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!

clharr: Of course that's what he meant. Would you like to be my shrink? You're very good.

BTW, I was born in Long Beach, and my brother and his family lived there for many years. They're in Sunset Beach now. Did you grow up there?

robbie - I grew up in a house of 6 kids and a mother who made me sit until I cleaned my plate - I would sit for hours or try to hide it under my plate or stuff my mouth full and ask to be excused , run outside down to my grandparents house and spit it out! I think it's why I don't like so many foods LOL She always said there were starving kids in Africa I'd say pack up mine and send it to them!

frostslave - I'd definitely try eating more earlier. Ever since I started eating every 3 hours I don't get those cravings like I used to. Before I could come home from work and devour anything in sight but since I'm eating more and about every 3 hours now I don't feel like that anymore.

My snacks - I take 1/2 c Fiber one cereal with 12 almonds, Fiber one yogurt, motts cranberry plus, string cheese, peanut butter or skim milk - protein and fiber. Maybe that will help you too

Original Post by robbie615:

clharr: Of course that's what he meant. Would you like to be my shrink? You're very good.

BTW, I was born in Long Beach, and my brother and his family lived there for many years. They're in Sunset Beach now. Did you grow up there?

Only if you will be my shrink.

No, I grew up in La Mirada.  Not too far away.  I have been living in Long Beach for 30 years now though. 

LOL  i always had to clean my plate, too...  but if i could find 1/2 a chance to flush it, i would.  yeah, i got in trouble now & then for flushing it, but at least it was gone!  :D

gaining 40 pounds in a year?!  LOL  that sounds soooooo like me!!!  well, the old me...  i really think i will keep it off this time.  this time is different.  it's NOT a diet!!!  :D  it's a lifestyle change!

i really don't get hungry anymore.  i think it's all the fruits & veges i'm eating now.  i was always hungry when i was fat & eating junk.  junk food only satisfies you for a short while & then you're hungry!

now that i'm watching what i eat, i'd really rather have an orange or an apple than a candy bar.  i still have my cravings now & then though...  i just think 1st before i eat!  AND sometimes, that junk is well worth the calories, but sometimes it's not.  i guess it depends how much junk you're gonna have.

I think nowadays if I eat junk I am more likely to eat quality junk in small quantities.  Hersheys makes a dark chocolate with expresso beans crushed in it. One peice is 50 calories and I can stretch it out for 15 minutes. 

One thing that got me is french fries - you know if you eat them slowly and savor them, they are really NOT all that good. They are only good if you shove them in your mouth.  That is one food, not worth eating anymore or in very very limited quantities.

Well I have a long way to go and hope to keep that mindset going. Also social eating.  You know, it is really not about the food, it is about the people you are with.  I think I started gaining when I got married because my husband, youngest of 4 boys had a survival mentality at the dinner table and it forced me into that mode.  Stupid but reality.

Thank you Clharr and Bonton for the advice. I have very little problem keeping within my calorie goals on my days off but when I return to work it's terrible. I get up on a work day around 4 in the afternoon. Often I am not very hungry yet. I am at work at 6:45 PM and by 8:00 PM I am hungry. I try to take myself something healthy to eat. A good meal and other snacks such as fat free yogurt with fresh fruit. But about 3 AM something goes haywire in my body. Often it is an immense sugar crave or carb crave. I give in. There lies the problem. Why do I give in?

i mostly only eat the dark chocolate anymore.  i guess it's better for you.  i do the same thing!  LOL  i try to melt it as slow as i can & savor the flavor.

that's really weird!  i never thought of that though...  eating french fries real slow...  i don't even know if i can.  but just thinking about it, it does sound like it wouldn't taste that good.  i'll have to try that sometime!  i don't eat many fries anymore anyway.  i still love them though!  i love even just the smell of them!  :D

i miss out on alot of the foods i buy, because hubby & the girls eat them.  hubby always says, "well, you gotta be quicker!"  LOL  i don't do that anymore.  i'll just buy more & hope i get some next time.  i'm not gonna overeat just because i want a certain food.  i need to work it into my daily calorie allowance.

this probably sounds stupid, frost, but when that craving comes maybe you could eat some carrots or something?  i know...  it's easier to say than do...  giving in isn't all that bad, especially if you are only having a little.  :D  just try to hold off for as long as you can!

LOL snowfence...I usually take carrots to work with me but by 3 AM I have eaten them. I don't know if I am organized enough to try a stringent menu during work...at 8 pm you will eat this..between 11 and midnight this..at 3 this and ONLY this...doesn't sound like much fun does it? But I haven't tried that yet so I think thats the next route to persue. Maybe I can figure out a way to make it fun...something silly.  A little song and dance I have to do before I can eat? I know one thing I haven't been doing is keeping up with my water intake. I have to force myself to drink fluids. Almost like the thirst receptor in my brain doesn't work.

Thanks for all the advice and support. You are a terrific bunch and I appreciate you all!!!!!!

LOL  i never ate specific stuff at specific times either.  i'm STILL trying to remember to eat breakfast!  anyway, that carrot idea was a pretty good one, huh?  :D  that would keep you busy for awhile, at least...

i love the song & dance!  that would burn more calories too!

i haven't been much for water lately either.  :(  sometimes lately i hop on the treadmill just so i'll get thirsty.  and that works great!  i burn calories AND drink water!

i should be walking now, but i just can't seem to get started today.  it's beautiful outside too!  maybe i can talk hubby into walking with me when he gets home from work.  it's worth a try, i guess.

frostslave - something I do to beat the 4pm starving thing is drink a glass of skim milk around 3pm. It stabilizes your blood sugar so maybe you wouldn't have that immense craving at 3am. I also like zone perfect snack bars - they're good and have 5 grams of fiber. Maybe one of those and a glass of milk around 2:30am would stop the craving at 3.  Believe me I know all too well about nights - but I was the opposite never hungry. I never adjusted to that shift and was sick a ton the year I did it - actually ended up in the hospital once.

I have trouble with the water on the weekends - usually can't be bothered but I try harder thru the week to drink it.

My girls, son-in law and  grandson are here for the weekend! Love having our grandson here - he's 32 months - such a joy! But my girls made home-made doughnuts this morning for breakfast LOL I had to have a half but did manage to stop at that(although it was hard they were soooooo good) LOL Then this afternoon my daughter , her husband and my hubby and I went golfing - it was fun! I tried to walk a lot between shots but alas after we were done we stopped for soft ice cream ! Probably won't get a good nutrition grade today LOL. Oh well I still need to mow the grass today so that should burn off the small chocolate cone !

at least i managed to walk twice yesterday.  hubby didn't go with me, but he took me to the casino & then to DQ.  i got the brownie earthquake.

today we're going to a buffet.  i walked once & i'm hoping to go again anytime now, before we get too busy!

happy mothers day!

I work tonight. I will take carrots with me snowfence and not eat them too early in the night. Milk at 3 AM is on my list too Bonton.  My body must be releasing cortisol or pushing me to raise my sugar to fight the unnatural act of being awake. I have worked nights for many years now. All and all I do okay with it but as I get older it isn't as easy. There is a day shift position open but it means less money and a ho hum work schedule. My schedule now is awesome. I have to really think about it. I have until Wednesday.

I'll let you know how all the suggestions go. Ultimately its up to me to keep that stuff out of my mouth.

I have increased my jogging. I'm still snail slow but I ran 56 minutes yesterday and 55 minutes today. Wish I could go to DQ and a buffet. LOL.  I could never do it. You are amazing snowfence.

frostslave: I am so impressed that you work nights and still manage to jog almost an hour. That's tremendous willpower!

bonton: You should have saved the grass for your Mothers Day gift. But, can't beat yard work for calorie expenditure!

clharr: Good thing I listened to you. My son presented me with his plan to get out of debt and live independently. Hooray. And my husband pointed out that the ceremony really did go on too long.

Does anyone else get up early to work out? I don't seem to have much luck if I wait till after work. But mornings are really stiff times. Any suggestions?

Happy MD, again.

Robbie

frost, you are doing great with that running!  i could never do that!  i can walk that long, though.  i mostly walk at 4 mph, so at least it's pretty fast walking.  :D

i'm so excited!  i can't wait to hear if them carrots & milk helped you at all!!!

robbie, it's hard to find ANY time to exercise.  LOL  i try to get up early & do it, but mostly i don't.  it's just so hard to get started, but i know that once i get started i don't want to quit.  maybe start with some simple stretches & stuff & see how you feel.  :D

and after work, you probably are too busy.

frost - WOW you can run for 56 minutes that's great I can walk that long but the osteo in my knee won't let me run nor walk too fast as it is too pounding but I can walk 18 holes of golf! and it's 2 miles with a pedometer to mow my grass - I actually really like yard work..I don't let my husband cut the grass because i like the exercise and being outdoors.

robbie - I can't exercise in the morning it makes me sick in my stomach. My daughter gets up at 5am to go before work - I just can't do it. I go right after work and pull into the gym before my car can head home! LOL Some days I really have to force myself but after I get started it's not so bad. I really do feel better when I go and actually have been at it so long that I don't feel good if I don't go.

snow - glad to hear I wan't the only one who went for ice cream! LOL

longwaytogo - I wish I had read your thing about the french fries before Friday night! LOL we went out, my daughter got fries, which I helped myself to. They were good but ohhhh the calories and all that sodium - I was up in weight the next day but managed to lose it the next. And I had to smile when you said how you can make a piece of chocolate last so long - I occasionally eat a small dark chocolate Dove piece and you can get 4 small bites out of a 42 calorie piece with a cup of coffee tastes like dessert! LOL

Oh it's so quiet here now - everyone went home. It was wonderful having everyone here. Happy Mother's Day to all of you!!!

Thank you so much for this thread! I am 52 and have all of the same issues others mention: trouble loosing, rapid weight gain, the sudden appearance of a belly after a lifetime of a flat stomach.....

Here's my issue. I have a terribly stressful job. I am Chair of a department at a small private college. Last summer I walked every day, ate well, and lost 20 pounds. I put all that weight back on, plus 5 pounds, during this past school year. I am walking again, back on a good diet, and am sure I will loose again this summer. But next September the stress will start again - any help, suggestions, anything to stay on track? I know what I do wrong, over-working, not eating till evening, then rushing home to stuff my face at night, drinking with colleagues while we complain about the stress.....

Anyone else in this boat?

mhnyc: The better question is, "Who's NOT in that boat!" I am also a professional in a high stress job, but I deal with people from every walk of life, and I can tell you that we are all stressed--college department chairs, waitresses, executives, homemakers. You name the field, and it's stressful. We're also dealing with change of life, change of appearance, loss of youthful optimism, friends getting breast cancer, kids leaving home or--worse--coming back home, aging or dying parents. Really, getting older is so not for sissies.

For me, the important thing is to be kind to myself, and forgive my own trespasses...Seriously, sometimes I get home after work and it's all I can do not to curl up in a ball, eat french fries (guess lots of us love them), and stare at the boob tube. What gets me going is to say, "ok, I'm just going to do something. Just a 15 minute walk, a short exercise tape or some yoga, whatever." Inevitably, I end up feeling better (physically and mentally) and exceeding my original plan.

As a professor, I'm sure you know about the link between stress and health. I say grab one of your complaining colleagues, and complain while you take a walk together. Or, take a yoga class: pay for it so you feel bad if you don't go. (Maybe it's because I'm half Jewish and half Baptist, but guilt is a powerful motivator for me.) My oldest went through a rough patch a few years back, and yoga was the only thing I could do to totally forget about it: too hard to focus on problems when you're trying not to fall over.

I feel your pain, though!

Thanks for the fast reply, robbie615! And thanks for your humor. I just may be calling on you again, when the bad habits come back....

mhnyc, like you said, you know what you're doing wrong.  lol  i think we all know what we're doing wrong...

just set your goal & stick with us!  :D

there is NO wrong that you can't fix anyway!  you can do this!!!

Leaving for work soon..lol..with all the support you have given me I feel nervous. I don't want to let any of you down or myself!

I don't jog much faster than you walk snow. But now that I have myself to where I can keep my body in motion at that fat calorie burning pace for and hour, I will now work on increasing my turnover speed.

Still struggling about taking the day shift position. I think I will tell them if they will pay me what I am making now and give me my wonderful schedule I will be their faithful day employee forever! They will never go for it...hello nights.

I like to jog in the mornings Robbie and then take my nap for work in the afternoon. I will sleep tomorrow and MAYBE do some light walking or free weights before going in. I work three 12 hour shifts in a row. I try to get a good exercise in my first day when going back and then those next two shifts I do what I can. That is why eating right at work is so critical. I don't get up and immediatly start working out. I have some coffee and its usually an hour or so before I can motivate myself.

I'll check in soon.