WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR NOVEMBER

Good morning everyone and welcome to all new comers,

My sauce and meatballs was on the stove by 8AM and is simmering as I write. Somehow the house feels warmer with the cooking smells. We made the sausage, peppers and onions last night. Only the chicken Alfredo left to make today. I haven't cooked like this in years. It feels good, but I want to be sure the food goes some place other than my mouth. lol

I'm going to bike while I drink my morning coffee and before I get cleaning and cooking again.

Have a great day everyone!

Jeannie

Kath, 30 minutes on the elliptical! That’s awesome. I can manage about 5…it kicks my patootie.

Amanda, you sound wonderful. Good for you for keeping up with the aqua class in the midst of all the crazy busy-ness.

Pat, welcome! I don’t judge you at all for having weight loss surgery. That takes a lot of courage and is the right solutions sometimes. I got a lap band 9 years ago. I lost 80 lbs but kept off just 25. But that was the start of getting my head (and body) straight. I’m now down 125 lbs from 9 years ago (70 in the last year) and am feeling wonderful. The loose skin is just a given (dang it!) Thank heavens for clothes (and good bras!) Congrats on keeping off 150 lbs. That’s wonderful. And congrats on coming to my MFP. I’m not a joiner either but this website and, particularly, this forum have helped me immensely.

Barbie, lol about the veggies. Hurray for veggies. The best “willpower” going!

Vicki, Jeannie, and SMwert, Hi…I’m running out of time but wanted to say hello! Gonna go for a walk with my mom while the weather holds. We’ve got just a small window of opportunity.

xxx

Did an hour of deep water workout today (Fri). This was the last day for that bathingsuit. Well, you get what you pay for, and I know that I didn't pay a lot for it. Fortunately, I have 5 more bathing suits in my drawer (that I didn't pay a lot for). Then I bowled three games. Broke 100 each game (but just barely). Right now I'm x-stitching this piece for my friend. I'll probably see her when we go to Europe in Jan. We've been friends since high school. It says "there's a warmth and joy that never ends between the hearts of special friends". I've done all the x-stitching, I want to get the outlining done for the flowers. The other outlining is pretty straight forward, so I can do that in the car while we're driving up to see Jessica. Tomorrow...yoga.

Viv - you know, when I broke that bone in my foot last year and couldn't exercise, I really could notice a difference in how I felt. I seriously think that exercising helps to keep the hot flashes at bay. When I couldn't exercise, there were times when the sweat, literally, would be pouring down my legs. Ever since I've gone back to exercising, I still sometimes get hotflashes but not the sweat pouring down my legs. Guess that's my incentive, if I exercise then I won't have that feeling. Plus...I can eat more (which I love to do!)

Welcome Pat. Logging your food is just great. What are your hobbies?

Vicki - I'm with you. If it were totally up to me, I'd want to have my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Vince isn't that way. Denise wanted this necklace that had to be special ordered. Weeks ago I told Vince that it would take 4-6 weeks to get it in. He kept putting off ordering it and putting it off. Finally, I ordered it today. As long as it is ordered by Dec. 1, it'll be here by Christmas. Why does he procrastinate so???? I like to enjoy the holiday, too.

Today (Sat) did an hour of yoga. We're supposed to go to this restaurant with some friends of ours. Honestly, I'm really not all that crazy about going. The last two times this lady has asked us out, one time I had to serve at the church and the other time the food on the menu was so horrible (green beans cooked in fat back, just an example) that I lied and said that I had to lector that day. This restaurant that she wants to go to, everything is pan fried. Well, almost everything. If her hubby has heart problems, why would she choose a restaurant where everything is fried? Maybe his heart problems aren't as bad as she tells us they are. Anyway, they do have a poached trout that I'm going to get and instead of the potatoes I'll get the steamed broccoli (I do have to ask for it without butter)

Tomorrow I'm thinking that I may do an hour on the Wii of balance games.

Just got back from the restaurant. It is expensive, but I'd read that on the internet. I had the poached trout and steamed broccoli. Vince had the pommes de terres (meaning French Fries) and he said that they were REALLY salty. He just got the pan fried chicken breast, and to him it was like a giant chicken nugget with salty fries. I also had their "house" salad, but I had to ask for the salad dressing on the side. There was lettuce, but also these green beans (I didn't care for the dressing they had on them, so I didn't eat them), some sort of potato salad which I didn't eat since I'm not a fan of potato salad, beets which I ate, I think there was a cucumber that was marinated in some sort of balsamic vinegar which I ate, chopped carrots, alfalfa sprouts. The trout was served whole -- head an all. I just had a problem eating something that was looking at me, so I cut the head off. Someone else asked that it be taken off the table, guess it bothered him also.

We've been invited to a friend's house for dinner Monday night, so I'll make a pie to take with me tomorrow. Also, we're celebrating birthdays at the Y Monday so I'll make cookies to take with me tomorrow.

I made cupcakes for the "dessert" tonight. Gave them to one of the ladies. Told them that a friend of ours who has severe back problems (we do have a friend with severe back problems) needs something moved and his wife can't do it alone so they asked us. He needs to take his pain killer (or else he can't sleep, and this is the truth) at 10p.m. so we needed to go there earlier.

Vince just booked our hotel in VA. I'm thinking that it's the one that had a microwave and refrig in it. I'm going to take some snacks with me anyway.

Hope everyone has a great evening.

Michele

Good morning Ladies.

I'm down another pound today. It would be wonderful to lose another 2 pounds before the end of the month (which would bring me into a normal weight range).

DH and I are going for a stompy walk this afternoon after we've been over to the babies. I really want to try to fit in a couple of visits to the gym this week if possible. I've also got my swimming lesson tomorrow morning and my aqua fit class on Thursday. At present I don't have a lot of time at home so I can't spend much time in my home gym. Still, I'm rushing around like a chicken with no head which means I'll still be burning some calories.

It's fascintating to read about everyone's preperations for Thanksgiving day - we just don't have anything like that in the UK. One year I would really love to spend a Thanksgiving over in the States. I spoke to my step-grandson who lives in Ohio, yesterday. I'd posted him some gifts as a 'well done for becoming a big brother'. It's very hard for my son-in-law to not have his first born over here while the babies are so 'fresh from the oven'.

Have a good rest of the weekend, and for anyone who doesn't get on because they are so busy - Happy Thanksgiving.

Love to you all, my friends.

Amanda x

Hello everyone,

The sun's peeking through after a rip-roaring (by California standards) thunder-and-lightening storm last night. More rain is expected later today but I'm enjoying seeing the sun.

Amanda's comment about Thanksgiving made me chuckle. Years ago, I drove up for a visit with my next-younger sister and her DH who lived in Vancouver, BC, in Canada. It was Thanksgiving (for me!) so I loaded up the car with a turkey and all the trimmings. I got grilled at the border. I'd completely forgotten it was Thanksgiving only in the US, not in Canada!

I was over a little on calories yesterday thanks to a glass of wine, 2 crackers, and an ounce of Cambozola. I feel good about measuring and logging though! I did much better than I did when I was at Tahoe. It helps to have fewer people around and to take the time to decide what I was going to eat instead of just nibbling. Nibbling is deadly!

The forum is awfully quiet lately. Must be the holidays. I'm thinking of you all.

xxx

Hi, I am new to MFP and my son found this group for me (over 50) so I have been perusing a little.

I am 55, single with 'empty nest', too young to retire. A lot of the blogs and groups I 1st found were younger women/girls. I was looking for women more my age to relate to; this group looks like just the thing.

Weight has been an issue most of my life, yo-yoing through out. Changing things as well as diet for a healthier life. Unfortunately medical issues also are playing a role ( mine and family ). A cpl days ago had to have electrolytes due to lab values and I gained 2#s I had just lost. :ohwell:

Have done well with entering foods and exercise. My son and his girlfriend are also on this journey ( they inspired me).
Am looking for tasty low cal. recipes foe stuffing and desserts...any help?

Long term goals are: 1) to be 150# and fit 2) not become diabetic (rampant fam history of both type I & II) and manage hypoglycemia better. 3) be able to play with grandson...ball/swimming/etc without problems. 4) fit into regular size clothes
5) just to be healthy and feel healthy.

I have done well the past 2 weeks and have cut my consumption of my "addiction #1" waist watchers vanilla cream soda.. ...have been known to go through 2 - 2liter bottles in 24hrs. now have had 0 -2 glasses/day:drinker: but have averaged 6-8 glasses H2O.

Enough for now. Look forward to getting to know you ladies and all the great support here. Keep up your good work in personal goals. Mae

Hello Ladies.

After a horrible week of bad eating and minimal exercise I am gearing up to get back on that wagon starting tomorrow morning. I have also set a new goal to work towards. I have decided that I will run a 5K in March (there are quite a few in the area) a 10K in June and a half marathon in October. I might try a marathon in 2012. I like the idea of training for a goal I know I can do this.

I hope all your grand babies are doing well and that the kids are okay and that the DH's are doing well and all of the furry critters are happy. Have a great day.

we have gotten so quiet. I hope it is just because of the holidays and busy active women. I hope you are all well and happy. Its snowing here again today. Its a little unique for Seattle. I guess its going to be a bad winter.

Hello ladies

I hope everyone is having a good start to their week. It's nice to see some more newbies. I'm missing some of the 'oldies' though. Hopefully everyone is doing well and not having too many stresses.

This morning I had my swimming lesson. What on earth is going on??? I'm not getting any better - in fact, I'm pretty certain I'm getting worse! Time to book my next lot of classes I suppose. There's no way I'm going to give up trying now. If nothing else, I am determined to be able to take my grandtwins swimming.

Tomorrow I won't be seeing the babies as I have to babysit for my sister whilst her husband has a procedure at the hospital. He has atrial fibrillation and is having electric shock treatment (cardioversion) to try to 'reset' his heart. Fingers crossed that it is successful.

Denise - I'm very envious of your time in the Alps. Such a beautiful place. We used to spend summers in Chamonix and climb Mont Blanc, many moons ago. I have a wonderful photograph of DH standing on the Mer de Glace (a glacier) wearing shorts, a t-shirt and his hiking boots on hard, compacted ice. Great times!

Robin - I don't know what the winters are like in Seattle. My knowledge of American geography is shamefully bad! Good luck with the running goals you have set yourself.

Barbiecat - sodium is evil!!

Jeannie - good to hear that your DD's party went well. Enjoy the Deathly Hallows!

Michele - I'm definitely with you regarding early Christmas shopping. I HATE leaving things to the last minute. DH is the opposite, a firm believer in brinkmanship. He got caught out last year though. He intended buying my gift on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, he woke up that day with a tummy bug and stayed in bed all day. Consequently I had no Christmas present from my DH last year! He did offer to buy something for me after Christmas, but I told him not to. He's made up for it since with a couple of surprise 'just because' diamond presents.

All my gifts are sitting in one of the spare bedrooms - only half of them are wrapped though. I'm hoping to get the remainder wrapped this weekend.

Sister Veggie Queen - I've been cooking for my DD and her DH since she came home from hospital and I've now made my son-in-law a fan of roasted veggies. Yay! One more for the fold.

Smwert - I hope your kneecaps are feeling better. My knees are delicate little things (well, not so little .... but certainly not as big as they were!) There have been times when even the bedclothes cause pain in them.

Kackie - My weight loss has been fairly steady, although it's slow now that I'm close to goal. I have to say, I've not really had too much of an issue when I've been away from home or during celebrations etc. Treats are acceptable providing you allow for them - no point in being miserable whilst everyone else enjoys themselves.

Lynn - are you feeling better now? How was the early celebrations with your nephew?

Viv - let us know how your Uncle got on with his assessment.

Birdie - well done on the loss and the improved blood pressure.

Barb - I'm so sorry about your great aunt. I have one great aunt left and I adore her.

SuzyQ - great picture with your friend. Shame you didn't get a shot in your two-piece, but well done for wearing it anyway! Those days are looooong gone for me.

I know I haven't replied to everyone, but I do read the posts religiously and think of you all.

Time to get moving.

Love

Amanda x

Barbie - thank you for checking up on me ....it's be awhile and life seems to have gotten in the way!

Let me begin by saying…Sorry for the long time away…busy doesn’t begin to cover this past 6 weeks…so I will start this in Word and work on it over the next few days and then post it.

***********
I hope that all of you are doing well and looking at the upcoming holiday season as a new challenge to our new and fit selves.

***********

When last I posted I had just heard that my Mom was headed to the hospital (Oct 14th). When they went to awaken her that morning at the Foster home she was unresponsive so they called 9-1-1 and then called me to let me know. Over the course of several hours I found out she was in ICU and after talking with her nurse they weren’t expecting her to make it. Knowing that and that I was so far away really put me in a very frustrating position, so many things were pressing at the time:

1) My husband was leaving at Noon to go hunting over the next 4 days.(I told him to go ahead and go hunting there wasn’t anything he could do and that I’d rather have him there for the funeral).
2) If I was going to leave I needed to do 2weeks of Payroll (there is no one else in my office that knows how to do it)
3) I had other work that was pressing as well, but figured it would have to wait.
4) What to do with Peanut if I were to leave suddenly.(my boss told me he would keep him while I was gone)

Over the course of the rest of the day I decided that I would fly out in the morning and work until I got done what needed to be done to leave for the next week. It turns out that I worked until Midnight:noway: then went home to pack(because of the weight I’d lost I had to try on clothes to see what would fit..and quite a bit of it was too big) was up until 4am tried to sleep and then up at 6am finishing what I needed to do at home before heading to the airport for a 10am flight.

It so happens that I have a friend who’s Mother passed away just a month before and she had told me how she knew she wouldn’t make it to Arizona to see her in time and that she called her and they put the phone up to her ear for her to say her good-byes. So that is what I did. A family friend happened to be in Mom’s hospital room when I called and when she told her I wanted to talk with her she raised her eye brows so we knew that she was aware that I was on the phone. I was able to tell her all those things we want to say when we know that our loved one is leaving us,:flowerforyou: that “I loved her, she had been the best Mom I could have had (since I was “chosen” being adopted) and that if now was the time for her to go be with Dad then don’t wait for me to get there and I knew Jesus was waiting for her”. After that call I had great peace that it was going to be okay.:flowerforyou:

On Friday (15th) morning I called the hospital and they told me they didn’t expect her to make it another 2 hrs and about an hour later when I was headed to my office for my boss to take me to the airport the Doctor called to let me know she had passed (about 5 min before he called me). He said it was very peaceful and that she just stopped breathing (he was with her when it happened), he also said that what brought it on was that she had had a massive heart attack sometime Wednesday night. I had last talked with Mom on Tuesday evening on my way home from work and she was wondering what we were going to do about the holidays. I had planned on surprising her for her Birthday weekend which would have been Dec 5th when she would have been 84…but God had other plans.

Over the next week I was so busy taking care of the funeral, arranging for two of my sons to come as well as my Husband, I was glad that I had a cell phone because you can get a lot done sitting in a parked car before you head to your next appointment, funeral home, lawyers, County offices, banks, yep I was pretty busy.

Through it all I somehow managed to keep the “new” me in check, but I do know that eating healthy wasn’t part of it although I did keep the calories pretty close. I somehow managed to miss eating regular meals and did “treat” myself to celebrating “Mom” by going to Dairy Queen (a place she loved these last few years) and having a Mushroom Burger in her honor.

Once I got back to work the following week it was try and catch up at work and then help my hubby get ready for his work trip to the Philippines (he left on the 30th and returned Nov 12th) One of the things that I was going to do when my husband went hunting was clean my carpets in the living/dining room and our bedroom, so we had moved furniture and when he left for overseas that furniture was still waiting for me to clean the carpets…which I was able to do in the evenings while he was gone.
The day my hubby left I went to a restaurant to meet a friend I hadn’t seen in 15 years and we talked for about 5 hrs….so much to catch up on…when I got home I thought it would be good to start the carpet cleaning and when I went to the basement….:noway: YUCK the sewer had backed up! So I had to call a plumber and get that mess taken care of and it was a mess…so I now had the carpet in the basement to add to my list of “things to do while hubby is gone”.

It has taken me about 5.5 weeks to finally feel like I’m catching up but there are still all the companies and paper work that I need to do in relation to Mom’s passing. Thank you notes, letters to credit card companies, insurance company information..just to name a few.

I was able to get the title changed on their home into my name, it’s up for sale, about 2,200 sf 4 bedrooms, 2 bath in a 55+ park in Grants Pass Oregon, I’ve lowered the price already…nothing is selling there which is very frustrating…my cousin did all the work inside this past summer and it looks brand new inside (even has that brand new smell), new paint, carpets and a few other new things $69,900 if anyone knows of someone wanting to move to Southern Oregon.:ohwell:

Work continues to be stressful and I will confess that I haven’t had it in me to do much exercising in the past 5.5 weeks…I’m sure you could call carpet cleaning exercise because my right arm and shoulder sure felt it, then the regular house cleaning that I was able to get done too.

I do hope all of you are doing well and that with the holiday season upon us we all find time to slow down, enjoy our families and friends.

Thank you all for your prayers and support I’ve felt it and it was greatly appreciated

Laura:flowerforyou:

I will have to see about what kind of goals I can set for December….just not sure right now.

Laura80111 I am sorry to hear of your loss, glad you spoke with her . My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

belated bump :ohwell:

Just popping in to tell all of you that we now have another cat. Those who have been here for a while might remember how happy I was that my friend that lost her home got rid of her pets without us having to take them all in. My son rescued a stray cat from getting killed by a group of kids at the high school. He (my son) ended up in ISS for fighting, and the cat was seen by the school nurse and fed by the school cafeteria. The next day kids were trying to run the cat over with a car and my husband and son intervened. The cat came home that time and is very happy to not be outside any more.

I am very proud of my son for standing up for an innocent animal at his own personal risk. I am amazed my cat hating husband let the cat in the truck.

Will catch up on the posts later. I hope everyone is doing OK.

Jeannie

:flowerforyou: Good Morning Ladies

:flowerforyou: Welcome Mae, Chrissy and Mims - you will get support and advice here - and make some good friends too

:flowerforyou: Robin wtg on your running goals for next year. I find running hard, this week will be wk 4 at the running club and I didn't ache as much last week as the time before :laugh: :laugh: so hopefully it will get easier.

:flowerforyou: Jeannie can't believe you are jealous of the snow :noway: :noway: I'm dreading it, all signs by the weathermen are that we are going to have a harsh winter here in the UK :frown:

:flowerforyou: Laura sorry to hear about your mum, we've all been thinking about you. You seem to be very busy, but I hope you keep in touch

:flowerforyou: Barb glad you got back from your great aunt's funeral safely.

:flowerforyou: Barbiecat how's the snow in your area now? I don't think I've ever known it so bad here that we've been snowed in (thank goodness!):frown: I don't mind the snow too much, it's the ice I worry about, it makes it hard going walking (for me) and I worry about DD driving to work as she has to drive on country roads that are not gritted.

My uncle was feeling a bit better when he was assessed last Friday, the social worker took a lot of details from him and us (my dad and aunt were there too) she said he could be eligible for extra help in the home like someone to help him dress on a morning, cook a meal (or was it heat up a meal) and help with having a shower/bath once a week - which he was not too keen on:ohwell: :noway: what is it about some people (men?) I think they get allergic to water as they get older :laugh: :laugh: He did say he wouldn't mind going into a care home to be looked after, but these are hard to get into nowadays as lots of old folks homes are closing down, and it is only if you have medical needs and need nursing nearly 24 hrs a day that you get in them. The social worker said he might have a long wait.

Woops sorry to cut short but DD is almost ready - we'll get the dogs walked and I'll try and get back and give you part 2 :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Good morning ladies. Today is my one year anniversary of quitting smoking. Officially one whole year smoke free!!!!


DH has been working from home yesterday and today because the roads are too icy and his chains won't arrive until tomorrow when we probably won't need them any more. It has been really cold but it is very pretty since it isn't melting.

Laura - I am sorry for your loss. I am glad you got to say good bye. I didn't get that chance. I had a visit scheduled with my mom two weeks after the day she passed, I wish I had made it for an earlier time but we never know.

Viv - sorry about all the Uncle frustration.

Barb - I am glad you are busy with your new job and all the other goings on. I am sorry about your great aunt but glad you got thru the passes safely.

Barbiecat - do you dogs like the snow? Bodi loves it.

Jeannie - I love the snow too. Even though it really messes everything up it is still special since we don't get a lot of it here in the Pacific Northwest.

To all of you other lovely ladies you are in my thoughts daily and I love you all