calling out to women 50+

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!

I like reading everyone's stories.  Hm, I was wondering how long you've been married Chris.  I wonder if I will ever marry again, I like being a single entity.  My sister, on the other hand, hated it and found a new husband almost straight away after her 20+ year marriage broke up.

On TBL a week ago I think they ate portabello mushroom burgers-- they used the mushrooms for the buns and filled them with salad and cheese.  

Well Tracy is gone home now and we were in awe of her transformation.  She looked great, didn't she?  In my time zone, she was doing a guest appearance on Jay Leno, but I didn't stay up to watch that.  Everyone did so well with the weight loss last night.  We were talking about Bob and Amanda -- hee hee, he's 44 (the girl was amazed, thought he was 10 years younger) and she's 19.  Love knows nothing of age :)

I'm 51 and having a blast going through the change.  I've gain about 50 lbs over the last 10 years.  About 5 lbs. a year.  I feel completely out of control. I was always a small person.   I'm about 5' 2 at 202 lbs.   Back in the day I was about 115.   No matter what I do whether it be exercise, diet I don't seem to be able to make that scale move.   It's very frustrating.   I've recently joined WW and have managed to lose 5 lbs. but I have a long way to go.  What can I do to get this ball moving?   The holiday's are coming and I just see a feeding frenzy through to 2010.   Need help & motivation.  Maybe even some new ideas or advice.  

cynthia, Welcome. I fear the holidays too. I'll give you the advice I'm giving myself: stick to the plan faithfully now so that I show some good results. Success begats success. Every time I face some of those 'special' holiday foods and occasions I'm going to remind myself that I've really tasted it all before...the evidense for that is on my butt! lol. Just take it one day/meal at a time. Every pitfall that we avoid is one less thing to feel bad about and have to make up for later. I started WW about 4 weeks ago and have lost about 5 lbs. It's slow going but that's the way to make GOOD new habits!

I don't know how active you've been up til now, but if not much, add a little each week. It's hard not to be impatient when you want rid of it so badly, I know.

Chris1208 - Thanks for your insight.   You're right I have eaten it all before.  It's good but enough already.   Somehow my pitfalls go right to my butt too!!!  You have a good sense of humor.   I have a WW meeting tonight so I'm going to share you advice.   Makes sense.

As far as being active my husband and I do try to get out for our power walks but schedules & weather sometimes put a damper on that.   I have numerous workout tapes at home maybe it's time to actually but one if them in the DVD player and workout.   Leslie Sansone Walk Away tapes are some of my favorites.    Again thanks for your help.  

Well lots of newbies lately..good..good...

Cynthia: I would suggest getting yourself a upright indoor stationary bike or treadmill, I personally have the SB as I have a back disability so walking isn't my cup of tea....just eating less then you burn is how you win in the end....try to avoid the temptations...I know it is hard but when ai think that one days binge equals about 3 days of deficiting it doesn;t seem worth it in the end!  You'll get lots of good support and advice on here, just ask don't be afraid to!

GG: Horses well that's person #3 on here, one thing I always wanted to do was to rent a horse for a weekend and go camping like the 'duke'.  I rode alot in my youth (the horse whisperer)..lol  Like yourself I had a very active youth....I am afraid my wild days are over now though, my back keeps me at bay most times....I did have a couple motorcycles too!  Of course my 1st day on one I ended up on my butt...thought I was racing my camaro...hehehe Ski-divingI have to give you props for that one!....there is no way in hell anyone is having me jump out of a plane.....brrr just the thought scares me...hehe I am daring but don't like heights!!..lol

Laura: I thought you were married, my mistake! Wonder where I got that idea??

Margaret: You had me laughing there with the puttering to the waves!.....I love the ocean, I live 1.5 miles from my Lake here but the rolling huge waves of the ocean is entirely different of course on a windy day Georgian Bay can get some nice ones I live on 'Lake Simcoe' 60 miles north of Lake Ontario for those of you who know the 'great lakes'

Well I am suppose to go the that Abba tribute concert' at Kyles high school tonight at the 'fisher auditorium' ... and am trying to find any excuse not to go....!

If I forgot anyone i missed..have a nice day, can't stay on any longer back bugging me.......oh I am so glad that Tracey is gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..kick my heels...>>>>>yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still like Shay for the gold!

BEB...fit and healthy! I just realized I am the same weight now 171 I was last year...ugggh and I was doing so good there in May at 159...have to push harder..!My goal is still 140+

BEB1956 - Thanks for the input.  I've been thinking about getting a TB or SB. Over the summer months my husband and I get outside for our power walks but we live in N.E. so by the time we get home now it's dark & cold.   I have several Leslie Sansone "Walk Away" tapes.   Maybe I should dust them off and actually use them.    Today is my first day posting and I can't believe how informative and warm everyone is.

PS - Biggest Loser Fan - So glad Tracey is gone.   I couldn't look at those crazy eyes one more week.  Ha Ha.

Again thanks for the advice.

I have a super trouper  night to go to soon.  Heres hoping its good! With the coasteering, I was extremely lucky.  Firstly we had good guides one I can only say looked like a big bear and a devilish humour to go with it.  and secondly both times I went (yes I went twice) the sea was so calm, beautiful and just lovely.  the second time I went was on a weekend called 'Adrenalin Cocktail' weekend where we went sea kayaking as well. On the second day the wind was up and there were big waves, well if you were in the water they would have been big!! I was so glad I went the day before.  The second day for my group was a coastal path walk or mountain biking. Good fun and you only do what you feel happy with.

I wonder if I will meet someone and live happily ever after (Myth I know). Its been a long time now, 13 years but I have done a lot in these 13 years that I would never have done had I stayed in my marriage.  I have two wonderful sons to show for it so no regrets.

I missed tonight's BL we had a power cut for nearly 4 hours. My dad went to bed so I was on my own trying to read by LED. Quite peaceful really!!

With the foods I eat, I am trying to keep it as natural and unprocessed as possible. It drastically reduces what you can eat and can be a little frustrating at first until you get into it.

The dreaded change! I am on my way into it and just hope I come out the other side a butterfly.  my sister had a rough time with it and I don't even want to think of gaining any more weight!!

Welcome, Cynthia!  I have those Leslie Sansone tapes too.  I haven't used them in a while but they are good for days when there is no time to get outside.  As for holidays, we have stopped doing the huge quantities of food for dinner.  Turkey is great and so are veggies.   we skip the cranberry sauce (boy is it loaded with calories) and the dessert.  I think you can find a lot of info on healthy recipes for the holidays.  Halloween is my biggest challenge with all the chocolate candy floating around the office.

Margaret, the coasteering sounds like so much fun!!  I would love to try it.  I wonder if they have anything like that here by the Pacific Ocean.  Do you have a link to the outfit that guided you?  I have done sea kayaking twice and enjoyed it immensely.  In fact, your mention of it made me think that I could substitute kayaking for hiking if my knee takes a while to heal.  It would be more expensive, that's for sure, but it is a wonderful soul-satisfying experience.

BEB, I have to admit to not watching TBL because I wanted to watch "So You Think You Can Dance".  The dancers are SO talented and the judges seem a bit higher class than the ones on American Idol.

Everyone else, hang in there and think lean!

Alice

Alice: i am so glad I have 2 tv's I tape so you think you can dance, and watch biggest loser...actually it is getting complicated...I have time sharing channels which means I watch something at 8pm, and it is on 3 hours later on a BC or albeta station...and can watch the other one then but now dancing with the stars is also on so I watch TBL at 8pm so you think you can dance at 11pm at tape dancing with the stars at 9pm....it works....lol I have kept myslef t 3 little pieces of halloween candies per day..seems to be working!

Margaret: You'll meet someone when you're not looking, in the meantime concentrate on losing weight and have that as incentive...your kayaking the waves sonds like a blast...if I ever get to England you'll have to take me round....I wish I could track my relatives in Farncombe...Smith is such a common name eh? My dad lost track after my mom passed away..I have 13 cousins over there I haven't seen since I was 9 or 1964!My first horse and motorcycle ride...lol and ocean, and subway trip...down through sussex or essex?

Cynthia: I am drawing a total blank...what and where is N.E.???I just can't figure out what it represents...lol

The ABBA tribute concert was good.......guess what the last song was they sang.............yup my favorite DANCING QUEEN''

WELL OFF to relax tonight now...catch you all tomorrow....night girls!...BEB

Just to let everyone know - I heard from Helene- she is well but just busy and she stayed longer than expected with her Mother. She is still planning to hike Kilimanjaro in Dec and her weight is holding steady - no gain while away. :) so we can quit worrying.

Alice LOL so you think you can dance would probably push the limits with DH LOL I've got him hooked on TBL though! And sea kayaking might be a good alternative if your knee continues to act up!

Margaret Sounds like you like some adventure! I get so motion sick I know I certainly couldn't do sea kayaking but the coastal hike sounds great. The change....NOT fun...I've had terrible hot flashes and ended up on HRT

Cynthia - Welcome ..yes dust off those walking tapes!!! WW is really working for chris so I hope it works for you too

BEB - always a work in progress to accept these stupid extra 7 pounds I want rid of ...I just don't want 7 to become 10 and so on.

Tonight - circuit training class we'll see how I like it. Didn't really care for Pilates LOL I like to be moving more. Body sculpting Tues was a killer - felt like Jillian was training me LOL we'll see what tonight brings

BEB1956 - I live in New England.   New Hampshire to be exact.   Snow is coming our way on friday.   So power walks after work in the dark, cold & snow don't exactly thrill me.  I'm definitely pulling out my workout tapes.   I must, must get moving.   I'm stuck at 5 lbs and I know that number won't move until I get my butt going.    

Thanks Moonduster.   You right Thanksgiving should be just about the turkey, veggies & enjoying your family.    Unfortunately I come from a family that loves to cook & entertain in volumes.   Maybe this year I can get everyone to cut back & revamp their recipes to lower fat & calorie choices.   Can't hurt to ask right? Thanks for your input it's appreciated.

Cynthia - getting into a structured program sounds like a wise choice for you. You might not have Costco near where you are but for those wintry days when outdoor exercise is impossible, I just purchased some exercise bands for $16.99 that come in a set with a DVD. They are adjustable according to your level of strength and have handles to hang on with. Those, coupled with a stepper DVD, can probably do you fine in the basement over the cold months. And all of it is low impact.

Margaret - It is inevitable with your easy going outlook on life, and your adventurous spirit, that you will meet someone on one of your jaunts. Are you currently working? 

Welcome to the newbies!  Cynthia, I've always been intrigued by NH, not sure why but it seem like an interesting state to live in :)  I don't envy you that cold winter weather though.  

Good to hear that Helene is ok!  I hope she can let us know how the Kilimanjaro hike goes.  

BEB, I admire your willpower to limit the candy to 3 small pieces a day :)  I think I'm going to just toss all mine in the rubbish!  And another gold star for you getting out to the Abba tribute.

I'm making some split pea soup this morning.  I love soup in the winter.  Is it officially winter yet?  We are still having weather in the upper 80s although it is supposed to cool off a bit today.  It's strange to have such warm sunny weather when the shadows are so long.

Alice, hooray for thinking lean.  I've been doing 30 minutes of yoga everyday and feel so much better for it.  Less flab, more muscle -- that's my mantra :)

Thanks "Figurethefat"!  N.H. is a lovely state.  I've lived here all my life. Fall is beautiful here especially in the mountain/lakes region.  I live more to the southern border along Mass.   I know the snow & cold are just around the corner.   To be honest I hate the cold but I wouldn't last a day in Florida or some of the other southern states.   Don't like to sweat.  Maybe that's why I hate to exercise.     So here I am to stay.   Again thanks for the shout out.

This morning I was going kind of crazy trying to find my 'weigh in' clothes for WW. I finally got it all together and in to work where I discovered the weigh in for today is cancelled. Boo. Oh well, hopefully if I stick to it as I have this past week, I will have some really good news next week. Had we weighed in today, I couldn't have hoped for much more than taking off the wt I picked up while out of town.

It will soon be time to start taking my SD to the gym. I won't be able to do it every day, as I have tax classes a couple of evenings a week. I am looking forward to it though. I thought that to start with I would do about 30' of cardio and 30' on the Nautilus-type equipment. I should use free wts because my scoliosis makes some of the machines awkward, but I've never been able to stick with them. I figure 30' of something less than ideal is better than 0' of the right way.

Cynthia, I have a sister who's pretty into healthy eating so there are always a few good options at our family gatherings. I usually make something 'good' and something more traditional. I don't really want those in my family who don't have wt problems (and there are many) to miss the things they love because I might not practice good self-control. Hopefully you will find at least 1 or 2 family members who will cooperate. No matter what though, we still have to watch portions.

Bonnie, good luck with the circuit training. It sounds intense. I really do admire what great shape you are in! I'm SO glad to hear Helene is OK. I figured as much but it's nice to KNOW. Great news that she has maintained despite being away. Wish I could say as much. I think you should stay completely away from the scale and just watch measurements (if anything.) You're bound to get even more toned with all you're doing now.

BEB, I didn't watch TBL but did check out the website. That Tracy who everyone hates sure did improve though, didn't she? I saw the before and now shots. Quite impressive. I guess she might as well be a thinner healthier B___, eh? lol.

Laura, I LOVE split pea soup and was just thinking about making some myself. It's definitely feeling like winter here today. I think the high is supposed to be 44. Burrrr.

I work part time and look after my dad who is 91 going on 20.  He is very good for his age. 

blueyedblonde  my sister had done a lot with searching for relatives and ancestors She -after a lot of internet and record searching- has most of my mums side of the family and a lot on my dads side.  there is a way.  just needs lots of patience and then a bit more but I must warn you its addictive!!  my sister spends hours on the internet finding out things she wasn't even looking for!!

Moonduster: If you type in coasteering and the area you would like to go to you should get something.  There are lots of activities around here and I didn't find out until I became unmotivated and was looking for something to kick start me back into action.  Its quite expensive over here tho!

Oh, I did my genealogy on my dad's dad's side back to the mid 1700s when the family came from Prussia on the Neptune (ship) and on my mom's mother's side back to before the American Revolution.  All from research on the net and a few birth certificates.  It is addictive, definitely, my kids said I was absolutely possessed with it at the time :)  Funny, my mom's side fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and my dad's side for the Union.

Civil War? Um, according to DH that's the War of Northern Agression. (I keep telling him to let it go...I don't think it's working. ;) )

I too heard from Helene and as Bonnie said she is fine, just been busy, did stay at her moms longer, many house repairs and visitors and is presently enjoying the snow on the mountains while training for the kilamonjero climb!

Chris: You said it a thinner bxxxx!  You know they say when a person lies they look off and to the left, when Danny asked her if she was still into playing the game..that was the look she gave when she said "no I'm in it for my health" lies!!

To all the new girls: It's the little things you can control, of course cutting back on portions or doing what I do using a scale that measures mg and ounces for everything, i find is necessary for logging! It's the little things though, switching to splenda from sugar, I find no taste difference but the 0 calories is so cool, I use low fat low sodium and low cholesterol, low calorie products most times, margarine, tuna, mayo, salad dressings...etc if you can control alot of those things you'll see a difference in your daily totals.  Have you started logging foods yet, or have yo done your burn meter chart in 'tools' etc to find out what you need to know to daily aloutment etc?

Laura: Yes I found the concert good of course my song was last, Dancing queen..it was okay but my back is killing me today! grr.

Winter you ask officially starts here Dec20-21, spring is Mar20-21, June 20-21 summer and Spet 21-23 for fall 3 months each although we do sometimes get snow in November it officially isn't winter till Dec20 and the snow doesn't usually stay till around Dec20 either because of warm weather fluctuations.

Cynthia: On golden pond was filmed there and I have seem other movies from that region you would swear you were in northern Ontario for those views, like 80 miles north of me, we too have alot of beautiful lakes, hills, valleys of beauty to see and the lakes up here are so blue, it's breath taking, I am sure our winters may be a few degrees cooler but all in all it's very similar....that is whre my favorite actresses were living.......Katherine Hepburn and Bette Davis weren't they..New England area.

Bonnie & Alice; You 2 sure are one of the ones on here that keeps me going, when I hear about your daily/weekly ajenda it's always been you Bonnie with your hectic workouts and golfing and Alices hiking and aeobics that inspires me to keep chugging along like an old steam engine....I can i can i can!..lol THANKSI meant to tell you 2 that !

Margaret: you sound like a fun gal to have along, like Bex... jolly! if you don't mind the comparison....! Whats your weather like over there now, lot of rain or do you even get snow, here it's lots of rain and between 5-15*C most days  or 40-55F

 Boy if I ever win the lottery I have alot of traveling to do...lol

Bex: I still have this mental picture of Bex you and I running out of a hospitals wrong door with alarms going off everywhere..laughing all the way ..must be cause it actually happened to me and you look like my aunt jean when she was young!

Just call me BEB girls everyone on here does! Well off to cook homemade burgers for dinner haven't had any in awhile.. only 300 calories for the burger with bun and 1/2 slice cheese...YUMMY!

And for those who may not know I tag all my foods and group some like I click on cheesburger and it instantly logs my buns, the hamburger and the cheese i love tagging saves alot of individual entries like when you save a food like a burger just tag it say "cheesburger" then under the bun enter "cheeseburger" under the cheese same thing and under the hamburger you logged same thing "cheeseburger" then when you go to tagged items click on the right ++ sign and all 3 items appear to enter...see... simple!

Anyway my back has had enough must go now to lie down girls..have a nice thurday.SURVIVOR is on tonight! Yeah!

BEB