AZ newcomer, fired up and ready to go!
 

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to say hello and thank everyone for their candid posts. I am tired of being overweight and accept the responsibility to make changes until I find myself healthier and many pounds lighter :carrot:. I am a forty-two year old mom to a 3 year old and 4.5 year old :D, so I want to be around for a long time to see my children flourish and also so I can be a mom that can keep up with all the younger moms! I am excited to begin this journey with so many people who are struggling and winning the fight to get fit and lose weight. Thanks for being here! :)

Welcome!

Welcome Natalie...be sure to join us over on our weekly chat :)

Welcome, AZ Manatee!

Thanks everyone, I am new to this type of forum so I am figuring it out as I go! I think I found the weekly chat and will be happy to chime in there as well.

You can do it! We can do it!
 

Welcome Natalie. I am an "older" Mom too - I am 44 with 7-year old twin boys and an 11-year old of my own and a step-mom to a 10-year old, 16-year old and 19-year old. I also work full-time from a home office (thankfully) and balance shared parenting with my ex (we share our boys 50/50). Life is complex and stressful at times and I've resorted to eating to soothe my emotions in recent months - more than I ever did. I want to loose 35 lbs, maybe 40 too, but more importantly, to stop the emotional eating that robs my energy and my joy. I've had some challenging times, true, but I have so much for which to be thankful! There are other ways to combat emotions! Best of luck to you. You can do it! Do you have an exercise goal? Maybe you said that already - I'll re-read your post.

By the way, how do you add that little progress scale to your name? Jeanette

Momto6inOH! Wow, you sound so together! I see other moms eye me in the grocery store with my two little ones saying how behaved my children are and I think to myself "if you only knew!" as I smile and say thank you. It is chaos most of the time and I only have two children, but I am sure you would agree you would not change a thing (well except maybe a few pounds)! Emotional eating is my #1 problem; it soothes, it occupies, it is a reward. But you hit the nail on the head I think, we just have to find a dfferent way to handle the emotional eating. Tonight, I have an entire stalk of celery chopped in water in the refrigerator...just in case! My goal is to lose 40 lbs. I am doing Slim in 6 workouts daily and monitoring my diet. I eat pretty healthy but my worst time is after the kids are in bed, so that is an issue to be continually dealt with, any suggestions?

Jeanette/Momto6 -
I am not sure if this helps but this is how I did the ticker: go to UserCP (tab at the top left of your screen. Under control panel click on edit signature, there you will find how to create a ticker. Once you create it, you copy the code into your signature. I hope this helps.

welcome Natalie! I'm another older mom of 47 to a VERY active 5 year old. I'm trying to lose weight and get fit so I can keep up with him! lol!

Welcome! I've got my hands full too...but love it. 40 year old mom to an 8, 6 and 3 year old. Good luck!

Strategies after kids are in bed
 

Hi again Natalie. How did this week go for you? I had 3 days of sticking to calorie and fat range. It is SUCH a relief. I was beginning to think that I'd never get my discipline back. I also used my ellipital machine once in those 3 days. It's a start! :) I know exactly what you mean about wanting to eat after the kids go to bed - and before they are in bed when it's a really tough night. The way I've lost weight in the past has been planning my menu for entire day including snacks. So, if I have a snack left after kids are in bed, I can have it. If not, I can't. Sometimes I'll let myself have one one thing within reason if I've had a couple good days. I'm I've the opinion that carrotts and celery are okay anytime. And sometimes, I just plain eat what I want but as long as it's not the kitchen sink, it seems I still lose weight at a decent pace. Hope this helps!

Where/when it the weekly chat? Jeanette

Food Intake Workbook
 

Natalie and all you other fabulous 40 ladies,
I just tried to attach the Excel workbook I use to track my daily calories and fat but could not since I don't have 25 or more posts. It's pretty easy. I just copy the prior day's worksheet, delete anything I'm not planning to eat that day and plan my food for entire day. It adds up calories and has a little graph that shows me where I'm at for % of fat for day (30% or less is goal each day). It helps me to stay on track! I'm not sure where I originally found the template, but if anyone would like to have the Excel workbook, let me know and I'll use the PM system to get it to you if I can (once I figure out what that is). Jeanette

I use Fitday to track my food - it tracks calories, protein/carb/fat, and also some nutritional info. There are 1000s of foods already in the database, or you can also add your own custom foods for the specific things you eat. You can also keep track of your weight, and set a goal and it lets you know how you match up against that.

I like to plan out my day in advance - I can always add or delete foods, but it's great to have a plan and know that I will be where I want to be for calories. And it's nice because I can update from anywhere on my phone (there isn't a specific app for my phone, but I can still go to the website and do it)

Welcome Spin Mom, I saw you over on the week one chat too! Look forward to getting to know you. I love that there are so many other moms that have young children too!

Peanuts Mom -
I totally forgot about Fit Day, I started to look into that a while ago. Thanks for the suggestion, will give it a try!

Jeanette-
Thanks for the advice too! Sounds like your week went well and you are off to a great start! Well, I fell completely flat on my face exercise-wise after about Tuesday but stayed pretty good diet-wise. My son turned 3 yesterday and there are about a hundred reasons that I could list as to why my work-outs ended on Tuesday, but in total truth, they are what they are...excuses. Back on the wagon and realizing I just need to focus and make time to work out, that is my latest problem. Thanks for the suggestions and I will work diligently this evening on a creating and maintaining a journal or will try out Fit Day, I recall looking into that before.

I need to get busy posting so I can move to the next level here and really communicate better! Yikes, so much to do so little time. Best of luck gals!! We can do it!

Tuesday
 

Peanuts Mom - thanks for suggesting FitDay. I may try it!

Natalie - Hope you've been able to get back to your exercise program. That's my goal for today. I've been posting on one of the challenge boards - found a great group and great approach. I'm a person who likes challenges so it's working great! Will probably only be able to visit the 40's forum on occassion but I will check in every now and again. Good luck everyone! J