40+Club-Making it Work

tron3002

Can someone tell me how to get my weight loss ticker posted when I post? I can usually figure out things like that but not this time... Thanks all!

First after you make you ticker copy the code then click onto My Home tab. Then right below that will be the Settings tab, click onto that. Once its loaded click onto Change Forum Signature. Paste the ticker code into your forum signature and save it. It will automatically post whenever you make a comment. )

Swissmiss

What is so neat about the ticker is that it will change automatically when you lose any weight.

Has anyone had trouble today with the exercise calories burned not working? I just added my exercise and went to my home page and it didn't change. I did it again, thinking that maybe I didn't add it, but I had.

tron3002

Texssippian... Wow!!! You definitely have a lot of stressful things happening don't you. I am so sorry to hear that. Hopefully that will be your fill of stress for the year. At least that kind of stress... Not fun...:frown:

Hoosier... Have a great time with all the wedding stuff. I know that its hard with your diet but heck, they only get married once right...

cardigirl... You are doing great!!! Keep up all the hard work. Heck, I think I need to look into a trainer. Someone to really kick my butt. :laugh:

annaliza

Texas, wow, I hope things go well with your brother in law....my thoughts and prayers are with him.

Swiss, I didnt have any problems with mine, but this is the first time that I've logged in today.

Hoosier, I think I would go nuts without my MFP!!!

Yesterday was my little girls 3 year old birthday party. She had a blast and was a very happy little girl. I did indulge in a piece of chocolate cake (mmnnn) but I still stayed within my calories.

Today is a different story, though. It's 10pm and I still have 929 calories to eat :noway: I guess I didn't realize how many calories an hour of weedeating burned, plus a 3 mile run. I chalk it up to poor management of my calorie intake. Oh well, I'll do better next time. I'm going to try to snack on some unsalted peanuts here in a little bit.

Hope everyone has a great evening!!!

singfree

Good Monday Morning!

I hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend!

Tex, my thoughts are with you...best wishes that eveything works out.

Annaliza, you are incredible! If there is Chocolate cake around, I'm going to eat it! I need to keep my home clear of such landmines.

I have a wedding to attend on Saturday. I know that I won't have the willpower to resist eating and drinking. Please give me a pep talk this week!!!

Alf, how was the Big Apple? I hope you and your sister had a wonderful time. I know the weather wasn't always great (we get the same weather a few hours before NYC). It's a vibrant city in any weather.

We hosted a birthday party for a friend of the family yesterday. I can never stop indulging myself when there is food and drink in the house. Starting today i am (again) starting to eat a strictly clean diet. I set another goal for 4 weeks from now. We are going to Virginia to visit friends, and I want to be in better shape by then. Therefore I am NOT having any wine or pretzels during the week. I am upping my protein, lowering my carbs and eating eonugh "good" cals. Boy, that sounds simple enough!! :laugh: Let's see if I have the willpower!

PS- I will really take a hard look at myself in 10 days...double-nickles day...the big 55!!

cardigirl

We'll give you encouragement, singfree! Just think how poorly you'd be feeling if you weren't even trying to be healthier! Just plan for the wedding, either do extra exercise to give yourself some more calories to eat, or allow yourself one treat and that way you won't feel deprived. You can do it!

And congrats on the upcoming birthday milestone! You look so much younger than that in your pictures!

singfree

Thanks, Cardigirl! I needed that boost! I really don't feel like a 55 year old...actually, I KNOW that I am in better shape than most guys half my age. I'm a Grandfather in name only!!!

annaliza

You go go go Singfree!!! And I agree with Cardigirl....I would have NEVER guessed that you are 55. I always plan for treats because I love them so much so I make sure I have the calories for it. Ive also had days there where I overindulged so much, I couldnt even begin to log it :blushing: (darn that chinese food!)

Yesterday I watched a video on youtube that I found facinating. Here's the link to it if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY9LLMTCjwg&feature=related

It really opened my eyes on crash diets. I couldn't imagine doing that to myself any more however I have been there before (going days with only eating 700 cals or so).

The weedeating yesterday did a lot for my arms. They are really, really sore today lol

Hope everyone has a great day!!

singfree

:blushing: :blushing: :blushing: It's very nice of all you lovely ladies to think that I don't look like an old geezer!!! It makes me want to work out and eat right all the more.

StiringWendel

singfree, I can only hope to have half as much energy and determination as you when I am 55. You really are an inspiration! That being said, I hope you plan on a little splurge for yourself on your birthday....be that splurge a glass of wine, a wonderful bike ride or simply spending some time with your wife and family. I just hope you do something special....because I think you deserve it. :flowerforyou:

Had a pretty busy weekend, but got my workouts in and ate relatively clean. I had a little too much wine last night, but it tasted so good I just couldn't help myself. :blushing: But I woke up with tons of energy this morning and ready to go for the week, so it obviously couldn't have been TOO much wine.

Texssippian, you have so much going on right now. Take care of yourself...please!

I don't know if anybody here is interested in books on the food industry or not. I've been reading/listening to quite a few of them this year, and it has really helped me make some different decisions about what I'm eating. Anyhow, I just finished listening to a wonderful audiobook by Barbara Kingsolver (she is one of my favorite novelists) called 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' which is a non-fiction account of how her family worked at eating only locally grown (and, in many cases, self-grown) food for a year. This isn't anything I aspire to do (at least not while I'm living in military housing....I don't think the Air Force would look kindly at my raising chickens!), but I loved how she mixed valuable information about what is going on in the food industry at large with her own personal stories, many of which included warm touches of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book, and it made me want to run out, buy my own bread machine (which I plan on doing in the near future....any recommendations?) and start making more of my own food. Anyhow, just thought I'd recommend it in case anybody is interested in learning more about the food industry but wants a more entertaining read (or listen, as was my case) than the standard non-fiction account.

I'll be doing an hour of chest/back strength training today. I'm starting my 4th week out of 8 for my last cycle of STS. I'm going to miss it when it is over having done it for nearly six months. But I have P90X to look forward to. And, of course, I'm toying with doing the yet unreleased 'Insanity' from Beachbody as well. I must be nuts to be considering it....but it looks fun. I'll wait to see what the reviews look like when it gets released before I make that call.

Hope everybody has a great day. :drinker:

singfree

Thanks, Stiring..we don't do anything lavish for birthdays. A nice restaurant and maybe a "nightcap" :blushing: See- I'm not too old for even "those" thoughts! I am really interested in the "Insanity" series from BB. It looks like its made for me.

duffyzmom

Happy Monday All! Glad to see that I'm not the only one that enjoys a little fun. After an all nighter for Relay for Life - I totally took it easy yesterday and ended with a big plate of pasta and a wonderful glass of Tempranilla. I think the goal for all of us is to not forgo all we love but work those splurges into a plan of general moderation.

Tex: Hoping all is well or at least improving.

Sing: Happy Early Birthday - :flowerforyou: - Just in case the last minute trip preparations keep me offline too much next week.

Texssippian

Let's see if I got my ticker to post.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I think my brother-in-law is getting out of the hospital today. The family has had lots of practice rallying around those who need help, so we will get through this too. The daughter and car with new tires are back in Austin and I have some very clean baseboards...

I like the eating locally idea. I forgot how great lemon balm is. We have lots of it in the backyard. I am thinking about cooking chicken breast with lemon balm tonight for dinner with steamed vegetables. I cooked squash and eggplant from the backyard on the George Forman grill on Saturday night. I marinated the veggies in some light italian dressing before cooking. They were very good.

Thanks again for all the support. I am down 15.5 pounds since joining MFP! Clothes are starting to hang on me and I can wear stuff I could not wear before. Yea!

Happy Monday everyone!

Texssippian

OK. Why is the ticker not showing? Guess I need real remedial help...

Texssippian

now it is showing...

cardigirl

Let's see if I got my ticker to post.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I think my brother-in-law is getting out of the hospital today. The family has had lots of practice rallying around those who need help, so we will get through this too. The daughter and car with new tires are back in Austin and I have some very clean baseboards...

I like the eating locally idea. I forgot how great lemon balm is. We have lots of it in the backyard. I am thinking about cooking chicken breast with lemon balm tonight for dinner with steamed vegetables. I cooked squash and eggplant from the backyard on the George Forman grill on Saturday night. I marinated the veggies in some light italian dressing before cooking. They were very good.

Thanks again for all the support. I am down 15.5 pounds since joining MFP! Clothes are starting to hang on me and I can wear stuff I could not wear before. Yea!

Happy Monday everyone!

Hooray!!!! That's awesome progress, congrats!

tron3002

Sing... I agree, you look terrific. Its amazing how in shape you are. I know I cant keep up with you that's for sure.... You'll probably be like Jack Lalane who is what 90ish now and still going strong...

Got to get the family off and head off for Yosemite. Hoping this time around this hike will be a tad bit easier, but I doubt it....

singfree

Thanks, Tron...have a great time at Yosemite!!

mkwood10

Tron, it's not just you....... the site just did the same thing to me, even after I signed out and signed back in. The tickers are showing now, so i guess it was just a hiccup in the coding??

Hoping to get in a good workout at Curves tonight - I know my resistance will be increased, as I had an AWESOME 477 calories burned in 30 minutes workout on Friday:blushing: :blushing: :bigsmile: Yeah for me - I IFINALLY FEEL GOOD AGAIN!!!!:laugh:

StiringWendel

Congratulations both Texssippian and mkwood on your incredible results!! :drinker: Everybody is doing so well.

tron, I'm anxious to hear about your trip to Yosemite. Please tell us what hike you did this time. I love hearing your adventures and since I hope to go back some day, I'm always up for some good ideas on how to spend a day in that beautiful place.

Okay, so I do believe I'm an idiot. Now that flies in the face of singfree's thread about the power of a positive attitude, so perhaps I should say I'm positively an idiot. Or maybe I'm a positive idiot. Either one works.

As you all are aware, I'm struggling with losing weight on my 'maintenance'. What I had been doing to calculate my maintenance calories was take my maintenance calories here at MFP and add my exercise calories per my HRM to that to determine my maintenance calories WITH exercise...and I estimated my maintenance calories at about 1700 a day. Well, silly me got to thinking over the weekend that it is possible that my HRM may not be calculating my calories exactly correctly. I have problems with it because I'm too small for the strap :blushing: so some days it doesn't read my heart rate at all.

So I've just spent my lunch hour searching the internet for sources that incorporate exercise into the daily activity (as opposed to how I perceive MFP to do it, which is calculate daily activities separate from exercise since it counts exercise calories seperately). I've just searched about 8 sites that take exercise into the activity equation as opposed to counting it separately....and they all say I need between 2000 and 2200 calories a day to maintain my weight. And that makes a whole lot of sense to me given the amount I've been losing on 'maintenance'.

For whatever reason, I feel like I've been given a green light to actually raise my calories without concern about gaining weight. Yay! Now I just need to figure out how to get 300-400 healthy calories into my diet. I don't think I'll have much of a problem. :bigsmile:

So hopefully there is a lesson in this somewhere for anybody else who may need it. I suppose that lesson would be 'don't be as obsessed as StiringWendel about your calories when you go to maintenance!' But, seriously, if anybody else is having problems coming up with a good maintenance plan (or does in the future), I suggest doing as much research as you can using various sources to come up with what works for your body. What I was doing wasn't working. Hopefully, in a few weeks when I hit that 2000-2200 range (I plan on increasing calories still by 100-150 a week to see how my body responds to each level), I'll be right where I need to be. Honestly, after five months of eating less than 1700 calories a day, I will probably feel like a glutton. But I aim to enjoy it too! :drinker:

alf1163

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I am still sooooooo tired. :yawn:

Ok, let me tell you. This trip to NYC started pretty roughly. Remember I told you there was bad weather? I get a call from AA that my flight had been cancelled the night before my flight. I called CS and they rebooked my flight earlier than the original flight. :noway: That did not make sense to me but I went with it. So I get to the airport and there was a super long line and a lady said that all the morning flights to Dallas had been cancelled due to bad weather. I could not believe what I was hearing!!! So I stayed in line for 3 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :noway: to rebook my flight. I heard everyone saying that they were rebooking for the next day and even Saturday!!! When I got to the counter, 3hrs later, the agent could not find anything for me. My coworker had been rebooked for the next day at noon so he was going to miss the first day of the convention. Then she asked me, "are you willing to drive to Houston? I can get you on a flight arriving in NJ at 10:39pm". She could also change my coworker to the same flight. I called my supervisor who approved the change and then called my coworker and asked him if he was willing to drive to Houston, of course he agreed!!! I left the airport and he picked me up at my house and off we went.

I called my sister who was on her way to the airport to catch her plane and told her what was going on. She said she was not feeling good about the whole thing and decided to cancel her flight. At that time she was not sure if I was going to make it and she did not have hotel reservations because she was staying with me in my hotel room paid for by my job. After I made my changes and was going to Houston she was still not sure I was going to make it so she went ahead with her plans to cancel her trip. So she did not go...

We got to Newark as scheduled and took a taxi to Downtown Manhattan. We got there after midnight. My room was beautiful and had the gorgeous view of the Hudson. I could also see some of the bldgs of the World Trade Ctr. The next day I went to the morning presentations but then my coworker and I decided to leave. He knows the city well because he spent the whole summer there last yr as an inter of Pres. Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. He was actually my tour guide. We walked and walked and walked and did I tell you we walked? OMG NYC is so exciting!!! I was born there but my parents moved to Puerto Rico when I was just one yr old. I tried to get tickets for West Side Story but it was sold out on Fri and Sat. I learned how to ride the Subway so the next day early morning I took off on my own to explore before I went to the afternoon presentations at the convention. Then after the convention ended I changed again and left once again on my own. I went to see Chicago The Musical, wonderful!!!!! I rode the Subway late at night and walked to the hotel by myself and I did not feel unsafe at all. There are cops everywere. And soooooooooooooo many people!!! :laugh:

On Sunday morning I also got up early and went out for one last adventure on my own. I walked soooo much. I love it!!!!!!!!!!! I took tons of pictures, of course I am not in them. :laugh: well only two out of over 100. Oh, I saw Meg Ryan walking with a guy in SoHo.

Sing, I did not have the Yuengling beer :grumble: I was like a little kid in an amusement park, I just wanted to see all the sights and not miss anything. So at times I was not eating every 3 hrs as I usually do and sometimes I did not make the best choices but I have no regrets. I had such a great time. For some reason God wanted me to be there on my own. I already told my sisters that we need to plan for an all girl trip to NYC. Oh, I took two trains to find the hospital where I was born and I found it, I was very nostalgic when I saw it. I called my parents from there and they were happy. I also went in St Pauls Church, it is right behind where the towers used to be. They have a lot of pictures and articles from 9/11. I left the church in tears. I took pics of ground zero. The new bldgs are just now starting to show, well the foundation.

So, that was an adventure!! Sorry this is soooo long...

I tried to read as many posts as possible. Everyone is doing so well. Glad to see everyone checking in. Stiring, great work researching, you will be just fine!! :drinker: Sing, you need to eat more, you can do it!! And no, you don't look your age!!!

I did cardio intervals from Chalean extreme today. I start the third phase tomorrow, the lean phase. I am eager to start.

Have a great evening!!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

singfree

Alf!!!!! I can't believe the hassles you had to encounter. I'm so sorry that the traveling part was bad, but happy you were able to see so many wonderful things. Newark is a much better airport than LGA. I fly out of EWR going to Germany. Did you arrive on Thursday night? Glad you're Home safe!

duffyzmom

:laugh: Stiring:laugh: Too Funny! Glad you have found a solution. You'll be surprised how easy it is to add 300 calories a day.

ALF: Glad to hear you had a great trip although sorry to hear your sister wasn't with you. I'm sure you two would have enjoyed the time together. Let me know how Lean is I'm still baby stepping it with the Burn Circuits but can really see the progress in my legs.

alf1163

Thanks!! I arrived on Thu at Newark but by the time we got to the hotel it was a little past midnight (Fri am). All the flights were perfect once we got on them. :laugh: It was just the ordeal of trying to rebook and of course driving to and from Houston back to San Antonio (at least 3hrs ea way). I was so looking forward spending time with my sister but God did not want it that way for some reason. I already told my sisters we have to plan a trip there together.

Duffy, I did lean circuit 1 this morning. Wow!!! My arms are still shaking!!. You are going to love it. But you are also going to love the push phase. I feel I got so strong during the push phase. And I have the feeling this lean phase is going to do wonders for my body!! :drinker:

Have a wonderful day!!! :flowerforyou:

mcelledge

Hi Texasmom and everyone,
Need some encouragement today. it is rainy and stormy as i look out my window at work. I am feeling the crunch - let me explain. Youngest child - son - just graduated from high school. Has major stuff to do to prepare to leave for college in the fall . But that isnt all - Oldest daughter is getting married at the end of July and we ahve STUFF to do. She is a nurse and works alot. MIddle child daughter is away at college this summer mostly working and dog sitting for boyfriend.
Okay so stress is mounting up and when i stress i eat i ant afford to gain back the 22 lbs i have lost since last year. actually i want to lose 5 more lbs. I go to curves as much as i can and i walked last ngiht for a short time. eating is the problem right now . and I sleep but it is not a restful sleep. Any one empathize? any words for me. ?

mkwood10

Hi Texasmom and everyone,
Need some encouragement today. it is rainy and stormy as i look out my window at work. I am feeling the crunch - let me explain. Youngest child - son - just graduated from high school. Has major stuff to do to prepare to leave for college in the fall . But that isnt all - Oldest daughter is getting married at the end of July and we ahve STUFF to do. She is a nurse and works alot. MIddle child daughter is away at college this summer mostly working and dog sitting for boyfriend.
Okay so stress is mounting up and when i stress i eat i ant afford to gain back the 22 lbs i have lost since last year. actually i want to lose 5 more lbs. I go to curves as much as i can and i walked last ngiht for a short time. eating is the problem right now . and I sleep but it is not a restful sleep. Any one empathize? any words for me. ?

Mcelledge,
Been there, done most of that (no weddings for our daughters yet but I know they're coming). I understand the stress completely; it's hard to cope with so many majorly important things at once, and a mom's instinct is always to make everything right for your kids, even if it adds more stress to your life! The 25th anniversary looming on the horizon doesn't help matters either; but just remember that is a milestone that the majority of people today never make it to! So........ you're a winner and survivor just for keeping a marriage going and raising a family for 25 years.... congratulations!!!

Keep going to Curves as much as you can..... I wouldn't survive without my workouts there!!:laugh: :laugh: Stock up on healthy snacks and get rid of the junk food in the house if you can. If your hubby complains, remind him that you're trying to be healthier, and it won't hurt HIM either!!:laugh: I also found out that Special K Chocolately Delite cereal satisfies my sweet tooth. It has chunks of dark chocolate in it, 120 calories and I think 4 grams of fiber in 3/4 cup, so that's what I keep around for a quick snack. Easy to grab a handful and then walk away from the kitchen. I also keep grape tomatoes in a colander by the sink and green grapes in the fridge; 2 more quick, easy and healthy snacks.

Have you seen the Curves members thread?? There's a bunch of us who post there...... nice to have somebody else understand exactly what you're doing for a workout.:happy:

Hang in there.......you can do it!!!!!

annaliza

Good morning everyone!!!!

Alf, welcome back! :drinker: Sounds like you had a good time inspite of the flight problems. I'm so glad to hear the joy in your writing.

SW, good for you!!! Good luck on your maint phase and that was smart of you - researching for yourself was a great idea!!

Mcelledge, I certianly can understand stress (and stress eating). Take some time to do some relaxation techniques before bed since you are not sleeping well - maybe some good deep breathing. Little or no sleep will exacerbate the stress. If you need to talk, we are hear to listen and help you....and keep exercising. That will help tremendously. Good luck to you! :flowerforyou:

This morning I weighed myself out of curiosity. I normally weigh myself wed morning but I couldn't wait since I haven't been eating that great lately. I've been keeping within my calorie allotment, but I've been eating unhealthy foods (taco bell, birthday cake, bbq last night). Well, I was up 2 lbs!!!!!! Oh I was so disappointed!!!!

But then I read one of Banks posts about high sodium foods and water retention....so maybe that was it? I know you have to eat an excess of 3500 cals per week to gain a pound (which I didn't do) so water retention seems logical.

My biggest worry is the change in my thyroid medicine (a decrease) that the dr. told me might slow my weightloss.

So, today I'm totally freaking out wondering how my actual weigh in is going to be tomorrow. I'm drinking lots of water today to help flush my system of salt (ohh, now I hate salt!!).

Anyways, hope everyone has a great day!

Texssippian

Mcelledge,
Hang in there! I agree with Mkwood: get rid of the junk in the house, if you can. Whether you can or not (I can't, hubby keeps buying bad stuff), stock up on good stuff for you. I have also stocked up at work and have fruit, string cheese and granola bars as well as skim milk and canned soups to eat at work. That has really helped.

Also, make yourself keep the food and exercise diary on MFP. Run the reports to look at your calorie intake and your exercise. Make time for yourself to exercise. It will really help with the stress. And, when you are stressed out, get moving then too. I got all my baseboards scrubbed the other night while waiting on the 20 year old daughter to get home after her car broke down in a thunderstorm with tornadoes and hail. Wow, it is so easy to tell someone else to do the right things...

Alf, glad you had a wonderful time in NYC. I hope you can get that time with your sister rescheduled.

My trainer last night commented on what good food choices I am making, much better than how she eats! My daughter's housemate is staying with us for a couple of days. She went to river aerobics with me last night and was amazed at how hard and fun it is. She is going back with tonight.

I will need to take my own advice on the stress relief. Our 24 year old son is moving back home this summer while doing on-line grad courses before moving out to San Francisco for "real" grad school in the fall.
Hope everyone has a great day!

singfree

Mcelledge, it sounds like my life! Even on vacation I have trouble sleeping more that 5-6 hours. This could account for some of my problem in losing the remaining lbs of fat. Stress (emothional) eating is a real problem that you must resist at all costs! Try to prepare some healthy snacks to keep in your fridge for those moments. Even before you reach that "I'll eat anything" point, have something good and filling. I like to have a protein shake (smoothie). It satisfies my sweet tooth and fills me up with good nutrition at the same time.

Believe me, it's a problem for all of us!

singfree

Do any of you eat nutrition bars..Clif bars, etc...??

I was watching Food Network the other day. Alton Brown (Good Eats) had some good recipes on how to make your own nutrition bars. I'm going to try them soon. They sound great!