WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2014

Good Afternoon Beautiful Ladies, I thought I would read a bit and then go grocery shopping. Frankly, I hate to shop. I do make a meal plan for a few days, and I do make a shopping list. I feel better and in control of my eating when I make a meal plan.

Kim in N Cal - meal planning is hard to do for me. My brain just seem to go blank on what the heck to eat. I am sure that the more I do this activity, the easier it will get. We are all creatures of habit and we really do eat the same meals all the time. So go with that idea, write down what you like, make it healthy, and it is okay to have that same meal in one week with a slight change ( a salad, a new veggie, etc.) I have vowed to keep it simple, and to pretty much concentrate on my breakfast meals right now. Once I decide on a half dozen breakfast ideas that work for me, I plan to work on my lunch menu, And so on.

Kim in N Cal - Funny you should mention mindless eating... this has been on my mind recently. (haha sorry for the pun) I know this is a big sabotage factor for me. The last time I went to the library I browsed the Mindless Eating Books. And got totally boggled with medical jargon. Then I came across a brochure on the bulletin board; it was for a class here on Kansas University campus at the KU Psychological Clinic. It is called FOOD & YOU. A 4 week session, a mindfulness based skills group designed to explore your relationship with nourishment. i signed up for the next one. And I plan to discuss what you said about mindful eating for this is so me. Thank you for putting it down in words.

Cynthia - A big YOO -HOO, way to go girl on our 10% milestone! What is after "regular obese"? Hopefully no more "obese" categories.

Well, that took off into a 15 minutes spiel. I best get going. I hope everyone has a good day. Be Healthy and Strong Woman.
Kathrine in Kansas

Hello all,
Barbie, I loved the wedding story and could imagine the waltz to "Could I Have This Waltz...", made me feel that funny prickling in your eyes you get when you tear up. I love to hear second time around stories.

I've been away for a few days at a conference. It was in a rural area and I was absolutely amazed at how they showcased their local food products and businesses. The town is only around 5000 but the conference was better organized than some I've been to in major metropolitan areas. And the barn dance in a horse arena was an absolute blast. However, dancing in sand to a live western band left me with extremely sore feet and I discovered that I am no longer able to dance and party two nights in a row. I guess that means I am aging even though I don't feel like it most of the time. I did okay on the food, but not great. I kept telling myself that it was wonderful healthy food and well prepared, but I still ate more of it than I should have. Maybe it will only be a blip on the scale (wishful thinking probably).

I've been reading your mom stories and hurting for you. My biological mother died when I was 3 and all of the siblings (11 - seriously -11) were scattered. Some of us wound up close geographically, especially we three youngest. My next older sister, 18 mos apart,and I were adopted together. My younger sister, the baby, was adopted by my adoptive father's brother and wife. So she is my cousin by law and my sister by birth. We were always aware of the situation (after all I was 3 and my other sister 5 so we had previous memories anyway) but we have been close all our lives. She and I both had wonderful relationships with our adoptive parents, but my older sister didn't bond the same way. Long story short, relationships with parents can be so different even in the same family. I feel blessed to have been given a second chance at a family and feel I was raised very successfully. I feel my children have been as well and I hope will carry on loving relationships in whatever family arrangement they end up in. My parents, and my sister's parents, have passed away already so we have no older generation in our lives and I often envy some of you on here with parents to care for.

That might be in the area of "TMI" but I felt very close to those of you who shared your parental experience. So, there it is. LOL.

I think I'm going outside in this wonderful sunshine today and do some walking with the furbabies. I missed them for a couple of days so the ramble will be nice for all of us.

Lila in the sunny Kootenays, SE BC CA (don't you just love abbreviations?)

Good afternoon! I've read but can't remember crap anymore, so I'm going to comment on some stuff and hope everyone sees the ones that pertain to them.

1. I've read a lot of Joanne Fluke books. I like them!

2. I loved the Maya Angelou poem. To some degree that described me in my teenage years. My marriage drained that right out of me (as well as put on 100+ pounds) but I'm regaining the attitude if not the attention as I lose the weight.

3. My parents were verbally and physically abusive when I was growing up. A lot of my image issues come from my mother telling me that I was fat and criticizing EVERYTHING that I wore that she didn't pick out. I remember having a really pretty sundress when I was 19 and my boyfriend thought I looked amazing in it. All my mother could do was tell me how awful that little touch of fat (that pretty much everyone has) where the underarm meets the body looked. She is the main reason I have always been incredibly self conscious about my upper arms. My father was derisive and kept telling me to act like a lady. I have always wanted to tell him that, if he treated me like a lady instead of working me like a horse, that I might do better. And, both of them were fine with my brother constantly telling me how ugly, stupid, and fat I was. And, may I mention, that I was NOT fat! We all have a civil relationship now. In fact, my mother and I get along great. My relationship with my father is not as good, but I did stand up to him very vehemently when he called my niece "Fatty" when she was about five. He's much more careful around me now.

4. I do meal planning most of the time. It's usually for the workdays so that I have food prepared/planned so that I don't grab junk because I'm hungry when I get home. I've also begun planning my snacks better so that I'm not starving when I walk in the door. My plans may depend on what I find interesting at the grocery store or, when I'm short on cash, what I have in my freezer and pantry. If I've found a good recipe, I'll get the ingredients to try it.

5. As for what I miss, I also miss the "mindless" eating. Now I have to think hard about what restaurants I can eat at, what foods I have to avoid, and saving the calories to be able to eat out at all. I avoid a lot of things I like because they simply too high in calories although, I find substitutes for most of them. I'm hoping that those things will become less of an issue later, but I'm certain that I will always have to keep and eye on the calories--unless I become a professional athlete when I grow up! :laugh:

I am so behind on steps today! I have been going all day with cleaning, cooking, and laundry, but those tasks don't take many steps so I will need to make a concentrated effort to make up the difference. I finally officially upped my step goal from 10,000 to 11,000 per day. The difficulty comes in not the actual physicality, but the time it takes to do that much.

For the cooking part of my day, I peeled a number of apples that I had that were getting kind of shriveled and sliced them into a baking dish with some Splenda, spices, and corn starch like I was making a cobbler. Instead of a crust, I just put them in to bake and am going to sprinkle some Kashi Go Lean Crunch on top before I eat them. I was going to try baking the cereal on top for just a few minutes, but I decided to just sprinkle it on top along with my scoop of no sugar added ice cream. I may try baking it on top next time.

The boy child really messed up my day today! He wouldn't get out of bed which, in addition to a lack of progress in getting things done, meant he was incredibly cranky. Then he randomly decided that he had to be at work 30 minutes earlier than he had told me so I ended up not getting to eat what I had planned. And, this is not his fault, but his work day today is from 2 - 7 p.m. Right in the middle of my day!! I guess I will need to eat an early dinner or a good snack for a late dinner.

Oh well, sitting here is not getting work done nor is it getting steps in so off I go...

Carol in borderline hot NC

I don't know if this helps at all for those having difficulty with meal planning, but I divide my dsy thus - 430 cals breakfast which includes my daily milk allowance of half a pint of semi skimmed milk. 400 cals lunch. 200 cals afternoon snack. 400 cals dinner. 150 cals dessert. 70 cals alcohol. If I have exercised enough then 100 cals cheese! ! ! ! ! (I have 1200 cals plus exercise which is generally 450 - 500.)
I keep a lot of meat and fish in the freezer and make sure there are always veg and salad in the fridge. Each morning I decide what to get out of the freezer for dinner. If I were working I would have to do it the night before. Lunch is often bread based, but sometimes I make a salad with grains or shiritaki noodles. I find this plan makes it easier to keep on target.
I have a repertoire of recipes which come in at 400 cals or less. We rarely eat out. I am lucky that I am retired, but I know that many of you find the slow cooker invaluable for work days.
Hope this helps.:bigsmile: :flowerforyou: :drinker:

Had a good hour hoeing the veg beds. This evening we had our own broccoli and herbs. Our own rhubarb for dessert. Gives me so much pleasure.

Love and hugs to all. My DSIL'S father died yesterday afternoon. Not missed by many, but missed by her. She iis a lovely person and feeling the strain right now.

Heather in Hampshire UK

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great Saturday. It's beeeeeautiful here! Rain tomorrow, but that's ok.

Here's the joke of the day:

:happy:
Eight men have been at a mental hospital for a period of time and are being tested to find out how they are progressing in order for them to leave the institution. The doctor in charge takes them all into a room and with a ball point pen draws a door on the wall and asks each one of the patients to try and open the door for him as part of the test. Seven of them rushed out and attempted to open the door on the wall. The doctor was disappointed with the results but never the less called on the last one who was still sitting down and asked him why didn’t he stand up and try to open the door with the others. The eighth man replied: “because I was holding the key to the door”
:laugh:

And today's pearl of wisdom:

Me Time
Try not to lose yourself in motherhood, because you are more than just a mom. Remember the you before becoming a mom and take the time to do the things that you loved doing. Always schedule some time to yourself to enjoy being you.
:flowerforyou:

Sylvia

Joyce, what a story! I feel for you and for him; but you made the choices you had to – to support Michelle. What trauma for Dan to have his mom run over his dad!:grumble: I can’t imagine what a toll that would take on anyone’s mental well being; and affect choices, trust and all sorts of relationship issues.

Kathrine in Kansas – I would sign up for that class too – but Kansas is a bit of a commute! I would love it if you would share info either here or friend me and share that way…

Cynthia – So sad to hear you lost DH, bunny and kitty all so close together – it must have been/be hard! But also So excited to hear you lost more and broke that barrier! Here’s to a healthier you! :flowerforyou:

Lila – what an interesting family tree – genealogy in your family would have lots of side notes! So glad you ended up in a good situation.

Heather – sending good thoughts for you DSIL…

Barbie - I am a moderator mostly, but an abstainer sometimes!! So I could not have a pint of ice cream in the house, I’d eat it all – but I can have a box of ice cream bars, and fit in one here one there, and make it work


Lindastanley8, lapierrecycli – welcome !

Everyone – with busy weekends – hope you get all of it done, and have time to breath!:drinker:

So a bit about my Mom; I vented about her; but am feeling a bit bad about it as she was great when I was a kid:happy: …..- I grew up with 2 fabulous parents and just a few months shy of their 25th wedding anniversary my Dad died; I was 19 years old, I have a sister that was 11 and a brother who was 9. What I quickly learned is that my Mom’s rudder for being the person she was, was my Dad. :ohwell: And so for the last 36 years I have had to deal with a mom who is at times wonderful and at times a nut case. My sister and brother are far more broken by this than I was as I had my folks for longer and I got counseling then and later. My childhood memories are all good – we had great times and there are great stories:happy: :happy: . My mom’s personal value and she values she sees for all women is their value to their husbands… she lost her husband and therefore has no value, I never had a husband so no value.:brokenheart: Additionally she was a model - a very beautiful New York model – and she has kept her size; perfect size 2, 5 foot 1 inch shape. I am and always have been shaped more like my dad build a bit like a box. She doesn't understand the weight issues at all - in her mind I have gained weight just to embarrass her. :huh: I know she does the best she can with the issues she has; she loves me as completely as she can; most of the time I cope; sometimes it is just not enough. :noway:

My plan is to do some serious meal planning for this upcoming week and see how it goes... I'll report back - I think I will just plan lunch and dinner- I have 2 or 3 go to breakfasts and that works well for me... :bigsmile:

Kim in Sunny N. CAL

Good evening ladies,

Just popping in to wish everyone a good night.

Cindy in OK

Just wanted to boast a bit about my dinner. It's nothing like Heather cooks, but I'm pretty doggone proud for the small amount of time and effort that went into it, combined with the absolute deliciousness! I thought I had picked up some packaged pierogi, but it turned out to be gnocchi. I'd never had either but figured they were fairly interchangeable. I measured out 2 servings of the gnocchi and added 6 ounces of chopped, cooked chicken breast and divided that mixture between two ramekins. Then I made a sauce out of sauteed chopped garlic, Neufchatel cheese, and chicken broth and poured that over the chicken and gnocchi. Then I sprinkled some extra sharp cheddar on top and baked it for 20 minutes. While that was baking, I trimmed up some fresh asparagus, tossed it with a teaspoon of olive oil, laid it in a shallow pan, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then roasted it on a top oven shelf while the casseroles cooked. Added some yellow grape tomatoes to my plate and I had a 500 calorie meal that was amazing! And, when I make it again, I will make the casseroles into 3 servings because they were just that big. For dessert, I had the apple "cobbler" that I mentioned earlier with ice cream! My mouth was in food heaven and I still have calories left over from exercise! I can't manage that many calories for a meal every day, but I was careful today so that I could indulge. *sigh* Now I will dream of eating it all again tomorrow! :bigsmile:

Good night!

Carol in NC

Good evening,

Hope everyone had a great Saturday. We had wonderful warm weather and it really helped me to get motivated to get out work some today. It was my Anniversary so I splurged a little more on food choices today but was pretty active.

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's post.

Sue in TN

barbie - how cool those people wanted to get married and then dance afterward. Was the wedding right after your class? If not, when is it scheduled for? That's so nice

For the last 2 mornings Lance has let me pick him up and put him on the bed so I can give him his insulin. Up until now I've been keeping them in the bedroom and one bathroom. But today I opened the door so they could go out in the house. I know that Lance is going to go behind the couch, but that's OK. It looks like he'll probably come at night to eat the moist food and then I'll just close the bedroom door for the night. We're making progress.....

I did 50 minutes of Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones DVD today. Tomorrow I'm planning to do some hula hoop on the Wii, haven't done that in a while. Maybe I should make a cake for Vince to have during the week. I'm planning to make this honey soy salmon for during the week for us (which reminds me that I need to put the sauce in the bag so that it marinates.)

Just made a cake for Vince, I'll probably put it in the freezer for later in the week.

heather - have a question about baking, maybe you have an idea. Actually, if anyone else has an idea, please don't be shy. Anyway, I have this recipe for a chocolate moussse cake that I thought I'd make for Easter. It's actually a cake with mousse in the middle. Anyway, the original recipe calls for you to put this thin chocolate layer all around. For the life of me, I can't figure out how you'd cut the cake without shattering the chocolate. So I was thinking of putting Twix bars around the sides. The thing I haven't quite figured out is how to attach them. I'm really not thinking that I'd use icing, I want to use something else, but what? Something so that they twix bars will stick to the cake. Any ideas of what will stick to the cake and to the candy bars so that the bars will stick to the sides? Sorry to hear about SIL's father

Sylvia - love your rules for buying shirts'

Kim - so many times last sumer when we were putting down all that riverrock before I even knew it, it was almost 7. I usually plan my meals (at least the dinner main part) for one week in advance. Then I see what I have leftover and have that the next week. More than a week in advance, I find that I lose track of what I have. Of course, depending on circulstances and the weather sometimes I change. Like if I plan to have soup but its a warm day, I may change to a tuna sandwich. I can never understand someone who gives up certain foods entirely (even sweets). I just find that for me that's a recipe for disaster. I have found that I want smaller and smaller portions of things like sweets

Cynthia - congrats on hitting those milestones!

Reading about all the stories, good and bad, about relationships with your moms makes me a bit sad that I was never able to have any relationship with my mom. I barely remember her.

Cindy in OK - what are you going to see?

Many times if I have cereal (like Kashi), I put frozen blueberries or strawberries on it the night before. As the fruit thaws out, because it was frozen, there is a bit of fruit juice.

Katherine in KS - I would suspect "regular" obese versus "morbidly" obese. That's how I took it, anyway. I really like to go grocery shopping, only because I like to get bargains, so I'll buy things that we need that are on sale (especially if I have a coupon)

Lila - I'm so sorry you lost your mother when you were so young. Makes me feel like I was old when I lost my mother (I was 9)

lindastanley - welcome! You've come to a great place for support. Log in every day or so and you'll get lots

lapierecycli - welcome! Do you go cycling outdoors?

I know that I'm slow...but I just noticed that at the top of my homepage here it tells me "xxx day streak". Wonder if that continues regardless if for one reason or another you do not log in one day (like at holiday time). Guess we'll find out........

Meg - it just never dawned on me, but I would say that we probably eat red meat only once/week, too. the other days we usually have chicken, pork, some kind of fish, something pasta oriented (ravioli, spaghetti, etc). No, I take that back, maybe we wind up having it twice/week. Not twice every week, but no more than twice/week. We might have lasagna (I'll have spinach for me). Oh, the poor checkout girls at WalMart. I go in with all my ads and price match as much as I can. One of the good things is that sometimes they carry a larger selection of things than the store that the item is advertised carries. So I get the items that I like.

Carol in NC - when should I be there? Your dinner sounds so yummy

Sue in TN - happy anniversary!!!

Michele in NC

I have here in front of me a magazine that I get from our local Women's Hospital. One of the articles is about emotional first aid. It gives 5 rules for emotional fitness. I find this really helpful in my weight control since so much of it is emotional.
#1 Succeed by allowing yourself to fail. You learn through your failures
#2 Declare your self worth and live your purpose
#3 Learn to transform loss into gain. Good health does not dwell on the bad
#4 Remember that fear does not keep you safe. We fear humiliation , pain and failure. Good health is all about being courageous
#5 Cultivate hope every day. Hope keeps us thinking positive even in the face of negativity

Ponder on these thoughts tonight

Well I called my ex SIL this evening while my husband was out doing his Karaoke thing. I knew I would be more comfortable being all by myself. They will get in town tomorrow but still have Guard all day and then he has a 6 hour drive home. So I don't think I am going to be seeing him. He will just drop off the plaque at the house. We are going to be out all afternoon, ughh food will be served at this thing we are doing, then Michelle will come over about 5:15 and we will have supper. She does not want to be here at all when he is here. I can understand that. I hope it doesn't affect our relationship that I have the plaque myself. If that is the case I will throw it away. I really wanted to see him, see that he is OK. It seems like his new marriage suits him well. He was never the brightest guy around, spelling, math, sentence structure was terrible but he wanted to do something with his life. Because of him being in the foster system during all his teen years and his younger siblings even longer of course, he has always wanted to give back. So he wanted a degree in psychology and social work. So he told me that he will graduate this May with these degrees! Now I also realize that he was very capable of telling a big lie to impress some one. So I hope he wasn't lying to me.

Charlies Karaoke circle of friends is having a get together tomorrow. Several of the guys have their own karaoke studios in their homes. So that's where we are going tomorrow. This guy can really guzzle down the beer and hard liquor and so can some of the other guys. Also they are a strong German heritage and love to eat. They don't eat real healthy either!!!!! LOL:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: So I don't know whether to take along a little sack lunch of my healthy meal so I won't be tempted. But knowing me, if it's in front of me I'm going to be tempted whether I have just eaten my healthy meal or not. So eating my meal first would just be adding about 300 more calories to the diary. This group is called the Over the hill gang. There are the three guys, all the almost exact some age, Charlie worked with one of them for 30 years and the other was his best friend since kindergarten. They all were in the military of course and love to sing some patriotic songs and introduce which branch they were in before they sing. And then there are some other people coming that have become their karaoke core group. I know most of them.

Joyce, Indiana

Cynthia – So sad to hear you lost DH, bunny and kitty all so close together – it must have been/be hard! But also So excited to hear you lost more and broke that barrier! Here’s to a healthier you! :flowerforyou:

Hey Kim; thanks. I realized after I posted this that I also had to have my horse put down about a year after that. Not a great time, no.

Thanks for everybody's congratulations! The first 11 kg seemed to go without many problems, but now it looks like it's getting harder.

All the mom stories make me think I'll call mine again this afternoon. We've had our issues, but now that she's older and I live so far away, I miss her and miss just popping over to do something with or for her.

Have a great day, everybody! :flowerforyou:
Cynthia

Morning,

I'm not lurking today.

I just finished the Leslie Sansone "Walk Strong" DVD. (And took 2 Aleve because when I start out with this dvd I am oh so sore the next day. The first time I did it I could hardly sit down on the potty I was that sore. She does a lot of squats!) My nurse daughter is very concerned that I work on my muscle mass as I lose weight.

Well shower and then off to Church.

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

cindy

:flowerforyou: Good Morning Ladies, thinkh spring has finally found us, light rain here today and birds are coming back daily
Makes everything seem okay again.

All the mom stories make me wonder how I would have made out with mine but she died when I was 4 yr old, father who was fabulous but gone now too and my older sister stepped in to take her place. DH 's mom died when he was 12 so we have never had a mom influence in our marriage.

Have to thank Michele and others for talking about the Leslie Sansone walk dvds I have tried them and have finally found an exersice I look forward to doing and enjoy thank you again, you really can learn from all the ideas everyone has here.

New Ladies welcome and enjoy your time with us the ladies here are smart, witty, helpful, and most of all compassonite (sp)

Have a great day

Juanita in sudbury

Just found this thread ,,, Have finished a 100 Day Challenge, met my goal, 15 pounds less of me! However, my ultimate goal is to get rid of another 20. I seem to be at a motivational standstill. All of this being said ... here I am!

My name is Denise. I am 60, a 4th grade teacher in Colorado. (My husband and I spend our summers in Hawaii, thus the profile pic!) I'm not sure how to keep track of where I am in this thread (?), but my goal is to become part of this ongoing conversation!

Happy Sunday!