WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR FEBRUARY

Good Saturday afternoon to all! A little more snow here today, and a little overnight as well, but it is over 35 degrees F outside and the snow is melting off the trees, streets and sidewalks quickly.

Had a great diet and exercise day to make up for my (ahem) indiscretions of Thursday night. Just in time to try to behave myself tonight as WE are having friends over and going out to dinner again tonight. I have a cup of black bean soup and a fish taco in mind, so I shouldn't be too bad. Have baby carrots and fat free T. Marzetti's ranch veggie dip for predinner snackies which should help reduce appetite for dinner, as well.

Welcome Karen (texemgirl) -- you are right about eating too little not being good for dieting. We all have seen our little MFP message about putting our bodies into starvation mode because our bodies then want to store EVERYTHING you eat as fat. I have read that you may actually gain a little weight to begin with once you up your calorie intake to a healthy reducing level, but once your body adjusts you will again start losing and be much healthier for the added calories. And that after all really is the point in trying to lose our excess weight...better health!!:drinker:

Hope everyone has a great weekend!:happy:

Terri

Oh, and btw my name is Faye and I am another year older - 60.

Hi, Everyone!

Thank you for the warm welcome. I agree ... this site is very uplifting and encouraging.

My current calorie goal is 1,200 calories. So far, I haven't been able to reach 1,000 calories. I have to admit that I even cheated trying to reach 1,200 calories. I put down on my food diary that I had 2 slices of Pizza Hut's Supreme large thin crust pizza without sauce. Well, I did have 2 slices, but they were 2 very skinny slices (the size of 1 normal slice) and I took off all the pepperoni and sausage (I don't care for them ... besides, they have too much salt). Even with cheating, I still didn't make 1,000 calories. BTW, my BMR is 1,480 ... another site says it's 1,540.

My real problem is that I've lost my appetite ... I always feel full so I forget to eat. I'm actually very concerned about this because this is definitely not normal for me. Yesterday I went 8 hours before I remembered I hadn't eaten dinner. I've heard of this happening to people who are depressed, but I'm definitely not depressed. I'm going to the doctor on 2/16, and I'm going to tell him about it. Maybe there is something he can do to enhance my hunger.

Today I'm trying a different plan of attack ... I'm setting an alarm to go off every two hours and I will try to eat something each time. I've already filled out my food diary with all the food I'm going to eat (which is a lot for me), and I'm still under 1,000 calories. :sad:

Do any of you have any suggestions of how I can increase my calories? I need to be extremely careful of salty foods, too much gluten and I can only eat beef on rare occasions ... most anything else is a go. I know this is a LOT to ask, but I'm almost frantic at this point ... I feel like my health is as risk. I sincerely appreciate any and all suggestions.

I've been reading all the posts on this site. You are all doing just an amazing job! :drinker: I love everyone's optimism, and I'm looking forward to being part of this group! :happy:

Karen :flowerforyou:

:drinker: Going to `the Keg` for dinner tonight for DH 60th birthday! A treat from our daughter and her husband. I`ll have steak and vegetables. Yum. Already decided. :bigsmile: I`ll be the designated driver. DH thinks he is going for Chinese buffet. Can`t wait to see the surprise on his face.

Rebel.

:flowerforyou: Good to know there is support out there. It takes so long to loose.

Hello everyone,

When my dad first had his stroke he stopped eating and he got down to 114 pounds from 145. The doctors gave him this stuff called Remeron and once it kicked in he started eating again. I must admit to get his calories up we gave him ice cream and chocolate shakes everyday. My dad can always eat chocolate ice cream even when he is not hungry.

Yellow snow - I just loved all the remarks about it but it brings back a story..................which due to the number of dog lovers I can tell here.

Many years ago a friend and I decided to make hand decorated snowman Christmas cookies for all of our gifts that year. We are both quite the bakers, single with no life at the time and therefore plenty of time to bake all weekend and all night. Around 2:30AM when we still had about 6 dozen snowman left to decorate we got punchy and started putting lemon frosting on them (like a dog peed on them) for our dog loving friends. One of my co-workers at the time got a dozen at work and word spread. Everyone just loved them and the next several years starting around November we'd get requests to get more of the special snowman cookies for gifts. My boss (young guy) was highly insulted that his snowmen were not peed on. lol He looked so sad and said "I'm a dog lover too you know." After that he always got the special ones. lol We became quite infamous for what had started out as a joke. I was even asked to make them for a potluck. lol But, yes beward of yellow snow.

Welcome to everyone new! Thank you to everyone for their posts.

Jeannie

Hi Everyone - still here!! Welcome to the newbies too :flowerforyou: ... does that make me an Oldy now?...

Quick log in before the tribe arrive for a late Sunday lunch/tea. The two grandchildren are like a whirl wind!! I'm sure you all know or can imagine what it's like!!! Jessica's seven going on seventeen and loves to dance ...as they do!! Maybe I'll put on the Latin exercise DVD and we can give it a go!! :laugh:

Bit disappointed that the lbs haven't come off again but hey ... I have maintained the loss and give it time and help from you all and I'm sure I will get to 147lb by the time I go off on holiday in March. Next weekend my youngest son and DIL visit with the newest grandson. Joanne's been going to slimming world club to lose her baby weight and has done well - I'm hoping I can show her a difference in me too.

Appetite wise my Mum definitely has no problem. It's great to see her eat. We sit together every day for a cooked tea and we'd know she had a problem if she doesn't eat. Happened a while back and we found her dentures were hurting as she had an abscess in her gums. Dentist visits are fun as we get there and she asks"why am I here? - I have so few teeth!" After the X rays etc we found that ... and this is an inherited trait - that at 86 she has a tooth coming through in her top gum!! Thus the dentures hurt!. Next step - hospital appt to take tooth out. But with her age and medical condition with warfarin etc ...not to be rushed into. Anyway ... in the end , with antibiotics and mouthwash etc the abscess went and the gum settled, tooth receded back and all fine! She tackles anything again. My youngest son unfortunately inherited the Family Teeth and had them out when he was 11.

Cold and a bit foggy here now. Am off to peel the spuds , put the beef in and make those yorkshire puds!! DH is in charge of the fruit crumble!!:drinker:

Hope you've all had a great weekend and are ready to start as you mean to go on for the new week.:bigsmile:

Cheers all
Jackie.

What an amazing day! More new people here to get to know. It wonderful! Welcome to all of you.

I don't have time to do my usual individual responses. I need to get my exercises done before kids wake up. It's just easier that way.

It looks like many of us are being proactive about the Super Bowl. We have a fruit tray that I bought and I'm going to put out a small cup of peanut butter to go with the apples that are in the tray. I will be making a veggie tray to go with it. We do have tortilla chips but instead of dips we have salsa and guacamole to go with it. Definitely a lot healthier than in past years. I was going to get some shrimp but couldn't find a good deal on them. So, we are going meatless. I did not give in to the hot wings or lil smokies.

Go Colts! Go Saints! May the refs not blow the game for either team.

Jeannie

:drinker: GOOD MORNING friends!! DH was sooo puzzled last night when I drove to the The Keg instead of Chinese buffet. But he ended up really enjoying it. It was a great experience for all of us and the steak was fantastic. Instead of potato I ordered extra vegetables. And the 4 of us shared a scrumptious dessert of which I had just a couple of bites. Drank 1/2 glass of wine and gave the rest to DH; drank lots of water instead.

:grumble: Today I have to do bookkeeping, which I really have started resenting. :grumble: Also need to do laundry. So, I've put great music on to work by at sufficient volume to give myself a kick in the pants. :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Tonight we are having some friends over for DH birthday.

Have a great Sunday, ladies!

Rebel

What is everyone doing for the Super Bowl? I had planned on trying to make healthier hot wing. Anton Brown steams his before baking them. I think this may remove some of the fat. For the dip, I plan on using fat free yogurt with bleu cheese. I have to have the bleu cheese...just wouldn't be right without it. I may not make anything at all, though. It seems that I will be alone with one of my daughters and she wants to go to a sports bar to watch the game. We do not have reception on our TV so this is the only way we can watch the game. I am more interested in trying different wing than the game.:grumble:

Good afternoon,
Have not read posts yet, but wanted to post mine first while I have time. The ball was last night. I got the jitters a little before but it was really nice. I actually knew quite a few people. While they are not in my social network, I used to teach at a private pre school and taught most of the children in the court (including the queen) so I knew a lot of people from that. We actually stayed until 2:30 when it ended. That is still unbelievable to me. We danced a bit, not a lot but more than I thought we would. I have posted pics of me in my dress. I also posted pics of the queen (my sons girlfriend) and my son. he is with the group and he is all the way on the left. If you look at my husbands pic closely you can see the resemblance. I will read the posts now to catch up. Getting ready to go to my daughters house to watch super bowl. Not usually a priority in my life but I have to pull for the saints. They are overdue and really deserving of this. Of course if they lose I am not upset because we love Peyton and his family also. this day has got to be so hard and bittersweet for he and his family. I will try to come back after I read. have a good day all.
Vicki m

mynyddisamrs - what a hoot! I love the new potato sack exercise!! My DH also got a laugh out of it. He was actually standing there with his arms out as I read the 5# bag part saying how hard it would be! :laugh:

Hi, Ladies!

Jackie, you are so right about our bodies being a gift from God! We need to treat our bodies with respect. Starvation is truly not the way to go ... I only lasted 2 weeks when I tried it. Besides feeling tired and worn out all the time, I liked to eat too much to stick with it! A body needs adequate nutrients in order to survive healthily ... that's why I'm so concerned now about not being able to eat enough right now. I have lost a lot of muscle mass due to not being able to exercise; and if I don't get the proper nutrition (best to get it from food) and enough calories, then the weight I lose is going to probably come from my muscles (which have atrophied enough) and not from fat (which is what I want to lose). Also, if you don't get enough nutrients, your skin will start looking dull ... same with the hair, and it might even fall out! No amount of product can fix that ... it needs to come from eating healthy nutrients. In December, my doctor put me on supplements/injections while I wasn't eating so much due to being on bed rest and losing my appetite. We both thought I'd get my appetite back once I was up and about, but that hasn't happened yet and it's been almost 3 weeks now.

Congrats on your weight loss, Jackie! :bigsmile: You are doing fantastic! That is a very nice reward you gave yourself ... way to go! There is no doubt in my mind your friends are going to notice your weight loss.

Jeannie, great job planning your Super Bowl food! :drinker: Everyone will enjoy the healthy snacks, and no one will miss the fattening stuff. Sorry you weren't able to find a deal on the shrimp, but it's something to look forward to when they are on sale.

Barbie, you are so fortunate that your husband eats like you do! :bigsmile: I know exactly what you mean about the challenges others face in preparing meals for other family members who don't want to lose weight and won't eat the healthy food. I live alone and have a provider who prepares my meals. After being with me a little while, she made the comment that I never eat junk food and that she loves the food I have her make me. She told me that she now cooks for her family like she does for me, and she hasn't received one complaint from her husband or children. On the rare occasion that I have potato chips, I get sweet potato chips fried in canola oil and no salt. Her children love them! Where they wouldn't eat veggies before, she now roasts the veggies and they can't get enough of them! Just goes to show you that healthy food does taste good!

Renny, snaps to you for doing so well at dinner last night! :drinker: So glad you all enjoyed your evening. Have fun tonight with your friends!

Firetuck, you are so right about this site. Everyone is wonderful!!! :happy: I know what you mean about needing sunshine. I sure hope your snow goes away soon and you can enjoy the sun outside. In the meantime, get flowers ... they are so pretty! :flowerforyou: I, also, agree with Debbie about where you get the 1,200 calories from. Healthy choices all the way!!! A little off course but still regarding healthy choices ... I saw a TV show recently where this person said temptations are temporary ... they last a maximum of 20 minutes. Do something else for 20 minutes and drink a glass of water ... before you know it, the 20 minutes are over and the temptation is gone. Giving into temptations NEVER tastes as good as achieving your goal ... it just depends on how badly you want to reach your goal. I rarely go off course, but I'm going to remember this next time that I'm tempted.

Becky, did you make the wings? Personally, I don't think wings are bad for you as long as you don't bread or deep fry them and don't drown them in a sugar laden sauce (a little goes a long way :bigsmile: ). The dip sounds healthy just as long as you don't overload it with blue cheese ... just small crumbles throughout. WOW! Can't believe my mouth is now watering for wings! LOL! Let us know if you made them; if yes, how they turned out. Maybe you could pass the recipe along.

mynyddisamrs, you are too funny!!! :laugh: I think I could actually do that exercise! LOL! And to answer your question, NO! LOL!

Vicki M, so glad you had such a nice time at the ball. I looked at your pictures ... WOW! You have really lost a lot! And you look BEAUTIFUL in your dress! I'd whistle if I could!

Mary, thank you for the recipe ... sounds delicious! I'm going to try it!

Hi, Faye ... welcome! I'm brand new to this site as of Thursday. How I wish I'd found it sooner! :sad: Just learned about it from a friend of mine ... so grateful she told me about it. Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for an exercise DVD. A friend of mine has Jillian's Shred and she loves it ... says it's a great workout. Sounds like you are doing well so far! YEA for you!! :drinker: Regarding the ticker, go to the "Tools" tab (it's right next to Community) and that's where you set it up. If you have any questions, please ask.

Well, I'd better go eat again ... the alarm went off a few minutes ago.

Karen :flowerforyou:

I went out on the Carnival Ecstasy I found out that the ship had hit the dock the morning that we got on the ship but didn't find out until we got back home. Did more damage to the dock than it did the ship I had been on the same ship 2 times before. It goes out of Galveston Texas.
I did good today with my calories and got my water in and walked around Discovery Green.
Went to see my brother he is doing better his spirits was good today he got to go home for 2 days but has to be back at the home tomorrow so he can have his theropy and with his learning to swallow again for those who doesn't know he fell 2 stories onto concrete and had to have 3 brain surgeries.It happened back in June.