WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MAY 2025

I am starting to go through my clothing.

I have done a clothing purge a couple times in the past, but haven't done one since I got to Australia about 16 years ago. I figured it was about time and part of that decision is because I really don't want to store clothes in a bin in a storage facility or garden shed or wherever anymore.

Here's the thing …

I have clothing in all sizes between 8 and 20 because I have been all sizes between 8 and 20. Right now, my closets and dressers contains the larger sizes and the clothing bin contains the tiny sizes.

I could bag up all the tiny clothing and donate it.

BUT …

I am losing weight now with the goal of getting into smaller clothes.

BUT …

I probably won't get down to the tiny size of some of these clothes.

BUT …

I'm not sure about that. Maybe I will. I've done it before.

I'm not quite sure what my "donate it" criteria should be.

Machka in Oz

Other than my dilemma above …

I've gone through all the shoes and boots I can lay my hands on right now, and I've got a decent sized bag of shoes I will throw out, and a smaller bag of shoes I will donate.

And I thoroughly cleaned my bathroom.

One criteria I will use to decide about my clothes is the material. If I can't imagine myself wearing the material for more than a few minutes, the clothes will go into "donate".

Wool is one example. I have several beautiful wool pullovers which have gone into the donate bag because just holding them up against me was uncomfortable when a tiny bit touched my neck or wrists.

M in Oz

Hi everyone!

Thank you for the welcome. I'm glad to be part of the group and I'm slowly reading all the comments so I can catch up LOL. SophieRosieMom I don't actually have a weight loss program, I got a job at a meat market almost a year ago and I snack a lot when I'm at work so I'm trying not to do that. Also keeping track on mfp, although I confess I don't always do it. And walking on my treadmill everyday, I've been watching trail videos on YouTube so I can visit other lands :-). Just trying to be mindful and not snacking. So no weight loss just yet, but I'm only just beginning.

Machka it's so hard to decide what to keep and what not to. I think I do pretty well, although I do have a pair of pants I bought at Walmart that I just can't seem to get rid of. I've never actually even worn them, I bought them the size I want to be so hopefully someday! I just go through my clothes during season changes like someone mentioned and only keep the stuff I think I'll wear or that I didn't really wear last year go to Goodwill. I made a pair of pants last year and they're too small this year :-( but when I added an additional strip of fabric it looked like I was wearing depends underneath them LOL so I put them back and I'll just have to hope to fit into them by the end of summer! The green pants I was sure wouldn't fit and I wore them for Mother's Day and they did! I added pictures but they don't show up so I'm doing something wrong. I'll figure it out!So I guess I'm doing something right! Honestly though it's way more about feeling healthy instead of feeling sluggish all the time and so far that's been on the uptick.

I'm printing out stickers for a girl at work right now and then I'm off to the job. Happy Saturday everyone!

Ugh good morning all

I didn't sleep until 5:30 this morning and only slept till 9 am because the weasel upstairs started sawing in his condo and walking stuff out to the dumpster.

Im exhausted but if I nap now,im afraid I won't sleep tonight..havent heard from the kids,but im sure Dan will be here this afternoon.hope everyone is enjoying this Memorial day weekend.its chilly here in Connecticut, 57 degrees and its almost June

Beth is there some small change you can make today that will start you on the road to where you want to be with your health. Improving your health is a marathon not a sprint.

M Agree not the chair for you. When you sit in a chair your knees should be at the same level or a bit higher than our hips. Chairs are often designed for men who have longer legs than we do. I learned in that posture class I took years ago the fall out for woman is they end up with hip issues because of sitting improperly. One solution is to have a foot stool to help with alignment if chair makes your knees fall below your hips. I readjusted my car seat to make this work too!

Still in mantenance Mornings 155-158. Night 157-160. I do get tempted every once in awhile to go back to my old ways. What stops me is how much better I feel and look eating the way I do. Still working on adding more water to my day, tart cherry juice, less meat, and less sugar. I know because of my kidneys I need to be careful adding too much protein and sugar to my diet. I notice with weight down I am better able to handle the heat too. In the past I would have had AC lower on during our last heat wave. I had it on less and at a higher setting.

Rita ~ Your new pup is so cute! Your experience with measles and hives must have been horrible. I had a case of shingles years ago and have not gotten the vaccination. Probably should!

Heather ~ I like your blue door among the white walls and the brick porch floor. It almost looks tropical.

Machka ~ I have a reclining wing back chair. I don't recline it and use a foot stool to prop my feet on. I like sitting up and not leaning back. I agree that some of the reclining chairs would be very uncomfortable for me with their curved backs.

Allie ~ Why in the world would the man above you do wood work at night. Can you complain to the management about it?

Clothes Sorting: I finally got my mother's and mother n law's donated to the Good Will. It was mostly winter coats and purses. I have a few tops that I need to donate because my torso shape has changed and they feel too tight.

Carol in Georgia

Weather is lovely this morning. There was so much traffic on hwy 2 going up into the mountains yesterday it was awful. Lots and lots of RVs. We had to take our old kitty, JJ to the vet to have her put down. She came here with me from SD 10 years ago. She was very old, about 18 and had developed thyroid problems. No matter how much we fed her she kept losing weight, even on medication. Will miss her.

Hoping to get some yard work done today. Need to cut down the dead bluebells and plant my petunias.

Everone take care, Sue in WA

hey peeps-

yesterday we walked to our local Red Robin so I could get my free birthday burger. They used to honor it for take out/to go but not anymore. We walked so we could walk off some calories on the way home. Today is one of my brothers birthday, tomorrow is mine. I realized that I only gained a pound on that Alaska cruise, I’m happy with that! Kirby leaves for Vegas on June 1st, I’m excited for him and to be alone for a week, just me and the kids, then when we come back, going to pismo again. For all we know, this may be yogi’s last trip. His bump on his side has gotten big. When we were in Washington , we used this service called peaceful passings where the vet will come to your home and put your pet down. I found that they have that service here too. When. The time comes that’s what we are going to do for yogi. It’s going to hit kirby really hard, I can tell. I have a vet appointment on the 2nd, I want to ask a few questions, I will record it so kirby will be able to hear what is said.

919919

Pip - Happy Birthday! I saw something where it's fun to give a biological age/age you feel. Will you be something like 66/21? Sorry to hear about Yogi. Nice that there's a business like that which makes house calls - there's one in my area too.

Sue - sorry about your kitty - wow, 18 is pretty old. You were a good cat mom to keep her going for so long. Yes the traffic on I-5 was already getting heavy yesterday too. My lunch date M said she drove on it a ways to get into town, she was going 75 and it was like she was standing still. I took the back roads.😉

Michele - I'd love to see a photo one of these days of your pool and ceramics you have out there. I think you posted one years ago. I know what you mean about carrying gas in the car. DH always did that and I was grateful I didn't have to ride in it. These days I use the Sube and have a tarp down to set the cans on so if there's a spill I can pull it out. Luckily I can nearly see the gas station from my house so it doesn't have time to slosh around much. Only filling them half full probably helps.

Flea - did the kids decide to take their trip after all? Is the creepy stepdad in jail?

Lisa - I forgot to mention your meatball recipe sounds a lot like mine. Great way to get a ton of very tasty, economical meals. The price of pork sausage has gone down quite a bit here recently. I've noticed when I eat in a restaurant these days, it seems the expected tip is now 20% - 30%? I remember when it was normally 15%. I'm not surprised your and Corey's breakfasts totalled $50.

Well, I just finished mowing. Really went after the blackberries and weeds under the power line. Only hit one large object, lol. Didn't damage a blade (I hope). I need to go inspect the mower deck though. It seemed to mow OK afterward. I'm sure the neighbors gave up having an afternoon nap - every pine cone I hit made a racket and I probably went through a thousand but there's no way I could rake them up, they were hiding in the grass.

I found out my friend Charlie got a new mower too - an ExMark. I'd never heard of it, maybe it's a commercial mower? When my Toro dies maybe I should look into something like that if I'm going to keep abusing mowers like I do.😁

I found out Winco has individually portioned frozen fish so I'll see what they have tomorrow. I missed the sale on black cod/sablefish at Safeway last week, darn. I love it - it's a great oily fish. I think flash frozen fish is better than fish that's been sitting in the case, even better if it was frozen on the ship. I'll be curious to see who the distributor is.

Time for a cup of tea and figure out my next plan of attack, lol. Maybe a nap first though.

Lanette 😁

SW WA State where it's a pleasant 76F right now.

So sorry to hear that Sue. We will have to do the same thing with our old grandma cat, Shiro- Same thing. She eats constantly but just is skin and bones. Dh isn't ready to have her put down but he is getting close. He has agreed that when we run through his latest order of pee pads that he will consider it. The order was 400 pads, we already had at least 200 here when he ordered. We go through SOOOO many of them and the washable ones, all because of her. We don't know exactly how old she is- she was a stray that showed up, stayed in our yard for years before we brought her in and that was over 5 yrs ago. Guessing she is at least 16-17. Weighs less that 6 lbs last time I weighed her
When she does pass away(he is hoping she will just pass in her sleep), we will finally be able to take a trip. We have a friend that will take care of the other cats. Her care is just toooooo much to ask anyone to handle, even though I pet sit for them three or four times a year and have for a long time, and we haven't had her take care of ours since the very beginning of covid which was our last trip.

Pip- hopefully you get good news from the vet and Yogi can stay with you longer

Lisa: The internet is a marvellous resource for questing minds, but one must results with sense and sensibility. I do use it quite a lot.

Machka: I know that feeling. It’s difficult to get rid of things that you feel that you might actually get into. However, after years of maintaining my weight, I have removed most of my larger sizes. Also, I tend to buy reasonable quality clothes, so they last quite a long time, although they’re not worth donating by the time I get rid of them. shoes and boots are quite another thing. I think I have more than a little bit of Imelda Marcus in me.

It’s bright and sunny with high Clyde at the moment. The forecast is for . Planning to do a little work in the garden if the weather holds dry. Then this afternoon we have planned a WhatsApp chat with .

Have a blessed Sunday, my dear friends.

🤗🤗🤗 and 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 for those who need them.

🙋‍♀️ céad míle fáilte to our newbies

☘️ Terri

I would add to Machka's helpful info, that it's good to have as few clothes as possible. I have pared my wardrobe down to not quite the bare minimum, but nearly. I love every single one of my clothes, and they reflect my style. Most of the stuff in most people's wardrobes is rarely worn, and just cluttering up space. If in doubt, throw it out!

I really enjoyed the jazz last night. The church it was in is the oldest in Brighton, 14th century, when it was a small fishing village called Brighthelmstone. There is a stone, carved, font there, from the same era. The band were good fun, a big ragged here and there, but they made a great noise. I, personally, would have liked a few more oldies, but they gave us a few. The singer had a good voice, but zero presence. But 'Night and Day' was wonderful. I am a sucker for a good tune. I did have a little cry at 'In the Mood', because it reminded me of my mother in the war, at 18 or 19, going to dances in London, when the bombs allowed. She adored dancing with a good partner.

Max seemed to enjoy it, and perked up at the piano solos. He is experimenting with jazz piano. John may take him to something else in the Brighton Festival. Edie mostly read her book, but was very attentive to the songs. Bea sat next to John and jigged about the whole time, but enjoyed herself. The drummer was female, as was the alto sax. The singer also played the trumpet!

So, a good evening. We went by Uber, and got good seats by being first in the queue. We came back on the bus. The family are right now on the ferry to the Isle of Wight. DDIL has a photo of us all on her phone, but hasn't sent it yet. John wore his pork pie hat, and looked great!

I had a bath this morning and all is good. I can feel the antibiotics are giving me thrush, but I do have some medication for that. I'll probably use a pessary tonight.

Lunch is Dim Sum. Dinner is halloumi curry. Yesterday, John was bowled over by my salmon pasta salad, and kept singing its praise. We put it down to the wonderful olive oil I use. I've bought my son some oil from the slopes of Mt Etna for his birthday next week. 😃 I'll be curious to taste it.

LLove to all, Heather UK xxxxxxxx

A bit blurry, but you get the general idea. Max's head in the way!

DDDIL was taking the photo.

John's hat was very popular!

Great fun.

Heather UK xxxxxxxx