60 yrs and up

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  • clayton510
    clayton510 Posts: 8 Member
    jdoe0512 wrote: »
    I'm 61 and tracking calories as a way to help me lose 10 pounds before I hike the Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites of northern Italy in 6 weeks. I could do the hike with my weight today, but I will enjoy it much more -10 lbs.

    That’s quite an impressive trip planned! I’ve never been to Italy, not to mention even considering hiking there! Yes, 10 pounds makes a huge difference in how you’ll feel. Be safe and take some great pics to share!
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,705 Member
    Good Afternoon everyone I log my food every day, even when I don't feel like it @MargaretYakoda , sometimes I think about taking a break from it while still weighing my food but I have a bit of ocd & just have to log it. @clayton510 I'm also one that can eat the same thing every day. I do have the same thing every day for lunch but my husband doesn't want to do that although I always make enough for 2+ days & he doesn't complain but if I lived alone I would eat the same thing for 4-5 days in a row. My lunch is always a sandwich made with Egg Beaters, slice of cheese, couple slices of thin ham on a buttered english muffin with unsweetened almond milk & 1 graham cracker. I always have some yogurt, plain Greek usually with cottage cheese or cool whip & some kind of flavoring like strawberry jam or hot cocoa mix & chocolate chips . I also like open faced sandwich with a bit of whipped cream cheese & ham or turkey smoked sausage. I make more chicken than any other kind of meat & I love zucchini & use it often. My new favorite thing is German red cabbage with rasins & apples. I've been eating that for about 2 months with at least 1 meal a day. My second favorite meat is pork, I also eat ground turkey regularly. Beef is my least favorite although I do like ground beef sometimes & make a good pot roast. I love soup but don't make it in the summer. Another thing I like to do is take my dinner & put it on a big bed of lettuce
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    @clayton510, I used to prep more than I have lately: Crustless mini-quiches (maybe they'd be frittatas, more like, or egg bites?), sometimes long-cooking grains (portioned and frozen), that kind of thing. Sometimes whole-grain muffins. About the only thing I prep often now is beans or other legumes (cook, freeze in 2 cup bowls), and Winter squash (because the kind I love is only available in the Fall at farmers markets, and isn't a good keeper (roast, smash, freeze in 2-cup bowls). I have a big chest freezer in the basement, from when I used to garden.

    I do tend to roast Winter veggies in big batches, but refrigerate those to use during the next few days.

    I admit, these days I do buy frozen veggies in giant bags at Costco, and use those to augment fresh. (NB I'm vegetarian: That's why no meat/fish is appearing here ;) .)

    I'm not a person who can eat exactly the same thing every day, but with time and patience I was able to put patterns in place that helped me hit my macro goals the overwhelming majority of the time. (The exceptions are intentional, generally: Some kind of special event or restaurant meal or something. I don't worry about exceptions, as long as they're fairly rare.)

    I do tend to eat one of two breakfasts consistently: I'm bad at mornings, and don't like challenges first thing. The rest of the day varies a lot, usually, and I'm pretty impulsive, sometimes changing my mind about what I'm cooking midway through. :D
  • KeriA
    KeriA Posts: 3,333 Member
    edited July 31
    Since the camping trip I was able to keep up the exercise and more activity. I have also started to lose weight better as well. My brother and sister-in-law were talking about a book they had read Outlive so I bought it when I got back since it was just what I was researching about on my own.

    @tnh2o I have a spreadsheet I use. When I am losing my weight varies a lot and this helps me to see the trends. I can see not just my lows but my highs. I can see other things that are happening with a loss such as calories in, calories out, I use a fitbit for steps to get an idea of NEAT (non-exercise activity). The formulas in my spreadsheet calculate things for me which I may or may not look at unless I need to. I find that if I make meals at home and get regular exercise I lose slowly. Right now my loss is a bit better after retiring and being able to do more self care.

    @elitheal175 I feel like I need a preventative program for all pre-everythings. I agree that google has screwed with fitbit and mfp isn’t what it used to be either.

    @AnnPT77 I found your response to @tnh2o helpful since I am researching nutrition lately. I know you can get enough protein without meat but I am afraid of being able to achieve it not to mention a husband who would resist it. If I didn’t need more now at my age I wouldn’t worry about it. It is the food industry that worries me eating meat and diary for protein. I used to tend to be constipated in that I wasn’t really regular but recently I am. I am eating more foods that are very good for you like avocados, good fats, lots of vegetables and fruits. I think that is helping me lose right now as well. I think gut and metabolic issues are key to our health and preventing disease.

    @clayton510 I weigh daily.

    I didn’t really respond to meal prep since I am setting up what food is like for me now that I am retired but read others answers for good ideas. I am going to have the same breakfasts I had on remote working days and not the less healthy ones I grabbed on the way to work before I retired. My husband makes a great brunch on the weekends with plenty of fruit, eggs and whole grain pancakes. Then we have a healthy dinner. I am focusing on dinner (planning and cooking) now. I like leftovers for lunch but am going to replace the sandwich ham my husband eats with sliced uncured ham for when we don’t have good leftovers. We avoid processed meats and foods in general but this is a step we can make now.
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,906 Member
    edited August 1
    @clayton510 I can eat the same thing every day too. When I was working I used Sunday as my meal prep day. In the cooler months I'd make a big pot of soup in my slow cooker and that would be my lunches for the week, with a bit of protein like leftover chicken, tuna, or egg bites. In the warmer months I'd make up a huge salad and do the same. My breakfast has mostly been the same for years; plain Greek yoghurt, berries (frozen/thawed or fresh) and some stevia. I always have plain Greek yoghurt in the fridge.

    I just registered for another kedge! A kedge is a term used in Chris Crowley's Younger Next Year books. It's a thing to work towards that will keep you motivated in the short-term. He suggests having several "kedges" throughout the year. My current one is paddling a four day canoe trip with my son starting August 12. I do some strength training when I remember, but since planning this trip I've been much more vigilant about it. My second kedge is that yesterday my daughter asked if I wanted to attend a two-day "equine wellness" weekend with her at the end of September. I'm not a very horsey person, but she is, so it's something we can do together ❤️. So now I need to focus on core work. I know I won't build an Instagram worthy core in seven weeks (😆), but the weekend will motivate me to remember to do it. So yes, the kedge idea works for me 🙂
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,193 Member
    Please tell us about this canoe trip!
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,906 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    Please tell us about this canoe trip!

    My son and I are doing what they call the "west side" of the Bowron Lakes chain in northern British Columbia in our 17' Clipper. Ultimately I'd love to do the entire chain, but this is a good intro. Three nights and only three small-ish portages between lakes. The park was closed due to a forest fire and only re-opened this week so I'm pretty happy about that 🙂 We've had our reservation for a couple of months and they fill up fast because a lot of Europeans like doing the chain. I, on the other hand, have lived 2 hours away from it for 27 years and have never paddled it. Isn't that always the way when we have amazing things in our own backyard?
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,193 Member
    @ridiculous59

    I want to paddle the Bowron some time. I'd actually rather do that than Boundary Waters. Have a fantastic time! The Clipper will feel right at home.
  • clayton510
    clayton510 Posts: 8 Member
    @Evamutt @AnnPT77 @KeriA @ridiculous59

    Thank you for sharing your ideas and meal items. Very helpful, I also keep plain Greek yogurt but use it more in place of sour cream on things (potato or taco topping) or as a base for salad dressing. I also eat berries but haven’t used them with the yogurt… need to add that into the breakfast routine some. I try to prep the Turkey taco roll up stuff and salads on Sunday. Doesn’t always happen.

    Still working with cardio but struggling to start weight or resistance bands… I know I need it but can’t motivate myself. I need to make myself start soon… saggy skin is setting in… ugh.

    Went back to work Thursday. Very short summer. I always teach summer school too because I don’t want another teacher messing up my students’ routines. I have students with severe/intensive needs (special needs & medical issues). Routine is key. So the district decided to start us back 8/1 with the hope of getting out before the end of May. Kids start on the 12th. We didn’t end our year until the second week of June, so I think I’ve had a total of 3 weeks off. Excited for a partly new class. I have 3 returning (K-2) and 3 more coming in so far. They’ll add a few more as the year progresses. One will have a nurse. My challenge will be controlling stress snacking… I’ve been known to polish off a large bag of tootsie rolls or Mike&Ike in a couple days… I think protein chips or Twin Peaks cheese puffs need to definitely replace my previous choices.. lmao!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    @clayton510, don't let the saggy skin get you down. It can't really much even start shrinking until most of the fat is gone from an area (so it's down to thin wrinkles, kind of like wrinkles in fabric, not rolls that are 1/2" (maybe 1.5 cm) or more thick). Then the skin shrinkage takes its own sweet time, even after that!

    Personally, I looked worse part way to goal weight (droopy skin wise) than I did at goal weight, and worse at goal weight than I did a few months down the road in maintenance of that goal weight. I think that may be a common experience.

    I'm pretty sure my loose skin kept shrinking at least well into year 2 of maintenance, maybe longer. At the risk of TMI, I swear my rear end looked like a shar-pei's face right around goal weight, but by a couple of years later, it was more like a pretty normal li'l ol' lady's rear, not nearly so scary. We're talking what happened in my 60s here, not when I was a dewy sweet young thing.

    Hang in there. Improvement can happen! It's just another thing (sigh) that takes patience, similar to the weight loss itself.

    I think if you take a look at before and after photos in the Success Stories part of the Community here, you may find it encouraging. I'm not saying there's zero loose skin or droop happening for folks, and it will vary individually, but I think it's less, long term, than many people expect when they experience some of the in-between stages.

    I took a deep breath and shared some very honest loose skin photos in a thread here myself. I'm not holding myself out as a stellar example, and I'm not personally appearance focused AT ALL, but I posted because I'd gotten questions from similar-age MFP friends about what I'd experienced, so I decided to share. If you take a look, please be kind. :D

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10809632/loose-skin-50lbs-loss-at-60-4-years-maintenance/p1
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,705 Member
    Just wanted to pop in & say hello, nothing much is happening, just every day things so I don't have much to say but love reading all your posts. I will say that we live very close to Yosemite & I've just been there twice in the many years we live here. I don't like to travel on the freeway or many miles from home. I used to travel quite a bit in my younger years & there are so many nice parks much closer. I love the outdoors & spend about 2 hours outdoors most days when it's not so hot, only 1 hour during the heat. I walk my dogs every day & or take them to the park & walk or the dog park
  • Melwillbehealthy
    Melwillbehealthy Posts: 894 Member
    I saw the news about Jasper. When I was traveling with my husband’s band we used to play in various little clubs up around there. It’s heartbreaking.

    It is frightening, one of 2 wildfires coming for the town covered 5km (3 miles) in less than 30 minutes and was a 3-400 feet tall wall of flames (higher than the trees) when it reached the outskirts... this is a small tourist town with only 5000 year round residents. Everyone had to retreat including firefighters. Thankfully, there has been no loss of life but the mayor estimates 30-50% of structures have burned, and fire is not out.

    I was in Jasper hours before everyone was evacuated. It was a wierd feeling. Jasper is a sweet, beautiful little town. I’m happy we got out in time, but can’t believe how quickly the wall of fire hit the town. It burned 1/3 of the town including the mayor’s house. Not sure if the resort we were at burned.
    Saw many fires driving down to Banff. Could hardly see Lake Louise for the smoke.
    Many forest fires along the highway.
    We started our trip in Edmonton and could hardly see outside for the smoke.
    It was hard to breathe even with a mask on.
    Now, we’re in Alaska. Remnants of a major forest fire that closed Dinali Park on July 4. First time that has happened in a long time.
    It’s actually hotter here than at home in Ontario. .
    I feel like global warming is causing problems everywhere.
  • annliz23
    annliz23 Posts: 3,719 Member
    Evamutt wrote: »
    I'm finally almost recovered from my busy Friday & Saturday. It's only going to be 102 today so it was so nice at the dog park. Got there at 10:30 & in the next 20min all the regulars left so we were all alone for a while. I was hoping my friend Lexi would come. She's a dog walker/pet sitter & usually brings some dogs she takes out besides her own 5. She did come today,then a younger guy who also loves dogs & fosters them came. He only has 3 of his own but brings most of his fosters & today he brought 3 extra ones he's looking after, so between the 3 of us there were 17 dogs! I had such a good time I ended up staying 2.5 hours! Just had lunch & think I'll take a little couch nap before I make a veggie salad to have with our left over dinner. I've been trying things to get one of our dogs to lose weight so today I'm going to feed her the home made food I mix in with the kibble without the kibble then weigh her in a week & see if she lost weight. she weighs 28lbs now. As you can tell I love dogs & I had my own dog walking/boarding business for 6 years years ago & working full time.

    This might be a silly question but as you are a dog lady you probably know this but do female dogs stop eating when the come into season as mine has just started she is 9 months bit I can't get her to eat wondered is it normal.
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,906 Member
    edited August 7
    @Evamutt Our Golden was looking a little chunky this past spring. I realized that because our winter had so little snow, she hadn't been getting her usual exercise. In a normal winter I take the dogs skiing a few times a week and between running down a slope beside me, and then bounding through the deep snow in the trees, they stay fairly lean. But not this last winter. So I cut back her dog food by about half a cup a day and in no time she had returned to her usual good weight. In the warmer months the dogs do quite a bit of swimming so it's never a problem then. All this is to say: Hmm......what a perfect recipe to lose weight! More exercise and less food. Why didn't I think of that?? 😆

    @annliz23 Our female dog didn't go off her food during her first (and only) heat. But she's a Golden Retriever. It would take a lot more than that for her to miss a meal 🙃

    I did a very "kids during the summer thing" last night. As I've mentioned before, I'm going on a three night canoe trip with my son on Monday and it's been a lot of years since I've slept in a tent. On the ground. So I wanted to see how I'd feel, at 65, in the morning after a night of non-RV camping haha. Would every part of my body be sore? So I put up our little tent, unrolled the thermarest sleeping pad, and slept in the backyard last night. And I had a great sleep! I realized that I'll need to put some clothes in a little stuff sack to use as a pillow, but other than that, not a single extra ache this morning. Did I leap out of the sleeping bag at first light? Not quite. But I'm definitely pleasantly surprised that I faired so well. Maybe this getting old is going to be okay ❤️
  • annliz23
    annliz23 Posts: 3,719 Member
    @Evamutt Our Golden was looking a little chunky this past spring. I realized that because our winter had so little snow, she hadn't been getting her usual exercise. In a normal winter I take the dogs skiing a few times a week and between running down a slope beside me, and then bounding through the deep snow in the trees, they stay fairly lean. But not this last winter. So I cut back her dog food by about half a cup a day and in no time she had returned to her usual good weight. In the warmer months the dogs do quite a bit of swimming so it's never a problem then. All this is to say: Hmm......what a perfect recipe to lose weight! More exercise and less food. Why didn't I think of that?? 😆

    @annliz23 Our female dog didn't go off her food during her first (and only) heat. But she's a Golden Retriever. It would take a lot more than that for her to miss a meal 🙃

    I did a very "kids during the summer thing" last night. As I've mentioned before, I'm going on a three night canoe trip with my son on Monday and it's been a lot of years since I've slept in a tent. On the ground. So I wanted to see how I'd feel, at 65, in the morning after a night of non-RV camping haha. Would every part of my body be sore? So I put up our little tent, unrolled the thermarest sleeping pad, and slept in the backyard last night. And I had a great sleep! I realized that I'll need to put some clothes in a little stuff sack to use as a pillow, but other than that, not a single extra ache this morning. Did I leap out of the sleeping bag at first light? Not quite. But I'm definitely pleasantly surprised that I faired so well. Maybe this getting old is going to be okay ❤️

    oh I hope you have a great time I wouldn't be able to get up off the floor.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,705 Member
    Hope you have a great time @annliz23 It's been many years since I went camping. Family I grew up in was very outdoorsy & one of my 3 older brothers had a boat. We would go camping all the time to the various lakes & rivers. I loved to water ski. Husband & I went camping a lot even after we started having kids but I just don't care to do it now a days
  • elithea175
    elithea175 Posts: 39 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    are you kidding? you look great! i lost 50s over a year ago, hit a six week plateau and gave up. i’d be lying if i said it wasn’t at least partly because i was afraid of sagging skin. i started again in july and i’m back on track, but i won’t be nearly so concerned about the skin this time. i’m 72 and nobody sees that skin but me anyway!
  • tnh2o
    tnh2o Posts: 161 Member
    I value comfort and sleep. Even when backpacking I carry an air mattress that fits into a sleeve on my sleeping bag and an inflatable pillow. I highly recommend the inflatable pillow - they are cheap, lightweight and small.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,705 Member
    You look great @AnnPT77 , I weigh the same today as I did a year ago but look like I gained some because I stopped working out as I used to when I started having physical issues like with my leg pain/problem & every time I got better & started to work out more something else physical came up so I don't look as fit. I can't go back to work out as much as I used to but I think I can do more than I do now which is walking about an hour & averaging 7,000+ steps a day& using some weights at home twice a week but to be honest I just don't feel up to doing more, maybe it's the heat . I feel sad about it but not to the point of trying & seeing if I'll have to heal from pain again
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,985 Member
    Did someone mention Bowrun Lakes?

    My husband and kid did that a few decades ago. First time with the Boy Scouts.
    Our scoutmaster was a (redacted) and attempted to pick a fight with a moose.
    Even as a young teen my kid was appalled at the stupidity.

    But it was a great experience for them.

    News from my corner.

    I’m still logging on that other app.
    Yes it has a community section. But it’s not the same. And it’s definitely not the ol’ newsfeed.
    Sigh….

    So I will stick around here in the community for the foreseeable future.

    In other news had a pharmacy phone call with the VA this morning. Made some adjustments to my husband's meds. And he's getting a CGM.
    Which will be a learning curve for sure. But it's for the best. He used to be great about letting us know if he was getting low but for the last few weeks he's had lows and not told anyone about it.

    He was completely against a CGM for years and the more the VA pushed for him to use one, the more he crossed his arms, pouted, and practically held his breath while saying "NO!" So I let him have his autonomy.

    But his safety is more important, so choice has been removed. He's going to get the CGM. And I will very likely get yelled at every two weeks as I put it on him. Here's hoping he doesn't take a swing at me.
    There’s a low, but nonzero chance of it.

    Dementia sux kitten balls.
  • elithea175
    elithea175 Posts: 39 Member
    does anyone here use a garmin fitness tracker? i’ve relied on fitbit for years but it’s becoming increasingly unstable and i’m panicking. my entire meal planning system is based on knowing what i should be eating each day and i’m scared to lose that ability.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,985 Member
    elithea175 wrote: »
    does anyone here use a garmin fitness tracker? i’ve relied on fitbit for years but it’s becoming increasingly unstable and i’m panicking. my entire meal planning system is based on knowing what i should be eating each day and i’m scared to lose that ability.
    I use an Apple Watch, but I have heard good things about the Garmin.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,193 Member
    elithea175 wrote: »
    does anyone here use a garmin fitness tracker? i’ve relied on fitbit for years but it’s becoming increasingly unstable and i’m panicking. my entire meal planning system is based on knowing what i should be eating each day and i’m scared to lose that ability.

    I have used a Garmin Fenix for years. Maybe five or six years if I recall. It has performed very well. To be honest, I'm surprised the battery charge still lasts as long as it does. I probably couldn't do a 24-hour run, but I can do a couple all-day events without a recharge. It does a very good job of estimating my activity; my results match what I expect from the data. When it reaches the end of its life, I'll get a new one. I hope that's a long way off. The Garmin wrist bands are expensive; they don't last more than a year or two. The knock-offs sometimes seem just as good and sometimes fail in a bad way. If the battery gets to the end of its life before the device does, I will have the battery replaced.

    The size is a benefit and a detriment. It's huge. I can see all the data, although not always with my glasses off. The full-color GPS map kind of needs the larger screen. Some of the more basic models probably work on the same architecture, but I can't say personally if they perform the same.
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,906 Member
    edited August 9
    elithea175 wrote: »
    does anyone here use a garmin fitness tracker? i’ve relied on fitbit for years but it’s becoming increasingly unstable and i’m panicking. my entire meal planning system is based on knowing what i should be eating each day and i’m scared to lose that ability.

    I like the simplicity of my Fitbit but like you, I know it's going to die at some point (it's 3 years old). I'm not "panicking", but I do need to buy a replacement. I feel like I want to see how everything lands before I buy a Google/Fitbit product (though I love my google phone) and I'm not interested in an Apple product. I was considering the Garmin vivosmart 4 however it has lots of poor reviews. But I'm also not looking to spend a huge amount of cash. So yeh, I'm not really sure what to buy. My Fitbit charge lasts 7 days. @mtaratoot are you saying that your Garmin charge only lasts 24 hours? Is that due to the GPS function?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    edited August 9
    I have the Garmin Vivoactive 4, which replaced a Vivoactive 3. I've been happy with both. They've taken a lot of abuse, battery life is good even when I use the GPS a lot, metrics that I can check against doctors office readings (like heart rate, respiration, and pulse ox) are accurate. It has taken a lot of physical abuse, too, without breaking or major scratching. (I'm hard on watches that way.) I haven't had problems with the band, except that the "keeper" thing (that holds the loose end of the strap down) broke on my VA 3. I just replaced it with a little loop of black elastic sewn to fit, no biggie.

    It's like a large watch, not huge, and it's quite plain. (Some other models look like they were designed for a Navy seal or commando - lots of knobs and bumps and such!) The Vivoactives are smooth, round, just a couple of subtle barely visible buttons on one side. The buttons invoke a couple different kinds of menus, and most interaction other than that is touch-screen. The default display (the time or whatever) is very customizable, as are the individual displays for each type of exercise activity. I set mine to show a large digital time (the default when a workout isn't started) since I have challenged eyesight.

    The watch stores some data, but also syncs with an app on my phone to store more of it long term in the cloud, and to give reports and such. There's a web app with even more reports and options to work with the data. This stuff is nice for health tracking, but especially for athletic goals.

    For me, the all-day calorie accuracy is not great, but that's a problem I also have with MFP base calorie estimates and some TDEE calculator estimates, too - same magnitude of estimating error, same direction. Since all of these estimates work pretty for most other people, I think it's that I'm statistically unusual, not that the devices are inherently inaccurate. (I have some ideas about why I'm weird.)

    I don't think others should reject Garmin because of my experience with the calorie estimates. I've seen a number of others say the same devices are accurate for them.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,193 Member
    elithea175 wrote: »
    does anyone here use a garmin fitness tracker? i’ve relied on fitbit for years but it’s becoming increasingly unstable and i’m panicking. my entire meal planning system is based on knowing what i should be eating each day and i’m scared to lose that ability.

    I like the simplicity of my Fitbit but like you, I know it's going to die at some point (it's 3 years old). I'm not "panicking", but I do need to buy a replacement. I feel like I want to see how everything lands before I buy a Google/Fitbit product (though I love my google phone) and I'm not interested in an Apple product. I was considering the Garmin vivosmart 4 however it has lots of poor reviews. But I'm also not looking to spend a huge amount of cash. So yeh, I'm not really sure what to buy. My Fitbit charge lasts 7 days. @mtaratoot are you saying that your Garmin charge only lasts 24 hours? Is that due to the GPS function?

    The charge lasts for many days even as old as it is. If I start to log an activity, most of them engage the GPS feature, and that burns the battery down faster. Just using the accelerometers will last a long time. It's smart enough to know when I'm riding a bike even when I don't tell it "Bike Ride." I presume it uses that intelligence to assign calorie burn. Pretty neat really.
  • clayton510
    clayton510 Posts: 8 Member
    edited August 13
    @AnnPT77 thank you for being brave enough to share your pics… my belly is about IDENTICAL to yours, but I had what I call “the frowny belly button” after having kids. It’s what I’m most critical about myself for years….funny story but true… was going to get surgery for “belly and boobs” lol, ended up needing to re-do some plumbing in laundry and bathroom so remodeled bedroom too… it went from the 2 B’s to the other 2 B’s, bedroom and bath… lol… oh well.

    I had a high weight of 185 (I’m 5’3”), lost 40 pounds in my late 40s, went back up to 170 in early 50s and the same tactics didn’t work anymore so I went to Mexico and had a gastric sleeve. I was aware I had a low metabolism and thyroid issues with some joint pain so I didn’t want to keep gaining into retirement. I maintained 122-128 for 5 years, then last year went back up to 140 after stopping BC pills (to stay regular) sorry if tmi.. and hormone changes. That’s when I started the horrible joint pain and fingers swelling, etc. I started hormone replacement in May and it’s helping but I need to get some bugs worked out. The first dose has created some mild acne. I’m back down to 129-130 right now, but I swear it takes weeks to drop a pound or two at a lower weight. If I’d ever get the initiative to start resistance bands or weights I’m sure it would help.

    At this point, I’ve just finished day 2 with students and I haven’t had a drink yet.. that’s a plus! Lmao… packing my lunch and the only cheat I’ve had is one tootsie roll! Trying to hold it together!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    elithea175 wrote: »
    does anyone here use a garmin fitness tracker? i’ve relied on fitbit for years but it’s becoming increasingly unstable and i’m panicking. my entire meal planning system is based on knowing what i should be eating each day and i’m scared to lose that ability.

    I like the simplicity of my Fitbit but like you, I know it's going to die at some point (it's 3 years old). I'm not "panicking", but I do need to buy a replacement. I feel like I want to see how everything lands before I buy a Google/Fitbit product (though I love my google phone) and I'm not interested in an Apple product. I was considering the Garmin vivosmart 4 however it has lots of poor reviews. But I'm also not looking to spend a huge amount of cash. So yeh, I'm not really sure what to buy. My Fitbit charge lasts 7 days. @mtaratoot are you saying that your Garmin charge only lasts 24 hours? Is that due to the GPS function?

    The charge lasts for many days even as old as it is. If I start to log an activity, most of them engage the GPS feature, and that burns the battery down faster. Just using the accelerometers will last a long time. It's smart enough to know when I'm riding a bike even when I don't tell it "Bike Ride." I presume it uses that intelligence to assign calorie burn. Pretty neat really.

    Mine thought I was swimming when I was bailing water out of a rowing barge. That's when I turned off my "auto recognize exercise" feature. ;):D
  • BCLadybug888
    BCLadybug888 Posts: 1,688 Member
    I am back properly from vacation (was home 2 days babysitting and room rearranging end of last week, then gone for 2 days again) and got my fridge restocked yesterday. Babysat 2 days this week, but have my time to myself (mostly) on Thursday and Friday - looking forward to getting caught up on Big Brother 🤣

    My weight is coming back down after adding a few (4) vacation pounds - very encouraging!

    I am seriously thinking about doing the Body Slims program out of Ireland, it's a 10 week commitment, but committing to walking 1 hour a day scares me...not as much as it would've last year, it wouldn't even have been a possibility for me then, and I really think there are 2 reasons why I am able to even consider doing this:
    1 - finally getting my mindset comfortable with incorporating regular activity into my lifestyle (so not my thing)
    And 2 - all the activity challenges I have done this year to start being habitually active, have really encouraged me in setting modest goals and achieving at least some of them!

    The next session of Bodyslims starts end of September and I will have just returned from a 7 day cruise + 5 days in New York City, so timing is good as I generally gain on a cruise...🛳[

    My Fitbit is going strong (Charge 5) and do rely on it for data, with a grain of salt. Love the size.