Motivation

I'd like to start this thread specifically for women who are 50 or over.

As a 53 year-old woman, myself, I am finding new challenges, unexpected difficulties and wonderful insights on my path to getting to and maintaining my health, weight and body shape.

What seemed to work for me as little as five years ago doesn't work quite the same anymore. My body doesn't seem to respond to what I consider healthy eating habits and good workout schedules as it even in my middle to late 40s'.

SO, I am would to hear from those out there who are finding themselves in situations. OR NOT, maybe you can enlighten the rest of us as to how you keep your shape, or how you're getting into better shape and a healthier overall lifestyle.

Hopefully this will be the start of something wonderful, educational, funny-offer up jokes anecdotes, whatever!

LET'S GET STARTED!

Good morning everyone. I've missed a few days online and I'm still trying to catch up on the posts. But it's nice to see everyone is doing pretty well. I will have to finish reading all the posts this afternoon because my water aerobics class starts in less than an hour.

I delivered a baby early yesterday morning and so I had my first test at going to a birth and trying to not give into old habits (sitting on my butt and snacking for hours).

I got called out at 5 am and the baby wasn't born until just after midnight the next day. I didn't get home until mid morning because this birth was almost two hours from my home and I stayed a long time for postpartum care. So I was away from home for more than 24 hours and missed a full night's sleep. 

Births always mess me up and I tend to fall off the wagon after them. But this time, I did much better than I had in the past. For one, I decided to go for a walk during her labor since the other midwives could monitor her labor while I was out. I did a total of 2 30 minute walks around the property. That felt good and actually gave me some much needed energy for her long birth.

I also did good at watching what I ate all day except when they asked me to go pick up Chinese for everyone at dinner time. I thought getting Chinese was great but this place gave us 3 crab rangoons with every order! I send a text to CC AFTER I ate two of them because I LOVE crab rangoon and knew if I texted before that I would know I shouldn't eat them. I was right, the score was F! I made myself resist the 3rd one but I really wanted it!

That's when I decided to go for my second walk. My stomach felt terrible for about an hour! I guess it wasn't used to eating something rich. Served me right to eat two of them! LOL.

Well, I'm not caught up on sleep and trying to catch up on everything I missed while gone. Off to aerobics. It's good to be back.

~ Beth

Snow: I LOVE yogurt, cottage cheese, and if memory serves me I adore cream cheese but I haven't put that to my lips in a long time. I sometimes have to nudge my first foot out the door but like you, always love it when I get there.

Moon: I looked at those pictures of you hiking. That loose rock looks tough. A 6 to 8 hour hike is what I call the ultra slow burn.  Thats the mother of all fat burners. You look wonderful in the picture. I see a very stong and healthy beautiful woman smiling back at me. You radiate a look of health. So important. I have come to realize you cannont put an age on conditioning or endurance. I am not surprised in the least to find you could keep up with the others.

Bon: So you walked away for the treats with only a mini cheesecake to show for it. GOOD FOR YOU! I think 14,776 steps is awesome. Isn't anything over 12,000 the magic number?

One: I don't think I have enough speed yet to be considered a runner but about 90 minutes into it, two runners came up behind me. One is a man I know (I'll bet he is at least 60) who is an ultra race runner. He just finished a 50 mile race. I found my pace was way off of theirs but I wanted to tell him how long I had run that day so I picked my pace up to theirs and maintained it no problem. Now I realize my next goal is my pace. I've never put much thought into how far or fast I run. Only into how long.  I am so sorry to hear you are facing grief. My spirit reaches out to yours. I know how hard that time can be. By the age of 50 I guess all of us know that.

Earth_Mom: Inner hope. That light that burns at the core of all of us is so important. I believe the seeds of all emotions (including any emotion that makes us overeat) are all organic and in the basement of our souls. We choose which ones we allow to rise into the living room of our being. Joy, anger, passion ect.. It takes practice but it is possible. We are all gardens. Tend to the emotional weeds and know exactly what is growing in your garden.  These are from the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh. His 2 books "Anger" and "Teachings on Love" are 2 of my favorite.

I see you in Saigon, Helene  You seem like such a kind person. And you notice things in life. You take your walks, soak it all in, and then beautifully convey it to us. Thank you.

 

Hi Earth: I am glad to did better with this delivery and your diet. Its strange the triggers we have and the act react to situations. Good idea to walk while you could. I have never worked with mid-wives or out  of the clinical setting but always wanted to. I am a non invasive nurse who tries daily to encompass the mind, body, and spirit in all my patient care. I hope her postpartum recovery weren't too complicated. Thanks for the tip on crab rangoons...lol..I don't think I have ever eaten anything that was an F. But I love Chinese food.

I'm "southern_midwife" not "earth" but that's okay. I'm kind of "earthy", too.

I just posted the entire postpartum story to my journal if anyone would like to read it. (warning: it's kind of long)

Frostslave, I'm glad to hear you are a "non invasive nurse". Most of the nurses here in my town are great. I've even delivered a number of nurse's babies. Also a few chiropractors, physical therapists and even once I took care of the wife of an emergency room MD. That was fun.

~ Beth

My apologies Southern....but I am delighted to say there are so many in our thread now, I am having trouble keeping up.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend.

southern, that was an awesome story!  i sure was glad to hear everything worked out & that you ate well & walked.  :D

frost, you run too?  and you caught up with them runners & kept the pace?  that's awesome!!!  i'd be huffing & puffing after a minute or two.  :(

i think the magic number is 10,000 steps.  i don't know though.

i guess i did good today.  i had way too many calories, but i walked to burn off the extras & i ate lots of good food (along with the bad) to get my A.  i think i'm gonna do some exercises on the bed now & watch tv...  maybe lift weights for a bit & do some crunches & stretching.

 

The magic number of steps is supposed to be 10,000 but when I bought my pedometer it suggested finding your 3 day daily average first - mine was already around 10,000 - so for me I am trying to get closer to 12,000 - 14,000 a day.

I seem to be having the opposite problem snow - I didn't eat enough today or yesterday. I just get full so fast and my schedule the last 2 days... I need to do better planning or having snacks because you don't lose if you don't eat enough calories either. I am actually up a pound and I think it's because I haven't been eating enough so my body hangs on to every calorie I take in.

southern - I read your entire story - thank goodness you were there to advocate for your client. It's a sorry state of medical care that you have to be assertive to get adequate care.

Playing in a mulligan golf tournament tomorrow - you can have a mulligan for every shot if you want - but if you take it you have to play it! Lots of fun!!

Helene - I totally agree with frost "You take your walks, soak it all in, and then beautifully convey it to us. Thank you."

 

Everyone have a good weekend!!

Thanks girls! I am moved by your appreciation, and glad to bring you the flavour of the world "out there" through my writing. Life as an expat is rich fare, but sometimes you feel powerless to share it with the people who stay put. It's important we make the effort sometimes to look at what's on the other side of the fence, because most of the time what we discover is not ignorance, malevolence and hardship, but rather discovery, wonder and fellowship.

The world is a very big place, full of apparently very diverse peoples, but once you go under the skin deep differences, you find humans with the same hopes, fears, and the same striving for perfection in their own circumstances. Family, friends, survival, safety, some ideals we strive for, conviviality and yearning for a better future are the common threads weaving the human tapestry. Maybe what you hear in my voice that touches you is just the awareness we are all one, from America, to Asia, through Europe.

Frost, I also love the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Right now I am reading "There Is No Death", but my favorite is "Understanding Our Mind". I haven't read those you mentioned, but I will try and find them next time I go to Bangkok...

Beth, you have such a wonderful job! A tough one too, but it must make you feel so great when everything goes well in the end.

You know, I think CC is a wonderful idea. Not only because of the support and great friends we can find here, but also because of the whole concept. You are your own master, but you also receive all the information that allows you to form an opinion. The grade system is an incredible incentive. I also check my grade, and usually change what I wanted to eat when I see it's not so good grade-wise. And I have several times refrained from eating without hunger when I saw it was putting pressure on my count. It is non coercive but yet slowly turning us into better, more responsible persons. Hats off to whoever thought of it. If I ever make it to my ideal weight, it will be thanks to CC... and you all of course!

One, I was in Israel in 1977 too! I was a student then, on an information tour organized by the Israeli government for our institute. We went to Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Massada, Hebron, we had interviews with some members of the Knesset, visited Anan Ashraoui who was on house arrest in Ramallah, and interviewed her too, then went into a kibboutz in the North, saw Safed and toured the Golan Heights with an army official. We also went to the "Friendship Gate" on the border to Lebanon, just a few weeks before the war started. Back home I saw the dead and injured cross the point where we had stood and talked to Lebanese workers as they came into Israel to work... I was there in April. Where were you then? Maybe our paths crossed and we didn't even know! LOL

Have a great day all. You are too many for me to greet personally, so just take it very personally!!!

Helene, in Saigon

I can't help myself. There is NO way I could weight only once a week. But this is REALLY weird.

I normally weigh myself at 8:00 - 8:30 am every morning.

This morning I woke up at 7:20 and had to go pee. So I decided to go ahead and weigh myself early because today is my "official" weigh in day and I was dying to know if I FINALLY would drop down from 199.2 (been exactly that for about 10 days or so). Well, I got on the scale and I was 199.2 - AGAIN. All I could do was laugh.

I went back to bed because I was still a bit sleepy. I woke up again at 8:15 and decided, what the heck, I'll weigh again. Stupid idea, right? Wrong! I got on the scale and it said 197.4! I have no idea how that works. I didn't even pee again before I weighted the second time! I don't care how it happened, because my official weigh in for this week is still 197.4!

Of course, my weight might go up again when I weigh tomorrow but that's okay, too. At least my "trend" is finally moving down again! And the lower number this morning sure has helped motivate me.

Ya'll have a great weekend! (Yes, I'm a Texan!)

~ Beth

One, I was in Israel in 1977 too! I was a student then, on an information tour organized by the Israeli government for our institute. We went to Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Massada, Hebron, we had interviews with some members of the Knesset, visited Anan Ashraoui who was on house arrest in Ramallah, and interviewed her too, then went into a kibboutz in the North, saw Safed and toured the Golan Heights with an army official. We also went to the "Friendship Gate" on the border to Lebanon, just a few weeks before the war started. Back home I saw the dead and injured cross the point where we had stood and talked to Lebanese workers as they came into Israel to work... I was there in April. Where were you then? Maybe our paths crossed and we didn't even know! LOL

Have a great day

 

Yep, I was there at the end of April.  I stayed until the middle of August.    Maybe our paths did cross at the very beginning of my visit.

 

I do not weigh myself more than once every two weeks!

I get so affected by the numbers, and it could ruin my whole day.  I through my scale away a long time ago.  NOw it's only at the gym.

that's cool bonton!  that's what i try to do.  the more walking, the better.  why stop at the recommended amount.  :D  i sure wish i could eat like you!  i had a waffle dish at DQ today, but i still have my A from all the veges i ate 1st.  if you eat less for a day or two, i wouldn't think that would matter.  you must do that alot.  i never did golf...  just mini golf.

yeah, schaufel!  i love this site.  it has everything you would ever need.  it's all up to you, if you want to lose weight & eat good, etc.  my mom's name was helen  :D

one, i wish i could stop weighing myself so often!  i know that someday i'll be able to, but not now.  it's too important to me NOT to go back up again after all that work i've done.

i don't really mind this new lifestyle.  LOL  i've kind of grown to like it, but i DO need to stop weighing so often AND stop counting all the time.  i'm kind of learning to just count on my own & just know whether i did good for the day or not.

LOL  i can't believe i still have an A for the day!!!  now, i'll probably just finish the day with more good food & more walking.

One, that's AWESOME!!!

Snow, you just forget that initial H and that's me!!! Cool!

Think of me today: we are invited at friends, and they are making fondue...

Guess that's the only food I'll be allowed to touch for the day, with liters of water when I come home to flush out all that salt... One needs the cold weather of Switzerland plus the mountain trekking for that stuff, not the sweltering heat of Saigon... Plus today is the day-long power cut, and it's Sunday, a gardener-free day, and I have no idea if he topped off the gasoline in the generator before he left yesterday. Of course, I do not know how to do it myself...

Pray that I don't wake up weighing a ton tomorrow morning!

Have a great day all!

Helene, in Saigon

 southern  Congrats on the loss - it really does help when you see those numbers moving in the right direction especially if you've been stuck at  a weight for a while. 

snow - I think you'll be fine with less counting and weighing after you've maintained your new weight for a longer period of time. I don't blame you for watching - I'm like that and I only lost 5 pounds - but don't want to gain that back!! It's too hard to lose to gain it back!

Off to the golf course again this morning - burn calories,burn calories LOL.   After 2 days of not really eating enough - yesterday I was starving and I ate almost 1600 calories LOL but I burned 2400 so still should be OK. Tonight we are  taking all 3 of our grandchildren to a minor league baseball game! Should be fun. Tomorrow I am having all the nurses from our district for a luncheon on our deck. I need to get up early tomorrow as the grass will need cut and the deck needs hosed - we have a dirty wild choke cherry tree close to it and it is shedding it's flowers - What a mess! My husband keeps wanting to cut it down but it's our only shade by the deck so I haven't let him do that yet. Our Cleveland pear seems to be starting to get some new growth so maybe it will be OK. It lost quite a few leaves from tha bag they put over it to  get it home but seems to be recovering now - thank goodness!

Everyone - Have a wonderful day!!

southern midwife:  CONGRATULATIONS on the loss.  it's very exciting when that happens :)  You seem to be having very steady losses.

There was a Dr on TV helping a lady set up proper meals, and exercise and she said that even 100 extra calories a day (she demonstrated with 100 cal. bowls of crackers, etc) will put an extra 10# on us in a yr, or cause us to lose 10# a yr.  It was shocking to realize such a small amt of food has such a big impact, over time.

My meals may not be perfect but I can't improve any more than what I'm doing now.  The solution for me is more exercise.  Once the afternoon is here all activity comes to a screeching halt.  I'm going to try and go for a short evening walk, even tho I hate walking in the evening.

I read on CC that doing something (I forget, either 9 or 16 times) will make it become a habit.  So, I'll try this for a couple of weeks and see if I can learn to hate it less. 

I was up at 5:30 am yesterday and sat in the heat all day, selling excess stuff, at a flea market.  Got rid of tons of stuff.  Things I couldn't live without at one time. I resisted walking around looking at other booths as I didn't want to get rid of my stuff only to drag home different stuff. 

8.8# to my goal. 

Hope everyone has a great day :)

schaufel, good luck today!  :D  that fondue sounds good to me!  i'm sure i'd have too much...  water, water, water...  i hate flushing out all the salt!  sometimes that lousy water works & sometimes it doesn't.  hopefully, that generator is all set, too.

bonton, i know.  i just wish i could slow down at least a little with this weighing crap.  LOL  actually, i guess i did.  i used to be even worse!  i think i'm almost ready.  but yeah!  it takes so long to lose 5 pounds, but yet, you can gain 'em in a day or two.

have fun golfing!  it's good to see you ate more yesterday.  :D  i knew that would be coming.  that baseball game & nurses luncheon sound like fun!

ohio, yeah!  it's amazing what just 100 calories a day can do!  so, we all need to stay active & burn them off.  that's all.  if you walk for 10 minutes, you should burn around 100.  :D  i dunno.  i still need to force myself to walk sometimes, but other times, i can't wait to do it.  it really IS energizing & i feel alot better when i'm done.

good luck today, everyone!!!

 

Good morning everyone!

Yesterday's fondue wasn't so bad after all. Since I was eating with friends (the girl is the one I walk with in the morning, and from whom I am learning ch'i gong, so she knows how hard I am working at losing weight), I was able to prepare my portion, weigh the bread I would eat, and estimate the amount of cheese on each piece of bread after dipping... Our husbands were really surprised to see how many calories the food contained, so I guess it was also a bit educative, as men - at least in Switzerland - tend to think that diets and restrictions are only for women and ninnies...

From all this, I could estimate I ate about 800 cals. I drank tea instead of wine, and had neither appetizer nor dessert. In the evening, I had just a salad and fresh fruit, to compensate for the large amount of carbs, fats and proteins in the lunch. So I managed to stay within my count of 1500 for the day.  This morning, I was still half a dozen oz over my previous weight, but it was to be expected with all the salt I had ingested. I walked 2 hours this morning, and will keep drinking a bit more than usual, to make sure I get rid of all that salt.

I am starting to go around my house with nostalgic eyes, as I know it won't be long before I leave it. I fell in love with it at first sight, and am really sorry to abandon it so soon for one not as beautiful or well made, but it will be a better place for many other reasons, so I know it is for the best. My heart bleeds nonetheless, maybe also because I have already left so many other houses I loved. I also am aware that I probably chose this life to learn detachment, something that doesn't come naturally to me. Things come and go and are but a detail in the greater scheme of things, but knowing this doesn't diminish the pain one feels when it's time to leave them. 

I cried for all my houses, and that tells me I WILL like the next one as well. So let's love this one thoroughly while I still can enjoy it...

Have a great day everyone!

Helene, in Saigon, contemplating a stash of boxes to be filled, again...

Schaufel - Sounds like you did just fine with your luncheon and the fondue! It must be very hard constantly moving especially when you get to liking where you are at. I've moved only 2 times  - the first out of my house of 19 years (when I got a divorce and did not want that house with the horse barn - but I did miss my pool!) and the second into the house I built and  live in now with my wonderful husband! I got so lucky - I found true love the second time around. I will be thinking of you as you are moving.

Here is something interesting I read this morning as we are all over 50 and most of us seem to have some arthritis! Also ck out www.hungrygirl.com lots of low cal snacks, food ideas, recipes and they also list WW points for anyone interested.

COMTEX News Network/ ----Arthritis is being called "the coming epidemic." Forty-six million -- or one in five American adults, have doctor-diagnosed arthritis -- and experts project that number to rise by nearly 40 percent by 2030(1). May is National Arthritis Month, a time to generate awareness of this growing condition and ways to manage associated symptoms. In fact, new research suggests that tart cherries -- one of today's hottest "Super Fruits" -- may help naturally reduce inflammation and ease arthritis pain.

While arthritis sufferers have sworn for years that cherry juice reduces pain, the anecdotal claims are now supported by scientific evidence. A new study by University of Michigan researchers revealed a cherry-enriched diet reduced inflammation markers in animals by up to 50 percent

Maybe we should all try cherries??!!

Ball game was fun - nurses luncheon today!  Lost a pound yesterday - maybe there is something to eating enough calories!

Everyone have a great day!!

Helene,  Good for you!  You really seem to have it under control.  You know how to not limit yourself to tuna and salad everyday and still lose weight.

To any or all of you here

I often find I have not consumed enough calories even after dinner.  Like I said, I am in the midst of something that is emotionally a roller coaster, which affects my appetite. 

I also have had a pension for a combo of yogurt/peanut butter. I also usually add half an apple.  I use the low fat vanilla yogurt and natural organic peanut butter.  Probably 2 T of p.b. and 1/2 cup of yogurt.                                                                 I know eating later at night can be counter productive to weight loss (at least it is for me).  BUT, not eating enough is also counterproductive.  I guess in the long run it will be my call, but in the opinions of the ladies here, which would you do.  I do end up eating my p.b./yogurt combo around and hour or two before bedtime.  I've also consumed it and gone straight to bed.  I'm asking because I am still struggling with the weight loss.  Now, I'm not a person who ever had a lot of weight to lose.  I'm thinking maybe the numbers I am using (which I get from this website) are all false!  I am beyond confused.

Helene, once again-I can't imagine moving so many times. I am in the same place since '91.  I had a period of four years I moved three times.  Before that  I grew up in the same house from the age of 4 1/2 to 23.  I take my hat off to those who can take the stress of moving.  And now I understand why you're cleaning out your closets.

to all, take care..

here in T.O. it's going up to 33C and with the humidity it will feel more like 40C.  That is hot.

Helene, Congrats on doing so well. Anything bread and cheese is a weakness for me. So I don't know if I could have done as well as you did.

Best wishes to you for moving again. I remember saying "good bye" to the house I grew up in when we moved over seas about 15 years ago. I wasn't even living in the house. I was just telling my parents good bye and it suddenly struck me that I was also not going to see "my home" for the next few years.

One, I often snack at night to get my calories up. My choice is a bowl full of frozen blueberries. I just eat them like candy. They haven't hurt my weigh in and they also help keep me regular.

I don't know metric measurements very well but here in South Texas, we are already in the mid to high 90's F every day. And the humidity here on the Gulf Coast is a killer. I can't do anything outside unless it is before noon or after 6 pm.

With that said, I've got to get ready for my water aerobics (it's 8:30am) and cover myself with sun screen.

Have a healthy day everyone,

Beth

I'm back from a grueling trip to the Big Apple (which may better be described as the Big Belly for me), and I really missed you guys.  My trip started with a scheduling delay followed by a white knuckle turbulent flight (The captain kept coming on to apologize). Then the "gypsy taxi" (not my appellation, that's what the New Yorkers call them) delivered me last of the people sharing my limo, so I arrived at 2:30 a.m. and had to be ready to start the next day (oops, make that same day, after 5 hours sleep) at 9:00. The law firm where I was training provided meals that were--o.k., hope they don't read this--awful in every way: deficient in both nutrition and flavor. "Breakfast" was either bagel and cream cheese or pastry--no protein in sight. Lunch was pasta, pizza, and subs, and I have never liked any of those, let alone the havoc all those empty carbs can wreak on my healthy choice efforts. It was so hard, because--unlike One and Bonton--I have a big appetite and never have trouble meeting my calorie requirements; but, I usually try to balance quantity with quality. Just couldn't do anything about it this trip. Plus, I was working long hours, which interfered with my workout plans. Top that off with a two hour time difference, and (sorry for all the carping) I returned a wreck. I have not been on the scale and don't plan to get on until tomorrow. Just can't take what I know will be a setback.

To top things off, we have a psychotic Shi Tzu, Milo, inherited from my son. He was in a state yesterday, and bit me. I wish I could say it's the first time. I need a sleep away camp for ill behaved dogs, since the training I've done seems to have had no impact. We have never had a bad dog before (we've had in the past a majestic yellow lab and a mighty Pyrenees, and we still have a beautiful, sweet 12 year old white Shepherd), and I'm feeling a bit at wits end about Milo.

On the brighter side, my husband installed a seat on his motorcycle for me, and we took a fun ride together yesterday. I have very mixed feelings about motorcycles--or, "donor-cycles," as my nurse friends call them. But, it's his passion, and I do think he's a great driver (It's all the other drivers who scare the h*** out of me), so I told him I'd ride with him if he'd get me a raised seat and a helmet. The reasons for the helmet are obvious, and the raised seat is because I can't abide clutching him from behind and not being able to see where we're going. Do any of you ride?

Anyway, I read through the thread this morning, and am inspired to stay the lean and strong course, despite the traveling setback. Hope everyone has a good start to the week.