WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2018

hi everyone, I am new to this board, but feel like I would benefit from some sort of public accountability, so here I am. I joined MFP in Jan of 2014 after my mother's death. I had been her sole caregiver during years of decline with alzheimers and at that time I weighed 261 lbs. My life was completely out of balance I was in constant pain. During this time, I found out I had hypothyroidism and was put on synthetic replacement which helped a little with the pain and with my constant coughing and trouble with breathing and talking. Next, I learned I was diabetic. I decided to get serious about my weight loss. I lost more than 50 lbs. I was down to 205 lbs and feeling super proud, I was able to wear clothes from the regular women's dept. I was also in a serious exercise regime and was feeling fit enough to hike in Yellowstone and Badlands national park. It was going pretty well. I maintained there for quite a while and then I went to Africa and I came home really sick. The illness I had resolved itself in a few months, but during the process I found out I have fatty liver disease and my liver is 30% dead. And I just plain got mad. I quit exercising, I started eating in an out of control way. I now weigh 226 pounds and I feel awful all the time. Since I have basically been living on carbs, my diabetic numbers are a disaster. I am pretty depressed about the diagnosis and stay in my house all the time except for work, I rarely leave my couch. So even though I am still 36 lbs less than I did at the beginning of my journey, I look and feel heavier and worse than I did then. The muscle mass has just deteriorated to sheer fat.

Now, my daughter is planning her wedding. I want to feel and look good on her day, so I have recommitted myself to my journey. My goals for August:
*strictly reduce carbs to get my diabetic numbers back to a reasonable level
*lose 3-5 lbs
*use the exercise bike and elliptical daily upping to two miles on each daily by the end of the month
*confess my ongoing depression to my doctor
*try to do something active outside the house at least weekly

thanks for listening! I am making a commitment to myself that I will weigh 199lbs or less by the time my daughter gets married in May. I know I can do this!

Just checking in. It’s been a rough couple of days.

RV Rita still in Cathedral Gorge State Park in Panaca Nevada

dandl1986 wrote: »

hi everyone, I am new to this board, but feel like I would benefit from some sort of public accountability, so here I am. I joined MFP in Jan of 2014 after my mother's death. I had been her sole caregiver during years of decline with alzheimers and at that time I weighed 261 lbs. My life was completely out of balance I was in constant pain. During this time, I found out I had hypothyroidism and was put on synthetic replacement which helped a little with the pain and with my constant coughing and trouble with breathing and talking. Next, I learned I was diabetic. I decided to get serious about my weight loss. I lost more than 50 lbs. I was down to 205 lbs and feeling super proud, I was able to wear clothes from the regular women's dept. I was also in a serious exercise regime and was feeling fit enough to hike in Yellowstone and Badlands national park. It was going pretty well. I maintained there for quite a while and then I went to Africa and I came home really sick. The illness I had resolved itself in a few months, but during the process I found out I have fatty liver disease and my liver is 30% dead. And I just plain got mad. I quit exercising, I started eating in an out of control way. I now weigh 226 pounds and I feel awful all the time. Since I have basically been living on carbs, my diabetic numbers are a disaster. I am pretty depressed about the diagnosis and stay in my house all the time except for work, I rarely leave my couch. So even though I am still 36 lbs less than I did at the beginning of my journey, I look and feel heavier and worse than I did then. The muscle mass has just deteriorated to sheer fat.

Now, my daughter is planning her wedding. I want to feel and look good on her day, so I have recommitted myself to my journey. My goals for August:
*strictly reduce carbs to get my diabetic numbers back to a reasonable level
*lose 3-5 lbs
*use the exercise bike and elliptical daily upping to two miles on each daily by the end of the month
*confess my ongoing depression to my doctor
*try to do something active outside the house at least weekly

thanks for listening! I am making a commitment to myself that I will weigh 199lbs or less by the time my daughter gets married in May. I know I can do this!

If given the right nutrition the liver can re generate. It it one of few organs that can. Your right the carb diet is putting your health at risk. This is part of why I went on my high fiber next to nothing sugar and no refined grains diet. I was in insulin resistance territory. My blood pressure was 135/85. After two month it is now 117/75. I lost 17 pounds. My waist went from 38 inches to 35, BMI from 29 down to 26.75. I had low HDL too. I have not had that tested yet. I will do it after 6 months of this eating plan.

Your depression may also be partially due to your diet and lack of exercise, too.

You have a great start you identified the problem. Please come back to get support here. This is a great bunch of ladies.

You had tough years with your mom. It is time to take care of you!

Margaret

Ok, I have now driven on base! Yeah me! For those that don't know, that is a big deal for me, driving. Learned to drive because my husband had a liver transplant back in 2014!
Since moving to Whidbey island, I had yet to get behind the wheel. Amazing what stress, and husband in hospital can do for a gal's perspective huh?!! I have driven so much these past view days! Even driving into the garage from our steep declining driveway! I am proud of myself!

Everyone have a great day, newcomers welcome!
Rebecca
Whidbey island
Washington

Lol Rebecca

Hi all: Happy August! Today is my mom's 94th birthday. She shares her day with a DGD. DD birthday is coming up on the 12th but we will be in Iowa then for family reunion. Nice cool day here today for a change. Got groceries done. Having my sister here recovering from broken femur really messes things up. I am so ready for her to be out of my house. Brother in law is also driving me nuts. He left my front door open so their dog could go in and out at will with no regard for my puppy and cat. Puppy is only 7 months and needs not to be left free to go where ever and cat is indoor only. Don't know what she would do outside. Sister claims her dog is a service dog who trained itself. It is supposed to help with her PTSD. I am really tired and getting more and more cranky.

Barbie - Glad you are doing okay.

Lisa - Yay for getting this month started.

Everyone take care, Sue in WA

Happy August 1st ladies!

Lisa - thank you for getting us up and running.

Barbie - hope you are doing better and your doc visit was productive.

Rebecca - glad you are driving around the island a bit. I really like the kitty photos you find - and they don't make me sneeze, lol. Hope your DH is on the mend

As far as July - what an amazing month for education on how and why my body works as it does. My goals were to continue with some intermittent fasting and keeping up with my steps and SWSY.

But last month I came at it from a different direction with the discovery of high morning fasting glucose. While my doc confirmed my A1C was good and overall things were doing well despite FBS of 110+ after 12-14 hours of fasting, I decided to really buckle down and eliminate added sugar/processed foods/simple carbs-starches.

So, I'm now eating 50% to 60% of mainly healthy fats. Carbs around 30%, protein around 20%. Net carbs (carbs minus fiber) in the 60 to 90 gm range.

I didn't really do this to lose weight, mind you, but have taken off three pounds in the past month. My love handles are shrinking a bit, waist down to 33" and hips down to 45" which tells me there's a bit of belly fat gone. I will have to shop for new jeans one of these days if this keeps up.

I am drinking a lot of black coffee - it no longer bothers my stomach.

A couple tidbits I picked up from the Skinny on Fat series - eat like we ate in the 1960's before saturated fat became the enemy. And, shake it up like our ancient ancestors did on the savannah. Fast now and then, or at least go 16 or more hours without eating every couple weeks (intermittent fasting). If I'm having a really hungry day, I grab a couple handfuls of nuts. I figure I eat 2 to 3 oz of them per day, all different kinds, and they are my favorite food - used to be "forbidden" because of the high fat. I'm getting plenty of calories.

Also learned that as we get older, we need more protein to keep our muscles from wasting.

So I guess goals for August - continue down this path, keep learning, do things that will get me healthier. I plan to redo lipids and A1C test in November and will be curious to see the results of this experiment.

Again, all of this is what is currently working for me. We need to find our own paths.

That's it for now ladies. Hugs all around!

Lanette

Sunny but cooler SW WA State