50+ Women for the Month of April

I've discovered another way to lose weight...:grumble: :laugh: . I've been sick all weekend, which killed me since it was so beautiful, with a stomach virus and lost 2 lbs!!??!! Don't worry not the pig flu. Though i work at a hospital i'm going to avoid patient areas as best i can.

Morning All,

It's going to be 90 degrees here today. That is a record. It is usually 60 average. I'm going to the gym this morning after my school run. I will probably go see my daughter in laws flower garden after dinner. I'll get to visit with my other half of the family. Yesterday was softball with my oldest grand daughter. My hubby & I took her & her brother out for dinner. I did very well, Water, and a chicken salad wrap with coleslaw.

I have managed to yo-yo between 159-162 all week. I sure hope by Thursday I can say I am 159. I wanted to lose more but I think that was asking for to much.

Hope all have a great day.

Kathy

Hi everyone

I am so glad to be home and getting back into routine:bigsmile: . Yesterday I did 6 loads of laundry and got them all on the outside line to dry. So lots of exercise going up and down the basement steps and bending. I also got in a 75 minute brisk walk outside. It was a very warm 86 with very gusty winds blowing. In actuality it is a good thing that I have a bit of weight on me or I think I would have been blown away like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz!!! I am excited to say that I have dropped two+ lbs of the 5 that followed me home from the wedding:bigsmile:

Barbie -great job on dropping 3 lbs:happy: Keep up the great work, I know you can do it:flowerforyou: Both my husband I and love to go travelling and I like to take my laptop with me to stay in touch. Unfortunately this past week I didn't have wifi access so that wasn't great. What kind of RV do you have? We have a 5th wheel and have done quite a bit of camping in our own area but that is all going to change as my husband is retiring at the end of the summer and we will hit the camping trail. I can hardly wait:bigsmile:

mnichol--Sorry to hear that you were sick. Give yourself some extra love and attention. Sure is a hard way to drop pounds. Hang in there and feel better soon:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Zaza--I know what you mean about getting away for awhile and breaking with our routine. Always seems to throw me off too. Good idea about the lawn mower. I have to tell you that with the health problems that I have had that I didn't think that I could do any yard work but I started off slow and have gradually built myself up to accomplish more. This past winter was the first time in 15 years that I was strong enough to shovel snow and I did it. So just take it slow, injuries are no fun. The wedding was very stressful, we tried to remain positive and upbeat but it was very trying. We were never so glad to be home:happy: The flight both ways was uneventful, the weather and resort were nice. We only seen my son and his wife and other guests basically at the service and a little after that day and weren't included in anything they planned for the remainder of the week. So my hubby and I made the absolute best of it (even though our feelings were bruised) and enjoyed each other's company. Thanks for asking, I appreciate that

Kathy--sounds like you are doing well. Gosh, I can't even remember when I was the weight you are. Just hang in there as I know it gets more challenging as you get closer to your final goal. You can do it:happy:

Well all you wonderful ladies I hope that you all have a wonderful day. Remember to make yourself a priority:happy: :happy:

Marie

Hey Marie - sorry you had bruised feelings:frown: but i think it's very cool that you decided to find the postivie side and have a good time with your hubby. My older boy has been married 4 almost 2 years and although we're still very close it's been a hard thing (but also the RIGHT thing) that his wife is the center of his life. On his first deployment i knew every little thing he was doing and thinking - this time i find lots of stuff out from his wife 'cause he tells her all. So - a little bruised feelings (not that i would ever tell either one of them) here as well. We just need to take care of US i guess! Anyway - glad you're home - sounds like you got LOTS of exercise in! AND already lost 2 pounds!!!!!! Awesome. have a great day.

elli

Thanks Elli

I really appreciate your kinds words...it helps knowing that others understand what you are going through. Things don't always go the way that we want and knowing when to let go of it sure helps the healing process. What I know for sure is that we aren't always given a choice in what we are given but we are given the choice in how we feel about it. Another positive thing about our trip was that my hubby went to the fitness centre with me and worked out. He didn't gain anything while we were away and is so proud of himself. as I am of him too Seems like the exercise bug is rubbing off on him and I am delighted to have a workout buddy:bigsmile:

Hope you have a great day and thanks again for your support

Marie

Kathy - the good news is you DID drag yourself back to the gym! So kudos to you for THAT! Quit beating yourself up. You're FINE! Thanks too for your input on the mamas of boys thoughts. I'm lucky too in that i love my daughter in law AND my "un daughter in law"!

Marie - you're more than welcome - that's what we're here for - to support each other - in ALL walks of life! Nice that hubby worked out with you! See - this healthy lifestyle is catchy! Very cool!!!!!!

It's still cold here today, but the rain quit. If it's not TOO muddy i'll walk the dogs after work and look for some asparagus - yum! THEN go to the gym.

Have a great day everybody!

oh WOW Esther, Marie, Kathy - thank you guys SO much for this mother/son talk. I've been so depressed on and off about this...........this is helping me so much! I know it's the natural progression of things - but it's just SO hard. Especially with him over "there". I love you guys. thanks!

I set up my pedometer at lunch today. From 1:00 til 4:30 I walked 6737 steps, 2.5 miles and burned 237 calories. Does this sound about right? I have never used a good pedometer before.

Becky, I've been using a pedometer for a long time. I'm not sure I set up the length of my stride correctly and I keep forgetting to try to adjust it so I don't take the distance too seriously. Also the calories burned is partly based on weight so since I think I weigh more than you do, I would likely burn more calories walking the same number of steps.

So

---

after looking at my pedometer for today and doing some arithmetic to get a similar number of steps, I got 6300 :bigsmile: steps, 3.3 miles, 292 calories.

What I try to focus on is trying to walk at least as many every day or more. :bigsmile:

I love my pedometer. It tells me that I'm putting forth a lot of effort.:bigsmile:

Enjoy:bigsmile:
Barbie

Since we all seem to be talking about our relationship with our grown children, I'll add my two cents. I too know what it is like to have "bruised feelings" where they are concerned. The letting go process has been the hardest part of parenting for me. Life was so much easier when the messes they made could be cleaned up with soap and water!

My son has always been closer to me; his sister to her father. She is 26 now. I had a very close relationship with my mother, but since she was about 16 she seems to be embarrassed by everything I do or say. The last time I went to see her, I had to stay at a friend's because she "didn't have room" for me at her condo. The only time she calls is when she needs something.

My son, who is 28, and I are very close, but we don't talk NEARLY AS MUCH since he married on New Year's Eve. I know this is the way it is supposed to be... Leave and cleave... but I still miss hearing his voice. He got orders and he and his fiance married without either her folks or us present, so she would be a spouse and have full military rights and benefits when he deployed. I understood the whys, but missing the wedding was the straw that broke the camel's back following my first holiday season without both my parents, and I fell into a deep depression. That's just not something a mother ever expects will happen.... missing their child's wedding. Before the marriage, he called multiple times a day. Now we do good to hear from him once a week. Funny how marriage does that. But we love his wife and she and I have a great relationship so far.

Since we are venting here... Ill go ahead and confess I am really dreading Mother's Day this year. It won't be my first MD without my Moma, but it will be my first one without either of my kids around. Hubby's family has a big celebration planned, but I don't want to go. Of course I will go anyway, but it will be very awkward because I'll be the only one there without a parent or child present. So those of you who are pray-ers, pray for me.

Enough of that! Its a good thing I ate great and had a good workout YESTERDAY because today life kept getting in the way. I was only able to walk half as far as usual and went over my calories for the first time in weeks and weeks. Tomorrow I plan to get back on track.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: How did it get so late? :yawn: :yawn: I know, it was the 30 minutes on the exercise bike and a lot of conversation about the million things we still have to pack in the motorhome.

Becky----congrats on going to the gym even if it did get cut short. When people rave about having a workout buddy I think about situations like yours when your workout buddy doesn’t want to stay as long as you do. When Jake comes to the dog park we walk slowly for 20 minutes. When I go without him, I walk at a moderate pace for 40-60 minutes.

Barb---it would be great to meet you along the way but it won’t work this time, but as we drive I-205 around Vancouver I’ll be thinking of you. I never thought I’d be RVing. We started a year after I retired. If Jake weren’t such a great RV driver, we’d never be doing it. As for the gas prices, we say we’re spending our children’s inheritance. Your persistence has paid off by not being as big an eater in a restaurant. Good luck on your walking. It’s the best exercise and inexpensive and available in your neighborhood.

Mnichol---sorry you’ve been sick and glad it’s not something too serious.

Zaza—wow, you have been busy. Your body will thank you for the return to normal. It’s good to hear from you again. Good luck with the eye doctor. Enjoy the lawn mowing. Is your yard flat? Mowing on hills is a lot harder.

Kathy---I’m amazed at how well you fit in exercise and healthy eating with all those family obligations all the time.

Elli----As much as I love traveling, I am always sad to leave home. Two years ago we were on the road over 120 days including one 99 day trip. We vowed to never do that again.

Marie---how great that you could hang your laundry outside. I lived somewhere for about six months where I could do that and I loved it. We’ve had our share of family events with Jake’s kids where we were grudgingly included and have developed the hide of the rhinoceros so we don’t get our feelings hurt so much. Our problems are different because of Jake being divorced from the mother of his kids. His kids, especially his daughter, are much closer to their mother. Our May RV trip is to visit the kids and grandkids and we are making plans for ourselves so we don’t sit around waiting to be included. We have a 30 foot motorhome with one slide. We used to have a 5th wheel but the set up was too hard for Jake so we traded it in for the motorhome which levels itself automatically. We’ve only been RVing for four years since we retired. I’ll look forward to hearing about your travel adventures.

Esther----what kind of trailer do you have. How great that you’ll be on the road this summer. Yosemite sounds like a great destination.

Susan, thanks for sharing all that about your family. The changes are hard. My mom has been gone since 1991 and I still find myself reaching for something in a store to buy for her. Treat yourself well for mothers’ day . You deserve it even if there’s no one there to do it for you. Last year we had driven 700 miles in our motorhome to visit Jake’s kids and because their mother was in town, they “fit him in” for an early breakfast at a coffee shop to celebrate Fathers’ Day.

It has been a joy to spend this time with all of you. You sustain and encourage me. I need to get to bed soon. I woke up much too early this morning and as a result came home from the dog park exhausted and crawled into bed and took a two hour nap.

Pleasant dreams :yawn: :yawn:
Barbie

Hi-
All this talk about RVs has me thinking. While I don't drive on the highway, but my husband does. I wonder if we could survive an RV tour. One of my best friends is taking her 3 kids (20 - 25) for the first time this summer on RV trip. Will be about a week at Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion. I'll see how it goes for them and then maybe I'll see about trying it, after peppering you all with specific questions if we do decide to try it.
Have a great day everyone. I love Spring!
Zaza
PS Susan, I will certainly be thinking about you on Mother's Day.

Last night had to be the worst night of my life.

I was driving home from my sons. I noticed three dirt bikes a few cars behind me. I noticed them because one of my grand sons has a dirt bike. Well as I was making a left turn I heard one of the dirt bikes rev up his motorbike. While I was turning, I looked in my side mirror the motorbike was doing a wheelie heading straight towards me on my left side as I was making the turn. He hit my truck. I stopped immediately. When got out of the truck. The bike was down on the road. He then picked up his bike and tried to leave the scene of the accident by pushing his bike towards railroad tracks. A lady who saw the accident said he went under my rear tire. I was so upset you can not believe. The police and ambulance came. I stayed with my truck while the police were talking to him. I was in total shock. They convinced him to go to the hospital. I just can't believe what happened. The police said it was not my fault. The young man was totally at fault. All I can think of, he was so into making his wheelie that he did not see I was making a left turn. He just wanted to pass on the cars. It is just a terrible thing to go through even when its not my fault.

I hope you can understand what I typed my hands are still shaking.

I am so sick I just can't eat or think.

So that is my mess of the day.

Kathy

back again
Kathy...so sorry about the kid who ran into your truck!! And yes the shock makes you shake for hours. Be nice to yourself today and a little exercise might actually help you calm down and work all those stress hormones out.

Heather...isn't it hard when you realize that you are no longer the #1 in their lives. Be brave.:bigsmile: And I'm sorry you will be missing your Mom. We're at an age (I'm afraid) where we are beginning to lose the preceding generation. That makes us the oldest! Help! That's why I'm determined to get healthier:happy: :happy:
Good Wednesday, Diane

With all this talk of Mother's Day I thought I'd share what my son wrote in my card last year... An old Irish saying he found somewhere that really touched my heart...

"A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his Mother the longest."

So ladies, in the end we have the most love from our sons!

Kathy, I'd still be shaking too if that happened to me. ((((Big HUG)))))

Today was one of those day it would have been VERY easy to not exercise. But I trudged on and FORCED myself to my strength training DVD anyway. I am able to put SO much more energy to it on Mondays! Wonder why that is.... I normally do it first thing after I pick up the house on M,W,F. Today I didn't get to it until after 3:oo p.m. Talk about timing, I was just finishing up when hubby popped by for a few minutes on the way to a job. That's one reason we bought this land; it is near where he works so he can pop in on the way to or from a job site easily.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone is doing on their goals tomorrow. I'm thinking ANY progress is progress though.