40+Club-Making it Work

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  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,813 Member
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    Congratulations, alf!! :drinker: I hope you enjoy your time in NYC.

    duffy, I have a question for you (and maybe alf will find your answer helpful as well now that she's at her goal). You mentioned that you hit your goal. How is your maintenance going? How did you decide how much you should be eating? Are you tracking your calories still?

    Here's my issue. Since reaching my goal about a month ago, I've been slowly increasing my calories by 100 a week or so as recommended in quite a few articles and such I've read (I've heard to actually wait two weeks between increases, but I opted for a week). I have a HRM, and I have figured out how much I'm burning during my exercise. I have myself on maintenance calories here at MFP, and added those calories burned to my maintenance calories to come up with an idea of how many calories I should be eating a day. What I came up with, on average, was about 1700 calories (figuring a 300-350 calorie a day burn from exercise PLUS the 1360 maintenance calories).

    I've been at this calorie level for over a week now (and feel like I'm eating alot since I'm eating three meals and two snacks a day)....and I'm still losing weight (I've lost over a pound this this week so far!) I'm still within a safe weight zone for me, but I've only got about three pounds to go until I fall below that. And I really don't want to fall below that.

    But I also don't want to suddenly start eating another 500 calories a day to stop the weight loss either because I think I might reach for the wrong types of foods if I do that. :embarassed: Do you have any recommendations for finding the sweet spot of maintenance? I never thought this would be such a challenge.

    Any input from anybody is welcome!

    I'm going to be doing an hour leg workout today, plus some cardio intervals if I get a chance to later. Like I said, I'm feeling great and have tons of energy. Maybe the latter is why I continue to lose weight. :tongue: This is such a bizarre place for me to be because, trust me, I've never had problems gaining weight before. But, of course, I was eating a whole lot more carrot cake then. :laugh:

    Hope this finds everybody doing well. :flowerforyou:
  • singfree
    singfree Posts: 1,591 Member
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    Stiring, may I chime in (you just knew I would)!!

    You may be to the point that you will want to concentrate on your physique, rather than being purely a weight thing. Since you do cardio and strength training, why not concentrate on specific areas of your body that you might want improve (looks good to me :blushing: ). That's where I am now. I just want to tweak those last few lbs of fat...that's my source of frustration at the moment.

    Having said that, you might want to keep tracking your cals, carb, fat, protein intake to see how small changes in diet affect your body.

    Sorry...I'm rambling again......
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,813 Member
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    singfree, I totally welcome your input!! And thanks for the compliment!

    I totally agree about not focusing on the weight anymore, but I'm a tad concerned I'm still losing at this point which is why I'm focusing on the weight I suppose. I guess I'm just trying so hard (too hard maybe?) to not go back to old habits right now that perhaps I'm obsessing about what I'm eating a little TOO much instead of just....eating. But I know myself well enough to know that if I don't hold myself accountable, my one tablespoon of peanut butter with my apple in the afternoon will quickly turn into a little apple with my 8 tablespoons of peanut butter. And I wish I wasn't joking when I said that....but I'm not. :ohwell:

    But you are probably right that I should just step away from the scale, track my eating without obsessing, and work on my body. Trust me....I still have plenty of 'trouble zones'. :grumble:
  • singfree
    singfree Posts: 1,591 Member
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    Stiring, don't panic about this and try to stop the weight loss by eating a lot more. Sometimes this happens to me...all of a sudden the weight just falls off. It's hard to predict how your body will react, so the best advice I can offer is to make small changes to your diet, especially noting the ratios of carb/ protein/ fat you are eating. You may be able to control all of this by adjusting these ratios rather than strictly by total calories. It's amazing to me that even when we get our weight under control, we must work hard to maintain a steady weight!!
  • annaliza
    annaliza Posts: 809
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    What I came up with, on average, was about 1700 calories (figuring a 300-350 calorie a day burn from exercise PLUS the 1360 maintenance calories).

    SW, I'm no expert so please forgive me if I'm way off BUT

    Are you sure that's enough maintenance calories? I mean, almost everyone that I've read on maint calories usually has a lot more base calories than that (1360). You are losing weight...so to put it simply, you are burning more cals than you are putting in.

    Maybe I'm off...but just a thought....

    Hope eveyrone is doing well!!
  • Texssippian
    Texssippian Posts: 235
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    Hi all! Am back from River Aerobics at the waterpark. Tonight was ab night. It is amazing the ab workout you can do while floating down the lazy river and the really hard things you can do trying to hold onto the side. The current makes you really work your core! Luckily, there is no river on Wednesday nights. (that is rental night). It was storming last night and this morning in the DFW area. Lots of not-so-lazy rivers all around.

    I had the wipers on the fastest speed this morning and could not hear the radio the rain was so hard. The hubby was sound asleep in the passenger seat! He is posting his food himself on MFP.

    Stiring: I am glad that you are concerned about getting the right mix of calories, carbs. proteins, fats. I am pulling for you.

    Annaliza: I hope you have had better work days since Tuesday.

    Sorry I keep talking about the river aerobics, but it is so much fun! I live in a great place with a city owned water park and a natatorium jointly owned by the city and the school district. Great water aerobic opportunities. Non-swimmers can do water aerobics, even deep water! Check it out! Texssippian
  • singfree
    singfree Posts: 1,591 Member
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    Happy Friday!!!!

    Today is reporting day...lest we forget!

    This week was "get back to work" week for me after vacation. I've been eating fairly well, but not as well I would like. My weight seems to be about the same...I haven't weighed myself in weeks. Exercise-wise I've been doing well. Since Monday I biked about 60 miles for cardio and strength trained every day for at least 45 mins. All in all not a bad week.

    Tex, the water aerobics sounds like a blast!

    Annaliza, my thoughts are with you...hopefully things at work are calming down for you.

    Have a GRRRRREAT weekend! :drinker:
  • duffyzmom
    duffyzmom Posts: 644 Member
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    Happy Friday!!!!! It is the start of our summer break and what a beautiful cool Michigan morning to start the summer right.

    Stiring: My guess would be that your base metabolic rate has been increased due to your increase in lean muscle. The lower your body fat the more calories you burn naturally. I honestly think that is why I was able to take the month off post surgery and really didn't gain weight despite the lack of calories burned through exercise. My calorie intake is right around what you described. I aim for 1600-2000 calories per day. The higher range would be my longer run days. Yes, I am still keeping track of my calories but mainly to keep myself accountable for what I am consuming. I really am not obsessing over the scale and am using the mirror and clothes more for my guide. You may need to keep adding calories until you find the right number for you. My other suggestion is have you had your thyroid checked lately. Most people have an underactive thyroid issue but I actually did have a friend whose issue was an overactive thryroid. She dropped below 100 lbs without even trying.

    I've had a good week minus the beer and pizza yesterday - Although the pizza was homemade whole grain low fat cheese. But let's face it the end of the school year is something you really should celebrate:wink: Exercise wise I'm feeling much better. I did my longest run post surgery yesterday and really am feeling no ill effects.
  • cardigirl
    cardigirl Posts: 492 Member
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    Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a great Friday and big weekends to look forward to! I'm going to the movies with friends this weekend and out to dinner afterwards, so hopefully I'll keep my food choices on the good side more so than on the "bad" side. :wink:

    Schedule at work has been changing because of staff changes...so my exercise schedule this week has been poor. :sad: Still had two great sessions with the trainer, but only one good cardio session. Looks like I'll be going to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday to try and get the exercise in.

    Question for anyone/everyone...how many rest days do you allow yourselves? I've been reading a little on the subject, and was trying to get to the gym 4 days a week plus the 2 days with my trainer, and it's been working out to more like 3 days a week plus the training sessions. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough, and then others I fear I may be overtraining. :embarassed:

    Weight is doing well. I'm down another half pound this week, and though the scale is fluctuating, it's fluctuating downward, if that makes sense.

    Texassipian, I really wish I could do the River Aerobics with you, that sounds like so much fun!

    Have a great weekend all!!!
  • kelligirl
    kelligirl Posts: 210
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    Good morning Everyone! 'Haven't posted in maybe two weeks.

    Still no change in the scale, :noway: but I'm still eating as good as ever - always very clean and balanced, and I refuse to get bummed. My clothes are fitting much better and some are getting downright baggy. My bf called me 'baggypants' the other day, and he's right - I have to quit wearing that pair of jeans!:wink:

    I started a 6 week low-impact Boot Camp this week. Class meets Tuesday and Thursday at 5:45 a.m. and we have full use of the gym and all the classes offered, as well as the one at the pool on Sat. at 8 a.m. I'm really looking forward to that. I did circuit training this morning on my own - started at 5:30 and managed to work out for about 45 minutes, before I went home, showered and got to work before 7:00 a.m. I told my employer that I'd be in at 7:30 on the days I have boot camp. I'm still employed!! :bigsmile: We have a food plan to follow (clean eating) but they have certain things they put together for meals and snacks, and as far as I'm concerned, it simply isn't enough! I'm going to do as they suggest and choose a Breakfast, Lunch, Snack & Dinner and log them all just to see what it comes out to.... I can't imagine that it's even 1200 calories, but they do warn not to eat less than that.

    I had to deal with my "We're in our Forties" friend again this morning. :frown: I do appreciate her support that I'd look good no matter what size I was, but she just drives me crazy. This morning, a simple 'thank you' was all she got. I know she loves me and thinks I'm about the best thing since sliced bread, but goodness gracious - open your eyes (and your heart) and support my effort to be healthy!!! Sorry - I had to rant.

    I hopeeveryone has a happy, healthy weekend! GO WINGS!! :happy:
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,813 Member
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    Morning everybody!

    Thanks again for your input yesterday, singfree. You really got me thinking.....in a good way.

    duffy, you might be right about my metabolic rate. I've been kind of thinking along the same lines the past couple of weeks. If I keep increasing my calories and still keep losing weight, I'll see a doctor. But after singfree's input yesterday, I got to thinking about the changes I've made in my eating habits over the past couple of weeks that might be having a positive effect on weight loss. And that's when I remembered that it has only been in the past couple of weeks that I've eliminated pretty much all processed foods. I worked on this so gradually that it wasn't until I sat down and actually thought about what I was eating as a whole compared to what I used to eat that I saw this. This cleaner eating, combined with the fact that I'm eating more regularly (about every three hours) as opposed to just eating three meals a day (as I was before two weeks ago), has probably inspired the weight loss.

    annaliza, thanks for your question. When I first saw the numbers, I thought they were wrong too! So I've searched all over the internet to see if MFP is just crazy....and it isn't. I've seen my maintenance calories (without exercise) suggested as low 1250, but only as high as about 1475. MFP falls right in between, so, for simplicity's sake, I go with MFP. Even if I change my lifestyle to 'active' (which I can't even pretend to think it is when I subtract my exercise.....like I've said before, without my exercise, most houseplants lead a more active life than me :tongue: ), my maintenance calories without working out are only about 1570. The other day on the Cathe Friedrich site, somebody posted a very different way of calculating daily caloric requirements (including exercise), and it put my calories needed at 1860, so I think that's what I'm going to aim for over the next couple of weeks and see how that goes.

    cardigirl, right now I'm only giving myself one rest day a week, but that's because I'm doing this six month STS program. Before that, I worked out five days a week, and my body liked that as well. If you are working out 4-6 days a week (including your training sessions, of course) for a reasonable amount of time (45-60 minutes), I would say that's a healthy amount of exercise--not too much, not too little. If your sessions are longer, you may need more rest. If you are lifting weights hard, you may need more rest. Alot of people our age, from what I've read, really need more recovery time from strength training than they once did. So my advice to you is to listen to your body. If you are tired all the time, if your legs feel like you are walking through mud all the time, if you have insomnia, if you have a high resting heart rate, if you can't get your heart rate up working out, if you are fighting constant colds, if your are increasingly irritable, then you might be overtraining. So look for those symptoms (and there are others), and listen to what your body is telling you. Even if you don't see those specific symptoms but you notice a decreased ability to complete your workouts because of fatigue, listen to that body of yours and pull back a little. And congrats on the weight loss!!

    kelligirl, congratulations on the change in body shape! I love bootcamp-style workouts, so hopefully you are enjoying that.

    I weighed 104.5 this morning, meaning I lost over two pounds this week. I'm going to up my calories to 1800 over the weekend, and then to 1900 by the end of next week and see how that goes. And I'm going to try to stop weighing myself every day! I think my next step is to get my body fat measured (the idea scares me because I carry alot of body fat, even at this weight), and then tinker with my diet a little bit more and see if I can't take off more fat and actually add some more muscle (even if that means gaining a little weight back). I'm thinking of starting a round of P90X in September, and that might be a good time to see if I can actually put on some muscle bulk. I know it is hard for women, but I might just give it a try out of curiosity's sake. :wink:

    Thanks again all for your wonderful advice and support. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. :flowerforyou: I hope everybody has a great weekend.
  • singfree
    singfree Posts: 1,591 Member
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    Stiring, P90X might be just the ticket for you. At that point I know you will need more cals. If you don't eat enough, you will not see a whole lot of improvement size-wise in your muscles. Since I don't eat enough cals, I have trouble building muscle, even though my strength is better than ever.

    BTW- if I may ask..how tall are you? 104 lbs is pretty light (we should all be that lucky) !! Also, you are making a good decision on getting your body fat measured. It will tell you a lot.
  • StiringWendel
    StiringWendel Posts: 3,813 Member
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    singfree, I'm 5'2" and small-boned, so I'm still within a healthy weight limit for me (per BMI and various charts). I was at this weight until I was about 27 and moved to Europe (I loved me some European chocolate....a little too much I think :blushing: ). Right now, I'm thin but not skinny....if you know what I mean....because there is quite a difference between the two (in my opinion, of course).

    Thanks for the recommendation on P90X. One of the reasons I'm going to wait until September to start is to see what happens when I stop doing the STS program. One of the things I've heard from other STS users is they too lost weight somewhat easily doing this third mesocycle (the one I'm doing now, which is all about strength). So I'm going to try to get my calories up while still doing it, but know that I may need to readjust them (downward perhaps) once I stop the program. But if I can find what a good maintenance calorie level is for me doing this program (I've got five more weeks to figure it out!!) that will help me decide where to be at when I start P90X (since it is similar in structure to STS), and then if I want to try to increase the calories from there to actually build some muscle. That's my hope at least right now!
  • tron3002
    tron3002 Posts: 440 Member
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    Happy Friday Everyone.... No change in my weight this week.

    I dug out all of my cook books last night, quite a few were "lighter" cooking type books which were great, and I found one that was quite good. It had 2 weeks worth of a diet plan, 1400 calories total. Eating all three meals, 2 snacks, and dessert. Not to mention 99% of it looked quite tasty too. I am excited to give some of them a try.

    We were planning on going back to Yosemite this monday but one of my husbands jobs didn't cooperate and didn't give him the same days off as the other. The manager is a young jerk and likes to do that on purpose (long story but true). So needless to say he is having to work 7 days this week.:grumble:
  • duffyzmom
    duffyzmom Posts: 644 Member
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    Good morning Everyone! 'Haven't posted in maybe two weeks.

    I had to deal with my "We're in our Forties" friend again this morning. :frown: I do appreciate her support that I'd look good no matter what size I was, but she just drives me crazy. This morning, a simple 'thank you' was all she got. I know she loves me and thinks I'm about the best thing since sliced bread, but goodness gracious - open your eyes (and your heart) and support my effort to be healthy!!! Sorry - I had to rant.

    I hopeeveryone has a happy, healthy weekend! GO WINGS!! :happy:

    Feel free to rant here anytime. Some friends just don't do suppportive like we'd hope. She also may be feeling a little bad about her own "unhealthy" choices and this is a way to justify them in her mind.

    I will 2nd your GO WINGS!!:drinker: :drinker:
  • annaliza
    annaliza Posts: 809
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    Good afternoon everyone!

    Oh, I did so bad today. Usually I'm really good about eating clean but today I had to go on a business trip with my boss and of course he wanted to eat at taco bell (he treated). Well...I was so hungry and this trip was a last minute thing, so I ended up eating a taco salad. 800 calories! (and that's based on eating only 3/4 of it) so...now I'm going to have to work it off and go for a good run when I get off of work tonight (not that I mind...I love running).

    SW, I'm so glad you have a plan in mind with your diet plan. I hope 1800 cals works well for you. Lol, I *hope* that I can have higher maintenence calores too...I'm currently at 1400 base calories which seems to be working well for me (I was down 1.5 lbs this week).

    Tron, that sucks. Maybe next time. I feel sorry for your poor husband. I NEED my days off!

    Cardigirl, I workout 6 days a week and force myself to rest one day (I long to exercise on my day off, isn't that weird?).

    Kelligirl, I'm so glad for you on your class...and it's great to have a boss who can except you being in a half an hour later than usually. Good for you!!!

    Singfree, thanks so much for your kind words. Things have been a lot better for the rest of the week except that I have more and more work piled up :smile: Lol, I don't think I'll ever win against the war on paperwork!

    Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
  • tron3002
    tron3002 Posts: 440 Member
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    annaliza... I'm not recommending taco bell but at least they have the lower fat menu that you can select from. One of their steak tacos is 160 calories which isn't that bad for a treat once in a while....

    I haven't worked out hardly at all this wee. Been busy weed eating, spraying the house for both bugs and weeds, and running my forever list of errands. I need to get a better handle on things for next week.

    Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend:smile:
  • cardigirl
    cardigirl Posts: 492 Member
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    Thanks for replying to my question, Stiring and annaliza. I'm thinking I'll still try for 6 days a week and then not feel too bad if I only fit in 5 days. :wink: And annaliza, when I miss a day, I hate it too. I feel like I should work out all the time!

    I did ask the trainer today as well, because when I work out with him, I do not do any other workout on those days (believe me, I'm wicked exhausted after those sessions) and that takes 2 days out of the week for longer cardio sessions. And he said that 6 days was okay, unless I started noticing that I wasn't recovering well. He works out 6 times a week himself, so he said he couldn't really tell me not to, but to just listen to my body. (He's in his 20s so I imagine he recovers more easily.)

    So, I have two half-hour training sessions (and they are cardio workouts as well as muscle building) and then on my other days I do 12-13 minutes on the stair climber and 33-32 minutes on the AMT machine for a 45 minute total of cardio, and then do some arms work on the Smith machine (pushups and rows) or on the assisted pull-ups and dips machine (whatever the heck that thing is called). These exercises I like very much because me arms are starting to look good!:blushing:

    Then I do core exercises (crunches, leg lifts, bicycles, lower back extensions, etc.).

    I'm thinking that's enough right now. :laugh:
  • Hoosiermomma
    Hoosiermomma Posts: 877 Member
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    I am celebrating A GAIN today. I have my own operating computer again for the first time in 1 1/2 weeks! Never did I think I would be so attatched! I think I might have GAINED myself :grumble: in the meantime. It's hard staying on track without this MFP connection!

    Today was our oldest bride-to-be 's wedding shower at our home. Lots of cooking and socializing. A little hard to track the intake. But ever so fun! Can we just weigh the plate of Appetizer's and figure not to gain more than half of it!? :huh: :huh:

    Speaking of Taco Bell, I like eating the Chicken buritto Bol at Chipotle without the rice. Quite a few calories but lots of fiber and protein. Am I fooling myself?

    Alf... enjoy NY! I would like to explore that city myself someday. I love Chicago but haven't spent a lot of time in any other BIG cities. (I do not like LA) Probably not fair since most of it has been observed from the overcrowded highways!

    Swiss... I so hope you adjust to the meds. Keep up the good attitude!

    Stiring... I love hearing about your maintenance plans, I am looking forward to my own Guess I better get back on track for that!

    Tron you are doing soooo well just keep doing what is right and you will see results one way or another! Remember where you started and enjoy your sucess. (I am talking to myself here:happy: )

    Everyone enjoy the rest of the weekend I am truly ready for my day of REST!
  • Texssippian
    Texssippian Posts: 235
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    Hoosier: Enjoy the wedding prep! Not ready for that one yet.

    How many calories in worrying?? 20 year old college daughter was driving home from Austin Friday night with her housemate coming a little later. South of Fort Worth, her car broke down at 8:30 at night with terrible thunderstorms with tornadoes and hail on the way. After lots of phone calls to AAA, pacing, sweeping the entire downstairs and scrubbing the baseboards, they got in at 1:00 am with the tow truck not far behind. The tread had separated from the tire on the front. Thank God it did not blow!
    We were able to get the front end aligned and new tires yesterday so she is good to go and left just a little while ago for Austin. She left with lemon balm, mint, oregano, rosemary, basil, italian parsley, dill, squash and tomatoes from the backyard.

    Also on Friday, my little sister's husband was admitted to ICU on a vent after she came home from work and found him unresponsive in the bed. Looks like he accidentally took too many sleeping pills. They were able to extubate and get him out of ICU within 24 hours. He has some chronic health problems that they are still treating but at least he is in a regular hospital room.

    The house mate is staying with us for a couple of days while attending a course in Dallas on teaching gifted children. She is going to come to river aerobics with me tomorrow night. She is very excited.

    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!

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