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!

bonton - that is a great idea about the weights - I had thought too about carrying it in a back pack for training.   Once I loose 20lbs I plan on carrying sandbags - a friend showed me that and it really works a lot of muscle groups.

moonduster - I sure would be interested in the study.  I am also concerned about soy protein isolate - the good and the bad and it seems there is both. I guess the allegations are that soy in the orient is not nearly as big a part of the woman's diet as we can make it and it is mostly fermented soys. 

Since I am looking at using about 30 grams a day of soy isolates to boost my protein level [and it makes a huge difference with hunger - protein AND good fats] I am wondering long term bad and good.

Oh - another thing - fish and the mercury warnings - I am hearing that folks over 50 should not have the concerns that younger folks do; the benefits outweights the mercury issue as we get older -- still would focus on yellowfin tuna instead of albacore and avoide swordfish and other high mercury fishies.

 

longwaytogo, I don't have access to the actual studies, because that usually involves expensive subscriptions to research journals, but here are some references:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Middle-aged women who followed a high-protein diet compared with those who followed a low-protein diet lost more weight over a 1-year study period, according to researchers from Australia.  Source: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2008

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Nottingham, England

A new study shows that older women find it more difficult to stay fit than older men because they lose part of their ability to store protein as muscle, as they age.  The male body seemed to be able to store protein in the muscle and use this to make them stronger.

According to the research team that published the findings in the journal PLoS One, this difference between the sexes could be triggered by the reduction in the hormone estrogen for women, during the menopause.  This is a significant finding for the maintenance of better health in old age and reducing demands on the National Health Service. ....  Rather than eating more, older people should focus on eating a higher proportion of protein in their everyday diet

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Here's one about soy protein:

January 29, 2007 — Soy-protein-containing isoflavones decreased total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and LDL particle number in postmenopausal women, according to the results of a randomized, double-blind study reported in the January/February issue of Menopause. 

The rest of the article is here:  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551401

I haven't read that much about soy vs other types of protein, but I'll keep looking for info.

 

bonton,  I need to borrow your brain for a few weeks.  I would LOVE to be down to 1200 calories consistently, with no effort!  I can do it with diet pills, but I don't like to take them.  Right now I think I am eating 1800-2000.  I'm not logging food because it takes too much time.  Plus I can't measure everything (one handful of sunflower seeds in the shell, etc), so a lot of things are just an estimate anyway, even when I log my food.  The good news is, I am slowly gaining muscle and losing fat even with that much eating.  The bad news is, I want to lose fat faster and actually lower my weight!

When you were down below 1000 calories, did you notice having less energy?  I have read that when our metabolism slows down, we subconsciously use less calories.  We may fidget less when sitting, we may not put as much effort into our exercise, etc. 

Like you, I have osteoarthritis in my knees (right is worse) and tendonitis in my elbows.  Glucosamine has done WONDERS for both areas!  If you don't take it, please start.  Building up the muscles around my knees has also made a difference.  They will never be perfect, but the downhills on the hikes don't kill me like they used to.

 

moonduster

Uh - you probably need to borrow my stomach for  a few weeks LOL - it's really the reason i don't over eat ever and probably actually how I was only eating 900 -1100 calories -   I get full very quickly - like today my lunch was 1/2 c 1% cottage cheese and strawberries and a Motts plus cranberry and a 16 oz bottle of water and i'm full. SO , I snack every couple of hours. And no , I didn't have less energy - I always seem to have plenty whether I am eating 900 calories or 1300. I've probably never ate 1800 - I've always been more of a grazer and have always had a small appetite.

I tried glucosamine - it made my reflux worse - it did help but I just couldn't take it. I do take an arthritis med. Weight lifting and leg exercises to strengthen the quads, hamstrings etc. have really helped I just can't overdo the cardio on the machines. Can walk outside much longer without it hurting for instance I can walk 18 holes of golf and my knees don't hurt but to put that mileage in on the treadmill would make them throb LOL

LOL!  bonton, if I borrowed your stomach it might come back to you bigger!  I'm doing better today so far - 260 calories of cottage cheese, one pack of oatmeal with 2% milk, and coffee with milk.  It's almost time for my lunchtime session with my trainer, where I can give him this week's list of things that hurt.

longwaytogo, it is very cool that you do search & rescue.  Do you have a dog trained for it, or do you provide support to the people with dogs?  I would love to get into that when I retire - I could combine my love of hiking (especially off-trail and in steep terrain) with my love of dogs!  Right now I train Border Collies to herd sheep. 

thank you very much for that web site I love it. Now I know how many calories I'm burning and maybe I can walk a little bit more and reach my goal.

Greatly appreciated.

Original Post by moonduster:

longwaytogo, it is very cool that you do search & rescue.  Do you have a dog trained for it, or do you provide support to the people with dogs?  I would love to get into that when I retire - I could combine my love of hiking (especially off-trail and in steep terrain) with my love of dogs!  Right now I train Border Collies to herd sheep. 

Both - My dog is trained for location of human remains.  Those searches are typically not high speed and more detail oriented and I think my body will let me do them for many years. Plus, a lot of folks just don't want (ick) to do that. 

I also provide ground support for other handlers who have "live find" dogs.  Depending on the terrain. I am not fast enough for the mountains right now but can hold my own in relatively flat terrain [though I usually come back pretty sore and beat up because I swear there is more deadfall in the woods than standing trees sometimes]. 

When the terrain is steep, I work at Incident Command manning radios and keeping up with maps and radio traffic.  I am hoping to get to a shape where I can keep up - we don't run but it is a pretty fast pace - dog sets the pace.  I am not ashamed to slide down a hill either [have a metal plate in my ankle thanks to - a - dog]

There are a lot of BCs in search and rescue -sometimes that "eye" gets them in trouble with the German Shepherds but they tend to excel.  If I were not die hard shepherd person and could live with one of the crazy buggers I would consider one or (yikes) a malinois-  My shepherd is all working line - having BCs you know what show folks can do to a working breed.   your herding experience would go a long way with training directionals for off-lead searching.

Going back to my night shift tonight. This is always a challenge for me calorically. l don't know how to fix it. I know working all night is bad for the body overall but we do what we have to do.  Wish me luck. Can't take bontons appetite with me. Water water water thats the plan.

Ate very well yesterday. Great exercise day. Lost no weight. I should be discouraged but I am not giving up..instead I will dig in.

The best jogging partner I ever have had is my dog.

longwaytogo - your work with your dog sounds very interesting. My daughter is allergic to dogs so no dogs for us - she has to have 1 house to come to that is allergy free as her twin sister has a chocolate lab and she has to take allergy meds to go to her house!

frostslave - sorry to hear you have to go back to night shift. A long time ago I worked nights in ICU - never adjusted to that shift - did it for a year then bid into days. Now I work as a school nurse - nice hours! Eating was difficult when I worked nights - I got up, wanted breakfast, while everyone else was having dinner. Hungry in the middle of the night - is it lunch time or what??? LOL was too tired to eat when I got home from work lucky to make it home without falling asleep.

Down 2 pounds in the past 2 weeks!! YIPPPEEE (would still like to lose 8 more)  but that's the first weight I've lost since starting on here in January. I think it's golf, mowing the grass, walking etc.  Wearing the pedometer is helping - pushes me to move even more than I usually do LOL.If I'm still , my husband asks if I feel ok!!

Regarding the protein helps you lose weight idea:

Two books I found helpful, Pamela Peeke's Fight Fat After Forty (I know, I know, that ship sailed a decade ago) and Bill Phillips' Body for Life, both emphasize the importance of adding high quality protein at every meal. They, and many others, suggest several smaller meals, not three big ones. And Peeke is wonderful in explaining how menopause symptoms, including weight gain, can be reduced by regular exercise.  Weight lifting of course builds muscle, which burns fat (good).  And cardio reduces stress, which otherwise produces belly fat (bad).

And, thanks to your encouragement, I have stuck to my calorie counting and today I broke the plateau I've been stuck at for a month. Granted, I have to wait to see if it "sticks," but it's sure great to get some positive (or, since the scale went down, should that be negative?) feedback.

Glad to hear of weight loss for Bonton and Robbie !!!  I was very busy last night and did fairly well with caloric intake until the wee hours (always my nemesis) I have to figure out a game plan

I am a nurse too Bonton. I specialize in labor and delivery. School nurse sounds fantastic...lol. Especially after the night I just had. But I love helping babies come into the world. Its very stressful but so magical.

I'll try to eat better tonight and take the day off from exercise. (first day off in 9 days). Back to weights and walking tomorrow I hope then I'll pound some serious cardio and weights on my 2 days off. 

Have a wonderful weekend all of you and once again, so happy to hear of the broken plateau and weight loss. WOOOOO HOOOO

I loved ICU when I worked it, but after I had my twins I wanted to stay home so I went back to school for my BS so I could be a school nurse and be able to be at home on holidays, weekends and summers with them. My Dad was  a teacher and he really encouraged me to do it - not sorry I did although there are days... don't we all have them.

Now don't eveyone faint ... I had 1500 calories today ohhhh I just ate way too much and had some wine... the last 2 days at work were stressful and I was relaxing LOL Back to counting tomorrow and I'll be walking a lot when golfing tomorrow to burn off those calories - I don't want to gain back my 2 that I lost!

just checking in...  :D

i hope you all are doing great!

i'm down to my last 9 pounds now!!!  i lost 75!!!

I joined a bike club today.  They had their newbie ride and my husband and I went.  It was a 13 mile ride.  I didn't do so well, but I finished it.    It appears that boot camp was good for endurance and strength, but I need to work more cardio into my training plan.  From now on, I will REALLY ride 3 times a week.  REALLY!!!

Oh and congratulations on your weight loss Snow.  75 pounds is great!

snowfence - WOW!!!! congratulations on your loss - that is just great. You must feel fantastic and look it too!!

clharr - good for you - you finished. I do a lot of cardio but don't know if I could ride 13 miles! Was thinking of getting my daughters bike out this summer and add riding the rails to trails in the morning but we'll see... I think I prefer to walk LOL

It seems I should be "bad" -(drink some wine and have a piece of chocolate and cheat at dinner) - more often cause I lost 0.6 since yesterday! Go figure LOL

 

thanks guys!  :D  yeah, it does feel great!

i finally went for my 1st bike ride in probably at least a couple of years.  hubby's bike is supposed to hold up to 350 pounds.  hubby weighed 293 & i was 218, so i didn't really even want to get on!

now that we are both smaller (hubby lost 60 pounds), it was awesome!  i forgot how much fun riding a bike could be!  :D  we'll probably ride it alot this summer.

i ate way too much today too!  LOL  it was a family party & it was really nice.  i didn't cheat though.  parties will always be there, so that's just part of life.  :D  it was cool having all the relatives tell me how good i look.  they haven't seen me in awhile.  some of them have lost weight too, and one who was always way too skinny actually gained weight!  she finally looked good.

Snowfence:

 

Best vacation we ever took was a biking tour of Italy. Our first and only trip out of the US, but it was fabulous. Great way to see a country; I think cars go too fast and walking's too slow. So, keep on that saddle, girl.

robbie: i can't believe you said that! that's exactly what i was thinking!!! (now that i don't have to worry about the tires blowing or something from our weights! LOL)

hubby will be SO happy! i'm gonna mention it to him about going on a trip this summer. :D i'm ready!!!

I'm off to a 3 day conference - no computer for 3 days I'll probably go nuts! -lots of sitting and not able to log my calories - taking my gym clothes with me - hope there are some cardio machines at least or maybe I can walk outside. I'll miss checking in here - I enjoy seeing what everyone has to say! Hopefully they'll be serving lots of fruits and salads! I probably don't have to worry about over- eating because I'm so picky LOL but not sure I'll get enough protein. Taking some SB protein bars with me!

robbie - biking tour of Italy sounds wonderful. Our 10th anniversay is next July - we'd like to go to Alaska. I won a trip to Hawaii last year (I enter sweepstakes everyday! LOL) so Alaska is next.

yeah, italy sounds awesome, but a FREE trip to hawaii?!  OMG!!!  congrats!!!  that must've been great!!!

enjoy your conference...  i miss my computer really bad too when i don't have a chance to come on.  :(

i hope you can eat lots of fruits & veges & get some exercise in!  :D