40+ Club

There is a really inexpensive help for arthritis in the knees that has really helped me since I was 25.
Knox Gelatin, sold in the grocery store with the Bullion Cubes.
Mixed in either hot or cold drinks it helps build up the cartilage in joints, helping them feel tremendously better. You need to take it for a few days for it have some good effects, but it has helped me a lot for the past 25 years.

Welcome Stacie....I know that you will not be ignored here. And we are all getting older and having some of the same problems.

I remember the Knox gelatin for nails. I wanted my mom to buy me some but she wouldn't. I have also heard that vinegar is good for the joints.

I agree with InTheMoney that you should have good shoes. They can make all the difference in the world.

Morning everybody!

Swissmiss, I hope everything goes well at the doctor. Keep us posted.

Welcome StayCee! I understand your frustrations about losing weight. Did you/have you changed your diet significantly or just cut back? Are you drinking plenty of water? I ask because I'm curious that you say you feel bloated, and that could be due to dietary changes or a lack of water, which would be pretty easy to correct.

One of the reasons I think I might be able to maintain my weight right now is that when I started this current weight loss regime back in January, I didn't significantly alter my diet. I just cut out the crap I shouldn't have been eating in the first place, and then cut back on some things to take the calories down. But what I eat on a day-to-day basis is pretty much what I've always eaten, and I continued to feel fine. For instance, I like a breakfast of peanut butter and jelly on toast. Some would say that isn't the best bang for my buck because PB is so high in calories, but it is what I like in the morning. If I were making egg whites and oatmeal everyday, I know that would be temporary because I really want PB&J toast. So I made the PB&J toast work for me within my calorie allowance. It makes me feel like I'm still eating normally, and I know it is something I can do forever.

As both singfree and alf indicated, I think the biggest adjustment I've had to make (and continue to make) is realizing that exercise doesn't give me a free pass to eat full portions of anything. I've just really had to learn (and continue to learn) that I don't need nearly as much food as I thought I needed. Yesterday I attended a catered luncheon. On the surface, the lunch seemed pretty harmless. It was a turkey croissant sandwich with a side of pasta salad and some fruit. Well, after doing some careful calculations, I figured that plate of food had over 1000 calories on it (mayo, butter, cheese, etc). I ate half the sandwich and the fruit and had plenty to eat. But if I weren't counting the calories, I probably would have eaten the whole thing because, again, it looked pretty harmless and, quite honestly, not like an over abundance of food. But changing how I look at food and knowing how much I need to eat (only about 500 calories a meal on average) has been the absolute best thing for me. I hate to waste food like I did yesterday, but I also have to remember I'm not the one who asked for a 1000+ calorie lunch to be served to me either.

So my thoughts are give yourself some time, figure out what you want to eat (within reason of course) and what makes you feel good, and make that work for you within a reasonable calorie allowance.

The other day I read on a message board forum about The Biggest Loser that a change in lifestyle takes practice, and that is how I look at it now. I'm practicing at my new lifestyle and, eventually, it will become a second habit for me (I hope!). I admit to having good days and bad days (because the realization of how little I need to eat really hits hard when thinking about things like Christmas time!), but, ultimately, I'm coming to realize I'm on the right path and just because most everything around me contradicts that path I'm on (like in food portions and calories in foods served at some places) doesn't mean it isn't the right path.

Moving on...today I'm doing 55 minutes of back and biceps. Yikes! I'm still sore from my chest/shoulder/tricep workout on Saturday, so this should be interesting. But I'm looking forward to it. If I have time, I might do a short (20 minute) session of HIIT after the weights because I feel like I want to get my blood flowing today. I'm pretty low on energy right now, but I go through this every 90 days or so, usually close to changes in the season so it is hardly surprising. I think a little high impact will be the best thing for me. I'm scheduled to get my HRM on Friday (yay!), and then I can figure out how much I'm burning during these workouts, and maybe I'll feel comfortable getting my calories up to the 1600-1800 range (where I think they will ultimately fall for maintenance). I'm looking forward to that.

Hope everybody has a good day.

StiringWendel...at least you are having the higher calorie peanut butter in the morning. That is better than in the evening. I am trying to get my biggest meal in the morning.

psilva...You will be alright. Just try to remember that if you have an event coming up where you will be eating more to plan for it. Happy birthday, in advance. The liver does have a large job when it comes to burning fat. If you are having trouble with it then you may have trouble losing. Let's hope that the test will help get it straightened out.

Bad news..I am having surgery again on May18. The doctor has to fix what wasn't done quite right the first time. I am having an ultrasound done before that to see why I am having pain.

Thanks for the welcome!!! :happy: I am still feeling a little frustrated, but am putting my anger about my weight into trying to make better food choices. Sort of like, "Okay, body, I'll show YOU who's boss!"

So, I'm taking baby steps in making these changes. My downfall is my emotions. I tend to eat for different reasons:

Stress: ("oh, I'll just grab this and eat it because I don't have time to deal with figuring out a good
food choice").

Sad/Mad: ("I deserve to eat bad today because I'm upset anyway and it will make me feel better")

Happy: ("Wow! It's a GREAT day....let's get something fun to eat to celebrate!!")

I know I need to do other things to deal with these emotions, but it's hard. I'm also an at home mom, so it's easy to be bad when you are alone and food is within reach. ESPECIALLY when I'm out running errands and running around that it seems I'll grab fast food.

I also "justify" why I can eat something bad. Like I'll say, "Oh, I'll eat Taco Bell for lunch and not eat much for dinner". I get REAL good at justification!

So mostly, I'm an emotional eater and need to get that in check. I also need to work on two other things. I tend to look at other women wishing I was shaped like them or remember being thinner and shaped like them. Then when I knock myself back into reality I see that they are probably in their 20's or early 30's. I am really bad at comparing myself to other women. An acquaintance of mine was about the same size as me. Maybe a little heavier. Well, she just had gall bladder surgery a year ago and has gotten really thin (not gross thin...a nice weight) and I get SO jealous I can't do that. The second thing I'm bad at is weighing every morning and not seeing my weight budge after cutting back on calories and then I give up. Get angry. And beat myself up for it.

Am I talking too much??? I just have so much pent up inside. Thanks for listening......WHEW! :sad:

Morning all. I've lost a bit of weight this week.....after gaining 2 lbs of what I thought was water weight earlier this week. I'm down to 116.9, three pounds below my goal. I feel good, so I'm happy right now. I'm anxious to get my HRM today so I feel more comfortable in this maintenance mode I'm supposed to be in right now.

I'm starting my second week of my second STS cycle today be re-doing the chest/shoulder/tricep workout I did last Saturday. It's a killer 65 minute workout. Each of the workouts I did this week from this new cycle made me sore, so I guess Cathe Friedrich was right when she said this plan would 'shock' my body. I was also incredibly tired and hungry after doing the first three workouts, but I felt better yesterday. I'm curious how I feel after today's workout.

StayCee, I so hear you about emotional eating. I've been doing alot of reading and listening to audiobooks since I started this last round of weight loss in January, trying very hard to change the way I view food (I want to look at it as fuel for my body, not fuel for my soul). I've come to the decision that the reason I am an emotional eater is that I've fallen prey to marketers and advertisers. Seriously. There are so many images of food associated with emotions (people having fun eating pizza or in restaurants like TGIFs, chocolate shown as a decadent indulgence designed to reward or spoil a person, etc) that it is no wonder that so many people eat emotionally because those images, more than the images of food as nutrition, are the one most people come to associate with their food choices. I finally feel like I'm able to turn off most of those images in my head now (and my associated thinking like 'I deserve chocolate today because today has sucked') because I'm beginning to recognize them for what they are.

But what I'm left with...still....are the cravings. Those have nothing to do with my emotions that I can tell. I can be sitting there, very happily and peacefully reading a book that has no mention of food, and I'll suddenly be craving a piece of pizza like crazy. I don't get it. What I don't know is if, over time, those cravings will diminish or not. In other words, I don't know if the odd indulgence into some of those foods I crave but probably should never eat (like french fries) would cure the craving or would actually create more cravings. Any ideas from anybody?

duffy, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed your week. Keep us posted on what the neurosurgeon says. I hope you can continue to run.

Hope everybody has a good day and enjoys their weekend!