Fifty plus (or so) support group

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Replies

  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    [/quote]

    You swimming in your jeans? ;) jk[/quote] and a huge congrats on the jeans!!

    [/quote]

    Well I didn't really like wearing the swimsuit last week so I thought I'd up the anty and practice my falling out of the boat swimming to shore skills ;) teehee
  • Hi! I am 60....amazingly.......have had battle with weight since I was 15 and 121 pounds. Have been up and down since then from 312 to 107. I now weigh 262. So much for numbers. Is that all I think I have to share with you? And yet you all are the only ones who would "Get it". There is so much more than numbers. I finished my BA and MA and am now interning as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I have been studying and living out the life of food obsession and have found some answers that make sense to me. I want to help and be helped......sometimes this journey can be lonely.....Jennifer
  • butbygrace206
    butbygrace206 Posts: 394 Member
    Welcome everyone. I will def check out that book, Karen. I've only been on here 3 weeks (almost). I'm actually doing the south beachy way of eating. Best for me. It is a life style change and it's my desire to do so :).
  • SuzyH
    SuzyH Posts: 196 Member
    Good morning! I haven't posted since last week, but I've been keeping up with you! Just want to say that you are all an inspiration for me to keep with it. Had a great day yesterday sledding with a friend... Yes, sledding. At first when she suggested it I thought she was crazy! We did it and I haven't had that much fun since ... Well, I can't remember! It was crazy! Made me realize how important it is to not always be so serious and to stop to smell the roses! Enjoy life, be thankful, and keep on the right path so I can keep doing things like sledding... Maybe next time I'll take the grandkids! LOL!
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    Welcome Jennifer! Congratulations on entering the 3rd stage of your life with a bang! How inspiring you are following a new dream with your education to become a therapist. When I turned 50 it hit me that we go through essentially four lives and I had entered my third. I'm still trying to figure out a fun career change to pursue until I retire.....

    How fun Suzy H! Sledding.... I haven't gone in years either but I have a huge grin on my face for you :D. You definitely need to take the grandkids! I can already hear their laughs and shrieks of fun <3

    Best intentions aside, Friday night we headed to the pool only to get caught up in a 3 1/2 hour closure of the interstate freeway. A sad soul was threatening to jump off an overpass :'( Fortunately they were able to safely talk him down..... But we missed the swim time. Never fail, we went out to dinner instead ;) Probably not the best trade~ off, but it sure was yummy! For the past couple of years, we only order one entree and split it 1/4~3/4. Restaurant portions are always so huge I'm full after the salad and can never eat a full meal. I did have to talk him into Rockfish instead of a creamy pasta dish, but he was a good sport <3. Besides, I think he likes that I'm a fairly cheap date HAHAHA!

    Hope you are all enjoying your Sunday!
  • butbygrace206
    butbygrace206 Posts: 394 Member
    SuzyH wrote: »
    Good morning! I haven't posted since last week, but I've been keeping up with you! Just want to say that you are all an inspiration for me to keep with it. Had a great day yesterday sledding with a friend... Yes, sledding. At first when she suggested it I thought she was crazy! We did it and I haven't had that much fun since ... Well, I can't remember! It was crazy! Made me realize how important it is to not always be so serious and to stop to smell the roses! Enjoy life, be thankful, and keep on the right path so I can keep doing things like sledding... Maybe next time I'll take the grandkids! LOL!


    Sounds so fun! I think I may give that a go! I'm sure we will have another snow, here in Ohio :).

    Sandcastle, so glad the person was talked down. Swimming will come another time.

    Have an awesome day, everyone.

  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    Happy Monday everyone! Well, Mondays are my day to hit the scales..... Between all the hard work I did last week and forgetting to eat (too many times to count, yeesh! ) I still managed to lose 1.5 pounds this week! That brings me to 13 total~ nearly my halfway mark!! I'll take it :D

    My goal this week is to make sure I get my 3 meals and 2 snacks in me and drink my water! We also ate out twice this weekend including sushi last night with low sodium soy sauce, but I can feel a little water retention in my hands so that was probably not a good choice either, LOL. But that's real life for ya :)

    Hope you all had a terrific weekend! Congratulations to Unigoop for 6 pounds! Woowza :D
  • lknewth
    lknewth Posts: 6 Member
    I'm 52 and trying to start back again with eating healthy and exercising. I do well for few weeks and then slack off.
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    lknewth wrote: »
    I'm 52 and trying to start back again with eating healthy and exercising. I do well for few weeks and then slack off.

    That'll happen if you cruise a lot ;) (damn the buffet, full speed ahead!)

    it does take some determination. Have you ever thought about why you "slack off" after a few weeks?
  • sundalp
    sundalp Posts: 2 Member
    Would love to join the group. Need to lose 100 pds- taking one day at a time
  • 55 here, female from MI. I'll join. Recent cancer survivor and even though going to gym and eating healthy, scale not moving. Frustrated.
  • butbygrace206
    butbygrace206 Posts: 394 Member
    Welcome everyone. It is nice to be part of a group that we can ask for help, or encouragement, or just vent for a min. I down loaded the app 3 weeks ago and was totally amazed at how many "blind" calories I was eating. While cooking supper I would take a bite of this or taste that or try this, all of which could add up to a lot of calories throughout the day. Now that I'm fully aware, that has stopped. I did totally clean my fridge and pantry of all "forbidden" foods. The only way I felt I could succeed. This has become a lifestyle change for me. I want to enjoy my grandkids ;)

    Hope all has a great Monday !
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    Welcome everyone! We're all on the slow boat to weight loss and making healthy lifestyle changes for a lifetime. To me that means celebrating one small victory in my journey every day, and acknowledging then setting aside the times I know I've goofed a bit. Standenvernet is right that we just need to try to figure out what was happening when we slipped, then accept it and move on :)

    To kegrette, congratulations on reaching survivor status <3. Cancer is a difficult journey on it's own and that darn weight gain from treatment is so much harder to lose for some reason. But, you've already made it through the hard part! And you've lost 8 pounds!! As your body adjusts to it's new healthy self, it will start giving up the weight a little at a time. Make sure you are taking your measurements because I know from experience I can see inches shrinking faster than the number on the scale, especially since you are working out at the gym :D
  • lknewth
    lknewth Posts: 6 Member
    lknewth wrote: »
    I'm 52 and trying to start back again with eating healthy and exercising. I do well for few weeks and then slack off.

    That'll happen if you cruise a lot ;) (damn the buffet, full speed ahead!)

    it does take some determination. Have you ever thought about why you "slack off" after a few weeks?

  • lknewth
    lknewth Posts: 6 Member
    I usually feel tired. I know if I can make it to the gym I feel better. It's being consistent to get there that's been the problem
  • Almost 54, need to lose 100+ pounds. 29 yr marriage on the rocks, health is starting to be impacted. Would love to join this group.
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    edited February 2015
    lknewth wrote: »
    I usually feel tired. I know if I can make it to the gym I feel better. It's being consistent to get there that's been the problem
    Yep -- and after some consistent performance you may be able to form a habit for gym time.

    For me, "the gym" was really enough of an excuse to not go to the gym (just hated it there). Really wasn't sure if the gym ran afoul of my base personality or what, but I didn't like it; so I did not go.

    As a good turn of bad-fortune, I'm coming up from being so sedentary and out of shape, that a little bit of any activity will help; so I looked at body-weight exercises (really "exercises" is an over-statement, more body-weight "motions") that I could reliably perform to get myself in motion. More importantly, the "gym" was not gonna dictate my self-recovery... I began to log my eating accurately and make choices based on my own eating patterns to help reduce my intake to something near target levels.

    For "body motions", simple walking and opting for stairs can get things moving. I also try to begin each morning with squats (often just in the shower being safe and cautions about it). Building up from one to about 50 or so each morning. Small dumbbells helped to get the rest of me moving AFTER I began without weight to understand correct form and to get old-fat moving again. In my thinking, the no-weight to low-weight approach removed any excuses I would have, with the added benefit of allowing my body to understand full range of motion with minimal risk of injury.

    I'm sure at some point I will "need" a gym, but at the moment, I'm moving along my goals at (or above) my anticipated rate, with fairly consistent performance of muscle retaining exercise, but without the ability to blame "the gym" for my own transgressions.

    Granted, it's only been a few months, and time will tell... This is week-7 of logging food here with MFP, and not only do I weigh ~7% less than I did 10-weeks back, but I can already feel some energy and endurance returning. I know that my losses will slow down, and that my physical gains will plateau; so when they do, maybe I'll find a nicer "gym", or just head outside where all the good times are.

    For me at least, "the gym" was a premature step, but served as a very convenient scapegoat for my lack of will to initiate.
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    fraserco wrote: »
    Almost 54, need to lose 100+ pounds. 29 yr marriage on the rocks, health is starting to be impacted. Would love to join this group.

    You are not alone, even if you're gonna get more snow again this week :) . For me it was all about STARTING and staying at something; being HONEST in logging my food intake has been the single most-helpful step in my short bit of success. I see no reason that I won't continue to be successful, and there's certainly no reason that you won't be...

  • Tiso2
    Tiso2 Posts: 55 Member
    Good new day everyone
  • Tiso2
    Tiso2 Posts: 55 Member
    Tiso2 wrote: »
    Good new day everyone
    Tiso2 wrote: »
    Good new day everyone

    For some reason my complete posts don't "post" looking forward to being a part of this community
    Age 59 5'2" 146.5
  • Hello everyone. I am not 50ish but I could use all the support and motivation I can get. I am really good about being consistent but its always so hard to take that first step. I know I can lose the weight because I have before, not many pounds, but enough to know that if I stick with it I can attain my ultimate goal. The key is to keep going! I notice a major problem I have is that I see results and get excited and think, oh I can do this no problem. And instead of continuing I end up "falling off the wagon" because I gain confidence. Not so good because then I gain the weight back and have to start over!!! I have hypothyroidism so that already hurts my metabolism. BUT, I no longer want to use that as a crutch or an excuse for my weight. I want to be able to slide down the slide with my daughter and not feel like I am going to get stuck or break it. I want my daughter to be proud of me. Its not easy to be asked by an innocent child if I am pregnant and all the while its just that I am fat. :'( Speaking of which, I would like to have a 2nd child, but my weight is an issue. Im just tired of not being happy with my body. I am my own worst enemy. My body issues affect my confidence, my marriage, everything. I am so insecure and unhappy and I hold back a lot. Time to take my life back and not be in bondage to my weight.
  • ncraig627
    ncraig627 Posts: 11 Member
    54 and am interested in joining. :D
  • butbygrace206
    butbygrace206 Posts: 394 Member
    lknewth wrote: »
    I usually feel tired. I know if I can make it to the gym I feel better. It's being consistent to get there that's been the problem
    Yep -- and after some consistent performance you may be able to form a habit for gym time.

    For me, "the gym" was really enough of an excuse to not go to the gym (just hated it there). Really wasn't sure if the gym ran afoul of my base personality or what, but I didn't like it; so I did not go.

    As a good turn of bad-fortune, I'm coming up from being so sedentary and out of shape, that a little bit of any activity will help; so I looked at body-weight exercises (really "exercises" is an over-statement, more body-weight "motions") that I could reliably perform to get myself in motion. More importantly, the "gym" was not gonna dictate my self-recovery... I began to log my eating accurately and make choices based on my own eating patterns to help reduce my intake to something near target levels.

    For "body motions", simple walking and opting for stairs can get things moving. I also try to begin each morning with squats (often just in the shower being safe and cautions about it). Building up from one to about 50 or so each morning. Small dumbbells helped to get the rest of me moving AFTER I began without weight to understand correct form and to get old-fat moving again. In my thinking, the no-weight to low-weight approach removed any excuses I would have, with the added benefit of allowing my body to understand full range of motion with minimal risk of injury.

    I'm sure at some point I will "need" a gym, but at the moment, I'm moving along my goals at (or above) my anticipated rate, with fairly consistent performance of muscle retaining exercise, but without the ability to blame "the gym" for my own transgressions.

    Granted, it's only been a few months, and time will tell... This is week-7 of logging food here with MFP, and not only do I weigh ~7% less than I did 10-weeks back, but I can already feel some energy and endurance returning. I know that my losses will slow down, and that my physical gains will plateau; so when they do, maybe I'll find a nicer "gym", or just head outside where all the good times are.

    For me at least, "the gym" was a premature step, but served as a very convenient scapegoat for my lack of will to initiate.

    Give me more info on the body weight exercises, please Logging food is going well but I gotta get moving. Thanks
    jules9881 wrote: »
    Hello everyone. I am not 50ish but I could use all the support and motivation I can get. I am really good about being consistent but its always so hard to take that first step. I know I can lose the weight because I have before, not many pounds, but enough to know that if I stick with it I can attain my ultimate goal. The key is to keep going! I notice a major problem I have is that I see results and get excited and think, oh I can do this no problem. And instead of continuing I end up "falling off the wagon" because I gain confidence. Not so good because then I gain the weight back and have to start over!!! I have hypothyroidism so that already hurts my metabolism. BUT, I no longer want to use that as a crutch or an excuse for my weight. I want to be able to slide down the slide with my daughter and not feel like I am going to get stuck or break it. I want my daughter to be proud of me. Its not easy to be asked by an innocent child if I am pregnant and all the while its just that I am fat. :'( Speaking of which, I would like to have a 2nd child, but my weight is an issue. Im just tired of not being happy with my body. I am my own worst enemy. My body issues affect my confidence, my marriage, everything. I am so insecure and unhappy and I hold back a lot. Time to take my life back and not be in bondage to my weight.

    Congrats on taking that first step :). MFP is an amazing tool to use. I log every bite that goes in. Even bubble gum. It has def made me more aware of my calorie intake. Sometimes I even pre-log my food to make sure I stay under my allowed calories. If I can do it anyone can. So jump on the wagon and let's go :)
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    Morning everyone! Welcome new friends.... Great advice this morning :D I'm the first to admit I'm not a fan of gyms, or working out at all in fact LOL. My sweet fella calls me a slug but I've still managed to lose 13 pounds so far, so every day life can still get you there with dedicated logging and food choices. I also prelog my day and found myself in trouble last week when I let myself get too busy to preplan. Lesson learned :)

    We're trying to get in the swim habit, once a week to start, and I know one day soon I need to start on light weights too because that back fat isn't going to cure itself HAHAHA. Love the idea of body weight exercises first and working my way up to dusting off my little dumbbells. One of those biggest loser trainers said at least once a week weight training is a must at our age..... :s

    We do walk a couple times a week depending on weather, and when we go up to the cabin we get in a daily hike. My son and I are also walking or biking to the grocery store a mile each direction from the house once a week for fill in items. This limits what I buy and we also have to carry those heavy bags home again so I consider that a win/win :D

    My small victory today was getting all my water in yesterday.

    Have a GREAT Tuesday! You guys are awesome <3
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    edited February 2015
    Give me more info on the body weight exercises, please Logging food is going well but I gotta get moving. Thanks...

    My personal list is messy, and my reply here got quite long, and I figured that there'd be something like that on the exercise part of this forum (I did send you a short list though)...

    Mostly I focused on getting the parts I'd need for real exercise safely moving again using Calf raises for ankle stability so I could get into Squats (with a "pistol" variant) to help with knees and ankles, then Burpees. And similarly (prior to beginning the Burpees even) some shoulder work (gross & fine motions in the rotator and pec-minor) to stabilize my shoulders enough to get to arm circles, then planks, then push-ups...

    So little baby steps to build a foundation to avoid injury as I move toward more conventional exercise stuff.

    I'd be happy to expound on a few of these, but didn't wanna bore folks that I don't know!
    :)

    **Nearly forgot my favorite "warm-up", Gorilla Walk! - Take over-sized steps, not quite as extreme as a lunge, but waaay too long of a step to look normal; while you're doing this raise both hands over your head leaving your elbows flexed and fee to move. Your over-long steps will cause your hips/spine to kinda roll (similar to a stiff lower back), just kinda 'go with" this motion and allow it to roll into your shoulders and travel along your up-raised arms before whipping off the ends of your fingers -- stay loose and walk along this way. I've found that you can GREATLY increase the number of good laughs you get if you sag your pants like a young urban gangstah allowing your waistband to ride at or below your hip joint (with your shirt tucked-in, this will look like your legs are very short and your torso is much longer - quite ape-like, yet seriously "uncool" if you've got teenaged grandkids... Rotating the bill of your ball-cap rearward only adds to the hilarity (with no significant impact to the stretch) B)
  • butbygrace206
    butbygrace206 Posts: 394 Member
    Give me more info on the body weight exercises, please Logging food is going well but I gotta get moving. Thanks...

    My personal list is messy, and my reply here got quite long, and I figured that there'd be something like that on the exercise part of this forum (I did send you a short list though)...

    Mostly I focused on getting the parts I'd need for real exercise safely moving again using Calf raises for ankle stability so I could get into Squats (with a "pistol" variant) to help with knees and ankles, then Burpees. And similarly (prior to beginning the Burpees even) some shoulder work (gross & fine motions in the rotator and pec-minor) to stabilize my shoulders enough to get to arm circles, then planks, then push-ups...

    So little baby steps to build a foundation to avoid injury as I move toward more conventional exercise stuff.

    I'd be happy to expound on a few of these, but didn't wanna bore folks that I don't know!
    :)

    **Nearly forgot my favorite "warm-up", Gorilla Walk! - Take over-sized steps, not quite as extreme as a lunge, but waaay too long of a step to look normal; while you're doing this raise both hands over your head leaving your elbows flexed and fee to move. Your over-long steps will cause your hips/spine to kinda roll (similar to a stiff lower back), just kinda 'go with" this motion and allow it to roll into your shoulders and travel along your up-raised arms before whipping off the ends of your fingers -- stay loose and walk along this way. I've found that you can GREATLY increase the number of good laughs you get if you sag your pants like a young urban gangstah allowing your waistband to ride at or below your hip joint (with your shirt tucked-in, this will look like your legs are very short and your torso is much longer - quite ape-like, yet seriously "uncool" if you've got teenaged grandkids... Rotating the bill of your ball-cap rearward only adds to the hilarity (with no significant impact to the stretch) B)

    These will be put to use ASAP. Thank you so much for taking the time to post. :)
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    As I thought, the exercise & fitness area has a few lists as well ( http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10059807/body-weight-exercises is one of many; has a few nice links within ), but many start above "man-jello" fitness levels.

    Use caution as you progress, not everything that hurts is good (truth is few are, depending on your '50-shades of Gray' outlook) ;)
  • kayterina
    kayterina Posts: 5 Member
    Just rejoined MFP today, having fallen off the wagon over xmas hol. Don't have vast amount to lose but know I feel better a few lbs lighter. I'm 60.
  • Good morning everyone. I joined the group in January and then got kicked in the butt with a horrible cold that had derailed my efforts. Then I was bummed because I felt like I was starting from scratch again. I stopped visiting MFP and this group. Today I am back and I have caught up with your conversations. You are all so inspiring. It feels good to be back!
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    Morning everyone.... Welcome Kayterina and welcome back LAbike!! I think I found that cold you're just getting over, Uugh! Fighting a fever, massive headache and endless coughing and sneezing :p. I really hope this doesn't stick around very long!

    Been busy with a work project this week so just doing bits and pieces on the house rehab, but my oldest son is meeting me there today to do some exterior power washing so at least things are still moving forward :)

    I've been doing good for 3 whole days getting all my meals and water in, so I'm considering that today's small victory B) Now, if I can just get rid of this dang headache!

    Have an awesome Wednesday <3
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