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

Tron, (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) You are going through a lot right now and I can't imagine how you must feel. You are not letting us down by gaining weight, of course not. We totally understand that any stresses in our lives can very much impact our bodies, not only mentally but also physically. I am so sorry to hear about your brother. Does he live nearby? If you can try to see him and spend as much time as you can with him. I will be praying for you and your family. :flowerforyou:

tron, I'm so sorry to hear about everything that is going on in your life....most especially your brother's illness. I can't even begin to imagine the impact of such news and his reaction. It breaks my heart to even read it. But please know you are most definitely not letting us down by gaining some weight!!! I feel this is a journey we are all on together and all journeys have ups and downs. We all have experienced both the ups and downs (which is why we're on a site like MFP). In other words.....we understand. Just take care of yourself, take care of your family, and we will continue to be here as your friends whenever you need us, regardless of your weight/size. :flowerforyou:

singfree, I was thinking about you this morning when I read about the snow in that part of the country. Please be safe. It sounds like you're experiencing quite a storm.

alf, don't worry about the weight gain!!!! I know it is frustrating, but I can guarantee those pounds aren't true weight gain. When you go back to eating healthier, most (if not all) of the weight and bloat will drop off pretty quickly.....as long as you go back to clean eating, of course. As you know, I've been roller coasting it now for a couple of months, and I've learned alot about how my body reacts to eating well vs eating not so well. And when I eat not so well, I gain weight very quickly and bloat up very quickly (we're talking within a day or two). But the good thing is I lose that (or most of it) after a couple of days of better eating. So don't let yourself get too down about it.

As far as your leg, I hope you get a chance to see the doctor again. But I also think a few days of total rest might not be a bad idea either.

Welcome imway2fat!

zebras, good job on the workouts! I totally agree with you about how great it is to be able to get to know people from different parts of the country/world on the internet. And, btw, I'm not married to a General. My husband is enlisted (he's a Chief Master Sergeant, which is the highest enlisted rank in the Air Force) and is the senior enlisted advisor to the highest ranking US Air Force general here in Korea (making my husband the senior enlisted representative for the AF here in Korea). That's why we get to experience all of the wonderful opportunities we get to experience. I can honestly say that neither one of us dreamed we'd ever have these kinds of experiences. We are incredibly lucky people, that's for sure.

So yesterday was an off-the-charts bad day for me and eating. We had our big Christmas party last night (Saturday night), and I ate and drank more than any human being should. But I also had a great time, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. Today I'm hosting dinner for seven single airmen....which is kind of a challenge since we don't have our household goods in yet. But I really want to give them a home cooked meal as a Christmas gift since most of them live in the dorms and eat at a dining hall. It's lasagna and calzones for dinner (definitely not traditional Christmas), with salad and garlic bread. Dessert will be a choice of (or a little of both) either an apple toffee crisp with vanilla ice cream or a chocolate/peanut butter chip cheesecake. I've also put together packages for all of them consisting of about nine different kinds of cookies/candies/fudge that they can enjoy over the next little bit. In other words, I'm not doing anything to spread health and clean eating this Christmas but, hopefully, they'll enjoy a little taste of some homemade goods!! I'm really looking forward to this.

I'm hoping to start my last week of Insanity today (if I can get myself motivated)!! I should be done just in time for my new Cathe workouts to arrive. I watched clips of some of these new workouts yesterday. I was a little concerned they might not challenge me enough after Insanity.....but I don't think that's going to be a problem. They look tough. :noway: I can't wait. :bigsmile:

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend.

After Insanity, I'm going to go back into a STS rotation with a new cardio series Cathe Friedrich has created to be done with conjunction with that strength training program. I can't wait to get back to lifting weights again. I'll do that for three months and then use the same series to do an undulating rotation (hopefully with 2BLean :flowerforyou: ). So I've got my workout plans in place for the first half of 2010 already.

I'm there! Can't wait. We will definitely coordinate as it gets closer but I am counting on it! I am really excited for Shock to arrive ~ got the e-mail that it shipped out!! I can't wait to visit with you on these as well.

Tron: I am so sorry to hear about your brother as well. I will be praying for you and your brother too. :flowerforyou: As others mentioned, don't worry about the weight ~ that will come together and you will be right on track again.

Singfree: How are you doing in the snow storm?!? Hope all is well and everyone is adjusting. Our area went through that last year and it was very beautiful but at the same time a little scary and well .... a little much at times! Hang in there.

Had a very busy weekend and no workouts but I accomplished a lot for Christmas and all that it entails. Jumped right up this a.m. though to do my workout and it was great. Tomorrow will be cardio.

Hope you all have a great day! :flowerforyou:

Hi all,
I tried to find my last post and can't believe it has been so long since I posted. I may have started on one and never posted it. Anyway, I'm here.

Tron, so sorry to hear about your brother. You are certainly in my thoughts and in my prayers. The biggest advice I can give you and your brother is to make sure that your brother is an ACTIVE participant in his health care. Do NOT take one person's advice at face value. Question, ask about alternatives, ask what the course of care should be, don't expect people to follow up. Get a notebook with pockets and write down daily what is happening, what the plan is for that day and then what actually happened. Keep all patient instructions in the notebook and write down all medications. Bring all meds to all appointments. It will help put a little control in a very uncontrolled situation. If your brother is far away, you can help him with the tracking and follow-up work. I do this for my mom and did this for my brother-in-law through and after his liver transplant. Take care of yourself so you can help him.

Both kids are home for the holidays and want to eat healthy and exercise. Daughter and I made it to water aerobics on Friday. Hubs and I go to the trainer tonight. So many sweets around work! Luckily, the vendor who used to send the buckets of nasty popcorn (my downfall) is donating to charity instead this year.

Take care all. TxMs

Tron,
I've been thinking and praying about you and your brother all day. Do what you and your brother can to take control. Walking into a doctor's appointment with all your ducks in a row will help put the control where it needs to be: with you guys (or y'all). Write down everything. Encourage all of the family to write down everything and be an active part of the treatment team.

Special blessings come when you least expect it. Note them all.

I am here for you. TXMs

Sigh.....I have been having trouble with my work computer so I haven't been here lately. Got the computer back yesterday. I really should get my home PC away from my daughters so that I can be here in the evenings.

I have not been eating right and have gained a few pounds. One thing that I think I should delete from my diet is the red wine. I know, sing, you say a little will not hurt and I know that it does have health benefits...but.....it metabolizes differently and I really think that it is hurting my efforts.

I am thinking of having my former mother-in-law's chicken and yellow rice for Christmas. It isn't the healthiest and has a lot of calories but it is also soooo good. It takes red wine.:laugh:

My strength and Zumba classes are through for the year. I will probably do some work outs at home. I wish the weather were nice and that I had my bike out of layaway. I would love to hit the bike trail.

Is everyone done with their shopping? I am just getting started. I am only buying something small for my three girls. We are planning on giving gifts when we get some money. Between my husband and I, there were three surgeries this past year. So, we are a bit strapped trying to get the medical bills paid. Without the gifts on Friday, I am hopeing that we will be thinking more of the true meaning of the holiday.

Have a wonderful day. I will try to post again later on.

It's half way through Christmas Eve here in Korea, and I finally have a moment to check-in and wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with love, happiness and hope. :flowerforyou:

tron, Christmas is a national holiday in Korea (about 25% of the population is Christian), and my husband has asked a number of Koreans if they celebrate the holiday. Their response is invariably a 'yes', but when he asks what they do to celebrate, they usually say 'nothing'. So............I'm not sure what the Koreans do for Christmas. I see little signs it is Christmas at all here except for those places catering to Americans.

singfree, I hope you are enjoying/enjoyed your last night of work before the holiday.

Swissmiss, your Christmas dinner sounds good! I love yellow rice.

alf, my eating is out of control too!! I mean SERIOUSLY out of control. Oh, well. Like you, I plan on getting back on track in January.

One of the reasons my eating is out of control is we got our household goods yesterday!! :drinker: Finally!! My husband is taking great pride in giving me 12,000 pounds of stuff to unwrap this Christmas, but I'm not really appreciating his sense of humor. It appears that most everything arrived safely (we had some breaks, of course), so we're feeling lucky right now. But the house is a mess, and I really want to get it at least decent before tomorrow so that on Christmas night, my husband and I feel relaxed enough to sit down, watch a Christmas movie, enjoy some wine, and celebrate our first Christmas in Korea. It feels really good to be 'home' again.

So, needless to say, I haven't worked out the last two days (though moving in is workout enough......no doubt). But I nearly hugged my dumbells when they came off the truck. I'll finish the final three days of Insanity early next week and start lifting weights again. And, hopefully, in about two weeks, I'll feel up to starting my STS rotation. I can't wait. Hopefully by then my eating will be back on track too.

Again, I wish you all the very best on this holiday.

HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!! :flowerforyou:

:flowerforyou: Maria, I envy you your white Christmas. Ours was wet. Lots of rain. We are east of you so why aren't we getting some of that white stuff????

:flowerforyou: stiring, I find it sad that you are not surrounded with Christmas scenery. But, it is the thought and spirit that counts. Let us know more of how a Korean Christmas is.

:flowerforyou: alf, no Zumba for a couple of weeks. Winter break. I soooo miss it.

I made the yellow rice and chicken and of course it was not nearly as good as my mother-in-law's. No one can make it as good as she could, even with following her recipe. One year she sat next to the stove, in her wheelchair, and told me how to make it and it still wasn't as good as if she had made it. I ate so badly this year that I had a stomach ache. Serves me right !!!! My step-son came over and made us baklava. Now, who can turn that down ???:noway:

Our family had decided a long time ago that due to my husband and I having three surgeries this past year that we would not be exchanging gifts for Christmas. We cerebrated in a very true and spiritual way. Very refreshing.

An added note......two days before Christmas my husband lost his job.:sad: I am hoping that he finds somethings else quickly as we can not live on my income alone. He is a hard worker and will take whatever is available. I can just see him, with his bachelors degree, flipping burgers.

My girls will be leaving this afternoon for Kansas City, leaving my husband and I with a few days to ourselves. We are planning on spending a lot of time at the YMCA working off our Christmas food.

Oh stiring, I just had to weigh myself. I am up almost five pounds !!!! I know that it isn't on my hips yet so I am drinking a lot of water and trying to clean myself out. Glad that you are settled in your new home. I am going to thank you for all of the relatives here who have family serving. I am sure that you did make a difference in their lives this Christmas.

My girls are on their way to Kansas City. A trip of about ten hours. One of them is having a birthday today so two of her siblings have called to talk to her. I guess they forgot about the trip. I now have only two teenagers living with me as my daughter turns 20 today.

Happy New Year, alf.

YES, it is snowing here !!!

Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy New Year! We had a white Christmas in North Texas! First white Christmas I have had since I was a senior in high school and we drove from Mississippi to Michigan to be with my uncle for Christmas. Wednesday afternoon my daughter was in shorts and a tank top with temps in the 80's. Thursdays afternoon as we left church, the wind chill was in the teens with about an inch of snow on the ground and more falling. Luckily, we live about ten blocks from church because the roads were covered in ice and snow.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve with our neighbors across the street. We have a joke with the neighbors to be careful on the dangerous trip back home. That night, getting up and down the lawns and across the street was dangerous! (everyone made it home safely).

It is still a very busy holiday season. The daughter of friends of ours is getting married on New Year's Eve. My husband was in a band with her dad and several others all of whom have moved away. There are lots get-togethers with everyone in town for the wedding. My mother and brother-in-law Mike (husband of my sister who died in Sept 08) are coming in from Mississippi on Wednesday. Our daughter turns 21 on New Year's Day and we have hockey tickets to a Dallas Stars game on Saturday. Unfortunately, the game is at the same time as the Cotton Bowl with Ole Miss playing so we will have to tape the football game.

I spent the weekend moving furniture and boxes. I still need clean the downstairs bedroom for my mom. We are having water damage in the adjoining bathroom repaired and it is still not complete. The mirror from the bathroom is leaning against the beds and I am afraid to do much in that room until the mirror is put back on the wall. They are supposed to finish today.

We will go to the trainer tonight. I have not been recording food or really exercising (other than cleaning and moving furniture) and have gained back about 5 pounds. I am ready to jump back on the fitness and health wagon!

Swiss, so sorry to hear about your husband. What a terrible thing at the holidays. I wish all the best!
Sing, I am with you on the healthy lifestyle.
Tron, hope you guys are hanging in there.
Alf, enjoy your cruise.
Stiring, keep the news from Korea coming.
Everyone else, keep in touch and start those New Year's resolutions now!
Take care all! TxMs

A friend and I always have one lunch together during the holidays. I let her pick the restaurant. Bad move. She chose a Chinese buffet. No way to eat healthy there. Oh well, another day. I will pick myself up and go on.