300+ Club - 300+ and Getting Fit after 40 #229

This thread is a sub-set of the 300+ thread.

This group is for those dealing with the challenges of having a significant amount of weight to lose and being fit which becomes harder after age 40. If you're an old or new friend and not over 40 and feel this is the place to post, jump right in.

Barb -- I saw your post from last night. Welcome back!! I find vacation too easy to trip up my careful eating. Getting right back on plan IS very important!!!! Good luck!

My weekend was bookmarked by very sad and surprising news about people I know, and it might be a strange week. But I didn't overeat, and have a food plan for today. So, onward!

I am happy to report that I lost 2lbs last week.I wish it came back off as fast as it can go on. Im 7lbs from my lowest. I can do this!
Dont you love it when eating is easy and simple. I even had pizza last night and only ate 2 slices and counted every calorie.
Breakfast was a yummy bowl of yogurt, blueberries and granola. 250 calories and very filling.
Hope everyone weeks starts off great!

Happy Monday morning to everyone. It's going to get hot in Northern CA this week, so I'm going to be quick so I can get some work done outside this morning.

Heather, thanks for starting us off for the week again. So sorry for your sadness. I'm glad you are moving forward with your focus.

Barb, welcome home! Hope getting back into your routine is a welcomed thing. You sound like the break did you some good.

Debi, I'm excited for your progress! Way to go!

I spent yesterday troubleshooting laptop issues for my son. I don't like spending the day clearing out viruses, etc. I thought computers were supposed to save time for us! It doesn't feel like it.

Today I'm focused on my plan to stay soy free for the next 60 days. I've been letting it creep back in to my diet and it's not been good. It's a very difficult ingredient to weed out. But the more distance I get from it, the better I feel, which leads me to want to exercise again.

I've decided I don't want to track calories any longer. I need a break from the dieting obsession. I'm going to be more intuitive in my eating for awhile, keeping to the right nutrition available in my home, not going out at all, eating when I'm genuinely hungry, eating slowly and stopping when I'm satisfied. I've spent so much of my life worried about diet and being fat. I want to spend some time living!

The giant project is done and gone! We had an Internet outage this weekend that unexpectedly delayed its departure, but it's gone, gone, gone! Of course, at this point, I'm not feeling really excited -- especially after delay caused by the Internet issue -- but mostly exhausted. I know my husband's tired, too -- he's getting a little overwhelmed at work, which is leaving him drained every day. I'm hopefully going to persuade him to go for a walk before dinner tonight, though to be honest, a nap sounds just as good...:)

It's been a hard day at work today -- lots of little projects one after the other, and I'm starting to make stupid mistakes -- the kind that when someone points it out to you, you feel like a moron. Tomorrow will be better! :D

I'm sure I have a positive in here somewhere, and I'm not feeling negative, really...just blaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...

Here's to all of us surviving this week! :carrot:

Hi Walrus :wave:

Are you working as a contractor? Can you just take a day off and put it all behind you. Just unwind? May be hubby could too. Take a midweek 1 day break and you'llbe ready to go back to work on all cylinders.

Here we are at Monday again. The weekend flew by but I do love Monday and getting back to my routine.

Heather - hugs to you. I'm sorry for your sadness - take a deep breath. We're here and we will behave this week.

Barb - so great to see you. I so hear you about food on vacation - I have a plan and don't know what happens in the execution of it. Back at it today - you're strong and driven.

Debbie - I hate losing these up and down pounds over and over. I am one pound over my low after this weeks WI. We headed the right direction.

Georgia - wow now that would be a challenge for me. I don't suffer from the soy allergy but a friend does. I was never aware until she developed it how hard it is to find soy free foods.

Walrus - hugs to you too! I hope you got your walk in - fresh air can be so refreshing and healing. It's always good to step away.

Judy - how's it going? Have a great week!

I've had a great day - the challenge for today in the 60 day challenge was to push yourself harder during your workout. I did! Felt great. Came home and fixed a grilled chicken salad with tons of fresh veggies.

Lurkers - let us know you're OK - very quiet around here.

Hugs to all,
Carol

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts :) I think the worst of it is behind me -- I've got one more day of filling in for someone who's out (so doing their work as well as mine) and then about a week and a half (!!!!!!) of regular work until I go visit my family in Minnesota again. I can't imagine that this trip won't go better! I'm still going to overeat, I'm betting, but at least I'll have more control over what's on offer, unlike when I was visiting family in Chicago earlier this fall. And hopefully we'll have lots of time for walking!!! This is my absolute favorite time of year, when the air is cool and crisp and DRY, and I don't want to waste any more of it working! So there!

I'm hoping that I'm back to "normal" at weigh-in this week. I know that I've been sticking to my calorie counts, but I'm feeling large and not-so-in-charge tonight...our training session tomorrow should help with that ;)

Have a good night, all!

HI..Im a bit sore this morning..well alot sore! I increased my weights on sunday night and then in the 60 day challenge was to increase intensity of your workout. Well yesterday was my day to jump on the minitramp.I jumped for 30 min using hand weights the whole time.I can sure feel it today! What a great feeling!!
HOw can we forget??? I love love love a stirfry made with chicken and a bag of frozen veggies.How can I just stop eating it. ITs a huge plate of food for only 250-300 calories and so filling.
Carol- I plan to never see these lbs again. I plan on going down down down.I would love to be at goal by spring.
walrus- I love fall also.Im so ready for some cooler temps.
geo- I spend the day yesterday trying to help my daughter get her laptop set up. lol
heather- hi and how did you do with your food plan yesterday.I know its so easy to turn to food for comfort.WAY to go on not doing it over the weekend!!
barb- welcome back..we missed you!
judy- hi and how are you doing?

Today = :stress:

Walrus! :hug:

I am pleased to report that I did not overeat due to sadness over the weekend. And I did not overeat when hubby was out of town, either.

However, yesterday I skipped my workout -- not good -- but was right back on it today!

Since Thurs I've managed to stay OP everyday. Tonight I got home late and it threw my schedule off. I needed to EAT! So I trashed my plan to cook from scratch and threw something cold, and fast, together. I scarfed down the first three bites then was able to convince my self to s..l..o..w.. down and enjoy (ie: taste) the rest of my meal. Challenge met. :D I didn't stop at the Archs and pig out. I didn't grab the first thing in the kitchen and shove it in my mouth and then proceed to the next thing. I THOUGHT about it and avoided disaster and learned something about me as well.

Heather. Hugs. I'm sorry for your sadness.

dgramie: Congrats on meeting your exercise goals.

Hi to everyone else. Gotta run. The dog wants out.

Later,

Thanks, Heather and everyone else who's sending good wishes my way.

Not to go into too much detail, but we're dealing with life-changing dramas on several branches of both our families, as well as those of our friends, plus working too much and too hard right now. I know it will all get better eventually -- ok, soon -- it will all get better soon -- but right now, it just feels like I'm being ground down.

Tonight was our last training session with our trainer before she moves, but I didn't get to come home for lunch today, so I didn't get to eat until 5 pm and was unfortunately shaky, so I took a little nap on the sofa while waiting for my husband to get home from work (he has a much longer commute than I do). Well, I woke up at 7:30 (when our session was supposed to start), and he'd actually sat on the floor next to the sofa and then fallen asleep himself. So we both just gave up tonight and skipped the gym and ate dinner. We also ended up ordering in rather than eating our Tuesday night sushi, so I was over calories today. So now I'm tired, mentally exhausted, unprepared for tomorrow, unexercised, and feeling fat and slacker-y. Plus anxious and unsettled about the family dramas. Plus worried about people and work and whether I'm budgeting/scheduling/etc. the best way possible. Plus, plus, plus.

To be honest, I think that when our trainer told us that she was leaving us, we both kind of gave up on the gym. However, she's set us up with a new trainer who's a professional power-lifter, about which I'm totally psyched. So that's a good plus! And we're bringing the exercise bike back into the living room tomorrow (it went away for Sunday's party), which means that we can get back at it, even though it's dark out at night now. Another good plus!

I think October's going to be a great month! And November's always been one of my favorite months. And then December -- who doesn't love December :lol:

So, yeah, we'll get back to it, but right now, I'm overwhelmed and exhausted and just trying to get through another day...

Walrus- hugs on yesterday and hoping today is much better for you.
judy- great job on staying on track with your eating
heather- way to go getting right back on the exercise wagon
Carol- how is your week going?
geo- where are you?
Barb_ how is your week back at home going?

Yesterday was a good day for me except that my sodium content was a bit high. I am also proud to report I lifted weights even though my brain kept telling me to take the day off. I also jumped on the minitramp. I am proud of myself for doing 2 forms of exercise in one day.LOL
Had to send a kid home sick yesterday so not sure what that will mean for today. Hopefully no one else will end up sick today.
have a great tuesday everyone!

Hi girls! I'm here! I spent another day fussing with my son's laptop. (I can't believe how many games he had on there!) I couldn't bring myself to be on the computer at all yesterday.

Today I'm going in for a facial! It's been a few months, so I'm due.

It sounds like everyone is on track and doing pretty well. Except Walrus, who needs a break! Wish I could bring you to the spa with me today. But I'm glad you've got a new trainer who offers something you really want.

Since backing off the soy, I've been feeling better and better, although there are still times when I feel achy all over. I hope that goes away as I find and eliminate more soy from my life.

I've been off dairy for some time now and have been drinking Almond Breeze (unsweetened) instead. I've enjoyed it so much...until yesterday when I discovered it had soy in it! So I now have a carafe in which I can make my own almond milk. Just got to go get a lot of almonds! Maybe its time to renew that Costco membership so I can buy big bags of almonds.

Have a lovely day!

Geo -- ooh, spa day!!! I'll be over in a jiffy...!

So my dilemma of the day is that I'm retaining water like a camel in the Sahara (ok, so the hump's really fat, not water -- do we need to go there? ;)). And the ideal way, as far as I can tell from this site, to get rid of the water is to drink lots and lots. So far, so good. However. They've turned the water off on our street until 5 pm (!!!). So no bathroom functionality for 6.5 more hours...so no guzzling of the water. Is it possible to drop 6 pounds (ahem) of water weight if I don't get to drink between now and 5 pm and want to have a fabulous weigh-in Friday morning?

The good news is that, weather permitting (and at this point, this excludes only downpours and lightning), we're for real getting out for a walk tonight. We're doing a dining benefit (local chefs, local food) at the restaurant of one of our favorite chefs tonight, and it's just over a mile away, which should be a nice walk there and then a nice walk home :) I think I'll be skipping the wine tonight, though, which is kind of a shame, as the sommelier is also a friend of ours and has just started at this restaurant. I've left room in the calorie budget for a glass of wine, but maybe I'll just split the pairings with my husband -- good for a sip, not for a gulp :lol:

So that's the news from Lake Walrusbegone, where the women are busy, the men are good-looking, and the children are cats...

Bad day...foods ok though.No exercise and its only 7 and Im going to bed. Dont know why I had a bad day...just did! I will have a little bundle of happiness( gd) coming to spend the next 2 days with me. Im sure she will pep me right up. I will have to be peppy to keep up with her!

Hey everyone== I'm headed out of town tomorrow for a long weekend and don't know how much internet access I'll have -- so, take good care of yourselves!! And play nice as always!

Hi - I'm here. My weekend starts even earlier this week. Wedding weekend is here - my niece will be lovely. I did not make my goal to be at 100 pounds lost by her big day.

The next few days will be busy but I'll try to stop in. I'm very focused in the eating and exercise arena - I love being in the zone. There is a whine in it thought - the scale just keeps creeping up. Every bite is accounted for. My body really likes this weight I think. I need to read more about breaking through the set point.

Have a great day - enjoy the wonderful fall weather (at least here in the midwest).

Hugs,
Carol

Mornin'

W/I this afternoon. Clothes already feel looser. :) I'll let you know tonight how I do. Still OP and walked a little. Not enough to count though.

Carol have a great time at the wedding. Enjoy and I'm sure next week you'll find a way to break thru.

Heather you enjoy your weekend too.

dgramie, put that bad day behind you. It happens. We just have to try to see that it doesn't happen very often.Have fun with the little one.

Walrus asparagus has alway worked for me. Trouble is if you eat a good sized portion of it you be losing GREEN water. :o

Georgia: Bummer about no soy and no dairy. Makes eating right all the tougher.

Hey Terri, you out there? Miss ya'.

Back later.

It turns out that our water was never shut off yesterday! So I didn't pee for 8 hours for no good reason. Yes, I was cranky. I've been drinking a lot today but still feel thirsty (and dumb [and gullible]).

Does anyone else reach the stress point when they feel like something's going to have to give, and as soon as that happens, everything will be ok, but until then, there's just this enormous cumulonimbus cloud of PRESSURE physically pressing down on them? Or am I just nuts :lol:? I think next Thursday night is the next night that I get to breathe, and it just feels sooo far away...

Ok, enough whining -- is that what's made everyone go away? If you come back, I promise to only talk about bunnies! Ok, kittens and bunnies!

Ok -- back to the grind. Wish me luck!

And a carrot for you all :carrot:

I'd puy on my fuzzy bunny slippers in your honor Walrus but the dog killed them! So I'll put on my bald, shredded ear bunny slippers instead. :mad:
I was feeling like you a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to shake someone, anyone, so I'd feel better. I had a long talk with myself, reprioritized (sp) a few things and a day or two down the line I felt much calmer and in control.

Went to WW. Lost 7.2 lbs. :dizzy: I don't care if it was all water - it's gone.:D

Off to the Finger Lakes for Agility Trials on Friday & Sat. I'll catch up on Sunday.

Judy - great job! Have a great weekend.

Great day today - lots of exercise, spent some time with the bride to be and then with my sister. Tomorrow is pamper day - all the girls heading out for manicures and pedicures - I do love a pedicure.

Hope tomorrow is as awesome a day as today.

Keep up the great work!

I like bunnies! They are fluffy and floppy and can be litter trained. They have adorable noses and fluffy bunny butts. I like the ones with the floppy ears best, although the miniature ones with straight ears -- the pocket buns -- are also pretty darned cute. Bunnies are nice.

I also like kittens! I have three kittens. They are soft and snuggly, except when they are full of fangs and claws. My kittens like to sleep a lot. I like to sleep a lot! I like to sleep with the kittens. Sleeping is nice! Kittens are nice.

I like bunnies and kittens and sleeping!

(Ok -- come back and post! or tune in tomorrow for an installment of "I like baby animals!")

Lets see thursday I looked into the alley by my house and thought wow its raining hard. THe water was just running down the alley like a river...then I realised it wasnt raining hard at all. We had a break in the water line and my basement is flooded. THe guys couldnt find the shutoff to the mainline in the alley so they had to let it continue to run till they got it fixed. Needless to say I had standing water in my basement.GRR
Then as a few of you know we got a new roof a few months back. Well I went into my living room and water was running down my wall. I called the roofer and he came over and thinks it was from my bay window roof.
He thinks he has it fixed. Guess we will have to wait till another hard rain to find out for sure.
Going to get my eyes checked today...sure I will need glasses. Guess its not the end of the world not needing glasses till age 45.

I'm home. Spent the last two days at agility trials in the Fiinger Lakes. The dog bombed but I had a great time. It was cool out. Sunny Friday, cloudy and windy yesterday. Glad I didn't enter today. It's raining.

Stayed w/i my pts. Last night a group of us cooked out. We had steak, grilled portobello mushies, salt potatoes w/ melted butter (no butter for me),and sauteed green beans.It was delish.

Had nasty leg cramps last night from 2 days of sitting for hours in my camp chair. Ouch!

dgramie: :hug: What an awful way to spend a Sat. Hope you didn't lose too much stuff from the flood.

Walrus: Hope your having a less stressul weekend.

Time to get dressed and start my day.

Hi girls! Sorry I've been laying low. Been preoccupied with divorce garbage. I think I just need to stay in my bedroom when I'm upset, except that there would definitely be days when I would never leave!

I just picked up a book at Target and it's bringing up a lot of issues in me about my appearance. The book is Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over 45 by Christopher Hopkins. I guess he was on Oprah, etc. I looked at his website. He charges an awful lot of money to go to is studio for a makeover, but if I had the cash, I'd be very inclined to see what he could do for me. But first we'll try the book...much cheaper!

I'm barely into the first chapter and I'm already uncomfortable. I don't like people telling me what I'm supposed to look like. They generally list things that would make them feel more comfortable with looking at me. And that's their problem. I want to look like the genuine ME. The trouble is, I'm not really sure what my own image is. And I think this is an important thing for me to discover now, because I need a clearer vision of who I am now so I can visualize the slimmer, healthier me down the road.

I'm writing about it all in my blog (http://half-the-woman.blogspot.com/)...every task and every questionnaire from the book will be written up online. Helps me to stay honest to myself.

I'm feeling a lot better this morning, lots of energy. I'm going to ruin that by going to my parents. They need some help with gardening, and then I'm going to be subjected to lunch and opinions. I'm bringing the boys with me too! We can suffer as a family. It'll be a bonding experience!:D

I'd like to join you!

I just went to the dr. and I was 297lbs! I can say, "oh, I had my shoes on; I had my clothes on; it was 4pm; I was blotted...etc...."

I can give excuses...but the fact remains....I have never weighed this much!

I'll 40 in January.

I'll be taking baby steps....as I seem to start and then...QUIT.

I can't quit anymore! I watch the Biggest Loser and cry just about at every segment. I see me. My husband who has always been supportative said: You can do it, if they can, you can.

Deb - welcome - yes you can do it! Start out with baby steps - you've got the right idea. We have to make changes for life. Please keep posting - this is a great group of ladies. We walk the walk together.

My niece's wedding was lovely - a perfect midwest day for an outdoor wedding. Even a deer in the meadow next to the ceremony. Now back to "normal".

Very quiet here - everybody OK?

Hi all,

I am here, barely at times. I shouldn't say that, I didn't work much this weekend. I should have, but just didn't. I felt run and sick most of the week.

What's new with me? I went to Fashion Bug and found a winter coat I really like, however they didn't have the color I wanted. For once in my life I decided I should get what I wanted, so I ordered the coat (size 22/24). It should arrive next week sometime, so that will be nice. I bought a coat a month or so ago, again a 22/24. This one I bought a month ago was a faux leather coat which DH loved on me, so how do I not get it? I also bought a halloween costume for the first time in forever (shockingly a size 18/20). DH bought a Batman costume, so I have a Batgirl. Hopefully I will have the nerve to wear it to the party we have been invited. I do plan to wear black leggings with it, since it will likely be darn cold and I am not the comfortable showing so much skin. As you can see, I have been shopping more. Here is the issue I have been having: now that I fit in clothes, I feel like I must buy everything that fits. When I was a 30/32, so few things fit that if ANYTHING fit, I should buy it because so few items fit. Now I can shop in a lot more stores, so I need to stop thinking everything must be bought.

What else is new? Work. Not new, just busy. And I believe I will be going to California two more times this year, and likely going to Japan early next year. Yes, Japan. Yikes. Not looking forward to it. I think I have about 10 trips for work next year....several to CA, several to Japan, one possibly to China, one to Puerto Rico, and who knows where else. Tires me out. So does consistently working 12 to 14 hours a day, plus most weekends. At least I recharged some this weekend.

I have set a few weight loss goals to get me back in the weight loss mode. As of this morning, I weighed 285.8. Blah. I have been in the 280s for far too long. I need to get into the 270s, and say hello to 100 pounds gone. The good news from my perspective is I have not done well with exercise (at all!) and eating very. I have been probably eating decent 4 to 5 days a week, and doing not so well the other 2 to 3 days. If I have been maintaining (mostly) at that, perhaps I can get my weight heading down soon. And perhaps not, time well tell.

Enough about me. :wave: all!

Carol, you seem to be a machine. Always working out. Always eating well. Keep at it!

Walrus, you made me chuckle. Glad you like kitties and bunnies.

I have run out of steam. Hi to everyone else.

Later,
Angie

STOP!!!

For more, go to the next installment!

That is all.