40+ Club: Fall Fitness Fanatics

Happy Thursday everyone!
I'm actually feeling a bit discouraged today. I am on week 3 of c5k, and I have been feeling pretty good about it. Until I weighed in today. a bloody .5lb loss! This if after a .3lb gain last week! Party of me wants to give up the c5k and go back to previous cardio work outs, as I was seeing anywhere from a 1-2lb loss a week, but the other part of me is telling me not to quit. *sigh* I'm at a 18.5 weight loss and getting to a 20lb loss is my first goal, yet I can't seem to get there!

Hello all.....it's been a long couple of weeks, so I haven't read the thread.......maybe this weekend :yawn:

After spending a few days home in MN for my aun't funeral I didn't feel good over the weekend and we got snow Mon-Tues, so yesterday was my first workout since Dec 28 :frown: :frown: Curves kicked my butt; as usual when I've been gone awhile. I'm still stuck at the stupid "fat" weight/measurements since early December, which is frustrating. I know the extra flab is from all the holiday goodies, but I stupidly keep expecting it to disappear quickly since theres's no more goodies around the office or the house for me to eat:laugh: :laugh: Will I ever learn? Probably not, but I think we all get into that mindset, especially in January. I'll keep trudging away on the neverending cycle of the same 10 pounds:ohwell:

Got good news and not so good news yesterday................... my 72yr old dad with COPD, emphysema and prostate cancer (5 years, controlled with medication) was diagnosed in early December with an enlarged abdominal aorta and referred to the Mayo Clinic for a consultation with a vascular surgeon to discuss putting in a stent. His appointments were yesterday.
The good news - 1) the "enlargement" isn't as large as the local clinic thought it was. It's actually a kind of "bend" in the aorta that made it appear like an aneurism on the ultrasound and 2)his enlarged stomach is not due to additional cancer or side effects of his prostate cancer meds.
The bad news - 1)the aorta is "bent" because his abdominal muscle tone is gone, 2)his organs inside the rib cage are sinking down into abdominal area, which caused the "bend" in the aorta and the enlarged stomach and 3) his lungs are shot and he probably wouldn't survive surgery to put in a stent. Surgeon told Mom to bring him back in 6 months for another CAT scan. So.......it appears that Dad's 50+ years of smoking and not having a healthy lifestyle have caught up with him and he can't be fixed. I asked my brother if the surgeon recommended anything to try and improve Dad's lungs so he might be able to survive a surgery if one proved necessary and my brother's reply was "do something more than waking up, walking out to the living room and watching TV all day (and half the night)". So.......the unsaid answer was "nope, nothing Dad can/will do to improve his lungs and we're just going to have to watch him deteriorate more and more". So frustrating.........and scary. Dad was fairly active until he retired 12 years ago, but hasn't done anything at all to even attempt to keep himself healthy since his stroke in 2003. It was a minor stroke; nothing physical effected long term, but memory "cloudiness" and frustration that goes with it and minor speech impairment on bad days. Dad still kknows what's going on; he just can't process things as quickly any more and gets very frustrated when around multiple people. He FINALLY quit smoking about 5 years ago when he stopped driving and Mom refused to buy any more cigarettes for him:laugh: I really wonder how long it's going to be before something major fails on him...............

Enough of my whining/venting............I know I can't fix him and this should just be more motivation to take better care of myself, right?

Hi everyone. Thanks to Stiring and kadetr for the email exchanges and sharing your maintenance experiences - very helpful and encouraging. Always comforting to know there are people that REALLY understand because they have been in the same shoes. Looking forward to continuing our correspondence.

Based on everyone's advice and support, I have increased my calories by a bit this week to stem the weight loss recognizing that 100 calories or so per day is not going to amount to a gain - but hopefully will be just enough to maintain. It's hard to do more than that psychologically/emotionally at least until I know it is not going to cause a gain. We'll see the impact on Sunday when I weigh-in. The good news is that I did notice my energy levels were better...

Does anyone struggle else find that is hard to substantially increase calories if you are a "clean eater" without feeling really full? I like the foods I eat and look forward to the foods that I eat now that during weight loss were "taboo" for me (i.e., nuts, granola, unsalted almond butter, etc.) but looking for some other ideas. Any thoughts or recipes to share?

I didn't work out yesterday and today I hung out with my daughter all day. Hopefully I'll get some kind of exercise squeezed in before it gets too late. I have been super tired, which really isn't that uncommon for me I guess. I remember being the 5 year old who slept til noon even if I went to bed around 9. I dont understand how one person could need so much sleep.

Sing.... I live in Sonora. Its really close to Yosemite National Park. The roads really went that bad when it came to the ice. They actually came out and plowed it really good for a change before the snow froze but I on the other hand didn't shovel everything because I though... Ehhh, there's hardly anything out there it will melt quick. What a mistake that was. As for the iphones, there great. I personally dont have one but both of my daughters do. I would love to get one but I got my blackberry just before the made the internet mandatory and I dont know if I could afford the extra money right now.

Kadetr... Snow shoes... How much snow do you get?

Claudia007... Take your measurements! There were plenty of times I didn't loose weight but I lost inches.

mkwood... Oh my you have been going through quite a lot haven't you. I am so sorry.

kbefit... Take care of your health first. If you dont you will just make yourself sicker.

Good Morning!

mkwood, I'm so sorry to hear about your father!! You and he are in my thoughts. It's sad that an unhealthy lifestyle as brought him to this place. Sadly, it is a testament why it is important to be at a place like this. And I'm sorry to hear about your aunt. You've had a time of it lately. Take care!

kadetr, my experience with wine is slightly different than singfree's experience. Well, that could be because alcohol effects women and men differently because of the release of estrogen (and we have more estrogen in our bodies already.) But I digress. I find that it does impact how I look (more than my weight) and makes me a tad puffier than I would be otherwise if I drink every night. So cutting back to weekends may be a great thing especially, as you indicated, if you aren't as active as you normally are. Enjoy that snow!!!!

alf, good job on the workouts!!! I have no doubt you're a little sore. Take it easy, but good job on getting back to it!!

claudia, if you are enjoying the running, don't give it up! There are few exercises better for fat and weight loss than running. It could be that your body is retaining more water than normal as a result of continuing to challenge your muscles. That is VERY common and happens to me ALL the time, especially when I change up my exercise routine. I will be able to fit into a pair of jeans one day and not the next, and that has all to do with water retention and not fat. So my recommendation is to stick with it if you like it and really push the water consumption. That will help. And give it some time. Really, you are doing great things for your body with this fitness regime. Don't give it up because of a number on the scale.

kbefit, sorry to hear about the continuing illness. Take care of yourself and we'll be here when you come back!!

altushe, I suffered that problem of feeling too full as well when I was trying to increase my calories. I think that's why I always reverted back to peanut butter or almond butter as my calorie staple because it didn't give me that feeling. Hopefully somebody else will be able to provide better guidance than that! I forget that not everybody shares my addiction to nut butters. :laugh:

tron, listen to your body and ease back into this exercise program slowly. Like I said the other day, you may want to aim at every other day for 30 minutes each session for a little while until your body adjusts.

singfree, sounds like you've got a great day and weekend planned! Glad you are off those long days now. Good job with the workouts this week. And just tell yourself your eating will be better next week. Don't worry about the week that's already gone by. Enjoy your day!

Friday check-in.....had a great week for eating and exercise. Not a piece of chocolate consumed all week! :drinker: I feel much better. I also really pushed the workouts this week, and I feel leaner already. My clothes are still fitting the same (which isn't particularly good), but I feel better and that's important to me. I did an Insanity workout this morning and will do a Total Body workout later today.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Good morning!!! Well, sitting here debating whether or not to go see the Dr, again!!! Geez, I am sooooo frustrated!!! Last night when I got dressed in my Zumba clothes and took a step I felt pain on top of my right foot. I couldnt believe, it was sharp but sort of didnt hurt if I didnt bend my foot as much...I decided to teach my class and didnt hurt while teaching, I was very careful with my movements. I put some icy hot on it and also took some naproxen. There is no swelling, etc. It does not hurt so much and now it is not on top but inside foot right below ankle...I took another naproxen and iced it, I have my feet up right now while I am typing. I called the appt line and they referred me to a civilian urgent care clinic since they dont have any appts at the military clinic. I am not sure if I should go or not....yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont know what to think about it. What is going on with me???? I cant stand it!!!!! My hip has felt fine after the steroids shot but today I have felt the pain coming back. :sad: Eating going well, at least.

kadetr, I dont remember the last time I put on ice skates. You will get a good core workout trying to stay upright, that is for sure!! Enjoy your time with your son.

Stiring, do you ever take a day off from exercise? Impressive!!!:happy:

Sing, have a wonderful time with your wife!!!!

Mkwood, I am so sorry to hear about your father. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. :flowerforyou:

Tron, how is your daughter doing in LA? Her husband deployed?

Claudia, please dont beat yourself up for gaining less than a pound or any at all!!! How often are you weighing yourself? If you are weighing yourself daily it will only frustrate you more than anything else. There are many factors that affect your weight. Maybe take your measurements instead and do so once a week or use a pair of pants to use as measurement. How about weighing yourself once a month instead? Remember that you will also gain muscle weight. The best thing is to focus on being healthy as Sing said, continue exercising and eating healthy. Do your best and forget the rest!!

kbefit, I hope you feel better soon!!

Have a great day!!!! :flowerforyou:

Hello everyone! Thank you all for your words of encouragement, it really means a lot! I still have not decided if I should continue with the c5k or not. My main goal is to lose weight, the second is just to be able to keep up with my daughter, so we can go running together. I know that I do want to complete the program, but I am thinking that I should put it on hold for a bit until I lose more weight. mkwood, I so sorry to hear about your father. you and your family are in my thoughts. alf, I only weigh in once a week. But you are right, I need to take measurements. I hope everyone has a great weekend! It's going to be in the mid 80s here in California and I am looking forwrard to it! my daughter has 2 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, so it will be a nice change from freezing!