WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MAY 2015

Had to re-adjust food down to 1861 cals. All morning training DONE.
NOT sure I will get in a walk this afternoon as raining VERY hard
Goals for May:
Train 6 days a week
Walk dog in afternoons
Food calories between 1600 and 1800
Enjoy Sunday with Blaize and Stan, cardio only
Log all meals and training
Read and relax more
Lesley in Tasmania

Heather – You have done so well! I can’t wait to read the book.

Cynthia – good for you to get what you need, the heck with those silly folks! I might not even go to the party. Sorry to hear a bigger size, but you’ll soon get back in the routine and re-shrink!

Selena – awesome!

Beth – the fun thing everyday was a goal for a short time, but just too overwhelming for me to start with, I have trouble making new everyday habits; and when it was a goal I felt like it should be “big” silly me! Which is why my once a week is working for me.

Jane – Happy Birthday --- so glad you will be with family!

Michele – my purse has a zipper compartment that I can dump it in charger attached and then zip mostly closed….


May goals:
Walk every day
Log everyday
Eat slower
Plan and do a fun thing every week

Kim from N. California

Beth in WNY: I'm happy you found a way to have fun today! :flowerforyou:

Hello ladies, been a busy day here for us. My brother was coming in and bring my sister and I some of the antiques they no longer have room for since they are living in her Mom's house. She has dementia and they thought it best to let her keep all of her furniture. So my brother brings me this china cabinet. It is quite a bit small than my present one but I don't need half of what is in it and some of it was just plain junk. So I knew I was going to give either the one my brother was bringing or my present one to my oldest daughter. What he brought was an antique when they got married and it was a wedding present to them. My present one has 3 shelves and all of them have the grooves so the plates can stand up. My brothers has grooves on one shelf only and the top is small enough that it only has room for 2 plates, I would have to store all the other in the bottom part. I think I just wanted something different. Plus my daughter does not take good care of things and i just didn't want her to have this precious antique. So now we have to figure out how to get ti to her. The top comes off the bottom but I am sure the top is to tall to fit in our minivan. Charlie wanted to take it down when we go see them next weekend but our other daughter is in the car with us. So we will have to take it down another time. We can take down all the dishes she wanted. Have enjoyed the time with his though. It was a very short visit, after he dropped my cabinet he went over to my sisters. She was getting a bedroom suite that was our Grandmas. So it is quite old and in perfect condition. The dresser had this glass top on it and she would slide all sorts of mementos under that glass. It came with a beautiful mirror. So we went to Cheddars and I didn't order the children's chicken strips but the grilled chicken salad. I was still in my calories, a little of on my natural sugars but I had 2 fruits today.

Yes, I remember the May pole dance. I sure didn't know the history of it. My my!!!! I am blushing. I think my back has improved enough I will resume my bike riding tomorrow. I also have to go to Kohl's. I have $20 in Kohl's cash that expires tomorrow. I put my purse in the seat belt in the grocery store. make sure the purse is zipped up. That way any purse thief can't grab it out of my cart.

Heather, can those pirate candles be put up on some kind of base on the cake so at least they are higher in profile??

Terri Milwaukee, I would wait until I knew my spine was OK before signing off with his insurance company. Were you seen by a doctor or just by the therapists where you work? He is going to be paying for it so you won't be out anything

Lisa, my SIL downfall happened after she got a nasty divorce. She has no marketable skills, neither do any of her children so they went from living with a man who had a good job and able to pay rent to living in whatever cheap housing or friends house they could find.


Vicki, when my oldest DGD was in 5th grade their annual musical was Suessical the musical Jr. It was fun. You could tell it was all acted and sung by 5th graders but they did a good job. She is finishing up 8th grade and has been in the school play every year.

Jane, how far does your Mom live from you? That would be a very difficult thing. I always felt very sorry for my brothers. We are in extreme south western Indiana, one brother lives close to Cincinatti Ohio and the other in middle Alabama. My sister and I live here where Mom lived. When she got so sick they did take several trips up here to be with Mom.

Joyce, Indiana

Lots doing this weekend. No dance competition with my DD though. My 23 year old niece took a teaching position in Thiland for 10 mos. and she leaves on Sunday. We had dinner with extended family tonight to wish her well. My sister and her hubby are worried, we all are really. I will spend much of the weekend helping, supporting, and driving to LA for her flight.

Decided on Fitbit without heart rate monitor for Mother's Day. I just want to track steps and work my way up to 10k 4 times a week to start. Khols carries them and I have rewards/cash and 20% off. I just love a good deal

Jane: Happy birthday!

Jane: Happy birthday!

Sylvia: In Texas, we call men like your ex "sorry." It's kind of the ultimate insult that you can actually say in front of your mama. When you're not around your mama, you can use it in front of other words as a multiplier. One can only hope that karma catches up to them, but your happiness is karma enough, I'm thinking. I'm so glad you found your happy ending.

You and I have some interesting parallels. I left my AF guy too, but mine was after I lost all the weight. In the end, I didn't finish my master's degree. My mother died when I was in the research phase for my thesis--and my life kinda derailed for a while. She was my family's center, and losing her... well, I'll leave the details for my autobiography, one of the other books I'm working on this summer. I'm reading chapters of it in the writer's workshop I attend in town.

But, I have my own happy ending, and I'm here. Speaking of which... There are some things I've been reading, both here and otherwise, that have inspired me to realize that my own intensity WILL, as usual, turn around and bite me on the... foot... if I don't learn to modify it and breathe a bit. And I can get very all or nothing, you know. It occurs to me that I don't want this to be one of those cases where, if I don't accomplish exactly what I wanted, then I failed.

So I'm modifying my May goals to something just a teensy bit more reasonable and accomplishable... The image below is stuck to the wall next to my head--and I split them into health, heart and head... which if any of you were ever in 4H in school, only leaves one. Remember which one it is? Go ahead, jump in the wayback machine with Mr. Peabody... Big green shamrock looking logo with four H's in it?

Yeah, that one... And I do crochet as well, but only afghans, and if you crochet afghans in the spring and summer in West Texas, you are either clinically insane, or you have your air conditioning on way too high.




Lisa from sunny West TX

Lisa - why such a low calorie count of 1000 + for your goal? With all the exercise and activities that you do it sounds as though you could at least do 1200 +. You sound like a very strong willed person and you will have great success at anything that you put your mind to.

Mary from Minnesota

Terri: Isn't it amazing how quickly we can build up our endurance? Congrats on persevering with the handbike. Hope the pain starts to recede quickly! I'm up to 20 minutes now on the recumbent bike.

Katla: Thanks for the list, apparently I've forgotten how to have fun. Time to rectify that! :laugh:

Jane: Have a wonderful birthday! Looks like you're sharing it with the newest Royal

I'm going to spend some time planting trees today... here's hoping it doesn't rain

Thought for the day: Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it. - William Feather

Carey - Edmonton

Mary: Thanks for the question - I'm kind of in baby steps mode in that one. I had to beat myself up to get consistently above 800 the middle two weeks in April. The last week of the month, April, I did consistently get to 1000 every day by forcing myself to eat in the evenings after dinner.

I know it sounds like I'm nuts--but it goes back to the same black and white thinking I was talking about. When I'm on a diet, I'm dieting. When I'm in fitness mode, I'm running until I fall down. When you look at that goal set, you think I'm keeping my calories down to 1,000, and what I'm actually saying is that I will keep them above 1,000. MFP was a big part of that - it simply wouldn't talk to me until I did.

The discussion with my NP was that, as long as I'm above 1,000, she's OK with it. The terms were that I will keep my protein levels up as shown, and I will keep exercising to keep my heart healthy and active. If you don't get enough protein, and you don't exercise, you can lose muscle mass, as your body starts cannibalizing protein from everywhere to supply its needs. And your heart's a muscle. Thus the other terms. I'm also doubled up on my ordinary supplements to make sure there are no issues with magnesium and potassium that support the heart.

The other biggest risk in very low calorie diets (defined as below 800 calories) is gallstones, and my gall bladder went south two years after my gastric bypass and had to be removed. She was very clear she won't tolerate me dropping below 1,000. I have an appointment with her every 30 days so she can check me end-to-end while I'm doing this.

Edit: Had to add a PS in here: My overall plan is that the 1,000-calorie portion of this process will only last until the end of June. Beginning in July it will ramp up to 1,100, then in October, to about 1,200. I hope to be to goal weight (135-140 pounds) by my birthday next year, April 3. Then, I can begin to add calories until I hit maintenance level... which I'm assuming will be about the 1,400-1,500 calorie mark at highest, according to the amount that I exercise overall. But I genuinely don't know. At some point, I'm going to have to have knee replacements, as well, so that's something I have to think about for the future. I'm hoping weight loss postpones it for a long time.

When I began logging my intake in January, I was eating between 2,100 and 3,000 calories a day, easily. I work at home, and I was eating pretty much all day long, simply grazing on anything and everything. Logging on paper is what made the move to MFP so easy. But it was a shocker, and an eye opener. That's why I'm here.

Hi Ladies!
I haven't checked in for a while. I've got so much going on at work.
I injured my back exercising on April 11. Then, when it was better, I hurt it again in the same place on April 23! Oi! I'm not quite as fit as I think I am! LOL! Back is feeling good this morning so I'm off for a 2 miles walk!

Anyway, I'm making fine progress. In 2 years I've lost 50 pounds. I want to lose it slowly to prevent a gout attack and to make sure I'm retaining the knowledge of how to eat right for life.

To remind myself and show my friends and family how far I've come, I created a side by side of my before and current picture.

Good luck to all!!
Gin from Northridge, CA

Gin: What an awesome transformation! Congratulations on that weight loss and have fun on your walk!

Heather: It looks great to me, and so creative. He's going to love it!

Gin - lookin' gooooooood! :flowerforyou:

Heather UK

Lisa in WTX: I love the inverted pyramid! How did you do that? I knit or crochet dishrags in the summer if I want to fill time and keep my hands busy without filling my mouth. If you want to keep your hands busy and your lap cool I recommend it. I get cotton yarn at Walmart when I want to make dishrags. Losing weight to put off knee replacement surgery as long as possible is VERY sensible. I have heard the surgery has a limited “lifespan” and the replacement parts wear out. I don’t generally trust hearsay but I would definitely ask.

Kim: Everyone needs to make goals that make sense in their life. My fun things are usually simple pleasures that I slip into everyday life, but one big fun thing a week seems nice, too.

Mary from MN: What a great thing to do with your cookies! I hope you get a good offer on your house, soon. I can’t recall if you’ve told us what you plan to do once it is sold.

Cindy in SoMD: I like the term adaptive management. Your loss for April was excellent. Congratulations.

Gin from Northridge CA: WOW! You’ve transformed yourself. Comgratulations!

Heather: I love the cake. Chocolate gold coins will be just right as the finishing touch.



I just got a call from DSIL that I want to share with you. She had a mammogram last week, and was called back in because the doctor was concerned that her results were so different from the last time she had one. They took image after image. The radiologist came to talk to her, and she told him she’d lost a significant amount of weight since the last time she had a mammogram. That explained things for the radiologist and she got a good report. She passed a warning and recommendation to me that I should be sure to tell them I’ve lost weight when I go in for my next mammogram so I don’t have to go through the anxiety of being called back due to changes brought about by weight loss. I am down several bra sizes and a cup size since I started. My back feels so much better because of it. :bigsmile:

Katla in Beautiful NW Oregon

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison

May Goals:
1. Log every bite and swallow.
2. Cardio exercise at least 3 days a week. Work on flexibility and back
strength.
3. Have fun every day.
4. Drink at least three glasses of water daily, preferably more!
5. Eliminate alcohol. Accomplished but here as a reminder.
6. Monitor sleep. Try to average 7 or more hours of sleep nightly.