WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2012

JipsyJudy

JB and Barb, cheers to you both for eating slim today! We had our family Easter get-together with the kids and granddaughter yesterday - a brunch for grown ups and an Easter egg hunt for the little ones. I had the vegetable fritata with NO fries. Today Chris and I took the poodles to a dog friendly outdoor cafe for lunch. I had a corned beef sandwich with a side salad, took the bread off the sandwich, and ate the innards on top of my salad. It was delicious!

Happy Easter/Passover/Spring Sunday to all!

barbiecat

BUT, lovely ladies, would appreciate your help.

It will be my turn to bring/say a short Devotion at beginning of Tuesday's Council meeting. I've never done this, nor prayed an original prayer in public. Any suggestions?

:flowerforyou: If the prayer doesn't have to be original, how about the prayer of St. Francis. While it is religious in origin, it is a favorite of several 12 Step programs and has some of the most spiritual principles known to mankind.

:bigsmile: This is supposed to be my rest day between weight training workouts and Isagenix cleanse day when I consume few calories but the dogs love their two hour morning walk and then a friend called and wanted to walk with me. We walked around my neighborhood and looked at the houses that are for sale----many of them are vacant so we were able to look in the windows and walk all around including into the back yards. She is thinking of buying a house here so there was some purpose in all our looking......we were out for two hours so my step counter says over 21,000 steps.

:flowerforyou: it's a beautiful day but windy and temps in the 50's so I can't get too excited about working in the yard----maybe tomorrow.:laugh:


:flowerforyou: Judy, what fun to be at a dog friendly cafe.

:flowerforyou: TeTeAngel, it takes a lot of practice to pay more attention to the people than to the food at holiday events.

:flowerforyou: Barb, hugs to you and Pepper and Mai Li

:flowerforyou: I think it's time for me to take my book and lie down with the pets and read for awhile :bigsmile:

exermom

Did 1 hr of Wii hula hoop today. Tomorrow I'm planning on doing some yoga and then the extremepump class. After class I'm going to stop at one food store, they have ham on sale for 99 cents/pound. They also have asparagus on sale for $1.59/lb. Going to see if I can get a low sodium ham and if not, I'll go to another store to see if they have it.

Cathy - about finding "treasures" when you're packing, one thing I find really hard is I find something and then think "oh, I can probably use that xxxxx". Like I found this small vacuum cleaner that we'd had. Now it hadn't been used in at least 4 years. But my thought was "oh, I can probably use that on the steps, it's light and just the right size for the steps." But the reality is that I probably won't, I'll probably wind up using the large vacuum on the steps and then continue to use it downstairs. But I had to feel that way.

JipsyJudy - I didn't know that about the eggs! Interesting...... We're in NC. Every Lent I see a lot of crosses with the purple sash around it. Now I'm going to look to see if it's at a Baptist church or Lutheran.

arctiknitter - welcome! Sounds like you're going to be very busy. So sorry for your son's gf. How is he taking it? Pretty hard, is my guess.

Sherry - thanks for the recipe for the oatmeal. I wonder if you need to use the greek yogurt, chia seeds, and honey. I like mine with just applesauce, but the cinnamon would be a good addition. I think I'll try it. Thanks again.

Barb - I sure can keep those chickpeas in the refrig. Thanks for the suggestion. I like having things already portioned out so I can just "grab and munch"

Here's hoping everyone has a great evening.

Michele
who can't believe Lent is over already!

scompton54

Need ideas:

I have this pattern for a bunny cake which I'm thinking of making for next weekend. When the kids were little, I always used to make cakes and cut them out into shapes and decorate them.

Anyway, I have this pattern for a "bunny" cake. Only most bunny cakes tell you to tint coconut and use that for the bunny's fur. Jesica is SEVERLY allergic to coconut, even if it's in the air she has a reaction.

A few years ago I made a cake in the shape of a basket. The directions said to use green colored coconut for the "grass" in the basket. What I did was take green jello, run a fork thru it, and then used that as the "grass" Can anyone think of something that I can use in place of the coconut. I'm just afraid that if I only use icing, that it'll be too "flat", not have enough dimensioin.

I guess if worse comes to worse, that's what I can do.

But if someone has another suggestion, I'd be ever so grateful.

Michele

push icing through a ricer or sieve over the area you want to cover. Experiment first till you get the right consistency

brunsda

Have had lots going on last week. Posted my food/exercise diary but did not have time to read the posts here. Hope everyone had a very Happy Easter. Will try to check in tomorrow.

Dawn

beth40n2

Happ Easter! I hope everyone had a great day with family. I know that I ate way too much, tomorrow will be back on the diet again. Good thing we burn calories for all the time I spent cooking and cleaning the kitchen after all my family left.

weaklink109

I am back again.

I am up late tonight due to trying to ignore the fact that I should NOT drink caffeine in the morning if I expect to sleep that night.

In a moment of lunacy, I decided to go on a hike this morning with a local group of people who meetup and do things with their dogs. It sounded like a great idea, a hike on a day when it was going to be about 65, mostly sunny and no chance of rain, but it was on a trail I am not familiar with, and with all the rain we have had here, I figured it could be a muddy undertaking. Mai Li would have pooped out after about 3/4 mile on any trail, so I already knew she wasn't going. As I thought about Pepper, I could just see a dirty little doggy, in desperate need of a bath, which I would not have time to give him until late evening, after Easter dinner at my parents' house.

I finally figured out a solution. I left BOTH of them home and went hiking with the group anyway. It worked out fine, as there were two people there who had each brought 2 dogs! The trailhead was about 40 miles from my town, so I had another hiker and her cute little Yorkie--yeah, that's right a Yorkie on a hike--in my SUV. Bebe the Yorkie did very well, only had to be carried occasionally by her "mama"--a very nice lady who recently moved to my area and is originally from Central California. Bebe is quite possibly the most spoiled little girl I have ever met, but she is very sweet, and really seemed to enjoy being out of doors.

If Pepper had gone he would have probably been at odds with the male French bull dog who was there, as both of them are not neutered. And, he would have been a filthy mess, too, as the trail had plenty of muddy spots and several spots where you had to tread through the shallow water of a smaller creek feeding into the main one. There was a 100+ lb. Newfoundland who came along, and I am REALLY glad she was not riding in my vehicle as she went swimming in the creek, and then picked up all kinds of "souvenirs" from the forest floor as she walked. When I first saw her, I asked her "momma" if she had remembered to bring the saddle!!! What a horse!!

We (the woman who was riding with me) found we had a lot of common interests, and some common philosophies as well. I am up late because the group leader ignored my suggestion that we stop at Starbucks as we were leaving town, and instead assured me that there would be coffee at the store where we were going to make a rest stop before hitting the trailhead. I drink DECAF, or else I end up not sleeping, no matter how tired I am. There wasn't a drop of decaf to be had in that place, and I really was in the mood for the taste of coffee. Worse yet, all they had was that godAWFUL powdered creamer--you know the hydrogenated stuff that I can imagine clogging up my arteries like cement!! So I decided to live dangerously, do the caffeinated coffee and get a single serving carton of milk (which, BTW, cost more than a quart of milk at a grocery store in my metro area!!!).

The coffee tasted great, but it is now a little after 1 am PDT, and after a 4.5 mile hike, I SHOULD be tired, but I am not, so here I am.

When I got back home from the hike, I took Pepper and Mai Li out for a bit of a walk, and then did some serious clean up before going to my mom and dad's for dinner. We had salad, asparagus, ham with fresh pineapple (thank you Costco), scalloped potatoes, and angel food cake with fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream, a little chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream. My original plan was to pass on the potatoes and only have berries and a little whipped cream, but when I checked out the calorie burn on the hike, I realized I could eat anything I wanted on our menu and still come out way under calories. So I had potatoes, AND dessert, and since I won't get weighed until morning, I don't regret it.....YET!!! LOL

Regarding the person who needed to create make believe coconut on a rabbit cake. If it is texture you are looking for, I wonder how sprinkling those crunchy style Chinese noodles on the frosted cake would work. If you pressed them into the frosting, they might look a little like bunny hairs. Realize it is too late to try it now, but there is always next year. And the crunch of the noodles might be a very unusual addition to the cake. Just a thought.

BTW, jb2011--you mentioned Portland. Do you mean Oregon, or Maine, or some other place? Just checking to see if we might be neighbors. I am near the one in Oregon.

Well, I think I am going to try to get some sleep.

Barb

weaklink109

I am back again.

I am up late tonight due to trying to ignore the fact that I should NOT drink caffeine in the morning if I expect to sleep that night.

In a moment of lunacy, I decided to go on a hike this morning with a local group of people who meetup and do things with their dogs. It sounded like a great idea, a hike on a day when it was going to be about 65, mostly sunny and no chance of rain, but it was on a trail I am not familiar with, and with all the rain we have had here, I figured it could be a muddy undertaking. Mai Li would have pooped out after about 3/4 mile on any trail, so I already knew she wasn't going. As I thought about Pepper, I could just see a dirty little doggy, in desperate need of a bath, which I would not have time to give him until late evening, after Easter dinner at my parents' house.

I finally figured out a solution. I left BOTH of them home and went hiking with the group anyway. It worked out fine, as there were two people there who had each brought 2 dogs! The trailhead was about 40 miles from my town, so I had another hiker and her cute little Yorkie--yeah, that's right a Yorkie on a hike--in my SUV. Bebe the Yorkie did very well, only had to be carried occasionally by her "mama"--a very nice lady who recently moved to my area and is originally from Central California. Bebe is quite possibly the most spoiled little girl I have ever met, but she is very sweet, and really seemed to enjoy being out of doors.

If Pepper had gone he would have probably been at odds with the male French bull dog who was there, as both of them are not neutered. And, he would have been a filthy mess, too, as the trail had plenty of muddy spots and several spots where you had to tread through the shallow water of a smaller creek feeding into the main one. There was a 100+ lb. Newfoundland who came along, and I am REALLY glad she was not riding in my vehicle as she went swimming in the creek, and then picked up all kinds of "souvenirs" from the forest floor as she walked. When I first saw her, I asked her "momma" if she had remembered to bring the saddle!!! What a horse!!

We (the woman who was riding with me) found we had a lot of common interests, and some common philosophies as well. I am up late because the group leader ignored my suggestion that we stop at Starbucks as we were leaving town, and instead assured me that there would be coffee at the store where we were going to make a rest stop before hitting the trailhead. I drink DECAF, or else I end up not sleeping, no matter how tired I am. There wasn't a drop of decaf to be had in that place, and I really was in the mood for the taste of coffee. Worse yet, all they had was that godAWFUL powdered creamer--you know the hydrogenated stuff that I can imagine clogging up my arteries like cement!! So I decided to live dangerously, do the caffeinated coffee and get a single serving carton of milk (which, BTW, cost more than a quart of milk at a grocery store in my metro area!!!).

The coffee tasted great, but it is now a little before 2 am PDT, and after a 4.5 mile hike, I SHOULD be tired, but I am not, so here I am.

When I got back home from the hike, I took Pepper and Mai Li out for a bit of a walk, and then did some serious clean up before going to my mom and dad's for dinner. We had salad, asparagus, ham with fresh pineapple (thank you Costco), scalloped potatoes, and angel food cake with fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream, a little chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream. My original plan was to pass on the potatoes and only have berries and a little whipped cream, but when I checked out the calorie burn on the hike, I realized I could eat anything I wanted on our menu and still come out way under calories. So I had potatoes, AND dessert, and since I won't get weighed until morning, I don't regret it.....YET!!! LOL

Regarding the person who needed to create make believe coconut on a rabbit cake. If it is texture you are looking for, I wonder how sprinkling those crunchy style Chinese noodles on the frosted cake would work. If you pressed them into the frosting, they might look a little like bunny hairs. Realize it is too late to try it now, but there is always next year. And the crunch of the noodles might be a very unusual addition to the cake. Just a thought.

BTW, jb2011--you mentioned Portland. Do you mean Oregon, or Maine, or some other place? Just checking to see if we might be neighbors. I am near the one in Oregon.

Well, I think I am going to try to get some sleep.

Barb

valerieottaviano

What a fantastic group! Of course who would be as supportive to each other ! So glad I found you!
I did great in march , was on a 100 miles in march kick and did 100.87, thanks to the great tracking device fit bit.ndidn't Los any weight though , need to kick up the intensity in April, but with this groups support Maybe I really can!
Have a wonderful day all, greetings from Los Angeles.

AHealthierSuzyQ

Its absolutely amazing how motivated one becomes when a wrong choice results in discomfort or pain. Its taken a week of experimenting with my food choices to find something that WORKS, but l I think I have the hang of this... so long as I stay away from fried foods, caffeine and carbonated drinks, pork, and anything with butter, milk or cream in it , PLUS don't eat ANY meat or nuts past 3:00 p.m., my digestion behaves and I feel decent. Energy is beginning to return which is good, because Spring cleaning chores are staring me in the face and I have a garden spot to finish so I can plant in a few weeks. Counting the days until the 19th so I can begin getting some answers!

yaddayaddayadda

Good Morning Everyone!!
Today is my last day of spring break:-(. I over did it on Saturday and Sunday in the calories department, and plan to get back on the wagon tomorrow!! (As soon as I eat up the strawberry shortcake from the weekend)

Only 44.5 days of school left for me!! This is my favorite time of year... lots of daylight after work, and only 44.5 days left until SUMMER!! Plenty of time to work out!

BTW... I'm in a workout contest through the wellness department at work, and I WON a fruit basket for logging my workouts on their website over the break. Right now, I have to log things in two places... a little bit of overkill, but it keeps me honest.

Forget past binges and move onward towards summer!!
Karen

kackie

Happy Monday, Dear Ladies!:flowerforyou:

Had a nice trip up to see my parents and back yesterday. I helped them in their garden and went with them to a breakfast that the men of the church cooked and served yesterday morning and then on to their Easter Service. It was very nice and they are always so glad to have me come with them. My Dad had worked hard, along with the other men, and done a wonderful job of serving a large group of people.

But I am glad to be home and hope to get outside to work in my garden the next 3 days. It is to be cooler this week and sunny, so should be just the weather I need. I have tomatoes to put in and some other veggies, AFTER I get some weeds out. I had added many cart loads of compost on top of each bed and covered them with 3 inches of pinestraw in the winter, so I do not have as many weeds as I have in years past after being away for 2 months.

My goals for April:

Continue on my 13 week Challenge which include 2 miles minimum walking each day, a different set of exercises in addition to this, 12 glasses of water a day and...

For Me: Adding more weight training 2-3x a week

JellyFish: I loved your bunny cartoon! Thanks for sharing. It gave me a good laugh last night!:laugh:

Barb: I am so glad you are back here with us! And your hike sounds like a good one! Keep coming back when you can...it's good to hear from you:flowerforyou:

I went shopping this past Friday for dresses to wear to several upcoming weddings as well as a dress to wear to our son's Rehearsal Dinner this July. After much frustration...all the dresses are WAY to short for me to wear. I am 5'8" and few dresses have hems in them anymore that you can let out. Anyway, I DID find a lovely dress that FITS and is LONG ENOUGH, although I had to go to a more expensive dress shop to find it. BUT, I will wear it to our son's Rehearsal Dinner and also to 2 other weddings this summer where the guests won't be the same, SO I am justifying the expense! I DO NOT like dress shopping, so I am thrilled to have it off my list of things to do:flowerforyou:

I leave this Thursday for Chicago to attend a shower for our future DIL and a Tea that some of my very best friends are giving for her as well. They are FLYING to Chicago to host this, so I am so overwhelmed at their very generous and touching gift to Erin...and Me! I also bought a few things to go with dresses I already had that I can wear to these events. (Shoes, a little crocheted jacket to dress up a plain navy dress...and cover up my upper arms!)

Enough...sorry so long. I need to get outside! Have a great day ALL! Kackie

margaretat

It's a new month and I'm trying. I've been at this for a wek and have been up and down like a yoyo. I guess I just need some support and encouragement so I won't get too frustrated. I think I'm doing everything right but I get told it's hard to lose weight as we get older. But I'll keep trying.:bigsmile:

chica23GK

Hi - I'm a MFP newbee & i'd like to join your group. What do I need to do to join?

rjadams

Okay so I jumped back on the bandwagon and got up this morning and did my 20 minute kettle bell workout. I am on the program for 6 weeks. I can do this I am sure. I am hoping that by doing the 20 minute morning workouts I will be more inclined to get back on my dreadmill for an hour in the evenings like I used to.


Have a stellar day ladies.


Robin, Bodi boy and Ritter bit.

yclayton

hello everyone!
i have been off for over a week and do not have time right now to read all posts, but will hope to get to it. had a lovely week with my grandchildren...thought i would be able to post and log at least a little but nope...they are just too active. so i didnt log food and i didnt work out, and i didnt ride, but still lost a pound...and today i have the snotty coughing crud.:sick: yikes! and i finished all the easter m&ms :devil: so now there is nothing in the house i shouldnt eat. not too too bad when the kids are here as they eat pretty darn healthy, but i ended up not watching portions like i should.....playing with 4 and 2 year olds makes me HUNGRY! we went to the pool, the city park, the county park, the bouncing playhouse, the dairy and painted big rocks for nanas garden and dyed easter eggs, had many egg hunts thoughout the week, rode thunder the wonder pony and groomed horses for hours...all in all a good week. :bigsmile: next week i get luke back for the week since my daughter is taking lily to disney...we also had a dog fight at our house,:sad: totally out of the blue and the little dog (jack russel) went in for four surgery to fix her. we lost sara, our shepherd mix. and then on easter we were at church by 6am until 10am then came home and cooked for some of the kids to come over (babies went home sat). today back to vet for recheck on jrt...and now some much needed rest. i am so exhausted i can hardly move, except to cough.
hope everyone had a blessed easter and is having a fabulous start to the week! my sister turns 50 this month...she is a stage 4 breast cancer survivor:bigsmile: so big party in 2 weeks and i have to get cracking on those plans too. love to you all :flowerforyou: , and good wishes for this week! yvonne

sissygok

Hi Everyone, Remember me? I am turning myself in, I totally fell off the weight wagon and I am sheepishly reappearing for your wonderful insight, encouragement and support. I have been a notorious yo yo dieter for most of my adult life and I thought I had a handle on this stable weight thing but have gained back more than I would like to admit to.

Starting back at the gym again tomorrow and tracking, tracking, tracking again..I know this works and I am going to dig right back in again.

I do have a motivation, we are booked on another 30 day cruise in December, this time we leave from San Francisco and go around the tip of South America to Buenos Aires. Booking a cruise always motivates me because I want my cruise clothes to fit!

While I was eating all kinds of things I should not have, I missed all your wonderful comments and the loving and helpful spirit of this board...I am glad I am back. My tracker is reset and I am raring to go!

xoSissy

kackie

Chica: By posting here, you are a "member"! Welcome and come back often...we look forward to getting to know you:flowerforyou:

sissygok: So glad to see you again. I think that MOST of us have done the same thing you did on more than one occasion, so jump back in! I am trying to have a longer term approach to this than I have in the past, but it is always a struggle. That's why we are here!!!

Worked in garden for several hours...planned to all day...but just stuck my hand (with gloves) into a big planter to pull out old plants and FIRE ANTS crawled all over and into my gloves, up my arm, before I could get them off...bit me ALL over. I am allergic to the buggers so I have taken my benadryl, and am sitting with ice on the area and cursing at them from the porch! One of the real drawbacks to living in the South are these xx##**!! critters!!!

I did get 6 tomato plants in the ground, some spinach in and lots and lots of weeds out, so at least something was accomplished!

Bye again! Kackie

KathyGSM

Good Afternoon everyone - I must say that after reading all the posts here, yes I finally read them ALL I have realized that this is a very motivating and supportative FAMILY!!! . I will do my best to keep up with the rest of you and hope that I will have as much to offer as the rest of you.

Just to give you a quick idea of who you are dealing with here: I am a very quiet - keep to myself kind of person. I don't really spill my guts to anyone. I stuff alot of my feelings because I have an extremely hard time dealing with negative feelings. It is so much eaiser to stuff them then feel them. I assume that I why I turned to eating. When things start getting stressful or not so good for me - I EAT! :grumble: With all the posts I have read here I am hoping that I will be able to at least start opening up here if nowhere else and with all the support here maybe I can even filter that openness to my outside world but I'm gonna start here first.

Amanda - I hope and pray that things will get better for you as I know what it would be like to have my grandchildren used against me. I have two grandsons that unfortunately live far away from me so I don't get to see them too often now but there was a time when the oldest one and my daughter were living with us. My daughter and I didn't exactly see eye to eye and she ended up leaving and I was sooo afraid that she would keep him from me. I was devastated. Luckily things are working out great for us now, the only problem is the distance between us. Hang in there - things will get better! (HUGS)

Thank you all for your support and I will be posting on a regular basis now. Maybe I'll get as good as some of you and be able to remember who posted what and respond like you do - amazing how you can do that - I am soooo impressed.

My deepest sympathy arctiknitter to you and your son, an extremely difficult time for you now.

Kathy

determinedinAZ

Hi All.....Checking in. Hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend :flowerforyou:
salad day today......because of some goodies over Easter:drinker: :blushing:

Have a blessed week!!
Barb