40+ Club: Hop Into Spring With A Fit Bod

singfree

Good evening!

Yep, I'm doing yet another night shift tonight. It's just for one night, then I go back to day shift on Tuesday. We had our Grandson for a nice visit over the weekend. He is such a joy, and a bit of a character, too! He loves trains, so we were watching "Thomas" as well as other train CDs all weekend. At least it is better than some of the cartoons out there.

Not too much exercise over the weekend due to the visit. That's ok. I've been hitting the weights pretty hard lately.

Boy, I'm glad that we are not dealing with the volcano cloudsfrom Iceland. All of the airports in Germany are closed. I would be really sad if this happened in May (keep praying). At least if we were there, we could stay somewhere until the danger lifted. I always have plenty of extra money (atm) when we travel for emergencies. And a few more days in Bavaria would not bother me a bit!

I hope everyone has a peaceful night!

StiringWendel

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry to see you are having to work a night again, singfree, but I'm glad it is just for one night. And it sounds like you had a great visit with your grandson.

I had a good weekend. I started my Saturday with a 6 mile run, and then I finished my last STS workout for this rotation. :drinker: It felt really good. I didn't do too well with my eating this weekend, but that's okay. I'm slowly finding a balance right now (something I truly need), and I didn't go too crazy with my eating, so.....

We leave for Hawaii tomorrow. :happy: I'm so looking forward to this. I'm hoping to run most days while we're down there, but I'm also taking along some cardio DVDs in case I need to carve out an hour to workout in the room. And, of course, if need be, I can always go to the gym on base. Somehow, I'll find a way to workout most of the days if I can. As far as my diet....I'm hoping I keep it relatively under control. My husband's and my 20th wedding anniversary is on Wednesday, and we have reservations at a hotel on the north shore of Oahu and will have a dinner that night in a restaurant right on the beach. Sounds rough, doesn't it? :laugh: The good thing about the restaurant is they serve all natural, organic and fresh food. The bad thing....I'm sure I'll be able to find a natural, organic, fresh dessert to go with dinner. :blushing: But this is a celebration, and we're going to celebrate. :drinker:

I don't know if I'll be checking in much over the next couple of weeks, but I'll try. But if not, I hope you all have a great two weeks. Stay healthy and strong!

relkins

Hi, I'm Roxanne and I hope it's not too late to join. I have been in a slump for the last month and have finally found my drive back. I am 42 and have been stuck around the 180's. My husband tells me it's my mind telling me my body is comfortable, but I'm not. Have recently got back on to mfp to track my calories and workouts. Any help on juggling kids, work, school, and me is greatly appreciated. I feel guilty when I don't stop what I am doing when my family needs something. I am slowly working on this and trying to explain to myself (my kids understand), that I have to work on me first.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and I know it will be a great week. Thanks,

Texssippian

Hi all!

Went to Austin over the weekend to see our daughter who is a junior at UT. Did a lot of walking including the stairs to the top of Mt. Bonnell. Wildflowers are just beautiful.
Stressful week at work, but they seem to all be stressful now. Oh well.
Stiring, Have a wonderful time in Hawaii!
Relkins, welcome! This is a great group.
Sing: Glad you got to spend time with your grandson. I don't know how you switch from day shift to night shift.
Everyone with allergies: I am there too. Never had a problem until we moved out here to Texas from Mississippi. My problem is that my eyelids break out and I have to use steriod cream on them. Taking a benedryl at night helps too.
Looking to have a week of clean eating and working out. Take care everyone. TxMs

cardigirl

Good Monday morning everyone, and Happy Patriots' Day if you live in Massachusetts or Maine. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. :flowerforyou:

Thank you for the responses of how you deal with feeling unmotivated. I know that the changes I have made in my life through working out and eating for health are changes that I will have to continue for the rest of my life. Sometimes, though, when I don't see significant change for awhile, I do get discouraged. And when that happens, I turn to this thread for inspiration. You people really do help me see that we are all fighting similar battles.

I went out and bought a couple of new workout shirts this weekend and for some silly reason, that cheered me up!:laugh: And I set a new goal for myself...I am also determined to run a 5k this year. I've been running intervals on the treadmill for awhile now, and have decided to try to increase my running time and distance. You know what? Running is HARD!!!!!:sad: But hopefully, I will soon start feeling the "endorphin high" of running and the difficult part of it will be worth it.

Supposed to be nice weather here in Boston for all the marathoners that could get here, and the rest of the week. Hope everyone gets to go outside and do something enjoyable at least once this week!

zebras

Happy Monday All!

Welcome newcomers, too.

Stiring have a wonderful trip and HAPPY Annniversary. Its an amazing accomplishment to stay married for 20 years.

I ate a lot of filet mignon last night. Rough life, eh?? Its just that my husband can't eat beef, so I was on my own and the little package from Trader Joe's had a big piece and a small piece, and I cooked them both, and I hate leftover beef, so ate almost all of it. Scale hasn't punished me yet. I usually see the results the day after I have a bad meal. I didn't count yesterday, but since I worked out two hours, and didn't have any lunch, I may have actually been within my calorie range anyhow. I only buy filet about once every six months, but next time, maybe I can talk myself into cutting the big piece in half, and making three meals out of it instead of one. Or the Whole Foods will be open by us by the next time, and I can buy one individual piece!!!

OK enough about me. I hope everyelse is doing great!

JuliaSoCal

Julia, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And happy birthday to your daughter!! Tell us about the concert. I like Taylor Swift.

, Sing, Stiring...good to hear from you, as always!!!

The concert was a lot of fun... You can tell that she appeals to tween girls, 'cause there were TONS of them there. Katie had tons of energy at the start of the concert, but it was over 2 hours past her regular bed time...and she was TIRED, but happy.

Thanks for asking.

Julia

tron3002

I am so happy that it looks like the clouds are parting and I am able to get back onto a schedule and better yet... Come back and visit with you all!!!

Today I am going over to one of our rentals and vacuuming and steam cleaning the carpets. We finally got the man out that hasn't paid rent in 7 months but he left all of his stuff so we had to rent a moving van and move all of his belongings into a storage unit. I know the guy and he's not a bad person just had a rough couple of years and because of that turned to drugs. Sad situation he's gotten himself into there.

Last night I went online and looked for hiking trails in my area. Yesterday we went to Red Hills and a friend said it was 6 miles.... Try more like 8.2 according to all of the web sights. Dang!!! And speaking of hiking I looked at mu husbands text messages to his friend and they are secretly planning on making me go back down the grand canyon AND on angels landing in Zion both of which I DONT want to do. Already did the Grand Canyon last year I dont ever need to do it again.

Swiss... I'm sorry to hear about your daughter and the break up. I really hate girl/boy friends now that my kids are dating age. Well 2 are married now but I really have to worry about my son because he is VERY sensitive and his girlfriend knows it and takes advantage of that

Sing... Doesn't that really mess with your sleeping schedule having to switch off working days and nights like that?

String... Happy Anniversary!!! Have a great time in Hawaii!

Relkins..... Welcome

Cardi..... I think running is hard too. I can fast walk on my treadmill at a 6.5 for hours but as soon as I add the jogging motion even at a lower speed it gets much harder. Just keep going and little by little you will be able to go even further.

tron3002

Ooops! This posted twice...

duffyzmom

Happy Monday All!

Had my doctors appointment and the Xray looked good so probably not a stress fracture. Doctor thinks it is probably a Neuroma in my foot. The good news is that if it doesn't hurt I can do whatever I want right now. So my 25K is out since anything over 5 miles is hurting but at least I can do a little light running.

I started Hip Hop Abs this weekend. I find it hard to believe that I will see a huge improvement from the program. It really didn't wipe me out at all. But is another cardio option for me while this foot problem works itself out. Week 2 of the Lean for Life with Chalene.

Enjoy your mondays!

charliecat

Hello!! It is my second Monday in MFP and I lost 5lbs up until Saturday. I feel I have been doing all the right things. I've been doing extra walking, and tonight I even went for a breif bikeride, just to burn a few extra last minute calories. I feel good about it. Now, if I see more pounds come off, I'm good to go!
My biggest drawback has always been my chocolate cravings. I did good till yesterday. I got myself a Yoplait Whips and had a fudgecicle. I would normally go out and get myself a big bag of chocolate something, but this was good enough.
When at the grocery store, I managed to stay on the outer aisles and didn't let temptation get to me. Reading about all the success ideas on MFP is an inspiration. I need to prove to myself that I can do this....thank you everyone!!
I am going camping for 2 nites in May. Any fun and unique food ideas would be greatly appreciated. It is just my hubby and I and he doesn't like a variety of foods, however, I do!
I will be walking to/from work (almost 3 miles RT) whenever the weather allows. When I see you, other members writing of the exercises you do - and there is alot of walking - I feel guilty if I don't do as much, because I am capable!
Well, my day is done. I need to catch up on rest, so good nite all, and I'll be reading your inspiring letters! Thanks!

pepper06

Hey Everyone...Swiss-hope your allergies are better now? I suffered last week as I reallly did not want to take anything except the eye drops. I heard from others that the Benedryl causes one to become sleepy. Are you doing better this week?
Cardi-Just curious when you tread mill run do maintain the same speed or go up and down? When I do the tread mill I have to adjust the speed up and down...it is VERY hard to run!

Welcome to the newbies....join the crowd I have only been in this group for a couple of months. They keep you going!

This week will be interesting as I had a big craving for homemade choc chip oatmeal cookies, so I made and had. Will also be going out w/the girls for happy hour this week..oh boy!

I am doing some tough workouts at the gym since I know my plans.

Well, I have to run ttyl

Swissmiss

charleycat, you are doing great with the weight lose. Keep up the good work.

Thanks tron. I was very concerned about her but she has a friend (a boy) at church that she likes a lot and she is going to ask him if he will go to the prom just as friends. I am so hoping that he does. She talked to his mother and told her the circumstances and she is also hoping that her son will be willing to do this.

pepper06...YES, my allergies are much better, in fact, I am not having any problems at all.

Now for the bad news....I bent over at work this morning and my lower back started to spasm. I actually fell onto my knees and stayed for a few minutes until I could get back up. I am not too bad as long as I remain standing. But, if I sit than I can't straighten back up. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am afraid that I will not be able to go to work tomorrow.

singfree

Good morning!

I survived the one-night stand at work, and now I am back on day shift for the rest of the week. Yes, it is tough on the sleeping schedule. When I am on a crazy shift like this, I need to take a piece of an Ambien so I can get some rest during the day. It really affects every aspect of my life, especially eating and exercise.

Stiring, have a great time on your trip to Hawaii. It really sounds wonderful!

Swiss, I'm sorry to hear about your back. I wish that I could suggest something, but I've never experienced anything like it before.

Duffy, it sounds like encouraging news from the doctor. I hope you are back to normal soon!

Tron, that's the drawback about being a landlord. I just don't think that I could stand those hassles. Good luck!

I am looking at the Munich airport's website and it looks like they've resumed operations again. That's a relief! I hope things are back to normal in 5 weeks.

I did a 15 mile bike ride yesterday. I was going to lift weights, but I was kinda tired from ight shift. I will go back to the gym today.


Have a great day!

duffyzmom

Swiss: Ice Ice Ice for the first day or two coupled with 600 mg of Ibuprofen 3Xs a day. After 48 hours alternate ice and heat. I've been told that tight hamstrings are the main cause of most lower back problems. If you can light stretching of the hamstrings if you aren't able to right now just remember to add hamstring stretching in the future. My mom has a lot of these problems and she has found that laying on her back with legs bent on a chair is the safest position for recovery. Hope today is better.

I'm going out for little run today - after 24 hours on the Ibuprofen my foot is feeling really good this morning.

zebras

Happy Tuesday Morning Everyone!

Swiss: Sorry to hear about your back, I hope you feel better soon.

Tron: I feel your landlord pain. I have to get tenants to move out less than a month after they moved in. Its really a building for active adults over age 55, but allows for 20% under age 55, but no one under age 18 ever. So this couple signed an affadavit saying they would be the only ones living there, and a lease that re-stated the no one under age 18 rule, and it turns out she is pregnant. Now technically they would not be breaking the rules for another 6 months, but the vicious condo board is already writing me a letter telling me how much of a fee they will charge should there be a violation, and my lawyer says get them out now.

On the happy side, the scale is going on despite my filet mignon feast on Sunday!

duffyzmom

Exercise update: My little 2 mile run went very well - Foot felt fine and so far it is still good but I haven't taken off my shoes yet. Update on Hip Hop Abs. Okay so the Cardio isn't intense but holy cow the Ab Sculpt just about killed me. So I guess that is making the program worthwhile after all.

tron3002

Zebras... Thats a sad situation having to evict a pregnant person. But I bet they are expecting it.

Sing... My husband deals with all of the confrontational stuff when it comes to the rentals but I tell you what... Dont ever get a rental unless you expect to get it back ruined. Most people have the mindset of "it's not mine so who cares". If I had a choice I would get rid of all of them.

Swiss... I hope he goes to I would see her miss out on the prom.

Yesterday I cleaned the rental til 9:30pm. Although I did a lot of vacuuming and raking pine needles I still feel like I didn't get much of a workout in. Today its snowing so I wont go back over there today so hopefully inbetween catching up on my own house work I will get in a few good workouts.

singfree

Tron, a lady that I work with owns an apartment building and she has the same problems as you. She wants to sell the place, but her husband wants to keep it. At this stage in my life I don't want any more headaches. Also, I would have a hard time getting tough with the tenants. It's just not in my nature.

singfree

Good morning!

Happy Wednesday...one day closer to the weekend!

Yesterday was a good day for exercise. I did a strong upper body workout at the gym and then 15 miles on my bike after work. As predicted, my body is now (finally) responding to all of my hard work. If I had to guess, I think that 5 more lbs of fat loss will do it. Now when I look in the mirror, there is very little body fat remaining. During these last few weeks before Europe I will need to really clean up my act with my nutrition. It's been pretty good lately, but I still have my weak moments.

Today the plan of attack is lower body and core training at the gym and one hour on my bike before Church choir rehearsal tonight. I've tried and failed to do a complete total body workout in one day. I just don't have the time. It would take me at least 2 hours just for the strength training. I then would have little energy for cardio.

Enough of me. I hope everyone is well and has a nice day!

pepper06

Well, the girls happy hour is postponed until next week. that is probably a good thing since we have sunnweather weather in sunny New England! That is before the rain comes back........so I need to plant the asparagus that I b ought yesterday, move a rose bush and finish digging the garden-only a tiny area left. I might even plant some seeds since we have the rainy days coming.
I will do all the above after I do my cardio class and stop at the store to pick up whole wheat bread! Fun, fun.

I am surprised that the couple wanted to move into the buidling-would think they would want to be in a younger crowd. I wonder if she just found out she was pregnant???They must be expecting they are going to have to move-sooner will be better than later.

Have a good hump day everyone!

zebras

Pepper they say she is 3 months pregnant, but she looks more, and they have lived there less than a month. When I went to help them with the garbage disposal she was trying so hard to hide her stomach, that it made it even more obvious.

After seeing this building in action for over 5 years, I personally never want to live in a building where everyone is over a certain age. They drag each other down. We call it Melrose Place for older people. My co-worker's mother lives there, too, and my co-worker and I have vowed to shoot each other if we every get like these cranky old people.

Most of my motivation for getting fit now is to have a healthier old age. I don't want to be stuck in a wheel chair being pushed around by nurses like my mother-in-law. My Grandpa was physically active and mentally active until he was 90, and since he was born in 1889 that was quite an accomplishment..

Happy Wednesday everyone.

singfree

Zebras, I too do not want to be like my parents. My dad died of a heart attack at 53 years old, and my mother died in January at 80, a very frail and feeble 80 I might add. They did not exercise and they both smoked. End of story. Actually, this is a common occurance today. Childhood obesity is rampant. Men and women in their 30s looking old and bloated. Everone in the mall is riding in a scooter. It drives me up a wall when I see people parking in handicapped spaces, with no handicap except for gluttony. I have too much respect for my body and my family. I fully intend to live a full, long and active life, God willing!

zebras

I really found the number of people using scooters at Disney World appalling. I never want to become one of them, and believe me it was very tempting, I was very out of shape when we went, and every day it became more painful for me to walk around. Now I would revel in being able to get around as fast as I would want and on my own two feet, but I'd rather go to a place and hang out with other more fit people. I"m going to try to do a lot of walking in Maine this summer when we go.

Swissmiss

zebras, I will have to ask my daughters if they noticed the scooters. They were there the first of April.

sing, my mom died at age 50. She was very out of shape, never did anything. Thankfully, I do not take after that side of my family but I am still going to try to stay active the rest of my life.

I think that I am coming back to life. I have been down for the past two days. Stressed my back on Monday and then began throwing up on Tuesday. I wonder if there is a connection between the two. I am still weak. Fortunately, all my classes at the YMCA did not meet this week.

Swissmiss

Hey, I got some exercise. I walked to the YMCA to sit in the whirlpool. I walked about a mile. I would have taken my bike but I don't want to ride after dark. I will be doing this until I get my car fixed. It broke down last night and I had it towed to a shop today. I am planning on returning to work in the morning and have lined up a ride. My husband works only 1 1/2 miles from home so he walked tonight. It would be nice of each of us had our own car. Maybe that will happen next year.

singfree

Good morning!

It's really great to have a frank and open discussion about aging and obesity. I think it's something that we speak about in private but never in public. I guess it's because we do not want to offend anyone, and I can appreciate that. One of my choir members at Church is morbidly obese. She is highly offended when her doctor dares to suggest that she lose some weight to help her knees and ankles. He wanted her to lose before he did any surgery, a very real and rational request under the circumstance. Her reaction? She went ballistic on him!!! She is only in her early 40s, with a 7 year old son. Her husband is exactly the same way. For the life of me, I can't understand why they would want to feel lousy all the time. I can feel it when I have just a few extra lbs on me.

When I see people struggle with even the simplest of tasks, it motivates me to do even more to help myself. I am so thankful that my wife eats well and exercises regularly. In the past year she has had to buy new clothes and get other chothes altered because of her "new" and improved physique. She just turned 60 last week and she looks much younger than that. When we exercise together, she can pretty much keep up with me...that's saying something!

Swiss, I hope that you are feeling better soon!

Zebras, I have no problem with scooters for people who have a real need. I have a big problem with those who choose to do nothing for themselves. It speaks volumes about our society in general. If we don't get a handle on this problem soon, I'm afraid the greater part of the population will be "disabled".

Alf, are you still there? We miss you!

Have a great day!

duffyzmom

Morning All!

Ah, the great obesity debate - I found it interesting that Zebras brings up Disney World when discussing the obesity epidemic. It never fails that we as a family discuss this very issue on every trip to WDW. Not the scooter thing but just the obvious numbers of obese people and more noticeably obese children. This trip my husband and I noticed the number of children who may not qualify as obese but who had visibly jiggly middle sections. I honestly think that is a huge difference from when we were young in the 70s. Then, there were chubby kids but it was more of a firm chubby not a rolly polly chubby. I think activity level has a lot to do with it.

A couple of weeks ago my son who is an 8th grader made a perceptive observation. NPR was doing a piece on childhood obesity and he commented that if they want kids more active they need to get rid of middle schools. While living in Canada, my children attended a local public school that was K-8. They had 3 recesses a day. 2 15 minute and 1 half hour. Guess what that adds up to the 60 minutes of exercise that children need each day. In the US, if you child attends middle school no recess and in our school district there is an intermediate school for 5th and 6th which only has one short recess a day.

Swiss - I definitely think the back and stomach issues were related.

Sing: How is your pretrip countdown? We're at 23 days till Mexico and last night when my husband had red wine with dinner I just smelled it so yeah me:drinker:

Yesterday my schedule was so hectic I had to split up my strength training and cardio and wow I was hungry all evening. I've been trying to do my exercise near the end of my 3 hour food window. A recommendation from Shaun in Hip Hop Abs. To burn fat you need to have very few carbs available to burn. Let's see if that makes a difference. I still find the Fat Burning Cardio workout a little tame. Today is Burn Intervals for CX -my favorite plus I'm going to try another run and see how the foot holds up.

Happy Thursday! Stiring - thinking of you in Hawaii. ALF: How's the Flat Belly Diet treating you?

singfree

Duffy, I'm at 35 days (5 weeks) until we leave for Munich. I check Munich airport's website daily to make sure they are still flying, due to the volcano ash. Happily, they are fully open right now and the ash threat is diminishing. I am cautiously optimistic that we will be ok getting there. Actually, I won't mind if we are "stuck" there for a few extra days!!!!

My Friday report tomorrow will be a happy one. The diet and exercise is kicking my body into high gear...finally. My 32" waist jeans are fairly loose and I can see a huge difference in the mirror in the last few days. If I tighten up my diet a bit more, I will really see some huge results!

zebras

Duffyz:

You make me fondly remember recess from school, and we really were active. Kickball, jump rope, jungle gym, etc. All I can do is picture these kids now standing around texting each other or playing video devices, etc. I even wish I had someone whom I could still play jacks with!

Sing: We are keeping our fingers crossed that the volcanos only conspire to keep you in Germany and not away from Germany!