40+Club-Making it Work

singfree

Happy Monday, everyone! It's been a busy weekend for me...no time to post or keep up with you guys. I had spring concerts with the Susquehanna Chorale on Fri/ Sat and my Church choir did a concert yesterday afternoon. Today our grandson (18 months) arrives for a few days as his parents are attending a wedding in the Dominican Republic.

Needless to say, my eating and exercising was kaput this weekend. Today I start with a clean slate. On another thread, a man in the know (Banks) advised me to up my cals since I am exercising an awful lot especially during the week. I will try this and no cheats of any kind. I'm having trouble maintaining muscle mass and shedding the few remaining lbs of fat. Banks thinks that I am restricting my caloric intake too much, thereby shutting down my metabolism. Yes, this makes sense...but it is still hard to eat a lot of calories.

I'm going to try this for 2 weeks, until we go to Calif. to visit my brother in law. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Swissmiss

sing...the man with the information is probably right. Your body may think it is starving. My body thinks it is:laugh: . Do you eat snacks? Doing this can up your metabolism. Just don't make them candy bars. Fresh fruit and veggies.

:flowerforyou: angele...are you eating snacks? (I seem to have a one track mind today). It may help to scatter your calories over three meals and two or three snacks. Your stomach will not be empty for long this way and this will cause your metabolism to go up. Also, be sure to drink lots of water.:drinker: :drinker:

singfree

Unfortunately up to now, I usually kept my cals pretty low. The big problem, I believe, was the empty cals of having red wine and pretzels in the evening. I am cutting this out in favor of something more nutritious. I do eat at mostly regular intervals, but I am burning off WAY more cals than I am eating, hence the probable metabolism slowdown. I am going to up my cals by a few hundred (clean eating) and see what happens.

StiringWendel

singfree, I saw that exchange with Banks, and I have to agree with him. I was surprised to hear you've been taking in only about 1500 calories given how much you burn off during your exercise. As you know, I've been taking in 1500, and I'm not burning nearly as much as you, and even I am aware of some effects on my musculature at this caloric intake. So, yeah, I think it is a good that you are going to up those calories a bit.

Had my most indulgent food weekend in quite some time this weekend, but I kept myself under control. We had the neighborhood over for dinner last night, and since it was a last minute thing, I didn't have time to research healthier options and just did the usual burgers and such. Since I cooked everything, I wanted to taste everything, but kept it to one taste for some of the unhealthier stuff (like this great mac and cheese recipe I have, and for the seven-layer dip). I even ate a cookie--but just one :blushing: . And boy did that taste good after four months of nothing but a rare taste of dark chocolate. And, of course, I had wine both nights this weekend. :drinker:

The end result....I lost two pounds over the weekend. :noway: Now I'm down to 107.7, which is actually a bit lower than I want to be, if for no other reason than I'm having to hold even my smallest jeans up with a belt right now. But I'm going to get back to cleaner eating this week, and get my calories up and over 1600 by the end of the week. I really don't want to get into an unhealthy eating habit again, which would kind of be easy to do right now since I'm trying to figure out maintenance mode still, so I'm going to keep my focus on what I had been planning all along, and take that mentality into our vacation next week. I hope.

Swissmiss, hope all goes well with your surgery. Please let us know how you are doing when you get a chance!

Welcome angele! I think you are doing great having lost 10 pounds in 2 months. That's quite an accomplishment! Losing weight is not easy, that's for sure. I know I get so tired of being hungry sometimes (this weekend not included!). Just make sure you are eating enough to sustain your energy, and make sure your calories are the best quality calories you can take in. And, finally, be proud of what you've managed to do so far! :flowerforyou:

singfree

Yeah, I've been a bit foolish by undereating. I KNOW BETTER, but sometimes I can't bring myself to eat all of the extra cals required to fuel my workouts. Sometimes I burn well over 1000 cals in exercise. I think the key here is more cals and clean cals!!

kelligirl

The weekend with my "in our forties" friend went well. Eating out posed no problem, so that was good! I've put off weighing in until TOM has left, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the scale has to say. I do know that the scale isn't really an accurate indicator of my progress, because for me, simply sticking to a lifestyle change is progress. It's great motivation / education to read everyone's posts.

tron3002

String... I am actually quite jealous of your weight loss:ohwell: Dont get me wrong, I am happy for you I just wish the scale would start moving in the downward scale for me as well. Maybe I'm just not as dedicated as you all are. I dunno, I try.

Sing... You do exercise A LOT!!! Its amazing how many calories you burn off. May I ask, how tall are you? I looked up the caloric intake my husband should be eating with out exercise and it was 2090. 1500 just seems rather low for someone as active as yourself.

tron3002

angele... 10 lbs in two months is darn good. Good job! :happy:

singfree

Tron, I'm almost 55 years old, 5'8", 152 lbs.

mkwood10

I added my starting weight so my ticker reflects what I have lost, and unfortunately what I gained back before finding this sight. But I measured myself today. I always measure around my waist where my belly button is, and even though the scale hasn't budged (which is discouraging) I did lose a 1/2 inch... That gets me excited to keep going. I know I should be proud of myself for the amount of weight I have lost already ( went from a 39 inch waist down to 34 1/2) but I want my belly gone so bad that all's I see is one huge gut and not the improvements. I really need to work on the mental part I guess.

Tron,
Congrats on going from 39" waist down to 34 1/2":happy: :happy: Thats a MAJOR accomplishment! Don't get discouraged about the belly........ I feel the same way:grumble: :grumble:
I've lost about half of what I gained when my hubby came home from Iraq last fall, but the belly just isn't going anywhere, especially above the belly button!! It's so frustrating - I never had a completely flat stomach after my daughters were born, but I was comfortable enough for a (modest) bikini. Last year I even had some muscle definition - I'll probably never see that again . Had to invest in a couple of tankinis for the lake - there's no way I'm displaying this flab for everyone at the lake :laugh: :laugh: Haven't had time to work out hardly at all since May 1st due to remodeling in the house, but have started using the AbLounger every night for 100 crunches. Its a start.........
Hang in there......... we'll get rid of it eventually or die trying LOL:laugh: :laugh:

eriny

hello
100 pushups
75 situps
25 situps w 10 lb ball
40 10lb dumbbell
40 100 curls
4 20 sec floor leg lifts 10 lb ball
4 sets of ten bench leglifts w 10lb ball floor to over head
12 dragon flags
40 110lb pulldowns

tron3002

mkwood... Thank you for the encouragement. I am just having a hard time losing the last 15 pounds that I get easily discouraged... So again, thank you...

Now as for my whining time.... Why do I make beef for dinner. I know my son and husband like it and sense my husband is rarely home I thought I'd make him something nice, but when i enter in my dinner and see how many calories I need to burn ff because of it.... Uggg!

singfree

Good morning all! Thanks to the many of you who offered advice about eating enough cals. Yesterday I started eating a bit more. I did not bike yesterday, so I did not burn those "big" calories. I just worked out at the gym and did a bit of extra weight training at home. Our grandson (18 months) arrived for a few days and my poor wife needed all the help that she could get chasing hime around the house.

Depending on if I bike or not, I will adjust my cals accordingly. I am also trying to keep my protein intake high (about 45%). This should help with fat loss. I am not a fan of low carb since I work out so hard. I am merely decreasing it slightly to around 40-42%. The fats that I eat are coming mostly from olive oil and almonds. I had some red wine last night, but no pretzels. I really think that the carbs from the pretzels is a big factor in not shedding those few remaining lbs of fat.

Tron, don't beat yourself up over "special" meals and events. Enjoy the evenings and savor those moments.

Mkwood, you and I are in the same boat with belly fat. That is why I am experimenting with upping my protein.

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: tron..When my family wants their beef (they love burgers) I will get a piece of fish out for me. And I just have to say that your picture looks terrific. If I looked like that I would have a pic of myself here instead of the one of my cat.

:flowerforyou: mkwood... I bought the Abs Diet book. It has me eating a lot more protein and drinking a lot of water. They believe that more protein is helpful for losing the belly fat. I am not sue if it is working (I have not been following it close enough), but I do feel better..health-wise. More energy. I am also drinking Crystal Light Metabolism. I know that it has caffeine and that is why I have a bit more energy but I love it.

:bigsmile: singfree..(I didn't give you a flower..just a big smile). Your weight with your height sounds good. You weigh about the same as I only I am three inches shorter.:grumble: I get so much helpful information from you. You really know your stuff when it comes to nutrition and exercising.

I was a bad girl last night. I hadn't eaten since the night before because of having surgery. I was so hungry and sent my husband to Mcdonalds for a cheeseburger and fries. I still stayed within my allowed calories but this certainly was not a good choice. It did taste good though.

singfree

Swiss, yes I'm pleased with the weight. My focus is to burn off a few lbs of fat while retaining muscle mass. My strength is excellent, but I don't want to lose muscle size because I have a fairly small frame. Being 5'8" I want a strong, but lean look. It is difficult to accomplish when you are close to reaching that goal! Thanks for the smiley face!

Swissmiss

You are welcome, sing. You do have the advantage of being a man. I know that you will get the muscle that you want.

StiringWendel

tron, I think you are doing great! I can't really explain why I've lost weight this time because I haven't lost it so easily in the past. But I guess this time I was willing to make cuts where I'd never made them before (like taking the cream out of my coffee as an example). I definitely don't think that my approach is for everybody because not only is it a very restrictive approach, but I have been incredibly fortunate over the past four months in having few interruptions/distractions in my quest to achieve a lower/healthier weight. Not everybody is blessed with that, and I don't think that can be over-stated enough. I happen to think it is wonderful what you are doing with your fitness as I think fitness, in the long run, is way more important than anything the scale will ever say.

Swissmiss, good to see you up and about! I'm glad you are enjoying the Abs Diet. Like I said before, my husband really enjoyed following that program when he was on it.

eriny, looks like you continue to push yourself in your workouts! Good for you.

I ate much better yesterday (back to normal!). I'm going to be doing about an hour of lower body strength training this morning, which I enjoy. My problem area is definitely my legs, so I need to keep pushing away in this area. I've made good improvements over the past few months, but I'm still not comfortable being seen in shorts or, worst yet, a swimsuit. I would love for that to change, especially living here in So. California now.

Swissmiss

stiring..have you found that being so strict can eventually put you in a rut? And then have to cheat a little to get the scales to move down? Actually, I am asking if you hit a plateau easily.

kelligirl

StiringWendel - hey...... Happy Birthday Week!! :drinker: We do birthday weeks..... my bf is cooking dinner each evening all week - and he's become quite conscientious about food choices I might add :happy: - and I've asked for a day (Saturday) to complete "projects" around the house. I my Birthday Week!!

I went ahead and weighed myself this morning, even though flo hasn't left yet - bags are still sitting by the door; I lost 2#. That's 4# since 4/26. I'm happy with that, especially considering that I've been exercising less than my minimum goal.

Life is Good!!! :flowerforyou:

Swissmiss

Congradulations kelligirl. Keep up the good work !!:flowerforyou:

TexasMom

Happy Tuesday Everyone - the weather has been awesome here the last few days so I've spent a lot time outside. :bigsmile:

Singfree - I'm happy to hear you're upping your calories. 1500 was definitely too low for the amount of workout you do. My husband is a pro-master inline skater and works out 4 days a week for about 2 hours each time, and does strenght training the other 2 days. He's 5'9' and weighs about 178. During his skate training he uses a pre-workout drink, rehydration drinks during the training and recovery drinks after the training. All those drinks total around 900 calories. I've learned a lot about the importance of feeding you muscles by watching him and the other pro skaters. And the right mix of carbs and proteins are essential for guys like you that workout a lot. Do you use supplements to feed your muscles? I know supplements are very important for any of us that train a lot. We just can't get all of the nutrition our bodies need from food without overeating and there are some really great products specifically for those of us that workout a lot.

Eriny - you're doing awesome!!! You are the example of what feeding your muscles is all about!!!!!

Kelligirl - HUGE CONGRATS on the 2 pounds and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You're doing great. Just think about the progress you'll make when you can excercise a bit more. Keep up the great job and the wonderful attitude. :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

I'm not able to workout as much right now, I some how injured my knee and akle doing the couch to 5k interval training. My husband thinks I tried running too soon considering how much I weigh right now and had only been back to excercising videos for 3 1/2 weeks. I'm giving the leg a couple days rest and then I'll go back to the bike until I've dropped a bit more and have my legs in better shape. Lucky me, I can at least work upper body so I don't feel like I'm doing nothing. I just love the energy working out gives me. :happy: :happy:


Blessings to All,
Nita

singfree

Thanks, Nita for your kind words! I was definitely not fueling my body as I should. I could probably lose fat at 2000+ per day. It's tough to program my brain that way, but I need to think of it as good, clean fuel for my body. Seriously, some days I burn well over 1000 cals between strength training and biking. The only thing I take as a supplement is a protein shake (whey protein/ skim milk/ fruit). Getting enough carbs is not my problem. I usually need to up my protein, otherwise I am at well over 50% carbs. The ratio I shoot for is 45 % protein 35% Carb 20% Fat (good fats from olive oil & almonds). These numbers vary daily, but it is what I strive for.

StiringWendel

Swissmiss, I didn't plateau at all losing the weight. I kept my intake steady at 1300 for the first 2 1/2 months (no cheats...meaning no wine, chocolate, junk food, higher calorie days, etc), and lost 21 pounds in that time. Then I upped my calories to 1500 for 4 weeks, and lost six pounds in those four weeks. During that time, I had chocolate twice and a piece of cake, all fitting into my calorie allowance. I didn't have any higher calorie days. Then I lowered my calories back to 1400 for two weeks and lost the final 4 pounds....with no cheats, chocolate, higher calorie days, etc.

The reason I upped my calories after the first 10 weeks was because I hit my initial goal and planned to stop, but then found I was losing on a very comfortable diet of 1500 calories and decided to see what could happen. I did want to be careful losing the last ten pounds, so I didn't go below my recommended maintenance allowance (which was about 1410) and took all of the weight off through exercise.

This worked for me, but I don't know that it would work for everybody. Somehow, my body really has responded well to the food I've been eating (I've been really trying to clean up my diet) and the workouts I've been doing (Cathe Friedrich's STS strength training series since mid-February with added cardio). I would actually have to credit the latter (the workouts) as being probably the primary reason why I have not plateaued at all. The series is called Shock Training System for a reason, and I think my body has absolutely loved the variety and the 'shock' effect of these workouts.

That's probably a longer answer than you were looking for!! :embarassed:

kelligirl, I don't have anything planned to enjoy my birthday until Friday when my husband and I head off on vacation. My 'birthday week' will start then and will extend into next week. I can't wait! I plan on taking my food for breakfast and lunch with me, but hope to be able to find some good restaurants for dinner when I can try something healthy but good. And on my birthday, I plan on going to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop in San Francisco to see what's on offer. I hope to contain myself to a couple of pieces of dark chocolate, but that's a 'hope' and not a guarantee! :bigsmile:

TexasMom, take care of your leg! I hope you get better soon.

Swissmiss

Nina..take care, go easy. You don't want to get back into it too soon and re-injure yourself.

Stiring..you are so lucky. I can't seem to get the scales to move very much. Most of my exercise is at work. Maybe that is my problem.

sing..I love the whey protein powder. I even stir it into my yogurt. I am presently out of it and am craving it.

Texssippian

Wow! People are doing awesome jobs! I am telling friends who are trying to lose weight about this site.

StiringWendell: What will power! You will do well in SF. Happy BD! Last time we were in SF, 5 of us ordered one chocolate sundae with 5 spoons at Ghirardelli. The 5 of us could not even make it half way through. My son will be moving to SF in the fall for graduate school. My husband and I are planning on going to "check" on him in October.

Nita: take care of your leg. If you have access to a pool with water aerobics, that is great for workouts with little or no weight bearing. Also, Pilates was developed to allow injured soldiers to exercise from their beds, so you might want to look at some Pilates.

SwissMiss: after being NPO before surgery and then being under anesthesia, McD's is not a bad option if that was what your body told you to do. It will not remember that it ate it after all it has been through!

Kelligirl: Happy Birthday!

We are going to Chicago this weekend with our kids and meeting my brother-in-law and his son and son's girlfriend. There are cousins in Chicago working and in school. They will scatter after the summer so this is a great time for all these kids in their 20's to see each other. We realized back in the fall during a horrible time of funerals that they had not seen each in at least 10 years. So this is a fun trip as the result of two funerals.
Texssippian

Swissmiss

Texas...Does this mean that I should go under anesthesia whenever I have a bad craving?:laugh: :laugh:
It is a shame that the only time families get together is for funerals. Our family is the same way. It is great that the cousins will be able to see each other under good conditions.

tron3002

Sing... Glad to hear you upped your calories, lets us all know how that goes for you. I cant believe how many calories you burn from bike riding. Are there a lot of hills where you live that you ride up?

Swiss.... I bet you look fantastic, you should put a photo up. If your anything like I am the brain hasn't caught up to the weight loss so when I look in the mirror all's I see is the double chin and the belly. :laugh:

String.... No cream in your coffee!!! Shoot I'd rather give up coffee altogether:laugh: I was on a very restrictive diet before finding this sight. I lost 30 pounds in a short time, got tired of the diet then decided to "take a break" from it. Gained 5 pounds back instantly but kept the rest off for a year. Gained back another 10 then found this sight.... My question is, are you making your way of eating your new lifestyle or are you planning on trying to incorporate some cream in your coffee eventually? Just curious...

String & Kelligirl... Have a fabulous birthday!!!!

Texssippian... Enjoy your vacation... Geesh it seems like everyone is going on vacation cant wait until its my turn:happy:

Texasmom... Take care of your leg. Hopefully it will only take a few days and you'll be up and running again. :flowerforyou:

As for me I bought myself a plug in chain saw today to thin out some of the smaller trees. I live in forest type setting so you have to for fire safety. I think I'm pretty much done with my yard work for the year... Last night I ran a 6.0 at a 4 incline for almost 3/4 of a mile. Not all at once, ran a lap power walked a lap. But that is the most I have ran so far. Then dummy me looked down at my arm and in doing so stepped on the stationary part of the tread ill and down I went...:laugh: :embarassed:
Thank goodness I only pulled a muscle in my left upper buttock region... Silly me, wont do that again

singfree

Well, I certainly ate enough cals yesterday! We had our monthly meeting where I work, and that means pizza as well. This stuff is like drugs, I just smell it and I am hooked. I ate a lot!!! The thing that bothers me most is the amount of sodium in it. I drink a lot of water during the day, but after the pizza, I easily drank a gallon of water ( and I don't remember any of it working its way thru) :noway:

At least I am surviving the no-pretzel rule. I had a handful of almonds with some red wine (and more water). One thing that I've resigned myself to during this get-in-shape phase: I need to live...I cannot or will not stop enjoying the occasional treat. Heck, life is way too short for that. I feel as though I work out a lot and eat a pretty clean diet (as we all do). So, I'm not going to sweat the little things!

Tron, we have some rolling hills and some short but very steep hills where I live in Eastern PA. It makes for a very interesting bike ride. I push myself to keep my heart rate up in the 150+ range during the ride. This gives me around 700+ cals per hour burned. I also get a few hundered during strength training 5 days per week. Only 11 days 'til California!

StiringWendel

tron, the mindset I have right now is that many of the changes I'm making in my diet (like removing the cream from my coffee) are permanent changes. When I initially lowered my calories to lose the weight, I lowered them while still keeping the core of my diet in place (in other words, I pretty much just eliminated things like sweets, alcohol, and dinners out).

But over the past four months, I've been reading about food. I used to drink my coffee with liquid non-dairy flavored creamer and a teaspoon of white sugar. But when I looked at the list of ingredients on the creamer, I realized that it just isn't good for me. And neither is processed added sugar. I won't do artificial sweeteners (my body HATES artificial sweeteners) so I decided to see if I could adapt to not having either cream or sugar. The sugar went first. And then the creamer went about a month later. And now I'm used to it so I see no reason to add either back into my diet now that I'm in maintenance.

I really never want to fight with my weight again, and I know that the only way I'm not going to is if I change my eating habits permanently. In changing how I see food and assessing it based on how healthy it is vs. simply how many calories are in it is really helping me make some permanent changes. I, quite honestly, don't want the creamer anymore because, while it tastes good, I really don't want to put that stuff into my body.

That doesn't mean I won't ever enjoy anything unhealthy again because I will (and have). But where I can make changes, I'm trying to make those changes and make them permanent. With the coffee, it took about three months to make the change (I went through stages) because I wanted to make sure I could live with what I was doing before moving on.

I didn't want a diet where, at the end, I just went back to my old eating habits because I knew I would put on the weight (since I have done that before). So I continue to craft a lifestyle that I can live with permanently that is a healthier option than the lifestyle I previously lived.

Take care of that pulled muscle!!

Off to do an hour of step aerobics today. Two days until vacation. Yay!!! :drinker:

eriny

morning
100 pushups
50 situps
40 110lb pulldowns
40 10 sec leglift w 12lb ball
2 90lb row machine
10 min stair climber res 10 -13
10 min ellip machine 10 - 15
40 10 lb curls
40 90 lb machine curls