40+ Club : Where the Cool Kids Are

I am over 40....well that is what my passport keeps telling me :laugh:

You have one of these new talking passports? Wow!

Nice to see a >40 forum here. So here's my story: I'm 43, work as a paralegal in a small law firm, been married for almost 22 years and have one daughter who is 15 (and yes, I am very uncool in her eyes!). Growing up I was the kid who ate everything and was a stick. Got married, gained a few, had my daughter, gained a few more.

That's when the ephedra kick hit and I jumped all over that band wagon. I lost a lot of weight without making the necessary changes. Stopped the ephedra and all the weight plus a "few" more came back on. I am 5'9" and at my most weighed 228.

I started MFP in January. Frankly, my friends were losing weight and I didn't want to be the "fat" friend! Vain, I know. But it got me moving. Now I am 196 pounds. I ride my exercise bike every morning for 30 minutes and Zumba 4 times a week. I am working on the concept of increasing my base calories from 1200. I do eat some but not all of my exercise calories. I have no idea what my ideal goal weight is. I guess I'll know it when I get there. I look forward to following this thread!

Hello, it is great to see a 40+ group. It is definately harder to lose weight at this age than when I was in my 20s.....and I thought I was fat then, boy, I would love to be 150 now! Anyways, I am pretty new to MFP. I am hoping to lose 50 lbs for now. My first goal is to lose 15 lbs and hopefully in 4 weeks or 2 months....either one will be great. I have dieted all my life....so for now, I am going to low carb it ...to help lose some water weight and jump start my weight loss....it is a struggle for me and I definately have my ups and downs. Good luck everyone.

I got my lifting done at lunch. Will do cardio after work....but, haven't eaten very much, today, so really won't be BANGING out the cardio - just going to support my daughter.

Hi TRexMex. In regards to your post, I'm not sure about the other numbered items, but this one I know definitely.

REGARDS: 2. Do I eat back my exercise calories?

Hee, hee! NO! DO NOT eat back your calories burned (you can eat back a few if you find yourself hungry, BUT). They (MFP) are just showing you at the end of the day of what you can lose if you keep burning that amount of calories over and above what you eat. In short, for each 3500 calories burned above the calorie intake, you will loose 1 pound of weight. Likewise, for each 3500 calories intack above what you use up in spent energy every day, you will gain 1 pound. So, if you eat back those calories burned, you will go nowhere!

Hope I haven't totally confused you.

Good morning all! Had a good day yesterday, under my calorie goal, and got over an hour of exercise between the treadmill and taking the dogs for a walk. Weight stayed the same, but I just had a fairly large drop so that's not a surprise.

Hope everyone's start of the week is going well!

I've decided I've been anti-social enough. If anyone would like to add me that'd be great! :flowerforyou:

Hi cool kids!

My cardio-step work-out last night was terrible....I didn't need the work-out, but wanted to support my daughter. Well, she pooped out after 15 minutes! And then became a 'distraction'. I carried on to the 30-min mark before I thought, "what the HECK am I DOING - I'm SICK!" and so we packed up and left.

And, I proceeded to eat CARBS last night....so, I guess my appetite is returning!

My throat remains VERY sore (although tylenol helps) and my cough is annoying. But, I did get about 6 hours of sleep and I'm sitting at my work-desk, so no complaints!

Will walk at lunch just to get the DOMs in my quads to dissipate.

How will YOU make your fitness TOP PRIORITY, today!?!?!?

Hi All! Yesterday was a dull day. No work out yesterday, just a crazy day. I did turn down Hershey Kisses yesterday though which is a big feat for me! Went and walked on my lunch break today so I feel like I have at least done something today. Back at work now until 6pm. Should be an interesting afternoon. Have a good rest of the day all! :ohwell:

Can I join the cool kids group? I'll be 40 in November. I have another 21 pounds to lose to get to my goal. I started at 215, when I joined mfp is Jan 2012 I was 209. I'm at 156 right now, my goal is 135 by my birthday. My goal was to always get into the best shape I can by the time I hit 40, but I'm finding it hard to lose these last 20.

sdereski - WOW P90X the day after a 20 mile run?!?! that is flat-out extraordinarily impressive! Way to gut it out in the snow and wind!

Hi Super - congrats on your success so far! what is your current weight loss strategy?

graceire - always good to have excercise buddies so you can hold each other accountable.

beeps - hopefully the next step class you do with your daughter is better. glad you are on the mend.

melanie - I respectfully disagree about eating back your exercise calories and I know everyone is different: different deficit goals/different exercise plans/different metabolisms/different abilities to restrict food. I try to maintain about a 500 calorie deficit a day, whether I exercise or not. (Theoretically translating into 1 pound per week lost.) That means on days I do not exercise, I eat 1500. The days I do exercise I eat 1800-2000, depending on my workout. I don't always eat back all of my exercise calories, but I do let myself eat more so that I can have a plan I am successful with.