40+Club-Making it Work

cardigirl

Texassippian just wanted to send you a hug. Losing pets is so hard. I lost my Sherman-dog 3 years ago and still miss her.

singfree

Hi All!

Just a quick check in...I'm still in CA having a great time. I'll try to post again soon, but right now I'm pretty busy with family get-togethers and touring. I'll be back home on Sunday night (late). Take care, friends!

StiringWendel

Good morning everybody!

Thanks for checking in singfree! Happy to hear you are having a good time in CA.

Nothing much new to report here. I consider today to be my first day in full maintenance mode with three meals, two snacks and a small treat (if I so choose)...all coming up to about 1650 calories. I'm looking forward to it. Of course, I get up this morning and discover I'd lost a pound :noway: (down to 106.7). I'm thinking that could be temporary, but if I lose anymore on this maintenance mode, I'll have to think about it again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the weight loss, but I'm really ready to figure out my maintenance routine!

Going to be doing an hour of cardio this morning (step aerobics). Yay!

Hope everybody has a good day!

TexasMom

Happy Thursaday Everyone!!!!

Singfree - So happy to hear from you. Glad you're having a great time.

Stiring - Congrats on maintenance mode. I know you'll find a balance soon that you'll feel comfortable with. I can't thank you enough for keeping us updated on your progress and experiences. It's going to help me tremendously when I get down there. Thank you!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Question - Can all of you that have a HRM give me some feedback on your experiences with the calorie count? My HRM seems to be quite a bit different from what MFP's calculator says for walking and biking. MFP is 40-80 calories less than the HRM. Seems odd.

I'm off to bike. I'm thinking 20 miles but we'll see what happens once I get out there. Not sure my bottom can take the seat that long since I'm just getting back into it. :laugh:

I hope everyone has a great day!!!
Many Blessings,
Nita

tron3002

Texasmom.... Your HRM is what is accurate for you. Working out and burning calories is different for each individual. As far as I understand it, it goes off of your height, weight, and fitness level. For example a 5'2 woman weighing 140 will burn more calories doing the same exercise than a 5'2 woman who only weighs 110. So unfair if you ask me.... But thats the way it was explained to me.

alf1163

Hello everyone!!! Everyone is doing so well! :drinker: :drinker:

Swiss, hope to hear from you soon!!

Where is Duffy?? Has anyone heard from her? I hope she is ok.

Stiring, you are doing awesome!! Regarding your breakfast question, are you looking for pre-workout snack/small meal or your "full" breakfast. I love oatmeal for breakfast, how about plain oatmeal cooked with 1/2 c skim milk and 1 T of natural peanut butter. That is a fabulous breakfast. If wanting something lighter a small banana and 1 T of PB. I love PB as well, there is nothing wrong with it, as long as it is natural, no problem. I cooked my oatmeal pretty fast, it cooks faster than a boiled egg. I buy the old fashioned oats.

Have a great day!! :flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

Thanks for the idea, alf! :flowerforyou: I'd never thought about putting the peanut butter in oatmeal. I might have to give that a try since I think oatmeal will have less sugar than the bread I'm eating (no HFCS...but still a pretty high sugar index) AND I would still get my peanut butter (organic, natural and unsalted, of course) fix. Thanks again!

I've been thinking about duffy too and hoping her recovery from her surgery is going well.

TexasMom, I just want to echo what tron has said about calorie burns. MFP is probably based on an average (much like exercise machines are based). From what I've seen in a number of places (though there is no indication of this here at MFP, but I'd be willing to bet MFP uses similar averages), the 'average' seems to be somebody in the 150-160 range. If you weigh less than that, you may burn less. If you weigh more, you may burn more. So if your HRM has your personal data recorded accurately (weight, age, etc), I suggest you go with what your HRM says. Hope you had fun on that bike ride!!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: stiring...Great news. I know I have probably said this before but you are so tiny. Stay with us. OK. We need your input.

:flowerforyou: alf, I have never tried peanut butter in my oatmeal. I know that peanut butter is good because of the protein. I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast all week.

:flowerforyou: tron, what you are saying is that if we have our HRM set for our own weight, age, etc. that it should be accurate? Does anyone here know how to do the settings for one?

Did you all notice that my ticker has moved?:happy:

mkwood10

Now I just need to work on what goes into those 1650 calories. I'm thinking I'm going to have to re-think my breakfast. I love peanut butter and jelly toast in the morning, and this is what I always have. But I'm finding I'm having a hard time sustaining my energy through my workouts anymore.

Does anybody have any suggestions for EASY breakfasts that are good for sustaining energy (I think I might need more protein and less sugar)? I know I'm not going to be cooking breakfast every morning, so I want something I can pop into the microwave, toaster or simply take out of the fridge and eat. I know....I'm so picky. :blushing: Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Texas,
Congrats on the weight goal - good for you!!!!
As far as breakfast, I leave the house by 7:00am for a 25 mile commute, so I usually have a cup of Weight Watchers fat-free yogurt with a serving of Special K Chocolately Delite cereal mixed in along with a glass of orange juice at 6:30am and I rarely get hungry before lunch at noon.

tron3002

:flowerforyou: tron, what you are saying is that if we have our HRM set for our own weight, age, etc. that it should be accurate? Does anyone here know how to do the settings for one?

Did you all notice that my ticker has moved?:happy:

My HRM is a reebok brand, so for mine it has a user profile you click onto and it asks for your age and weight. I dont know if all HRM's have that option but hopefully yours will.

And congrats on losing more weight!!!!!:happy: :drinker:

alf1163

Swiss, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

TexasMom, definitely go with your HRM as long as it has all your info correctly it will be the most accurate calorie burn. I have a Polar so I just go to settings on the watch and it walks me through it. I enter my age and weight. I cant remember what else it asks me.

I LOVE to put PB in my oatmeal. It is always good to pair up your carbs with lean protein and good fats. The oatmeal I get is the plain one and has no sugar at all and I don't add it. I don't buy the little packets of oatmeal. The PB adds the good fat actually and some protein. The rest of the protein comes from the nonfat milk I add to it. If you dont want the milk you can cook the oats with water and then add a scoop of whey protein and the PB. Delicious!!! Well, it is an acquired taste I guess but I just love it. I've gotten some people hooked on it after they tried it. I eat oatmeal most days of the week, not always with the PB. Sometimes I make it and add some frozen blueberries or strawberries and a scoop of protein powder. Have you mixed chocolate protein powder in it, I like it, it is a treat. Another "quick" breakfast I like is the scrambled egg whites or a whole egg (cooked) on a toasted double fiber english muffin and some part skim cheese or a babybel sliced and let it melt in between. Best b'fast sandwich ever and healthy!!!

Enough food talk...it is going to be long night for me. I am going to the airport to pick up my daughter, son in law and grandbaby at 11:30pm!!! :noway: And my daughter called from ATL and said the flight is delayed!! :grumble: That is ok, I just want them here safe!!! They are coming back from Puerto Rico. My son in law just returned from a 12mos tour in Iraq. :flowerforyou:

Swissmiss

Thanks alf...mine is also a Polar (F6). To be honest, I got it right after my first surgery. I was on pain medication when I set it up. . So, when I went to see if I had done it right, I couldn't. I went to the area where I could change my personal information and it wouldn't allow me to do it. I will have to sit down and really look at it. I don't have the time...I seem to be spend all my spare time on my computer.:laugh:

I have been finding that my oatmeal is dry and tasteless, so this morning I squeezed a little honey into it. No taste difference, so I won't be doing that again. I have been adding raisins to it. They sweeten it up very well.

Congrats on getting to see you daughter, son-in-law and grand baby. Have a great weekend.

mkwood10

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!! :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
Burned 460 calories last night - yeah!!!! Weight is plateaued at 129, but at least I'm getting some regular workouts in. It's hard to keep motivated now that the weather's nice - hubby isn't interested in walking after work, so if I don't make it to Curves I'm not getting any workout :frown: :ohwell:

Have a GREAT weekend!! :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

StiringWendel

Quick Friday morning check-in. I weighed 106.7 again this morning. My measurements have been pretty much the same for the past few weeks. I'm feeling good!

I'll be doing an hour of lower body strength training today, and, if the sun stays out, I'll probably enjoy a long walk later in the afternoon.

alf, enjoy time with your family. :drinker:

mkwood, thanks for the breakfast suggestion. :flowerforyou: I think I'll experiment around and see what works best now that I have some ideas. Great job on the workout yesterday!

I hope everybody has a good day!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: mkwood, I have the same problem about getting to the gym. It is so much easier if someone goes with me. My husband was going but then he injured his shoulder at work and has stopped.

:flowerforyou: stiring, have a great weekend.

I didn't make it back to work this morning. My doctor started my on a different medication yesterday and I had a reaction. First I got nauseous and then just about passed out trying to get to the bathroom. Everything went black. After that, I stayed very dizzy all night. I thought that maybe this was because I had given blood at noon. I took another pill this morning and am so dizzy that I am having trouble walking. I emailed the doctor and am waiting for a reply.

TexasMom

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Thanks for all the input about the HRM. My husband actually has a high dollar Garmin Trainer that he uses for his training and I used it last night to compare it to my "low dollar" HRM. Looks like mine is accurate but now I want to use his Garmin. :laugh: That thing has so many bells and whistles but what I really liked was the GPS tracking that tells me exactly how far I've walked/biked and at what speed I was going. Last night I was at 13.12 miles per hour. Pretty cool. Don't think I'll spend $300 for another one though. :noway: I'll just borrow his when he's not around. :bigsmile:

I didn't make the 20 miles yesterday. Even with padded bike shorts that seat can be tough on the bottom. :sad: I did make it 15.5 miles which felt good. I'm planning to bike 3 times a week which will get me used to it again pretty quick. I should be back to my 30 mile route by the end of June. God willing.

All the talk about breakfast and peanut butter is awesome. I never would have thought about PB in my oatmeal, I'll have to try that. I've been flipping between 3 breakfasts lately, a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, a breakfast taco (whole wheat tortilla, egg beaters, low fat cheese, salsa) and oatmeal w/cinnamon, pecans and raisins. I use the plain whole grain oats too Alf. Breakfast is soooooo good. :bigsmile:

I weighed myself this morning and couldn't believe my eyes. I was down another 1.8 pounds. Very exciting because now I've lost my first 30 pounds and I'm eating. Sooooo cool. I've really been working out hard this week and it paid off. WHOOOHOOO!! :drinker: :drinker: I know I've said it before but I can't say it enough. Thanks to all of you for all the support. You are all so amazing.

Blessings to all. Hope everyone has a great Friday!!!

Texssippian

Happy Friday everyone!
I am home after getting my mom from the airport. She flew in from Mississippi for the weekend to "practice" using a wheelchair at the airport. She loved it. So now she can work on making plans to go to Michigan to see her brother which will involve changing planes, which will not be intimidating with an escort and a wheelchair.
I have blown off work this week. Worked from home on Tuesday as we were dealing with our sweet Callie dog. My boss asked if I had gone to the Director's Council meeting yesterday. I said no, I left early and went shoe shopping and didn't she like my new turquoise shoes! Was only in for a couple of hours today. I am avoiding someone who is supposed to be doing work for the CEO but wants me to do the work and let her take the credit. I can remote in from home and usually put in 10 hour days at the office plus an hour commute each way., so a blow off every now and then is needed.
Texas mom: great job with the bike and weight! I think I have enough padding to be on a bike for a long time. Growing up we had a bicycle-built-for-two and I am thinking of getting one for my husband and I to use together.
Swiss Miss: I hope you are feeling better! Dizzy and blacking out are not good. Be sure to let your doc know that you gave blood yesterday.
Alf: Enjoy the family.
MKwood: I hope your hubby gets back into the gym with you. Mine is on board with going to the gym and doing the workouts the trainer gives us. He is not doing well with his eating. I have been tracking his calories on MFP but told him this morning he was on his own because he is not looking at the information, is not learning anything and is not changing his eating habits. I will let the trainer fuss at him if he does not step up to the plate... or record what is on his plate...
About breakfast: I have oatbran that I add to my oatmeal. I also will do plain nonfat yogurt with low fat oatmeal granola with dried fruit and nuts. I am trying to up my oat intake to lower my cholesterol. I have been plateaued for a couple of weeks but am down another half a pound this morning. Yea!

tron3002

Texssippian.... Its great that your mom is feeling more confident about traveling. Hate having that feeling where your confined and not able to enjoy what you'd like to.

Texasmom... You are doing awesome. You seem to be losing the weight really quickly.

Swissmiss... Be careful with the meds that your doctor gave you and no matter what listen to your own body. Both my brother and my aunt have serious medical issues, my brother has a rare blood disease and my aunt a lung issue, well both were doing really poorly on the meds their doctors gave them. In fact my aunt was told she didn't have much time left with us, and they both decided to take themselves off the meds. Now they are doing fine. They still have the issues but at least their not on meds that are actually making things worse. I am in no way saying to stop taking your meds, you do have to give them a shot on working the way they are supposed to. This has just been my experience.

mkwood.... I understand what your feeling. My husband doesn't work out wit me either. Well I should make a correction, he has taken me to Yosemite a couple of times and hiked with me so that does count. Just not on a regular basis. So if I work out I'm all on my own. Its so much easier when you have someone right there wanting to do it with you though.

I haven't weighed myself today. Worried to see the number because of it being TOM. I have decided to incorporate a version of the diet that I used earlier to lose the weight so hopefully I will see a jump in the scale next week. *crossing fingers* Its just that my vacation is coming so quickly and these last few pounds are coming off so slowly.

Swissmiss

My biggest issue with my new medication is that it is working for my problem.:sad: :laugh: I don't want to stop taking it. Life is so much more wonderful on it. But.....I am a mess. Dizzy all the time. I know that I can't go back to work on it but work would be so much easier with out my original problem.:blushing:

tron3002

Well I decided to weigh myself this morning and I lost 2 pounds!!!!! Just excited so I wanted to share.:happy:

StiringWendel

Congratulations, tron!!! :drinker:

And TexasMom, congratulations to you too on your weight loss this week! :drinker:

Swissmiss, please take care of yourself. :flowerforyou:

I just finished a quick workout and am sitting here eating a late lunch, comtemplating all the chores I still have to do this afternoon. Ugh! At least I got my workout in.

I hope everybody is having a good weekend. :flowerforyou:

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: tron, A big Congratulations!!! I love hearing that all of us are finding success.:happy:

Today my husband fixed us breakfast. Why can't he learn moderation???? Oh, well I can't complain. He loves to cook. He just doesn't understand that we can have great tasting food without going over-board.

My doctor has told me to take my medication before bed so that I will sleep through most of the dizziness. I am still somewhat dizzy during the day, so I am sure that this will interfere with my job. He also thinks that I should give the medication a few weeks to see if these reactions with pass.

Texssippian

Swissmiss:
Does your doctor take into account the weight you have lost in the dosing he is prescribing? You could ask your pharmacist. Take care of yourself!

We are having our neighbors over for lunch with my mother. Doing a salad bar and baked potato bar. Mostly healthy things...

alf1163

Hello!!! Congrats to all the losers!!!!!!!!!!! :drinker: :drinker: :laugh: You know what I mean!

I went out for a jog with my husband this morning. We did 6 miles. We walked the last 2. My husband had not done any exercise in weeks so he wanted to walk the last part of it. That was good!! The weather was not bad either.

And I am excited!! My husband agreed to let me help him out with his diet. I am going to be entering his food here and preparing some of his meals/snacks. He has been cutting back, eating less lately and has lost weight. I still thought that he was not eating enough so I offered my help and he agreed. :drinker: :drinker: I hope this lasts. He also said he will exercise at least 3 times a week. It is not his thing. He did it for 20 yrs so he would not lose his military career but did not continue after retiring. :grumble: :noway: But I am proud of him for wanting to change now. If any guys read this or any of you ladies have your significant others on the same boat, suggestions are appreciated. He is 47, 5'9" and 219lbs. His goal is 186lbs. His job is pretty sedentary. He wants to lose 2lbs a week or more (I talked to him about that). He has cut back red meat, sugar and alcohol. He needs to drink more water, I can help him with that.

Have a great Sunday!!!! :flowerforyou:

tron3002

Swiss... My brother says the same thing. Try the new meds for a couple of weeks because sometimes the side affects do go away. He's just more careful because some of the meds made him REALLY sick. They don't know a cure for his problem so they are experimenting on him. Some weird disease where his blood turns really thick, I dont fully understand it.

Alf... Glad to hear your husband is starting to take an active role when it comes to his health. I know it may seem like baby steps right now but at least its a step right.... My husband is becoming more aware but he still hasnt made any big steps when it comes to diet or exercise. Well, exercise I understand because he is one of those people that really dont have the time. He works 80+ hrs a week. But he can stop putting the candy bars in his mouth....

I tried phase 2 of the shred yesterday but I had such a bad migraine that I only did half of it. I'm gonna do it again today so I'll let you know how it went. Tomorrow we are going back to Yosemite and we are gonna hike from the valley floor up to Glacier Point. Its going to be another one of those killer hikes where my legs will probably be sore for a week.

tron3002

For some reason it posted twice so.......

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: tron, hope your migraine stops. I can't imagine doing anything with a headache.

:flowerforyou: alf, great news about your husband. Mine has been more active since I started losing weight. Just remember that men seem to be able to lose faster then women. So, he will probably do fine.

:flowerforyou: tex, I wish that I had lost enough weight for the meds to be too much.:laugh: I, however, doubt that. I tried to cut the pill in half but it is small and too hard. Good thing is that the nausea is helping to keep my appetite down. I actually got sick on it last night.

Today we went to the Strawberry Fest. I didn't eat anything and walked for about one mile. This was after I went to the gym and used the weights.

tron3002

Swiss... I dont do much but sleep when ever I have a migraine which sucks cuz they usually last at least 3 days. Its actually amazing how much one person can sleep when they have a headache.:laugh:

Well I did phase 2 of the shred today. I actually felt more ab muscles being used that in phase 1 which is AWESOME!!! That is the area I need the most work. Hopefully a bikini is around the corner.

annaliza

Good evening everyone!

Went to the drs this weekend to go over my lab results for my hypothyroidism. She said she needed to lower my dosage. At first I was excited because I thought my weightloss would go faster - you know my hormones will even out. She informed that I was wrong - that it was going to slow my weight loss. That sucked. I was pretty bummed but getting healthy is what's important, right?

I've been running a lot for exercise...and doing the wii active challege. Between those two, I don't have time for other exercises though I am interested in P90X after my 30 day wii challege. Ahhhh so many exercises to try....so little time :laugh:

Anyways, have a great night!!

singfree

Heeeeee's Baaaack!!!!!

Hi eveybody! Happy Monday to all! As I look at the MOUNTAIN of paperwork on my desk, I wonder why I go on vacation in the first place!! :grumble: I have nobody to cover for me while I'm away, so I have tons of work upon my return.

I got home at 1 am this morning and had to be at work at 7 am...needless to say, not much sleep...zzzz

Yesterday was a very long travel day from CA, with a layover in Atlanta. Got back to PHL at 11 pm and then a 95 mile drive home. I had a good time, but I need to get back in the saddle with my diet and exercise. Boy, I missed my bike!

I will try to catch up on previous posts when I get some time. Right now I need to attack the stack of paprwork on my desk!