60 yrs and up

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    I’m 70 and started MFP 3 days ago. I have been motivated to get moving, and logging my food shows me where I need to improve. I barely eat any protein, as I don’t eat meat and eggs regularly. Also, I am not consuming my daily allotment of calories due to the addition of calories because of my exercise. I’m going to figure that all out in the coming weeks. Glad to be here.

    Welcome, @nkirvine4228!

    Protein is especially important at our age, according to recent research, so you have a good insight there. I think meat/eggs are optional, and there are other good protein sources. (I haven't eaten meat/fish since 1974 (!), and eat eggs only occasionally - less than a dozen a month, typically . . . but after being on MFP for a few years have worked out my eating patterns so I'm usually getting a decent amount of good-quality protein, 100g+ daily now that I'm on maintenance calories.)

    I'm not sure what you like to eat that may be good protein sources, but the spreadsheet linked in this thread may be helpful:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

    The spreadsheet lists many, many foods in order by "calorie efficiency", i.e., most protein for fewest calories. There are quite a few meaty/fishy things near the top of the list, but other sources there as you scroll down a bit. If you rely heavily on non-animal sources of protein, protein quality becomes a potential issue, but the spreadsheet has some info about that, too, like the protein quality score. I found that spreadsheet really helpful when I first got started on MFP.

    Some folks who have difficulty getting enough protein also choose to use protein powders or protein bars, and there are many types/flavors available. The powders can be used in smoothies and things like that, but also mixed into other foods to boost the protein level. They can even be a good thing to use transitionally to increase protein intake while figuring out how to get more protein from tasty regular foods.
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    edited June 2022

    You're elliptical workouts are awesome!! I think I'm doing well when I do a half hour and I know I'm not doing any where near that number of miles. That is quite the workout. You must be making great progress with the weight loss.

    Actually my lowest weight was 4/6 & 4/7-147.6 lbs. Then I went up to 164 lbs by 6/13. Just recently started to head back down. Last 3 days I've been 154.4 lbs. I have been on track with my calories but was eating more carbs than I had been and it shows with my gain. :-( I'm down 100.6 lbs in 21 months. Very good but I had been at 107.4 lbs.
  • Timberlan127
    Timberlan127 Posts: 237 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Pdc654 wrote: »
    Thanks @Timberlan127. Yes, there is strength training involved with the water aerobics. The water alone provides resistance and we use aqua dumbbells in many of the classes. So it's helping. I feel it afterwards. However, I know lifting is more effective. I hope to start doing that soon. Like you, I just need to make myself do it!

    Why is it always easier said than done??? And why can I make the commitment with aerobic exercise and just not be able to do it with strength training? Nice that you at least get in some with the water aerobics!! I think if I could just get the strength training in the schedule I could do it. I guess I should give up aerobic exercise a couple of days a week and do the strength training instead. I guess it's just the fear that I won't lose weight if I don't do the aerobic exercise. I'm barely losing half a pound a week now. I guess my impatience is showing again. But I need to lose another 65 pounds to be healthy. So slow is better than not losing at all.

    Noting that some exercise formats have both strength and aerobic benefits (and some calorie burn), though they may not optimize one or the other benefit. I do, in my (long term) experience get some (limited) strength benefit from my rowing, though far less efficiently than one gets strength benefits from lifting or challenging bodyweight strength workouts.

    Some forms of circuit training (high rep, low resistance strength exercises, either bodyweight or with weights/resistance bands/etc.) also have both strength and cardiovascular benefits to some extent.

    IMO, things to watch out for with the high-rep faster-paced resistance workouts are fatigue and form. (I think that's especially true for beginners, or those of us who may have some pre-existing physical challenges.) In brief, what I mean is that when going at a faster pace, and especially when starting to fatigue, form can suffer, and increase injury risk. This is IMO manageable with reasonable caution, and a gradual increase in the challenge (pace or intensity). I worry a little when I see beginners leap into heavy-duty fast-paced "HIIT" circuit or bodyweight training, for this reason.

    Good to know. At this point just getting started with strength training is my main goal. I don't know why I have such a mind block with that. I am very consistent with walking, elliptical, and stationary bike. So I don't know why I find it so difficult to make the commitment to strength training especially since gaining muscle will help me lose more weight. 🤔 It is definitely something I need to work on.
  • MaggieGirl135
    MaggieGirl135 Posts: 975 Member
    @AnnPT77 Hi, Ann. I believe that you provided a recipe for cheese-stuffed dates on a thread, although I am not sure if it was this thread. I made note of it and plan to make it tomorrow; if possible, could you provide the details? And I apologize if it wasn't you! Ricotta and neufchâtel are to be blended together with some orange extract. I'm guessing equal parts of the two cheeses and maybe 1/8-1/4 t of extract? Almonds are to be on top. Sliced and toasted ones? And do the almonds seem to stick to the top of the date? Maybe whole nuts should be used, to be able to press them into the date. I'm also guessing that you heat them in a warm, not hot, oven for maybe 10 min? 325F? They cold be a cold appetizer, for all I know! Thanks!

    Sorry everybody else, Maggie
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    @AnnPT77 Hi, Ann. I believe that you provided a recipe for cheese-stuffed dates on a thread, although I am not sure if it was this thread. I made note of it and plan to make it tomorrow; if possible, could you provide the details? And I apologize if it wasn't you! Ricotta and neufchâtel are to be blended together with some orange extract. I'm guessing equal parts of the two cheeses and maybe 1/8-1/4 t of extract? Almonds are to be on top. Sliced and toasted ones? And do the almonds seem to stick to the top of the date? Maybe whole nuts should be used, to be able to press them into the date. I'm also guessing that you heat them in a warm, not hot, oven for maybe 10 min? 325F? They cold be a cold appetizer, for all I know! Thanks!

    Sorry everybody else, Maggie

    I have to admit, there isn't a formal recipe: I just wing it every time. Equal parts ricotta and neufchatel sounds reasonable, and you'll need to tune the orange extract amount to the amount of cheese you're using. I'd start small, because it tends to be quite strong, and you can always mix some in, then taste and add more if needed.

    Sometimes I add orange liqueur, too - not a whole bunch, or the cheese combination will get too runny. You want it firm enough to hold shape. I usually use whole almonds, toasted in the oven. Sometimes I use one almond per date, sometimes 2, depending on how big the dates are.

    The dates are pitted and split along one side, so a spoonful of the cheese mixture sits in there like it was a tiny boat-shape or taco-shape or something holding the blob of cheese. I press the almond(s) into the top of the cheese. I chill them - no oven - and serve cold or cool.

    I hope you like them!
  • MaggieGirl135
    MaggieGirl135 Posts: 975 Member
    @AnnPT77 Thanks so much!
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    Did 190 minutes today on my Elliptical and 120 minutes on the riding lawn mower. I've been the same weight for 4 days now. I was hoping for a smidge of a drop. :-(
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    Did Elliptical, 215 minutes for 16.3 miles. The amazing thing is I used the arm poles the whole time. I've never done that before as my arms would get tired. I had a total of 4 different ways I would place my hands. On the handle bars and 2 different ways on the mileage/timer console. My mileage was about 13.2 minutes/mile. A bit faster pace!

    @alteredsteve175 We love to hear how your doing Steve! Our thoughts and prayers are always there for you and your family.
  • BCLadybug888
    BCLadybug888 Posts: 1,179 Member
    swimmom_1 wrote: »
    Did Elliptical, 215 minutes for 16.3 miles. The amazing thing is I used the arm poles the whole time. I've never done that before as my arms would get tired. I had a total of 4 different ways I would place my hands. On the handle bars and 2 different ways on the mileage/timer console. My mileage was about 13.2 minutes/mile. A bit faster pace!

    @alteredsteve175 We love to hear how your doing Steve! Our thoughts and prayers are always there for you and your family.

    @swimmom_1, that's really great about using the poles. Just shows what progress can be made, at any age + will certainly up the calorie burn 🔥 for your workouts!
  • alteredsteve175
    alteredsteve175 Posts: 2,716 Member
    swimmom_1 wrote: »
    Did 190 minutes today on my Elliptical and 120 minutes on the riding lawn mower. I've been the same weight for 4 days now. I was hoping for a smidge of a drop. :-(

    Heard that. Seems like my weight gets stuck when I am doing my best/most accurate logging. Then have a treat meal or a couple of adult beverages and I get an inexplicable "whoosh"! Hope that you get the same, @swimmom_1.
  • coblujay
    coblujay Posts: 688 Member
    Happy belated Canada Day and Happy 4th of July!

    I can't believe we are in July already. On Friday, I headed out with friends to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver. What a treat! It was a fabulous day to enjoy the creativity of several hundred artists, such a joy to spend time with good friends admiring the art and a way to get out and move. I'd call that a win/win.
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    I did 190 minutes on the Elliptical for 13.76 miles this AM. Also did Leg presses, 5 sets of 20 @ 100+ lbs today. (Don't know how much the incline sled weighs. It's also a angled shoulder/squat press too) Used the double cable pulley system for Lat pull downs 2 sets of 10 with 50 lbs. And double bicep curls, 2 sets of 10 with 50 lbs, then 2 sets of 10 bicep dumbbell curls with 10 lbs and same number of sets with Tri-cep kickbacks with the same dumbbell. Need to add to my repertoire. Need to cut the grass today. Off tomorrow yet. Nice break from work. And getting extra workout time in. Hopefully adding the strength training will kick start something or at least tone me up!
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,807 Member
    It's been quiet for a couple of days on here! I hope that everyone has just been busy doing fun things.

    I paddle with a dragonboat club twice a week and even though our weather has been very unsettled this week, the sun broke through and the rain stopped long enough for us to have a wonderful paddle on both evenings. I love getting up the following morning and having that bit of stiffness that tells me I worked hard the night before. We saw three eagles last night instead of the usual two that we always see, but the mama duck that has a nest near our dock was missing four of her seven ducklings. I wonder if the eagles had something to do with that....

    So that rambling paragraph was my way of saying that exercise doesn't have to be some kind of self-flagellation. At some point, it just becomes an enjoyable habit. And hey, I'm the first person to admit that strength training isn't my favourite activity! But I'll watch something on TV that I save specifically for that time, and it doesn't seem so bad.

    We've got this :)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    Hi, everybody! I'm still here, too.

    It's still pretty hot here, mid 80s F (around 30 C), but I'm still rowing and riding my bike, generally one or the other of those 6 days a week, as long as the weather cooperates (no storms!). Like @ridiculous59 said, being active can be just good fun . . . personally, I'm not disciplined enough to do some unpleasant thing because "it's good for me". I admire people who are more disciplined, but for me finding the fun is what works.

    There are lots of ways to have fun, while moving more. In June, I biked 161 miles, and rowed (boats) 76 miles, and it was very fun all the way. The estimated 8313 exercise calories were just a bonus. (Yes, I ate them!)

    In the middle of my bike ride Tuesday, I got a chance to try axe throwing, something I've always wanted to try. I even hit the target a few times (though not the center bullseye). It was fun. I fear I made an eccentric visual: Gray-haired granny-ager woman in full cyclist gear (fluorescent yellow shirt, equally yellow helmet, bike capris), throwing an axe in a cage-trailer. 🤣)

    This activity level isn't where I started - there was a gradual on-ramp of increasing as I got more able. My life has improved steadily along the way as a result, more fun, feeling better/fitter.

    How is everyone doing? Newer participants, how are things going? If there are any puzzles or sticking points you're having as you're getting started, and can any of the rest of us help? Don't be afraid to post: All of us are beginners at some point, and we can help each other progress by contributing our experiences and ideas.

    I hope everyone is having a happy, productive July!

  • BCLadybug888
    BCLadybug888 Posts: 1,179 Member
    Hey all, looking forward to a lovely Summer weekend - taking my grandkids to mini golf ⛳️ tomorrow and then for a dip in my daughter's (Auntie's) pool.

    I always babysit them Saturdays as son & wife both work that day.

    I am doing good with food since getting home from my vacation, back down to pretrip weight and hope to see a new number on the scale any day 🙃 but I had minor oral surgery this week and took painkillers for a few days so think that has delayed movement a little bit (pun intended, 😉 😅) but just took regular Tylenol/Advil today.

    Hope you are all doing well!

    @swimmom_1 - hoping your ⚖️ starts moving again too - I almost wonder if you need to up your calories a bit for your added strength training? Just a thought if you're still stuck.
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,807 Member
    @AnnPT77 Axe throwing? Seriously? That's so awesome! And speaks well of your upper body strength from rowing :)

    @BCLadybug888 have fun with the grandkids today :)

    I have an all-day dragon boat clinic today with a coach coming from out of town to train us (out of town = expert LOL). My lunch is packed. My gear is packed. And I was up an hour before my alarm went off. Can you tell I'm excited?