WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY

heartrw

Greetings all. I see more new names in the posts so WELCOME!

Barbie...so sorry to hear about your kitty. I've lost a cat (14-1/2 years) and dog (a little dachsund, practically the love of my life--17 years 1 month). I know how badly it hurts...

Rosemary...good luck with your challenges today with your mother-in-law and the buffet!
Carol -- GREECE? Live there or on vacation? Either way, pretty cool!
Vicki -- PJ day...I'm with you...10:30 AM and still in the flannels and fleece!:bigsmile: How is your relative w/lung cancer doing?

Sad story...I visited my MIL at the "home" yesterday. She is so confused...always asking if I am surprised about Steve marrying someone who lives across the street (we've been married 35 years and she lived with us the last 13 years before going into the home last June four days after her 95th birthday). Now for the sad part...she was talking about dying and hoping that she would just go to sleep and not know that it happened. She was surprised when I said I believed she would know because she would leave this world to enter heaven. She gave me one of her completely blank looks. She (who has gone to church for the past 75 years or more) no longer remembers Christmas, the baby Jesus, or even the idea of a heavenly home. I find that incredibly sad. Meanwhile my 51 year old niece just received news that she will be started on her fourth round of chemotherapy as her cancer (ovarian) numbers are up again. She is having a pet scan today, results Friday. Again, very sad. I hope God forgives me when I question his plan.

Hope everyone has a good day. I am doing well with the exercise...tending to eat all my calories, but not going over (or at least not going over by much) so I will count myself as doing well. Ditto from Mary(?)...Blessed Epiphany!

Terri

bradybrookes

Thanks for the info on vitamins . . . I think I'll do a bit more research and make some decisions! All good info.

Promised myself I would NOT get on the scale except once a week on Saturdays. Couldn’t resist this morning and found I am down a solid three pounds (from the 8 I put on between Halloween and Christmas) . . . so some progress!!! Love the recent posts . . . we all fall down, but the real strength is getting back up and starting again. NEVER GIVE UP!!

Swissmiss

:flowerforyou: Brady, that is great !!!:happy: :happy: You must feel so good.

:flowerforyou: Barbie, sorry about your cat. Mine is 20 now and is not in the best of health.

:flowerforyou: Teri, I truly believe that Jesus is making Himself known to your MIL. You never know what is going on inside her.

pmjsmom

?

Sad story...I visited my MIL at the "home" yesterday. She is so confused...she was talking about dying and hoping that she would just go to sleep and not know that it happened. She was surprised when I said I believed she would know because she would leave this world to enter heaven. She gave me one of her completely blank looks. She (who has gone to church for the past 75 years or more) no longer remembers Christmas, the baby Jesus, or even the idea of a heavenly home. I find that incredibly sad.

Oh Terri, that is sad, but rest assured that God has not forgotten your MIL--and never will!

Meanwhile my 51 year old niece just received news that she will be started on her fourth round of chemotherapy as her cancer (ovarian) numbers are up again. She is having a pet scan today, results Friday. Again, very sad.

:flowerforyou: Prayers for your niece:flowerforyou:

I hope God forgives me when I question his plan.
Terri

Of course He will! A very wise lady once told me not to worry about yelling at God (it was a VERY bad time) because He already knows how we feel!

Kathy(pmjsmom)

vickim26

Terri,
Thanks for asking about my cousin. She just sent a note a few days ago and she seems well. She said that the cancer is not shrinking but not spreading either. She has a great faith so I know that is helping her. Again thanks so much for asking.
Vicki M

weaklink109

Hello All :flowerforyou:

This will be a quick post, as I need to get ready for work, but I wanted to give a message to Barbie. I am SOO sorry to hear about Haifa. When my Dreyfus was diagnosed with cancer, I ended up taking 2 days off work. He lived another 4 months, and it has been a year last August since I lost him, but I still miss him--even with these other three to take up my time. I know how hard it is to make decisions about care and other options. I know you will do what is best for Haifa. When the time comes, maybe Haifa and Dreyfus will meet in "Animal Heaven" and be good friends.

Welcome to all the newbies that I haven't previously welcomed.

I am glad someone else posted the important relationship between calcium and magnesium. I take a calcium magnesium zinc combination, along with a multivitamin, fish oil caps, and vit E, and vit D. Don't have time to go read the bottles and refresh my memory about what is in each one, but when I started this, I looked up info on how much I needed and how to balance it all.

I survived my first day of work, mainly because I couldn't do anything. The IT department automatically deactivates any employee login that isn't used for 3 weeks. I am told it might take THREE work days after they were notified I am back before I can get back into our system and actually do my job!!!! At least I am getting paid, but it is already getting old sitting watching someone else do the job I have done for almost 3 years. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy it while I can.:ohwell:

Barb

zanniew

Oh, teri, menopause! I went through it on my own, a bit early, back in 2001. Then I found I had a genetic mutation for ovarian/breast cancer (after my mom died of it in '06). So out went the ovaries, just in case, and back came all the menopause symptoms, and I lived through it all again. THEN they actually found cancer & off went the breasts--and now I'm on a 5-year course of Arimidex, so hello menopause # 3, until 2012. UnbeLEEEEvable. I refuse to pay any attention to it this time, lemme tell ya. I've had it with this nonsense.

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: Haifa and I thank you all for you kind and loving words........as it turns out, there is actually a course of treatment that we see as doable and affordable so Haifa will be with us for awhile longer

---

the treatment includes a total change of diet for Haifa which will require feeding the cats in separate rooms for awhile. Haifa will spend three days at the animal hospital next week getting monitored for the right dose of glargine which will then have to be injected twice a day at home and monitored regularly by the vet. Jake seems comfortable with the idea of the injections so things are looking good for us. the vet told us that she thinks he will do well. Jake thinks that I will be able to learn to do the injections for when he has to be out of town on business.

:flowerforyou: Louise, do be careful with your back...I would hate for things to get worse for you

:flowerforyou: Debbie W. don't waste your time and energy feeling guilty, just pick yourself up and do better starting immediately:bigsmile:

:bigsmile: Vicki, you are so right........people really don't pay that much attention to what you're eating....even the ones who say something don't do so for long.

:flowerforyou: Barbara, thanks for telling me about Petunia

:flowerforyou: Alice, I'll be thinking of your friend, Joy............I like the image of us as "Wonder Women" :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: Rose, how did it go at Old Country Buffet and how was it traveling with a smoker?

:flowerforyou: Birdie, congrats on losing another pound......you are inspiring to all of us :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: aisser, welcome to the most supportive group on the planet.........we will encourage you on your journey even if your housemates are going in the opposite direction......you can do this. :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: Terri, I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL........and about your niece.......God is not easy to understand but he is resilient and forgiving when we get upset with him and he has a lot of plans that don't make sense to us.

:flowerforyou: Brady I'm so glad to hear that you're back on track and shedding those holiday pounds.

:flowerforyou: Barb, you and I have similar attachments to our animals...we have Shilo's ashes in a box on mantle (she was our beloved Golden Retriever who died three years ago. We have photos on the bookcase of Noah and Trouble, the cats who died over five years ago. They are permanent parts of our family. I'm glad your return to work wasn't too taxing. Can't wait to see you. :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: zanniew. I love your positive attitude.

I've had a fast paced day and the pile of papers on the table keeps getting higher and higher......Eating and exercising have been going well........I'm still not taking the scale seriously until I weigh in on Friday, then I'll report and record whatever it says. My resolve to eat healthy and exercise continues. Thank you to all of you for your encouragement and friendship.
Barbie

jam0525

Barbie - I will pray for you, your hubby and your cat, Haifa.

There's many of you going through tough times right now, but they will pass. You all have the strength inside you to face what ever comes your way in new healthier ways. Forget about the way that you use to handle stress and convince yourself that a nice cup of tea or a quiet walk is what you've always done to reduce your stress. If you have a Wii or a boxing routine, go throw some punches!

Welcome everyone new, this is a great forum.

Happy Little Christmas! (What we called Epephany growing up). I just can't take my tree down until after the 6th. It's holding up pretty good this year and should be fine until the weekend.

Jeannie

exermom

doobiedoo - good luck on saying "no" to those birthday cakes. You are a better woman than I am...that's for sure. I know me and I'd wind up having a little piece.

weaklink - that's how I usually take my heart rate. Actually, there are nights when I wear my HRM to bed (especially if I'm going to a spinning class the next day) so it's really easy to take it the next day

committed - your daughter is in my prayers. You don't need to tell me that the South is not a good place to be when it snows. I learned the hard way. See, we moved to NC from PA. The 18th we had a bad snowstorm. I was supposed to go out and I was of the "north" mindset that once you get to the main roads, you're OK. NOOOOOO What a night that was! Good for you not smoking! How long has it been

Benson - if your sugar was only a bit high, you know that it could also have been the food that you ate before the test. My blood sugar on the whole is OK, but last year the day before I had my blood tested, I had to go to PA. I took lots of those granola-type bars in the car with me. Well, it's better than stopping and eating at McD's, that's how I figure it. Anyway, that time my blood sugar was on the high side. The next time it was normal. I'm positive it was the food I ate

Renny - I feel for you. My hubby doesn't so much like to cook. If I left it to him, his idea of three square meals would be breakfast at McD, lunch at Pizza Hut, and dinner at KFC. Unfortunately what that means is that for him I'm winding up having to cook a different meal from mine. I really want to try having less meat this year and more veges and fish.

bradybooks - I take a calcium (it has vit. D and magnesium in it) suppliment and some addn'l Vit D during the winter (since the sun isn't strong enough to manufacture it in my body). I really do prefer to get my vitamins and minerals from food, but sometimes that just isn't possible

mamacindy - hope you feel better fast!

swissmiss - take care of your youngest (I know you will). my dd (22) just had some sort of stomachbug where she was throwing up and had diahhrea. Since she's in PA and we're 500 miles away, we told her to go to the hosp. She finally did and they had to give her two bags of fluid, she was so dehydrated. She sounds better now, but it was pretty scary for a bit there.

firetruck - When I'm stressed, I do one of two things. One is I bake and bake and bake (and then give it to the soup kitchen). The other is to exercise. Hubby has said to me "just go to the Y, just go to the Y" because he knows how much better it makes me feel. I remember one time dd was REALLY getting us upset. I went to the Y, and boy did I work out. Honestly, I stood in the front of the class to be near the door because I felt sick to my stomach, but by the time the class was over, I was no longer sick. Hubby, on the other hand, cancelled our reservations saying "I got physically sick". I didn't get physically sick because I worked out.

barbiecat - I feel for ya about your cat. We have to take one of our cats for an MRI at NC State tomorrow. She had a polyp removed from her ear back in May (they had the equipment needed since the polyp was so deep) and there's fluid oozing out of the ear again. Hope it doesn't mean more surgery. One of our other cats has a recurring fibrosarcoma. We've decided to just let him be happy and let mother nature take its course. We had another cat that had cancer. Hubby was adamant about giving chemo, but in the end we had to put it to sleep. So I know what you're going thru. One of our cats is diabetic, gets insulin twice/day. My thoughts will be with you. Update: so glad that there is a course of treatment that you can do. What a relief!

Love those "fill your face" and "yell at everything" buttons. Just love them.

LaurieFisher -- christiana -- is that in Delaware? We used to go to the Christiana Mall lots in Delaware. There might be another Christiana, that's why I ask.

Debbie - so glad you got right back on the horse. That's what we all need to do. Actually, in some ways it's good to "shock" your body by one day giving it more calories.

Had to take ds to the airport so didn't get to exercise today. Tomorrow we'll have to leave early to get to Raleigh for the MRI so won't get to exercise then, either. Then if they determine that she needs surgery again, Friday will most probably be out, too. Boo Hoo

aissesr - I hear ya about the junk food. If I let hubby, that's probably all he would eat! So what I do is I buy things that I don't like (like I'm not a fan of Doritos, so that's one of the things he has in the house)

heartw - how very sad, very very sad. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers

Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow. As for me, I'm going to bed since we had to leave this a.m. around 4:30 (which means I had to get up around 3). Tomorrow is a late day -- we'll be leaving at 8.

committed

Hello,

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and thoughts for my daughter. She was released from the hospital today with a new regime for treating her asthma - 8 different prescriptions. If they work and keep her healthy it will be worth it. I have to make a trip to Atlanta in a couple of weeks so I'm going to drive on down and spend a few days. My boss insisted that I stay through the weekend so I think I will.

So far I've stayed smoke free and stay either slightly over my calories or slightly under. I'm trying to substitute water :drinker: for smokes - although it is tempting to hunt down the Hershey's kisses:blushing: Yesterday was a tough day, but I wound up consuming 76 oz of water:drinker: :drinker: which is a good thing. We are expecting snow tonight so my group is going to work from home the rest of the week. As long as we can do everything we need to do from home, it doesn't make sense to take chances driving when you don't have to.

Barbie,

Sorry to read about your cat, but happy to read that you have viable options. Now that the kids have all left home, we have 3 dogs and they are most definitely members of the family so much so I think the kids are jealous at times.

Thoughts and prayers are with all in need.

Nancy

ccs_gr

Hello from (I don't dare to put in sunny) Greece, my adopted home.

I'm on day 3 and back at work which I thought would be more of a challenge than it has been. The staff kitchen had all kinds of goodies leftover from the holiday. But just having committed myself to writing everything I eat into my daily food chart has helped. I love that this way of doing it.

I'm so terrified that I won't meet my goal of one pound a week that I've hopped on the scale each morning and watched the grams go down and part way back up which makes me a little crazy.

Carol

DebbieW

Good morning ladies,

Well I took your advice and decided not to feel guilty over my indulgence the other night. As one of you said, I'm making memories with our Australian houseguest.

Yesterday we took our guest in to town and walked, walked, walked. Secretly I was thinking about the calories I was burning while out in the fresh air having fun.

We went to a restaurant, where my daughter and I decided to share some appetizers instead of having a whole entree to ourselves. We shared a small order of sweet potato fries (better than white potato, right?), 1/2 of a small caesar salad (I didn't even finish my small portion as I was talking so much) and 1 serving (1 cup) of potato and leek soup. Yes, I did have 1 glass of wine and almost forgot about it (again all that talking).

After dinner, our friend suggested walking dinner off as he chose an entree and was feeling quite full. I quickly and enthusiastically agreed. Burn calories, burn.

So I had a day having fun, eat small portions and walked a lot of calories off.

As one of you said, right now, it`s about making memories.

Thanks for the advice, I`m not going to allow myself to feel guilty right now.

I think I will get myself bundled up and go for a walk out in the fresh air (and snow).

Barbiecat - I just want to say, I am happy about you have your precious friend around a little longer. We lost our beloved Smokey a couple of years ago. He lived for 22 years in a very loving home. We still think of him and although we do miss him and get sad, we know that his life with us was a very happy life in a very loving home. Good luck.

Have a healthy and happy day everyone!

arborsong

Debbie, good girl!!! You're on your way to a slim and trim 2010!!! I find that whenever I have guests, I eat less because I am so busy talking and being sure everyone else have what they need. Just get rid of the leftovers...quick!!! {smile}

arborsong

Carol, please do not be terrified of your weight loss goal. We all do the best we can each and every day, then start over the next day again doing the best we can. It will come, perhaps slow, but for sure. Have faith in yourself and the system! Find one thing in your life to be pleased with and everytime you start to lean towards terrified, remind yourself of that one pleasant thought. It can be a tiring process,,,,,, but it works!!!

debieanne

good mid morning to all many prayers going out to everyone. our cat max just pass away thanksgiveing eveing he was with us for 10 years lisa my ten year old ,max and her were best sister and brother shes says .. many prayers...
i have not had a bad pass few days. last night i a few more heresy kisses than i needed but my grandson and i are working those calories off this morning.. we are having a beautiful sunny cold new england day.. friday they say a little more snow today we are heading out snowmoble riding. i like doing the sunday riding way nice and slow i am not into speeding.. well when nascar is on or i go to a race i like it.. it sounds like a lot of us do the walking tapes with leslie i really like them when i go outside walking though it seems like i slow down a lot to add in the things i do when i am walking in place.. i have been doing hers for about eight mths now.. ok grandson wants to play a game everyone have a nice day love debianne and family

jam0525

Nancy - just a quick post while at work to congratulate you on quitting smoking! U rock! Hang in there, it should get easier. Jeannie

heartrw

Good morning MFP Pals...thank you to all for your words of encouragement and for just listening when I ramble on about my personal woes. I truly do have faith in God and love him, but just like my hubby and siblings whom I also love, I do get a little angry, disappointed or discouraged with him once in awhile.

Doing very well getting back on track this week with the exercise, healthy food choices and logging. Feels so good to have this site and thread to come to. I reread a few journal pages I wrote early last year...I am happy to say that I am beginning this year down a whole bunch of weight and in a much more positive and hopeful state of mind. I've actually already cleaned out two drawers and put away some of the Christmas decorations. I plan on tackling the rest of them today. It's 0 degrees and so much snow outside I think I'll just stay put indoors and get some work done!!

Hope you all have a great day!!

Terri:drinker:

doobiedoo

:flowerforyou: Greetings MFP friends!! Nothing much to say other than that it is always so good to be able to talk about food and weight issues with each of you and not feel embarrassed or strange. It is such a boost to know that we are all 'there' or have been and that there is always hope when we eat right, exercise right and drink water throughout the day!! The sun is shining here in Nebraska and it's going to be a great day!!:flowerforyou:

AHealthierSuzyQ

Hello all.

My heart goes out to all who are experiencing aging parent and sick pet problems. I've been there on both accounts and know how it tugs on your heart.

I spent yesterday helping a young family at our church unpack. My son and his wife are too far away to go help, so this is one of my ways of coping. Sweet family with a smiley little man of about 15 months. We didn't finish, but DID get her kitchen completely organized and ready to use.

Today it is cold and gray and I'm fighting the temptation to go get the leftover Martha Washington candies I put int the freezer the day after Christmas out and finish them off. They may just end up out in the compost pile yet!

I have a pot of soup on and have been planning to exercise ever since I got it started, but keep finding other things to do instead. Time to go throw some more logs on the fire.