55-65 year old women's success?

@ Cathy.............good luck with the baby.............grandkids are fabulous!

What a great bunch of women have responded to Piano's Original Post. Several of you have mentioned medications and hoping to be or being rid of them. That happened to me. I was taking a medication for my stomach because of an unusual illness from food poisoning almost 3 years ago that left me with some problems and two blood pressure meds. My doc kept threatening me with a cholesterol med also but now I'm literally off of everything. It's wonderful to be prescription free! It's almost fun going to the doctor's office now.

Good luck to those of you who are striving for that. Amazing what weight loss and a little exercise will do for us..........even at our ages (not that we're old).

I had no idea there were so many of us connected to MFP, I'm thrilled.

If we all just bookmark this page (the little yellow star) at the top of the page, we can come back here anytime we want and chat with each other.

Lulu

middlehaitch wrote: »

Oh well done Shouvagypsy, you have so much courage.
I know whole body neuropathy means your whole body will hurt, but have you tried doing seated, yoga, Zumba, or light weights, then alternating with lower body exercises? Oh, it is a bit of a b**** when everything hurts, alternating pain or a solid hurt.
Also, have you tried aquafit with a PT? Or just going in the pool and just walking. It is supposed to give more relief, but you would be the one to know.
Great work on the weight loss, and welcome to MFP.
Cheers, h.

The mention of seated yoga reminded me that when i hurt my leg, i found a series of exercise dvd's called Seated Aerobics for Everyone. I remember i especially liked the seated salsa, belly dancing and boxing. actually, I had totally forgotten that was how i first got started boxing, which has become my favorite exercise. its been three years since i first started in a chair, but now i am on my feet doing eight rounds of three minutes each!

Just found this thread and thought I'd "weigh in."
I turned 60 in September. I've been on MFP and started my "get healthy" routine October 2013. I've lost 80 lbs. I have less than 10 pounds to go until I reach my goal. (Will reassess once I reach it to see if I want to "go for more.")
I did it by eating less and moving more. - Big surprise, right?
Initially, my exercise was doing walking dvd's in my home - I didn't want to take the big ol' body outside!!!
What liberation has come from losing weight! I now have friends who join me on 4-5 mile walks almost every day (outside.) When they can't join me I do it alone. I ran/walked in my 1st 5K last 4th of July. 2nd 5K was The Color Run the day before my 60th birthday with my 16 & 20 year old nieces. Over the summer, I went whitewater rafting and ziplining! My next 5K is scheduled for Feb 28 - a Black Light and Bubbles fun run. If I'm in the office I walk on my breaks and lunch 1/2 hour. I can walk a 15 minute mile so that's 4 miles right there!
So....what's all this about not being able to lose weight after menopause?
If you're not losing it, you're not trying hard enough.
This seems to be a pretty, good upbeat group.
Best of luck to everybody!!!!

middlehaitch wrote: »

Secondly, I had a revelation by talking on this thread about heavy lifting ( I was intimidated). I always thought it had to be lifting 100lb plus. Heck, sometimes that is my weight soaking wet! How would I do that?
Anyway I now realize it is lift something heavy fir YOU. So, if doing sumo squats holding 15lb of weight is hard for me, I am lifting heavy. I just have to add a couple of pounds once doing that 12 times is easy. Realizing that took ever suck a load off my mind.

EXACTLY! I'll probably never post on one of those "How much do you squat?" threads but I'm getting results nonetheless... and I'm not competing with anyone, just trying to improve my personal physical fitness. Heck, the SO keeps looking at my barbell and asking "You bench press that much?" and "That's what you deadlift?" and says he's impressed -- that's all I need to hear.

middlehaitch wrote: »

Thirdly, has anyone else found they just can't physically eat as much as they used to?

I think I can still eat as much quantity-wise, but my tastes have definitely changed to a preference for "healthier" foods. 20 years ago I wouldn't have craved a salad or a nice hunk of grilled salmon. But I'll probably never lose my sweet tooth!

KJurassic, one of the things that has kept me constant with the hated exercises is going on cruises and wanting to do the pony trekking to waterfalls high in the mountains, zip lining through jungles, snorkelling, and hiking to hidden beaches(I know I am shallow it should be a health focus) . So I really identify with your joy in being able to do these things.
A positive attitude really does help with commitment.
Bustergirl13, glad you pulled your socks up and started a new goal for 2015. It sounds like you have a good bit of determination. Good luck with the 17day plan.
Cheers, h.

Off to the gym bright and early this morning but I wanted to share this piece with all of you since we've spent so much time talking about exercise and weight lifting. This piece affirms how important strength training is at our age in regards to muscle loss and what the consequences are. It's worth a read I think.

And I agree whatever is heavy to each individual is what's required. It's not a contest at our age to see who can lift the heaviest dumbbells or a barbell.

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/sarcopenia-with-aging

There's a small fitness center in the town where I drive school bus that I joined in order to learn how to lift. The power cage (or whatever the frame is called that holds the bar) has slots every few inches so you can start with the bar in a position that works for you.

The trainer that showed me how to do things is about my height so he demonstrated "squats" with the bar in position on the cage. When it was my turn I backed up to the bar and placed my hands on the bar, attempting to lift it a bit and roll it out of the slots so I could squat. Surprise! The mobility in one of my shoulders wasn't as great as the other!

I didn't realize I still had some "issues" from an injury sustained a couple years ago while working overhead off a ladder. (I hung by my armpits for a few minutes and injured my rotator cuff. Took about 9 months to heal completely.)

So I was not able to easily lift the bar in order to squat and couldn't grab the bar as well with one of my hands compared to the other since my shoulder wasn't rotating back as far.

I did two things after that session because I wanted to be able to do squats: first I went online and found an exercise to increase shoulder mobility that was as simple as standing against a wall with my hips, shoulders and wrists touching the wall, then moving my arms overhead. Very easy with one arm/hand -- not so much with the other. But doing it has helped the mobility a lot.

Second thing was something I figured out on my own the next time I went to the fitness center alone without the trainer. His service is a one-time deal when you join this little place and there is no attendant/trainer on hand generally. I found that if I lowered the bar down one slot before starting, I could use my body weight to help lift and roll the bar out of the slot to begin squatting. Also, my shoulders and arms seemed more able to hold the bar at this slightly lower position. I could do the squats!

I'm not a dedicated lifter at this point, but I do enjoy it when I go to the fitness center.

Oh, I should mention that I think I overdid it when first starting using the various machines and contraptions at the fitness center. There is a "thing" that is geared for body-weight moves. You climb up on this apparatus with your back against a padded bar and your arms bent at the elbows resting on padded bars, with hand grips on the end. Then you raise/lower your legs using your abdominal muscles, etc. I don't know what happened exactly but I was really, really, really sore after using this thing a couple times. I'm talking so sore I woke up many times overnight with pain in my shoulders.

Once again I did some reading and found: "Then the pain is felt at night when the shoulder is at rest. This early stage of rotator cuff injury is called impingement." Aha. No thanks; not going down that route again. So, I gave all shoulder exercises a good long rest (weeks) and the pain finally went away. Now I am very careful to do things that are not injuring me as I build up strength. Knock wood, I've had no more injuries and now only feel normal muscle stiffness. I no longer use the body-weight contraption because I think that is how I hurt myself. I can do bench presses (machine) and the squats and leg lifts without injury. Maybe how I hold myself on the body-weight contraption is incorrect. Who knows.

Something that was surprising to me was learning that my thigh muscles are stronger doing front lifts compared to backward lifts (lying on stomach and bending knees while lifting weighted bar hooked under ankles) -- whatever that's called. I had no clue there would be a difference.

I always considered myself very strong. My whole life I've carried the end of a piece of furniture w needed to move, or lifted things that were heavy with no problem. Its been surprising to see I'm not as strong as I was. I notice it now and then and that's why I decided I wanted to at least learn how to lift weights. I would like to have something at home though, because I don't go to the fitness center as frequently as I should/could.

My goofy brother once said, "If you see an elderly person carrying heavy bags of groceries, don't help them, instead encourage them!" Now, I'm pretty sure he's right.

Ladies, wow! I was looking for some encouragement and just read this entire thread. Thanks for everyone sharing. It truly is helpful.

I’ve been on MFP since May, 2012; 976 days of logging. My approach is to go slow to make this my lifestyle. My overall goals: (1) lower BF from 40.4% to mid 20 range
(2) Be a strong and fit woman (3) Love myself ***I do now!!! (4) Even if DH doesn’t want to be active or eat well, I will be myself and do what I need and want to do.
(5) I am responsible for my happiness and achieving my goals, it’s up to me.

There were times when mother ‘Patience’ disagreed with this tact but the slow method has worked for me. When I’m consistent on intake and exercise I lose .25-.30 a week.

The most I lost in a week was 1pd, and 3 pds that same month. This was in 2013 during a brutal month of snow storms. I was shoveling and pushing a snow blower 3-5x/weekly in addition to consistent intake and weekly workouts at GISFW (Get In Shape For Women). Not how I envision the rest of my journey-he he.

My total BF loss is 4.4% and total weight loss is 24 pounds. My UGW is 124. In the past 2.5 years I have had 2 ankle sprains, with the 2nd one leaving me still not at full ability to do regular workouts. I have a specialist appointment late January. The end of this past week, I injured my hand/arm/shoulder and have MD appt tomorrow.

I have had frustration bouts from all of the setbacks and lost time. It seems I get going in a great rhythm and routine and then either an injury or life event interrupts my progress. On some of these occassions I slipped back into bad habits which created the 198 pounds in the 90’s; night snacks, evening glasses of wine to unwind, lack of movement, overeating portions, eat well all day and eat crap at night…….
When this happens I reread my profile, think of what I have achieved and who I really want to be, and remember loved ones I’ve lost who inspire me today. If I go off terribly one day I always go back to eating well the next day. However, the frustration of not being able to do full workouts doesn’t seem to go away easily for this former althlete.

I enjoy travel and try to visit Europe once a year, sometimes with DH, sometimes solo or with a tour group. We also are exploring parts of the U.S. If my family wasn’t all in New England, I want to live in St.Petersburg, FL for half the year. We have spent alot of time there and I live very healthy and well in that climate.

I’ll be 60 in February. My deficit has me eating 1200 but it’s not enough for me. I get hungry so I eat back half my exercise calories. But on non-exercise days I do my best to
keep the deficit. Regular weekly workouts: 3x/30 minute strength training followed by 20-25 minute cardio HIT work. Additional activites: calisthenics, walks, bicycle rides,
yoga and pilates, free on demand/dvds (Jillian, Kelley Smith, Mike Chang, Bob Sinclair).

My immediate goals: (1) Eat well at a deficit (2) Determine cause of prolonged ankle
pain; Determine what injury I did to my hand/arm/shoulder (3) Physical Therapy (4) Make up a seated exercise program to do at home (5) Get back to regular walking when
given green light by foot doctor

My profile is open and I welcome active members whom I can support and who can support me.

Happy New Year ladies!

"I want my life back. I used to play golf but don't because I am too embarrassed. I find myself hiding from people I know. Go down a different isle at the grocery store, don't go to social events, ect. I am done. I am getting my life back!!!!

How do I stay motivated? [/quote]


Hi HoganBirdie, I have felt and experienced what you share. I concentrated on how great I felt and looked before I allowed myself to get out of shape and to become overweight.
I started my health journey then lost my younger brother. I fell off food wise during my grieving but got back on track.

I don't have an answer but what you wrote last sticks with me. This attitude and perception of what I want for myself has helped me tremendously. Stay the course, stay strong!

I know one thing, if you have been overweight your whole life, this age is where your body will start to have serious health problems, and losing weight now is not about getting a date or fitting into hot jeans...for me it is about staying off insulin, being able to walk without a walker. Those are major health issues. Non compliance on a diet now, for me is stupid. Same with avoiding exercise.

Sure, exercise is "hard", so is being fat and out of shape! I pick exercise!

At this age, you can really tell the ones who love themselves and take care of their bodies.

I am glad I am healthy enough to exercise!

I would like to join the 60 and over group also. I thought losing 15 pounds wasn't much , but I see I'm normal. Glad I read your posts. It really boosted my enthusiasm . Is there a link to the 60 and iover?

59 here and 5'8" - between 49-51 I quit a 30+ year cigarette addiction, hit 50 (obviously ) and went through menopause. Those were some years! The weight that had slowly been going up blossomed into 196 lbs 2 years ago. Some major tooth work (full dentures) and a move into my current home took away 10 of those pounds in the last 1 1/2. I did notice it was slowly coming back so when a new gym opened up last summer around the corner with membership for 20.00 a month I thought why not. I went and enjoyed it and signed up for6 months of 1x a week personal trainer time. From that I started logging food here and doing some strength training through body weight exercises and some free weights. I am now down to 169, gained 1 pound through the holidays. I find it hard to motivate to get to the gym when it's dark when I get up, dark when get home from work so I am trying to work out at home. I try to get steps in at work I average 8000. I have decided I would like to work out in the morning so to hopefully get me into that I have a goal to be outside every day at sunrise even if it's just on my back porch watching the rain and birds. I am hoping as the sun rises earlier I will be out walking during that time.

I have an ultimate goal of staying mobile and active as long as possible, I want to be able to enjoy retirement when it gets here! Thanks PianoRun for starting this post!