WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2017

Karen in VA PInterest! I have a love hate relationship with that site; but man! Do they have a LOT of deco and recycle ideas for books! If I EVER have books I don't want I have a ton of ideas in my brain of what to do with them!

Big hugs to Re about the knee!!!!
Betty

Hi Gals,

Sending thoughts of peace and success to all! Barbie and Jake, Alison, Heather, Katla and Mr.Katla,

Heather – I just ordered some watercress seed to plant… I’ve seen it in the grocery but very pricy…

RVs I understand (could be wrong) that for a “visit” the RV parks are not picky, but for a long term stay or monthly space rental they get picky about the age of the rig.

Kate in UK – I keep my edamame beans low carb by throwing them out – LOL – can’t stand the things!

Tjsterch – I have friends in Escalon, I know Ceres – I’m in Dublin, we could meet!

It’s raining and raining and raining here.. now don’t get me wrong we need the rain, but actually we need snow in the hills as that “stores” the water till spring/summer when it melts and we don’t get any rain… there is flooding and standing water everywhere… I’ve been bemoaning the fact that when it rains like this I can’t work – no work =no cash flow… but gathered up myself and decided to make the most of it and am working on projects. I’m starting with projects that are driving me nuts, then projects that will make or save me money…. It feels like I am having some control and that’s good.

January Goals:
Write Christmas letter, and have all cards ready to send by Dec1…this was for nov. but still working on it. Jan. still working on this….**** GET THIS DONE*******
Read and report on a book –
Log everyday to the best I can, over if need be.
11,000 + steps everyday –
Work on water consumption –
Lunch with Kyle -



Smiles.

Kim from N. California

Hi Ladies! First post every except a random question - getting brave! Just a baby at MFP - got brave today and got a new mentor! Yippee!

January Goal: STAY
-Stay in the calorie zone - mostly
-Stay focused at work: 4 "Pomodoros" a day
-Stay breathing and being present
-Stay and listen to my husband and daughter without thinking of something else

Action is easy for me - staying is hard!!!! Wish me luck - started Dec 29th and already lost 8 "easy" pounds by cutting sodium and cheese down dramatically. Charting going well - estimating serving sizes not so well. Didn't realize that I could swap out oz for grams on my scale until my teen showed me - DUH. Will be easier now!

Ivalente1-welcome and congratulations on getting bold. You are off to a great start! You may already know this, but you can use the dropdown box on a food to change the serving size- many items have grams, ounces, and other choices. Also when I search for a food, if I put the measurement I want, MFP will often show me choices with that measurement. So I might enter “avocado gm” if I want to use grams as my measurement. I don’t know if it works on all platforms, but I find it sometimes saves me time finding what works. And eliminates some math.

Heather UK- thanks for the cress/watercress info. I looked to see what greens I had ordered for this week and saw I had ordered watercress. They don’t grow cress. I’ll look for it in the store and if they don’t carry it, maybe I can find some seeds and grow my own like Kim in N. California.

I’m glad to see there are several others who enjoy shoveling snow. It probably helps that if there is snow to shovel, it will not be a work day for me. I like seeing the progress when I shovel and not feeling hot while exercising. I’ve had more exercise in 4 days than in the last month. Yay, exercising more is one of my goals. Now you northern gals are not going to believe this, but we have a third snow day for the schools tomorrow due to our Saturday storm (around 6-10”). The neighborhood roads are too icy for the school busses. The school parking lots are unplowed and sidewalks have not been shoveled. But tomorrow is going to be around 60 degrees and it should melt.

Hey now....

Katla & Barbie - hope all goes well with your DHs. Sending good thoughts your way.

Allie - beautiful bed! I love the bedding, very pretty.

KJ - where's the play-doh?? He he he!

There are so many new peeps here! Wavin' at everybody!

The snow is getting thick here, we are supposed to have another 14" to 18" according to WeatherBug but have been told that it's supposed to be more like 4" to 8". I guess we will see when it gets here.

Allie - if I had a car I would come get you and we could run away to Florida!! Lol!

Am watching "Premonition" with Sandra Bullock, darn good movie! I should go now, sweet tater is done! Love ya!

Sherry

Hello Vivid Vixens!

Well, I bit the bullet yesterday and re-calculated my calorie goal based on Sedentary. *sigh* 1480 a day. I know, I know... for some of you that sounds like a lot – but for me, it’s down by about 250 a day... AND that 250 used to be supplemented by exercise... I used to eat something between 1800 and 2000 calories a day – so this is a big deal for me... not to mention that I suddenly have to actually THINK about it... Before, I could just sort of throw whatever I felt like into a sack for lunch – within reason – and it wouldn’t impact my dinner budget too much. NOW, I have to pre-log the whole day, or I am going to be in trouble.

The good news is, I was successful, yesterday, at keeping the number below 1480 and I wasn’t too tortured by it. I just had to forego the evening chocolate. (I have these tiny finger-bars that are individually wrapped.)

Instead, I drank a lot of chai tea and played my video game to keep my hands busy. It worked... hopefully it will continue to work until I can get my heiny back to the gym.

The knee is responding well to the cessation of exercise – lazy cow that it is – and it hurts a bit less, today.... but, it’s still obviously messed up, so I am looking forward to my Doctor’s visit and referral on Thursday. As for strengthening – I have been working on it for some time... Y’all might recall me mentioning that I was babying my knee in an effort to build up those muscles in the leg that support it –but, apparently, I didn’t baby it, quite enough. Oh well. It was always going to have to be worked on... My family is famous for bad knees. Even my “skinny” sister has issues.

I do appreciate all your kind thoughts and suggestions! I am a LITTLE bit less panicked today – since it occurred to me that, while the traditional cardio will probably be tabled for a minute or two, I can still go to the gym and work my upper body... which means that I won’t lose ALL of my momentum. If nothing else, my ARMS will be buff... My legs may have to wait for PT or whatever is suggested by the docs.... I have also thought about some limited chair cardio – like a seated jumping jack – that I might be able to do to increase my heart-rate a bit without harming my bad leg. And of course, there are always Isometrics... so, all that I will have to do is overcome my total aversion to working out at home... or maybe I can do some of it at my desk in the evenings at work... we shall see. But, at least, I can do something to keep moving forward on the fitness trail – in some way. *taking a few deep, calming breaths*

(((((((((((((((((((((((((

Sherry – Thanks, Honey. I will do the same for you! I hope you and Missy are reunited, soon. ((Hugs)) And I love the “Young and Stupid” cartoon... I am SOOOOO glad that there were no camera phones when I was in college! LOL – the bread slice one... again, True. DH refuses to eat the first slice. Because it’s ugly is as good an explanation as he has ever given... Love the Minions, too.

Charleigh007 – The knee hurts any time I try to make the joint work – so, I am afraid that the rotation of the bike would be similar to the rotation of the elliptical in pain and wear on the abused joint. I am going to hold off on cardio for a few days – until I hear what the professionals have to say.

Katla – I love my elliptical because it gives me the rotation and motion of running – with zero impact. Your feet never leave the pedals – so the only wear on the joint is the circular motion... which was helpful in strengthening the leg. However, I may have gotten a smidge over-enthusiastic on my strength training leg work... the presses and curls in particular – so I will have to lay off of that, for a bit.

Carol – Hugs back atcha!

Cheri -

Kay – I have my black armband on... I grieve with you on the books.

Barbie – I hope Sasha isn’t too traumatized by the lonely kennel experience. ((Hugs)) And I so sympathize with your step predicament... I expect I will be having to put that step goal on next month, too – unless my leg can be “quick-fixed” so I can walk in the next few days.

Sue/WA - I have my Ace bandage on, today – and that is helping, thanks. I will see what the docs say before I go for the brace. With my chubby thighs, I really need to get one fitted for me, anyway.

Lenora -

Brenda – I get the difficulty – really I do. I have this weird aversion to working out AT HOME. I manage to get up and put on my gym clothes every day and go to the gym – but, for whatever reason, I just can’t quite force myself workout in the house. Fortunately, my gym is open most days – and at times that work for me. But, when it’s closed? I just don’t exercise.

Beth – Thanks, me too! And if there is anything I have learned from this process, it’s that LOGGING makes it work. If you log it, honestly and completely, you will at least know where your failings are... and I have found that it’s easier to avoid eating it, if I know I am going to have to put it in my diary. If I log... I lose. Good Luck!

TNToni – Gratz on the 2 lbs! Regarding back pain... I have only one answer... abdominal work. It’s the ONLY thing that has saved me from the constant back pain from exercise. Strengthen the front, to help support the back. It’s Margaret whose leg pains her at night. My knee hurts whenever I try to use it for its intended purpose – but it’s fine if I am just sitting or sleeping.

Cat/VA – Thank you! I will take all the positive energy I can get. And, Sugar, if you have just started to workout, you might find that you don’t show a scale loss for a minute. Water retention, muscles weigh more than fat... both of these things can impact you to start. I recommend taking measurements – right now – and checking on them every two weeks (wear the same clothes and undergarments!) And yes – invest in a food scale of some kind. I have an old postal scale from an office that closed a zillion years ago that seems to do just fine.

Pip – I envy your calorie burn... lol. Give Yogi a hug and a scratch from me. Oh, and wasn’t Kirby a little hottie back in the day! Of course, he’s still pretty darned cute.

Karen/VA – I just can’t fathom throwing a hard-backed book in the trash... Unless it is totally mangled and un-readable, there is always the Goodwill. But, I grew up in an environment where books were the closest thing to sacred that we knew... so, nope. Never going to throw one in the garbage. Just can’t do it.

Michele – I have to use a grocery list... otherwise, I will go in for half and half and come out with everything BUT that... I have a horrid memory.

Rori – If I didn’t already kind of know my knee is going to have to be worked on at some point, I would. You can hear the joint crunching... there are floaty bits moving around where there should be none – so, I am going to have to have it cleaned out, at least. Whether or not they do a full replacement is the only real question, at the moment. My entire life of being overweight has taken its toll... If my knee is the only casualty, I will count myself lucky. I am just glad I have no heart disease or any of the other horrible problems than can occur in the morbidly obese.

Mary – (Hugs)

Barb/Edmonton -

Kim/CA – Thanks for the reminder! I was having an “All or Nothing” moment there... stupid, right? I hope your Son gets himself situated, soon. Living with your Ex is awkward, at best... Gratz on taking control and making use of the off time!

Joyce – Thank you! Oh, and every time I see the words “New Math” it takes me right back to that old Tom Lehr song... “New math, New ew ew math... It won’t do you a bit of good to learn New Math. It’s so simple... so very simple... that only a child can do it!” His stuff was hysterical.

Becky – Awesome work! Thanks for the encouragement.

SueBDew – It only hurts when I try to walk... lol.

Becca – love the new profile pic! And your man looks like a sweetheart. Hubba Hubba, indeed. I am taking inspiration from you on my reduced calorie, regime... We got this, right?

HomeatWDW – Love that Pokemon Go... whoever thought of that was genius.

Pooshka2 – Welcome Back. MFP is great, isn’t it? And we do use some initials round here.. just remember – it’s USUALLY a family member... so, DS will be Dear Son, or Dear Sister, depending on the context...

Marni – The cartoon with the bathroom scale is so funny – and so true. If you lean one way on my scales, you can get a lighter weight... lol. I stopped using the home scales a while back for that very reason. GRATZ!! 3.8 lb. loss rocks!

Gloria –

Penny – I also knew what the Iditarod is... Of course, I know from TV... Educational stuff.

Allie – The bed is gorgeous! And fit for a queen! Way to treat yourself... Keep it up! I have my fingers crossed that the boss lady will figure out the “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” concept. Glad you found your paperwork. ((Hugs!))

NYKaren – 2 lbs overnight is water – plain and simple – but, you KNOW what you need to do... Behave! I hope that whatever reasons sent you off the rails are abated, tonight. ((Hugs)) And I feel your pain... Love me some Doritos.

Kate/UK – Welcome home! Great job on getting right back to your routine!

Lisa/WTX – *waves*

Margaret – Oh, the shorter leg is certainly the problem... I hear that most folks with one shorter leg have back or hip issues – but, because of my modified walk for the last almost 40 years – my issue is the knee. I won’t lose mobility for long, Sugar... one way or another, I will walk/move again. If I have to fight the insurance company for a Steve Austin Bionic Leg, I will walk. I am not going to let the couch get me... ever. I am so not up for 30 or 40 years of that. You might try that “pillow between the legs” thing if your leg pains you at night.

Heather – Fingers crossed for your pound of loss. I haven’t seen Cress here... although you can get bean sprouts in little plastic tubs at some of the larger stores... Cress hasn’t made it across the pond, so far as I know. Sounds yummy. And I use a whole bottle of Cabernet when I make my crockpot beef stew... there is no water in that stuff. It is very rich and delicious. Alas, I will have to reduce the serving size on my new calorie regime. *pouts*

Nancy D – Gratz on a great week! Nothing is more motivational than seeing those pounds and inches drop away.

KJ – Our own Snow Shoveling Zen Mistress....good luck with the veggie buying. Me, I am a fan of asparagus and zucchini... yummm.

Lanette – I am with you... I don’t generally get the flu shot – although my DH does, also. I almost never get sick and when I do, it’s usually mild/short lived. We must have a particularly tough immune systems.

Rita – I hope the decision is made soon – in your favor!

msfanglet – Good luck with the home workouts! I wish I had the flexibility or temperament for Yoga...

Yvonne – Gorgeous birds! I suppose I could figure out a place to swim... we have a “Natatorium” not far away. I will look into that, if it appears I will be immobile for more than a few days. Great suggestion! Of course, I will have to steel myself to wear a bathing suit in public... *sigh* A body that was once 367 pounds does NOT look fabulous in swimwear – the saggy bits are hideous – and everywhere. Baby that knee!! Trust me on this... lol. Oh, sweet pups, too! Y’all are making me want a dog!

Angiee2366 – Welcome. Even if you just lurk... come back often. These ladies are a marvel of motivation and support!

Jana/VA – I am sure that an insert in my shoe probably would help... or those special, oh so fashionable shoes... but, I never even thought I might need such a thing until a little over a year ago... I didn’t even KNOW I was doing the bent-leg walk until after I started to have issues with the leg not straightening. I mean, I have been walking that way since I was thirteen years old...Who Knew? But, I am resigned to following doctor’s orders... whatever they may be. Hope the snow melts soon, so you can get back to your usual... unless you are really grooving on it... LOL.

Glenda – Thanks! I am pretty stoked about it.

Betty – Hugs back!

Tina/CA – I have found that reading the success stories helps me stay on track... Reading about everyone else’s NSV’s reminds me of my own... Seeing the amazing transformations, gives me that burn to have one for myself... so, for that that total immersion... it’s awesome... and of course, come back here.

Lvalente1 – Welcome and Good luck with Staying power. I know JUST what you mean.

)))))))))))))))))))

Well, I have many things to do before I depart the premises... so I had best get back to them.

I think I am going to have some luck with adjusting my natural Intermittent Fasting proclivities to make it easier for me to stay under the 1480 calories... I put off eating for as long as I could, today – and I am just getting round to it, now. So I will be less hungry when I get home to dinner – and more able to not scarf down everything in sight. Keeping my eating window shorter is all to the good, anyway.

Tonight’s dinner is a “Cheater Chicken Marsala.” I picked up one of those “skillet sauce” pouches at the store in Marsala flavor, (hope it's good!) and I chopped up some onion, poblano pepper, mushrooms, carrots and yellow squash. Stirred it all together and threw it in the crockpot on low before I left for work, at 10:30am... round about now, DH will be throwing in some pre-measured Rotisserie Chicken, so it should be food by the time I get home at 9pm.

I make all sorts of stuff with that Rotisserie chicken – not the least of which is homemade chicken stock... also in the crockpot. I throw the bones and skin from the chicken into the pot with the usual stock accoutrements (carrot, celery, onion, some chicken base) and cook it on high overnight... by morning, it’s a rich, delicious stock and all I have to do is strain it and put it in the fridge for the fat to rise and harden. I use it to cook my lentils and beans... it adds a lovely flavor. And I love that I am using every bit of that chicken for something. My cheap-skate nature rubs its hands in glee...

Anyway – I will see y’all tomorrow...

Hugs for Everybody!

Re in TX

Joyce in very windy Indiana~Oh just ta let ya know, I do have a nudist pic of my husband, but I am standing next to him...so I AINT POSTING it! (Had a heck of a time printing that pic, I think most photo processing people have to report the nude pics!!) I wasn't anything but two nudist people standing in front of a pop-up trailer..... Anyhooo.... by the way Kirby has shorts on...:-)

Becca bein' silly in GREY Oregon

Re what I have is bursitis on the side of knee. I tried a pillow but it puts too much pressure of the side of the knee. The cause is gaining weight, age, stress, and tight hamstrings. My knee pain was the number one reason I joined the weight loss challenge. It has gotten me to log again. I can't do anything about age, but I have significantly reduced my stress since my knee started to hurt. The exercises I am doing through the Dr. Jo you-tube I think will help too. I just started those. I am also working on improving my sleep despite the knee pain. My sleep is better since I implemented some new habits.

The treatment for this is exercise that work on the muscles around the knee. My knee problem is different than your, but I do understand how painful a bad knee can be. I am glad you are going in to get the help you need. The treatment for my knee would come completely out of my pocket because I have such a high deductible, so I am trying these measures first. If I do not continue to improve I will go in too. I do however feel my knee is starting to improve. I just need to be careful that I don't do too much and aggravate it again.

Margaret

Sue- I hope you get better soon!