WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR SEPTEMBER

Judexs: I do the Jillian Michaels DVD's and I love them. I am on level 2 of the 30 Day Shred, but I work and can't do them every day like some people, but really push myself when I do so I think I am getting benefits. I also purchased her kettlebell workout and enjoy it as well, and I alternate. She has two girls doing the exercises with her, one for beginners and one for experts. I alternate depending on the move. I prefer working out at home when I can instead of joining a gym, and find the the Jillian Michaels DVD's are doable for me and I look forward to working out, as opposed to a DVD called "Insanity", wonder if I could muster up the courage to even purchase it...................................naw, afraid I would break a limb! Good luck!

Hi Ladies

Not sure if it's the antibiotics I'm on are just the infection, but I'm a bit knocked out today. Had a walk on the treadmill earlier but I've been resting since then. My cough is in full force so any more exercise is out of the question really. If I'm up to it this evening, I will go for a walk in the park with DH.

Is anyone else having difficulty posting today? The site keeps crashing for me when I try to add anything. Maybe it's reacting to my bronchitis too!

Have a good day everyone.

Amanda x

Welcome to our new members! And happy birthday Vlkkij! Glad to have you and best of luck on this journey!

Judex: welcome too. I also do Julian michael's 30 day shred and found it was great for when I didn't have much time but also think it is great for helping get rid of some of that "middle" that seems to find us at a certain age!

Peg: I am so sorry for your loss. I must have missed that post. Thinking of you.

Jeannie: I am wondering if my persistent shoulder issues are not arthritis too. What kind of doctor confirmed this for you and how? I just keep plugging away but find that using weights, even lighter ones, for my upper body exercises aggravates it. When I do yoga and do too many "planks", that too sets it off. Can you explain the exercise that you were given?

Mimi: Your rule is right I know. If I could just get myself past the 2 whole days. I am getting so much exercise in with our mountain hikes that it is ok, but I am not feeling at peace with myself and food yet. Thanks for the reminder and thoughts.

Viv: Love your "stolen" cake!

Amanda: take care of yourself! Do you have access to a steam room? I have found that so helpful in the past with a persistent bronchitis. All the best.

MacMadame: You are awesome.

Renny: Hope you are over your fainting spell, but good for you for donating!

Tomorrow I head from MT to Chicago to see my sons, DIL and grand daughter. Am very excited to spend a couple of days with them...then back to SC to see what has happened to my garden and house in our long absence. DH is staying here to fish a bit more with a friend. I will use that time alone to get very motivated and re-committed for the fall. Hopefully, it will be cooler there!

Take care, everyone! I appreciate the kind thoughts and you all continue to inspire me in so many ways. Kackie

Viva, Las Vegas!:bigsmile:
I’m back, it was wonderful playing in a place where reality is nonexistent…but now back to the real world where you have to work, playing means get some exercise, eating food that’s truly good for you and getting in at least 8 hrs of sleep at night when you are supposed to sleep!:yawn:

We had a great time visiting #1 Son & DIL, stayed up till all hours, had lots of fun people watching and I will confess we did eat things that we don’t normally eat.

We went and saw the Donny & Marie show, they were awesome, but since she’s been performing for 47 years and he has for 51 they better have it down now. Their interaction with the audience is so natural that you’d think it was the first time that they have done it…but we know better. Marie sang this Opera song that was off the charts and I'm not neccessarily a fan of Opera but boy was it good

Went to an Italian Food festival, it was HOT:noway: and crowded but a lot of fun to see all the people and experience the sights and smells, then we left and went to a quiet restaurant for the air conditioning and more healthy food…one of our better times.

Our DIL got us free tickets to see “the Lion King” what a show, the costumes were something else and of course the singing and acting were first rate.

I will try reading the posts that I’ve missed but it will probably be this weekend before I’m able to be back in the swing of things, work is very busy and missing Friday and Monday just put me farther behind. Hope all of you are doing well and that you saw success in the form of losses.

Keep drinking your water:drinker: , get in some exercise and log that food, we are in this battle together and we all want to win.

Laura

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Jeannie: I am wondering if my persistent shoulder issues are not arthritis too. What kind of doctor confirmed this for you and how? I just keep plugging away but find that using weights, even lighter ones, for my upper body exercises aggravates it. When I do yoga and do too many "planks", that too sets it off. Can you explain the exercise that you were given?
[/quote]

Kacky - I went to an orthopedic surgeon that does shoulders. He took lots of x-rays that confirmed the arthritis. I had been going around and around with PT over the years and decided to just go to a shoulder guy this time. The one exercise I have to do is lying on my side with my arm bent at the elbow. The upper arm is supported by my body. I just have to lift the weight up and down from against my body to as high as I can get it. I should be able to lift it all the way up so that my fist is pointing to the ceiling. He said the weight range should be between 5-10 pounds.

Any other upper body stuff I do is up to me but I should do 15-20 minutes 3 times a week not on consecutive days.

He wanted to refer me to PT, but I refused politely as if I do end up needing surgery, I'd not have any PT left. I just asked him to please just tell me what exercises to do and he did. lol

Good luck!

Jeannie
PS: I wanted all the x-rays done as I wanted to be sure there weren't any tears or other injuries that exercise would not have been good for.

Happy belated birthday Vicki. I hope you had a great day. I also hope you did something extra special just for you. We all certainly deserve to do something nice for ourselves now & then & when our birthday comes around I believe this is the best time to give ourselves a little pampering. I too just turned 52 on 9/5.

Good luck to everyone in weight loss for the rest of the week. Doing my best to keep focused by reading all these blogs, it does help.

I'll read posts this weekend. No time now.

:bigsmile: Does anyone know how to resist chocolate chip cookies? The soft kind?:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Hi everyone!

It's been overcast and cool here in Cali and I love it. I hate the heat and I have just been zooming around the house cleaning and reorganizing things. At night it is getting positviely cold. When Boo and I go out for our walk in the evening I am having to wear a hoodie now. Tonight I was cupping my hand over my nose and was breathing into it to warm my nose. i told Boo pretty soon she was going to have to wear her hoodie too. (Yes, she really has one, No hers and mine are not identical But she does have a pretty extensive winter wardrobe) She's stylin' in the winter. :glasses:
But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, at least for the next week. The weather is supposed to jump 20 degrees tomorrow and by Saturday, here in the valley it will be around 103 degrees.:noway: It won't get down to normal until the endo fo next week !!! Rats!

Mom got a good report in today from her physical therapist. She was able to stand up 75% on her own and use a walker and walked about 20 steps! Then she was feeling so proud of herself, she actually went into the dining room area and had lunch there with other patients! From in the dining room she can see through a large window, children playing in a park. She said it was really nice. All the nurses, aides, PT and OT were shocked that she went there. My mom has been depressed since she has been there and literally refused to socialize with any patients. She always eats in her room. But yesterday the PT took her outside in her wheelchair and they sat out in the sun talking for awhile. He told her, "Do you see what you are missing by not coming out of your shell?" I guess she did because that morning she couldn't get herself up at all and kept saying "I can't", but today she did it and socialized. I know she can do it. She is just so stubborn. I told her, "You better not get pissy with me if you are going to live here. I expect you to continue working on your exercise. Hell, if Florence Henderson, (who is 76 years old too) can dance on "Dancing with the Stars" than dammit, so will you!" She just laughed.:laugh:

:flowerforyou: Msh

I am working on the same thing as you. I remember the last time I lost weight (the 100 lbs) my arms were not tight. this time around I know if I don't try and do something now while I am losing it again, they will be even more jiggly. I have been doing 5 lb weights with curls, over the head curls, for the back of my arms and lifting them out to the sides to form a T for my shoulders. It also helps my back get stronger. My son gave me these weird looking squeezy things that are shaped like the capital A to squeeze with my hands to build up muscle in my forearms also. But suzzeque is right, swimming is the best exercise if you have access to a pool. It tones everything. If I had a car I would join a fitness club that had a pool and be there everyday. Someday.........

:flowerforyou: Viv

When i was growing up I owned cats. And they were "my animal of choice" then. Unfortunately, they either get urinary tract infections easily (at least back in the day they did) hairballs, or their teeth go bad. They are not like a dog, who can chew on things to help tartar build up. Plus I brush Boos teeth with doggy toothpaste. But cats wont let you do that, or at least mine wouldn't. I remember going to the vet and having teeth removed. You'd think they'd have something to help with that for them?

:flowerforyou: Pegstet

I am so sorry for your loss of your puppy. I had a cat that was 20 when she finally decided that was it. It's the hardest thing to do. But thankfully we can ease their pain. At least they don't have to suffer like humans do. I usually don't have good luck in keeping my pets that long. Sixteen years old for a dog is a good long life. But does the heart ever break.... I had one dog, a Boston terrier, who just loved me so much and I him. He developed a heart problem at age 10, young for a small dog, and in a matter of weeks he couldn't play anymore and was having a difficult time breathing so I had to put him to sleep. I cried as I held him in my arms and the vet let me stay with him afterwards for a 1/2 hour. I remember going home crying all the way and when I got home I had to go to the restroom. Binky, my dog, used to follow me in there and sit next to me as I read or did my thing. He was with me everytime I went in there and it felt so weird not to have him sitting at my feet. I started crying all over again and then suddenly something happened. The bathroom felt different all of a sudden and I didn't feel like I was alone in there anymore. Then a really powerful smell of roses took over the room. I didnt have roses at all around my house and neither did the neighbors next to our house. I suddenly felt calm inside and I know this sounds weird, but I knew Binky was there with me, one last time. A couple of minutes later the smell went away. I really do believe he was telling me it was okay and that he would always love me. So I am sending you many hugs and I know your puppy loved you very much.

:flowerforyou: Connie48

I know what you mean about not being able to stay at work during lunch hour. I HAD to leave, the stress I had at the office was really suffocating and I always left the building for lunch to unwind. There was a park around the corner that I would always go to and I would park under a tree and sit there and eat my lunch while listening to classical music. I"d watch the squirrels playing with each other or sometimes just watch the trees move in the breeze. I'd open the window and listen to the wind go through them. It was so peaceful. Later I would bring a CD that had someone talking me through meditation. It lasted about 45 minutes and when I would return to work I was so relaxed. I know some people use exercise to get rid of pent up stress, but it doesn't work that way for me unfortunately. The only thing that relaxes me is either doing the above, meditation, or sex:blushing: , but I couldn't do that every lunch hour, would have like to, but my husband wasn't there to accomodate. :ohwell: Shopping was no good either because I didn't have the money to do that, so it was the park. Besides I thought like you did, running around playing catch up in the evening had to burn calories, I couldn't sit down until after 10:00 pm!

:flowerforyou: Peggy

Did having a hypothyroid affect your weight? My mom has been diagnosed with it. She wasn't eating hardly anything but she stayed heavy. She now takes medicine to regulate it. I'm taking it that she will have to be on this for the rest of her life? Does having a hypotyroid slow down your metabolism? She dieted all her life and never lost weight like I would. She had to go on diet pills to lose weight. I'm wondering if now she will lose weight when she moves here and eats as I am?

:flowerforyou: Suezzzque

Someone bought up simple carbs vs complex carbs and that threw me for a loop. I am doing a low carb diet and when that was mentioned I was wondering if I was eating the right ones or not? When you listed noodles, sugar, and flour as simple carbs, I realized that I was doing okay as I don't eat those. ( However, if I do eat noodles, they are either wheat or multi grain and I only eat them once in a great while.) But what are complex carbs and why are they okay to eat?

Finally, for all you smart women out there..... I hear you talk about this apple cider vinegar, and I know I had a carb attack a while back and didn't realize that after a couple of days things would go back to normal. But while I was fighting it, (which seemed impossible to do) I didn't realize you could drink that stuff? How much do you use and how do you use it?

Well all this talk about food has me hungry and I have a few calories left to use up so I am going to have a carb smart fudgsicle. Yummy.

Good night all!:yawn:

If they are homemade, it's harder. But if they are factory-made, just concentrate on how chemically they taste and how the texture just isn't quite right.

Mac- I think you might have really made a good point. I mean I jump through hoops to do things to save the environment from unnecessary trash and to support natural and fair trade foods, I just need to add chocolate chip cookies to my list. This might really help me. Thanks, Jeannie

:flowerforyou: Suezzzque

Someone bought up simple carbs vs complex carbs and that threw me for a loop. I am doing a low carb diet and when that was mentioned I was wondering if I was eating the right ones or not? When you listed noodles, sugar, and flour as simple carbs, I realized that I was doing okay as I don't eat those. ( However, if I do eat noodles, they are either wheat or multi grain and I only eat them once in a great while.) But what are complex carbs and why are they okay to eat?

Finally, for all you smart women out there..... I hear you talk about this apple cider vinegar, and I know I had a carb attack a while back and didn't realize that after a couple of days things would go back to normal. But while I was fighting it, (which seemed impossible to do) I didn't realize you could drink that stuff? How much do you use and how do you use it?

Well all this talk about food has me hungry and I have a few calories left to use up so I am going to have a carb smart fudgsicle. Yummy.

Good night all!:yawn:

All carbohydrates are made up from sugars. There are a number of different types of sugars but in the body all carbohydrate metabolism converts sugar to glucose, our body's preferred energy source.

COMPLEX carbs are foods such as whole grains and edible parts of plants like stalks and leaves. Because they contain longer chains of sugar molecules as well as a lower “glycemic load, ” they take longer for the body to process. In turn this provides energy for a longer period of time while lacking the substance that turns sugar to fat.

SIMPLE CARBS, on the other hand, are made up of high sugar foods that are processed very quickly. When fiber is low and sugar is high, the food is processed before it can be burned off turning most of it into fat.

A good rule of thumb for which carbohydrates to choose is to look at the carb vs fiber content. Anything that has more than double the amount of carb than fiber is going to trigger those carb cravings. Another good rule of thumb I learned from my diabetic friends is to never eat carbs alone, but to always "bind them" with protein. Like an apple dipped in peanut butter for example. As for your question about whole grain pasta. They are great in moderation. So is brown rice. My favorite bread is Ezekiel Bread. Just keep reading those labels!

You can read all about organic apple cider vinegar on another MFP thread here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/83045-apple-cider-vinegar-helps-conquer-carb-cravings?page=2#posts-1647159

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Now I'm off to board meeting and resisting the insuing potluck. Not so hard to do when I'm seeing progress. I know my tummy was getting flatter, but was shocked yesterday to try on a size smaller and found that it fit. :noway: Snugly, but it still zipped. I'm on my way! :happy:

Hello all! Checking in from Hope, AK. As I mentioned before the wifi here is sketchy at best. I can only get online from the laundry/gathering room here at the park office. They are on winter hours now which makes it even harder to get online 10-5 and closed Tues & Wed.

We have been very busy having fun so we were seldom here when they were on summer hours! However, all good things come to an end. I dropped off my friend and she went home Tues. She came out to play with me while DH was out hunting brown bear. THen I picked him up the same day at the ferry flight service. Amazingly enough I didn't have too much trouble with getting around in Anchorage even considering I had DH's big ole truck. I don't much like to drive it, especially in city traffic.

DH got his bear. I pretty big one too; it was 8'4" long. The bad part is the pocket camera he took with him malfunctioned and he only has a few pictures from a disposable camera. He didn't want to take the good camera as he had enough to deal with as it was.

I think I have lost a few pounds while here but won't know until we get back. We are way off the beaten path here. I would think a good gas station with food attached would make a mint somewhere between Girdwood and Seward. Those are the two places with gas stations north and south of where we're staying. It is a good 40 miles north to the one and over 50 to the one to the south. Needless to say, they are always busy. We have been carrying cans of gas but haven't needed to use them yet.

We have done a lot of hiking, panned for gold and are bringing home some dirt for the grandson to pan out, gone on a critter/glacier viewing cruise, took my 60+ friend fishing for the first time ever (she caught two halibut), took a train trip part Denali to Fairbanks and just generally had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we will sort our stuff, pack up and head back the next day. That should take a couple weeks or so. Thank goodness our son is staying at our place; that's one concern we don't have to deal with.

I have been among the missing too long catch up on what you all have been up to and your successes, so I will just jump back in when we get home. Hopefully I can shop my closet for some pants that fit better. I have mine in the dryer right now on hot trying to shrink them. It's been a long time since I have had to do that! I really love this site and all the support from everyone.

Faye

Hello everyone, another day down and a quarter to the pocket change. Sitting down with my sis this weekend and we are going to make up a schedule for me. Some days the normal chore things seem to disappear from my mind, and that is a big no no. So to keep me from getting stressed because of these voids, a schedule will keep things done and I'll loose the stress. This may help the memory to function more.

My dog has a serious allergy to weeds outside, we have pills to take and I am keeping her inside, she will potty on the trainer pads, so it will be just to keep them picked up after she uses them. Oh I am so thankful for vets, I was so frightened that she may have a tick or other bug,( I never, underestimate what mother nature can do), I'm thinking a ton of misshappening have been going on in my family and friends that this again was another to deal with. But my vet helped me look at Buttons and she said not anything but an allergy.

Hope all is well, <<<hugs>>>> to you all that have had a sad event and misshap, Keep your head up, chin up, and smile it will strengthen you.

Marilyn

McMadame - thanks for the info about the Master's swim. Only I don't think I'm QUITE ready for Master's swim. I'm lucky to keep myself afloat....lol I have this fear of the deep water. I know where that stems from. When I was younger I was in the ocean and the tide pulled me out. I have this memory of being totally disoriented and not being able to touch the bottom. I'm OK in the deep end if I have a floation device on or if I'm on my back.

Didn't realize how early I'd gotten up this a.m (Wed). When I went to make my breakfast I looked at the clock on the microwave. It was 5:30. So I did 40 min of yoga. Did 1 hr of deep water, then bowled two games (I really need the practice, and it doesn't hurt that I have coupons for a free game). Tonight I'm thinking about taking a yoga class. It's being given for free. I suspect the gal is trying to get in her hours for some sort of certification, she's doing this, she teaches at the Y, she teaches at another studio, she is also starting to teach at another gym in town. Wish she would do something closer to me, tho...... Tomorrow I'll do some HIIT at the Y near me.

Hey there judexs! I like Jillian Michael's DVD's. HerbieSue - if I'm not mistaken, can't her kettlebell DVD also be done with free weights? I don't have kettlebells at home, but I do have free weights. If this is the one I'm thinking of, I may have to get it. But first, I'll view the clip at collagevideo and read any reviews.

weaklink - doesn't it just feel so great to have to go thru your clothes and get rid of them because they are too big. Love it.

Jeannie - are you working your rotator cuff muscle? From your description of the exercise, it sounds like you're working the rotator cuff. But I would think 10lbs would be too heavy for that muscle, so that's why I'm confused (what else is new????)

Rebel - the only way I know of to resist those soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies is not to have them in the house. This probably doesn't help you much, tho

chicklet - I use only about a Tbsp. of the apple cider vinegar. What a relief that your mom is doing so much better

tiarapants - prayers and good thoughts being sent your way.

suzyQ - woo hoo! You go girl!

Robin - sometimes I think that I shouldn't even bother to eat the cookies, I should just plaster them on my hips or stomach....lol

Did 1 hr HIIT on the elliptical (Thurs), then bowled 2 games. I really need practice on my delivery. Two games doesn't seem to be overwhelming. Also, I have coupons for a free game PLUS I get the senior price, so for 2 games it only costs me $1.75. Then I went food shopping. Spent $30 but saved $60.

Tomorrow I'm going to take the xtremepump class for an hour.

HerbieSue - ITA It IS wonderful when your children grow up to be your friends.

Michele