40+ Club- I'm Dreaming Of A Light Christmas

singfree

Good morning!

Back to work on a cold morning!!! At least I am finished with night shift for a while (I hope). We had a "Lessons & Carols" service at our Church yesterday afternoon, with the choir doing the bulk of the singing. It went very well. Now I need to concentrate on getting the choir ready for Christmas and beyond. I usually rehearse the music 6-8 weeks in advance so that they are fully prepared to sing the anthem well on any given Sunday. The push is on with my singing in the Susquehanna Chorale with our concerts coming up in 1-1/2 weeks, yikes,,,we are not nearly ready yet.

OK gang, the final push is on with our diet and exercise. Stiring and Alf are showing us the way. These are two great role models to follow. In fact, if I keep following them, I'll look great in a sexy dress by Christmas too!!! :laugh: On second thought...
I really need to curb late night snacking in the form of pretzels & red wine. I promise I will try harder. I will stray on Friday when we go to the Cristkindlmarkt in Mifflinburg. Gluhwein and Lebkuchen and Stollen and Wursts are dancing in my head.

We decorated our tree on Saturday as it was snowing outside. It really put us in the Christmas spirit!

Stiring, I think that getting custom made clothing in Korea would be a great idea. It's something you can treasure for a long time, especially when your assignment in Korea is finished.

Have a great day!

Swissmiss

sing, be sure to post a pic of yourself in your "sexy dress". :laugh:

:flowerforyou: stiring, what is the average size of a Korea woman? I am sure that I am much larger with my German background.

I didn't record my foods or exercise this past weekend. The weekends are still a struggle for me.

duffyzmom

Sorry I missed Friday check in - December just overwhelms me. Although I did well all last week, I had a terrible weekend. My daughter had a large slumber party and I ended up snacking on some of the treats. With the lack of sleep included I just feel really crappy this morning. Here's hoping for a more balanced week.

DawnOf1969

Do you have room for one more here? I'm 40 and a Texas native. I lost 50 pounds but gained back 20 after going through some difficult family related stuff. I still need to lose 45 pounds.

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: Welcome bratgrr1, glad to have you. I also lost a lot of weight (55 lbs) to only gain back 30 of them while struggling to raise five kids on my own. I have lost almost all of it again. You will do fine.

Do I have to go to a motel or leave town on the weekends?????? I have so much trouble eating right when I am at home with my family. My husband loves to cook and he gets hurt feelings if I don't eat his meals. I have talked to him about not using oils and lard (yes, he sometimes cooks with lard). :explode: He still does it his way. I am beginning to feel that he is trying to ruin my weight lose plan. All I can do is to drink lots more water. That seems to even things out.:drinker:

singfree

Welcome Bratgrr1 to our group! We all have issues large and small with diet and exercise. It's tough getting older, but we are not discouraged. Stick with us and you will find us friendly and encouraging. We always have room for another gal from TX!!

Swiss, try to do your best when your husband cooks his high fat & calorie meals. Good job drinking more water, which will help to flush out the gunk. No pix in a dress, I'd have to shave my legs!!

Duffy, it's amazing that you got any sleep at all with a house full of girls!

alf1163

Hello all!!! How was your weekend? Mine was great!! My diet was pretty much under control. I also exercised, not as much as I would have liked to but what can I do? :laugh: I still feel this stupid strain on my hip flexor, it actually feels more in the upper inner thigh...:mad: I hope it goes away soon, I really want to get back to my workouts!! I miss the sweat!!

Welcom Bratgrr!! You will like this group. We are all very supportive of each other. :flowerforyou:

Stiring, do you really feel big? :noway: Remember, you are way under your initial goal. I guess your mind has not caught up with your body size yet? I have my days sometimes and then when I go shopping for clothes and even small is too big I realize I am no longer "big". It takes a while to get used to a new body. Why is that??? We are not the only ones.

Swiss, have you tried to just control your portions when your husband does the cooking? That way he sees you eating his food and does not get offended. Drinking lots of water also helps and perhaps increasing your exercise during the weekend and have rest days during the week.

Duffy, are you doing the shred this month? I started yesterday, did all three levels, but lots of modifications for me. Dont want to re-injure my leg. I will do this workout until the cruise. Then in Jan I will start ChaLean and the zumba classes.

Sing, I also want to see you in that special dress. :laugh: :laugh:

Have a great day!!! :flowerforyou:

Texssippian

Hi all! Did lots of shopping over the weekend. Almost done except for the gifts for family coming from Mississippi for New year's. I always wait until after Christmas to buy those gifts. Get really great things on sale!

Now that my kids are in their 20's it is so much easier to do Christmas: no more being on waiting lists for Barbie Fashion Designer or getting the last two NBA collector pencils! The kids are happy to be home and be with family which is what is important. Also, this year our daughter is studying Jane Austen in Oxford this summer so we are going to England in August which will be the big gift.

Welcome Bratgrr1. Where in Texas are you? I am in north Texas, work in Dallas, live in Denton (home of the best jazz program at the University of North Texas: 1:00 Lab Band (yes it is the jazz band that has 1:00 lab...) is up for two Grammy's). I lost 50 pounds six years ago, gained 30 back and now am down 18 since finding MFP and this group.

UT (where daughter is) will be playing Alabama for the national title in college football. My brother-in-law who is 3 1/2 months post liver transplant is a big Bama fan. Richie and I have a bet for game: loser has to do three sets of sit-ups with the reps being the total number of points in the game. Here's hoping for a UT win or a defensive struggle...

Husband did better last week with eating clean which made it easier for me. Weekend, not so good. I can really tell when I have a lot of salt. I really don't like the feeling and am just not eating something if the first taste is too salty. That being said, I have been on the look-out for the big bins of pop corn one of our vendors sends. Why do I like that natsy stuff? Going to the trainer tonight with the hubs.

Stiring: yes Mr. Holiday is also big into Christmas. He has quite a collection of Nativity scenes and nutcrackers. We have 4,000 lights on the house in the front (yes, he counted them, by the strand not individually). Yesterday was the feast of St. Nicholas which we have celebrated since my husband and I were dating. (I made him a stocking which I put on his front door that first year). We used to leave presents on neighbors front porches when the kids were little. I now send the college kids back with a shoe box to open on Dec 6. (And boxes for roommates) I put a holiday mug, tea and hot chocolate mix and some little decoration in the boxes. Kids tell me they don't wait until Dec 6 to open but that is OK too. I have changed out all of my regular dishes for holiday ones. Had to buy Christmas fabric with cats on it to make a stocking for the son's cat since he is now the cat-in-residence with our son in San Francisco in graduate school. We still have not gotten Christmas stuff out of the attic so lots more to do... Take care all! TxMs

2BLean

Hello Everyone ~ :flowerforyou:

I missed the Friday check in but wanted to say hello to everyone and say that I hope you are all doing well! From what I am reading it sounds like we are all trying our best to keep on track for a “lighter” & “cleaner” Christmas!

Last week was my recovery week from STS … I did good on the eating and got in some good cardio workouts! This week I am going on a mini vacation with my hubby and friends to Vegas. It will be a CHALLENGE :noway: to say the least on the eating, etc. But hope to get workouts in at the hotel. Next week I will be starting up STS Meso #3 and really looking forward to it!

Hope you all have a great week. I will check in when I get back.

Swissmiss

Thanks to all who have adviced me on my husband's cooking. Yes, I think that portion control is the key. He will be happy and I can stay within my calories.

sing, you remind me of a friend of mine. She refuses to wear dresses because she would have to shave her legs.

I went to my strength class last night. I had missed three of them due to my girls having so much planned. One of them is so busy that she keeps everyone running. I figure that she is too busy to get into any trouble and I like that. I ate good yesterday and will be going to my Zumba class tonight. I have only missed one Zumba class and the instructor was concerned that something had happened to me.

duffyzmom

Happy Tuesday All!

My husband is still trying to use vacation days so he will be home the rest of this week - I'm spending today trying to prepare for his vacation days - depending on the weather we will be probably be working outside a lot clearing more trees - great functional exercise. I am also hoping for a least one day Christmas shopping since I'm starting to feel the holiday stress. I figure that at least he can help me find gifts for his family.

ALF: I'm not doing the Shred right now - I'm off push ups in hopes that it helps my neck so right now I'm just doing free weights and running preparing for CX. Thankfully, we almost have our weight room fully stocked - I'm hoping to get a TV and DVD player mounted in the room over the holidays so that it will be all ready for ChaLean.

To all the Texas people - Congrats on the Longhorns - I'm a huge fan of football and know that the Texas Alabama game will be a great one.

singfree

Good morning!

Sorry I am posting late...8 am here. I got home at 11 pm last night from a rehearsal, so I am a bit weary today. Eating went well yesterday, but no exercise due to work and then a 65 mile drive to a rehearsal. Today I will get a good workout done, either P90X or Insanity.

We are expecting a winter storm tonight into tomorrow with snow, sleet and freezing rain. I can handle the snow (I have a Subaru), but ice is another matter. If it is too bad I will just wait it out and go to work late. So much fun here in the Northeast!

I'm really glad that we are still going strong on this thread, and welcoming new members to the club all the time. The more the merrier!

Have a great day!

alf1163

Good morning!!! How is everyone doing? I did the shred this morning, all three levels, feel great. I am still modifying. I might start picking it up next week and see how my leg feels. I took my last anti inflammatory med today. I am a little sore, hamstrings, from the shred on Sun. Eating is going well, drinking lots of water as well. I went to Dave and Busters last night with my coworkers for a farewell and everyone was drinking except me. And they were ordering burgers, fries, chicken wings, chips and dips, etc. Here I am ordering my grilled salmon with wild rice and green beans. They were all commenting on my choices...oh well. I felt really good about myself. :drinker: I almost gave in and ordered a drink since they were half price but then I thought "might be half price but it will cost my body a lot" so I resisted temptation. :drinker:

Swiss, what a nice Zumba instructor. It sounds like she is very caring. I cant wait to start teaching!!

Gotta go, have a dental appt and then to work. :grumble: :laugh:

Have a great day!!! :drinker:

Swissmiss

We are also expecting some bad weather here tomorrow. It is to start with rain tonight, turning into freezing rain and snow mix. Tomorrow we are to have wind gusts up to 50 MPH. My biggest concern is that I drive a full-size van at work. It is usually empty and is light in the back. This may be a challenge.

StiringWendel

Hi everybody! I hope all those experiencing or about to experience some bad weather stay warm and safe. :flowerforyou:

All here is well. I went up to Seoul yesterday to do some shopping, and we had snow up there. Thankfully the temperatures are a little warmer than they were this weekend, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. The good thing is I met up with my husband who was also in Seoul.....picking up our car!!! So YAY for us as we are no longer without a vehicle. I've enjoyed walking over the past month, but these colder temperatures are really beginning to hurt my body. I think we will still walk most places, but picking up groceries and such will be made much easier now. Now we just need our household goods.

I'm still doing good with eating. I didn't know how I was going to handle the shopping trip yesterday, but my friend and I ended up eating on another base up there (because that's where we met up with my husband), and I got a Subway sandwich (turkey breast, no cheese, no chips, etc). So I'm still keeping my diet clean right now. Today I'm starting my Christmas baking (for other people, not my husband and I), and, hopefully, I can avoid performing my own little taste tests.

I got up early yesterday to do Max Plyo and ended up hurting my back. It isn't too bad, but I'll probably have to lay off the high impact for a few days. That's okay since I didn't take a break week between the first and second months of Insanity. I imagine my body will welcome the break. I plan on doing some stretching and walking today, and doing some P90X tomorrow. Hopefully by Friday I'll feel up to doing a little bit more.

Welcome bratgrr!! Always room for a new member. :flowerforyou:

TxMs, your Christmas decorations sound amazing!! How much fun that must be. I must admit, I'm a little down this year since we don't have any Christmas decorations to speak of. We live in the end unit of a row of six townhomes, and everybody else has really decorated the outsides of their homes. We bought a wreath last weekend to hang outside (even though I have one on the way), and I finally convinced my husband to buy some more outdoor lighting earlier this week because, in comparison to all our neighbors, our house looked like the Grinch lived in it. :laugh: So at least on the outside we have some sense that it is Christmas.

2BLean, hope you have a great trip to Vegas!! Have fun and enjoy. You're coming home to a tough Mesocycle, so a few extra indulgences aren't going to be any problem.

Swissmiss, I echo what everybody else said about your husband's cooking. Sounds like a good solution to your problem. You asked about the average size of the Korean women. I would guess that most are between 5'0" and 5'4" tall (I'm 5'2"), and probably between sizes 0-4 in American sizes. One of the biggest issues Americans have in Korea is buying shoes, and at size 6, I can wear Korean shoes. But I'm in the bigger sizes.

alf, sounds like you are doing great! Great job on keeping the eating clean. I'm happy to hear your hip is continuing to improve. Does it feel good to be doing Shred again? Do you notice any difference in how you feel doing it after having completed both CLX and P90X?

I agree that my mind hasn't caught up with my body size yet. It isn't like I'm looking in mirrors picking out the flaws in my body (because I don't do that), but I still just see me when I look in the mirror. But here's kind of a bizarre story on how the mind can fool itself. When in LA, I had all of my 'big' clothes around me, so when I looked in my closet, most everything was bigger than I could fit into. And that made me feel like I had gotten really small. But right now, since I'm living only with clothes I carried over to Korea with me, I only have small sizes. So I've lost the ability to easily compare my 'before' and 'after'. With the clothes I have, I have two sizes of jeans. And right after we got here, my smaller size of jeans started getting really tight, so I was wearing the bigger size of jeans all the time (these are the jeans I chose to travel in because they were 'roomy'). It had been a long time since I'd put on a pair of my jeans (since last Christmas as a matter of fact) and had them feel too small. The psychological impact that had on me was pretty strong, and it made me feel 'fat'. That was my emotional reaction because, intellectually, I knew it was ridiculous. My 'roomy' jeans are size 0. And my smaller jeans are size 00. So, in other words, my reaction was and is silly. But, at the same time, I don't think it is necessarily a bad reaction because, as evidenced in my answer to Swissmiss about the average size of Korean women, I'm realizing that this is a perfectly healthy and acceptable weight for me, and I probably shouldn't see it as anything other than 'normal' (if that makes any sense).

duffy, enjoy the time with your husband. Don't let the holiday stress get to you!

Hope everybody enjoys the rest of their day.

singfree

Good morning!

The drive to work was not a pleasant one. Thanks to PennDOT (PA Dept of Trans), they chose NOT to plow any of the roads I was on this morning. We had a combination of snow, then sleet, and now it's raining. Those of you who live in the north know exactly what I mean! Thank goodness for Subarus! All wheel drive is a lifesaver, literally. I will never be without at least one AWD vehicle.

I really don't know how I am maintaining my weight & shape. I seem to be in a self-destructing mode right now. After watching the Biggest Loser finale last night, I hope to be motivated to stick with the plan. BTW, didn't they look great? When I saw Amanda come out...what a knockout! She looked even more beautiful than Ally, IMO. Danny's & Rebecca's transformations were unbelievable. As they said, "...anyone can do it" and they are right!

I am going to a holiday dinner at my mother's assisted living facility tonight (5 pm). At least I had a choice of entrees. I'm having the stuffed sole. I have to leave by 6:45 pm to go to choir rehearsal at my Church. Please keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through a rough emotional time. We have not been able to see our little Grandson for over a month, since his Mom & Dad are having some marital "issues". I hope we can see him by Christmas. It's really taking a toll on my wife.

Stiring, sorry to hear about your injury. Max Plyo is bone jarring! Do some yoga, stretching or cardio recovery for a few days. Your body will thank you for the break! My wife would love Seoul. She is 5'1" (formerly 5'2") and wears a 6-1/2 shoe. She is not as light as you, but she's doing well at just under 120 lbs. She lost 18 lbs this year. We bought a spin bike last year and she loves working out on it and doing some strength training. She doesn't feel ready to do P90X or Insanity. That's OK, because she is really taking care of herself otherwise.

Alf, how are your doing? It's good to hear that your hip has shown improvement. What willpower you have! At Dave & Busters I would have had the burger, fries and a few beers for good measure!!!!

Have a great day!

Swissmiss

sing, my heart goes out to you and I will be praying. I have a similar situation with a granddaughter. My daughter-in-law enlisted in the Army, leaving their three year old daughter with my son. Well, to make a long story short....the grandparents on the other side asked to have her for the weekend and then they kept her longer...long enough to go and file for temporary custody. My son can only see his daughter every other weekend and this pretty much leaves me out all together. There is a court date coming up in about a month where my son will be fighting to get his daughter back.

:flowerforyou: stiring, it sounds like you fit right in with all the tiny women. I have often wondered what the Chinese people are thinking when we Americans eat at their buffets. This country so over-eats.

We are having bison burgers tonight. If you haven't already done so....give this a try. Bison has less calories than a skinless chicken breast and you get that wonderful "beefy" taste.

alf1163

I love bison burgers!!!! :drinker: :drinker:

Sing, self destructive mode? What do you mean? You will be just fine...do you need me to come over there to kick your behind??? :laugh: :laugh: But I know what you mean...it takes a lot to not overdo it during the Holidays. I have a couple more temptations coming my way this weekend. A Christmas party this Friday and going out with my husband and friends on Sat evening. I am hoping I am able to manage all the temptations.

Stiring, I hope you feel better. Which reminds me my leg was starting to act up again yesterday. I decided to take it easy again for a couple of days...size 0? You are tiny girl!!

I'm at work, gotta go.

Take care!!!!! :flowerforyou:

singfree

Good morning!

In only two weeks we will be celebrating Christmas Eve! Alf kicked my butt (she still has her combat boots), so I'd better be a good boy from now on!!!! Thanks for the encouragement everyone. This is a tough time eating-wise. I need to continue to make good choices. Even a little progress is good before Christmas, right?

I downloaded the MFP app to my iPod touch (early Christmas gift). It's a really nifty app. Works very well. I can now take MFP with me wherever I go, and also post here. This will be especially nice when we go to Germany & Austria. I can post while chomping on Wursts & Brot!!! The abilty to go online with the ITouch is what sold me on it. I got the 32 Gb model, which should be plenty for me.

I hope everyone is doing well and keeping strong.

Have a great day!

Swissmiss

Good morning all !!

sing, my daughter-in-law used the internet on her cell phone before they got their computer. She was able to do quite a lot.

The bison burgers did not go over well last night. My husband is always in charge of them. He spices them to give them more favor. They are very low in fat so you need to add a little so that they do not stick to the pan. Well....I walked into the kitchen to find them swimming in oil. There goes their health benefit. Deep fried bison burgers????:huh: :ohwell: