40+ Club: Beating The Winter Bulge

Check in time! Hello all! This week has been tough, because I've had a lovely cold, the first one in about a year, and as I have a cough, I've not been going full force in my workouts. Mostly cardio, but not as intense, and my "arms" exercises (weights). Weight has been fluctuating up and down and it gets discouraging. I think it's about time to shake up the exercise routine, which I will as soon as get over this frickin' cold.

Still doing the 50% carbs, 25% protein, 25% fat, which is fine, except it gets difficult to balance it all out by the end of the day. LOL...usually I have a ton of carb grams left, very little protein or fat, so still working on creating a rotation of meals that fit the bill as far as my percentages go.

Apart from the cold, am feeling lean, and hope to have me energy back next week!

Oh, and Alf, I find I really cannot eat much before a workout in the morning, and, same as you, most days it is fine. I do drink a glass full of ice water about a hour before, which helps with hydration, but if I eat within that hour before, even something small, I get nauseous. I've found it difficult with Boot Camp class because that is at 11am on Saturdays (college kids!) and so I eat something no later than 7am and I make it a light snack, like yogurt, or half a banana and almond butter, to keep me from starving. But that's the only time I eat before a workout. I think it's a matter of preference, though many people I've talked to recommend an early workout be on an empty stomach.

It is so hard to get it all scheduled. Many nights I find myself eating my last meal at 8pm, which is kind of late...but I try to make it a lighter meal, and have more of my food intake earlier in the day. That's the only solution I've been able to come up with.

Hope everyone has a good weekend, and are there any thoughts on Best Picture winner this Sunday? I like The Hurt Locker.

alf, I definitely think you need to eat something (blend of carbs, protein and fat) before you go to sleep if you are working out in the morning on an empty stomach. Don't stress about the carbs at night. It is just and 'in an ideal world that' things that recommends carbs shouldn't be eaten late at night, but life isn't always ideal. In other words, the 'no carbs before bed' is just a suggestion for the optimum, not a make or break situation. Good job at passing up temptations!!

zebras, congrats on the weight loss!!

Sunny, good to see you! Don't worry about being a little up in weight. That's going to happen. Good idea going with the Wii game for more land based activity.

pcaseyco, I am doing three meals a day and one mid-morning snack right now, and it seems to be working out really well for me. As long as you aren't getting so hungry in between meals that you overeat at a meal, then whatever you are doing is good in my view. Congrats on the weight loss.

duffy, I've been meaning to ask if you are still following any of the Fuhrmann plan. I'm just curious since it seemed to be working out pretty well for you.

2BLean, good to see you!! Yes, I'm still planning on the undulating rotation in May....and really looking forward to it. Regarding Insanity, I think you'll love the program. But I'm not so sure I would recommend doing a full Insanity rotation and then going into something like the undulating rotation. What I would recommend instead is maybe following the first 30 days of Insanity and then doing a combo of Insanity with something like Gym Styles (do you have those workouts?) for the second 30 days. While I didn't lose strength doing Insanity, I did lose quite a bit of muscle tone. And it has taken awhile for my muscles to get back to where they were before. The thing about the undulating rotation is that, from what I understand, it really is the next step to strength training, so I'm not sure it would be recommended after two months off from strength training. So I think a compromise would be good. That being said, I can't say enough positive things about the Insanity cardio workouts and, again, I think you would love them. Let me know if you have any questions!!

mk, I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well. The WalkKansas program sounds great! I know this time of year, I just love being able to walk outside again.

cardigirl, good to see you!! Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well either. Good for you at attempting to workout through it, though. I always find it difficult to do any kind of workout with a cold. I have no thoughts on the Oscars since I've not seen any of the movies. But I am looking forward to being able to watch most of the Oscars live on Monday morning.

maytanewife, I don't like going to the gym either. I think it is good that you are finding other activities you enjoy if the gym isn't your thing. Just being active is good! Stick with us and we'll try to help you through that '2 week slump'!!

I'm taking my first day off from working out in a month. I've been for a good walk, though, so at least I've done something. I'm back to eating clean again today, though I'm focusing on making sure I'm eating enough instead of being constantly afraid of eating too much. I feel much better and hope this continues. I was in the commissary (aka the grocery store) this morning when a perfect stranger came up to me (she had seem me at our formal dinner last Saturday night) and said she'd wanted to talk to me that night but didn't get a chance to....but she just wanted to take a minute to compliment me on my fitness. :noway: Boy, did that come as a surprise to me!! At first, when she mentioned something about going to the gym, I thought she was telling me that I needed to go to the gym. :laugh: It took a little while for me to register what she was saying....but what a nice and totally unexpected compliment that was.

Hope everybody has a great Saturday.

hmmmmm,,,,
This week,wii says I am up .l2bs.

Bummer...

I guess it is to be expected after last week almost 3 lbs ...

Hope every one it having a great weekend!

Julia

MFP says I should consume 1200 calories...........is it ok if I go to 1000 calories a day, or is that too low?

Thank you for your help.........I will look at the threads!