40+ Club: Hop Into Spring With A Fit Bod

tron3002

Sing... Thank you for starting the new thread... Also, how many points are you allowed? I get the WW magazine and it seems like all the women are on the same points value. Do you know if it varies for women/men of different sizes?

String.... I agree with sing and alf, you would make an awesome trainer. You are very knowledgeable and if you don't know the answer you take the time to find it out. I don't know how much patients you need because normally people who hire a trainer are pretty serious about what they are trying to accomplish and if they aren't...... You've seen the biggest loser and Jillian screaming...LOL

Welcome to all the new comers.... This is a terrific group here. I think you will really enjoy it.

As for me, I have been busy getting things ready for my daughters wedding on the 27th. I made her bouquet, got the little thank you gift boxes ready, made special labels for the champagne, as well as a few other things. Still have to get started on the center pieces.

My brother has an appointment with another doctor tomorrow for a "second" opinion. He said the first doctor kept contradicting himself and he didn't like the course of treatment. Yes, it is cancer but they wanted him to take the chemo pills and he said he doesn't want to do that because he can't be sick all of the time and not be able to work. I cant even imagine what his poor wife thinks of this being as shes pregnant with their 4th child due in May.

I worked out twice last week. Not very good but it was a start. This week I am planning on at least adding on a day hopefully two.

TC318

I am so glad i found this. I have only been here a few weeks and have wondered a way to find friends. This may be it. I am a 41, about to be 42 year old, wife and mom. This is the first time since before my oldest was born (he is 10.) that I have done something for me. It feels awesome. I feel very empowered everytime i complete a day of eating right or make time to exercise. I look forward to seeing everyone's posts.

PhotographerOfNature

My name is Sandi, and I am 43 yrs old. I would love to hop into spring with a fit bod. I am 5' 6 1/4" tall and weigh 178. I would love to weigh 170 by the end of April and 165 by the end of May. That would be very cool. Thanks for the thread!

SherryRH

Went on a 3.5 mile run early this morning and then had a one hour massage before dinner. Is it bed time yet? LOL

alf1163

OMG!!!! We just started this topic and all of these posts!!!!! Amazing!!! Sorry, dont have time to read them all and respond. It is almost 10pm and I have to get up at 2:30 am. Our flight leaves at 6am!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take care guys!!! I will try to check in from Puerto Rico just for a quick HELLO!!!!

And Sing, I might that Bo Derek run in slow motion...:laugh: :laugh:

Hugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Annette:flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

Have a great trip, alf!!:drinker:

Welcome to our newcomers! :flowerforyou:

kathymurphy, I know we have some people who are close to 60 in our group.....so even if there aren't people who are 60....you can lead the way for us!!

SherryRH, great job on the run! I love that exhausted feeling I get from intense exercise.

PhotographerofN, sounds like you have set some very reasonable goals for yourself. Stick with us and ask any questions you might have.

TC318, I LOVE that you said you are doing this for yourself. My sister-in-law was asking me about weight loss recently because my mother-in-law keeps telling her she needs to lose weight. And one of my thoughts to her was that it isn't going to work unless she was doing it for herself. Sounds like you've got a great attitude about it all. It really IS empowering to take control of your life in such a way.

tron, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. I didn't realize he was expecting another child. This must be such a difficult time for his family. Your future son-in-law is joining the military after they get married, right? It should be an interesting time for them as they not only transition into married life but military life. But, once again, great job at what you are doing!! With everything you've got going on, I think it is amazing you are crafting ANY time for workouts. Pat yourself on the back for that, tron, because I think it is great.

tamarads, it must feel so good to be able to run outside. I hope you enjoyed it. We have....more snow. :grumble: I am more than ready for spring....which is putting it mildly.

Thanks, all, for the encouragement in becoming a personal trainer. I'm going to give it some serious thought. I think I'm having a difficult time grasping the notion that I've gone from that overweight girl who really could use some fitness and nutrition assistance to somebody who could be giving out fitness and nutrition assistance! You all do such wonders for me ego sometimes. :blushing: Thank you. :flowerforyou:

But, singfree, my long lost brother, you nailed it when you said why you would have a hard time being a personal trainer. I think I might have a hard time putting together a plan for somebody who might just ignore me. Let's just say, I've done that once or twice for my husband throughout the years. And it never has really sat too well with me. :laugh: But maybe I won't take it so personally if that person isn't my husband....and I'm getting paid somehow.

I'm supposed to be in 'recovery' mode right now in between STS cycles, but 'recovery' and I don't always do well with each other. :happy: But I did take it down a notch today, and only did about 70 minutes of cardio. Tomorrow, I'll try to ease off a little more than that. I really do think my body needs a break right now. It's just convincing myself to take one that's difficult. Still doing well with the eating, though.

Hope everybody has a great day.

singfree

Good morning!

Welcome to our newbies TC, Photog, and Sherry!!! Please stay a while and post often. We are here to help and encourage you to reach your goal.

Tron, my thoughts are with you!

Stiring, dear sister, don't you know by now that husbands never listen to their wives?? :grumble: So, training your hubby is a worst case scenario. I know what you mean about taking a break before the next round of conditioning. After a few months of daily cardio and strength training, I need a break. My body feels completely worn out and needs a recharge. I usually just walk or hike during that period and forget about weights for a few days. Maybe some stretching or yoga? It might also be a good time to experiment with different ratios of carb/prot/fat. What is your ratio now? I'm shooting for 40/40/20. It's a good blend for me, especially when I do the eliptical and biking daily.

Speaking of biking, the weather has been so nice here that I've been biking almost daily. I try to get out for an hour or more each time. Being outdoors sure beats the gym any day! Today is upper body day. At the gym I will do some traditional strength training and then at home after work I will do a short kettlebell workout and a bike ride. I've been pretty good with my eating this week and it's showing, as my clothes are much looser even after a few days of clean eating.

Next Thursday night we will be flying to LAX from BWI (Baltimore). Baltimore is a bit of a haul for us, but I was able to get non-stop flights at a good fare. After the wedding on Saturday we have a red-eye back to BWI. We really won't have much time to visit, but we want to support my BIL, who has been a widower for the past 6 years. He knows the meaning of being healthy. He's 62 years old and is fit and very healthy. His first wife was morbidly obese. I believe that many of her health problems were directly related to obesity. In the end she suffered a great deal. His fiancee is petite and slim. They eat healthy and exercise regularly. And the sly old fox got himself a hottie who is 16 years his junior!!!

Well, gotta go!


Have a great day!

duffyzmom

Sorry it has taken me 2 pages to get on new thread. Crazy Crazy Crazy week here with darling daughter's sweet 16 birthday and a school schedule that makes your head spend. Half day AM, no school, half day PM, half day PM, full day. How they expect parents to follow along - I will never know. Don't they realize we are running on limited brain cells.:laugh:

It has been great running weather :drinker: I'm up to over 7 miles in my long runs which has had the unfortunate side effect of leaving me exhausted all the time - from sun up to sun down. It could be the combo of training runs plus the Lean phase of CX - I moved my schedule around a little this week to have one complete day of rest (I had been training everyday) - I hope that helps. If not I may have to tweak my foods to add a little more carbs to the mix.

singfree

Good morning1

Hey, where is everyone?

Amazingly I am still going strong with "mostly" clean eating and exercise. I say mostly because I still had a glass of red wine at night and a few pretzel nuggets with some PB. Actually, that's not too bad. I'm sure that I am under my calories for the day, especially when I exercise hard. I did a full upper body workout at the gym and 45 minutes on my road bike. I probably burned around 700-800 cals total. That's a bit low for me. When the weather gets warm with more daylight hours, I can easily burn 1000-1500 cals in daily exercise. That's when I need to be careful about overtraining and just plain burnout. During those times I must carefully monitor my intake, because I know I don't eat nearly enough clean food to support strenuous workouts.

Enough of my troubles...how's everyone doing? Duffy, yes that's a good idea about upping your carbs a bit, especially doing Lean CX and running. That's a big concern for me during the summer when I do a lot more outside activities. That school schedule sounds confusing!

By now I'm sure that Alf is enjoying her family and the beach! Have a wonderful time!

G'day!!!

duffyzmom

Sing: I take the few posts as a sign the weather is better and we all are out enjoying. At least I have been when I'm not driving back and forth to the school, 5 times yesterday due to high school and middle school having different schedules. Glad to hear you are doing better with the healthy eating. I too had red wine last night - I had been looking for Bored Doe for about 2 years and when I found it at my local beer store I just had to have it.

Out for another run today but no weights. I will probably have to tweak my foods - I fell asleep at 8:30 yesterday watching Tivo'd Lost.:grumble:

zebras

Good Morning All!

Tuesday morning I got a call from the doctor, and he had my husband there, and they were sending him to the ER in an ambulance. He had a fever, and he was getting so upset, they had to give him oxygen, etc. So he spent about 28 hours in the hospital, they think it was a virus. He's home now. We all know that when my husband is in the hospital, I lose control of my eating! I didn't do too badly this time. But, of course, didn't get proper workouts. I'm back at work today, so hopefuly I can stay within my calories, etc.

Thanks for listening.

tamarads

Oh Zebra... how frightening for you all. I hope he is feeling better soon.

singfree

zebras, thanks for the update. I hope your husband is back to normal quickly!

duffy, some of those micro-brews have funny names. I remember back in the 70s (yes I'm THAT old)...there was a novelty beer called Old Frothingslosh, Pale Stale Ale..."The foam's on the bottom". As I recall, there was a picture of a rather large woman on the can. I should Google that.

RhondaRC

Hello, this is new for me but, I do have several goals this year. We will have a new swimming pool opening in our town and I know my kids will want to go there. I would like to feel good doing so. Also, I am planning on riding the Great Iowa Bike Ride of "Ragbrai" (in July) and need to increase my strength and endurance. Lastly, I have an All 80's Decade class reunion in Aug.

I would like to loose 20 lbs. The calorie counting has been a great help and I am more aware of what I eat through-out the day. The real motivation is needed in keeping up my activity level up. It is difficult because, it often involves delaying my house cleaning. I really hate a messy house.
I try to tell myself that, I need to do this for myself. I do like feeling good and enjoy fitting into my clothes better.

I am hoping the 40+ Club can help me stay on track!!!

mkwood10

Hey everybody.....I found the thread!
It's been another crazy week here at work, but I guess that's the new "normal" around here!:laugh:
Got weighed/measured on Monday..........down 2.5 pounds from last measurement, lost about 4" total and can't remember the body fat%; I forgot my printout in my workout bag!!!:ohwell:

Headed to Wichita later today to see BonJovi tonight......I can't wait!!!!!!!! :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: I've wanted to see them for over 20 years, so am taking my oldest daughter and her boyfriend and we'll be dancing all night:laugh: :laugh:

Have a good day all, I'll try to get back in here tomorrow to let you know how exhausted I am from all that dancing!:bigsmile:

sunnysmile

Hey everyone (please excuse me for not responding to others' posts today) ...

I am having a rough day. Father-in-law in hospital again (was in hospital on weekend too) and he is not local to us so we feel very stuck ... can't really help. He is having problems perhaps unrelated to his cancer (he's in stage 4) so that is not good. I keep telling my husband he can hop on a plane anytime he wants, not to worry about me or the money.

During the night and this morning I woke up feeling pain when I swallow and I am petrified of getting sick again since I was sick all Fall. So I hopped out of bed and used the Nedi pot and drank some tea. As a precaution I did not go to the pool this morning, and will try to do some exercise this afternoon, maybe the Wii Walk it Out program. I did miss the swimming. I just pray I don't get really sick and that my asthma doesn't flare. I am doing so well now with exercise and weight loss, I am afraid to head backwards.

So, I do need some encouraging words of support.

Yesterday I had exercised so many times that I had lots and lots of calories so my husband brought in a Bertucci's pizza which was fine until I woke up not feeling so well, ate two extra pieces, an orange, and a light yogurt. I was initially under calories and then ended up 468 calories over. I guess that isn't awful in the scheme of things, so I promised myself that would stop.

Today I ate two pieces of the pizza for breakfast, not the best idea, but I did watch lunch carefully, drink lots of fluid and now have about 580 calories left for the day. I should be able to stay within that.

Just send words of encouragement. Work is really pounding the work today (I work from home so being sick makes no difference, I still work, although today I am in my nightgown with the heat up high). I probably will have to work tonight also.

Affirmation --- I will not let what I cannot control be a reason to not take care of myself. I will succeed in being good to myself even if I am going through a rough day, or a rough patch. I love myself and will put myself first even if sad times hit and I have to fly off to a funeral (please lord, no).

I hope everyone is having an easier day than me.

Glad this group is here.

Sunny

Texssippian

Hi Sunny! Hang in there. Are you taking a multi-vitamin? If not, think about it. It may help boost your immune system. We keep hand gel in the car and use after being in the gym. Plus: I wear weight lifting gloves to keep the germies off and keep from developing calluses. Hope you get to feeling better. It is so hard when you have family sick and far away.

Tron: I hope your brother finds a doctor he can work with. It is so important for him to be a part of his own treatment team and make changes if he is not happy.

Zebras: hope your husband is feeling better.

Stiring: It is not River Aerobics time yet. The water park has to open first. I can't wait! I am going to have to buy a new pair of water running shoes. The ones I bought at Walmart four years ago are just about shot.

Take care all! TxMs

StiringWendel

Hi everybody!

Time for Friday check-in. I'm not weighing myself again (which is good), but I've had a good week of working out and eating. My clothes fit, and I'm feeling better with the increased calories. I've been off strength training this week because I'm in between cycles of STS (starting the last, heaviest phase on Monday), so I'm anxious to get back to that. But the break has been good in letting some of the nagging injuries that I get when lifting weights (like tendonitis in my forearm) heal up a bit. We leave for Hawaii in a little more than five weeks, and my eyes are definitely on that prize right now when it comes to getting/staying in shape and keeping my eating clean.

singfree, sounds like you are doing great!! I still don't think you should be concerned about the pretzels and wine, especially as active as you are. What I wouldn't give to be able to have your calorie burn!!

duffy, sounds like the running is going really well. I'm with singfree in thinking that upping your carbs (and probably total calories) may not be a bad thing at all given all you are doing right now. I know upping my totals has helped me tremendously.

zebras, I hope your husband is feeling better. How scary that must have been.

Welcome RhondaRC! Keep focusing on how much better what you are doing is making you feel because you are right, you do need to do this for yourself. Sounds like you are doing great.

mk, you amaze me!! Congrats on the weight loss. And I hope you have fun at the concert!!

sunnysmile, I know how easy it is when you start not feeling well to think 'Well, there goes my plan. I'll just throw in the towel on everything until I feel better', especially when there are other stresses in your life (like family members being ill). Don't throw in the towel! Don't let those things defeat you. The key to getting through tough times is to recognize them for what they are, see them as triggers for eating, and try to come up with a better way of making yourself feel better that doesn't involve food. When you are ill, the key to getting through that is to simply watch what you eat. You may not be able to workout as you would like, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to gain weight during that time. You can actually still lose weight even if you aren't able to exercise if you simply watch your calories. I know....easier said than done. And trust me, I've gained alot of weight through my injuries, so I know how hard it is. But don't let it defeat you. I hope you are feeling better, though. Stick with us if you are sick and we'll try to motivate you through this illness if need be. :flowerforyou: And, finally, because you are experiencing a very sad situation with your father-in-law, recognize it as a tough time and DON'T beat yourself up over things right now. Focus on the positives that you are doing and just let the rest go.

TxMs, as always....good to see you!

I hope everybody has a great Friday.

singfree

Good morning!

Another Friday reporting day already? TGIF!!!! The weather is turning sour here. Rain showers today, heavy rain (2-3") tomorrow and showers on Sunday. All that rain added to the melting snow will really make the rivers & streams rise. At least it's not snow!

Sunny, hang in there. I know it's rough dealing with the major health problems of a loved one. I still am dealing with my mother's death in January. My heart goes out to all who must deal with such pain. But when I think of all the blessings I have in this life, it cheers me immediately. Take care of your health FIRST. You will not be able to help your family if you are sick. don't sweat the little setbacks in your diet. Just look to a bright and healthy future!

Stiring, tendonitis in the elbow must run in the family! When I start lifting a lot of weight, my left elbow becomes inflamed. This is especially true when I do tricep pulldowns at the gym. I do a number of sets, increasing the weight and decreasing the reps each time. So when I get to my one-rep max at 150 lbs, my arms are screaming for mercy. You will be glad that you took a break from lifting. I do the same thing, because my body starts to break down and become injury-prone if I don't. One thing that I've noticed with my diet recently is that I have almost no bloating. I attribute this to keeping the protein a bit higher and limiting "bad" carbs. Have you experienced anything similar?

Reporting day! I am happy to report that I did a great job with diet and exercise this week. My focus is to eat clean and gain strength. My strength right now is similar to what it was last fall. I am carrying around 10 extra lbs of body fat which I would like to shed before Europe. That is doable, since it is 11 weeks away. My clothes continue to fit me better and I've not weighed myself in months.

For some of the newbies, here is a little bit about me and my fitness journey. I am 55 years old, 5'8" and my weight hovers between 150-155 lbs. I have a small frame, so any extra weight really shows on me. I've always been very athletic and enjoy working out. My sticking point was and remains my diet. When I eat a clean and balanced diet I have an easy time maintaining my shape. But when I eat more junk than good food, it shows around my middle. I think that I give pretty good advice to others, but I need to ALWAYS practice what I preach.

I hope everyone has a great Friday....and enjoy your weekend!

itsbella

Tag you're it! Found you!

Good Morning! I started this journey last Nov. with the intentions of getting rid of 40 extra pounds while training for a half marathon which I trained for consistently until last week. I was gaining consistently aswell!!! So, last week I changed my routine, cut back on the runs and started strength and boom...3 lbs gone! Another mistake I was doing was not eating my exercised calories which it took 2 months for the concept to sink into my brain!! I have on this road many times before and due to not having the right information and life getting the best of my attention I struggled with it.

I'm glad I found you all!! I'm still running, just not as much.