WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MAY 2021
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barbiecat
Posts: 16,934 Member
Where I live, it is almost time for planting seeds outdoors and I am feeling hopeful and excited. New beginnings are good for me. That's one reason that I like starting this thread over at the beginning of each month.
The name of the thread is "Women Ages 50+" but all women are welcome.
This has been a great haven of support and encouragement for me on my journey to health and fitness. I hope it will be the same for you.
Be sure to bookmark the page so you can find it again.
If you sign your post with a name or nickname and a location (specific or general), it helps us get to know each other better.
Barbie in NW WA
My word for 2021 is "lighten up"--that applies both to the scale and to my behaviours and attitudes.
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Thank you Barbie for providing us a clean slate.
Okie in the TX Hill Country
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Thank you Barbie xoxo..1
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Thank you Barbie, for starting May off right! Today's feast of a salad: fresh spinach, wild rice, mozzarella shredded, walnuts, black olives, half an avocado, 2 small tomatoes, and yogurt creamy dressing! Then waited an hour and had coffee with 1/2 of my apple fritter husband bought me yesterday. Opened at 12 noon, closed at 2pm. Easy peasy.
This months goal is to slowly increase my walking distance daily. Currently its at 2 miles Monday-Thursdays. This past week was not consistent because of my covid test, and colonoscopy. Next week we have to shop on Thursday, because Friday I get #2 of the moderna shot.
Talked to my eldest sister Pam today, and since she's at her new place in Oregon, she wants to have a family reunion July 23, 24 and 25th. We should both be cleared by then to travel. One stipulation is you have to be vaccinated. I don't think that's being unrealistic. Plus its her event, and she can make that request in my book. She said Lee and I could have the queen in the 5th wheel they have. They had bought it so they had someplace to stay as they were revamping their home. So I thought that was nice of her to offer that.💖 Lee is not thrilled about visiting my side of the family. I told him that I could just be dropped off to my middle sisters home, which is about 30 minutes from Lee's mom's house. Then its only a 1 hour and 50 minutes drive from middle sisters to eldest sisters home. Or her daughters might go. If they've been vaccinated. It all depends if middle sister gets off her butt and gets vaccinated. Presently she hasn't done any. I am a bit bummed Lee isn't interested in visiting my side, but that's his choice. I told him, he could pick me up, before we head toward the coast to visit.
Rebecca
Whidbey
Washington
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❤️💐❤️1
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Did Ultimate Weight Training and Cardio DVD today. The plan for tomorrow is to do Exhale Cardio Fusion DVD
Made gaspacho last night for breakfast for a few days. It came out quite good. Also, am making 3 loaves of sourdough bread. I gave the one I had for Pete to the guy and his wife who came over yesterday so I made another for Pete, one for us (which I cut up so I don’t have to take a lot out at once), and one to have as an extra in case I need it to give to someone. Hmmmm….Maybe I should make another one for Nancie’s birthday Monday. Yup, that’s what I’ll do. Update: not going to bother
First need to stop at the church to get donations. The gal asked me to stop by since they have a lot. Then stop at Lynette’s since I have coupons for her, then the soup kitchen. When I come home, I may go for a walk
Still working on the jigsaw puzzle. The challenge is that each piece is exactly the same, so you
REALLY need to look at the colors, design, etc.
Good luck to everyone getting medical procedures.
Karen – what a lovely highchair. I would have loved to have had one like that
M – you always post such beautiful pictures. How lucky you are to live in such a gorgeous place. Are you required to wear a mask?
Looks like I have a stye in my eye. For a few days it felt almost black and blue in this one spot. This morning I saw what looks like a stye
Penny – I’ve heard so many women say that they got a job when their hubby retired. I know that’s when I took a permanent job. Just had to have time to me. “Load the dishwasher this way”. I’d been doing it for 23 years, didn’t he think I knew how to load it???? But he was so used to work that he didn’t know what to do with himself
Wanted to string more popcorn but it’s way too windy
katla – thank goodness for your neighbors
Michele NC
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Thank you Barbie...
On our morning walk today when DrewB and I got to end of the block where the woods are there stood two does. DrewB gave a low growl and strained at the leash. The two does just stood there. DrewB did not scare them off. They might have thought she was a fawn. She has a doe shaped face. Her coloring is also that of a fawn. She also has long legs like a fawn. It was a fun way to start the day!
Margaret5 -
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Barbara. - This is the rain barrel I made:
.
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Thank you Barbie for a fresh start. I MUST start eating right. Fighting another blasted yeast infection! Hopefully caught it soon enough. Soaking in Epson salts as we speak. (The only time I ever use the tub). I love my hot tub, but have been so overwhelmed that I haven't been in it .
Figured up mine and SIL's hours for March and April. She had about 15 extra hours each month, but was rarely there open to close. I was there open to close except for day I had to take Steve to Detroit. I worked 59 extra hours in March and 68 in April. Crazy. No wonder I am TIRED. Too bad I have yet to catch up. I did catch up on household bills, checkbooks, and receipts last night and this morning.
Heading to Kentucky after work tomorrow. Really need to get caught up in next couple of weeks as Steve and I are taking a weekend off for a car show in IN (unless cancelled again at last minute).
Time to get out of tub and into bed.
Tomorrow is a New day! New month! Fresh start!
Kylia in Ohio where we were in a.c. today and heat tonight!2 -
Thank you, Barbie. I am grateful fo you and our Women 50+ friends. What a wonderful group from around the world! We would not all be good friends without your leadership. I thank you every day.❤️😇❤️😇1
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Thank you, Barbie!
So... today was the first day after the Moderna 2nd vaccine, arm hurt like stink, started the morning off with chills and ended the evening with a low-grade fever. Fever finally broke about an hour ago. Accomplished absolutely nothing, just stayed under the covers all day. Didn't eat much, either, as was mildly nauseated most of the day.
Now to take on May with a will.
Later, y'all,
Love,
Lisa
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Lisa- We had Pfizer with two vaccinations a first and second. The second vaccination seemed harder. The shots were about 29 days apart. We had headaches after each vaccination and it was worth it in my opinion. ❤️0
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May
-- vote today
-- online conference at work next week
-- pilates every Tuesday
-- 50 km bicycle ride one day this month and other shorter rides, of course
-- 5 km running event on May 23 and some training runs
-- start 9 day (7.6 hours per day) fortnights this month at work
-- design at least one 50 km cycling route
-- book service for treadmill
-- plant spring bulbs
-- and see how I progress on the rest of my 2021 list.
Machka in Oz
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Thank you Barbie.
Just catching up. My Grandson is now wearing glasses and he looks so much older. It hurts my heart a little, but he sure is sweet.
Tracey in Edmonton5 -
Question for those who are perimenopausal or postmenopausal. When you had hot flashes, was there something that you recall triggering them? I'm having mild ones, but they are quite annoying and want to try to figure out if there is a trigger to look for.
I know that common ones are caffeine and alcohol, but those don't seem to be mine.
Thanks.
Tina in CA
Stress
Warmish indoor temperatures
Hot beverages
Hot food
Talking to people
Shopping
Doing homework
Working on a challenging bit of code
Taking the bus
Just to name a few.
Soooooo.....everything and anything?
Yep!
Especially stress. I tense up slightly for one reason or another and BLAM, I'm hit with a hot flash.
I am finding that the more protein I eat, the more of them I seem to have. I am currently trying a lower protein diet (which is less effective when trying to lose a few pounds) and so far, it seems to be helping. I also read that black cohosh works very well for hot flashes. If this lower protein experiment doesn't work, I'll try that. I prefer adjusting my diet before taking supplements or pills of any kind. I need to figure something out before summer or I will be miserable.
Tina in CA
I have been dealing with hot flashes for years now.
They started up in 2014, I lost a whole bunch of weight in 2015 and they mostly went away, but they started again in 2017.
I cannot take hormone replacement therapy because of my genetic predisposition toward blood clotting. So my gynaecologic oncologist offered me a serotonin based anti-depressant. Evidently serotonin based anti-depressants ease hot flashes too. In 2017, I didn't want it so he told me that if they got bad enough I was to come see him and he'd get me on them.
In 2018, they got bad enough. The stress I was dealing with around my husband's injury sent me in one massive horrible (nausea, dizziness, painful pins and needles all over, plus the actual hot flash) after another. And that's when I went onto a serotonin based anti-depressant.
That helps reduce them, but doesn't get rid of them. If I'm fortunate, I have a day with maybe half a dozen. That's a pretty relaxed day in cool temperatures. But I've also had days where they just keep coming all day and I lose count.
So I use a number of other techniques.
I have found that having a fan right next to me at work and at home helps. At work, the fan is on all the time. At home, where I can keep the temperature cool, it goes on and off as needed.
It also helps to keep the temperature at home somewhere between 17 and 18C (63 or 64F). My husband is bundled up in fleece and I'm in a tank top and shorts.
Drinking lots of cold water can help a bit.
I don't drink hot drinks any more ... I let my coffee and tea cool to room temperature before I drink them.
I don't seem to have them while exercising so if I go into a series of them at work, it can help if I go climb 10 flights of stairs. I'll be hot when I finish but it seems to stop the waves of nausea, dizziness and pins and needles that accompany hot flashes.
Sometimes just simply getting up and pacing around can help ... or walking to the toilet and running cold water over my wrists.
My diet is rather low in protein. In fact, I add sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to my lunch sometimes to boost my protein a bit. Otherwise I would happily live on fruits, veggies and grains if I could!
I also eat quite a lot of sweet potatoes.
I take remifemin which contains Actaea racemosa (black cohosh), evening primrose oil, fish oil, vit D, valerian, ginger, magnesium, and calcium because they are all thought to ease menopause symptoms. And I take the B-vitamins.
And because one of the features of menopause which is tied into the hot flashes is having itchy, prickly, pins and needles skin ... I take an allergy med to ease some of that and I only wear the smoothest, lightest clothing I can get away with.
Oh also, when the hot flashes start coming one after another and pins and needles part of the hot flashes starts to drive me crazy, I'll take a panadol or ibuprofen.
A couple more things ... I've also figured out why the older women in church, when I was growing up, had mints and folding fans. Sucking a strong mint can actually be cooling and of course the folding fans move air. I may start doing more of both.
I have just recently started experimenting with box breathing. I was highly sceptical about it for years but have started trying it when I get a hot flash at an awkward time, like in a meeting ... and it seems to shorten the hot flash a bit. It goes like this and I do it 2 or 3 times:
Relax your body and do the following:
Let out all of the air in your lungs to the count of four.
Keep your lungs empty for a count of four.
Inhale for a count of four.
Keep your lungs full for a count of four.
Machka in Oz3 -
May
-- vote today
-- online conference at work next week
-- pilates every Tuesday
-- 50 km bicycle ride one day this month and other shorter rides, of course
-- 5 km running event on May 23 and some training runs
-- start 9 day (7.6 hours per day) fortnights this month at work
-- design at least one 50 km cycling route
-- book service for treadmill
-- plant spring bulbs
-- and see how I progress on the rest of my 2021 list.
Machka in Oz
One of the other things I have started to do is to look at the skills required by currently advertised positions. I'm not about to start job hunting now, but it is possible that I could start at some point in the future.
My degree has given me a high-level overview of the area I'm interested in ... perhaps more of a managerial perspective. But what it lacked (and I told them this all along) was actual skills.
So I've signed up to receive emails from several different job sites with jobs in the areas I'm interested in, and I spend a few minutes glancing through and copying/pasting the skills requirements into my list. In doing this for a couple days, I see that it is going to start becoming repetitive soon, which is OK. When it does, I'll just do it once a month or something to see if there are new product names appearing or whatever.
Then I'll start working my way through the list and at least becoming familiar with what these things are. My employer has also expressed an interest in training me either through short courses or from more experienced employees in some of these areas.
Learning never stops!
Machka in Oz3 -
Hi Gals,
I haven’t been really good about sharing and commenting.
I have gotten both vaccine shots and May 8th with be my 14th day past shot and I will then consider myself “fully vaccinated” And I am finding it hard to get through this next transition. The transition to masks and social distancing was hard; but living in California was helpful as I was comfortable with masks, distancing, and staying home; and most of my circle were doing the same. But in the last week, I have been “bullied” by 3 folks none of them in my close circle of friends but folks that I have not seen in a year.
An example: My garden club is “ready” to get together again, and I am not up for bigger groups, tomorrow is a garden tour about 75 folks wandering through 5 of the members gardens – of the 5 gardens chosen are small with only one exit/entry I am not attending, and the coordinator realized that I was not signed up, and decided it was appropriate to text me all the reasons I was being ridiculous. I can stand up for myself, but why can’t the statement, “I am not comfortable in doing this, so I will not be attending” just be enough….
Yet there are things I am ready to do; my best girl friend and I decided to do a short vacation and spilt the costs as our Christmas gifts to each other. So last week that is what we did, we went to Aptos (a costal town just south of Santa Cruz) stayed 2 nights in an Airbnb and walked miles on the beaches, ate great food – all sea food and wine! Fish tacos, calamari, shrimp stuffed artichokes, grilled albacore sandwiches!!!! And took a boat tour of the Elk Horn Slough which has 4% of the world population of endangered southern sea otters – so darn cute and it is the time of year that the otters and seals have babies and we saw dozens of babies of each type
Welcome to the newbies, best wishes to all! Sorry for such a long post.
Smiles, Kim in Northern California
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Thanks for the new month, Barbie!
Rebecca - I'm sorry for all you've been through recently. Many of you have shared similar trials and tribulations. I've never had a colonoscopy because they're not clinical routine in Scandinavia. Cancer screening is done on fecal samples. It's only if something suspicious turns up that patients have to go through the full colonoscopy.cityjaneLondon wrote: »Penny - Strangely enough, I was watching a programme which featured Svalbard this evening. It was all there. Happy memories. Truly one of the most extraordinary places I have ever been to. And great company. Saga has two new ships, but I'm not sure what the fuel is. They are supposed to be cleaner. We are booked for the Mediterranean next March.
Your old house in Tromsø must be near the lift to the top of the mountain. We went up there. Amazing views.
Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx feeling nostalgic.
Heather - There we have it! You've reminded me of one of Svalbard's remaining sources of income: TV shows, movies, news features, nature programs! TV teams usually stay for a while and leave plenty of money with the local businesses. We recently had a visitor from the mainland who mentioned "that series set in Svalbard", blithely assuming we knew exactly what series she was talking about. But there are dozens of them! When we asked which one she meant, she named one I'd never heard of before.
In Tromsø, we did initially live a few streets below the lift to the top of the mountain, but rarely used it that first year. After we moved to our own apartment, I used it a lot. It was part of my grocery shopping. Once or twice a week in the snow-free period (i.e. from June to October) I would climb the mountain to way above the tree line, walk north along the path at the edge of the plateau, and take the lift down the mountain. That put me a 5-minute walk from the local shopping center, where I would buy groceries and fresh fish and walk home along the road. The whole excursion took about three hours. At the time, one purchased lift tickets at the base station. The operator looked at your ticket when you boarded at the bottom, but never at the top. So I technically rode for free for several years! (To ease my conscience, I bought a 12-round-trip ticket. I was never asked to show it, though.)
Here's a picture I took on my way to the fishmonger. I'd just reached the tree line and had another 50 meters to climb, but from here on up the view remained essentially the same. The guy in the white cap is just some guy.
Here's one peering over the edge of the "cliff". The cones and ridge in the upper left corner were built to protect the school from avalanches. They look tiny but each cone is actually about 15-20 feet high. The somewhat faded plant in the foreground is Arctic root Rhodiola rosea, famed for its purportedly aphrodisiac properties.
Lastly, I must share these dewy mountain avens along the same path. This photo was taken early in the morning. My parents had been visiting and were due to fly out at lunchtime. They hadn't been up the mountain yet, so we took the lift up.
/Penny, feeling a bit nostalgic near the
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Hi Gals,
I haven’t been really good about sharing and commenting.
I have gotten both vaccine shots and May 8th with be my 14th day past shot and I will then consider myself “fully vaccinated” And I am finding it hard to get through this next transition. The transition to masks and social distancing was hard; but living in California was helpful as I was comfortable with masks, distancing, and staying home; and most of my circle were doing the same. But in the last week, I have been “bullied” by 3 folks none of them in my close circle of friends but folks that I have not seen in a year.
An example: My garden club is “ready” to get together again, and I am not up for bigger groups, tomorrow is a garden tour about 75 folks wandering through 5 of the members gardens – of the 5 gardens chosen are small with only one exit/entry
I am not attending, and the coordinator realized that I was not signed up, and decided it was appropriate to text me all the reasons I was being ridiculous. I can stand up for myself, but why can’t the statement, “I am not comfortable in doing this, so I will not be attending” just be enough….
Yet there are things I am ready to do; my best girl friend and I decided to do a short vacation and spilt the costs as our Christmas gifts to each other. So last week that is what we did, we went to Aptos (a costal town just south of Santa Cruz) stayed 2 nights in an Airbnb and walked miles on the beaches, ate great food – all sea food and wine! Fish tacos, calamari, shrimp stuffed artichokes, grilled albacore sandwiches!!!! And took a boat tour of the Elk Horn Slough which has 4% of the world population of endangered southern sea otters – so darn cute and it is the time of year that the otters and seals have babies and we saw dozens of babies of each type
Welcome to the newbies, best wishes to all! Sorry for such a long post.
Smiles, Kim in Northern California
Just point them to what's going on in India right now ... see snippet of article in spoiler ...
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/this-double-mutant-variant-is-adding-fuel-to-indias-covid-19-crisis"Human behavior is probably more to blame for the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic than the new mutants arising around the country. But the combination of these two is proving catastrophic.
Every day for a whole week, India has reported an average of 340,000 new coronavirus cases; on Wednesday deaths exceeded 3,300. Many experts suspect that numbers could be even higher. The country now accounts for one in every three infections reported worldwide daily.
“The major factor in the spread of the virus is the behavior of the people. Spread of the virus is largely because of us not taking care of each other. Variants are just taking advantage of our carelessness,” says Rakesh Mishra, director of the Indian Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
This surge of COVID-19 cases comes three months after the Indian health minister announced "India has successfully contained the pandemic."" ...
And more.
Machka in Oz
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