WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2012

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.

Hi everyone and a Happy New Year to you all. I am a 68-year-old widow who lives in a very rural mountain area of Montana. Currently it is very icy out, therefore, I hesitate to go walking. But, I did purchase a recumbent stationary bicycle last year and am working out on it in the mornings along with some 8 lb free weights for my arms.

Don't know if anyone else out there suffers from hypothyroidism, but I do (Hashimoto's thyroiditis). In addition, I had a total hysterectomy at age 27 and ever since then I've felt like a spayed dog! I want to remain self-sufficient and independent up to the end. That is my motivation to get my weight down and remain healthy. I have a large organic vegetable garden that I maintain all summer and enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, snowshoeing, and gardening.

Luckily, I don't have a sweet tooth and I think I eat a healthy diet, but I do have a problem with weight. My German mother was a large, heavy woman and both my brother and sister are overweight. It is very frustrating when one is fighting genetics along with hypothyroidism. It is not always a simple thing of burning more calories than what you take in...

I welcome any suggestions. Good luck to you all.

Hello, I would love to be part of this...I am 55 years old, I joined in October, lost 7 lbs, then gained it back. I wasn't very good about posting all my foods. I take quite a bit of medications for cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. etc. Some of it may be genetic, but I would like to be off these meds. So.....after quite a big of reading, and some soul searching, I am going to try a vegan way of life. There are a lot of cookbooks out there, I've purchased 3 and I came across another last night, several recipes look yummy!!

In 2010, I was walking 3.6 miles 5 days a week and completed a 1/2 marathon last April with a very sore foot. I took an extended break but now am ready to begin again tomorrow with the girls at 5am! Looking forward to it because, along with my friends on MFP, they are a great support system (one of which is my doctor, who got me started on the walking in the first place).

Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy New Year all. :bigsmile:

I didn't meet any of my goals in December and ended the year feeling dissappointed and somewhat depressed (a lot of stuff happening - and I may need to put my dog down in the next few days).

I woke up this morning with a renewed determination to get healthy. One thing I did accomplish in December was to find out that I am going through peri-menopause. It explains a lot! So, like everything else in my life I'm researching the crap out of it and once I know all the whys and wherefores I'll be able to take it in stride and move forward. That's just the way I work.

I ordered a dvd course called "The Myths of Nutrition and Fitness" which I wanted to start today - but apparently finding an unoccupied TV is going to be a challenge until my sons go back to school! (But I love having my oldest home from uni so I'm not complaining).

I stepped on the scale this morning and adjusted my weight on here to show my GAIN over December. I'm not setting weight goals right now - but I measured myself this morning for the first time ever and I think I'm going to concentrate on getting the measurements down - my main goal though is simply to do an activity (walking, treadmill, stationery bike SOMETHING) for 30 mins 7 days a week.

I wish you all a great day - give yourselves a pat on the back from me! :laugh:

Bea

Wow.... we're off and running!! Happy New Year to everyone .... all the new comers....welcome.... this thread has been a huge part of my life for the past 3 months and is so very inspirational when I'm flagging, supportive when I'm down, interesting when I'm bored and really just a wonderful thing to be a part of..... so a huge big thankyou and a hug to Barbie for getting us going every month:bigsmile: :bigsmile:

I love your thoughts Barbara.... "letting go", "people pleasing"..... I can relate to all of that so I too am going to let go of the feeling that I have to respond to all .... this has actually held me back from posting a lot in the past as I get so overwhelmed by all the names and want to reply to everyone but then it is just too hard so I don't post anything even though I always read it.... so a new goal for me is to post more regularly to all my lovely friends here.

I'm having a bit of a slow start to my weight loss efforts ..... like most of us I have great intentions for the new year.... but then one more dinner out, or friends coming to stay (tonight)... a 4 day tropical island holiday coming up in a weeks time (can I just live on fruit and champagne for 4 days??)....

I have made some really positive changes since starting here though.... I am almost able to call myself a runner.... from struggling to run for 30 seconds only a couple of months ago I can now run for 25 minutes without a stop (3.2km).... my goal is to keep this up and to improve how long I can run for and eventually to be able to run 5km.... as I write this I am giving myself a pat on the back!

But for now I need to just watch those calories.... I have succumbed to too many treats this past week.... left over ice cream, mince pies, shortbread my brother made, left over lindt chocolate balls (do these multiply around the house??)....I like the comment someone made about restricting treats to once a week..... I might try to only have treats, including alcohol, on weekends for a while and then working hard during the week should be easier.

Another comment which I connected with was the one about not stewing over things.... that's me.... I am often accused (by DH) of over thinking things.... about my son's not so great girlfriend, about all the things I need to do around the house, all the things I need to do everywhere, friends, etc, etc..... so another goal is to let go of that stuff as well.

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful 2012..... lets all get fitter and lighter both physically and mentally:drinker: :drinker:

Lisa

I am marking my spot. Just got back from a trip to join my son and his family at a chalet they rented in Vermont. I am afraid to get on the scales. will do it tomorrow. my resolution is to not give up and to forgive myself. I did not gain this weight in a month so it won't go off over night. going to weigh myself and start fresh tomorrow! May this be the best year of our lives!
Smwert