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!

Renee said: "looking for chicken breast recipes.  I eat chicken just about every night.  Need some new and interesting ways to prepare them."

I seem unable to stay away from my computer screen today. Maybe because it's so hot outside. Our electric bill was $725 this month. I am still in shock. $306 is for something called "Electric commodity adjustment," whatever that is. Don't get me started on corporate profits.

Oh, sorry, I came on to offer this recipe, which my guys like (and, it's wonderful to be served, Renee, but I settle for having them do the cleanup. I don't mind cooking since I like my own food).

Baked Sour Cream Chicken

1.5 cups fat-free sour cream (I use light, so the calories need adjusting. I imagine yogurt would work as well)

3/4 tsp. each paprika, tarragon, thyme, salt, garlic powder. (The rexcipe calls for 1/2 tsp., but I use more)

6 chicken breast halves, skinned (I pound them a bit to make them even consistency)

1 1/2 c. cornflake crumbs (not sweet)

Combine sour cream and spices in a bowl and mix well. Coat chicken with the sour cream and then roll in the cornflake crumbs. Arrange in a single layer on a baking pan coated with nonstick spray. Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes.

6 servings at 426 calories each, 59 g. protein, 29g carbs, 6 g fat, 146 mg chol, 0 fiber, 605 sodium

I love spice, so I add cayenne pepper to the cornflake crumbs, but I consider it your right to alter the recipe to suit yourself.

Good luck, Robbie

Okay, you guys are embarrassing me with the complements. But I do love them! I'll take all the motivation I can get. Thanks! As for my husband, he's a "boob" man. So, he has asked me to be careful about not loosing too much weight there. I've told him that I won't be able to control that. He's not too serious though because he knows the weight loss is for my health. He's never said an unkind word about me being overweight, bless his heart. But he pouts like no body's business whenever I cut my hair. He LOVES long hair. So, because I like him liking my hair, I tend to keep it long. He also has long hair and a beard.

Bonton - holding onto twins until term! I'm impressed! That means you were very healthy during your pregnancy and ate plenty of protein. Good for you.

Snow - Yeah, I say relax. But I know it's hard. I drove my own daughters crazy waiting on them to deliver. I just love holding those newborns. My oldest is trying to get pregnant again. I hope it doesn't take long but she has a history of it taking a while to conceive.

Robbie - Where in Texas were you raised?

One- I do chicken pretty simple. I just cover it with some seasoning like lemon pepper or a steak seasoning, whatever I'm in the mood for. Then I pan 'fry' it in a little tiny bit of olive oil. I do tilapia that way, too and that's really our favorite.

Catch ya'll tomorrow after work,

Beth

Renee - easiest chicken prep on the planet if you don't want to fuss with sauces etc. I buy trays of boneless, skinless chicken boobies at Costco then freeze them in individual baggies. I just defrost in the microwave, place on a grill pan, season lightly with salt free garlic and herb sprinkles, add a tiny bit of salt then pop under the broiler for about 15 to 20 minutes. (You could BBq if you felt up to it). About 3 minutes before they are done I top with a couple tablespoons of PENNY'S MANGO LIME SALSA just to heat though. I swear, it is the absolute BOMB. The salsa is made in Washington State and is available at Costco here. I hope they ship it to the eastern stores but I'm not sure if they would. I don't know what it is about that salsa but it just does something magical to the chicken. My son was raving about it endlessly. Good Luck!

-Bex

Rebbex - That mango lime salsa sounds wonderful. So I did a Google search in hopes to find it. Didn't find Penny's but did find this recipe. I have a mango. I think I will try it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Beth

southern, lol  those embarrassing compliments...  you gotta love them!  :D  you deserve it though!  you came right in this thing & started full speed!  you've had ups & downs & just stuck with it no matter what!

congrats & keep it up!!!  LOL  ...walking in a hurricane...

i guess i can TRY to relax, but i dunno.  now i'm worried, what if it's not til the 26th?!  lol  hubby has to be back at work on the 27th!  ironic, isn't it?  when she was born, hubby had taken off from work for 2 weeks & that's when she came out!  2 weeks late...  & hubby had to go back in the morning.

Beth - my apologies. I am crazy. Shouldn't type late at night.  Went to the fridge to retrieve my jar of Penny's salsa and discovered it is Mango Peach Salsa. 2 TBS is 23 calories. Penny's is located in Auburn Washington. I looked up the recipe you found and it looks not only easy but delicious! I have a mango too so I'm giving it a try as well. I'm interested to see how the cherry tomatoes turn out. I would have used stewed tomatoes I think. 

My favorite summer marinade for chicken - although it may not be low cal or low sodium??? but hey you're just using it to marinade and it probably cooks off while grilling.

1c veg oil

1 1/2 c vinegar

4 Tbsp sugar   1 Tbsp salt   2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce  1 Tbsp onion salt

2 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp dry mustard    1 tsp chili powder

Heat in a sauce pan till sugar is dissolved then pour over chicken and let it marinade all day. Then grill and enjoy!

 I cut the salt down that the recipe calls for  - but each to their own. If I am grilling for hubby and me, I cut the recipe in half.

Golf league make-up was today - shot a 44 on the front 9 and made 42 points for league!! Now I still have grass to cut and need to figure out dinner LOL. Grandkids are coming at 7 for an hour while their Mom goes to aerobics. Load in the washer and dryer...not enough hours in the day! I need to stay home a day LOL Going in to work tomorrow - have to ck records and mail. I get sooo spoiled being off in the summer - hate the thought of work in 3 weeks Scale said 121.4 today - not too bad after french fries and sugar waffle at the fair - will try to regroup this week and get back in to the 120's or below - wow wouldn't that be nice before school starts.

Original Post by robbie615:

Are you a mediator? BTW, in reference to your comment in my journal, I haven't heard the term "spitting rain" since I lived in PNG. A neighbor who was from New Zealand introduced me to that term. Where did you learn it?

~ Beth

Yes, I work with a group of other retired (or, just tired) judges, and that's what we do full time.

I was raised in Texas, but lived in New Orleans, New York, and Miami, besides here. And, we have a great close friend from Australia, so who knows where I picked it up. Probably not New York.

Its definitely a New Zealand thing .... being as I'm  Kiwi, and grew up with spitting rain (probably originally British if the truth be known.

Robbie - thanks for good vibes .... worked!    Been super busy at work and had had to work closely with the one person I least like, and that person irritates the &*%$^& out of me.  Looks like this week is going to be more of the same but at least said person actually seems to be appreciating my abilities whereas in the past he has treated me like a waste of space!  It was not his choice to have to work with me so it has been a weird sort of pleasure rubbing his nose in it!

Sorry I can't stay to chat tonight.  I'll try to catch up with all your posts and post sometime tomorrow.

Oh and btw, I didn't loose any weight last week, remained the same, but ooooh how I love it when my jeans are noticeably looser !!

Take care,

Joanna

PS went to the new Batman movie on Sunday ... well worth it!

Original Post by bonton71:

My favorite summer marinade for chicken - although it may not be low cal or low sodium??? but hey you're just using it to marinade and it probably cooks off while grilling.

1c veg oil

1 1/2 c vinegar

4 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp salt 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 Tbsp onion salt

2 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp dry mustard 1 tsp chili powder

Heat in a sauce pan till sugar is dissolved then pour over chicken and let it marinade all day. Then grill and enjoy!

I cut the salt down that the recipe calls for - but each to their own. If I am grilling for hubby and me, I cut the recipe in half.

Golf league make-up was today - shot a 44 on the front 9 and made 42 points for league!! Now I still have grass to cut and need to figure out dinner LOL. Grandkids are coming at 7 for an hour while their Mom goes to aerobics. Load in the washer and dryer...not enough hours in the day! I need to stay home a day LOL Going in to work tomorrow - have to ck records and mail. I get sooo spoiled being off in the summer - hate the thought of work in 3 weeks Scale said 121.4 today - not too bad after french fries and sugar waffle at the fair - will try to regroup this week and get back in to the 120's or below - wow wouldn't that be nice before school starts.

Hey Bon, how about putting your marinade in the recipes section of CC?  Call it Bon's Chicken Marinade or something like that so we can all find it.

Same with other favorite recipes from all of you.  We could share a whole bunch of low call tasty dishes and maybe make our diet food a little more interesting. 

Just a thought.

Worked all day today - it was raining so I didn't feel bad about not being outside! LOL Too much computer work today - my neck and shoulders are hurting The good news is scale said 120.8 again today YIPPEE! Well it should... I burned around 1500 extra calories yesterday (total burn around 3000) between golfing and mowing - you'd think I'd be rail thin what with all the exercise LOL. Would really like to get into the teens by September - got to lose it now before winter and hopefully keep it off this winter but it's much harder to get so much exercise with work, church choir, grandkids and taking care of the house while still trying to fit in golf until it's too cold. Got an A on my foods today too! Had been getting A- and B+ lol ...just like in school strive for that A!

snow - What's the word on the baby??

joannaI can put it on there - I don't really know what it does to the calorie count of your chicken though - it might make the chicken not so lo cal! LOL

One difficult woman at our golf course called me last night and started complaining about how the league was run but had no suggestions as to what needed fixed (if anything) - no one else has had any complaints! She has been quite difficult with people - bossing them around, complaining about the course, telling them the "rules" etc I'm sure you get the picture -  and now I have quite a few ladies who refuse to golf with her so when we draw names to play our league - it gets difficult who to put her with. Don't know why ppl have to be like that - golf is supposed to be FUN! And I'm not real sure what to do about it, if anything.

Where is everyone today???

hi guys  :D

bonton, 120 again!  awesome!!!  yeah, really...  you sure do get enough exercise!  lol  that lady is stupid!  golfing should be fun.  :D

my daughter had a doc appt today & her doc said she estimates it'll be right on her original expecting date of 8/16 or the next day.  what the heck?  can it be possible to be that precise?

it's so hard waiting!  LOL  but i really want to see MY doc on thursday, because he might get me off these blood pressure pills.  my bp the last 2 days was 90/60 & 100/58, AND that's with me eating too much sodium...  as usual.

No matter where you live there are some people who make things difficult.  Perhaps you could suggest another golf course that the lady would like.  The tricky thing is to not stoop to her level... 

Wow.  A golf score of 89.  I tried golf for a couple of years (I definitely wasn't in shape for it), and never got a score under 123.  I really liked the game because I like walking and being outdoors, but my DH didn't like it in the summer (too hot) or the winter (too cold although it's somewhat like Florida here - not cold at all for a girl from Alaska).  So, we eventually gave it up.  DH could become a good player with practice, but he doesn't get excited about getting that tee-ninecy ball into that far, far away teacup of a hole.  I on the other hand think it is a wonderful challenge and enjoy strategizing and coordinating my movements to triumph over adversarity. 

Now, I am channeling the same intensity into losing weight while gaining a fit, healthy body.  It's really a lot like a game of golf...

I hope you reach your goal soon.

kyashiis  Actually I shot 86 on Sat and 89 on Sunday then reality hit ...96 on Monday LOL I'd like to think I was tired As you can tell I love golf! When I first started I shot in the 120's - lessons and practice got me into the high 80's and the 90's. I really worked on my short game as I do not hit long - it really does help lower your score!

I try hard not to stoop to her leverl nor to get dragged into her battles with ppl. She plays at another course - maybe she'll quit at our club next year but I doubt it. There's always one!

Hope you are doing well in your weight loss quest!

Hi, I'm new here too...I am 57 and desperately need to loose 50 lbs.  I have tried just about everything...exercise is difficult because I live on a hill and in an area that gets quite warm for about 5 months out of the year.  It is a gated golf community and there is a pool, but the teens in the area take over and it is near impossible to use it.

I do what I can to stay active, watch what I eat but ya know?  I never seem to be full.  I drink enough water to fill a couple of fish tanks.  Last January I drove to an area that had flat ground to walk 1-2 miles a day for four or five days a week.  I have very bad shoulders and can't do anything repetitive for long...and believe it or not, walking does have repetitive motion (swinging of the arms).  So I had to give that up but continued to diet...three months and three pounds later I just gave up.  I would be dead before I lost 20 lbs let alone 50.

I am trying once again...but this is growing old.  I am hoping to find support here. It is rough to have never had a weight problem and now just looking at food can cause you to gain...LOL

Welcome Catie

You will find this group very supportive with lots of really good advice - well, lets be honest, we're a great bunch of ladies .  We all support one another in our quest to loose weight, get fit, find new recipes, you name it, we discuss it and help one another out.  It's like finding a bunch of long lost siblings.

With your walking (and repetitive arm swinging), perhaps you could do it in smaller doses - like walk several times a day (morning and evening) for shorter distances so as to not irritate your shoulders?   You could possibly ask your doctor what exercises he/she recommends for your condition.  Is there any support clothing or something similar that would give your shoulders some help whilst walking.  I use a treadmill and I must admit that I don't do a lot of arm swinging - I just hold onto the bar/handles - the darned thing rattles too much to be able to hear the TV if I swing my arms (it was a second hand treadmill).

This site is great for counting calories but you have to be consistent and not cheat (too much).  It also has some great recipes that are low cal that might help.  Our forum also shares recipes so just sing out if there is something particular that you want.

About your community pool - our Homeowners Association has a rule that teens have to be out of the pool by a certain hour and that leaves about an hour and a half before it is closed each evening when adults can do lengths or whatever.  You could possibly use your pool early in the mornings - it is a rare teenager that gets up early!

Anyway, welcome again.

Joanna

Hi Catie and welcome. I love cupcakes too.

Sounds like you might benefit from indoor exercise on a stationary bike, either vertical or recumbent. That shouldn't bug your shoulders, and possibly look into a home video for some light strength training exercises? Are you seeing a phisiotherapist for your condition? Might help. They give exercises to people. I can see why you wanted to quit after only losing 3 pounds in 3 months. That's enough to make anybody throw in the towel! Don't feel bad. We will help you. You've got the water thing going so that's a great start. Log your calories religiously and check your analysis to see if you are getting the right combinations and you will notice a steady decline in your weight. I think once or twice a week is enough to weigh yourself otherwise you can become obsessed. Good luck and hang in there!

Snow - You probably won't have to wait much longer. I had my first right on his due date and my second was only 3 days late. Those 3 days were a killer mind you! I remember my mom gave me castor oil to drink in some juice, old British thing I think, (yes, her, as well as the remedy) and I promptly barfed it all up. Maybe if she walks a lot and has tons of sex?

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." - annonymous

Original Post by joanna_atl:

 I use a treadmill and I must admit that I don't do a lot of arm swinging - I just hold onto the bar/handles - the darned thing rattles too much to be able to hear the TV if I swing my arms (it was a second hand treadmill).

 

Joanna

Joanna: LOL at the treadmill comment. You know how we parents traditionally  yell at the kids for playing their music too loud? My treadmill's so noisy, my kids complain about my music. And, I'm in the basement and they're upstairs!

Catie: I agree with Joanna. Since joining this site, I have done much better just from the super support. We are all sizes and goals here, but for inspiration for people who started out 50 pounds up, check out Snow, Ohio and Beth. They're all being persistent and successful!

Renee: How's your son hanging in there? I was thinking if you asked boyfriend to be more helpful in front of son, it might shame him into it and set a good example for Kieran.

Bonnie: Congrats on the return to 120. As for the ankles, I think the creator gives all of us what we need, and then adds a flaw or two to keep us humble. My ankles have always been slender, but when I gain, it's all in the middle, for a sort of Mrs. Potato Head look. Plus, I have heard there are photographic poses that allow you to diminish double chins, but I'll be darned if I can figure them out. The 96 Monday was probably a way to make you less intimidating to others. As for Ms. Know-it-all, I have no solution, other than to know somewhere, somehow, what goes around...

Beth: I have very thin hair, so long's never been a realistic option for me. My sister in law loves long hair on men, so her significant other is like your husband. He's a family doc in Colorado Springs--very conservative--but he goes for it anyway with ponytail and beard  just to please her. How do you insert the recipe link into your posts? And how do you "meld" your before and after pics?

Bex: The salsa sounds good, and I'm going to look for it at my Costco.

Snow: How'd it go at the doc? I always get white coat nerves and my b.p. shoots up.

Kyashiis: How does a girl from Alaska meet a guy from Japan? Love your "fit and healthy" goals.

I am back down to 124 today, but will be teaching early to late for the next three days, and it may be hard to get workouts in. I am teaching free for young women lawyers; it helps them to learn to be more effective in the courtroom if they can see older (not old, just older than they are--they all look high school age to me) women role models.

Have a great day all.

Robbie

Beth - where do you get that "virtual you" that you have in your gallery?

Catie, weight loss is hard, especially at our age.  Our metabolisms are slow and we have physical challenges now that we didn't have when we were younger.  I have lost almost 25 of the 70 pounds I need to lose.  It has taken me 10 months to do that.   It is really slow, and I sometimes wonder if I will ever get there, but what choice do I really have?  I can struggle for years trying to lose, or I can have heart problems, diabetes and spend the rest of my life disabled.  Spending the rest of my life on a diet and trying to find ways to exercise around the pain sounds good compared to that.  So, it is not really a diet.  It is a lifestyle change.  There is nothing temporary about it.  My old lifestyle gave me high cholesterol, foot and leg problems, seventy extra pounds to lug around and robbed me of energy and the ability to enjoy many things in my life.  It has to change permanently.

I now watch what I eat, cut way back on sweets, and exercise regularly.  Yeah, its a pain, but I am now almost 5 sizes smaller in my pants, I have more energy and I can move around much more easily.  Yes, there are still challenges.  But you must think of them as challenges, not excuses.  Something to overcome, not a reason to quit.  To quit is suicide.

Original Post by clharr:

 I have lost almost 25 of the 70 pounds I need to lose.  It has taken me 10 months to do that.  ...  Yeah, its a pain, but I am now almost 5 sizes smaller in my pants, I have more energy and I can move around much more easily. 

 I am sorry. I should have included you in my list of inspiring wiight loss colleagues. You really always have worthwhile comments, Carol. Are you a counsellor, by any chance?

Robbie