually only allow myself one cup because I like a tsp of sugar in my tea). Or, when I'm feeling particularly carefree and happy, I might allow myself a little more peanut butter with my apple (which I have many days as a snack). Both options equal less than 100 calories. But the thing is, I'm doing something I enjoy (eating peanut butter or drinking tea) without killing my diet. And it seems to be working (most days.....not all).

Eventually, I'd like to get away from having any emotional response to food and say things to myself like after a tough day, 'Well, tonight I'll listen to my favorite CD while reading a good book' or on days when I'm feeling particularly carefree and happy, 'I think I'll go for a walk tonight with my husband so we can watch the sunset together'. But, for right now, I'm just happy to be changing--and controlling--the responses I once had even though they are still food related.

Anyhow, that's just a thought.

2BLean, regarding STS, I don't have a pull-up bar. I use resistance tubing, and it is working well. No doubt it isn't as challenging as a pull-up would be, but whereas Cathe goes for 12 pull-ups, I fill at least an entire 30 seconds (or more) with pulling on the resistance tube. And by rep 20 or so, I feel ready to let the bands go! I'm using some tough bands, and will go to a tougher band when I go more into the strength sections of the program. So, just like in P90X, that option is there if you want to use it.

And, yes, the killer leg workout was an STS workout. These lower body workouts in the first cycle are, by far, the most effective lower body workouts I've ever done (and I have all of Cathe's lower body workouts). I asked my husband the other night if he can see any changes to my physique (aside from losing weight) as a result of STS since I'm getting close to the end of the first phase. And he immediately said that he thinks it has completely transformed my lower body. And my lower body is, by far, my biggest (and I mean that literally) trouble zone, so that is just music to my ears!!

And like singfree said, as long as you are working out and seeing a change in your physique like you indicated, what the scale says just doesn't matter!

Swissmiss, I'm sorry to hear about your setback. Please, take care of yourself. :flowerforyou:

Swissmiss

I, too, will reach for a glass of wine if I am having a bad day. But, I can not eat then. It is when I am in a good mood that I tend to go for the food. Does that make sense?

MrsDanceBartley

For the first time in forever I have managed to lose this weekend and I am down to 14lbs gone!

I have my first wedding dress fitting mid June and want to have lost another 20lbs. I know I can do it.

Swissmiss

Running--congratulations on the pounds lost. Stick around here and the other will soon be gone.

I bought a second-hand set of scales yesterday. They work like the ones at the gym and doctor office only they are smaller. From trying them I think they weigh the same as the one I use at the gym. I know that we shouldn't weigh more than once a week but I have found that if I weigh every day I will know more about what it going on in my body.