40's Chatter in August
 

Hi all, I go by lovnmom and I'll be 44 in just 8 short days. I have 4 beautiful children nearly 15, 13, 11, and 8. I'd been a yo yo dieter since the age of 12. Sadly, I had a mother who didn't understand about normal baby fat....anyway, when I turned 40 I said, "enough is enough," and quit dieting. I spent almost 2 years journalling and learning to just love me for me. I gained 40 pounds and was ok with it. I was happy and loved me until my then 6 year old learned to ride a bike...Oh happy days, we can all hit the bike trails for days of fun together. Accept our first trip out, me at 5'2" and 175# couldn't keep up with my 6 year old. I was miserable and truth be told so were the kids. They had to keep stopping and waiting for mom at every stop sign...that day I cried and cried hard. I didn't want to start the whole lose, gain, lose, gain cycle again. I was so afraid that my size was going to start equalling my worth again...I made a list of things to START DOING.Be sure and drink 64 oz of water EVERY day, eat 2 fruits EVERY day, have veggies with EVERY meal EVERY day, read my Bible lesson EVERY day, journal my thoughts EVERY day. My list contained no DON'TS and no time frame. I was trying to be healthier not skinnier. I stayed focused on doing this for my quality of life not the size of my jeans. It hasn't always been easy to keep that focus. That was May 2006 so yes, it has taken me 26 months to drop 39#. I'm more of a marathon loser than a sprinter, but I'm happy and I'm succeeding one lowly pound at a time. 3FC has been my true life line to give and get support. I've been posting at the 40's site and others faithfully for some time now. It really makes a difference. I hope you will join me.

Ok, so here's my post for today.
Baseball season is finally over and my life will get a lot easier now. I'm hitting the Wal-Mart this morning as I'm out of laundry detergent, Cascade, toilet paper and even band aids. There's no way to avoid shopping this weekend. These trips usually include the children begging to go to the Chinese Buffet which can send me into "Ahhhhhhhh help me mode." I love all the fried stuff and everything else too, plus there's so much sodium. Scary stuff ya know. Thankfully, DSs had football for 2 and a half hours yesterday and another mother is doing a marathon next weekend so she drug me on an 8 mile walk yesterday. That's twice as far as I usually go, so if we end up at Chinese I'm going to relax, try to enjoy, and eat only until I'm full not stuffed...pray for me.

Good Morning,

I am new to this group, but not new to weight battles.
I've been hanging out here @ 3fc for almost 3 yrs.
Started when I was on LAWL in 05' - it is such a fantastic site.
Sadly I have regained half of what I lost - guess my maintenance plan was not very well thought out.
Nevermind - I am back on track and ready to succeed.
Goal = to lose those 20 lbs again before my 46th bDay in May 09

Looking forward to getting to know everyone.

-Susan

Susan, It's really nice to meet you. You sound like you have the right attitude to succeed. I still think there is success in your gain...you put on the breaks and stopped gaining before it was all back on. Great job!
Have a great weekend!

Hi Susan and welcome.

It's Homecoming this weekend in our little town. As per usual it's hot and humid. We will go up later as the parade starts at 5. middle daughter will be marching with the poms squad. It's that time of year as they perform at all the football games.

Lovn when you run out of laundry detergent and toilet paper it's definetly time to go shopping. Enjoy the chinese. I try to avoid buffets, don't do too well with them.

Stay cool everyone.

Thanks for the welcomes.

If anyone is too warm - you can come here. It's around 65 and raining.
Just went for a run and it started pouring on my way back.

Good run and lucrative too - I found $22 on the trail:carrot:

-S

Hi, I introduced myself at the end of your July thread, I'll have a go again since this is fresh.

I also lost weight and re-gained, went from 200 down to 160, then back to 200 with an extra 20 to boot when I went on anti-depressents. I kept my FitDay account, mostly because I still logged in my activity.

I'm 44 (b-day in May) have a wonderful husband and two active kids.

I'm homeschooling my son which creates alot of stress in my life, and I am a studio artist, out hawking my pottery and sculpture.

Luvnmom, I did my Walmart shopping yesterday and had Chinese, but it was a combo plate, a little less scary than a buffet.

Clyde, Homecoming already?!?!?! Are your children back in school already too? Our H.S. homecoming is always in October more towards the end of the season. Have fun at the festivities. Has DD been real busy with her poms practices and stuff?

clayr, welcome again. Is your avatar some of your work? It's beautiful. I found a way out of the buffet challenge...I told my kids if we just bought subs and roll ups (much cheaper) at W-M and ate in the park I would spend the extra money taking them to Wall-E tomorrow. They took the offer. It was nice eating by the lake and I easily ate within my calorie range. If nothing else we must be creative to stay in this game over the long haul.
Hope you're all having a great weekend.

The subs are a much better deal than Chinese and your kids made a good choice, my daughter loved Wall-E.

Yes, the avatar is mine, thank-you, and thanks for the welcome

Lovn I meant our town homecoming. The high school one is not until later in the year. Poms has started their practising already.

clyde, so is that like a celebration of when the town was founded or something? Sounds like fun. Our little town has their annual Party in the Parkway coming up next weekend, but DH is finally taking a couple days off and we're heading for 6 Flags. It's going to be as relaxing as that possibly can. We're driving just over the IL border and staying with my niece and her family...cook out, a couple glasses of wine, play some ball, kids will sleep in a tent...then off to 6 Flags and then a stay with my friends FIL for pretty much the same thing...and then back to 6 Flags the next day. We're taking 6 children ages 8-14 so we shouldn't really have to do much once we're at the park. Us adults can chill or ride whatever we want.

I'm starting today with Sunday school. My lesson plan is pretty simple today..popcorn and a "Veggie Tale" movie. I know l-a-z-y, but it is the lazy days of summer. I'm planning to walk 5 miles and then take the kids to the movie. It should be a good day.

I am excited to get some tips from all of you. I love receipes and any information anyone might have to help win this battle. I know it will not be easy however, some of you have reached your goals and hopefully you can share what helped you to get there. Sometime more than lettuce !! lol
I have a friend that just lost 35 pounds and did it by really increasing her veggies and she filled up on them and claims it wasn't bad at all. She would grill all kinds of veggies and use a small bit of olive oil and make wraps, add a small amount of wheat pasta, she would mix in chicken and at times fish and she did not feel deprived one bit. So I am taking her lead and hopefully I will find as much success.
Good Luck to ALL !

:wave: Hi Suzzyy and welcome to the 40's chat. Good luck on your weight loss journey.

Good Morning to All!
I am new here and find it very motivational that all of you over
40's have done so well! I am 44 and have been tring to either lose
weight or not gain it for most of my adult life. I have never tried
journalling and would like to try it-what exactly do you do?
Have you found that it helps? I would welcome any advice.
Thanks!!

Hi davidsmom. Welcome aboard.

I have journaled in the past and found it helps a lot. When I was going to WW I always kept track of everything I ate. It definetly makes you think what you are eating when you are writing everything down that goes in your mouth. Many people on here use fitday.com with a lot of success.

Note to self maybe you should start journaling again :o

Lovn our homecoming is a three day celebration of everything in our town. There is a huge parade 2 of the days. Lots of tractors and everything agriculture. Food, carnival rides you name it. Thousands of people come from all around.

Good morning all...well almost afternoon.

Yesterday was - so/so food wise. Cleaned out my fridge to clear out the food going to the other side and made some fava beans with bacon.
Also an apple crisp - and yes bad me had some of both.
Ran 5K in the AM - but seriously, the menu needs to be cleaned up!

Hope you are all having a good day.
It is super sunny and hot here today and I am gardening.

Clydegirl, That sounds like so much fun, it must be wonderful to live in a community that gets together and celebrates like that.

Hi Suzzyy :)

Hi Davidsmom :)

Silly question: I am trying to complete the weight tracker and I have copied it but WHERE to I go to paste it??? I keep losing it because I am pasting it in the wrong place. HELP !!

You need to be a member 30 days or have 30 posts? I think before you can do a tracker.

Pop into general chatter, lots of stuff there and you will get your post count up.

Suzzyy-When you figure it out, let me know. I also have tried, but
can't. I think we do need to be here for 30 days. I have quite a few to go!

Does anyone know how many posts we need to do? I would hate to be here
for the 30 days and not have enough posts.

davidsmom, Clyde is so right about journaling. In the beginning I wrote down every mouthful and also how I felt while eating the "bad" stuff. The most essential part of losing weight for me has been walking. I started at a slow pace for a short distance, but with each walk it got easier to walk faster and farther. For me, it has been the difference between losing and gaining. Good luck. I'm looking forward to getting to know you.

I did get out and get the 5 miles done. I wore a brand new stepometer. The route I walked I had planned and measured already, because I've been walking it for years. My stepometer did measure it accurately. Thankfully, because I've been wasting gas driving around measuring new routes!!! My children and I thought Wall-E was really good. If you choose to think about it it has kind of a scary message!

Clyde, Your celebration sounds like a lot of fun.

Just came in from my walk. My husband wasn't feeling well and in the past I would have said "well, I won't go either" however, I went for a walk by myself. It was after 9pm and I still went. I hope this motivation continues.
Thanks to all of you for being supportive.

Don't worry about the tracker. You can get one either after being a member 30 days or after you have 30 posts.

It's amazing how quickly your post count goes up.

Wow! I have been out of touch for awhile and I'm way behind!! Welcome to all the newcomers to the 40 chat thread. I'll try to catch up!!

I had a few computer issues and had to take care of those and then we were gone most of the weekend, so now I'm back. We went to this lake that we love to fish and stayed in one of their cabins. It is such a great place! I wish we could have stayed longer. We had to come back early on Sunday because my son had to come back and get his football helmet and pads. They structure the equipment handout by team and that's when our team needed to be there.

So, yes, he made the team. Actually, they had a few quit, so no one was cut. That's a good thing. This week he starts in pads, so we'll see how this goes for him. He was doing much better at the end of the week than he was at the beginning, so I think he's getting in much better shape. They talked about moving practice from 5:30 to 5:00 when school starts. I hope that I can get someone to take him. I don't get off work until 5:00. I'm a little worried about that.

School starts in 2 weeks. I can't believe it is here already, although I am glad that they're going back. They need to get back in a better schedule. We need to get some new clothes and supplies, so I might have to take a day off this week. I can feel the stress trickling in... way too much to do! Then, my daughter will start volleyball, so that will make her happy!

Well, better go get ready for work!

suzzyy, Great job getting out there on your own. It's great to have a partner, but in the end we are doing this for ourselves. Again, WTG!

Mollikins, Great job!

Diane, So nice to see you back. The fishing and cabin sound wonderful. DS doesn't start FB practice for another week or so. Practice with pads is a whole other level. It's like the difference between walking flat turf and jogging hills, but it sounds like they're working the boys into it. I'm sure your son will do just awesome. During the school year our practices are held right after school so we just have to figure out how to get the kids home. Much easier. School doesn't start here until after Labor Day. It's actually a law the state passed a number of years back so that WI Dells didn't lose it's employees before the last hurrah of summer. Don't let the "start up" stress get to you too bad.

DD starts VB camp today. That'll give me two hours to kill in town so unless it starts raining again I should have time to get in a good walk.
Have a great Monday all!

Good Morning All,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been reading everyone's posts but feeling discouraged and not wanting to share. I had fallen off the wagon and was getting dragged behind, but I decided that I needed to stop whining and procrastinating and get myself back on track. So yesterday I started again, I didn't do great, but not horribly (definitely could have been worse). Unfortunately no exercise yesterday, we were going to take the dog for a walk, but I had fallen on my bike on Saturday and woke up really stiff and sore with a monster headache. After church and lunch I went up to take a nap but it didn't seem to help I just felt worse, today I feel better though so I think I'll take him out after I finish posting, then it's off to the grocery store :woohoo: That has to be one of my least favorite chores.

Lovnmom - MI passed that same law, I'm not sure how it helps because they seem to go longer in the spring than before.

Clyde - Our town's homecoming was this weekend too. We had a wedding to go to on Sat that was a ways away so we didn't go. It used to be a small gathering to welcome home people who had moved away (hence the name I was told), but has evolved into a giant carnival. I had never heard of a town homecoming until I moved here 9 years ago, now I've heard of two :D.

Suz & Davidmom - when you do get in those posts/days you go to edit cp button and then edit signature, it'll tell you how to post trackers.

Too Everyone else :wave:

Well, if I'm going to get everything I need done done, I should get moving. I have yoga tonight hopefully I can do ok, I have sooooo many bruises it's not funny.

Have a great day everyone.

-Tech

Hi...I'm new
 

Hi Everyone,

I am brand new to this site. I started the SBD one week ago today. I had a great week. I don't know if or what I lost in terms of weight as the scale scares me. I know I have about 50 pounds to lose. I did put my jeans on this morning and they zipped up much better. I have never done this type of forum either but years ago when I went to WW, it was nice to be able to talk to people. With gas prices the way they are, I just can't afford the extra cash to drive into a meeting and pay for a meeting. It isn't like I don't know how to lose weight, I just can't ever maintain. Now, at 48, I have high blood pressure. So, I thought I would give the SBD a try and hopefully with online help, I can stay in touch with people and stay motivated. This is a great site, I already tried the "fried zucchini" recipe at lunch time. Very tasty. I look forward to reading the daily postings! :)

Wow, This moves along :) I've also been trying to get my tracker posted, do you need both 30 days and 30 posts, or which ever comes first?

Congrats on the loss Mollikins!

My DH and kids went on a long hike yesterday, (we frantically tried to make it to church, but were too late). The ascent up the mountain was a killer but the views were spectacular once we got there, and the breeze up the valley felt wonderful. The trip down the mountain was tricky on my knees. I was very sore when we got home but feel good today.

Hi dowlibrarylady :)

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to 3fc - just joined about a week ago. I'm 44 and have a 16 year old daughter who's very into showing her horse. I've let my weight ballon since quitting smoking 6 or 7 years ago. I don't have a weight loss plan yet - I just quit junk food and started drinking more water so far. This week I plan to make myself walk every day. I love reading all the posts and soaking up all the ideas and information on this site. I'm hoping with all the support here I will finally be able to stick to a healthy eating plan and lose the weight once & for all.

Kathy

way to go suzy! i have just started walking myself. my goal is 30 minutes EVERY day! i decided to wake up early every day instead of trying for evenings because it is so hot down here in Texas! Good luck with your new routine!

Afternoon girls.

A hot steamy day!

We got new phones at the weekend and me being technologically inept am having a time with it trying to get the thing to do what I want. My 16 year old was sitting with me at midnight last night showing me how to make calls and get around.

:wave: Welcome librarylady and Kathy. It's always nice to get new people posting.

Clay it's whatever comes first the posts or the days being a member. Hope you don't mind me asking what part of the country do you live? I really miss the mountains and valleys from home. Everything is so flat here.

Tech good to see you back. Hope you feel better. I just got back from grocery shopping. It's putting it away that I hate.

Our schools go back on the 21st of this month. I think we are all ready for that day. It's still so warm then. I really don't feel, like shopping for autumn clothes.

Mollikins well done on that pound. Every one counts.

I'm trying to decide whether to go to the pool or not. The water is so warm just now with the high temps.

Enjoy the day.

Tech, Nice to see you back. Sorry to hear of your tumble. I'm glad you're somewhat better today. We all get drug by the wagon from time to time. The important part is you're back up there now. Enjoy your walk today.

librarylady, A big welcome to 3FC. A long drive and the extra cost for WW is what lead me to 3FC years ago. The support I give and get is really what makes the difference for me. Good luck!

clayr, I believe it's just whichever 30 you hit first. Your hike sounds awesome. I do most of my walks and hikes alone or with a friend. My family are fare weather exercisers. I don't blame them though. My DH works hard physically all week and my children are really into sports so I'm really the only one who "needs" to walk. My children do go along in the spring and fall though, because it's nice. lol

Kathy, If it's support you're looking for you've come to the right place. Cutting junk foods and adding more water is a great place to start. I'll be 44 this Sunday and have become an avid walker in the past two years. I firmly believe it's the best exercise both cheap and easy. It didn't seem easy at first though, but it does get easier every time you go. Good luck!

beffie, Hot or cold morning walks are much better for me. I get too l-a-z-y if I put it off until afternoon or evening!!!

Clyde, good luck with the new phone! I'm with you on the putting stuff away. I just hate it, but no one else puts it away right. I know, that sounds anal, but I'm the one that will need to find it. It's hot and steamy here too even though a good T-storm just past through.

I got in 5 miles while DD was at V.B. I'm trying to get a few extra in at the beginning of the month...we have at least 2 weekends away planned and I know I'll be overeating.

Yes, I used to think that I just couldn't wake up any earlier! But it's been working so far! And I really do love it!

Hi everyone.

At the end of my riding lesson this past Sunday, my instructor gave me a HUGE zucchini...it's as big as an eggplant. I need some ideas as to how to best prepare it...I'm clueless at cooking so any EASY suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Last week was the perfect storm of weight gain - I was unable to exercise and at work, we had a triple baby shower with three cakes and Champagne, as well as a departmental lunch that spanned 3 hours. I tried to make good choices but...I was not completely successful.

So here we go again this week. I'm going on vacation in 2 weeks - to the beach - and my hope was to lose at least 3 pounds before leaving. Not sure that's going to happen but I am trying.

One thing that I've been doing is weighing myself everyday and this is not a good practice for me. It only upsets me if I don't see the numbers I want to see, so I need to really make the effort to use the scale no more than once a week.

School starts in 3 weeks. Went to Staples yesterday with the school supply list in hand, and we got everything! It was actually kind of fun. I think we're all getting psyched for the new school year. I'm resolving to be more involved in the school this year. As a working mom, I really never have participated at all in anything going on in my son's school. It just wasn't possible - I worked almost an hour away. However, now that DS is starting middle school and I'm working only 15 miles away, I really want to get more involved. We'll see how it goes.

I can't even comment on my Mets. Why must they torture us so?

Letsgo, Well, It sounds like you had some fun celebrations though and we must live too. Good luck with the zucchini. I really only grate them in bread or add them to stir fry. I'm not much help.

DD has V.B. again this morning. My friend Lori is doing a marathon in Hurley this weekend so she's walking 8 miles with me during practice. She ran 20 yesterday and I can tell you that's some feat. It was 91* with 100% humidity yesterday. My 5 mile walk was grueling. The weather is projected to be almost exactly the same today, but the 8 won't seem nearly as bad as yesterday's 5, because I won't be alone. There's another 3FC member that is doing "The Step Diet" I got interested so I bought a cheap pedometer. I checked it out on known distances and got my stride set right etc..and then strapped it on yesterday. Pretty much out of curiosity. I did my 5 mile planned walk, but I ended up walking more than 10 miles yesterday even though I did no grocery shopping or lawn mowing. That number really caught me by surprise, because I remember wearing one years ago and maybe walking a mile a day more than my exercise. At the time I had babies and did a lot of rocking and nursing, but I pretty much was just stagnent anyway. It's nice to affirm, yes I have changed my lifestyle.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Good Morning,
LetsGoMets, here's a recipe for Stuffed Zucchini:
2 lbs. zucchini
1/2 lb. ground meat browned
1/4 C. mayo
2 tea dehydrated onion flakes ( I use fresh)
2 tea parsley flakes
1 tea oregano leaves
1 tea salt
1 tea lemon juice
1/4 tea pepper
2/3 C. tomato (spaghetti) sauce

Halve zucchini, scoop out centers leaving 1/4 inch shell; place in shallow baking dish.
Coarsely chop centers; mix w/other ingrediants,(except sauce). Spoon mixture into shells and top w/ sauce bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes.


Clyde- I live in Maryland. We also live fairly close to the Chesapeak Bay. My family is from the Tennesee North Carolina region, those are some georgeous mountains.

Clayr, thanks for the zucchini recipe! I am writing it down and bringing it home. My husband is the cook of our family so I'll let him have a crack at it. I think we even have all the ingredients on hand!

Also, I love your piece in your avatar. Last week, our department here at work had a team-building activity that consisted of a session at a pottery studio! We each got to make something and had a great time doing so. I made the simplest thing possible, a tray. Some people made vases. We didn't work with a pottery wheel, but the owner of the studio gave us a wonderful demonstration. Very cool! We'll get our pieces back once they've been glazed and fired (or is it the other way around!??). It was truly a fun and very different experience, and it was so cool to see the beautiful finished pieces on display around the studio.

LetsgoMets,

I think I am going to start rooting for your team. Those of us who live in MI are so disgusted with the Tigers. Their latest trade was enough to get me to jump off the bandwagon for supporting them. They could have traded Pudge, but to the YANKEES??? What were they thinking? Anyway..

I took a zucchini yesterday and cut it in thin round pieces. I dipped it in a scrambled up egg, and then dipped it in parmesan cheese. I lightly greased a cookie sheet with olive oil and then placed the zucchini rounds on the pan and baked them at 375 for 25 minutes. I didn't flip them because when I tried to, the cheese stuck. I probably should have used more oil, but didn't want the calories. Anyway, they were soft and flavorful. I will be doing more of them. Maybe this will give you another option for your zucchini?

Nine days into Phase 1 of the SBD and still doing well. Blood pressure was down this morning. We'll see what the doc says on Friday. I am waiting a couple of weeks before I shop for a couple of new things to "go back to school" wearing. Besides, I have multiple sizes of things...I am sure if I dig into the back of the closet, I will hopefully find something that fits that I haven't worn in a while. I still haven't gotten on the scale. I just want to feel better. I did walk today, although it was a shorter walk than normal as it is 82 degrees with 100 percent humidity this morning. It is supposed to be cooler tomorrrow. Have a great day everyone!

Hi All!
 

Thanks Lovn for the get well e-mail - much appreciated. I remember my last journey for weight-loss - I tend to catch things easy, and every time I was down and out, it made it that much harder to get back into exercise. Too lazy by nature. This time around I feel more motivated, and I am hoping that keeping a blog and meeting up with you all (y'all :D) that this will be the added kick in the butt I need.

I weighed myself this morning (usually weigh every Monday). I am down 2 lbs from last Monday. At my mom's yesterday, it showed a 7 lb lost which seemed highly unlikely - would've felt that! So, I like to keep to one scale.

All my shorts at the beginning of summer were tight and had that extra saddle-bag hump in them (yech!). Now they are loose (even from the wash!). Today I decided to pull some of my older, smaller shorts out - hey they are a bit loose too! :carrot: Now that is motivation!

Going out to mow and weed today (have 3 acres to do :o)! That will keep me occupied while my kids are all away and the hubby off to work.

I wish all good success today! Keep plugging away - may not be pounds always - sometimes it's inches!

Shari