40+ Club: Spring Fitness Challenge

Yay! A 40+ group!

I joined FitnessPal about a year ago, lost some weight and then strayed. After moving twice in one year, I went totally nuts eating what I wanted when I wanted and gained some of my weight back. I then convinced myself to try other (dangerous) weight loss programs and was miserable, hungry, and out a significant amount of money. Now I'm back to the tried and true...counting calories and exercising. Who did I think I was kidding?! :ohwell:

I'm re-committing to myself and weight loss...

Hope it's ok if I join/stalk/chat here!

Hello All,

Just wanted to share that I ran for 20 minutes today without stopping. May have only been a slow 12 min mile pace, but I have not been able to run for that long a time since a surgery I had in 2007. I thought I was going to die, but my nookbook really helps me to not think about my running and just read my book.

Alf, I wanted to cut back on Mt. Dew so I started drinking coffee, I think I might try your half coffee half tea.
niknik - welcome, I just started this thread also about a week ago. I really like it. Hope you do to.

Hope every one has a great day tomorrow!

Good Morning!

niknik, welcome!! We usually check-in on Friday. It isn't a mandatory weigh-in day or anything like that because people started here at varying times on varying schedules. But we've established Friday as the day to check-in with weight changes (if desired) or simply a run-down of how the week went in terms of eating, fitness, energy, motivation, etc. And I totally understand how disruptive moving is....I, too, moved twice in a year (Nov 2009 and Oct 2010) and I still feel like I'm recovering/adjusting to it. I'm glad you've come back to MFP instead of pursuing those dangerous weightloss programs!

alf, your breakfast sounds SO good! How did the doctor appt go? I hope you got a chance to talk to him about your foot.

TxMs, glad your trip to Mississippi went well. Your Greek food sounds delicious! I hope you're able to get your husband to take ballroom classes with you. That sounds like so much fun.

KimKelly, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she is feeling better. Don't worry too much about eating under your calories as long as it wasn't TOO far under your calories. Your metabolism won't slow down that quickly, especially if you are keeping your calories within a couple hundred of where they should be (and definitely above 1000-1200 a day).

gbryant, congrats on the running!! That is amazing!!! Keep up the great work!

All here is going well. I'm on Day 3 of P90X and really loving being back to it right now. My eating is much improved (thankfully). I'm still fighting that mentally, but I know I just need to stick with it and re-establish healthier eating habits. I'm trying to change my diet up a bit to eliminate some of my fattier proteins. I'm not a big 'meat' eater (by that, I include turkey, chicken, fish, etc....not just beef because I'm definitely not much of a beef eater), so I have a tendency to turn to things like peanut butter, eggs, nuts, etc. for protein. While those foods are incredibly healthy, I think I've been leaning on them a tad too much over the past few months and it is time to dial back a bit. I don't need that much protein anyhow, and I'm just loading up too much on high calorie foods. So I'm trying to add more fruit back into my diet (something that suffered during this past winter) and leafy greens. We'll see how it goes.

Enjoy your day!

Welp, I have been busy running everyone's errands but my own... Well not true, I have done my own to but it sure feels that way.

I went on the treadmill for 20 minutes today. got off because my daughter stopped by but I plan on going back on later on. I'm gonna try to run 2 laps.

Good Morning!

alf, I'm sorry you didn't get any answers on your foot....yet. But at least you got another appt quicker than what you have in the past. Hope they can help you out!

tron, good to see you. Great job in keeping up with the running!

gbryant, I can't get coordinated on the treadmill enough to run and read at the same time. I would definitely fall off! :laugh:

All here is well. I've eaten very cleanly the past four days (post training and trip and such). I'm feeling better about that. I've also worked out every day this week. Today is Day 4 of P90X (Round 2). I'll do some cardio and then YogaX. I'm so glad I learned to love the latter workout. I remember dreading it the first time I did P90X. But after a long week, I'm really looking forward to it today.

I have a book recommendation....if you are looking for a book to cut through all of the noise and mess about what to eat in terms of what is healthy, what isn't, whether organic really is better, etc, I highly recommend reading 'What To Eat' by Marion Nestle. It is a long book (over 500 pages), and I read it in about 20 page increments. But I finished it yesterday and found it to be perhaps the best balanced book I've read on what to eat. She presents the data and pretty much leaves it up to you to make the decisions (which I like), though she certainly puts in some recommendations as well. But it isn't too one-sided (except against food company marketing, and I totally agree with her), and I appreciate that.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Good morning everyone!!!! :drinker: Well, I can say my eating was pretty good this week. I taught 4 Zumba classes. I am resting today but I am planning on starting, once again, some kind of resistance trng even with very light weights and some yoga/stretching workout this weekend. I really feel that I need to do some extras in addition to teaching Zumba. I stepped again on the scale today and "gained" .2 oz :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: no biggie...I am 128.4 I am changing my ticker to see if that motivates me to continue on this same path. Want to get down to at least 125 before our trip to Orlando in May to celebrate my son's 18th birthday. My Baby!!!!!!

Stiring, thank you for the book recommendation. I will check it out. Many yrs ago I went to a conference and she was a speaker. She is great!!!! She is not related to the Nestle Co Family...she made sure we knew that. :laugh: She is a very smart woman with a lot of experience in the health/food industry. She does a lot of research. Enjoy Yoga X, I got to love it as well, but not very fond of the length of the workout. :noway:

gbryant, congrats on your weight loss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :drinker: :drinker:

Tron, take care of yourself first!!! I know it is easier said than done but...

I hope everyone has a blessed Friday and a great weekend!!! My son is going to respite camp again so my husband and I are planning another outing with other couples. I just hope he controls himself with the drinking and we dont eat out at 2am. I dont want him to end up in the hospital again!!! :grumble: :noway: Well, I am not going to let it happen!!!! :flowerforyou:

Hello all...............finally found a few minutes to check in. Life's been more than the normal "crazy" the past few weeks - I'm ready for the merry-go-round to stop so I can get off and rest!!!:laugh: Haven't had time to catch up on the thread; hope everyone's doing OK.

Still struggling with back/shoulder/neck issues, more shoulder than neck/back these days. On the advice of my chiropractor, bought a new pillow and am attempting to teach myself to sleep on my side. I've been a stomach sleeper forever, and I believe that's what was causing some of my shoulder issues. So.......teaching an 48yr old a new trick of sleeping a different way is interesting, to say the least!!:laugh: I will admit the neck is feeling better, but still feels strange to not arrange myself in my "normal" way when I get into bed!! Other than that, doing about the same with workouts; seems like I can consistently make it to Curves twice a week, but that 3rd time is hard to get! Had my annual yesterday. Good news - total cholesterol is down 20+ points from last year with good HDL, LDL and TRI levels. Vitamin D levels awesome, and no, I haven't been tanning to boost them! Bad news - blood pressure was high, wouldn't come down and has been consistently rising for the past 18 months, so I'm now on a 5 day blood pressure check with instructions to contact my primary care manager if I can't get it to consistently register below 140/80. Yikes - don't know what's going on with that!! I don't salt anything, don't even cook with salt most of the time (and sea salt IF I do have to use salt). So, bought a blood pressure monitor at lunch today; we'll see what happens from here. High blood pressure and heart disease do run in my family, especially my mom's side; another great legacy to deal with...:frown:

Have a good weekend all!! :flowerforyou:

Hi all, hope everyone is good! I'm a little behind on reading but am going to catch up now.

Things here are ok! I had a tough week last week with some travel and not-so-great eating, and no exercise. Amazing how no exercise for a few days can put you in a bad mood! Anyway, started the week really on a mission to get back on track and I think I did with flying colors. Exercise--all on plan. Eating has been on plan too. I'm going out of town again for the day and night tomorrow, visiting a friend of mine who is kind of a chow-hound, so I assume I'll eat poorly but it's just for a day.....how much damage could I do in one day?? I think I'm good with it considering I should have my weeks exercise goal almost complete by tomorrow....

Anyway, I did my 30 days on the 30 day shred and have been continuing on extra days on level 3 just to feel stronger. I haven't figured out what I want to do next to mix things up but I know I can't go back to the full time hour on the elliptical. I think I'll just keep with it until I decide. Overall from that program I feel nice and strong and feel like I toned some areas by my stomach and bum but haven't been on the scale. No thank you...not just yet.

Have a great weekend everyone! Robin

So, I've been on total IV nutrition for the past five weeks because I was protein depleted. I found out that the treatment usually makes people gain about 25 lbs! Yowza! I've only gained about 5-7, so I feel blessed with that. I had weight loss surgery, so that means that the surgery is doing its job: I'm losing from the surgery, but gaining a bit from nutrition. It's more important than ever for me to be able to eat what I need to by mouth so I can get off this IV bag! I have to wear it 12 hours per day. Anyway, that also means that the scale is not very helpful to me right now. I really have to focus on my eating and fitness, and let the pounds fall where they may until I can get off the IV and get back to normal.

I need a water-drinking challenge! Help! :frown: I haven't yet searched for a walking challenge, but I may start one for 40+ folks if I don't see one going on. I have GOT to get off this chair and get moving!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Well, last night I wrote what seemed to be a novel here and when I hit reply I was out of the internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :explode: :explode: So this might be short....:laugh: I am doing well. Ortho Dr. gave me a referral for phys therapy, he is retiring. So if/when I follow up it will be with a different doctor. My hubby got himself a 2011 Camaro Lt charcoal color, really cute...can I say "mid life crisis"!!!! :laugh: :laugh:

niknik, congrats on the weight loss!!!! I am a Zumba instructor. I have heard the videos are really good and also the video games. But some say doesnt compare to a live class, check one out near you if you can. And hopefully the Instructor will not dissapoint you, we are not all created equal. :noway:

Mkwood, sorry to hear about your shoulder problems. I guess they dont go away that easily, Im still going through the same issues. :grumble: Take care of your high BP. 140/80 is not horrendous, but it can be better. Did they take it manually or with the machine? The other day it was 139/96 with the machine and the tec took it manually and it was 118/62, within minutes, go figure. Also diet, exercise and stress reduction can play a big part. Congrats on lowering your cholesterol!!!! :drinker:

Robin, I too love 30 day shred. I always did two to three sessions at a time. You might want to try that but not everyday. I did it every other day, I would do 1 & 2, then 2 &3 (my favorites) after a month or so doing that then I increased it to all three sessions. That was back in 09 when I was a lean mean machine. I felt so powerful!!! I think it prepared me for P90X and Chalean Extreme.

Tron, perhaps surprise your hubby with dinner reservations, etc. Someone has to start it and it sounds like it has to be you. Hang in there!! :flowerforyou:

Altushe, I hope you get answers soon. Sorry to hear...but dont give up and continue eating healthy and exercising.

Victorious, do you have a dog? That could be a good excuse to get out there and walk...start slow and build up to at least 30 mins a day. Water, I am a water addict, I drink about a gallon a day...but you can set a goal of drinking a cup or two with every meal and increasing little by little.

Kimkelly, if your pants and tops are baggy there you go!!! You are definitely losing inches!!!!! :drinker: If you are doing heavy weight lifting and putting on muscle you will not see a lower weight on the scale but will see a leaner you which it sounds that is going on. Congrats!!!! The weight on the scale can mean sooo many things that it is easy to go crazy just by using the scale. Plateaus are very normal if you have not changed your routine for a while or you might have to tweak your eating a little bit. But again it sounds like you are doing the right thing.

Have a great weekend!!! :flowerforyou:

Well I lost a half inch or more all over but my scale says I only lost 0.2 lbs. Scales suck the big one! So glad I learned to measure myself! I would have been so discouraged if I only relied on the scale.

Alf... My husband is getting better about spending time with me. I would make plans myself but the problem is he leaves our house around 8 am and doesn't return until 10:30-11 pm. His regular work schedule is why he gets home so late so there's nothing I can do about that. He has been getting rewards bucks at his work which he has been turning in for movie tickets which is nice because now he has a reason to take me out.

KimKelly65... Dont trust the scale! Its evil!!! :laugh: How often do you measure myself? I do every week because I find I get discouraged too easily. And when the scale said I gained the measurements were exactly the same. Makes it easier to blame it on the muscle gain.

Victorious_One... Take care of yourself. Sounds kinda scary to me. Is that normal to have to have an IV nutrition diet after weight loss surgery?

Alf1163 - Thanks for the encouragement. I DO have a dog--a little Maltese mix. He's happy to sit around with me, but he does need to be walked. He is my inspiration to get out there. That water, though, I'm trying! My goal is 2 cups/day for a while. The IV I'm on makes me feel waterlogged, so that doesn't help. I'm laughing at your hubby's mid-life crisis--a NICE one! :bigsmile:

Tron3002 - Nope, it's not normal at all to be on an IV after weight loss surgery, but it does happen on occasion, especially with a "big" surgery like mine. Unfortunately, I had a strange and unanticipated side effect of vomiting a lot, which meant that it was hard for me to eat, which meant I was malnourished, which then led me to puke more, in a vicious cycle until they had to help me with nutrition. No more throwing up since I've been on the IV! Yay! They say the IV works 100% of the time to get people back up to the level of nutrition they need, so I'm being patient. Thanks for asking.

GBryant - Feel better! I hope your voice comes back soon. Your hubby will be glad to hear you. :happy:

Altushe - I too have edema issues. It's crazy! I started a chart to track when it comes on, how much I gain, etc. I gained 10 lbs from it last time :mad: , so .5 is superb! Hang in there.

---

I did find a walking challenge on the boards! My goal is 50 minutes per day, at least 3 days per week, for a total of 750 minutes for the month. My poor dog will be happy--he probably hasn't been walked since August! :ohwell: He's always running off when he goes outside. Gee, I wonder why?! I gotta get it together.

I can't keep track of weight loss due to my IV (it makes you gain weight), but I'm keeping diligent track of what I'm eating, particularly carbs and protein grams. I need to eat at least 100 g of protein per day (more is better); and I try to keep my carb grams under 100 (less than 50 is better). So far, since Valentine's day, I've met my carb goal 65% of the time, but only met my protein goal 55% of the time. I know my doctors are not going to want to take me off this IV if I'm only batting .500 with the protein: that's why I'm on the IV in the first place! So, I have to change my eating strategy somehow to pack in more protein grams.

Have a happy Sunday, everyone! I hope the weather is good where you are.

I just wanted you all to know that I ran, non stop, for 2 1/2 laps.... Another 1/2 lap I would have ran 3/4 of a mile. At a speed of 6.6.... Thats a 9 minute mile. I was so excited because when I first started running I could only do 1/4 of a mile. I'm hoping in a months time I will be able to run the full mile.

Alf and GBryant: Yes, we do have a Zumba class offered here in our town and I attended the class three times to try it out. I was a little disappointed because it seemed like right when I was getting in the "zone" and really feeling it, the instructor stopped the music to change to a different song. Is that normal? On my last visit to the class, the instructor said we would be learning a new dance and she popped in a dvd and we watched some wonderfully handsome man from Florida give a live class. I just thought maybe, instead of dragging myself out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to hit the 5 a.m. class, I could buy the dvd and do THAT kind of Zumba class at home. Also...there are only two other people in the 5 a.m. class...and that includes the instructor! So, my original idea of going to a class for lots of support...well...it really wasn't there. Maybe I should give it another shot...

GBryant: Sure hope you feel better soon.

Regarding my last post: So much for my resolve to make good choices this (busy) weekend. Sigh. I'm just not as strong (yet) as I thought I was. I am pleased to report tho that I wore jeans that I haven't worn since last summer (and back then they were cut-off-your-circulation-tight) and now they are LOOSE! I needed a belt!

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.

Good morning! hope you all had a nice weekend.

Sing--so glad you are doing great at the gym! You sound like a kid in the candy shop....:).

We are dealing with crazy weather too. We had a base of 1-2 ft of snow, it all melted and our house is on a river--it was RAGING yesterday and actually displaced our resident beavers. We were looking out the window and 4 of them were sitting out wondering what to do since their house was flooded. It's still dark so I am not sure what they are up to yet today Anyway, school cancelled and and foot of snow expected today. Yes March, in like a lion............

Not much to report since last week. Just trying to stay on plan with exercise and have another good eating week.

Alf, thanks for your advice on using the 30 day shred "after the 30 days". I think it's probably a good idea to alternate. I do need to research and find another few programs to try. I do love the 25-30 minute program--just long enough to work, just short enough not to lose my interest. And too funny about your husband and his Camaro. I love it!! Also, I have done the same---just finished a long message and then lost it...very aggravating!!

Tron--great news on your improved laps!

Kimkelly---fantastic news about losing inches!!! Nice to be rewarded for the hard work, isn't it?

LadyPersia--hope you feel better!

have a great day everyone!