WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MAY 2016

Thanks everyone on your advice on how to use this community! I learned several things that I didn't know!

Cheri: Best wishes for a successful job search for your DH and an end to "limbo" for both of you. :flowerforyou:

Becca: Your food photos are great. The berries and oatmeal is gorgeous & so is the quinoa salad. Making the individual portion sized lasagna is brilliant.

Michele: Rhododendrons and Azaleas are in a family that includes evergreen and deciduous varieties. They come in a lovely array of colors. You might put deciduous Azaleas in front of evergreen Rhodies. Azaleas are more likely to stay low to the ground and might be what you are looking for. Rhodies can get very big if they aren't pruned to keep them in check, but there are some varieties that stay smaller than others. This would be a good time of year to go to a nursery that grows both and see how lovely they are. I have two Rhodies, one on either side of my front door. One of them always blooms before the other and I end up having flowers for Mother's Day from one plant and Memorial Day from the other plant most years. They do need attention to stay within their space and some need to be "deadheaded" for a better appearance when the blooms finish & go brown. They both bloom in spring and are simple evergreen broad leafed shrubs the rest of the time. Look below for a photo I found online.

Pip: I can't imagine being without a dog, either, although we prefer one at a time. Our first Keeshond died suddenly and unexpectedly from a bee sting, and I started looking for a pup right away. I was still working at the time and DH had already retired and was home alone way too much. The new pup was a major blessing for him. We've had our current guy nine years now, and he is in excellent health. I still miss our first Keeshond, Sucia. She was a corker. The current guy is sweet as can be, fabulous with the grandchildren, and able to get along with every dog he meets. She had an Alpha personality and he has an Omega personality. :bigsmile:


I went down and sat in the sailboat for a while this afternoon. I miss it so much! I might go back and hang out again. Our friends have gone to a nearby anchorage to spend the holiday weekend together and I wish we were there, too. DH is not comfortable on the boat anymore and it breaks my heart. I love horseback riding, which is my consolation prize, but I love the boat in a deep way that combines memories from decades of our married life and fun times.

Katla in Beautiful NW Oregon

Tibetan proverb: "The secret to living well and long is: Eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure..."

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

Hi everyone. I'm Irene. Struggling with my percentages of carbs fats and proteins. I'm 66 years old. V
I've been a yoyo dieter for a good 20 years. Hoping for motivation and support from this group.

I thought I had posted previously but can't seem to find it or responses. Help please!

Hello Irene!
I've never bothered with the micros, macros and all that. I just keep to my calorie allowance. I tend to eat "healthy" anyway, with fewer carbs and not much sugar at all. My downfall is salt, but I find it hard to cut it down.
Welcome to the group. :flowerforyou:
I am coming up to the anniversary (FOUR YEARS) since I started eating healthily and learning how to exercise. I have lost 57 pounds. Most importantly, I have kept it off for two and a half years. Maintenance, as you have found out, is much harder than losing it. For me the secret has been the discovery of this site and these incredible, sharing women. They keep me on the straight and narrow. I log every day still. I often do a "Quick Add" because I know all the calorie values off by heart, but I weigh everything, including bread. The other secret has been learning to exercise. I started very slowly. I always hated exercise, apart from swimming, as I hate getting sweaty, don't like the outdoors much and have terrible joints with a lot of aches and pains. My left knee and my right ankle were pretty much shot. These days I get through 600 calories of exercise every morning, mainly on three machines we keep in the spare bedroom. I do yoga one day a week at our local village hall. On top of the machines I do a short yoga/pilates type thing and ten minutes with dumbbells. I am lucky in that I am retired so can spend the time on it.
This regime has changed my life and kept me slim. It enables me to keep my weight steady at 140 pounds, (5ft5ins)even though I am eating 1800 calories a day, which is very satisfying.
I would not be able to restrict my eating down to the 1200 that some of these ladies are trying to deal with. More often than not, that results in rebound once you come "off the diet" as I have found many times before. Most people, even with busy jobs, are able to do 200+ calories by walking/cycling more, + 30 mins vigorous exercise etc. That gives you a more generous allowance. I have always eaten back my exercise calories and still lost 57 pounds. The maths work, if you work them. On holiday I make sure I walk a lot.
I hope that is helpful. Sometimes it is helpful for us "old timers" to recap our history for the newbies. I was virtually crippled by my weight and immobility. I was old before my time. I loathed my body and what I had become.
Now look at me! :laugh:

Now got to take my exercise partner up a cup of tea. :bigsmile:

Katla - Love the poem! I have copied it. Will certainly send it on.

Love Heather UK

✔️

My sis and niece got in late Saturday night, so we were still unloading at 9:30, didn't get back out to the ranch until 10:30 p.m., and they hadn't eaten all day, so we didn't get into bed until after midnight. Got them back on the road about 11 a.m. yesterday, got the bathroom sheetrock mudded and taped, and then back to the ranch, napped out for a bit and feel this morning like I might survive. Hate being foggy tired.

She definitely brought enough stuff for me to hold a sale in June, so will have to start thinking about that soon, since June is, oh, Tuesday. I have to be back in town this morning to take pictures at the Memorial Day ceremony, as long as it doesn't get rained out, then I'll just stay for the rest of the week, and the DH will come back out to the ranch. Sure has been nice to have him around for three days straight.

He's applied for a job at the wind farm a half hour out of town--wouldn't be as much money, but we've been talking a lot about how hard mechanicing is on his body. Crawling in and under engines is tough, and every day there's a new injury. He figures five more years of hard, physical work is all he's got left in him--and he's thinking about spending it in a new industry.

It would be hard to begin with, as he'd have to start at the bottom, but he always ends up working his way up quickly. He's a natural manager, and while he has it in his title here, it's more to avoid paying overtime than because they're letting him manage. Plus as a family-owned corporation, there's nowhere else to go in terms of promotion--he's as high up the chain as he'll get unless he transfers back out to their oilfield facilities. And he's done that bit, that's what he was doing when we met. We'll see what happens. At 47, he needs to switch now, as once there's a 5 in front of his age, I agree with the fact that corporations are much less likely to hire him for any reason, and very specifically not for hard, physical jobs.

Thank you to those of you who check for our people who are MIA, like Sylvia and Mary. It's so reassuring when we hear from them through whatever channel.

Joyce, glad Charlie's doing well. Hugs to those who need them, encouragement to the new ones, a smile for all the rest of you.

Got to get moving, get my editorial written for the week, shower before too long so I can change into something resembling professional clothing once I get there. Which, in West Texas, is jeans and boots. Breaks my heart.

Lisa in West Texas

Good morning all! Happy Monday! Blessed Memorial Day! Jumped on really quick before I head downtown for the parade and memorial day service. Grand Haven has the title of "Coast Guard City, USA", so we will have many Coasties and their ships in port. The service at Escanaba park is always somber, and well attended by the locals as many local men were lost when the Escanaba sank. Going to bike down and walk around for from place to place for the various services. I will prob stop at the vets memorial because the boy scouts and girl scouts always perform their tributes/ceremonies there. Beautiful day for it. My backside is a little tender this morning because of the bike ride I took yesterday. (Hear that, Pip? I am getting my bike time in!)
Had a fire in our fire pit in the back yard and it was just my DYS and myself. I had six marshmallows, because how can I not? A nice evening by the fire, though. The stars were out and my son was laughing as I busied myself trying to find Mars. Good times. OH! And I found two little socks in my fire pit before I started my fire! Darn kids! LOL! Pretty sure I know whose they are though, the skull and crossbones design gives it away!
Hope you all have a relaxing and thoughtful Memorial Day!

Katla ~ What a cute poem! Thanks for sharing!

Happy Memorial Day to All!

Carol

Irene: I see that Kim has already told you how to find us again. This is the last day of the month and Barbie will start a new thread for next month. She will post a link at the bottom of this thread and you can follow it to the new one. You'll need to bookmark the new one, too. :flowerforyou:

Heather: I monitor total calories carefully & pay attention to protein, fat and carbs but I'm not a slave to them. I'm generally at the low end of carbs and the high end of fat & protein. I feel good that way. :bigsmile:

Gloria: Everyone has typos. They sure can be frustrating. I am not a big fan of auto correct. I'm pleased that you're managing to touch bases more often. (((HUGS)))

Lisa: Good luck to your DH. :flowerforyou:

Karen: I believe you about spelling. At first I thought you figured I had a spelling error but I eventually catch on, though I'm sometimes slow. I turned off autocorrect on my computer long ago. Now it underlines what it considers a misspelling in red, but doesn't automatically change it. :devil:

KJLamore: I love the Coast Guard. They have rescued a lot of boaters in our area & we see their helicopters frequently. DS is active duty Army & my dad served in the Navy long ago. All of our service people deserve our thanks, including police and firefighters.



We have a beautiful morning here & I'm thinking about ways to add fun to the day. I'll talk some ideas over with DH and see what he thinks. Yesterday we had a long walk together along the riverfront. It was great.

Happy Memorial Day!

Katla in Beautiful NW Oregon

Tibetan proverb: "The secret to living well and long is: Eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure..."

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