40+ Club : Where the Cool Kids Are

Oh yay - I'm in!

I've been hanging around MFP for a little while now, but haven't done much with the community so far. I'm glad to see there's a 40-something club.

I'm 43, recently married (my husband and I have been together for almost 20 years, but just got married in September!). Mother to three cats. I'm 5'4, started out at about 185, and I'm down to 177 (but it's taken quite a while to get there). My weight had been creeping up gradually from my mid 30s on, but I gained most of it when I turned 40 and quit smoking after sucking the nicotine for 27 years. I started running at the same time, and never looked back (though I'm definitely the turtle!). For me, it's all about balance. I love cheese, and good beer and whiskey - but I also love vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fresh fruit, and the buzz I get from working out.

I've learned that I need a home like MFP to help me be accountable. Otherwise, my good intentions seem to fade away.

3furballs wrote: »

Last night was kettlebell and I'm getting more yellow bell use (16 kilo) which is awesome. I've been doing this little 10 minute morning workout (when I can squeeze it in between getting me and 3 kids ready to go!) so I got that done Monday and today. !

Wow! That is awesome!! Go you!!!!!!!!!

No workout, today. Rest day. I am suffering some awful headaches these days....and sleep eludes me.

Blech if this is peri-menopause. Blech-BLECH if this is MENOPAUSE.

46 here, and I got really fat the last 5 years. I'd like to get my flexibility back. I've done yoga on and off for 20 years, but dropped it when I moved 5 years ago. I finally found a studio I like, and I'm back to yoga classes twice a week. Like many here, I'd like to get back to a healthy weight.

allenpriest wrote: »

Need a new scale. Mine is all over the place. 40 pound swing depending on where I stand and even standing still in one spot the thing won't settle. It will swing ten pounds up and down for no apparent reason.

I just recently bought the Smart Weigh Body Fat Scale SBS500 off Amazon. My old scale kept fluctuating and I was starting to feel like I couldn't trust it. Also, the body fat on my old one seemed off. I know that the calculations aren't very accurate, but I had dropped from 265 to 193 and being 5' 9", it didn't seem right that the body fat was still at 48-49%, which was also at least 10% more than most fat calculators from BMI. It would also fluctuate on weight by about 2 lbs and I would weigh myself repeatedly and log the number that repeated the most. So I got tired of it and got a new one that also measured/calculated muscle and water percentages. It also says BMI, though I don't need it to.

With this new scale, I did compare the weight to my old scale (most repeated number that day) and they were the same, but I am not seeing the fluctuations! I have tried weighing myself multiple times in a row and other than one occasion, it's always the same (when it changed, it was by .2 lbs and the second, third and fourth time were the same). The fat % is much less than with my old scale (about 10%). I like seeing my fat % go down and my muscle % go up in addition to my weight go down!

This scale was a lot cheaper than buying one that would sync with MFP directly or through yet another app, and entering the numbers didn't seem that hard to me. I have yet to see the doctor and compare with their scale.

Happy Shopping!

I did lift today. BOOM!

It's Friiiiiidaaaaaay!

This week has been an odd one for me - I was supposed to be away in Switzerland skiing, visiting my daughter who is out there for the season. However, although snow has fallen heavily in some parts of the Alps, it only arrived in her resort on Wednesday, so we postponed our trip, and I came back into work on Monday instead. It's made it a long long week, especially as I keep walking past our packed suitcases on the landing! Hey ho, we will get there another week.

But, I have had a good week in the gym - managed to increase my squats and bench to new bests. 62.5kg for squats and 40kg for bench, and did a rare BF reading which showed 27.5%, down from 28.3% when I last did it, and down from 33% when I started.

Foodwise, I'm fairly comfortable with what I am eating, in terms of balancing macros, and not going over my calories too often. That is, unless, I eat cake. If I eat cake then I'm suddenly way over. I know this sounds simplistic, but I think that's going to have to be the thing I ditch except for very occasional treats. I have a very sweet tooth and have cut out probaby 80% of the crap that I ate, which I am very proud of, but if someone brings in cakes to the office, I have always partaken for birthdays etc. Or like today, hubby bought cookies yesterday and packed me one up to bring to work.....without the cookie, my food numbers are pretty much spot on. With the damned cookie, I am way over on everything and because of the amount of sugar/carbs/fat in it, can't rebalance by eating less of something else during the day. It's only a cookie. Step away from it, Kimi, step away.

It's a fine balancing act, this food lark, but I think I am getting there. Only taken me 45 years haha!!

The end of a great week for me but not so much for the diet.
I retire today and begin a new chapter in my life.
Same event resulted in cake and ice cream and lunches with old friend which is wonderful for the spirit but not so much on the diet. Will weigh in Sunday as always, see where I am at and get back at it.

@NealNH good luck with whatever you do next! Enjoy the change.

Switzerland, kimi!! Sounds spectacular!!

Good reporting gam3r...

I don't have a workout today and will go see "the revenant" with my BIL. Tomorrow is cardio. ZOOM!

kimiuzzell wrote: »

@NealNH good luck with whatever you do next! Enjoy the change.

Thanks kimiuzzell.

Beeps2011 wrote: »

Switzerland, kimi!! Sounds spectacular!!

Good reporting gam3r...

I don't have a workout today and will go see "the revenant" with my BIL. Tomorrow is cardio. ZOOM!

thanks. doin' what I do. gotta start adding some cardio...maybe mid February. "ZOOM is coming".

Hi Alf!

Cardio done. ZOOM!

So in the spirit of accountability, for the last couple of weeks I've been eating well and exercising!

So far I've been getting four days worth of cardio a week (although it is just the cross trainer) and olympic lifting although both have been modified as I have a small tear in my knee - LCL. Bit of a bother, but its getting better!

I suspect training with folks with the mind set of 'eat big, lift big' isn't necessarily the most conducive for dropping weight.. Regardless, my aim is to log everything I stick down my throat for the next three months without missing a day

Best of luck all!

Swim done, run done on this month's virtual Ironman...only 45 miles on the bike to go. I got this.

Happy Monday, all!