Fit, Fine and Nearly Sixty!

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

The title of this thread, Fit, Fine and Nearly Sixty is a play on the title of an inspirational movie called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Truth is, I started to post the title, "Fat, Stressed, and Over Fifty" when I realized that title is neither motivational nor supportive---to myself!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here's the deal. I am nearly 60 years old. I deal with quite a bit of stress in my life. And I am not vibrantly well. And I want to be.

Quick about me: 58 1/2 years old. Married, two adult sons. Caregiver to my disabled adult older son, 23, who has autism and really disabling chronic Lyme Disease. Support to my 99-year-old MIL in nursing home; only child to aging parents about to move into independent senior living. I'm the middle of a caregiving sandwich, for sure!

In the interests of staying focused on the positive: I have a lovely supportive husband who enabled me to retire early from a career in the health field so I could take care of the home front. I am very active in my synagogue faith community, and that brings me a great deal of comfort and support, as I have no extended family.

My goal is to focus on the process and let the results come in their own good time. To develop a caring, loving relationship with my body. To nurture habits that are supportive for the rest of my life. TO BECOME FIT AND FINE BY SIXTY!!!!!!!

To that end, I will:

1. Do some deliberate, mindful activity 5 days out of 7.
2. Log my food here on my fitness pal.
3. Do something restorative and nurturing for myself on a conscious basis as needed. (Note to self: this week, make a list of such things for when the time is right.)
4. Be kind, exercise kindly self-discipline.

Today: 1 hour gentle yoga class.

Be back later to log how the day went. Namaste and shalom!

Roseygirl

on_a_lark · February 2014

Good going, Roseygirl! I'm with you all the way. ~Linda

healthygreek · February 2014

You can do it!
It IS possible!
I'm nearly 60 (next month) and nearly at my goal which is 120. I've been hovering between 122-125.
I workout 6x a week and walk on the 7th day with my husband.
I eat mostly well with some chocolate, booze and other treats thrown in cause I want balance (and yummy stuff).
I feel great and brought some bad cholesterol down to normal.
I have lots of energy and sleep well.
I have fun playing with my 2 granddaughters.

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Day 1: completed food diary for the day; did gentle yoga this morning; inspiring meeting at shul; emotional challenge this evening to see my beautiful son so sick with mental illness. This is what a friend of mine calls, "a G-d-sized problem." I remain determined to take as exquisite care of myself as possible, for the sake of my family who depend on me, and because I must honor the Divine Spark that is my own soul. This is my journey to embrace, such as it is.

Roseygirl1

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

So today I plan on spending two hours at the gym. One hour of chair yoga and one hour of silver sneakers cardio. I need this for my mental and physical health. It is very challenging to deal with a very ill child, especially when that child is an adult and has mental illness. The gift of such a challenge, however, is that it makes you focus small, one day at a time, one moment at a time. You learn to appreciate a moment of peace with deep gratitude.

It is my intention to stay grounded in self-care while I am present to my son and his illness. I do no one a favor if I let stress take over.

I had my breakfast of yogurt, berries and brazil nuts. I am going to get ready for the gym now. My son is still sleeping. He needs the rest and I need my two hours to myself.

I will have homemade chicken soup for lunch (good for what ails you! Lots of veggies!). Don't know about dinner yet. Back tonight for final report.

Roseygirl1

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Thank G-d, my son had a little better day today. We'll take it. Still sick but not so paranoid. He's actually going to go bowling tonight. Yay!

I feel good about my activity today. Two hours at the Y, chair yoga followed by silver sneakers cardio. The cardio part was easy, but the weights and band was challenging. I need to work on my strength!

Tomorrow I have a massage scheduled in the afternoon. Looking forward to the relaxation, and glad I am taking care of myself.

G'night.

Roseygirl1

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Tough day: my son had that nasty GI virus with a lot of vomiting. Nursed him all day----gave myself Stairmaster minutes for how many trips up and down the stairs I made! Thank G-d, he's feeling better this evening. Able to take nighttime meds and eat an orange and a banana in the latter part of the day.

I tracked and followed my plan.

Tomorrow I plan to get to the Y by 7:45 am for a Zumba Gold class followed by chair yoga.

I'm proud of myself for not letting my anxiety be an excuse to eat. I feel so much better just being on my own team.

Rosey

KristinD1977 · February 2014

Hi Rosey,

I just want to say that I admire your strength and positive outlook! I am a 36 year old mom of 2, a 6-1/2 yr old daughter on the spectrum and a 5-1/2 year old son. I know how much harder our kids with autism have to work to learn and grow compared to their siblings and my heart goes out to your son who on top of this has to deal with the pain and difficulties of Lyme disease as well.

I don't often circle back to the treads that I comment on because I feel like I have to dig around to find them but if you want an extra friend on here for support then please add me. I keep up with my news feed daily and my diary is wide open (for better or worse)

I wish you the energy & time to meet your goals, best wishes, Kristin :flowerforyou:

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Thanks for dropping in.....we families who have special needs kids have quite the challenge. My son was doing really well until the Lyme got him---that's what disabled him, far more than his autism. I hope to hear more about you and your family. My two kids are also close together in age---they were 18 months apart almost to the day. They are very close. I'm fortunate in that.

Today has been good so far. Greg is over his GI bug, is taking his meds and eating well. Mentally, he seems a little better, too. He's just very very tired.

I went to the Y this morning and did 15 minutes with weights, then took a 45 min. spin class, which was a great pleasure, as I used to be a long distance cyclist. I think spin class might the key for me to get into some reasonable semblance of shape.

I'm very proud of myself for keeping my head, taking care of myself, and not using stress as an excuse to binge. *grin* Of course the day isn't over.

Rosey

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Plan for today:

1. NIA class at 8:30 am.
2. Bible Study at noon.
3. Quick trip to Coop for vegetables: Japanese sweet potatoes, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, leaf lettuce for "sandwiches."
4. Dinner: some kind of fish, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts

Greg had a better day yesterday. We'll see how today goes! The main thing is for me to care of myself as best I can no matter what. I am very proud of myself for making this time for me. I did have to cancel my massage but I'm going to reschedule RIGHT NOW.

Make it a great day!
Rosey

w2bab · February 2014

great post! I'm 52, so a little younger than you, but not much. My husband will be 58 tomorrow. We've taken this weight loss journey together and are each 100 lbs lighter than we were a year ago. You've got this!

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Thanks for stopping by and the encouragement, w2bab. Much appreciated!

Today is better, my GI bug has come and gone. Went to the farmer's market this morning and came home with goodies: arugula and spicy salad greens; baking apples and fresh heavy cream for making baked apples with whipped cream for dessert tonight; scallops and handmade pasta for dinner, carrots and eggs. I love shopping the farmer's market! So inspiring for a weary cook!

Greg is a little better today. It's been a hell of a week.

Since I'm still tired from being ill, I'm not exercising today and what a difference that makes in the calories! Will need to plan some activity for tomorrow.

Rosey

Roseygirl1 · February 2014

Good morning! It's good to report that the past couple of days, Greg has been doing better. Yesterday he seemed almost his usual self. Patience: time will tell.

Today my plan is: NIA class followed by chair yoga. I wish the schedule were the other way 'round but alas.....I will have to warm up my creaky body on my own. I need an extended warmup in order not to injure myself. Especially warming up the spine.

There is no excuse not to treat my body as the rare and singular gift it is. Knee and hip replacements notwithstanding, this, baby, is it.

Rosey

nancybuss · February 2014

Looks like you're doing great! You ARE in a big sandwich of stress.
Congrats on your changes

Gordon_L · February 2014

Great goals! Here's hoping you are able to stay with it all the way!

Roseygirl1 · March 2014

Lost my self-care habit for a bit. My son had a mental illness crash and the stress caught up with me. Threw it all to the winds, feeling like it just takes too much strength and energy to care for others so actively and not me.

That's just my life. It isn't easy. But my belief is that we are all souls on a journey, and that each of us has a unique "soul curriculum." The gentler and the more accepting we are of our journeys, the more dedicated to the learning life brings us, the more meaning in our lives.

Today I am picking myself up and moving on. Lessons learned:

1. Must stay on autoimmune diet to avoid spine pain/arthritis flare. (Painful lesson...AGAIN!)
2. Must make time each day to get away from the house and do something for myself. Today it will be a short workout in the pool.
3. Take time at night for formal meditation/relaxation/winding down. Tea, gentle relaxation yoga, bath.

Today: breakfast-beet and beef soup, raw shaved brussel sprout salad, lacto-fermented carrots.
lunch-sardines, carrot-parsnip "noodles", raw greens, avocado
dinner-steak, fried plantains, cooked spinach
evening snack-coconut cream and strawberry "ice cream"

Roseygirl1 · March 2014

I just finished the most amazing book about diet and lifestyle for autoimmune patients: THE PALEO APPROACH by Sara Ballantyne. (I think that's the author)

GREAT science. Very motivating for me to stay with the autoimmune diet protocol and not fall off the wagon. Fortunately, I'm one of those who gets symptomatic quickly with gluten but gets better quickly, too, on the autoimmune protocol.

I'm not logging my food for now but I am planning to keep up this thread.

B: cooked beet greens, 1/2 Japanese sweet potato, chicken meat
L: turkey, lettuce, avocado, bacon

lamb, spaghetti squash, green salad with evoo and acv, avocado.

Am making plans with friends to spend a day at Kripalu in the next month. I may go sooner. It is very clear to me that I need as many little mini-breaks as I can afford. Last week I was close to empty. I feel better today.

Rosey

Graelwyn75 · March 2014

Your goals and the amount of yourself that you give to others is admirable.
Keep on keeping on. Your diet looks amazingly healthy and I love avocado and sweet potatoes too.

Roseygirl1 · March 2014

Thanks, Graelwyn!

Today I did 15 minutes of a walk exercise with 3 lb. dumbbells. I didn't sleep well last night and I am beginning to understand the problems I've caused myself from pushing too hard under the circumstances I live with. (Like doing Crossfit when I needed to recover from surgery and Lyme Disease! Duh!) So today's "exercise" doesn't seem like anything according to my old yardstick but I feel that I need rest today. And I am choosing to think it is a good thing to be kind and gentle to my body and to listen thoughtfully to it.

B: small piece of beef liver, cooked golden and red beets, 1/2 Japanese sweet potato.
L: canned salmon, cooked spinach, 1/2 Japanese sweet potato

homemade plantain wraps, shredded chicken with cooked onion, guacamole

That's the plan, Stan. And a nap.

Rosey

Roseygirl1 · March 2014

It's comforting to find that I'm losing weight even though I am not logging my food. I'm following the autoimmune plan from Dr. Sarah Ballantyne's book THE PALEO APPROCH. It is very restrictive but I am now of the mindset that it is medicine. Clearly, if I do not heal myself from my current arthritis flare, my rheumatologist will want me on immunosuppressant drugs.

I have a food plan for the week and I'm off to the natural food coop for shopping!

I'm going to make it a good day.

Rosey

sugar297 · March 2014

Your dedication is admirable. I have tried paleo and primal eating before as well as the Zone... it really seems to help my health but I find it so hard to stick to. I am a bread and pastaholic. If you could support me in this effort, I'd appreciate it since i need to do it for my arthritis and asthma. We have a group something like fifty, fabulous and fit if you'd like to join...however it's getting too big for me to keep up with it on MFP. I do log every day but really need to get off the bread and pasta. Are you following a specific diet in the book?

Roseygirl1 · March 2014

Your dedication is admirable. I have tried paleo and primal eating before as well as the Zone... it really seems to help my health but I find it so hard to stick to. I am a bread and pastaholic. If you could support me in this effort, I'd appreciate it since i need to do it for my arthritis and asthma. We have a group something like fifty, fabulous and fit if you'd like to join...however it's getting too big for me to keep up with it on MFP. I do log every day but really need to get off the bread and pasta. Are you following a specific diet in the book?

I have basically educated myself from 3 books: IT STARTS WITH FOOD, THE PALEO APPROACH (Ballantyne), and PRACTICAL PALEO.

I basically eat grassfed, pastured beef and lamb, wildcaught fish, pastured organic chicken and turkey, all vegetables except for nightshades, and healthy fats. It's challenging for sure. I would love to join you in mutual support. Feel free to use this thread to post your own meals, ask questions, bring others in, etc.

Today:

Brunch: sardines, raw beet salad, lacto-fermented carrots
snack: avocado slices with liverwurst
Dinner: flanken-cabbage-mushroom soup with plantain bread

Susie

sugar297 · March 2014

I love liverwurst; but would have no idea where to find organic liverwurst! I have the book Primal Blueprint and Paleo Comfort Foods as well as the Paleo book before that. I log my foods on the regular diary.

My brother and sister-n-law avoid nightshades too; she for migrains and he for arthritis. I fiind it helps a little for me but not all nightshades seem to bother me.

Alyssa

Roseygirl1 · April 2014

Oh, man, when I fall off the wagon, I fall hard.

The past few weeks, I've not been able to keep myself up near the top of my own list. My younger son developed a very severe pilonidal abscess, and needed a surgical incision 3 times, plus irrigating and packing twice to three times a day. My older son is in transition to (hopefully) independent living, and the process of acquiring services couldn't be more challenging and difficult if they designed it that way. It feel like it will be a full time job!

I hit the wall, and fell into the moat of eating crap foods for comfort. I didn't exercise once.

I'm afraid to get on the scale because I feel like I have gained 10 lbs. in 3 weeks. Easily.

I do know that no matter how matter times I fall off, I have to get back on. "What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?" I sure as anything don't want to waste my one wild and precious life. I've been living small and getting big. Perhaps living bigger will lead to getting smaller. And I know that living big is a perception. The arena of my life is by necessity, small. I can't travel far or long because I am a caregiver with no respite. I can't be the athlete I once was and challenge myself with "personal bests." The meaning I make in my one wild and precious life has to be DEEP because it cannot be far nor wide.

In the stress of the past few weeks (which includes moving my parents to senior housing on April 21st), I have lost my sense of myself in relation to my own soul, and to G-d. And these thoughts have EVERYTHING to do with my weight, even though I haven't really even mentioned food or exercise.

For me, it is all about whether I have the resources to care about myself, or not. The sensitivity to know what my own needs are, and how best to meet them.

For right now, weight LOSS cannot be my focus. I will fall off the wagon. There are too many competing needs around me. But I can focus on moment by moment, day by day, self care to the best of my ability and let my body take care of itself. And part of that is food logging (for mindfulness' sake) and part of it is activity (for health's sake) and part of it is meditation, prayer and quiet time (for restoration's sake).

So for today:

1. Meditate for 15 minutes.
2. Walk one loop around the neighborhood (approx. 1 mile)
3. Get ready for the seder tonight and tomorrow.
4. Plan to approach the seder as a sacred meal, not an excuse to pig out.

Roseygirl1 · April 2014

B 2 hard boiled eggs, lacto-fermented red cabbage with raw shredded beets, 1/2 avocado.
L: green smoothie with baby kale, watercress, whole milk yogurt, frozen berries, 1/2 banana.
D; sacred meal: plan to eat very slowly and mindfully, enjoy the company, and trust in G-d.

yellowandblue · April 2014

Me, too! Just started the autoimmune protocol diet and, after a couple of weeks on it, I feel so much better. Not sure how much it's really affected or helped my autoimmune conditions, since they're still active and flaring, but, in general, I feel much less malaise and fatigue. I also have migraines and those have definitely lessened in frequency and duration during the short time I've been on it. For anyone interested in paleo info, not just her more restricitve autoimmune protocol, the author's website, www.thepaleomom.com, is really worth a visit.

Fit, Fine and Nearly Sixty!

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