How exciting to find such a wonderful fitness group! This is just the support I need to help me be successful!


This is a new chapter in my life...Two years ago, I retired from teaching Elem. school for 32 years. I love my retirement , love to travel & I do some sewing for a lady that has a little girl's shop .
I have been happily married to my soul mate for 19 yrs.

I am 57 years old, & have 2 grown children~My son has been married 6 yrs. & they have my only grand child. My daughter got married 1 1/2 yrs ago to a Fireman/paramedic & my 4 yr old grand daughter was the flower girl.

My daughter joined My Fitness Pal, and invited me to join. I have been exercising at home, but it would be nice to have support.
I have lost 25 lbs. since last May & I have 30 lbs to go~
I have some "range of motion" limitations~Please read my story~This will give you an idea where I am coming from~

On this day~6yrs ago~Sunday, Nov. 6th~In just a few minutes, our lives were changed...

Little did I realize, when I got my lesson plans ready for the next week & got my grades in the computer for report cards~I would not be returning to my classroom for 9 months!

Hubby & I were riding the Harley to go eat at Olive Garden~We "never" made it! Hit & Run stopped us~A lady talking on her cell phone hit us & took off~They never found her!

I got my right foot stuck between my floor board & the tail pipe....the bike flipped several times, with me like a "rag doll"~I ended up face down in the freeway with a 800 lb motorcycle on top of me~The freeway was shut down for 1 hour, so no one ran over us~Careflight hovered overhead, but I regained consciousness, so I was taken to JPS Hospital by ambulance. Our neighbor from up the street, was one of the Haltom City fireman/paramedics that assisted us~We were less than 1 mile from home~

My hubby was thrown free from the bike & broke his wrist in 7 places~He also dislocated his shoulder when he threw the bike off me~I broke & dislocated my right shoulder & right ankle, torn rotator cuff left shoulder, cracked scapula, 6 broken ribs, several cracked vertebrae, and a concussion~Had surgery on rt shoulder & ankle at the same time~a plate & screws in rt. shoulder & rt. ankle~

*From the moment I realized I was in ICU, I never felt like I had the option "not to get better"!

My Dad brought me a stuffed animal~I squeezed the head & bottom of the stuffed cat to take the swelling out of my hands~(He thought it was a dog~ha!)

Spent 11 days in ICU~The hardest thing I have ever done, is to slide out of bed and sit in a chair for 2 hrs.!

Transferred to a rehab hospital wing at Life Care Center, lived there for 4 weeks. I was brought in on a gurney & was not even able to sit up~ Borrowed a wheelchair from Life Care Center & taught myself to eat & dress again...1st one at therapy everyday~I figured out how to use the momentum of rocking my left arm & left leg at the same time, to sit up in bed, and to get into the wheelchair~Hubby set up a TV & DVD player & Mom brought me scraps of fabric~When I wasn't in therapy, I was watching movies & sewing a quilt of scraps by hand~I had a sweet 96 yr old room mate, Velma~

Thanksgiving dinner was eaten in a private dining room at Life Care Center~Hubby went to my parent's house with the family and brought me my Mom's Thanksgiving dinner~My son asked my Mom, if we "could break me out" for Christmas~

Everyday, Carl went to work & then came to see me at night~Almost every night, he brought me dinner~

Mom came twice a day~She wheeled me to sit in the courtyard and to get ice for my water, or Diet Cokes~
Sometimes, when she was wheeling me, she ran me into the wall~LOL

My goal, was to be able to walk out of Life Care Center, using a side walker & leave the wheelchair behind. I practiced as much as I could, walking with my ankle therapist up and down all the halls~

Once, a resident ask my ankle therapist how I was doing & if he had me "running" yet~He told him I was doing great, but no running~The man said, "I guess you are not finished." I told him, we were finished....I didn't "run" BEFORE the accident! HA!

After 4 weeks, on Dec. 16th I was able to come home~My Mom told the doctor she was taking me home~She was assertive, so they let me go~ha! My parents came to pick me up & move my stuff home~I wheeled myself to the front door & Left it at the front door & walked out with my side walker~

Mom visited me everyday~Mom brought me more fabric and I made two more quilts during my recovery~Both of these on machine~I got some great ankle therapy with that sewing machine!

Mom & I took a big chocolate cake & Thank You card to our Haltom City fire station~

All our bedrooms upstairs, so hubby moved den furniture out & put a twin bed in the den for me~ lived downstairs for 3 months~Continued out patient therapy, Mom drove me until I was able to drive myself ~I am still friends with my shoulder therapist, Stacey~

July, 2006~another surgery on rt. shoulder at N Hills Hosp.~Dr. Kelly took out 3 screws that were impeding my range of motion~This was an out patient surgery~Mom & I took Dr. Kelly's office a chocolate cake & a NASCAR quilt we had made him~He was really excited!

August, 2006 I started back to teaching~My principal, Mike Dukes,walked me to my classroom for the first time in 9 months~It was a very emotional time for me!

I taught 3 more years before retiring with 32 years of service for BISD~I am glad I went back to teaching~It was "all day therapy"& I was stronger because of it~

I am walking great & can finally get both my arms over head! Yeah! ;0)

Since our accident, I have been able to enjoy my 4 year old grand daughter, see my daughter get married & am enjoying retirement!

Today, on the day, 6 yrs later, hubby & I went to Olive Garden~

*I tell my story, to try an encourage others~Although, I do not have full range of motion in my shoulders, I can now get both arms almost straight over my head. I still have a plate & screws in my right shoulder & right ankle. To look at me, you would never know anything happened. AND, I am happy to say, I don't "set off" the metal detectors at the airport! LOL

I have done really well with weight loss in the past when we had a group of teachers working on it together. We had our own version of "Biggest Loser". Now that I am retired, I think this group might help to fill that void in support. I still visit with my "teacher friends" once a week or so, but our focus is not on "weight loss"! ha! I also keep up with friends & family through Facebook, but like some of you mentioned, everyone you know doesn't have to follow the details of your weight loss, unless we chose to share it. ha!
Best of Luck to everyone!
Janice

I am looking forward to talking with you and sharing ideas.

Thanks for sharing your story Janice, you have gone through a lot and if you look at some of the stories in our group there are others in here that have had car accidents, surgery, etc. that put our life in an entirely different direction that what was happening at the time. This is a group of people that despite our past issues we have a good outlook on life and want a healthy lifestyle and are determined to move forward . Good luck in your continued recovery.

Hi, my name is Janet. I live in South Carolina, been married 28 years on Nov 19, and I just turned 49 yesterday. My goal it to get my weight under control when I have the dread "5-0" Birthday next November. I am the mother of 5 grown kids (33, 27, 25, 23, 21) and three grandkids (10, 3, 1). I want to be around for a long time with them and my husband. I have started with MFP around the middle of September. Joined a gym, got a personal trainer and off I went. The first month at the gym I lost 22 lbs and 15 inches. I am making my food journal a permanent daily goal. If I am going to be obsessed with something..I decided it should be "ME".

I wish MFP had the "like" button like on Facebook! I would love to hit "like" on everyone's comments! HA! ;0)

Hi Danita, Good luck in loosing the weight you want .. Thsi is a nice group in that we are all around the same age with similar issues as to why we want to loos the weight. the MFP feedback on the food alone helped me change the choices I made with my foods and I don't miss what I ate a lot of before. I still eat it but just not a lot of it. If you want to ask any of us to be your friend for encouragement plase feel free to ask.

Hi, my name is Patty. I am 61. I joined MFP in October. I have enjoyed it so much and have lost 16 pounds so far. I am looking forward to being here in this group.

Hi, I'm Carolyn and I live in Texas. I would like to join this group because I would like to have support from people that because of our age are experiencing some of the same things. I recently joined MFP because I felt it would give me motivation to daily log in my food and exercise. It also gives me the opportunity to encourage and be enouraged by others that are struggling with the same things.

I have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren. I want to be around when the great-grandchildren are grown. The only way that I can do that is to get my health where it needs to be.

I work full time and just finished my doctorate. I have put everything on hold the last few years finishing that, so it is time to take my life back.

I look forward to getting to know everyone in this group.

HI all, I am relatively new to MFP-just been on the site a couple of weeks. Here is a little medical/physical history that is important to me. I am currently home off work due to an injury. I have put on about 45 pounds this year. I started out 2011 about 10 pounds over and then my thyroid got off track - I have taken meds since I was 28 due to a thyroid condition that started way back then. The hyper thyroid required chemo and burn out of the thyroid. I ultimately ended up with too much burn so on synthroid I went and have been ever since! Add that to a quit smoking-now nonsmoking me and another 5 pounds. Next, I was injured in an accident and the damage was on my c-spine and then no activity-10 more pounds.
Luckily, my thyroid is now where it needs to be-just got the results two weeks ago after increase upon increase of medication! Finally I am again able to do some walking for exercise-something I hadn't been able to do since October!
Bottom line, I have 50 plus pounds to be rid of and am anxious to get busy! I have so far lost 3 pounds. Just being on this site has increased my motivation and made me more accountable to myself.
I am happily married to a sweet man, my second husband-he is slender and has never had o deal with weight issues! I have an adorable one year old grandson that is the apple of my eye! He is awesome and the only little one that we have around-we have ten children-his 6 my 4. We have children literally all over the USA and one out of country. My occupation involves working with very disturbed teenagers in an enclosed facility. I think I have gone on long enough! I am excited to see how I will do this year using MFP!

Glad to find this group. I'll be 50 in June. I really don't have a weight problem. Mine is more of a height problem. I'm only 5'1" tall, and I'm sure that my body was meant for someone 5'5", at least. Anybody else got that problem?

I live in Oregon in a very health-conscious, active community. There are a lot of very fit 50+ men and women where I live. I am determined to look more like one of them before my 50th birthday in June. I work a desk job and during the last two years I've become very lazy. So, in December I bought a treadmill and a bike trainer and I've been using them at least 4 days a week. I found MFP about two weeks ago and it has really helped me to understand how to allocate my meals better. I use the Android App during the day at work and my co-workers have become interested too. Does anyone else use the barcode scanner?


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Glad to find this group. I'll be 50 in June. I really don't have a weight problem. Mine is more of a height problem. I'm only 5'1" tall, and I'm sure that my body was meant for someone 5'5", at least. Anybody else got that problem?

I live in Oregon in a very health-conscious, active community. There are a lot of very fit 50+ men and women where I live. I am determined to look more like one of them before my 50th birthday in June. I work a desk job and during the last two years I've become very lazy. So, in December I bought a treadmill and a bike trainer and I've been using them at least 4 days a week. I found MFP about two weeks ago and it has really helped me to understand how to allocate my meals better. I use the Android App during the day at work and my co-workers have become interested too. Does anyone else use the barcode scanner?


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Yep, I use the bar code scanner, it's fantastic. You do have to check what it says though because on a couple of occasions it did come up with the wrong product but generally I love it.
Welcome to the group.

Hi everyone, my name is Barbara and I just joined MFP yesterday. I just love the way it has helped me already. I am from CT, 59 and a massage therapist. I have gained about 50 pounds due to a car accident back in 2002. I had a huge sugar craving after the accident and gained weight from the cravings. I mean they were drug addict cravings! Cravings so bad I would go out at 1 am to get a fix if I could cravings! Over the years I got it under control for the most part and I needed surgery in 2010 to correct a rotator cuff tear that got worse since the accident. Now I am ready mentally and physically to get my body back to where it needs to be because when I look in the mirror I have my mother's body and she can have it back! I am married to a great guy and he is very supportive in all I choose to do and next year we celebrate 40 years together. I want to renew our vows at a Rennaisance Fair next Fall and I want to look good in one of those corslets when we do. Right now I am still healing from the surgery and an injury so I am still on the couch potato side but was able to take a 15 minute walk today while the weather was beautiful.

Where are you from in CT? I grew up in Old Saybrook.

Thank you for starting this group, Samantha, and hello to all in this group! I turned 50 last year and find myself in shock, not that I need to lose weight... of course I know how that happened, but at HOW MUCH weight I have to lose (90 lbs!). I am raising my grandson and now see that there will not be some "magic time and place" that will happen in my life where I can recover, renew and make better choices.... That time is NOW, no matter how busy, or the worries/struggles that remain. Life is short and I want to enjoy every minute of it that I can. I would enjoy supporting any "friends" from this group who can relate.

I definitely need the help! I am 52 and a stay-at-home mom with one who is 11..I lost a lot of weight after I had my last kid at age 40, but it has gradually seemed to come back on again. Any suggestions anyone has would be nice. I just can't seem to lose it..how do I get that ticker to go on my profile.. Thanks!

Hi All, I did LoseIt! on my smart phone for a couple of years but MFP has it all over LosIt!. So much better in many ways. I joined .... I think the 6th of this month and am down over 5# already. I've met some great people here already and I'm determined to log in every day. I am doing this for my health. I need to get weight off for the sake of my heart and my knees.