WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MARCH 2015

Meg from Omaha - you do have a lot going on! We're here for you!

Mary from Minnesota

Back from Spring Break with DS and family. Got a lot o catch up on. I did set my goals before I left and will post tomorrow. I also upped my steps by 500 and am up to 5000. Exceeded that almost everyday I was gone.
5001. Sue inTX

Call me crazy but I love to see other people happy and succeeding.

Good Evening, Ladies.

Pam, I giggled at your statement about resetting the Basset Hound. I think I’m actually more of a morning person, once I’ve been up for about an hour. When I was working I got out of bed early so I could sit with my coffee and wake up before I had to start moving. I’m good in the afternoon and evening but not for expending too much energy. Maybe I’m just a lazy person? Who knows? I did set one clock back early last night and when I went to bed I figured out I had done it backwards. lol

Jane, Grandmother Heaven is what it sounds like. How nice to have them all together.

Michel, you misunderstood me. My hubby is the same as yours about what I buy. I’m the one that tells him, “It’s not what I spend, but what I save”. It’s become a joke with us. Now he is a bargain shopper. He does all the grocery shopping and if something is on a good sale, he might buy 3 or 4 if it’s something we use regularly. One time my DD was here and opened the pantry and said, “Are we having another Y2K?” She knows how to make fun of her Dad.

Meg, hope you get over the drama soon. I know it can wear me out. *hugs*

Crm, welcome. We don’t really care how old you are as long as you act old. Just kidding. Tell us something about yourself. This is a great place for support and encouragement so come often.

Sue TX, welcome back. Where did ya’ll go? Did you get wild and crazy? I hope you weren’t flashing your boobs, were you? I know how those spring breakers are. When I was in HS, we always went to Padre Island. Of course back then there were only a few hotels and restaurants, but I sure have fond memories.

Barbie, welcome back. I had no doubt that you would meet your step goals. You are so dedicated.

Rori, welcome back, if only for a short visit. Good for you on choosing the best you can with all that restaurant eating. Safe travels.

Welcome to any Newbies that I missed. Come often and join in the chat. This thing works!! Please sign your post with what you want to be called. It makes it easier for us to respond to you. Also a location is great, be it specific or general. We are happy to have you join us.

I’m going to a convention here at the beach for just two nights in a week and a half. I’m not sure what the room will have other than a microwave and small fridge, but have to figure out some things to take to eat. The parking lot is so full, that if you go out for dinner you may not have a place to park when you return. There is just one restaurant in the resort and it’s a hamburger and fried food joint. I might eat one meal there, but not two a day for sure. I’d love some suggestions for a meal. I’m good on snacks.

I wish you all a happy and healthy week ahead.

My word #1 is savor. I have to slow down and savor every bite.

#2 is opportunity. Each day offers new opportunities for good health and happiness if we just look for them and choose them.

Janet
Myrtle Beach, SC
A beautiful, sunny day in the 60’s

Mary - I think sometimes I prefer the oat bran.

Meg - come in and tell us all about it. Sometimes it helps to get things off your chest

Sue in TX - nice to see you upped your steps. Baby steps and you're doing it. Glad you had such a good time

crm519 - welcome to a great place

Janet - when I'd go food shopping, if I bought a lot of something we used the kids would say "ma, we know what was on sale that you had a coupon for"

Rori - good to see you back. Come in whenever you can

Janet - when we go away, I usually take some apples (or another type of fruit), those small boxes of almond/soy milk, I make 1/2 sandwiches, one thing that I do take is some of those (stop laughing) baby food vegetables. they don't need refrigeration, but they are just vegetables (not the stuff in the jar, the Gerber Graduates). I also take some nuts, dried fruit, things that I've preportioned out at home. Just some ideas. I used to take microwaveable popcorn but I don't any longer because once one of the popcorn husks got in my tooth and I had the hardest time getting it out. So that's something that I don't bother with any more.

Right now I'm feeling blue. Gotta keep out of the goodies that I have in my freezer. Before we left for FL we sent Bryan a package. A few weeks ago I sent him an email asking if he got the package and how was the pill shooter working out. Still nothing. I REALLY am feeling right now that if he can't be bothered even to do that much, I would really like to give his portion of his inheritance to Jessica. I know, I'm being mean right now. But I can't help how I feel.

Michele in NC

Good morning Everyone! :flowerforyou:

Going to try something new here this week... Posting a couple of times through out my day. This way I get to talk more personally with each of you while spending a few minutes at time. Instead of sitting for hours playing catch up and forgetting who said what. I'm a terrible note taker and feel like a cheater when I take somebody elses who took the time and re-word it. I did that once I'M SORRY!!

Barbie: There was never a doubt in any of minds that you wouldnt meet your goals!

Jane: YaY! I'm so jelly. How truly wonderful to have snuggled with all 5! I love the new names, there are as beautiful as the new baby girls are!

Yannie: Impact is out for me too due to the bone fusion in both my feet. I had never realized just how much that would effect the exercise area. Running I knew I had to say goodbye too. But it was the littler things like jumping jacks, burpee's ( okay I dont miss burpee's at ALL )

Janet in SC: I know its been a while since ive been in the states. But what about those pre-made microwavable thingies Like Amy's ( i hear she is darned healthy. ) Weight Watchers stuffs, lean cuisines? have a couple in the room for "just in case". A couple of cans soup, some tuna, a loaf of bread, and some crackers??

Michele: My oldest daughter is like your son. It comes in waves sometimes i hear from her a couple of times a week and then nothing for months and months. The longest she went was a year and half. I feel your pain ~ Hugz my friend~

She's pregnant now and I know she will use the baby to hurt me further. Apparently she issues with me and how I parented. My other 2 tell me to just ignore her she is like that with all of them.

JawboneUP24 user here and I love it! Mine is rain and shower proof, tells me how I slept, lightly or deeply. Many activities and alarms, power naps, stop watch, idle alert, activity alert and a smart coach. Syncs with my smart phone, MFP and other Jawbone users. It was a birthday gift from my husband last year. I know I can walk and hour and 10 min. 3.5 miles and not hit 10,000 steps. usually between 8-9000 steps depending on my pace. The running census on MFP is 2500 steps is a mile.

I have been looking at there new model and it has a Heart Rate monitor plus its good in the pool up to 10 meters. Also many niftiies in the works that will be downloadable.

Thank you so much for answering my questions. I am really enjoying hearing about everybodys stats & starts!

Okay thats all I got for now. Off to do a little Classic stretch before my walk this morning!

Sincerely,
Sassy aus Austria
• If you want it, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.

• Being Fat is Hard.
Losing Weight is Hard.
Maintenance is Hard.

Choose Your Hard.

macmatilda, you are doing just fine. Next step is to do it tomorrow!

Sassy, I think every foster story is different. Like I said yesterday, my daughter fostered a dog because he had behavioral issues and was unadoptable. So she had to work on those issues until he was more comfortable around people, especially men. The agency I fostered my cat, Melody from gets all their animals from animal control. Never know what kind of situation they have there. Some are very ill, may have heart worms or other health issues, may have been burned, purposefully or used in a dog fighting ring. With Another chance for animals, they have an agreement with one of the vets that some one fosters an animal then all the vet care is free. So while I fostered Melody and had to take her to the vet, it was free. But then once you sign those adoption papers, she is all yours. This agency has a foster to adopt program and that is what we did. We weren't sure we wanted her since we also had had a cat that died. She was vicious to anyone else but not to us. So we wanted to see if she worked out. Of course it did. So some fosters take a long time if it is a medical issue, others just until a person decides if they want. Oh, some are fostered if the Momma cat or dog is killed and the babies have to be cared for. those are the ones that take dedication. You thought you were done with every 2 hour feedings and now you have 4 kitties to feed.

I have a fit bit one. It is the one that you clip on your belt, bra or just take it off the clip and put in your pocket. Mine records my walking steps and just being alive calories. It's surprising how many calories you burn at night just by living.

Beth in Me, I do believe that is the hotel I fell in love with on my search for a New England vacation. My personal preference would have been a bed and breakfast because I would have loved that social and personal aspect. But it is to social for Charlie

Mary in Mn I agree with you about Sylvia. I don't think she should have been released from the hospital. She went from having a tube keeping her stomach empty so nothing could go through her gut to being home in no time flat. Sylvia, get thee to the ER if you are feeling bad! We love you to much

Jane, I bet you were in Grandma heaven. I bet you have sweet dreams tonight. I only have 2 of them and they live in the same house so I see all mine together all the time.

Lesley, what is a mural there for you. Here in the states it is a large painting like on the side of a building.

meg, you say you had drama but it didn't involve you. I believe it does involve you. No matter how hard we try to distance ourselves from our children who are doing bad stuff, they are still our children. And then there is your innocent grand baby in the mix and it isn't that precious little girls fault at all.

Janet in Myrtle Beach. Are you the only one in your hotel room using this little fridge? I would buy some whole wheat bread and real thin deli meat and cheese, fruit, baby carrots or any other fresh veggies you like. Would they allow a George Foreman grill? I like to grill chicken, make my grilled cheese sandwiches on it, etc.

For all those that are still dealing with the piles of snow, the Iditarod race has started in Alaska and they had to haul IN snow for the ceremonial start. They have also had to change the route because of lack of snow and non safe frozen rivers.

Oh, my story. I almost forgot, maybe because it is getting forgettable. I started this process about 2 1/2 years ago. I was 64 then and I thought 5'6 1/2". Found out later I was 5'4 1/2". I started out at 232.8 pounds. Dr put me on 1300 calories due to the diabetes. Like all the others, lost weight pretty quickly since i was in the gym a lot of really sticking to my diet. I was a diabetic so I learned I had to stick to it because I wanted to get rid of a lot of my pills. As I went along, the weight was more difficult to come off. Then came last October or so. I was stuck on 60 pound weight loss. I guess I got discouraged and started to exercise less and less. I still stay on basically the 1300 calories but do eat extra at time, like pop tarts, Milky Ways and those bad things. So I find myself at a 50 pound weight loss now. I weight more now than I did at this time last year. I feel like a hypocrite at times in here. But I keep plugging along. I need to get my touche off the couch and get moving.

Forgot to add my house selling adventure many years ago. We thought we had a nice house. But it wan't our forever home, was a started and we wanted another child. We thought we could avoid a broker fee by selling it ourselves. Um, don't do it. So we found an agent, she didn't act very aggresive with it, so at the end of her term got another one who was equally non agressive. Tried on our own again and finally a rental agency bought it and rented it out. We took a loss from the original price but we were paying 2 mortgages for 4 months then and just wanted to get rid of it.

Joyce, Indiana

Joyce Indiana

I feel like a hypocrite at times in here. But I keep plugging along.

Don't you dare feel like a hypocrite!! It's the PLUGGING ALONG part that counts! You just keep doing what your doing love. That ol fake it till you make it until your mojo comes back. It's all good!! Hugz

Good Morning Ladies!!
Like many of you, I read all your posts but can't remember enough to comment to everyone. Please know that I cheer your victories and send you hugs for your struggles even though I may not acknowlege you personally.

Yesterday afternoon didn't go at all as I had planned (I am a planner, in fact have a degree in urban planning!). But I pride myself on being able to be spontaneous. I had plans with a friend to walk the mall and then she asked if I would accompany her to a short event. We came upon a thrift store after the event and I bought a beautiful Ann Taylor sweater for $4.59!! We then decided to stop into a little bar for a glass of wine and wound up ordering nachos. Not on the diet plan but I thorougly enjoyed them along with the great company of my friend.

Today it is back to work and Jake the rescue dog is here with me today. We are looking foward to taking our walk a little later, it is above freezing and sunny, yeah!! I need to walk off those nachos!!

Have a good day everyone!
Chris in sunny MA

Mary in MN: Paul Bunyan had a girlfriend? Who knew? I guess I thought it was just him and his blue ox, Babe!

DH still has a cousin in Grand Rapids, but he hasn't been back since his mom passed away in 2010. I tried to get him to go last summer to his 50th high school class reunion, but he wasn't interested. His family is way scattered with a brother in Oklahoma, brother in Texas, cousins in Canada, New York and North Dakota. his family is not close at all. We keep in touch with some via Facebook and Christmas cards but we don't visit them and they don't visit us. Totally weird!

Good morning! Wow! There was a lot to catch up on. I really need to be better about reading posts over the weekends. I will say that, for this past weekend, I stayed busy and didn't spend any time on the computer.

Congrats, Jane, on the new granddaughter!

Sylvia - I hope things get a lot better for you very soon. Hopefully, the gastro will have some answers for you.

I don't remember who it was who posted about the 12-year-old who attempted suicide. My son was 11 when he was hospitalized for suicide prevention. It is an indescribable experience!

My best female friend who lives in SC was visiting her brother who lives just a few miles from me this past week. Unfortunately, he is very jealous of her spending time with me (don't you think 50+ year olds could do better?!) so we had to cancel plans a couple of times. But, we did get to spend a good portion of the day together on Saturday. We shopped some and I got some great things for very little (ex: 2 dresses for $3 total) and we enjoyed brunch together. I ate an enormous meal with lots of things I don't normally eat, but didn't eat again until dinner time. I still stayed under calorie goal AND, I enjoyed and savored every bite!!

On Sunday, I went to church after eating a good breakfast (I weighed my cereal in the bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, laid out my spoon, and set out the measuring cup for the milk on Saturday night), came home and ate a nice lunch, called the girl child and invited her to walk with me in the park (a sacrifice on my part because I walk MUCH faster than she does, but I wanted to get her outside and moving), returned a lost cat, made a BIG trip to Walmart (Michele, they don't have wheat OR oat bran!), did some laundry, ate dinner, got things out the freezer for lunches/dinners this week, made a pot of chicken-barley soup for a church function on Wednesday, and prepped my breakfast, lunch, and snacks so they were ready to pack quickly this morning. I got in 12,000 steps and stayed within calorie goal, so I was quite pleased with myself! I think the sunshine really helped my mood!

Miss Spot decided to go outside yesterday evening. The weather was so nice that I could open the back door wide enough for her to go in and out and leave it open. She went in and out several times but must have decided to go out and stay awhile. Once it got good and dark, it was too cool to leave the door open anymore, so I just kept an eye on it. I went out and called her four different times, but she didn't come in. I went out one last time and announced, "Miss Spot, I am going to bed now. If you don't come right now, you are out for the night!" She didn't respond so I headed upstairs to get ready for bed. It was about three minutes later when I heard her scratching at the front door. I went down and opened the door for her and she looked mighty pleased with herself. She was licking her lips so I'm thinking some little creature was her supper. It makes me happy that she is adjusting and can find her way back home again!

I have told my daughter that, if she wants to go walking with me again tonight, she needs to be at my house at 6:15 p.m. and ready to go. I plan to leave work at 6 p.m., drive straight home, change into exercise gear, and hit the pavement! I also want to remember to turn on MapMyWalk so that I can get a distance idea of how far it is around the street and parking lot section of the park.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Carol in cloudy but warm NC

Dr.Katie ~ Thanks for telling me I needed to turn on the DLS on my atomic clock.

Michelle ~ I don't exactly know what an atomic clock is but it sets itself and you are supposed to place it on a north facing wall.

My Pom refuses to eat dog food. All he will eat is mostly cooked chicken and occasionally some beef or pork. Evidently, he has a very sensitive tummy and this AM rewarded me with a mess to clean up on the screened in porch. If anyone has a suggestion on how to convert him to dog food, I would appreciate it. DH spoiled him when he was a pup feeding him off his plate.

Warm but damp here. For some reason, it feels colder inside the house than on the outside.

(((Sylvia)))

Mary, got the 8 hour diet book. Here I was thinking you could eat whatever during an 8 hr period. But, it says to eliminate sugar, bread, potatoes, rice and wine. All the thinks I love!

Carol ~ Marietta, GA

Good Morning Sunshine!

What a difference the sun makes… I can feel myself coming alive! Anyone else feel like that?

Good news! I'm right on track for reaching my goal weight by mid-July. And I wasn't going to, but decided to measure myself again as it has been 4 weeks since I started. That was also very encouraging and I'm glad I did. Half an inch here, 2 inches there is tangible proof that my efforts are worth it. Happy dance in my house? (Wonder how many calories I can burn doing the happy dance?)

Last night I enjoyed some popcorn with coconut oil and salt and probably ate only half of what I'd normally eat. It was a nice treat, but I realized afterward my body has changed enough that next time I will eat half that, because I will be more comfortable. It's pretty cool that our bodies are so resilient and quick to respond to 'proper care and feeding'.

Sassy aus Austria – Are you doing Classical Stretch with Miranda Esmonde-White? If so, me too! Love her program so much! Also, I'm sorry your daughter is being distant with you. I've got a son who literally does not acknowledge me for my birthday or Mother's Day and yet, if I'm in the same room is him, is friendly and welcoming… very strange. I confess that kind of hurts. Quick background – ridiculously messy divorce, teenage children expected to take sides by their dad (who happened to be a big spender and more comfortable being their 'friend and confidante' than being a parent). Yep, they all pretty much chose him.

My oldest daughter had nothing to do with me for a few years, including getting married without me knowing, and then she got pregnant. I called her and told her I would love to help when baby came – if she wanted me to come. She ended up asking me, so I went and made sure to maintain a respectful, but helpful relationship, leaving after a cordial but brief visit with her new husband (who was good buddies with her dad) when he'd get home from work. I cooked, did laundry, offered suggestions, but always respecting her role as wife and mother of her home.

It's amazing how becoming a mother fosters a new respect for the mother who gave you birth. She now has 3 little ones and I went to help with each one. Her husband has come to adore and respect me and my girl loves me again. Nope, I was never perfect, but we've had many long talks and been able to replace any less than wonderful memories with new positive ones. Out of my 5 grown children, she's the only one who faithfully remembers me and acknowledges my existence on holidays. (I do get a couple of texts or FB notes from a couple of the others.)

One son has also warmed up considerably since he and his wife have had a little one. I tell you, parenthood has a way of softening hard hearts and opening closed minds. I hope that happens for you, Sassy.

Sharon in Lethbridge – I was born in Edmonton, AB, raised out by Stettler and lived for many years in Ponoka. I have many good friends in southern AB (Cardston, Lethbridge and area). We might even know some of the same people.

I didn't mean to write so much, and many apologies to those of you who've had to wade through this, but being an imperfect mother shunned by the children one still has stretch marks from is a hurtful thing and I wanted to let Sassy (and anyone else for whom this is all too familiar) know that there Is hope.

Selena
Utah

I have arthritis in my neck, shoulders, low back and feet. I'm 9 months post toe shortening surgery on my rt foot, due to my toes turning inward....

sweetnsassyfied wrote: »

Joyce Indiana

I feel like a hypocrite at times in here. But I keep plugging along.

Don't you dare feel like a hypocrite!! It's the PLUGGING ALONG part that counts! You just keep doing what your doing love. That ol fake it till you make it until your mojo comes back. It's all good!! Hugz

YEAH!