Hi -I too am 49 -heading towards 50 in September! I am 5'5" -here on calorie count cause weight has creeped up to 180; Menopause is a memory, other than the weight gain.  My town friends and I are all competing for "biggest loser" now until May 24th (my big picnic).  I know my metabolism has slowed to a crawl -I am trying to stick to 1200 calories a day -my vice is definetely red wine -I love it -try to save 100 calories for a daily glass.  I would be happy to lose 20 pounds -25 ideally.

I too have a fun mid-life car -my is the Saturn sky -I'll have to change my picture to one with my little car - I'll try to keep up with the posts on this board -

Hi everyone.  Is it too late for me to join?  Im 47, 5'7", 2 kids (23 & 24) and currently 155.  I had lost 75 pounds about 3 years ago and went from an size 18 to a size 4!  (Yea!!!)   I was able to keep it off until 4 months ago when I started to gain.  I had changed jobs which was high stressed, lots of travel, working weekends, ugh!   I hadnt changed my eating habits during that time (actually carried a cooler around with me with healthy foods) but the new job didnt allow me to get to the gym as often.  And I was sooo tired.  But I gained 14 lbs in 4 months?! So I changed jobs again and took the last week off.  I joined CC last week (great site!), tracked my calories and got some rest.  So far I've lost 5 lbs.  I think Im approaching menapuause too.  Getting some night sweats on occassion and somewhat irregular.  Hmmmm - Maybe thats the cause of the weight gain?  Or could fatigure cause weight gain?  I eat around 1400 calories a day and get the gym 3 days a week.  Im eating well below my BMR but the pounds are very slow coming off. 

well I'm not too excited - my weigh in days are monday and I only lost 1.2 pounds. I really thought I would have done bette-been exercising 5 days a week and keeping well within my 1500/day limit. Oh well, next monday maybe!! How is everyone else doing?

Hi everyone.  I am 47 - mother to four children - 14, 17, 20 and 22, and I'm married.  I used to teach until a couple of years ago when I quit due to depression.  Have lost weight on loads of diet programs but always put it back on.  The target I was set was 136lbs (I am 5'5 1/2) - don't forget that all important 1/2"!!  But I reached 144lbs on another diet program 4-5 years ago and was told by the instructor to put a little back on cos I was looking way too thin.  147 looked good so that's where I am headed.  I am now 161lbs.  Thing is - if you looked at me from waist up you would say I was fine but wow! my tummy/hips and rear end are not pretty!   Am I also allowed to mention the dreaded words "varicose veins!!!" YUK.  Anyway - look forward to this thread a lot - really motivated to get there and STAY there this time!!

noirine, be careful about going UNDER your BMR. You are stressing your body and my send it to the dreaded starvation mode. Trust me, you don't want to go there!

Hang in there WTBF, some weeks the hormones just mess with you. Keep working and it will pay off eventually.

Welcome veganmamma, I am suprised by 147 being "way too thin" at your hight 136 seems like a reasonable goal. mysterious. Teachers get depressed? I can't imagine. *dripping sarcasm*. I have a couple of ...rough.. ones this year so I am fighting the battle.

I weighed myself this AM (my usual time) and was only up 2.2 lb! I did a end zone dance around the bathroom! So very worth 9 days of bliss.

Welcome too to sophcesca, Niky, ctmom, Cheryl, Betsy, garblov, pamela and anyone else i hope i did not miss!

Karen are you back from NYC yet? I lived there for a year long ago (my hubby is born and raised NYCity boy) and fing healthy stuff is not too hard, I hope you have time to search out some good sources.

Forgot to thank all for the good wishes on the flight, believe it or not, ours was the ONLY flight United flew out of our airport that day. Blessed, just massively blessed!

I would love to join your group too! I'm 45 w/3 kids 23 y/o daughter 14 & 12 y/o boys.Married for 3.5 years to an awesome man.I,ve been on CC for 2 months and lost 10 lbs.Plateaued for a month from not getting enough calories,lost a pound as of this AM so hope to keep losing from here.Having all kinds of menopause symptoms and would be nice to have someone to chat with who understandsLOL

147lbs was about right - I would have preferred to have lost more off my hips but it was all coming off my top and arms and face despite quite a strenuous exercise regime.  I was a UK size 12 (no idea what that is in US) and actually looked really good at 147 (I used to do karate, lift weights etc so have always had a strong looking build).  I guess I just don't go for the Paris Hilton "be a slave to the height/weight charts"!

As for the thing about teachers getting depressed - it wasn't because I was a teacher but in 12 months my dad died, my husband had a stroke and I was diagnosed with pre cancerous cells of the cervix.  So I guess that should explain that.

veganmamma - with all that, you're allowed to get depressed! life has a way of sending us curve balls sometimes.  How is are you and your husband doing now?

hi alylou - i got back last friday. sounds like you had a great trip! 9 days - i'm envious! nyc was good - was in class all day so not much time for sightseeing. i do enjoy that city though i could have done without the jack hammer at 7:00 am!

vmama...sorry i whined about my clinkers...your stressers were the real deal. Whatever goal you will be happy with is the best goal. where in the UK are you?

Karen, no kidding, I could not go back to living the city life...the noise, dirt, smells, and general chaos were just not my thing. I do enjoy going in for a few days...and then running home again! 

When you talk about sitting through classes, I too sat through classes there...in the World Trade Center(years before 9/11). OUCH.

You weren't whining alylou - I guess we're all battling our own demons.  My opinion is whatever makes us depressed is enough for us personally so if every you want to moan to me I'm here.  As for the weight goal issue - thanks for supporting my goal.  This time last year I didn't want to be alive (you know - wanting to be with dad - sorry if this is too much for this thread, I won't talk about it too much if it upsets) and I guess this goal seems "do-able" (I think I can manage it if that makes sense to anyone).  Doc wanted to put me on anti depressants but I didn't and now I'm here, I sometimes laugh, I adore my husband and kids and I'm making it!  (Have a smile, with tears rolling down my face at the moment)  As for where I am in UK I'm in Staffordshire but have lived in Weston super Mare and Adelaide, South Australia. 

Anyway - I have a picture of me at 144lbs that I would love to show you (my gorgeous hubbie and 2 kids are in it but I'm on the left if ever I get to find out how I can load a picture here) to show you what I mean about where I am aiming for.  Its pre-depression so I'm even smiling!  Anyone tell me (I'm quite a technophobe these days) how to load a piccie for you to laugh at??

kkatalie - Derek (husband) is doing well - thanks.  He has lost about 28lbs so far in his recovery from the stroke so its a thing I am trying to support him with.  The piccie if I can ever load it is before his stroke -  he is a lot more slimline now!!  As for me I had laser treatment for the pre-cancer thing (ouch) and I have to go for another smear (sorry everyone for talking about this - this is another one I won't mention again) in a while to see if it has been successful or if they have to get more aggressive.  But today is good, I'm feeling well, did a 1 mile brisk walk yesterday and felt brilliant and today in the UK the sun is shining!!

I've had a success. I've uploaded my piccie!  No idea how you view it - I struggled to work out the uploading bit! That's me at 144-147lbs and 5'5 1/2" - at one point I had gone down to about 140 I think but I was starting to look awful.  14lbs to go!  (In case anyone thinks I never really had much to worry about I used to be about 40lbs overweight.  Anyway, my gorgeous daughter is in the middle, my husband on the right (before his stroke and before he lost quite a bit of weight - I'm so proud of him, and one of my 3 boys who is now training to be either a policeman or in the army - he's undecided). 

VM(do you have a name you wouldn't mind giving?), where is the photo? I looked for your gallery and didn't find one...not sure where it is.

I admire your not taking the drugs, I know many need to, but sometimes we know ourselves better than the MD.  Way to go on coming out of the dark, may every day be yet brighter!

sophcesca, I finally took a look at the cooking light site , I have been there, but not for years. Mmmmm... it renewed some desires to try something new. any recommendations?

Today is my son's 17th birthday. He is indeed my favorite April fools joke!

Does anyone have any good jokes for today? I usually play a trick on my class and later on my family, but the well is dry today. Any help out there??

Hi alylou - I'm Alison.  As for the photo - oh goodness you're asking me to battle with the computer again aren't you!!  Well, I went into my account and found a link called gallery which allowed me to upload a photo (did that sound convincing?)  If I did it wrong could you advise cos I think if I try again I might have to try those pills after all

HI Everyone -

Would love to join your group. I've already been writing a little bit to kkatilie and ctmomof4 on another post. I'm 45, 2 great kids (17 and 12), married 24+ years. I've been heavy for many years now, never motivated enough to lose more than a pound or 2. I always "thought" about losing weight - but somehow just thinking about it while eating ice cream didn't work. Hmm . . .I wonder why?

So, I started this on 3/3/08 at 210 (5'8") and my most recent trip to the scale said 198. It hasn't been too bad so far, I think I'm losing a teeny bit fast because of all the fat I have to lose. I expect it to slow after awhile.

Exercise for me = yuck! But, I started doing some yesterday and went for a quick 2+ mile walk today. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I look forward to hearing from any and all! Keep up all of your good efforts. Let's count on each other for motivation.

ok -I'm somewhat happy -lost 2.5 pounds last week -but it is sooooo hard! I am hungrey tonight and already at about 1250 calories for the day -any suggestions? Tea just isn't going to do it tonight!

Hi spamelaj58 - I find that eating "whole foods" helps so porridge in the morning really fills me up, pulses of any description (in soups etc) for lunch really help.  I'm also working hard on cutting out sugar cos I found that it just set me up to want more later !!  Anyway, great news about your weight loss, congrats!!

Justamom - your 2+ mile walk was great!  I have a similar feeling about exercise - yuck kind of sums it up!  But I've bought a DVD of 10 exercise tapes and try doing different ones now and then but I still don't do enough exercise.  Still - we'll get there.  I just log into CC daily for motivation

OK First of all Hi everyone. I have chatted on a few forums and loved everyone of them on here and today found you guys. The only thing is I'm 48 (the right age) but have ONLY 5 children CAT children!!! Can I still join in with you? I am 5'5 and have lost about 25 lbs. I am down to 143 (that is today) I have hit a plateau and have stayed between 144 and 140 for weeks and weeks. I am finally through with the hot flashes of menopause actually the "hot flashes" of about everything! Anyway I really want to at least get to 135 and have just stopped losing so I need to find a daily source of encouragement  Can I join your group? Can I can I please?? LOL. Oh and exercise....the treadmill is what I had been doing and plan to go "start again" with it today.

Welcome canlose (yes I MEANT to leave that t out) and justamom (not, never, JUST)!

I am so glad to be able to read all of our posts and, even if I'm too busy to post, get a little more help and resolve!  Hope this group proves to be a help for all of us!

The Scale God is not being too kind, maybe it is hormones...I am sooo irrigular that I have know idea when/if I'm PMSing. Dang that Eve! I guess we have been tempted by food forever!

LOL when I read over the above paragraph: from a Scale God  to Genesis, boy am I sounding religiously confused!

Feeling silly today.

Anybody like hot/spicy food? I like spicy snacks, it makes me feel like I'm getting more bang for my calories. 

What snacks keep you all going?

The snacks I really like (always at night) are usually sweet so I found these fat free sugar free fudgesicles that are very good and they are 0 fat and 40 calories a pop. It is actually a store brand (Ingles) but I have seen other brands with the same calories fat etc. I also like the special K (meal bars chocolate/peanut butter) i only have those if I have been very good calorie wise but they have lots of fiber and are very good as well. Do not get fooled with Little Debbie brownies they are the size of a quarter!!!! and 100 calories for that! I also like spicy stuff so any tips will definitely be tried and likely enjoyed!!!!Have all you guys been through this plateau stage???? How can I break it? Oh and thanks for responding.  I'm sure we will all be "losers" together!

plateau: been there done that, broke out by zig zagging my calories for about 10 days.

spicy snacks I like: wassabe peas, hot n spicy dried mangoes, Cajun peanuts to name a few.  I alo like the Mott's 50 calorie flavored applesauces...but they are certainly not spicy! I love fudgecicles... in the summer! So cold this winter I didn't want to THINK about ice cream!

gotta go grade a mound of papers. UGH I hate report card time.