40+ Club: Beating The Winter Bulge

sing, I had a friend recommend the kettlebell and I have seen one at the store. Never tried it, though. My friend thinks it is the most fun way to burn calories.

:flowerforyou: cardigirl, it is good to see you again. If you are up only a couple of pounds then you are doing great. I put on four pounds over the holidays. They are gone now.

:flowerforyou: 2Blean, do try the Zumba. I love it. Such a fun way to burn calories.

My daughter made homemade pizza for dinner. And, I ate some. But, I burned a lot of calories at Zumba tonight so I am hoping that I didn't do any damage to myself.

Yay!!! I'm thrilled to know I am not alone! My name's Lori and today is the first day of my journey to a healthier me = )
I want to lose about 50 lbs (how did i let it get this far?) and could really use support along the way. I have a tedency to start strong and fizzle out in about the 3 - 4 week stretch. I'm excited to see the results in myself that I've seen posted here.

Hi everybody!

Today is Friday for me....so reporting day. Had a bit of a slower week working out because I strained a back muscle on Monday. Nothing too serious, but I did lower the impact of my workouts a bit and modified my lifting. It is getting better slowly, but I was able to workout each day this week, and I'm one workout away from finishing the second week of STS. My eating was very clean all week, and that makes me feel good. So, all in all, a pretty good week. You all heard about my weight yesterday.....so I won't go there again.

But I do want to thank you all again for your support. Today I've been focusing more on the things I did do right during the move. I mean, I didn't eat out every night (as I could have done), and I worked out (and I could have not)...so, all in all, I could have done alot worse than I did. And for somebody who is always preaching 'listen to your body', you all are right.....my body is telling me that it is better to have a little more weight on me. I just need to get used to it is all. But I am doing better today. So thank you all, once again. I couldn't be on this journey without you. :flowerforyou:

alf, great job on the Zumba teaching!! Sounds like you are a good instructor. Keep up the great work!!

Swissmiss, don't worry about the homemade pizza. Pizza, in and of itself, isn't really that bad.....as long as it isn't loaded with high fat meats or tons of cheese, of course. But we eat pizza about twice a month...homemade with lean meats and lots of veggies, and I love it.

singfree, sorry you are having to work another night. That makes for an outrageously long day! Thanks, as always, for your words of wisdom yesterday. I needed the pep talk yesterday, so it is much appreciated. And I haven't worked out with kettlebells, but I read alot of fitness sites, and people love them. I've never jumped on the bandwagon simply because I have limited space for workout equipment....and they won't fit. But, from everything i know, they are very effective.

To all our newcomers....welcome!! I hope you stick around, tell us about yourselves, ask questions, etc. I hope you stick with us.

Hope everybody has a good Friday! :drinker:

Greetings everyone!

I just signed up with this website last night with my younger sister's encouragement.

I turned 40 last October and was also diagnosed with diabetes last year. I have done well with adapting my diet to eat better foods and keep my carb count to approriate levels but I am struggling at keeping my blood-sugar levels consistent throughout the day. Sometimes it is a bit too high and other times my blood-sugar crashes and I MUST eat some carbs even when I am not hungry. I am hoping to normalize this aspect and lose a few more pounds.

I have a fairly sedentary lifestyle as well and hope that I can get motivated to at least walk every day and get into better shape. The older you get, the hard it is!

Thanks for being there and providing support!

Tracy

Hello!!!! Check in day!! It was a really good week for me, I ate clean most of the time as planned and I did all my workouts as planned. I am back down to pre-Holiday weight, 124.6 Yay!!! :drinker: :drinker: So I am very happy that I can declare this past Holiday season as a successful one in terms of not gaining a lot of weight and having to have a "lose weight" New Years resolution. :drinker: :drinker: Yes, I did overindulged at times but that is normal. Happy to report that I had 15 students last night in my class:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: It was so much fun!!! I already spoke with the fitness center staff about needing more space and perhaps moving my class to the basketball court. We also need better flooring in the aerobics room. Will it happen? Not sure...I always wear my HRM but forget to turn it on but last night I did after an intense song and my HR was at 180!!!! Crazy!!!! :noway: You can really burn some serious calories doing Zumba if you take it up a notch.

Welcome to all the new members!!! The more the merrier. Tracy, eating healthier and exercising is the best treatment for diabetes. Take care of yourself. As Stiring said, I hope all the new members stay here with us. We all help each other succeed in our health and fitness goals.

Sing, I have not worked out with kettlebells but I have seen people work out with them and they look tough. It is something different to try and I am sure it will challenge your muscles in a different way. Is there a class you can attend? I think that would be better to learn the proper way to work out with them.

Duffy, I have not ran since my injury in mid Nov. I can say that I do miss it. My husband is kinda "waiting" for me to start running again with him but I keep telling him that my priority right now is Zumba and heal completely from hip flexor injury. I am not too sure it will heal completely since I am still exercising. :grumble: :noway: I am glad that last year I experienced the adrenaline rush you get from race running. I am glad God gave me the stamina to do a couple of 5K's, a 10K, a 10 miler and 2 half marathons!!!! What a rush!!!! I told my husband that I want him to continue running and that I will support him if he decides to enter some races but he keeps insisting it will not be the same if I am not running with him.

Have a wonderful day!!! :flowerforyou:

Happy Friday all!!:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Friday check in stats............same weight, but got weighed and measured and...........lost 3 pounds of body fat!!!!!!! :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: BMI shifted a little, down .1%, but I'll take anything I can get in the positive direction.
I knew I was shifting things because my "skinny jeans" fit again!!!:happy: :happy: :happy: All of my work pants are big in the waist and behind also, but I'm just going to let them be that way until I can get back into the skinnier ones from summer 2008 when the hubby was in Baghdad. I'm not quite there.....yet, but I will make it there before he gets home in May!!!

This is going to sound strange, but I've done better since I STOPPED logging what I'm eating every day.:blushing: ........don't know exactly why - I've been eating mostly the same things, but whatever......it seems to be working for me. I do end up not eating as much, especially at night, because I hate cooking for just one person and end up eating popcorn, a stick of string cheese and some fruit for dinner a couple of times a week.

Today I'm not sure I'll go work out - the sinus headache I had yesterday has turned into a sinus infection/head cold and I can't get an appointment to see a doctore because it's a training holiday!!:grumble: :mad: :grumble: :grumble: So.....I'm trying to ignore it, but it's kinda hard to do that when your ears crackle and pop every time you swallow or talk!!!! I'll probably end up spending 4+ hours in the ER later this weekend, but will not go unless I'm TOTALLY miserable.........:noway: :grumble: I hate waiting in the ER.......

Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys their holiday on Monday if they're fortunate enough to have it off - I know I'm looking forward to sleeping in on Monday:laugh:

I have been very good today and have followed my healthy diet! It makes it hard when my husband comes home from work and makes brownies... my weakness is chocolate!! I have stayed away from them so far today so I pat myself on the back for that. Was starving when i came home from work... could easily have grabbed one but grabbed an apple instead. Now to come up with something for supper that he will eat... and I can eat!

I did my 45 minute workout this morning and hoping to get my treadmill fixed tomorrow... needs a new mother board in it other wise it decides what speed it wants to go no matter what speed you set it at. We are also going snowshoeing tomorrow... and I know that about 1 1/2 hours of snowshoeing burns about 900 calories!~! Yes!!

It is so discouraging that the older you get the harder it is to lose the weight... but I will do this!!! I will reach my goal !!! Does anyone want to be my weight loss buddy?

Angel

:flowerforyou: Angel, your day sounds great. Wow, a lot of exercise and calorie burning. Good for you. By the way...I will be 59 on the 29th. I have the same problem with my husband cooking. Anyone in this thread will verify that. He loves to cook but not healthy foods.

:flowerforyou: Zebras, the thread can get long very quickly. I never have the time to read it all.:grumble:

:flowerforyou: mkwood, My pants are doing the opposite. I have lost a couple of pounds but for some reason my pants are fitting tighter. I can't figure that one out.

:flowerforyou: Tracy, just remember: No cheating. You will soon be seeing results.

Hey everybody!

hisangel, wow! It sounds like you had a very active day yesterday! It DOES feel good, doesn't it? I totally understand how difficult it is to eat right when your husband isn't as committed. My husband hasn't really adopted a full-on healthy lifestyle either. I'm lucky (I suppose) that he's never made brownies....but that's more because he doesn't seem to know where the kitchen is than because he's trying to achieve a healthier status. :laugh: Anyhow, one of the things I've done is taken food that he likes and tried to make them healthy. For instance, he loves sloppy joes. But I won't eat the canned stuff anymore. So I now make sloppy joes from scratch. It's a win-win for us. I have found that he is more than willing to eat healthier food....as long as it doesn't really come across as healthy food. So I make spicy, tasty stuff that is very similar to things we've always eaten but without all of the processing and calories. And it works out really well for us.

jchapple, what DVD did you try? They can be tricky. I've been working out to DVDs since they were videotapes! I actually started working out with tapes over 20 years ago, so if you have any questions on DVDs/videos, please ask. I try to keep myself aware of many of the programs out there, even if I don't do them. DVDs can be a good way to exercise, but they aren't for everybody. But it sounds like mucking out the horses would be GREAT exercise.

zebras, great to see you! :flowerforyou: Please continue checking in when you get a chance. I miss you!

I'm having a good weekend right now. My eating is well back on track (16 days completely clean....and counting!), and I feel better with each passing day. I pulled a muscle in my back last Monday, and it is finally beginning to feel better. So this morning I did a good step aerobics DVD AND a leg workout. It felt good. I'm planning on taking tomorrow off, and, hopefully, my back will be back to normal early next week for me to get back to some more intensity. I finished week 2 of STS this week, and am looking forward to moving on. I'm SO happy to be lifting weights again. My body is really beginning to respond to the cleaner diet AND the strength training and, despite my whining about my weight, I'm beginning to feel really fit again.

Tomorrow marks my one year anniversary of my weight loss journey. I still can't believe I lost over 40 pounds, and have managed to keep (most of) it off since July. But I'm most happy about what I've learned about food and proper nutrition. More than anything, I think THAT has been the biggest change in my life over this past year. Because despite my transgressions of late, I really STILL have no desire to go back to my former eating habits. That's a good thing!

Hope everybody enjoys the rest of the weekend. Stay warm and safe!!

Welcome mags!! As far as exercise is concerned you want to do an activity that you will enjoy and will be able to be consistent. Also schedule it at a time that you know you will be able to follow through. I recommend cardio activity 3-5 days a week and strength training 2-3 days a week. But again dont do too much too soon, start slow but be consistent. Have at least one day a week, or two to rest. They can be active rest days, going to a park, taking a stroll, etc. Ever since joining MFP in Jan 2008 I have learned that the most important part of a weight loss program and a healthy lifestyle overall is the diet!!!! You want to slowly increase the amount of healthy foods and decrease the processed foods, high saturated fat foods, fried foods etc. The more natural foods you eat the better. I am not familiar with the diet in Scotland but I am sure you know in the US we eat lots of processed foods, fried foods and huge portions. Yes, the portions, eat in moderation. This is where MFP can help you tremendously, logging in those foods help you see those numbers right in front of you. Be patient but be consistent and you will start seeing results in no time. We are here to help you along the way. :flowerforyou:

Stiring, good to hear that you feel better!!!! :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

MK, how is your husband doing? He is coming back by summer time right? He will be here before you know it. :flowerforyou:

Swissmiss and StiringWendel it isn't that my husband doesn't try to eat healthy... we eat only chicken, turkey and occasionally fish(for me) neither of us eat beef for medical reasons.. I'm allergic to it and my husband has high cholesteral. And my husband gets lots of exercise.. he is a letter carrier and walks about 16miles a day so he definatly burns off everything he eats. For the most part I do make our meals low fat and healthy except he won't eat vegetables or fruit.. no matter how I try to disquise them! For supper tonight he wanted me to make hamburger helper with ground chicken.... ummmm nope...to many calories and sodium.. so instead we are having tacos... he can have the shells and I'll put the meat on a huge bowl of salad! That's a compromise.

Welcome to the newcomers... this site really works.. Mags... you can do it here.The key to exercise is to find something that you like to do... it makes it much easier to get up and do it!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! :flowerforyou:

I've had a pretty good weekend myself - I made myself have a rest day on Sat. Today was really warm and not raining finally so I took my two pals for a walk. It has been a while for them and they were super excited!!! Hence pulling me down the road a bit. :laugh: But that's ok, they settled down & it was a nice walk. This a.m. I played volleyball; I play on a womens league during the winter. We played 6 games so that was fun!

This week I begin my last 2 weeks of Cathe's STS program. I was feeling kind of sad about it but thanks to Stiring I have a new "plan" and rotation of workouts after I am done. That helps and keeps me looking forward to my next workouts!

Stiring: I hope you give yourself a HUGE pat on the back for your 1 Year B-Day of Weight Loss tomorrow!! :drinker: :drinker: Here's to you! Thanks again for all of your insight and encouragement.

Alf: I peaked in on a Zumba class Friday night while I was waiting to go spinning. It looked pretty fun!

Jchapple: Welcome! I love your photos w/ you and your horse. I spent half of my laugh riding and showing horses. I absolutely loved it and hope to one day have a horse again ..... it's a dream but that's ok. :blushing: That's so great you have that.

Mags: Welcome! As others have already mentioned .... start with something that sounds good to you. If you begin with something you kind of dread or doesn't feel good to your body it will not be as easy to stay motivated. Start small and work/build from that.

Hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend! :flowerforyou:

Happy Monday All:

Hoping to start on the right track from day 1 this week. Going to get back to logging everyday and exercising more, etc.

Hope everyone had a good weekend, and happy MLK day.

:happy: Singfree...thanks for the thoughts about GI...I will double check all my foods. And thanks to you and :happy: Swissmiss for the encouragement!

Isn't it great to know that we can start fresh anytime we get off track?

Have a great week everyone!