40+ Club: Hop Into Spring With A Fit Bod

Hi everyone!!!
Good news and bad news for me.........
Good news..........got weighed and measured last night.........down 3 lbs, lost 2.2lbs body fat and .55%BMI!!:bigsmile: The bad news............the waist and belly stayed the same - no change in measurements:noway: :noway: :grumble: :grumble: . It seems like everything is shifting nicely except there!!! The worst part of it isn't below the belly button - it's above!!! I know it all looks flabbier now that I weigh less, but I'm getting frustrated with the "muffin top" not getting any smaller:huh: :frown: :frown: I do 100+ crunches almost every day, and I can feel the muscle tighter below the flab, just can't get rid of it!! I'm at the point now where I don't care about the scale - I'm content with that; but am going crazy trying to figure out what to do to shrink the #$&&^^% belly!

Any suggestions anyone?????????????

:flowerforyou: tex, I can only imagine how your mom feels being two sizes smaller. I am hoping that she continues to lose.

:flowerforyou: mkwood, I know how it is to have the scales, your measurements and how your clothes fit be so different. I have gain in pounds and my clothes fit the same but I look a lot more buff. Go figure. Personally, I want the scale to move down. You might want to look into the abs diet. It really helped me about a year ago.

I have been talking to some people at the gym. They all think that I should not be concerned about what I weight since I am firmer and have built more muscle. I think that my obsession with what I weight has to do with the way I was raised. I don't know if I can change that. I really am looking at the number on the scale and going by that.

TxMs, I'm happy to hear about your family. I hope your BIL finds a job soon. What an amazing year he has had.

Swissmiss, listen to the people at the gym. I focus too much on the number as well, but it really isn't important. How you feel and the good things you are doing for your body by working out are MUCH more important than the number of the scale. I've mentioned a few times that I was reading a book called 'Younger Next Year' for women. I didn't really appreciate the entire book, but it did have some good points. Anyhow, one of the things I liked about this book is that it didn't focus on weight loss. It mentioned weight loss, but only as a by-product of exercising more nad eating healthier. The more I think about it, I think that is probably the best approach to long term health and fitness--to focus on health and fitness and not the by-product that is weight loss.

singfree, your post yesterday with your workout schedule also had me thinking about that book because what you said is very true....that as we get older, we need to work hard to get fit and maintain fitness. Thanks for sharing your workout schedule outlining that point. :flowerforyou:

duffy, good to see you back!! I'm glad to hear you had a good vacation. I hope your foot is all healed up.

mkwood, I think you should be very happy with the change in your body composition and shape. Regarding the extra layer on the belly.....here are some of my thoughts. Every body holds on to fat somewhere. For me, no matter how thin or fit I'll ever get, I will always have an extra layer of fat on my butt and the back of my legs. It just is. It gets better with better eating and more fitness, but the cellulite and fat never go away completely (even when I was weighing 97 pounds!) It could be that your body likes to hold on to extra weight in your belly. That being said, there are a few ways of reducing belly fat. The first--and most important--is diet. I've been talking about how my body reacts to refined carbs. I eat a piece of bread, and my belly gets bigger. Literally. So maybe you can look at your diet and refine it a bit to help. The second way of reducing belly fat is through tough cardio. That is going to do much more for you than crunches/ab work will do. What crunches do is build the muscle under the layer of skin. But if there is fat on top, those muscles won't come through. But crunches won't reduce the fat in the area. Again, that comes from diet and cardio exercise. There are other factors that can put extra inches on the belly--things like stress. And I think you have been under stress for the past six months!! So that could be playing into your issue as well. And, of course, you've had children, and that is something that needs to be considered as well. So look at your diet and exercise. If you are doing all you can/want to in that area, then it could be that, like me and my legs/butt, it is just one of those things that is going to be as it is. But don't let that take away from your amazing accomplishments because you should be very proud of those!!

Today is my husband's birthday so I made him a nice dinner. I probably ate too much, but it was a celebration so....I don't care. I worked out very hard this morning--nearly two hours of high intensity cardio. I'm feeling really good this week....much better than last week. I think it is lowering my carbs and cleaning up my eating.

I hope everybody has a great day!

hi everyone! I did allot of working out yesterday gym(pretty much this week) workout w/the trainer the last couple of days, and then I got home and walked up 1/2 a mountain...it was getting too dark so turned around. I don't feel really sore today, but a feeling like my body has worked hard. I even jumped on the treadmill this morning. I felt drained the last fews days so I feel proud that I have exercised at all as I had allergy attacks this week. Must be an age thing as I haven't had allergy issues of recent.
Tax day and almost the weekend....ENJOY!! I don't think I can do the hoola hoop anymore....funny how that changes when you are no longer a kid.

:flowerforyou: cardigirl, I can not workout on my own at all. I have to be in a class where I am made accountable. This works for me.

:flowerforyou: pepper, I also can not hoola hoop anymore. I think that we lose the ability to do it. It is not like riding a bike where we never forget.

Speaking of allergies. I have never had any. Now I am a mess. Both yesterday and today has been terrible. A little while ago I sneezed 9 times in about a five minute period. I have lost count on how many times I have sneezed today total. My eyes are watering and my nose is constantly running. What should I be doing for this?

Swiss - I'd start with an over the counter antihistimine. In our house 2 of us do better with Claritin and 2 do better with Zyrtec. Although I buy the generics at Costco that give you 300+ tablets for around $16. Also shower and shampoo every night when you get home to get rid of the pollen.

For me the worst part of spring is I really want to open all the windows but unfortunately my youngest cannot tolerate that.

Happy Friday Everybody! :drinker:

I must admit I'm a bit jealous of all of you who have moved into spring (except for the allergies, of course). We are still struggling through what apparently is one of the worst winters in recent memory in South Korea. Parts of the country had snow a couple of days ago. We're still getting down to freezing at night. And the daytime temps are in the 50s at best. :grumble: I'm ready for warmer weather. But I'll be in Hawaii in a few days :drinker: and I'm hoping when we return, the season will have finally changed.

Check-in.....nothing new to report this week. I continue avoiding the scale and the tape measure. I'm going based on how my clothes fit and how I feel. I'm holding my own right now. My body is definitely less puffy without all of the carbs (especially around my belly). I've had a great week of workouts and, except for my husband's birthday on Wednesday when I joined him for some ice cream, I've eaten really well all week. I feel more energetic than I have for a long time, despite the tough workouts I've been doing this week. Again, I'm thinking that may be due to fewer carbs.

singfree, I hope you enjoy your weekend with your grandson. :drinker:

duffy, I hope your foot is doing all right. I loved the story about your husband! Where are you going in Mexico? I haven't been to Mexico in years, but my sister and her family vacation there quite a bit....and love it!

pepper, good for you for doing some workout even though you were suffering with some allergies. Just remember that something is better than nothing.

cardigirl, I go through slumps too. There are some days when I have a workout scheduled, and I say to myself 'I just can't'. Before giving up the idea of working out entirely though, I have learned to ask myself 'Okay, what CAN I do?' I have been known to spend 20 minutes looking at my DVDs, assessing all of my workouts, and running through my head 'No, not that one' then 'maybe on that one' or 'I could probably do that one'. In other words, I make a concerted point of looking for something that I think I might be okay doing. It may be a shorter, easier workout than I had planned. It may be doing the same workout I had planned but (as an example) with lighter weights. I could be doing something entirely different (like going for a walk as opposed to doing any set routine). But I always look for something that I think I could do given my mood and do it. If, at the end of all of my assessing, I still am saying 'I just can't do this today', I take the time off. But, like alf, I also know I feel so much better when I work out, so that is why I search for something to do...anything little something I can do....to get my body moving. When I'm going through a prolonged slump, I just say to myself each day 'What sounds good today?' and I do whatever sounds good. That could mean I don't lift weights for a couple of weeks. It could mean I don't do any intense cardio for a couple of weeks. It could mean that I do my favorite step routine three days in a row! But, in the end, as I said to pepper above, I think something is better than nothing, so if the only acceptable option for me for one entire week is to do kickboxing (as an example), I do kickboxing. And, eventually, I get out of my slump and move on. And I've never been worse off for it because, again, I have pretty consistently found a way of doing something through those slumps. Hope that helps. :flowerforyou:

alf, don't get frustrated!! Yes, you are still exercising, but you've had to exercise very differently over the past five months than you were exercising last fall because of your injury. Back when you were doing P90X, you were also doing quite a bit of running. No doubt that those two in combination changed the shape of your body. Don't be too hard on yourself because you haven't been able to run lately due to that injury. But the great thing you've done is not given up on exercising all together. In other words, don't beat yourself up. I've been talking to my sisters about weight loss lately (they come to me for input) and neither one wants to do any strength training. So I tell them about my experience during this move. I was doing Insanity for goodness sake! And my weight stayed the same (within a few pounds) from the time we left California through the end of that program. But because of the type of exercise I was doing (in this case, no weights) the shape of my body changed completely. I was working out HARD, but I was also working out DIFFERENTLY. I think that is the case with you. I would wager that if you were to do P90X again right now in combination with long runs like you were doing last summer/fall, you'd probably lose those few inches around your waist pretty quickly.

Does that mean you always have to stick with that formula? I don't think so. I think it is all about knowing what works for your body, what doesn't, and finding a very happy medium. I'm fortunate that I like lifting weights, so my body is pretty much back to the same shape it was before (though I'm heavier....unfortunately). But if I didn't like lifting weights, I would probably accept the body I had doing Insanity because, at the end of the day, it is about finding what works for you--both mentally AND physically. But don't beat yourself up because, in my opinion, you have done exceptionally well given the challenge of a prolonged injury. Don't let yourself forget that, alf!!

Okay, that being said, my husband and I did parts of the Abs Diet a few years back, and it worked really well for both of us. I still use some of the recipes, and we still follow some of the principles in that diet.

I only have one more workout in this rotation of STS. :drinker: I did STS Plyo Legs this morning followed by Insanity's Max Interval Circuit. Boy that was a killer workout! :noway: I'm hoping to go running the next couple of days (if the weather cooperates). We head out on Tuesday, and I'm hoping to run nearly every day we are in Hawaii. We'll see how that goes.

I hope everybody has a great Friday and a terrific weekend!

Friday Check in Day
:sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: Run last night did not go well:sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: So today I am finally calling the Doctor. I guess I've been putting it off long enough but to tell you the truth I'd almost rather run in pain than get bad news. Right now I'm trying to think positive and hope that if I get this foot fixed I will still have summer and fall running but darn it I don't like to go without running.:grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

Food and Exercise have been great this week - A side effect of booking our trip on Monday. Stiring we will be in the Mayan Rivera but don't know which resort. We booked a Apple Square deal that is a discounted price but you only find out where you are staying when you land. We do know the 7 potential locations and are fine with any of them.


Have a great weekend all

Happy Friday all. Sorry, I've been lurking, been a stressfull week. So, yes I did some stress eating. Its funny how now stress eating now is having a 2nd helping of something pretty healthy rather than a chocolate bar or 3. So, even in my stress my situation has improved greatly. I'm down a whopping .6 lbs this week, she says sarcastically. We're getting our first lunchtime outdoor walking sessions in, and I have to say my walking is hugely improved since last fall. I don't slow the group down anymore!

Everyone have a good weekend, go do something fun!

:flowerforyou: Julia, doesn't it feel so good when people notice and tell you so? You will continue to have this happen as old friends see you. I am several months as the size I am and just had someone this week mention it.

:flowerforyou: zebras, I really think that my problem at this time is stress. I have so much at this time. I don't tend to over eat but for some reason I can't lose when I am living like this.

pepper, I bought a store brand of Benedryl. I am so sleepy now. I really should not be at work but I need to be. On the bright side the medication is keeping me from sneezing so much.

:flowerforyou: duffy, please keep us updated on what your doctor says.

sing, love your sense of humor. You make my day.

I felt so bad last night that I missed my Zumba class. I am not sure which is worse....sneezing or sleeping all the time.:mad:

Hi everyone! I just joined MFP on Monday and this looks like a fun, supportive group. Can I get in on it? I'm 42, and lost 4 lbs since Monday. I have been walking as much as my feet would allow me to. I am feeling pretty good and would like to be part of a team.
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Hi all. Second time around on MFP (the last was almost 2 years ago). Always liked this site and like your thread because I think the 40+ crowd face challenges some 20-somethings just couldn't relate to! Anyway, I have gained and lost the same 40 - 50 pounds over and over in my life and need to get serious with things again. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to "stop by" from time to time. Any questions... ask... I'm an open book (to a fault!)

Good afternoon folks... It looks like you all doing great! I am happy for you.

I have been so busy but I managed to get in small workouts this week. Yesterday I took my dog on a mile long walk and did some planks on my exercise ball. The other day I raked leaves all day and tried out my kettle ball. And today I woke up early and went on a 6.2 mile hike. It was beautiful out there with all the wild flowers. The last hill almost killed me though. I dont know why the hills still kill me the way they do.