40+ Club: Beating The Winter Bulge

alf1163 - thanks for the advice! I started zumba 2 weeks ago (twice a week) and LOVE it!!!! I sweat so much but am having so much fun dancing that I dont want to take a break!!!!

Yea, i prettyy much eat only chicken and turkey, I love a good steak about once a month:-) I dont think i will ever be a vegetarian like alyssa!

My husband is in the navy, hoping to retire next year. How is life for you after the military?
Jenny

Zumba Love!!!! :flowerforyou: I am glad you enjoy Zumba. It is a great workout! I am not sure if your instructor does some toning exercises but you can alternate your zumba workouts with some strength training 2-3 times a week and you have a great exercise program.

My husband retired about 6yrs ago. It's been nice in the sense that I don't worry about him getting deployed, going TDY, etc. Although I miss that time for myself. :laugh: :laugh: :devil: That sounded evil!! :laugh: The only thing I dont like is that he completely stopped working out and gained a lot of weight. At first his excuse was that he was taking a break from exercise because he had just retired and then there was no excuse just plain laziness. Towards the middle of last year he finally came to his senses and started working out some more and even ran a couple of half marathons with me and other races!!! :drinker: He has slowed down since the Holidays, excuse, the weather but has gained some so he says he is getting back on track...my daughter is on terminal leave after serving 4 yrs in the ARMY. I served 4 yrs as well.

Take care!!! :flowerforyou:

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

Hello everyone.......I'm finally back in the land of the living!!! Thursday morning the head cold from hell hit me, and today's the first day since that I actually feel human!!:laugh: :laugh: Aiming to work out on the way home tonite but will see how I feel by the end of the day.

Welcome all newbies...........this site and this thread have been a great help to me since I joined MFP.

Alf...........the hubby's busy, bored and tired of living in a 3rd world country with technology!! He is due home in 104 days (May 5). I can't wait.......this deployment has been harder so far on me than I thought it would be. Not sure if it was the holidays and the horrible weather we've had here in Kansas or what, but I am totally ready for spring and for him to be home!! I talk to him almost every night (thank goodness for cell phones with free long distance) and play email tag every morning. Helps to have that instant contact, but most days we don't have much to say to each other because not much happens in a 12 hour period!!!

Headed to lunch..........talk to everyone later.

Today was my "rest day" although I did some walking but not my regular exercise. I can tell you I miss not having worked out this morning. Tomorrow I'll be back on my treadmill, I could feel it in my legs.. and I can see the difference.. I can see the muscle definition in my thighs now. Wow!! This is great!!

Stiring... yeah can you believe 184 calories burned doing Wii Tennis!!! I wish I had one at home!! Oh well maybe tomorrow.
Karin... keep working at it... we are all in this together..

I don't remember who said they had problems with their knees ... sorry... but I have chondromalcia in both knees.. (grade 2) for those who don't know what it is.. basically the ligaments that are attached to the bones in the knee are deterioting and almost not there anymore... gel injections have worked for me thus far. I run on my treadmill most every day... yeah they hurt.. but icing them helps and I keep going. Hope that helps.

Hi everybody! :flowerforyou:

karinf....welcome!! I, too, love that MFP keeps me accountable for my food. I think you've got a great plan there in planning ahead for special events and accomodating those days we ALL have where we eat more than we probably should.

singfree, I love what you said about this thread. Like you (my brother ), I refuse to carry the baggage of negativity and stress anymore. And I certainly don't think either of those things are good when it comes to making healthy lifestyle changes or losing weight. And that's why I love the people on this thread SO much. Like alf, I'm a bit surprised to hear you say you think you aren't striking a 80/20 balance in your eating. I know you've repeatedly mentioned the wine and pretzels but, in my opinion, neither of those are actually bad foods. So don't beat yourself up over either. If you were sitting down with a margarita and a bag of Doritos every night, it would be a different story. In other words, I think you ARE choosing healthy alternatives. And thanks for the info on your pseudo-kettlebells. I've always been curious how they work the body differently than standard weights, but I know they do. Let us know what you are seeing/experiencing. Who knows? When we get back to the US, I may have to break down and get some.

duffy, I'm with Dr. Fuhrman in not liking all the crap that goes into dairy products. But I still don't think I could give it up. Do you like the soy milk? I've never tried it. Regarding the six meals day, one of the things I learned over the last year is that the concept of six meals a day was developed by body builders simply because eating that many meals a day was the only way they could take in enough calories to build their muscles in the way they do. It was later turned into a weight loss technique, and I've heard all kinds of statements about why it is positive to eat more meals a day instead of a few meals a day, but most of those statements have been debunked. It IS good to eat every four/five hours or so, if for no other reason that it keeps people from being too hungry for meals and overeating. But, from what I understand, there is really no difference in how a body metabolizes food if a person eats 1 1500 calorie meal a day, 3 500 calorie meals a day, or 5 300 calories a meal a day. I'd be curious why Dr. Fuhrman is adamant about three meals a day because I DO think it is up to each individual on what makes them feel better.

tamarads, yes I'm at Osan. When were you here? I would bet you wouldn't recognize the base anymore since so much building has been done recently to prepare for the arrival of families (since Korea is going from being a remote assignment to a standardized overseas assignment). This is our sixth tour overseas since 1992, so I'm a bit of a pro at this. But I still miss home. :brokenheart: And welcome!!

zebras, good to see you! :flowerforyou:

alf, 19 people!!!! That's amazing. I met the Zumba instructor on base the other night. I'm thinking she's going to see me in a class soon. People are definitely talking Zumba here in Korea. :happy:

wingslion, welcome!! About your knees, you've received some good advise from alf, and I echo it. Give yourself a bit of a break and see how that feels. Perhaps come back a little more slowly and see if that helps. And if the pain persists or gets worse, go and see your doctor.

mk, I'm sorry to hear you weren't feeling well. And I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with this deployment. I have no doubt alot of that has to do with the holidays, and the weather....but you also had very little time to prepare for his departure. For me, I would be like 'What happened?' with my head spinning a little bit from the sudden change still. (I know of what I speak since that's how I still feel about our sudden move to Korea!). Hang in there! I hope you get to feeling better soon. :flowerforyou:

hisangel, I hear you about days off. They are tough on me, and I hate them if I'm not keeping busy otherwise. I keep telling myself 'A break is good for me', but my body loves working out, and I always have so much more energy on days I workout than on days I don't. Go figure. But good for you in taking the day because that will help with that muscle definition!

Swissmiss, good luck in weight class!! I hope it doesn't kill you.

All here is well. I had a great workout this morning....back/triceps followed by a step cardio workout. My eating is still clean. In fact, I'm baking two loaves of whole wheat bread as I type this. I'm so happy to have my bread machine back with me. I missed it while it was on the boat to Korea. And I was dancing in the aisles of the commissary this morning. If you remember, when we first got here, I was completely despondent at the lack of healthy foods here. But it has been slowly changing, and everytime I go to the store, I find something new to eat. This morning, it was my favorite mix for whole wheat pancakes with flax! I had gotten some from Whole Foods in California and was stunned to see it in the commissary. I love these pancakes....and am SO happy to see something like that as an option. So.....life is very good today.

Hope this finds you all well!

Stiring... we were there in 2000-2001, we were able to go as a family too. It was our 3rd overseas assignment. I've heard there was a lot of building going on. We lived in a 2 bedroom, 800 sq ft. and that was spread out between 2 floors. The housing right next to the commissary! OMG, was it small and we had 2 small children. Burger King had just opened and we were there on a regular basis just to get the kids some place to play! Lovely people the Korean folks... Take advantage of the Dragon Hill in Seoul for weekend getaways, Osan can get very small in a hurry!

I too used my bread machine a lot there... I've been told that you can request foods to be ordered through the commissary, you might check that out.

We've been to Turkey, Germany (twice) and Korea.. where else have you been? I will admit that when we left Korea we had been overseas for about 3 years without a trip back to the States, when we landed in Seattle the very first thing I noticed and I will never forget it, was the number of overweight people. It was shocking and very sad. That was 8 years ago and it has only gotten worse for Americans. I am very thankful for finding you all and this site so that I may try and keep better control of my health!

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Happy Thursday All!

I'm still enjoying CX today is Burn Intervals day - one of my favorites.

Stiring: I'll have to drag out my book to let you know why he is so pro 3 meals only.

Sing: I'm very interested in your experiment - I'm guessing the way you hold the weights is really engaging your core?

Wingslion - lots of good advice here - knees are tricky things especially for women due to our wider hips. If slowing down your pace doesn't help, you may need to look into some other options. Where exactly is the ache? Inside or Outside of your knee.

Hi singfree! Sorry to hear you are back at work, but it is always nice to know that somebody is 'up' with me....even if it is the middle of the night there.

It is Friday evening here, so time for my Friday check-in. I had a really good week. My eating was very clean (no cheats, no treats, etc). I worked out every day, and I'm feeling increasingly stronger and more fit. I'm back into my 'skinny' clothes, which is nice. So even though the scale read 105 this morning (up 7 pounds from three months ago), I'm very happy with where I'm at right now. My goal is to continue to eat clean until I get rid of some of the outrageous cravings that I started getting after my last bit of not-so-healthy eating. I'm kind of aiming for the end of this first mesocycle in STS for that (which is in two weeks), but we'll see. It is winter, and, as a result, I'm not feeling as strong in avoiding temptation as I usually am. After all, I'm the gal who lived on peanut butter/chocolate and wine for an entire winter in Alaska. :laugh: Sadly, I'm not joking. :noway:

Anyhow, speaking of peanut butter.....singfree, I understand what you are saying about your evening snack of wine and pretzels. But I guess my question is 'Would giving them up be worth it?' The one thing I can't seem to give up is peanut butter. Yes, I know there are some health benefits (like there are in red wine, as a matter of fact), but that doesn't negate the fact that my body fat might be a bit lower if I didn't eat peanut butter every.single.day.of.my.life! But, for me, it is the one thing I won't give up, regardless of the reasons why I should (more bang for my nutritonal buck in 200 calories of other foods and lower body fat possibilities). I have been able to move beyond many things I never thought I could (like cream and sugar in my coffee), but this is one area where I know if I were to give up the peanut butter, I would feel TOO deprived. So I opt not to because, to me, that feeling of deprivation isn't worth the lower body fat percentage I would have because I have a feeling that I would throw in the towel at some point or another and I don't want to do that. So, for me, any healthy eating plan I create for myself is going to allow for one serving of peanut butter per day. I make it as healthy as I can (natural, no salt, etc), but it is still high in fat and calories. But it is here to stay. So what I'm trying to ask is....is it possible that glass of wine and bit of pretzels is your peanut butter?

hisangel, I'm so happy to hear about your daughter. I know for so many people, taking the first step towards weight loss/creating a healthier lifestyle is the hardest step to take. I'm so happy she has you to turn to. I wish her the best of luck! You seem to be quite the role model for an active life!

tamarads, those houses you lived in here at Osan are FINALLY scheduled to be demolished. There are three new apartment towers, and I live in a beautiful new townhome. We have everything you'd ever want (unless you are trying to eat healthy ) on the base....Subway, Krispy Kreme, Popeyes, Chilis, Pizza Hut.....It's a little American city now. Speaking of which, when we were overseas the first time, we were in Europe for 9.5 years straight, and I only returned to the US once during that time. What I noticed the most (in addition to the size of the people) was the number of restaurants. It still amazes me (having only spent 36 months in the lower 48 since '92). I find it a tad...disappointing....to be honest. Anyhow, we've been stationed in England, Germany (twice), Italy, Alaska (I know, not technically overseas but overseas by AF standards!), and now in Korea. And I totally agree with you about the Korean people. I find them to be about the most gracious and generous people I've ever encountered.

Off to make dinner....grilled chicken greek salad (YUM!). I hope everybody has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend. :flowerforyou:

Happy Friday - or at least I'm finally happy to be on the site able to post (I'm guessing MFP is a lot like the gym in Jan - overloaded but give it a bit and things will calm down )

Check in Day - Well I did great all week until yesterday. I don't know what was going on but I was craving sweets like crazy and I'm generally not a sweet person more a salty snack person. The good news is that when I grabbed the brown sugar pop tart from the pantry - it didn't taste right (I'm guessing that is from all the fruit I'm consuming now) Hopefully, that memory will stop me the next time I'm craving junk. But moving on - all in all even with the weak spot last night I ate well probably 70% this week and more importantly I have stayed right on track with ChaLeane Extreme :drinker:

Stiring: Here is what Dr. Fuhrman says about eating 3 meals: In scientific studies, reduced meal frequency increases the lifespan of both rodents and monkeys, even when the calories consumed each week are the same. The body needs time between meals to finish digesting, because when digestion has ended the body can more effectively detoxify and promote cellular repair.

Sing: You must be my brother from another mother because beside the love of red wine - drinking a Winter Ale is on my agenda for the weekend. Although I'll be saving it to have with my bowl of chili while cheering on my Colts to an AFC Championship.:drinker: My husband finished off or Hacker Pschoor Weisse last night so Winter Ale is my #2 favorite right now.

Have A Great Weekend one and all!

Boy, what a great name .......Beating the Winter Bulge! My Winter bulge took over and after seeing pictures taken over the holiday and my brother asking me if I was pregnant again, I knew I had to do something. I started coming back on mfp just after New Year's Day. So far I have lsot 8 pounds and feeling better already. I am 48 years old and marrying my childhood sweetheart in June. I plan on being gorgeous by then!!
Glad I stumbled on to this posting today.

Friday check-in ~ I had a really good week. My eating was very clean (no cheats, no treats, etc). I worked out every day, twice a day except for yesterday just one workout in the evening!
I am happy to report that I think some changes are FINALLY happening. Maybe it is just the endorphins all fired up :laugh: It might be a combo of the food and calories + the additional evening workouts, but whatever it is I am feeling good about it! I won’t be jumping on the scale anytime soon :blushing: but maybe in a few more weeks.

Last night I went to the Strength Class (more of an endurance workout w/ lots of reps and then interval cardio between) w/ my friend from work and then this a.m. I had STS Disc 33 – Shoulders Biceps & Triceps. Eventhough it makes it a little tougher on me in the a.m. to do the evening & then early a.m. workout I am really enjoying it! I actually feel more energized vs. more tired. :noway: Tonight I am going Spinning again; anxious to try this instructors workout. This weekend my goal is to attempt Athletic Step again and some ab work and then on Sunday a good stretch (by Cathe of course) and volleyball.

Hope you all have a great Friday & weekend! :flowerforyou:

Oh, Frank.....I am so sorry. Please know you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sorry to here about your mom Frank!:sad: Mom s are special to are hearts. God bless. Take care

Thank you for checking in, Frank. I've been thinking about you all day. I can't imagine how difficult this must be. I suppose it does make it more comfortable to know that your mother didn't suffer. Please take care of yourself over the coming days and let us know how you are doing when you get a chance. I'll be thinking about you. :flowerforyou:

While I'm here, I would like to welcome angelwings to our group! Congrats on losing 8 pounds since New Years! That's amazing. And how exciting to hear about your wedding. Congratulations on that as well.

duffy, thanks for the info on the 3 meals a day recommendation from Dr. Fuhrman. I've heard something similar about eating fewer meals vs. more meals, but I've usually heard it in relation to insulin (that your body is continually releasing insulin when you eat many small meals a day) and such. I still think there is no clear answer and whatever suits each individual is best for that individual.

zebras, what size bread machine do you have? I have a couple of good recipes, but one is only for one pound loaves. If your machine is bigger than that, I'll send the one that I have that has all of the breakdowns for the various size loaves. I like that recipe more than the one I'm currently using (the one for one pound loaves), but I can't get all of the ingredients here in Korea (wheat gluten). But, again, let me know what size machine you've got and I'll send you either one or both.

2BLean, happy to hear it feels like you've broken through your plateau. Great job!! :drinker: And before I forget....don't forget to take that week off after STS before going into your next rotation. I didn't last summer when I finished STS....and paid for it. :noway: I, too, feel more energized when I do more workouts (up to a point). It's kind of weird, isn't it?

I actually got my husband to do a weight workout with me this morning. That was fun. Had another good day of eating, so all is well here.

Again, singfree/Frank, I am thinking about you, and thank you for checking in with us.