40+ Club : Where the Cool Kids Are

jonnyman41

I have not been counting calories for a couple of weeks now due to one thing and another (mild illness. very sick dog and more) but it does not seem to be affecting my weight at the moment. no doubt it will catch up at some point though.

sdereski

Hi all,

Was totally MIA yesterday. Busy workday and then a late curling game last night. We lost. :ohwell:

Beeps - love that necklace! I l love your shoulders more!!!

Princess - wonderful picture of you and your grandmother! 94 years young...look at her!

Beeps2011

Curling looks like so much fun, sdereski....but, I've tried it and it is H-A-R-D! I guess I must remain a (happy) spectator!

Got some good zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's last night. Today, at lunch, I lift! photos/measurements are soooooo close that I really have to manage my calories to the NTH degree!

WhataBroad

hey everyone!

princess - beautiful pic... wow, your Grandma look fantastic!!

Got in a great morning hill walk while the sidewalks are bare, little icy in spots but at least the slush is gone. My dogs were happy with me; I have been on my treadmill while waiting for the weather to decide what it was going to do so haven't had them on a walk for a few days. It's sexy shoulder day after work... I am channeling Beeps for this one!

enjoy your day everyone!

Beeps2011

Shoulders really ARE the best!

Got my lifting in-and-done.

Am feeling fine.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY AMERICAN MFP-PALS!

princessofredrock

Posted this on my profile but wanted to share here too!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving friends! I will catch up with you by the weekend! I appreciate each and every one of you! Friends, family and the life I have. I am blessed in so many ways! Take care and enjoy the Holiday's. What would you do today if you knew you were not going to be here tomorrow? Love better? Laugh louder, be kinder, forgive someone or just lay there and wait for the end to come? Life is for living not waiting for the end to come! So lets live it to best of our abilities each and every day! Make each day count! xoxo

KellySue67

Awesome day so far. I am feeling so much better today. Did some elliptical and uphill walking this morning in preparation for eating turkey later today. Thanks for all the well wishes from our Canadian friends!

Beeps2011

Off to lift at lunch!

KellySue67

WOW! It was a quiet weekend around here! Lots of business around my neck of the woods as well. My grandson came and stayed over night on Friday and left mid afternoon on Saturday. Yesterday was more Thanksgiving type feasting- We get together with my brother-in-law and family to do the traditional leftover turkey sandwiches which are always way more that one should eat, but it is a good time.

As much as I did not want to come back to work today, I have been looking forward to getting back in to my regular routine. I made it to the gym this morning for some lifting and cardio- both were much needed after the weekend! Hoping my week continues to be as productive as this morning has been so far.

sdereski

Happy Monday Cool Kids,

Hope all my American friends enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend.

We got lots of snow here on Saturday. I was watching my granddaughter and had our morning planned, which included a walk uptown and then to the local food drive for our food bank. Well, the snow made that walk a workout!! I worked up a major sweat pushing the 40lb toddler on unplowed streets and sidewalks! It was such a nice day though, it felt good to be outside.
My day with my granddaughter was so much fun, but exhausting. I needed a nap afterward. lol.
Was a little worried about the shovelling I would have to do when I got home, as it continued to snow heavily the entire morning. Thankfully, some good samaratin ploughed my driveway while I was out. :bigsmile:
I have NO idea who did it, but I thanked the Good Lord for sending someone my way. I have a HUGE driveway and really need to learn to use the snowblower. I can shovel, but that would be an all afternoon job for sure.

Went for a run yesterday - roads were now cleared of the snow, so it made running a little easier. Some messy spots, but not too bad. It's always better to run outside than on the dreadmill.

Think I'm going to give Zumba a try tonight. There are limited classes this month, but am going to try and take advantage of a few.

Have a great day all,

Beeps2011

Terrible weather system moving through, today. I won't even CHANCE the roads at lunch to get to the gym. So, I brought my gear into the office and will turn out my lights and do an office work-out with my ugifit weight-ball. Should be good enough, recognizing it isn't "heavy-lifting", but it is SOME lifting and SOME cardio.

BOOM!

Stoshew71

Hi all. Checking in. Sorry to break to you all that the weather is very mild (tho very overcast) here in Northern Alabama. keep chugging along.

Beeps2011

I could say something snarky like, "yep, weather might be mild, but then you actually have to LIVE there!"

Instead, I'll accept I chose a cold-weather-climate and just work-out indoors, lol.

Stoshew71

LOL Beeps. hey, I grew up in NJ and just moved from there like 2 and a half years ago. lol I also went to school in Indiana. Always got those Chicago/Great lakes cold winds coming down. Neh! I will take this nice warm winter. LOL I just have to deal with the hot and humid summer. lol I will be in NJ for Christmas tho.

jmclean67

Hey gang! I am liking this thread! I am 46 years old, BMI is way too high and a little frightening at 35+!!!! I am 5'9" tall and have always been able to use my height to hide my weight. Well unfortunately that time has come to an end. I'm the heaviest I have ever been and having a real tough time getting motivated. I am motivated for a while then get frustrated because I do not see the progress on the scales. I have purchased a TRX, purchased a treadmill for home (which my husband uses faithfully), I have a gym membership and still seem to have a billion excuses of why I can't get to the gym or workout. When I was in my 20's I joined weight watchers, lost 25lbs and kept it off until about 8 years ago. I blame it on age and pre menopause but I see lots of women my age in great shape. Help!!!! Some advice and a kick in the a*& would be helpful. My goal is to lose 30lbs......something as simple as stopping into the gym on my way home seems like a mountain to climb.......

WhataBroad

Hey Kids!!

Hope all that celebrated Thanksgiving had an awesome one!

We've had pretty temperate weather thus far but the forecast are calling for some cooler days ahead of us. Today, is -10 but the windchill made it feel like -25!! ugh. I suppose we are due for winter, double ughh.

WTG Beeps for getting it done!

jmclean - you are the only one that can kick your *kitten* so you better get some flexibility work in too! lol. You have to be stronger than yor excuses and you have to want it bad enough, that's it. Also, ignore the scale... make this about getting healthy and then you won't put so much pressure on yourself.

December goals - continue with carb cycling and then in January eat at MFP macros and compare stats. This 5/2 cycle is pretty easy to adhere to because I get a high carb intake every couple days but I just don't know if there is any real benefit to it for me at this stage. Been doing IF for a while now but with my focus shifting from cardio/endurance to heavy/hypertrophy, I'm finding that I am just way too hungry some morning so I am going to eat when I am hungry. I am also going to make sure I am still running for a minimum 4 days/wk; an incline interval, a speed interval and 2 easy pace 3mile minimum. And lastly, I am going to start weighing myself semi monthly; first day of period when water retention is over and then again mid cycle. It's not about weight for me anymore.

I thoroughly enjoyed my rest day yesterday; I didn't even get out of my PJs all day!! I puttered around the house, wrapped Christmas presents and did a little baking after my week food prep. It was great.
I was up this morning and got my upper body workout in and jump rope intervals to finish it off. After work run planned as well.

Enjoy your Monday folks!

1968samuel

Enjoyed the time off, but now it's back to work! :grumble:

Thanks for all the Thanksgiving wishes from the Canadian friends!

jmclean - Welcome! You're in good hands in this thread! Lots of great information and motivation!

WhatABroad - Thanks for the info on the carb cycling. I have friends that swear by it, but I'm not sure what to think either.

We're expecting a major storm tonight as well. We had close to 60F today. I took my bike out for a spin only to find the tire flat. Got a run in instead, so that made up for it. It may be a long time before I can ride outside again with winter days ahead.

Have a great start to the week everyone and those in cold weather climates stay warm!

jmclean67

Thanks WhatABroad So true!

Beeps2011

I'll be late at the office tonight, too....so, I brought my gym gear thinking maybe at the 5:00 hour I'll throw it on and do another ugifit.com work-out! I wonder if I could keep up this extra bit of cardio, as much as possible, through the winter months??

I don't want it to interfere with my weight-lifting times - but that's within my control. So, as long as it isn't increasing my hunger (and therefore my calorie intake), this might be a good way of keeping my stress down, and making sure I'm falling into bed ASLEEP!

I think if I read more about how to "formally" carb-cycle, that might be something I could try (in 2014)....for now, I'm just low-carbing it for as many days in a row as I can, and then when that "carb-binge" is on the horizon, I throw in 1 or 2 "higher carb" days and try to return to low-carb as quickly as I can.

Stoshew71

Hi all. Checking in. Beeps and Whatabroad, can you fill me in on the purpose of this carb cycle?

Currently I am cutting back on many carb calories. I will eat my Cheerios or oatmeal in the morning, but then i will rely on fruits and vegatables after that. I basically cut out breads and pastas for now until I reach my goal weight. When I go into my bulk phase, I will add some of those deleted carbs back in.

I run pretty much every morning except Sunday and do weights 4x a week (2x upper body, 2x lower body/abs). That is my routine for my fat cutting phase. Also hope to do my first 5K or 10K this spring.

KellySue67

Happy Tuesday! Not a lot going on here. I got in some aerobics this morning, and then got to hang with Jake for a bit before heading to work! Have a good day all!

sdereski

Welcome jmclean.

Beeps, I heard about that storm sweeping across Alberta. Yikes. Hope it loses it's force as it makes its way east.

Great day yesterday, exercise wise. Eating wasn't too bad, well, except for the cookies.

Went to my first Zumba class - 45 minutes of shaking my boot-aye. It was so much fun. Afterward I stuck around for the Total Body Fit class, but I was the only one that showed. The instructor is also my personal friend, so she said we could do a short workout together, We ended up doing an hour and half of kick boxing, core work, weights and ab work. Had a great workout and lots of fun. Loved it!

Today is my day to lift, but have a late work meeting and then have to curl right after,. If my curling game is cancelled, I'm hitting the gym. :happy:

Beeps2011

My ears are feeling "plugged"....that usually means I'm catching something.

Ugh.

sdereski - what KIND OF COOKIES WERE THEY?!?!? I will help you determine if this was a good choice or not, lol!

I totally do NOT get the appeal of "zumba"....I have tried it, with more than one instructor, at more than one location and it is just NOT my "thing".

KellySue67

I have "watched" Zumba a couple of times and I can see myself tripping over my own feet! - don't know if that counts or not! Lol.

For the record- cookies are good! All depends on whether or not you eat them all! :bigsmile:

WhataBroad

Beeps - sounds like you pretty much have the fundamentals of carb cycling Hope you are able to nip this cold, or whatever it is, in the bud.

Stoshew - carb cycling is another method used for fat loss while maintaining or building lean muscle mass. It allows for 1 or 2 high carb days a week, usually on heavy training days, to ensure restoration of the glycogen levels. It is really quite beneficial in getting those last few pounds off without the need for restricting calories any further. As I said, at my stage, I don't really know if there is a big benefit right now as I still have high body fat. I just know that it has allowed me to stick to a lower carb intake alot easier.

I have tried Zumba and thought it was a hoot! I can totally see why people love it.

I was able to get my full day in this morning so I had a great weight session, I get to increase the weight on a couple lifts so YAY!! and hill intervals too. I am going to chill after work today.

Have a great rest of the day!!

RM10003

Hi cool kids! Came back from Thanksgiving weekend away with the in-laws and went straight into a work dinner last night.... Now it's time to get my eating back under control. We just bought tickets for winter vacation and I've got to not hate myself in a bathing suit, at the very least!

Beeps2011

KellySue - I think I'm too used to cardio-step, and need those aural cues in order to make my feet work the right way....at zumba, it's way too much "monkey see/monkey do" and like it or not, my brain doesn't seem to clue in the way it could/should!

WhataBroad - what lifts did you increase your weights on??

RM10003 - sounds like Thanksgiving was nice....we are doing a mid-winter vacation, too and I'm going to be happy to slide into my bathing suit for the first time in what seems like EONS!

Stoshew71

Stoshew - carb cycling is another method used for fat loss while maintaining or building lean muscle mass. It allows for 1 or 2 high carb days a week, usually on heavy training days, to ensure restoration of the glycogen levels. It is really quite beneficial in getting those last few pounds off without the need for restricting calories any further. As I said, at my stage, I don't really know if there is a big benefit right now as I still have high body fat. I just know that it has allowed me to stick to a lower carb intake alot easier.

Thanks WhataBroad! I did do a little research and I kind of already do some of this, except I don't have high calorie days.

What I actually do is cut out most of my breads and pastas that I used to eat. I read this article on bodybuilding.com website that introduces this carb cycling thing. Seems like the higher carb days is two fold (mental reward and to replace glycogen (sp) that was lost on the low carb or no carb days). I am kinda highly motivated right now, so i don't need the reward days. getting closer to my goal is reward enough.

But the way the guy introduced it on bb.com was that he started this thing like years ago before anyone knew the science behind it. Like, I knew I had to drop calories to loose body fat and I already had a low fat diet, and I wasn't about to cut protein, so what is left? Carbs! That is how I arrived to where I am now. I still eat a bowl of Cheerios in the morning or a bowl of oatmeal. I will have a bannana with that. Lunch or mid day I will have an orange then later on an apple. Some days I will have no more than 200 g of sweet potato cause of the Vit A and potassium. Other vegatables offcourse. Other than that, not much in the carb department. I wanted to focus my calories on protein. I do run every morning (exept Sunday). I lift 4x a week at night (2x upper & 2x lowerbody/abs). I have not done a recent tape measure (which I need to do) so not sure how much body fat I have left.

on 10/28/2013 I had 31% BF. That was when i was 228.1 lbs. Now I am just under 214. I am also 6'2". So I will be soon getting to the point where maybe the lowered carbs will mean much more.

Anyway, thanks again all!

sdereski

Hi all,

Thank you for the carb cycling explanation. I basically know what it is, but never consiously put it into practice. I know runners often talk about carb loading, but to do that properly and effectively, you have to do low carb for weeks prior.

Beeps - they were all sorts of christmas cookies-and yes they were all good, but they were all BAD as well! They're gone now - done! No more
.
Back to clean eating today. I am following my reset diet again, starting today. I did well when I did it this past summer, so am going to try again, only I want to do it for a bit longer. They say 3 weeks makes a habit. WRONG! Maybe 3 months??

Had a late work meeting last night. Didn't get to the gym until 7, but I got my lifting in. :happy:

The plan is to run tonight - am keeping my fingers crossed that the storm / snow doesn't arrive until AFTER my run.

Was hoping to get a mid winter vacation in, however, the vacation is going to happen in January instead. Happy to get a hot getaway at all!
We are doing the Quebec Winter carnival this year. Am looking forward to it as I hear it is quite a lot of fun. I'm all set - got my Canada Goose down parka and my "Dubreuilville" boots! :laugh:

KellySue67

Happy Wednesday! Rest day for me which I think is good today. My shoulder has been sore for the past couple of days, so I may go easy on the arms/shoulders tomorrow as well. Just keeping my calories in check for today- or at least trying to.