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'm skipping the walk this morning because I am going to be lugging boxes out to my daughter's van - again - for trip number one to the coast and I will be too exhausted if I do both. I didn't end up keeping Solo. Turns out he was a bit unpredictable about strange dogs. He had a couple of barkfests with smaller dogs while on leash which I just put down to convesation, but when he took off like a bullet and lunged at a Golden Retriever, bigger than him, breaking the leash, I figured I didn't need a heart attack quite so soon. No biggie, one day I'll get another dog as good as Harry.

Hello people .... I am sooooooo tired today.  Went to bed late-ish last night and read for a while and was just drifting off to sleep when you just about had to peel me off the ceiling with a clap of thunder and super loud crackle of lightning right over the house.  Now, don't get me wrong I just love thunder and lightning and we really need the rain but this just sat over our suburb (and it sure felt like it was right over my house) for over 2 hours!  It was a serious sound and light show with a bunch of heavy rain thrown in.  So consequently it was close to 3am before I drifted off and I wanted to smash my alarm clock when it went off at 5:45am. 

Needless to say I did not leap out of bed all full of enthusiasm and go down to the basement to walk on the treadmill.  In fact, we have more of the same weather scheduled for late afternoon/early evening so I might even pass on going to the gym after work.  I might just go home and get on the treadmill for 45 mins or so.  That way I don't have to drive with all those lunatics who don't know how to drive in the rain.  I mean really - lights on guys, slow down - "dead on time" isn't what I'm striving for! 

I was really good yesterday though - I did my 30 mins on the treadmill in the morning, went to the gym after work and pushed 19,645 lbs and then went home and did another 30 mins on the treadmill.   Had low cal beef and veg soup for supper, so all in all it was a good day.  I was tired after all that so the storm didn't help.

Bex - sorry to hear that Solo didn't work out.  He sounded like such a nice dog at first but its better to find out his negatives early before you fall for him.  I'm sure if you went to the Animal Shelter a dog would pick you right away.  That's how we've gotten our last couple of cats.  We have just let them choose us.

Talk to you later.

Joanna

bex Sorry that the new dog didn't work out - I'm sure you'll find the right one soon.

snow -Do we have a baby yet??? Good luck with everything and enjoy your visit with your new grandbaby and daughter. It will be fine with the other Gram - it will give you a chance to get to know her! Your daughter will be impressed by how great you look! And I'm like you - I'd rather have a good piece of dark chocolate - I really can pass up fries - it's funny how we crave different things. Robbie like wings and spice I like sweets and chocolate!!!

phoxI took Glucosamin and chondroitin - it really helped my tendonitis in my elbow but it ended up giving me worse reflux so I had to quit taking it.

Alice Awesome new photo!!! Wow your hike looks like it was amazing and 13.5 hours - VERY impressive. I have neuromas on both feet so I could never walk that long -but congrats to you!!! And those kids - golf seems to come natural to them and of course they are more flexible!! I took a lesson from the former ladies  golf coach at Penn State - told her I wanted more distance in my drives - she tried to put my L arm in the correct position in the back swing - alas it would not go there - she said I would need a year of physical therapy to get it there - so my game is what it is LOL! I played in an inter-club tournament yesterday, scored a 94 - got another skin, birdie a hard par 4  - this time I got $25 LOL still $10 to the good after paying for cart! LOL. There were 8 skins yesterday so not as much money

ohio  Glad you asked about the fence because I looked at that photo and was like What??? LOL

robbie I'm sure that 1.5 is fluid retention - if wine does to you what it does to me - I always retain fluid after drinking wine. And me - you are right I am NEVER still LOL if I am my hubby asks if I feel ok LOL so I don't know why I am not losing. I may not be eating enough again for the amount of calories I am burning in a days time.  I think years of watching what I ate - metabolism is not that fast - probably under-eating on a lot of days - menopause - age lets see should I continue this list ! LOL sad but true the only thing I know it is NOT is lack of exercise because I've always gotten plenty! Wish I could exercise in the am when school starts but it makes me physically sick in my stomach to exercise in the morning

joanna My hubby would love your recipe but me I don't like spicy things. Sorry that storm kept you awake - me ...I don't hear a thing after I fall asleep LOL except when the grandkids are here then I wake right up! LOL

beth My grandkids went to see that movie - they loved it. Good for you trying to run - I tried to do some spurts while  doing my walking on the treadmill - I can do it just fine - but  the next day my knees ache so that was the end of that.

My daughters, son-in-law and grandson and I went to the fair today for Alvin and the Chipmunk show - we waited over an hour for the show to start then it only lasted 8 minutes!! GRRRR I'm writing a letter to the fair board - a lot of disappointed kids and after waiting that long - oh brother, what a waste of time! Went thru the animals again as he loved that part of the fair - he does not like to ride - everyone is gone now although tonight I am having the other 2 overnight while their parents go to see Journey. Then off to the golf course tomorrow for ladies league. Need to go clean up the house a bit before the other 2 arrive LOL

Everyone - have a great day!!!

"I feel the earth, move, under my feet"

Nice earthquake here today.  They are too short to go walking like Beth and her hurricanes, but they can certainly add excitement to the day!  Now, everyone is trying to settle down and get back to work.  Hard to focus on the report I am working on after this.  I am a native Californian, so I have ridden out a lot of earthquakes, they don't scare me much, but you never get used to them.

rebbex, i'm sure you burned enough calories lugging them boxes around anyway.  poor solo...  you'll find another dog soon.  :D

joanna, i love thunder storms too, but i know what you mean.  sometimes they keep you awake.  i hope you had a chance to get on the treadmill today anyway.  :D

bonton, nope.  lol  no baby.  false alarm.  thank god!  i'm not ready!!!  i know i should be doing a million things here, but i haven't done anything yet.  i don't know how these people are going to get along without me AND hubby is going to have to drive ang off to start college while i'm gone!  :(  no biggie, i guess...  i'd probably just be crying anyway!

no, my daughter won't be impressed with my weight loss.  she'll be mad!  she started off with me & ended up getting pregnant.  she didn't gain much though, so she should be fine.  hopefully, she can start losing right away.  :D

i love wings!  the hotter, the better!  i had some today, and pizza too.  i met hubby for lunch & we went to the chinese buffet.  i had fries too, along with a bunch of other stuff, including dessert.  lol  yep, not a good day of eating for me, again.  it sounds like you had an awesome day!

clharr, that would be weird!  an earthquake!  lol  nobody got hurt though, right?  we've had probably 1 here & that was a really long time ago.  it's a good thing you are used to them!  i'd still be shaking!!!

snow - I didn't cry when I dropped my 2 off at college (twins you know so both at the same time - talk about empty nest) but it took me a while to figure out what to do with myself at home. I'd come home from work and just sit LOL not funny at the time. My hubby and I weren't married then so I was living alone. Could have been exercising, cooking, sewing... couldn't make myself do anything for a while. After a bit you adjust... then they come home with all their stuff and dirty laundry LOL and you go like "when are they going back"     Keep us informed about the baby!!

carol - heard about the earthquake - that must be quite an experience especially the first time. Glad you're ok

bex - lugging boxes has to burn a ton of calories!!

Golf league this morning it will be nice to relax! Haven't been on the scales in a few days - was getting discouraged so I stayed off. Have been doing ok with food choices but not sure the scale is movingbig sigh....

Everyone - have a great day!!!

Good morning all!

Alice - You inspire me. I love to read about your hiking. It's also encouraging to hear that the hiking has helped your joints. I have little joint pain but my husband really has lots of it. He can't take Glucosamin because he is diabetic and it raises his blood sugar. So we are always on the lookout for other helpful supplements.

Rebbex - I'm sorry to hear the new dog wasn't a good match. But it's better that you take your time finding the right one than to rush into getting the wrong one.

Joanna - I love thunder and lightning too but that does sound a bit much. I had lightning once strike right by me when I was standing on our veranda in Papua New Guinea. I actually saw it and about jumped out of my skin. It struck about 20 feet from me.

Bonton - that's interesting that you can't exercise in the morning. Morning seems to be my best time. Funny how we are all different. You certainly are an active person with all the golf you play.

Carol - I'm glad I don't live where there are earthquakes. At least you can prepare for a hurricane. I did go through an earthquake once in Papua New Guinea. It was kind of exiting. It wasn't a small one but since there isn't much in the way of big structures in PNG where it hit, there was very little damage. It just felt like the earth was rolling under our feet. What I wasn't expecting was how difficult it was to move. We had been told to go outside and stand in the middle of our yard away from all structures or under a door way if one hit. So we headed outside. But it was like walking on a roller coaster while it was moving. It didn't last long but it did make national news and my brother called me from the states the next morning to see if we were okay. Interesting to have experienced it once but like I said, I'd prefer to live with the threat of a hurricane.

Snow - I bet your daughter is proud of you for loosing weight even if she doesn't show it. After this baby gets here she will be eager to start loosing again and you will be the one who can show her she can do it. Waiting for babies is hard. Those little ones have a way of coming in their own timing no matter what we want. We are all eager to hear the good news. So be sure and let us know when the baby comes.

After jumping up yesterday (water weight), today the scale has moved in the right direction again. Down to 182.8. I'm getting excited about leaving the 180's. Hopefully by the end of next week I will finally be in the 170's. .

Have a great day everyone,

Beth

Good Morning Everyone

I feel so much better today.  Lots of sleep, back into the routine this morning.  Oh and we had more thunder and lightning last night only it was at a more civilized hour!

Beth - you seem to have been everywhere.  Why were you in PNG?  I had friends that lived there for a while but it was sort of scarey as they had to be in walled compounds to keep people out!

Bon - I love to exercise in the morning generally - when I was in Perth, I used to go to the gym before work but here the commute is to long and I'd have to get up way too early to do that.  That's one of the reasons I got the treadmill.  Means even if I don't go to the gym after work, I can still get a bunch of exercise in.

Carol - I am right there with you on earthquakes.  When I was in college in New Zealand, I lived in Wellington which had lots of earthquakes.  You really tend to get a bit blase about them don't you?   On a different note being blase  reminds me of living in London in the 70's when all the IRA bombings were happening on the underground and in the city streets.  Whilst you kept a very sharp eye out for any bags that might be lying around or left unattended, you did tend to be a bit fatalistic.  I remember they removed all of the on street trash bins   because they were a favourite place for the IRA to plant bombs (that, shop doorways and on the tube/underground).  Hmmm, how did I get from earthquake to bombs?

Snow - you'd love some of the recipes that I make (when I'm not calorie counting).  I make a lot of Indonesian/Malaysian/Indian dishes.  I have a recipe book that is my "bible" of asian cooking.  If any of you like to cook this way, the book is called Charmain Solomons Complete Asian Cookbook.  I purchased mine way back .... waaaaaaaaaaaay back ... and the sticker price is still on it $15.  I have purchased copies of it over the years in UK, Australia and the US for various people and in Oz it cost me over $60 but here at Barnes & Noble you can get it for about $30 - worth every cent!   Robbie - you'd like these recipes I think.

Everyone else, keep up the good work.

Joanna

Good Morning Everyone

I feel so much better today.  Lots of sleep, back into the routine this morning.  Oh and we had more thunder and lightning last night only it was at a more civilized hour!

Beth - you seem to have been everywhere.  Why were you in PNG?  I had friends that lived there for a while but it was sort of scarey as they had to be in walled compounds to keep people out!

Bon - I love to exercise in the morning generally - when I was in Perth, I used to go to the gym before work but here the commute is to long and I'd have to get up way too early to do that.  That's one of the reasons I got the treadmill.  Means even if I don't go to the gym after work, I can still get a bunch of exercise in.

Carol - I am right there with you on earthquakes.  When I was in college in New Zealand, I lived in Wellington which had lots of earthquakes.  You really tend to get a bit blase about them don't you?   On a different note being blase  reminds me of living in London in the 70's when all the IRA bombings were happening on the underground and in the city streets.  Whilst you kept a very sharp eye out for any bags that might be lying around or left unattended, you did tend to be a bit fatalistic.  I remember they removed all of the on street trash bins   because they were a favourite place for the IRA to plant bombs (that, shop doorways and on the tube/underground).  Hmmm, how did I get from earthquake to bombs?

Snow - you'd love some of the recipes that I make (when I'm not calorie counting).  I make a lot of Indonesian/Malaysian/Indian dishes.  I have a recipe book that is my "bible" of asian cooking.  If any of you like to cook this way, the book is called Charmain Solomons Complete Asian Cookbook.  I purchased mine way back .... waaaaaaaaaaaay back ... and the sticker price is still on it $15.  I have purchased copies of it over the years in UK, Australia and the US for various people and in Oz it cost me over $60 but here at Barnes & Noble you can get it for about $30 - worth every cent!   Robbie - you'd like these recipes I think.

Everyone else, keep up the good work.

Joanna

I gotta stop double clicking on the "Post Reply" button ..... duh!

This is what I have discovered - lugging boxes makes you hungry. I burned a few hundred extra calories and ate at least 2 or 3 hundred back. Whatever. I won't get in a sweat about it. (Bad pun) Daughter has departed and I have a few days of peace and quiet now where I can do what I want, eat what I want, exercise when I want, and possibly do some decorating and drape making for relaxation. Work is slow right now with lots of clients/contacts off on vacation so I'm making the most of it. Since I have to get into a bathing suit towards the end of August maybe I can shed a few pounds. Have you noticed though that past the age of 50 we are nowhere near as anal about showing up at the pool and looking as bad as all the other middle aged women there? Especially when it's in another country? It cracks me up. At least you don't have to suck your stomach in all day like we used to when we were young and vain. 

Joanna - if I learned how to cook Asian it would mean I would never go out. We've had a couple of hail storms the last week or so and my poor petunias look like they've been shot with machine gun fire. Summer storms suck, especially when they keep you awake. Like Bon, I usually sleep like a log. Thankful for that. Out of all the places you've lived which is your favorite? Just curious. My son got his British citizenship (because I am British) and he is thinking of moving to the UK or Australia for a few years. He is a software engineer so I think prospects for those are good all over?

Snow - wings AND pizza? I'm salivating. And jealous.

Bon - I'm renaming you Anika You are tearing up the links! And making money too!

"You can't have everything. Where would you put it? " - annonymous

bonton, yeah, i know i'll miss her, but i'll be fine.  :D  man!  that must've been really hard on you though!  lol  home alone with nothing to do...  then, there will always be more grandkids too.  there's only gonna be one left at home soon & in a way, i can't wait to have her gone too & it'll be just me & hubby.  finally, after all these years!  LOL  i wish i could stay off the scale for a few days!  i'm not ready for that yet.

southern, i'm really getting excited about the baby coming soon too!  i dunno.  i think everything will be fine & i sure could use a vacation anyway.  LOL  i hope it IS a vacation though.  babies are so awesome!  it's been a long time since i've held a newborn!  well, about 3 years.  i can't believe how well you are doing!!!  almost out of the 180's forever!!!

joanna, lol  from earthquakes to bombs...  i don't do much cooking anymore.  i mostly eat simple stuff or eat out.  now the family is getting smaller too...  my girls are so picky, they make their own food.

rebbex, enjoy your alone time!  :D  yep...  i wonder what i'm gonna eat today.  hubby will probably want me to go meet him for lunch again.  hopefully he'll want subway.  i gotta TRY to be good today!

hubby was heading out to the grill last night & he passed by me saying, i know mom doesn't want a hamburger so i'm not even making her one.  then ang following him outside saying, mom is too skinny to eat a hamburger.  LOL  it was like 8:30 or 9:00, but i said, what?  i don't want one?  i'm too skinny to have one?!  i want a cheeseburger!  :D

so yeah, i ate late again...  it sure was good though!

snow - After my hubby and I got married it was great just the 2 of us and still is!!! And you do adjust after they go to college it just takes a while. I know what you mean about the scale - I do stay off sometimes for  3-4 days but never go longer than that - afraid it will jump up too high in a few days.

The mowing Queen is  soon outside to mow again!! LOL Darn grass just doesn't quit growing but hey that's a good thing as it is my exercise in the summer... well that and golf LOL!! Haven't been to the gym since school let out! LOL Need to get in to work today or tomorrow - have a few things to do there - mail out records, ck my mail etc I hate my mailbox to get jammed! My hubby and I are playing golf tonight so I need to have something quick ready for dinner and I need to get groceries today - we are out of everything!! LOL

If any of you have looked at other forums and know mollymouser - you have to look at her profile page - it's awesome (she must be a computer guru!) and she has lost 100 pounds! She has pics on there and she looks like a new person - JUST like our snow!!!!

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

Hmmm, all this talk of grandkids.  I married late - was 31 when I had Nick so I'm not expecting grandkids any time soon.  Nick is 23, Chris is 21 and Kat is 18.  Most likely one to give me my first grandchild would be Chris - he's always been the one to have long term deep relationships - right back to when he was in grade school.  I could count on the fingers of one hand, how many girls he's had a serious relationship with.  I think the young lady he's currently dating may very well be a keeper but both of them want to get settled in jobs before making those sorts of decisions.  She has already graduated with her masters in Social Work, he will graduate next year with a degree in Graphic Design/Multi Media. 

I think I already said that Nick graduated this year with Honors and a double degree and Masters in Architecture and he is too busy with work and travel to want to get into a serious relationship.  He has to work in Australia for two years to get into the Australian Architecture Assn (or whatever it is called) and then he plans to travel the world and try to get work either here in the US or in the UK.  He's already had an offer in Ireland.  He has visited me here a couple of times over the past 3 years and spent time in New York and absolutely loved it - wants to live there.  We'll see what happens.

Now Kat on the other hand hasn't had any serious boyfriends or otherwise.  Don't thinks she's had any boyfriends at all actually.  She lives either online or moves with a goth/punk "alternative" crowd in Perth and talks about girlfriends and being bisexual but I don't think she really knows what she's talking about.

Got an email from her father earlier this week expressing total exasperation with her not getting (or even trying to get) a job and her continued "borrowing" of any money that may be anywhere in the house (even hidden).   Whoever it was that was bewailing the fact that their son wasn't sticking to a job should consider themselves lucky that he even has a job.  My daughter is so lazy she just can't be bothered trying and is freeloading off her father (who enables her in this respect) and just hanging out until she gets an inheritance from my Mother which she'll get in about 20 months.  Hopefully she'll come right (eventually).  Oh, and I believe she's lost both her passport and her greencard! (and I'm not happy about that!)

Enough venting - I have to do some work.

Hope everyone else is having a great day.

Joanna

bonton, yeah, i can't wait.  lol  life will be so different!  just the 2 of us...  wow!  lol  sometimes i thought that would never happen.  well, who knows.  if my daughter's hubby goes to iraq, she'll probably move back in with the baby.

i think it's time i at least stop weighing myself at night!  LOL  i just can't help it.  i'm gonna try harder though.  it's not like i'm losing any more.  i just don't want to go back up.

have fun mowing!  :D  i need to get back to the gym too.  i only went a few times.  at least it was only $68 for the year.

i love molly!  she's awesome!!!

joanna, no grandkids yet?  they are great!  you get to spoil them & stuff & send them back home.  bisexual?  oh great...  there's just more & more of that going on, even with the younger kids.  i just don't get it.  yep!  :D  who knows.  maybe she'll turn out just fine.  good luck with her!

i just got back from walking.  i walked outside today & it was great.  i haven't done that in a long time.  time for subway now, i think...

Good Morning ladies!

Can you believe tomorrow is the first day of August- already?  The older we get the faster the time flies. 

Since it's been my son and I all along the thought of him moving out is quite upsetting.  I'm not worried at this point of  him moving out to go to college or university.  They're too many choices here in Toronto, and what he is possibly looking for he can/will find here in Toronto.  If he want to go the way of writing, Ryerson University is the place to go. 

I started there a few years back, and then my fiance committed suicide and that did me in for the year.  I tried to keep going for a few more months, and felt  I just couldn't go  on.  So I took a year off.  Ended up going to another college.  Seriously, I wished I would have stuck it out.  Had I the chance to do it over again, I would have.  Ryerson is, or so they say here in Toronto, is world-renowned for journalism.

As for people who move around all the time, I ask how, why?  Your choice or circumstance?  I've been in the same place since '91.  Of course, there are reasons for it. Yet, my parents were never ones to move all over the place.  I  stayed in the same house-with them from the age of 4 until I moved out at 23.  Never even knew anyone who moved from one house to another on a regular basis. Only those I read or saw on the t.v .

Once I moved out I did move four times in three years.  In my life that period of time was more of an aberration than norm.

I think, if you're going to go and eat something we wouldn't normally eat, it should be the absolute best we can get into our mouths.  If those wings and pizza were worth every bite-enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!  We all know we can't make these foods part of our daily diets.  However, is something really yummy comes your way, every now and then, I believe it is our duty to indugle oursleves every now and then.

to all, I wish your another 24 hours of health, happiness and healthy, yummy eating

renee

Joanna - I feel your anguish and I am sorry that you are struggling so hard with your young daughter who is so far away. Kat will bob right side up one day but maybe not for a while. She is very young yet. My daughter was a photographic model, well dressed and stylish, but was always drawn to the off-beat side and had some gothy friends when she was in high school and still has a few today. Exploring alternative relationships seems to be the order of business right now with the teens and twenty-somethings. None of them seem to judge one another. Kind of reminiscent, broad picture, of the hippie peace and love generation we grew up in. It's a bit baffling to us old bats because it seems so pervasive all of a sudden in the world, like where was all this hiding all this time? There are that many sexually repressed individuals who are popping out all at once? That's what it feels like to me at least, and like Snow said, I don't really get it either. All I can say is, as much of a screw up as Kat may seem at the moment, she is your child and you love her, so that is really all she needs to know, on a consistent basis, that you love her and care about her and accept her, no matter how she turns out in the end. With 2 successful brothers that you are obviously extremely proud of, she probably feels like she's a failure and will never measure up in your eyes so might as well go right off the deep end. You are possibly falling into her attention trap by reacting strongly to her choices and her unorthodox behavior. Perhaps try smiling and chilling and loving her and just let it be what it will be for a while. It will be easier on both of you. Do you think you can change what she is destined for? Her strong personality seems to indicate not. The universe will unfold as it should. We are all here for you.

Snow - I did enjoy the peace and quiet and alone time yesterday, perhaps a little TOO much. I wonder if it was because I felt empty that I couldn't seem to get full, no matter what I ate. I ended up consuming 2300 calories, more than I have ever consumed in a single day since starting this 3 and a half months ago. I just couldn't get full! Eventually I did, of course, and was deathly afraid to get on the scales this morning. Nothing had changed. WHEW! But maybe it will show up in a couple of days. I ate half a container of Haagen Dazs at one point! 750 calories worth of ice cream! I am on war rations today! And walk walk walk!!

Beth - anxiously awaiting you busting through the gate into the 170's. Fantastic!

Anika, Queen of Mowing - Eat more. I think you are in starvation mode? 

"Did you ever notice the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone?" - Erma Bombeck

bex - Your quote made me laugh - how true, mine is always the last piece of luggage there!! LOL And I am trying to up my calories to around 1400 - 1500 - I agree with you probably not enough calories so my body is hanging on to what it gets. Stopping at GNC today for protein powder - have been deficient in protein - the protein shakes will help that and they're easy. They will also add a few good calories. I simply forget to eat as odd as that sounds or I get too busy and don't take the time. Then when I do eat I get full very fast so I consume less calories than most ppl.

joanna - I totally agree with Bex - at some point Kat will settle down. My sister went thru a "wild phase" - about drove me nuts worrying about her - but she eventually stopped all that nonsense and is now a responsible parent, an engineer and loving wife! It was so hard to bite my tongue during that time - you know older sister giving advice - about like Mom giving it - they just don't want to hear it.

Someone brought in donuts!!!!!  Evil, evil co-workers!!  I ate a small one (I haven't had a donut in six months or so, so I guess it is ok), but I won't have any more.  I will check back in here before leaving work and tell you if I resisted.  Knowing that I am going to have to admit to being weak if I do eat another might help me stay away.

Bonton- I love protein powders.  So easy and quick and filling.  I have protein powder mixed with milk for a quick breakfast and sometimes have one at other times when I need some quick nourishment.

Joanna- My youngest step daughter announced at the age of 13 that she was bi.  That was a huge hit with her religious father.  She was also into goth stuff at the time.  Must be the cool thing to do for them.  She continues to have problems, but we keep hoping that she will come out of it OK.  She is a very bright girl and it is sad to see her doing so badly in school.  Now she has decided that she wants to be home schooled, which for her, would be the equivalent of dropping out.  She lives with her mother, so we have limited influence.  It is hard to watch all this though.

Rebbex - Be careful.  Don't let this become a habit.  I used to eat when I bored or upset.  Find a different way to fill you life.  An empty nest is one of the hard things we have to deal with at our stage of life.  I have managed to avoid it so far since I still have a husband and one step-daughter living with me.  I don't know what I would do without them.

Warning, this post is all about me.

For some reason, for the last few days (since I gained 1.5 pounds), all I've been obsessing about is how I've aged. I even went back and looked at pictures from 10 years ago, when I weighed 114, and I looked so amazing. At first, I thought, good, I can get back there. But then I realized from my journals that not only did I weigh less, but also I had a much lower body fat percentage (27 now, 23 then), fewer wrinkles, and only ONE chin. Unlike Beth, my recent loss has not rid me of my extra chin(s). Then, I started obsessing about how my current pictures will probably look good to me in 10 years, and why didn't I ever know and appreciate how good I looked 10 years ago. Instead, I always did what I'm doing now: focused on all the imperfections.

And now, instead of being happy about the 9 pounds I've lost (134.5 to 125.5), I'm depressed that I gained back a pound since last Thursday (124.5), and wanting it gone before tomorrow night's wedding. Really, I'm just throwing a massive self pity party. On the bright side, I have not used it as an excuse to overeat, so that's something, huh?

I need a mantra to help me disconnect how much I weigh from how I feel about myself. Anyone else ever wallow like this?