40+Club-Making it Work

Well, went to the gym this morning (walked to it actually) and all of the machines I use for cardio were busy! Grrrr! So did 25 minutes on the stair master, whew!

That plus the walk to and from home, gave me an extra 400 calories for the day. Yay! Going to go out and plant more flowers and do yard work.

Alf, thanks so much for starting this thread. I don't get to post much on it, but I love reading about everyone's successes and enthusiasm, it really keeps me motivated.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys fine weather!:flowerforyou:

My husband was not feeling well last night so I went to our trainer by myself. She told me I needed to go buy some new work out clothes because the ones I have are hanging on me! Also, I wore a skirt to work the other day that I have had for two years and have not been able to wear it. It was actually a little big on me!

Ladies (and gentlemen) over 40: make sure you are getting enough calcium plus vitamin D. Take a supplement to make sure. I have pre-osteoporosis (runs in the family: my mother, a brother and my late sister) and am also on fosomax. I am looking forward to my bone scan now that I have been very good about taking calcium, fosomax and have been doing weight lifting. My mother is recovering from a spinal compression fracture. Not a pretty thing to have.

She is flying in this next weekend. I think I need to rent a bulldozer to make a path in the guest room. I guess clearing out by hand will burn more calories. Happy weekend everyone!

I posted a picture of our dogs. Not ready to post one of me yet...

Hi all, just wanted to let you know that I was able to get at least one pix up and running. More to come. This is me in Semmering Austria. There is another pix from a hiking trip to New Hampshire, if you click on my profile...here I am!

:flowerforyou: Texas, it is wonderful that your step-son was influenced by you. That is what parenthood is all about. Not too much hope for my steps. The ones who are obese are 25 and 29. They both have to weight well over 250 pounds. One of them is probably closer to 300. Their mother is heavy also but their dad (my husband) is maybe 15-20 pounds overweight. He is also very muscular and lifts weights. He hasn't had any impact with them. He, by the way, ordered a salad. One of his girls asked him where his real food was. I don't have anything in common with these girls except for their dad. All three of his girls say that they will never have children. They do not want to ruin their lives by having to deal with the mess. So, as a mom of eight I can't understand their beliefs. :laugh:

sing, you look great in your picture.

singfree, great photo! Thanks for sharing that with us. Have a safe and fun trip tomorrow!

Swissmiss, I really don't know what to say about your step-daughters. I hope they eventually learn to lead healthier lives.

TexasMom, I think it is great that you are working with your step-son this way! Congratulations to both of you on your progress!

tron, we've done quite a few things around LA so far, but there is just so much to do. We've done the whole Hollywood/Beverly Hills thing, the beaches, Reagan Museum, etc. We haven't done Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm yet, but I'm sure we will. We have two big blocks to our seeing more--my husband travels alot and the LA traffic. But we're trying to work around the former and there is absolutely nothing we can do about the latter. But both can kind of get frustrating at times.

Based on your and alf's example, I've uploaded a 'before' photo as well. I chose one from a couple of years ago when my husband and I were in Hawaii (April 2007). I'm ashamed to say that I was probably heavier than that later in the year (around September 2007), but, luckily, I can't find any photos of me from that period of time. But looking through these photos has really inspired me not to get that big again.

Why, thank you ALf!!! :bigsmile: Yes, those are some pix from the past year. Thankfully, I was able to keep my hair and MOST of the color. Just a few gray hairs here and there. I must be the poster boy for clean living...or maybe good genes!

sing, have a safe and fun trip. We will be looking forward to hearing about it.

Can you imagine never having vegetables? I have learned that because their mother doesn't like them my steps have never had them. If you ask them if they eat veggie they will say..sure, see my fries? I really feel sorry for them. I grew up with a garden in my back yard every summer. My sisters and I would grab a carrot whenever we wanted a snack. I wish I had the room for a garden where I live now. Their father will eat veggies with me and we have salads a lot. His girls do not respect my opinion much so all I can do is show them by example. I also do not see them very often as they don't normally get along with their dad. Yesterday was a special occasion.

Swissmiss, if you've just started working out again, chances are your body is retaining water. I know my body does that every single time I take a break from working out and start up again. This is a quote from a recent Cathe Friedrich blog (I'm doing her STS program). She was referring to weightlifting in particular, but I believe it applies to all exercise (at least it does for me!):

"When you begin any new weightlifting program your body will retain water in the beginning. This is because your body’s muscles will temporarily store more glycogen when you start a new program and this attracts more water to your muscles. This is one reason why your muscles swell. After your body adapts to the new program your body will stop storing excess glycogen and the water retention will decrease."

It is interesting that you mentioned that your step-daughters think of fries as vegetables. That is about the 10th time I've heard that in the past few months. It blows my mind that there appears to be such a pervasive belief throughout the country that fries=vegetables. Where did that come from? I know potatoes are a vegetable, but I guess I never was presented french fries and told 'eat your veggies!' so I'm not sure how that has become such a common mantra. I find it disturbing.

Off to do some kickboxing this morning. I'm feeling the leg workout from yesterday, so I'll probably go a little light today on the workout. I hope everybody has a great Sunday.

We had fresh beets last night. Very good but turns everything pink.

In the south, macaroni and cheese is considered a vegetable! We have not been able to grow it our backyard...