WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2012

Happy 2012 ladies. I always like leap years. It's like we get a free day.

Let's all try to have the best year we can,

Love to you all. I'm off to the gym!

Amanda x

Simple carbs are things that turn to sugar (in the body) fast. Complex carbs take more time to digest and therefore don't play such havoc with insulin.

Most of the "white" things are simple carbs - sugar, white bread, white rice, flour. While brown rice, whole wheat flour and whole grain cereals are complex. They take longer to digest, make you feel full longer and don't start you on the roller coaster of insulin up/insulin down. I can never remember which way the glycemic index goes, but it is basically a measure of how simple or complex the carb is. That whole diet is based on this concept.

For most of us, if we avoid sugar and eat the more complex grains and vegetables we do better in both how full we feel for how long and how fast we lose weight.

I forgot white potatoes. They should be in the white list above - duh!

Love to join your group. I was 50 last year (2011) and had promised myself I would not be Fat and 50. Unfortunately, I was and am,. but more importantly I am unfit and unhealthy too! So, I start 2012 with a clean slate and some new focus and goals to make sure that 2012 will be the begining of a healthier, fitter and slimmer life.

Look forward to posting with you.

Jxx

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :drinker:

thank you barbie, for starting the thread, love the graphics!!:flowerforyou:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!welcome all newcomers...

i too have been thinking of goals for 2012, and specially january....i find that i go overbroad with foods, though i will stay within my calorie range my choices are not the best...so for january i will keep sweets to a treat(once a week)and find a healthy subsitute for my evening dessert...or wash my teeth after dinner and not have anything(i did this for a while last year and it really helped)but as soon as i taste something sweet my desire for the sugars just goes wild and difficult to manage...
as for exercise i average 75-90 a day (i use cardio as an antidepressant)so i need to workout daily...so exercise is not a problem, as for weights i do weights 2 times a week, but i need to start doing my PT exercises for my lower boby also 2 times a week, and a yoga class 1-2 times a week...
i was reading some the post i totally understand, because i have experienced the go, go, go feeling and then nothing...i was there last year...i had started MFP in aug 2010, did very well until jan 2011, i had lost 28lbs, but in january my logging and exercises were gone, it took me til late may to get back on the wagon, by then i was gain more than half back....
something i did learn from last time was to start eating well as soon as possilbe , so i did, on the 26th i was back on track, and also the exercise, i kept exercising though did make adjustments in the time.....

something that has helped as well is that found this group(i had not been part of the broads), i am so blessed to be able to express myself, a worry or concern and have you all give advise and support, thank you ..also i joined a few challenges....which were fun and make you accoutable....have a wonderful day all

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

PS..sorry for the long post:blushing:

I would like to in on this too. I am at the point of trying to maintain. I know I have to still work my plan here to do so. I need to work with weights more. I have a physical job so I know I need to keep up on my muscles. It doesn't get easier as we get older. I just turned 55 in december. I started here because I just got tired of the yo-yoing. Here's to a new year.

Hi there
Altho not quite 50 (I have just over 3 years to go) you did say any women could join so here goes!
I've been overweight all of my live and have yoyo dieted for what seems like forever! I've been told I need to have a hysterectomy which they wont do until I loose weight so I am trying to motivate myself to loose some weight as at the end of the day I want a quality of life that I can enjoy and I'm fed up of being in pain.

I have an ideal weight in mind and thats what I've set as my target. It means loosing a collosal 177lbs which is more than half my body weight and at this point I dont know if thats achievable but I'd like to think I could give it a bloomin' good go! However if I find I seem to settle at something around that, say a stone heavier then I'd still be happy.
I know this is going to take some time and that I need to be realistic as to how long its going to take me to achieve it. I dont want to set myself unrealistic targets but I think 14lb in the first month seems fair, anything else is going to be a bonus.
I also need to educate myself in regards to what I eat as I've eaten a lot of junk food for so long now. So I'm going back to the basics and I'm going to read up on healthy eating and how food affects us etc.

I'd be interested in knowing about any recommended reading, suggestions for websites etc. Anything you've tried and its worked, or not for that matter too!

Here's to a new year and a new me!!!

Happy New Year all you lovelies!
New year, new check register. New month, Boniva taken. New day, fresh start. I am so grateful to be alive, healthier than last year, married to Joe, blessed with the General and Dixie and all you wonderful gals! My cup runneth over.:drinker:

December plus: Got down on the mat every day for the past week for 30+ minutes of chiro stretches and PT knee exercises.
December delta: After getting back to old tickerweight, the rum balls triggered a holiWEEKEND and I'm up again. Tried to start an aerobic conditioning program to gear up for snow showing class next Saturday, over did it, old knees flared up and now I'm benched.:mad: : No stairs.:explode: Knee brace when walking or dancing. :grumble: Snowshoeing next weekend won't happen.:sad:

For January goals, I'm starting to see how clinging to non-essentials eats up my time and energy. Gonna try to let go, at least once in awhile, of being AlwaysRight, of All-or-Nothing, of Perfect-or-Not-At-All. Good enough COULD be!
Who knows, I might even get rid of some stuff?

Thanks Barbie for starting us off every month and your humor and wisdom.
Viv, bravely done! You inspired me to make the ticker reflect the reality. Later today.
Welcome Dominique, jxx, dandeion, wildtrip, pholbert, december child, kazindahous Congrats for beginning! Start with something do-able, like logging every lick, bite and sip (thanks Mary msh). It will be a real eye-opener. AFTER logging has become habit, pick another tiny behavior change. Maybe making the water goal, or hitting the protein target. The idea is to break the cycle of failure/depression/emotional eating by building a string of tiny, repeatable successes. You'll see that most of us try, stumble, and encourage each other to get back on track right away. :ohwell:
dominque 10 inches, WOW! :flowerforyou:
dandelion, my good friend had gastric bypass surgery last Dec and has been very successful. BUT to be honest, if I foreswore sugar, white flour, alcohol, limited portion size to 3 oz and exercised vigorously six days a week as she has/does, I wouldn't need the expensive, invasive and permanent procedure. Just my 2 cents. We all must choose what works for us. Every body is different.
pam thanks for the toothbrushing tip!
pholbert "physical job"?
Faye my Uncle Art used to sing "Apple Pie without cheese... is like a kiss without a squeeze!" I'd start running to him at "cheese" and at "kiss" jump into his arms for the big hug.
Michele, why no fowl at New Years? Mama used to eat pickled herring (yuck) :sick: and sometimes served black-eyed peas. Some strange Scandinavian/Southern superstion combination.:bigsmile:
That is it! I'm letting go of the rest of the monster December reply post. Amanda, Kathie, winw and everyone else, I'm reading all the posts, but "letting go" of the feeling I must respond to everyone, every time. That feeling is a carry over from when my mama required a response every time she paused for breath. Guess she wanted to make sure I was paying attention. I AM paying attention, but maybe I just don't have anything constructive to add. Thanks for understanding.


Hugs to ALL,


Barbara, who WILL be size 10 one day
January: mat work and let go a little every day.
2012: dance more, bark less and CHECK IN!!!

how do you join?

Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to the newcomers!

Barbie: Thanks for the new thread.

I'm not very good at remembering names, either, so I've written some down for responses. Here's a weird thought from my sometimes weird brain: I don't want to insult anyone by NOT commenting on their post. People-pleasing?? LOL!!! I'm definitely a work in progress, and it's progress, not perfection!

Dominique: Please share your secret for staying motivated to exercise.

Probably my biggest goal for 2012 is to exercise consistently. I'm thinking that one of the things that has put me off is how heavy I am. Also, I started having trouble with shortness of breath on exertion about six months after I'd stopped smoking cigarettes, which was QUITE annoying. But, I'd gained 35 pounds in those six months, so it was understandable. So, I guess some of it is fear of being out of breath. I'm not very fond of sweating either...

Dandelion: In a period of 6-7 weeks after I first joined MFP late September 2011, I lowered my A1C from 5.9 to 5.7, just because I was logging my food and making better choices.

Kazisindahous: Interesting nick! I had my hysterectomy when I was 50 The recovery was longer than I expected. Amazing how weak the body can get when body parts are removed! But I'm SO glad I'll never have to deal with a tampon again! Being put into instant menopause was also a surprise.

To all of you who deal with hot flashes: try the herb black cohosh. It was a life-save for me. It took about a week but significantly reduced the night sweats. I was recently put on a medication that causes night sweats and it helped with that, too.

A book recommendation: I've mentioned this one before. "The Self Compassion Diet" by Jean Fein. This is a truly wonderful "toolkit" for changing your eating habits in a positive, loving, nurturing way. No food plans here. Just options like cognitive behavior techniques, visualization, and group support. It's what encouraged me to find all of you. Lots of scientific evidence in this one by a very reputable woman in the medical and weight loss community.

Those of you who've been around know that I'm in 12-step recovery Fifteen + years of sobriety from marijuana (my drug of choice) and alcohol through the program of AA. Now I have 10 months, 3 weeks of being nicotine free, thanks to Nicotine
Anonymous. I've tried Overeaters Anonymous, and I think a few of you participate, but for me it's enough of a challenge to be working the 12 steps in two program simultaneously. Yet, Dr. Fein wrote about the importance of support groups and I know from my experience that's how I've stayed sober and "smober!"

I was pretty consistent about logging my food daily on MFP and posting somewhat regularly until the second week of December. I think I last had about 70 days in a row. Then I had some crises going on around me that caused me a bit of stress. I didn't drink or drug. I didn't pick up a cigarette (a miracle!). I always say I have one "disease with many manifestations." So that left food and compulsive spending as my escape routes. Having recently cleaned up from my last financial splurge, I didn't want to go down that route again. That left food for comfort.

The first week or so I would come in here and just do a "quick calorie add" that was over the daily goal, just to keep logging in. Then that slipped, too. I've gained back four of the eight pounds I'd lost.

Reading the posts here helps to motivate me. I know I'm not alone. I hear my story in your stories. Looking at your "loss meters" gives me hope that I can do it, too. Best of all, MFP is FREE!!!! Although it does take an investment of time.

Speaking of which, I've now spent too much time on here and need to get my day in gear. I've been told by some of you not to apologize for my long posts. I just feel a bit guilty because I know it takes time to read what everyone has written and I try to keep my PC time within normal limits because I can be addicted to that, too!!

To close, my 2012 goal is consistency in treating my body with the loving care it deserves, which involves good food choices, exercise, and accountability.

Wishing you all the healthiest of new years.

Beth

Welcome 2012!

Barbie, thanks for starting the new thread.

2011 was a weight disaster for me. I put10 pounds back on since May.

For 2012 I want to get back to logging all my foods, weighing in every week and back to exercising. The lack of exercise has done a world of hurt (literally) to my shoulders which are both arthritic. I am living on Alieve twice a day right now and it is going to take some time to get back to where I was. Since I've gotten there once before, I know I can do it again.

Congratulations to all who met their goals and are on track towards your goals. You are all an inspiration to me.

To those struggling and/or new to MFP - I really feel that MFP helped me loose what I have and will help me get to my goal. Unfortunately,life gets in the way and I forgot to take time for myself since May. I am just going to take one day at a time and stick to the basics of logging and exercising. I know it works and every calorie and every minute burning them counts.

Happy New Year to all!

Jeannie

Good morning, Happy New Year to all - love the "holiWEEKEND" line haha that's adorable. Came across this topic this morning and thought I'd join in on the fun, it's good reading about what everyone does and how they feel about stuff, we're all kind of in the same boat with this aging deal and of course striving to stay active and be healthy -- yay for all of us! -- let's get out those oars and start paddling. "Heave ho and here we go", a friend just said that to me, perfect 2012 motto.

I'm 57 and have come a million miles from where I was when I joined at the end of 2010, I've kept a little journal on my MFP blog this year -- I was in a horrible state of pain and basically forced myself into doing something about it. Long story short, a year later the sciatic nerve pain is GONE along with 50 pounds of flab. (Farewell o flab gosh it's great to know you're gone for good)

I've gained so much strength from walking and stretching, and a ton of knowledge about nutrition. Of course last night I kept digging in the the dark choclate but that's ok once in awhile and it was probably better for me than cream puffs or decadent desserts like the choc mousse layer cake that I used to make on New Years Eve and yep, you got it, ate too much of. As in Way.

I can actually bake a loaf of bread now and not eat half of it right when it comes out of the oven. Matter of fact that's on my agenda for today since the last loaf of bread I bought was stale so I'll turn it into bread crumbs. I do love to cook.

Planning to lose another 15 lbs before summer, so every day from here on out is super important, and I mean for the rest of my life! Loving the way I feel now at 175 lbs. but I have these horrific haunches that need to dissipate. I swear I'm going to start jumping rope to see if I can bounce those chunks off my thighs.

2nd thing on my agenda for today is to clean out the T-shirt & tank top drawer in my dresser. It's so full that I can't cram one more thing into it, and I haven't cleaned it out since last January, 50 lbs ago. Ya think there'll be some huge clothes in there? Oh boy, another big bag of stuff to donate. It's a good day to do that.

A couple of pics here, celebrating 50 lost -- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/422248-50-lbs-yay-big-diff-pics

Thanks for getting this topic under way, sure is fun reading and writing. Happy Jan 1 !!

jb xo

Happy 2012 to everyone.

The scale today says I am now back at my original Dec 2011 mfp weigh-in which is positive as that means I have taken off the weight I gained from the emotional eating. :drinker:

My elderly step father had surgery mid December however they found the cancer has spread to most of his major organs, so he is now home with my mother to spend whatever time he has until he must be moved into palliative care. It’s interesting to feel the mix of sadness that his life stage is where it is and also relief that there are finally answers. :huh:

Unfortunately my dear widower friend hasn’t started to feel any relief from his latent grief so I will be working very hard these next few weeks to move to that place that allows me to grieve the loss of my relationship with him while hopefully keeping the emotional eating in check.

Today and tomorrow will be spent going through the files, purging papers and shredding anything I don’t need to keep for taxes and such. Probably sounds less than inspired, but it always feels good to me to start off the new year that way.

Barbie – thanks so much for starting the thread(s) and for the cute graphics

Viv, Kathie, Pam, Beth, Jeannie – I’m with you there – consistency (and self care) can elude me as well. I’ve been great at cutting myself off from my feelings, so I am planning to spend more time checking in with what’s going on inside to see if I can pick up on the differences between those times I am doing great and other times when I experience that fizzle.

Welcome Dominique, karmajules, dandelion. Wildtrip, pholbert, Decemberchild, kaz, wickedcricket, grumpers - I am really new to this thread and to mfp, and I am overwhelmed and so grateful for generosity of support that I have received in that brief time. Please know that you have found a wonderful group of people!!! :flowerforyou:

Michele – where do you get the shiratake noodles from – I cannot find them for the life of me in western Canada and have wanted to try them out having heard the good results that people get eating them. I do hope everything goes well with your furry friend Bonnie.

2011 has been year of much gained and some deep losses for me, and my goal is for 2012 is the same – although the gains will be love, joy, abundance and many many new friends and the losses will be pounds on the scale and inches around the middle :happy:

To everyone --thank you for being here and I wish you all the best of everything you desire 2012 to bring into your lives. :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Happy Healthy 2012 to everyone.
Thanks again Barbie for keeping us going. You are awesome.
Welcome to all the newcomers.
Its a beautiful morning here in the PNW I'm going horseback riding.
Goals for the year. Some form of exercise every day.
Log my food daily. Don't scold myself for screwing up, because I'm not
perfect.
Joyce

Happy New Year to you all!

I won't try to reply to everyone but I sure enjoy reading your posts and appreciate the insights to your lives with all the joys and challenges. Thank you for sharing.

I stayed up until about 12:01 last night, long enough to say Happy New Year to my boys. I have a bottle of Cava in the cooler but did not open it, mostly because I had already finished logging food & didn't have any slack in the count for booze! I considered having a glass and then counting it as part of today (the first) instead of yesterday, but that hinted at some really serious self-delusion, so I just went to bed instead. See what a good influence you all are on me?

Pam, can you explain more about "cardio as antidepressant"? Did you switch from medication to exercise?

What's a shiratake noodle?

Put on my workout clothes as soon as I got out of bed, so no excuses today. The gym opens at noon, we'll be there.

Hasta pronto,

Nancy

Hi, everyone and Happy New Year. I'm not quite 50 - will be in March though so I'll sneak in early.

In many ways 2011 was a fabulous year. What I learned though: I used food to manage my anxiety and without the carb fixes my anxiety ran amok. Just started on anti-anxiety meds last week and am really hoping they won't cause me to put weight back on. Sigh. It's an imperfect world.

2012 goal - to get these last 7 pounds off before my 50th birthday March 7. After that I might shoot for 164 which is a "normal" BMI for me, but I might not. 175 is the weight I've dreamed of achieving my entire adult life. This is the first time I've even made it under 225.