WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2016

Greetings! apparently I had registered with a mfp account a few years ago but had let it lapse. My name is Robin and I am 51 and I live in San Diego. I have basically the same goals I have every year: get more exercise, eat healthy, lower stress (I Have a 16 year old daughter!)
After reading some of the posts here, I am going to adapt the idea of a MONTHLY set of goals-I think that is such a fantastic idea. I currently attend one yoga class a week, one zumba class and some walking.
My January goal is to: continue yoga, zumba and ADD weight/strength training. I also am going to commit to 'art making' which is my de-stress activity. I have a small art studio away from my home that allows me to be alone or with other artists. Ok, thanks for allowing me to join this community of women! I think women are awesome!

seashellseeker66 wrote: »

Hi, I'm new to tracking my calories and I've never been good at sticking to a fitness regimen, however, I had to take a steroid for the first time in my life last year and I put on about 50lbs. I don't even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I wish I had known in advance what steroids could do, but what I can do now is put all my efforts into taking off the weight. Any support would be appreciated. Thanks much.

KLanders: Hi Karen-I should have five years left, but with the new mandates for inclusion,and the associated pages of documentation per week, I will be lucky to last the next two. Honestly that is one of my key stressors, although I'm hoping that since my toxic thyroid has gone bye-bye I won't have those late afternoon periods of fatigue and can possibly get my work done at school during my planning period. Wow, imagine that! What do you teach?

Also, out of curiosity for all where does everyone exercise and what do they wear?
I go to my local rec center. They've upgraded with a number of treadmills, steppers and bikes. They even added a rowing machine which I like, but which tears up my ankles for some reason. They also have a fairly decent collection of machines and weights, which I use, sort of.
I like to buy the men's running pants because they have pockets. I hate leaving my car keys on a hook where someone could grab them. Also, the men's pants seem better made, sturdier and are made of thicker fabric. Nobody's going to mistake me for a guy so it really doesn't matter what I wear.
My biggest issue has been finding comfortable shoes. I think I've finally succeeded with my current Nike's
Anyway, I'm off to the center soon-starting with treadmills again b/c steppers kill my knees. Have a great day.

drkatiebug - I don't remember the name of the show; but, they'd empty out the house completely and put it in a stack; then, the homeowners had to decide what they wanted to keep, donate, or throw away. The house would be cleaned and painted, if needed; and, then they'd move it back in putting it where it needed to be. I just thought it was an interesting way to clean up and clear out. Probably much easier done that way than trying to tackle a house one room at a time - and having professional help to do so; they'd have a sale also to get rid of things and then throw out or donate. I guess this could only be done if they knew the weather patterns. Maybe in California where they go for weeks with no rain. We have had so much rain this last month it isn't even funny. Some people in the area have been flooded out; some for the 2nd time in about 10 or 11 years. Water, water everywhere. The other day our yard, front and back looked like a lake; but, it drained off as soon as it stopped raining, thankfully.

Rori - gee, could you find out from your brother how I could get an 'affordable' Fitbit, too? My 'knock-off' had to be returned. Could not successfully get it downloaded and working. Rather than spend another hour working on it - back in the box and on its way back to the groupon folks. But, groupon.com is an excellent website to get some really good buys on just about everything. I've already purchased 4 "I love you to the moon and back" necklaces for each of my granddaughters for next Christmas. I am determined to buy things along all year so that it doesn't give me 'sticker shock' and having to be doing things at the last moment.

sanfordkoba - 16-year-old girls can be a 'trip'; at that age where they want to exert their independence and driving a car. We did not have problems with our DOGD other than she wanted to do things and her step-Mom especially wanted to relive her life vicariously through her. Sometimes she had to get her Dad to tell her to 'lay off a little'; but, she was a great teenager. Now, off at college and won't give her step-Mom her 'college email account' for several reasons. Has told her to 'not' call her all the time; as she is 'in class' and turns her phone off. When she opens it step-Mom has texted her 5 or 6 times, getting angrier each time because she hasn't picked phone up. She does the same to my DOS all day at work. Usually asking him, 'where he is and what he is doing'? Painting for a living and you would not know who I am talking about .... ^$##&))(&^%%^&(&&))&T!!!!!! Still doesn't stop her from doing it. She did the same thing to DDnL#2 about ideas for present for DSGD and then called DYS and tried to start a fight. It turned on her because I think she did not realize that DYS would call DOS and, also, that DDnL#2 would tell her to 'never send that type of email to her again, she doesn't check her phone that often, especially not FB'. After supposedly smoothing things over with them, she decided to try to start something with me. Surprised her when I did not 'respond' or 'react badly'.

Oh my, I'm already having trouble keeping up. I've got to try to do better.

OK, so true confessions time. Over two years of hard work I had gotten down to 172 pounds from my highest recorded weight of 302. My weight on January 1st was 189.5, so I have re-gained 17.5 pounds in 2015, most of it in the last three months. My treasured size 14 jeans don't fit comfortably anymore so I dug two pairs of size 16's out of the bottom drawer. I have been backsliding something awful. I stopped logging my food and even checking my weight every morning. I've been eating bread, french fries, and all kinds of stuff I swore off of before. At first, it was just, oh,I'll have one piece, just this once. That's how it starts! I'm no longer exercising every day, mostly because of the pain in my joints, but to be perfectly honest, I've just been plain old lazy. I have no valid excuse for any of it. I was so proud of myself before, and now I feel ashamed. My flat belly is now pooching out.

So, I am going to get back on the wagon. Heck, I'm going to chain myself to that darned wagon! I KNOW what I did to lose all that weight and I can do it again. Regaining 17.5 pounds is not acceptable. Tomorrow I WILL be lighter than I am today!

So this morning I went to the Y to do laps, came home and had a small breakfast WITHOUT toast. Then I went to get my hair cut really short. Heck, that makes me feel lighter already. I had an apple and a hard boiled egg for lunch. I'm going to start back eating the raw fruits and veggies that I loved before, and just hope it doesn't cause any gastro problems. I hope that problem is done with, and there is only one way to find out.

I like all this talk about decluttering and getting organized. I feel so out of control when things are cluttered like they are now. So, I'm going to work on that too, both at home and at the studio. I'm going to be tossing stuff left and right around here!

Welcome to all the new ladies. I hope to get to know you better. Tell us about your dogs! (I love dogs and am planning a little road trip to Mary's house to steal that sweet little pup of hers!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sylvia
in Southeast Kansas, where the sun is shining at last

.

Bills paid, food bought, so now the work begins. I bought a big plastic jar full of pink grapefruit and I plan on eating every morning. It reminds me of my mother, and her "special toothed grapefruit spoon", and I think she would have JUMPED at the opportunity to buy a container like this. I like my Silk Vanilla soy milk and makes my granola a creamy mixture of healthy stuff. Eating that makes me think of Euell Gibbons the guy that did the Grape Nuts commercials. Then I think I need to chew more, because he choked on a pine nut or something.... I had a coughing fit this morning mid bite. Not fun, and my son was following me around the living room to the kitchen. He says when I get old and grey he will take care of me in Paris. That kid is just a blessing. When we went shopping and pulled into our parking spot, our son was down the stairs just waiting to help us carry it upstairs to the apartment. I try to treat him like the 17 yr old that he is, but I find myself asking if he brushed his teeth, and everything. When he leaves for the military I will be a puddle, I just know it.

Woke up this morning feeling like this cold is slowly running its course. Scratchy throat, achy sinuses, achy chest, but no fever. My right knee is hurting, and so I'm holding onto the knee as I move up and down. I have had "tracking" problems before. So just moving my knee carefully without any sideways extra movement, seems to be working well. The weather has changed and gotten a lot colder so lets blame the weather shall we?lol

I have been using my printer and printing out my nutrition report daily. Then just checking off what I put down. I have made decisions about what I will be eating, so its a matter of just fixing it. Keeping it simple. I have gone thru my cabinets and gotten rid of anything that I know I won't eat or my husband and son won't eat. Why wonder? When I shop it's only when I have looked thru my cabinets and have seen what meals I can make out of this or that. Like last night, my husband wanted an open-faced roast beef sandwich. So I had boiled the potatoes for that, and make a beef bouillon for him to warm his roast beef slices. Then I used the beef bouillon for my meal of an asian-type ramen soup. I saute'ed some shitaki mushrooms, with olive oil, some diced tomatoes, and spices. Then added some leftover spaghetti noodles, some beef bouillon and some fresh spinach leaves. Cook for a couple of minutes and volia! It was yummy!

Enjoy the day!
Becca
Oregon

Over a fantastic dinner and a bottle of Amarone on New Year's Eve, my husband and I decided to try to spend more time (a) doing things that are good for us, (b) doing things together, and (c) combining a+b if possible. We agree that exercising is good, and that we ought to be able to do it together. Problem is, I succeed best with planning and routines, and he says he's "intuitive" and doesn't want to be hemmed in by rules. Thus his good is my bad and vice versa. Ah, well, we're adults and can try to act as such and resolve our differences as we go.

Today we went out for a nice long walk together. Then in the evening we cooked dinner together. I also ate my pound of veggies and did some decluttering. So far so good.

Tomorrow the circus comes to town in the form of our son, his wife and their two kids, 3 and 5. It will be great and exhausting and I'll have to focus to get food on the table at regular hours so nobody freaks out. Outdoors there's plenty of snow on the ground and enough light to see by from around 9:30 am to 2 pm. Not very cold either. My guess is we'll do some sledding. With luck we'll catch sight of a hare or a ptarmigan. And maybe we'll have a chance to visit the neighbor's goats.
/Penny at the

Penny at the Pole - I'm going to be in Longyearbyen on 10th June, Pyramiden and Barentsburg on 11th. I will be in Tromso on the 14th.

Just had my first bath in ages. Lovely! Gave myself a pedicure. When I find some money to refashion my bathroom I want to arrange it so I can easily wash my hair in the bath. At the moment I have to stand up to wash my hair in the shower on the wall, which rather spoils the mood. Today my hair was clean so I didn't have to wash it.

Much love, Heather UK

http://www.vox.com/2015/7/7/8877041/losing-100-pounds

My son (who needs to lose some weight) posted this on facebook. I thought it might help all of us.

Hi all, so I'm starting again after being off for several months and surprise gaining back all I had lost plus more! I suffered an injury and then everything seemed to take over. I'm about to get the all clear for exercise (at the end of January) which will help. I'd love the support to get me back on track. My goals for 2016:

1. Live my life the way I want to, not the way everyone expects me to live it;
2. Respect myself and take ownership of the decisions I make (food choices);
3. Focus on what's most important to me....my family;
4. Try not to continually get sucked into the vortex at work and take on other's issues (not sure how I'm going to accomplish this one);
5. Get back to running;
6. Eat well balanced nutritious meals;
7. Have balance in my life;

My goals are not in any particular order...although my family and balance in my life are the most important ....I think.

Natasha (Rural Ontario, Canada)

mollywhippit - I would not weigh myself every day; but, when I do weigh myself (every other Tuesday) then I am usually pleasantly surprised; I weigh at the same time (10:00am). I know it is difficult not to eat all those fattening or fried foods, especially if that is what everybody else is doing. But, you can do it! Don't be ashamed; you can get back into those 'a little snug' size 14's. Just keep asking for support and try to either stop the bad things and get back to the 'good' things. YOU CAN DO IT! You might need to revisit the number of calories you are taking in; and for a while try to eat less of them during the day. I know my MD (when he 'ordered' me into their weight loss program); he told me, that for me to lose weight I would have to take in less calories than is the range of 'maintaining one's weight. It took me 2 weeks before I was no longer hungry; but, it worked. Now, I find that about 1/2 of the time; I am within the 'caloric intake' set for me; and, the other 1/2 I might go over but just a little and I am not at all hungry. I do give in to my Molly Mooks (Cheese Straws) and I only eat 1/2 ounce of them (about 3 pieces). It satisfied my

I will only take a steroid for a week; after that I will tell my MD that I don't want a 2nd round. We just need to think of something else. But, for me, a steroid will just about clear anything, such as a lingering cough. Found that out when my lung MD put me on one for a week.

Woo-hoo - something on other than football while DH is hunting! Watching reruns of "House".

Gee, I could not take "Prozac"; sent me to the hospital for a week. I have to be very careful of the drugs that are Rx'd for me. Some OTC drugs I can't take because it interacts with something I am taking. One reason I keep a list of what I am takin. Sometimes I even get the MD to call my Pharmacist to double-check it. I can't take Tyelnol; Advil, or Aleve. I can take regular aspirin. Crazy.

Coffee doesn't seem to bother me, day or night; but, I have cut down on it - usually pour a 2nd cup and before I know it, it is no longer 'hot'. So doing that in the morning and doing it at night I cut back by 3 cups. I drink water during the day and with my lunch and dinner.

I need to jump on my treadmill for a while. Can do that while DH is hunting and still watch TV - have to turn it up so I can hear it over the treadmill running.

When (and if) my DOGD comes over to help with the house; I am going to get her to start in the bathroom (cleaning and decluttering). I know if I tell her to declutter as if it was her own; she will do a wonderful job and then I can decide if I want or need to keep it. I'll be rearranging my lower kitchen cabinets. Something is leaking in my corner turn stile; which mean I will have to get something to load it off and then wash the stupid thing, I need to go through my cabinets up top and rearrange my cup cabinet, I probably should put the dishes on the side where the cups are; and cups where the dishes are. I'd have to put the things we use a lot closer to the cup cabinet, in order to be able to reach it easily. Oh dear, I wish I had had some say-so about how my kitchen would look; I would have put in more cabinets; but not one over the end of the peninsular. What a wasted space; nor would I have those corner cabinets, another wasted space. Probably would not put a window that overlooks the carport either. That would probably have made a good space for 'extra' cabinets. I've tried to get DH to see if he can get cabinets made to fit that space. I'd like to have one of those narrow ones beside my fridge where when you pull the door - you can put cans there and see all of them. cabinets under the window and make a cushion to go on it as a window seat. Some over it; and then down the left-hand side. We'd have to move the electrical switches or cut the space out of the cabinet. Actually, he is still 'thinking' over my idea to paint the cabinets the same Velvet White that is everywhere else on the trim of the house. I love, love, love the new color of the walls! But, I am like the cobbler's wife - no shoes; House Painting business - last house to get painted. Good thing that all but MBR, bathroom, utility/mudroom/computer area and kitchen are the only sheet rocked walls; 1 down, 3 to go. LOL! The rest is paneled in pecky cypress and outside is cypress. Metal roof. Low maintenance to none.

I put on a few lbs over Christmas, but am already losing them again.

January 2016 Goals

Start weight: 220lbs (Spring 2014)
Current weight: 166 (on 1/01)
Goal weight: 162 (for 31/01)
Weight:
Weight lost this month: 0 lbs

Daily goals:
Pre-log/follow through
balance carbs/protein/fat
8+ cups liquids
30+ minutes each Strength/flexibility/cardio
8000+ steps daily
finish eating at 9pm 5/7 days per week
finish eating at 10pm 2/7 days of my choice per week
post daily goals/progress - Just for Today
post progress - No Late Night Snacking
complete Hogwarts/GoTs/ 12 week weight loss challenges
Post weekly progress reports here

You girls are amazing. I am working through the posts but there are so many.

Healing thoughts and prayers to those who need them!

Welcome to our Newbies. Sit a spell!

Let your light shine out in the darkness

Each one of us is a vital cog in an infinite universe.
We may not know our purpose, but each cog needs to be oiled and tended.





Irish Terri

SanfordRoberts, what kind of art do you do? Is it your studio or a community studio of some kind? I love my pottery studio but it is terribly lonely there. I'm working on ways to get some more people in there, like turning my gallery into an artist's coop. I hope that works out. I have a load of plates in the kiln right now that some kids made at a birthday party, but it was too hot to unload. They were really cute going in, so I hope they turn out well. San Diego is such a beautiful place!

Seachellseeker, I hope you can get the steroid weight under control. That was part of my initial problem, but one I got serious it came off just like it's friends. I love your name. Do you live near the beach?

We came out to the lake and went to walk the dogs across the dam. I told hubby that I was not going to let Spot go in the water (because it's about 45 degrees), but he stopped at the top of the boat ramp and whimpered softly. That did it. I unhooked his leash and he raced toward the water like a rocket, frolicking with such gleeful abandon that I was ashamed of myself for wanting to deny it to him. He so loves the water. And it appartently wasn't too cold for him.

Now we are snug in the cabin with a roaring fire and I'm sitting comfortably at the puzzle table with my new pooter. Any minute now I'm going to start dinner. Left over christmas ham for him, with grits, and chicken and sweet potatoes for me. That was one of my favorite dishes when I was losing, so I'm going to get back to it. Just chicken breast chunks sauteed in olive oil along with chunks of sweet potato and seasoned with Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb. So Yummy! I haven't had it in a while.

Grits, yes, I do know what to do. I just have to get my butt in gear and do it. Monday morning I'm going to call the doctor to get a referral to an orthopedic doc to have my hips and knees looked at. I don't want to do even more damage, but maybe there will be a simple solution, and not the big scary hip replacement I'm afraid of. But getting the food under control is already in the works.

Well, time to make the dinner. Have a great evening.

Sylvia

Hello lovely ladies. Happy New Year to all of you. Welcome newbies. I've been around a long time (since 2009).

Thank you so much Barbie for keeping this forum going for many many years.

I was MIA for a while, and can't promise to keep up with all of you on the forum this year either. I am planning on slowing down from fulltime to working 4 days/week. Retirement is on the horizon. Meanwhile, I will be sporadically posting on my page (mostly weekends) and responding/interacting to my MFP friends on the Home page.

I regained some weight last year, which is entirely my own doing. I will be working on getting that under better control. My main intention is to continue with practising mindfulness and not worry about what I cannot control. As far as activities go, Yoga once a week and walking at lunch time as well as biking (once the weather improves.)

We have a new grandbaby on the way in June, so we are pretty darn excited.

Renny
Vancouver Island, BC