40+ Club: Spring Fitness Challenge

Good Morning!

LadyPersia, I am so very sorry to hear about your losses. What wonderful words you shared about your father. Thank you for sharing them. Please take care of yourself over the next couple/few weeks. No doubt this will be a difficult time, but don't forget about yourself in all of this. Take care and please let us know how you are doing. :flowerforyou:

singfree, sounds like you had a great weekend! We are headed for the same warm-up today you are, and I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it is going to be followed by some violent storms....just like last week. Oh, well.

All here is well. We visited the Shenandoah National Park on Saturday. The weather wasn't great (very foggy) but it was wonderful to be out of the city, and we pretty much had the park all to ourselves. We look forward to going back on a clearer day. Yesterday was nicer and, after some errands in the morning, we were able to visit a driving range to hit some golf balls. It felt great. I hope we're able to get out and play this summer, though I really am pathetic at it still! I started my last week of the second round of P90X yesterday. Making great improvements in overall strength right now, and that makes me happy. My eating was bad (really bad!) all weekend, but I'm back on track today.

Enjoy the day.

Hi all!

LadyPersia, so sorry for your losses. Funerals are rediculously expensive. Hopefully you will not have to deal with "funeral idots" like we did when my sister and my father died. I tried to pay for my father's funeral over the phone while we were driving to Mississippi. I talked to three different people at the funeral home who had three different amounts that were owed. He would have not gotten veteran's benefits if I had not pushed...

We finally got rain last night. Last precipitation we had was the snow and ice during the Super Bowl week. We did lots of yard work yesterday. Hubs is still planting new things. We actually made it to the gym on Saturday.

Take care all! TxMs

Hello everyone.......just thought I'd let you know I'm still alive!:laugh: :laugh:

It's been pretty crazy for me, both at work and with home life. Youngest daughter's preparing to 1)graduate from college, 2)join the Army and 3) go to Officer Candidate School immediately after basic training. She's already met with the review board and we know she's accepted, just have to wait on the "official" word after May 5. After that we'll know quickly when she'll leave for basic training, based on when they have a training slot for her at Officer Candidate School in Ft Benning, GA. So.....we're kinda hanging in limbo til then. If something happens and this falls through, I don't know what she's going to do - she's wanted to do this since probably middle school, but didn't think that it would really happen until about Christmas time.

Oldest daughter's future MIL now has terminal lung cancer. She was in the hospital 2 weeks ago and the oncologist told her that there's nothing more medically they can do to stop the progression, but lots of things they can do to keep her as comfortable as possible. She now has a portable oxygen canister, so is able to venture out of the house for short outings in the wheelchair. Daughter's not dealing with it all real well; hard for her to watch her guy watch his mother battle this.

Oh, on top of all that craziness and waiting, the husband got notified last week that he's going to be transferred to Korea for a year beginning in January :frown: . I'm not thrilled, but I keep telling myself it's not a deployment to a combat zone. He'll actually be back in the same town/base that he was stationed at in 1982-83!! Of course, this time they'll give him a decent housing allowance for an apartment and allow him to sign for furniture! As usual, I'll stay behind; doesn't make sense for me to leave my job when I'm FINALLY earning a decent retirement. He's guaranteed to return here to Ft. Riley, for some reason very few people want to move to the middle of Kansas!!! :laugh: :laugh:

Not doing so good on the scale or regular workouts :frown: Shoulder/neck/back are still giving me lots of problems. My supervisor ordered an ergonomic study of my work space; maybe they'll come up with some reason why I hurt at work but not on the weekends! I already do everything I can think of at work; good posture, a gel wrist rest, track ball instead of mouse, foot rests under all 3 parts of my workstation so my feet aren't dangling or hunched up on the chair legs (really bad for you). I'm totally puzzled, so yes, I'll let somebody come evaluate where I spend most of my waking hours and see if they can come up with something to make me stop hurting!!!

Haven't had time to read the thread except the last couple of posts - Lady Persia, you have my deepest sympathies during this troubling time..........hang in there!!

Hope everyone else is happy, healthy and working out like crazy!!
Later,
Marla

Good morning everyone! Hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I had a nice time last week and was able to spread the b-day splurges over a few days so I could prolong getting pampered just a little.

LadyPersia, I'm so sorry for your losses as well. And MK it sounds like you are having quite a time-of-change in your life. Wow.

This week I'm feeling kind of, well, boring! Eating is on track. Exercise is down to a routine. And it all feels like one day after the next...and the next...everything is beginning to blur. I guess there is nothing to complain about but I need to figure out something to give me a little more spark in my day. Maybe I'll look at taking a class this spring, or go back to yoga. Hmmm, something to research. I suppose this is what everyone feels at end of winter/early spring before we perk up to new growth and fun new spring activities.

Anyway, like I mentioned, exercise has been good. I do between 45-65 minutes a day and have been rotating between a few different activities within the time. I feel really strong, am at the low end of my maintenance range again and actually even though I haven't lost any weight, have moved down a pant size. That was a surprise.....a big one! And for eating, I have kept my maintenance range at around 1450 + exercise calories of 400-500, and have been planning to be under on some days and very, very over on a few days. Averaging out to my goal. This routine has been good. I feel like I'm not depriving myself of anything I truly love this way.

Pepper--a cupcake truck? Wow--I really must be missing out by living in the country. I have never heard of such a thing! Glad you are maintaining so well!

Sing--sounds like you have a good routine going. Fantastic.

Stiring--as usual, on track! Shenandoah Valley sounds beautiful. Would love to visit sometime. My husbands daughter (I have a tough time calling her a step--because that makes me seem old!), who is 24 lives in DC right now and I really should have planned a trip to see her this spring. Love my little boy but feel wish I had some time to do some solo traveling like I used to when I was working.

Well, I'm off---hope you all have a great rest of the week!!

Good Morning!

Robin, I hear you about the day-to-day monotony right now. I think finding something completely new to do is a great idea. It sure sounds to me like you've got things down to a fine science, though, which is terrific! And at least you aren't letting the case of 'The Borings' derail you from your plan.

singfree, hope you enjoy a great evening with your wife tomorrow! My husband's birthday is tomorrow, and I'm planning on making him a meal here at home. For some odd reason, he didn't want to go out....but my husband just isn't big into birthdays so....Like you, I've added back more protein to my diet and it is working really well right now. It is making it much easier to get through these tough workouts right now.

All here is the same. Cleaned up my eating, and am feeling better because of it. I'm still doing both Insanity and P90X every day, and the workouts are feeling good right now. I'm looking at buying Shaun T.'s (from Insanity) new workout program called 'Asylum', but I'm waiting for some reviews before I make the purchase. It looks like it has more diversity than Insanity, which is good. What really appeals to me is that it is only a 30 day program, but comes with two additional 30 day rotations, one being Asylum/Insanity and the other being Asylum/P90X. I think people are starting to get their sets, so I'm anxious for more feedback right now.

Enjoy the day!

mk, I should know what unit is up at Camp Casey...but I don't. They're moving alot of units around Korea right now (centralizing to Camp Humphreys), and I was always confused with the Army units on who was where and who was moving to where. :blushing: I really hope you get a chance to go over there. It is a vibrant, bustling country and, from everything I heard, far away from where it was 30 years ago. I think you'd enjoy it. And I hope your husband gets back for your daughter's graduation. That would be such a wonderful moment for both of them....and you too, of course!

Nothing new here to report. Hope everything is enjoying their week!

Such a busy week.... I spent most of the time with my brother looking at houses. He wants to move up here and his wife has agrees to move too. Then my Step Dad was admitted into the hospital from a blood clot to the brain. They cant do anything about it because he had been on blood thinners so long he now has a brain bleed and they cant do surgery on it due to his failing health. Tough spot to be in thats for sure.

Just wanted to check in and let you all know that yes I am still here. I cant wait til things settle down and I can get started back with my exercise and have more time to check in with all you good folks on here.

Hello everyone! I wanted to pop in to tell everyone I think you're all doing a great job by staying focused! I needed to come here to read your inspiring words to each other.

I've been MIA this week. Partly because I've been doing our taxes (yes, I know, I'm such a procrastinator) and partly because I've been in a real funk. I do not feel like cooking proper food, I do not feel like eating my "boring" meals, I do not feel like finding the time (new work schedule) to exercise, and I do not feel like measuring and weighing each dang morsel I shove into my mouth. And it seems the more I avoid these things, the deeper into my funk I slide. I've been acting like a 2-year old, I know. My hormones have been raging, my seasonal allergies miserable, my IBS flaring up (because of my crummy diet this last week and a half), and I feel totally out of control again. I know these things yet I can't seem to stop. Could this be early stages of menopause? Yikes...I can't stand myself lately...I feel sorry for my poor kids.

OK...on the bright side. I held myself accountable this morning and told myself that I am going to step on the scale no matter WHAT I ate this week. I was fully expecting a gain and then I was completely prepared to tell myself "I told you so!" but I'm down .8 so I guess the week wasn't a total loss. I think I have been really beating myself up about my food choices and that made me eat other bad food choices...and the cycle went on and on, day after day. I had a couple of VERY bad days...one at work where I was VERY angry and another day with the kids. (You know, when you ask them to do something and they "forget" and you feel completely unappreciated and taken for granted because of all the things you do for them and then, when you ask them to do just one little thing...) I found it interesting that on both of those days I turned to food for comfort and solace. Interesting and disgusting. Instead of expressing my feelings to my boss or my kids, I ate. Wow. And then that realization made me more angry because I'm tired of being the fat, happy, complacent chick.

Now...to get back on that horse. I HAVE to do this because I already threw out my fat clothes!!!! If I gain those pounds back I will have NOTHING to wear! Won't that be a pretty sight...?! Man, I wish I knew what the heck is going on with me!

Thanks, everyone. Just needed to vent. Whew.

Sorry to say I have not been checking in to read everyones posts. Been putting in overtime at work and trying to get in my workouts prepairing to run in our 5k Heart run walk next weekend. I hope for those of you who have been keeping on track it continues for you, and for those of you struggling, I hope that you can get back on track soon. I know its tough for me once I start back sliding.

I have not done to bad this week. I have added some bad foods back into my diet and I dont like it but I did it none the less.
I still lost 1.4lbs so I guess it wasnt all bad to add. I have been running longer and have had wanted to eat alot more food than usuall. Plus all the stress from work I think has made me slip and grab things that I should not be grabbing to snack on. I have not been packing my lunch like I should and eating in the Cafe' .:grumble:
I am going to try and do really well this week. I blew yesterday, Went to Cheddars with my hubby and parents. Ate way to much food.
I hope everyone has a great week.

p.s. I had a great complement this week. My coworker said to me "those pants are to baggy on you. Felt pretty good I must say. :bigsmile: