WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2016

My experience with a front loader washer is that they leak and the drum gets out of kilter easily. You also have to be careful when moving them. I would never have another one. Interesting isn't it that laundromats have front loaders and don't seem to have the leaking problem.

Barbie - Oh, how I would love that ferry trip! I really want to get DH out your way some time. He is a great nature and scenery lover. We also adore watery places.

Just finished my machines. For the newbies, I have three machines in a small spare room. Just a normal bedroom with a carpet and terrible decor inherited from the previous owners. I do 32+ minutes on the rowing machine, which was inexpensive. It gives me a calorie count of 280, which I think is over generous. I then move over to the elliptical, after DH has vacated that. I do 120 calories, which takes me around 20 mins. Then I move onto the recumbent bike and do about 36 mins on there to total 136 calories. Sounds a weird number, but MFP gives me 64 calories for my 20 minutes of strength training that I do in my bedroom afterwards, so it makes a nice round number. :laugh: My strength training is 12 minutes mat work, followed by 8 minutes of dumbell weights. I do this every day except Tuesday when I go to yoga.
Recently I started kettlebell swings every other day instead of the strength training. At the moment I am doing 15 sets of 10 swings, so I hope that takes me over 600 calories, but I only enter that number on MFP, to be on the safe side.
This regime, plus eating 1800 calories a day, has maintained my weight at 140 for two and a half years. I am 5 ft 5 ins. I am very lucky that I have my fit , 70 yr old, DH to do it with me (not the strength training) and BBC Radio 4 to listen to as I do it, which keeps me informed and entertained.

So, I hope that info is helpful for any newbies. I started off at a much lower level than that, only doing 200 calories every other day. I very gradually built up my stamina, but it took me a while to crash the 400 calorie barrier. I really like the 600 I am at now as it enables me to eat a satisfying amount of food without putting on weight. On holiday I always walk a lot and love it if I can find a pool. I am a good swimmer, but don't swim here as the pool is too far away and not attractive. They are building a new one, but the travelling still puts me off. If I won the lottery I would get my own pool! :laugh: Indoor, of course. This is England. Which is another reason why the machines are a good idea, especially in the winter. In the summer we have a fan going.
I don't go to a gym, because I know I couldn't be bothered to get out of the house, and I hate the music, so most gyms are out for me.

OK, that kettlebell is calling!

Heather UK

Heather - one of the things that originally got me hooked on this thread was being able to come here and see that women my age (or even older ) had actually managed to take weight off and keep it off. Before that I had almost managed to convince myself that it was "too late" and I wouldn't ever get back into any kind of shape.

Listen up, newbies! Yes, it IS possible. Where there's a will, there's a way. :flowerforyou:

Being stubborn helps, of course. Never underestimate the power of sheer cussedness.

And now, it's time to go out jogging...

/Penny, heading back to near the North Pole tomorrow

PS: Incidentally, Heather, the sun is going down in Longyearbyen today for the first time since 18 April. Will you be watching Svalbard - Life on the Edge? I believe it starts this Monday.

Anybody who has access to BBC Earth and wants to see my home town can watch the series. Many of my friends and neighbors are feeling a bit of anxiety about it. I hope the producers haven't done a hatchet job and made us look like a bunch of weirdos... :grumble:

Hello Lovely Ladies,

Yesterday (Tuesday) went to the Y after work like normal but it was later my new hours since we are returning to my long days! During the summer we were getting off work at 3 pm now it is between 5:30/6 depending on when the last adult gets picked up. The long drive home it was 6:30 by the time that I walked thru the doors at the Y. It was my walking the Track day at first it was hard to get going but I am glad that I did .

Food is going ok ... Looking for recipes of family favorites made healthier.

Today is that all day class for CFH ! I am hoping to learn a lot and that it will clear things up!

Enjoyed reading everyone posts ! Hope you have a good day!

Elizabeth
Caldwell , Idaho

NYKaren, I suspect that your encyclopedias were World Book. They had yearly Annuals. I have a huge family connection to World Book. My great uncle (mother's mother's sister's husband) was Editor in Chief. My mother was a photograph editor- she found the wonderful photos or set up photo shoots to get them. So, my brother and one of his favorite teachers are in the article about chemistry, and my brother and I are in the article about hair fashions in the 70s. I had waist length straight hair parted in the middle. Somewhere I have the slides from that photo shoot still. I worked there my summer before going to college (16) and during winter break once to write the Equal Opportunity Employers report for them (women were in jobs that had different titles and less pay- no surprise there and few people of color but they were trying to change it).

Speaking of encyclopedias. I taught myself how to read at three. By eight I had read every book in our house including the entire set of World Book encyclopedias. I was a neglected, lonely kid and the books saved me.

About ironing. I still iron occasionally. My daughters have a few items that the hems don't dry smooth or the ruffles are bunched coming out of the drier. And I iron my nice clothes for church or other special occasions. But for everyday I am a jeans and tee shirt gal.

I found a wonderful antique ironing board at a yard sale. I would love to know the story behind it- it has a prominent iron shaped burn mark. Did "mom" have to run rescue a kid? Answer the door? Bandage a cut on their child? I ponder what the story behind the burn was every time I see it!

morning peeps and welcome new peeps

MORNING ALL!

Jade- Hi!! Come as often as you like and then come more often. These gals encouraged me to read the thread daily and I do as much as possible. It really helps!!! They are so motivating, encouraging and funny. Nearly make me pee my pants some days.....

Heather- thanks for the breakdown of your work out plan. I think that is very helpful and pasted into a word document for reference. You hit on a lot of points that for me are spot on.

Penny-Cussedness! Lol! Haven't heard that in a long time. Makes me think of some departed Aunts. (Mom and Dad had 8 sisters between them and not a brother in the lot) You can imagine growing up around that. No wonder I am who I am!

Also, wondering if I can stream that on my ipad if since I doubt that I can get that on the telly. Pasted that into a word document to follow up on. Please keep sharing the sights and sounds of your life. It feeds my wander lust!

Update- DH took the batteries out of the rower (involved a screw driver and two compartments). Anyway, it takes 4 D cells and they were sitting on my rocker, so I guess we didn't have anymore. He will probably get them today. i Had a hair appointment and didn't get home til almost 8 last night and wasn't going back out. (I miss 20 minute hair cuts.) Meantime rower looks lonely and forelorn.....

CJ ~ I too love the photo of your beautiful garden out front.

Barbie ~ Would love to visit where you live. It has been a dream of mine to ride up and down the Pacific Coast. It will probably never happen, but, I can imagine the beauty you folks out there see.

Miriam ~ My DnL is a 6th grade social studies teacher and says that her school is going totally computerized in lieu of texts. I guess they are doing this because the text books become obsolete so quickly and it will probably save money in the long run.

Lenora ~ I grew up with a mother who mispronounced salmon and sure was embarrassed when others made fun of me. She also mispronounced judge and columns. I guess that that was how it was pronounced at some point to her. I specialized in Science and English in college but can't spell to save my life. I love the computer because I can constantly look up words.

Tried hard cooking eggs in the pressure cooker this AM and it does work great! I had never utilized the rack that comes with the cooker and think will get a steamer insert and explore further.



Carol

Michele in NC – The way I knew the encyclopedias needed to be updated were ‘stickers’ that crossed-referenced each book in the encyclopedias and the year book, page for page. In other words, if something came out about a ‘new’ discovery about Mars; then there were 2 stickers referring you to the other. One sticker went in the year book to refer you back to the encyclopedia; and in the cyclopedia under Mars, would be a sticker referring you to that year book. You’d put it in the corner of the page or at the beginning or ending of the article; wherever it would fit. They came out every time the yearbook came out. Even the library would not take the encyclopedias because they had been made obsolete with the Internet being the place to go; so they went into the burn pile.

I remember, in HS, having to write term papers; and, having to reference where I had gotten the information. As a Senior in HS; we were generally given subjects to write them about or we could decide on our own. I decided that I would see if I could ‘freak out’ out English teacher; and, wrote about ‘abortion’. I quickly found out that there was so little in 1969 about the subject that I almost thought about choosing a different subject; but, I stuck to it.

She ‘checked’ ever reference article for ‘everybody’s paper. Also learned that she was an avid reader; and, if you thought you could get away with reading the “Cliff Notes” … you would be in a heap of trouble. None of the questions on the test were things you’d glean from not reading the actual book. I did not become an ‘avid’ reader until I was an adult.

I agree about the ‘either … or’ comments; one of the things I learned from my Mother was to delete the “and/or” and say … My friend went to the park; then which sounded the best: 'I went to the park’; or ‘me went to the park’. Both my husband and I just ‘look at one another’ over this misuse of “DONE” … when it should be “FINISHED”. I tell my DGDs that you are only DONE, if you are a steak, so bring me that knife and fork and let me test you’. I.E. – “I’m ‘done’ eating.” And anytime that you are ‘finished’ with a task. My DOGD, just cringes when she hears others making grammatical errors or typing them - for example: their, there, and they're. All sound alike; but, totally different meanings; and quite often change the essence of the sentence in which they are used. But, I would never ‘think’ to correct an adult; just my DSs and DGDs (as growing up). I think when my DMGD ‘corrected’ her mother about the correct pronunciation of “Salmon”; it embarrassed her. Mainly, because she told her that she was only doing what “Nana” did to her. Did it ‘in front of us’ … I wanted to ‘correct’ her for being ‘disrespectful’ to her Mother in public or in front of others. I turned and looked at my DOS; and, he was just ‘shaking his head’. He was not about to get into the ‘conversation’. But, he quickly steered the conversation back to what the ‘visit’ was for; rules to follow since she was not going to the beach with them.

I have found that some apps work best under IE; others better under Chrome. If I find I am having issues with the way something is working I go in and change my ‘default’ search engine. I think that using Chrome works best when you are dealing with pictures and/or videos. Sometimes I go in and make sure that my ‘history cache and cookies’ have been cleared out. That will slow your computer down a lot.

We’re really happy that Cracker is putting her weight on that paw again. It seems like just about any time she gets to that point; something else would happen to it. Vet told us not to expect for her to stop favoring that paw until the nails on her two middle toes grew out completely since those pads are the one that get the brunt of the weight bearing load.


Jmkmomm – Happy that everything went well with your procedure. Talking about a noise machine; falling asleep while the TV is ‘on’ is something the ‘best sleep for a nap’ that I do. Sleeping with a C-pap (even for naps) keeps me feeling refreshed when I get up. Once I am asleep, nothing wakes me easily. I told my DH that the ‘next’ time we had a big storm and I had gone to sleep he needed to wake me so that I could ‘enjoy the lightning and thunderstorm’. I just love them (especially when I don’t have to go out in them). The last big one; the kids came down, it was storming to beat the band; and I was ‘dead to the world’.

Betadine is what is used the most on a site of an incision or puncture - brown liquid and tends to stain for a few days. I wear a ‘night guard’ in my mouth, at night because of TMJ; and, I fill it with Biotene gel – otherwise my mouth is dry and have a bad taste because I lose the ability to make the moisture if I wear it without it. It’s difficult to break the suction … but they aren’t going anywhere. Then all I need to do before having my morning coffee; is rinse my mouth out.

Loss of dignity – sometimes you just don’t really care! My GYN will tell me to take deep breaths and then he will say ‘in-and-out’ quickly. I asked him ‘if he wanted a deep breath or did he want me to pant’? I could not do them at the same time. I’ve been going to him for over 42 years; when he was ‘new’ to the practice. On first name basis; but, he gets so flustered with me when he tells to take Ibuprofen or Advil; but, I can’t take it with one of my ‘bipolar’ meds; and can’t take OTC Tylenol because of a seizure med. He’ll tell me that ‘he has never heard such an thing and will check with the pharmacist’ … then back in and says, ‘ok; going to give you a Rx instead’. Surprisingly, I can take Tylenol w/Codeine in it; just not the OTC one.

Once while giving me a breast exam, without any warning he pinched my nipple to see if their was any discharge; I grabbed the side of his leg; and held on ... he said, 'ok, guess that hurt ... won't do it again'. I finally let go of his leg (thigh).


AWWW, The Today Show … the little boy who had ‘hands’ transplanted … such a positive young sweetie. He also has prosthetics for his legs, too. I think little “Zion” and his mother and the team of MDs have made such a total difference in his life. He is now playing baseball; but, the sweetest thing he said about having ‘new’ hands was to be able to wrap them around his Mother. I’m just so surprised that they will grow with him. Thank GOD for the MDs that take on these difficult experimental tasks and the things they learn from them. One of the reasons I decided to become an “Organ Donor.”


Re in TX – Thanks! Now I won’t bother with ‘wanting’ one of the front loaders. I have a big capacity top loader; and, I get just about anything into it, including bed mattress covers and the dog’s bed; then I run an extra empty load to make sure all the hair is gone and doesn’t get on the next load of clothes. Occasionally, if the load is not equally put into it ... it will get off balance and walk! When I put jeans in it, I put one leg going around the agitator one way and the other going the other way around it.

Cracker goes to the ‘groomer’ for a cut and hair wash tomorrow! So she will be ‘fresh and sweet smelling’ when we get to Louisiana. I am taking a bottle of dog shampoo with us, in the event she and Lily decide to go ‘roll in something’.

Did not mean to make you jealous by posting my weight loss; I set a small number for each 2-week weigh-in. I don’t weigh myself between times; and, my next goal is to get down to the next ‘even’ number, in 5lb increments. I know when I started that I had 55 – 60lbs to lose (or more); but my ‘goals’ were set at 5lb. increments. Do you think a goal of 20lbs is harder to obtain? Maybe ‘if’ you cut back and worked on small goals; you would not be discouraged that you seem to be, continually losing/gaining the same 4lb? If you had set your ‘goal’ at 5lbs; then you were 4/5th there; then you could then set you next goal for 5lbs more. Just a suggestion. For me, setting a goal of 20lbs would seem very ‘daunting’ and I might have ‘given up’.
I just know (and was told by the dietician) not to ‘think’ about the total amount I had to lose; it would set me up for failure because it would seem to drag on. I had to agree with her. I wear the exact same outfit for each weigh-in and my appointment is around the same time of the day (9:30- to 10:00AM).

I’m going to miss having my ‘driver’ after next week; which means I will have to stay at my BF’s condo until DH quits for the day. At least, I will know that her GS won’t come busting through the door and give me a heart attack! While she had given him the keys to her car, so he would not embarrass her by making a scene; she never thought that he would come by the condo knowing I was staying there. I crawled her for not letting me know that he had gotten her car; then, I would not have been ‘so surprised’ when he opened the glass door and walked in on me. I told her that ‘if’ I had been ‘packing heat’ … she might have been called about me shooting him! It surprised me that much. He’s a ‘sweet’ kid; but, on drugs, I don’t want to find out what he might do … especially when he brought in someone I did not know or had met.

My DH and my DMS both say they will retire 3 days after they die. DH with a paint brush in his hand, still constantly moving up and down; and DMS ‘grading papers’ while drinking something.


Heather – DH’s brother is probably ‘hooked’ on ‘scratch off ticketss’. He buys the expensive one; and he’s won as much as $10K, $5K, $1K; but, no telling how much he spends to do that. He has a huge stack or two; which he is planning on signing the back and mailing it, to try to win in a 2nd draw they have on them while they are on the market. I’m sure they have more winners the more expensive the ticket costs; but, I would sure be upset to have blown $20 at a time on a ticket and lose. He buys 5 or 10 of them at a time - the $10 (or more) ones. But, it is only himself that he has to worry about supporting. He gets SSI, military retirement, and his income from working with DH; and, we are convinced that he uses that money for his gambling; and, lives off the SSI and military retirement checks. He is such a ‘tightwad’ to boot. But, he will probably give everything to the granddaughter; and, leave out his surviving son because his in-laws have money and his wife is their only child.


Grandmallie – I’ve never heard of Title 19; but, there are a lot of things I don’t know about ‘elder care’. I know that DDnL#1’s mother has been through a whole lot with her mother needing to have ‘more’ care than she was able to give her. Was put into a ‘nursing home’ and then on ‘hospice’ … she wasn’t familiar with all the terms and conditions about them ‘taking her check’ and what they considered as ‘income’. She had too much ‘life insurance’ for them to allow her to stay at the ‘nursing home’; so she brought her home and getting neighbors and friends to come in on those days that Hospice is not there. Her brother has not helped much; and, he wants to move her up near him (and put her in a nursing home up around the Griffin area). She is balking at that; and, she has not been using her check, it goes directly into her account; unless she needs to pull some out to pay anything ‘extra’. Supposedly, the Medicare/Medicaid was going to go back and retroactively pay for the 2 months she was there when it became apparent that she was not getting any better. Now, that isn’t going to happen and she has a $6K bill staring her in the face. One brother has not darkened the doorway since their Mother has been bedridden. It’s an awful thing all the way around. I remember when my BF’s husband was dying and on hospice care; but, she still had to pay for a sitter to be with him while she worked. She ended up with a really good woman to sit with him, too.

Hasn’t the retirement age gone up to 66; and will go up every year for a period of time? So, is that why you are having to wait until you are 67 to start collecting Medicare?

Lenora

24

Heather- you have a fabulous workout regiment! If you continue to up the weight of the Kettlebell you will notice tightening, toning, throughout your body. Have you noticed any of that going on yet?

Miriam- fantastic picture of your girls! Even though the older one does look a little cranky you can tell that they are very happy! I noticed your door in the background very cool!



Mary from Minnesota

Katla- I usually have to have the Costco hotdog! A lot of calories but for some reason I love it!



Mary from Minnesota

Penny - Can't watch BBC EARTH. What a shame. Perhaps they'll put in on the normal channels one day.

Heather UK