40ish and Losing It!

This is a daily thread for women 40+ who are: losing those middle aged pounds, dealing with hormonal issues, family issues or just plain losing their minds!  I hope my friends follow me to this new thread and I hope to make more friends along the way - all are welcome.

Cheryl :)

Hey, where is everyone? How has your week gone? Did anyone loose last week? I lost 2lbs. and am now down to 139!! I have 12 lbs to go for my first goal weight; 19 for my second. I'm looking forward to the  size drop but it hasn't happened yet. Still a sz 10.

I ate way too much popcorn at the movies last night when I saw Prince Caspian (pretty good movie) so I will need to do hard workout today.

Anybody been in their garden?

Hello everyone!!! I have been off line for 4 days. I took Friday off and planted some flowers. I have no idea what I'm doing but it was fun. I ate a lot of wrong things over the weekend. So all the work/calories I burned in the flowers ended up in my mouth. To be honest with you, it was a nice break. I'm back.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Congratulations home4ed!  A 2 pound loss in a week is great!  I hardly ever get that much.  Keep up the great work!

Been working in the yard and containers on my porch, but it's really starting to heat up here.  I probably won't be spending much time outdoors coming up real soon. 

Hi everyone,

I've been busy running around - getting mamos and sonos and lo and behold - they found something.  Had a biopsy (core) on Thursday and now they tell me I have to wait a week for the results.  UGH!  The most horrible thing is that last night we went out for dinner and when we came home there was a message from the imaging center, but they hung up without leaving an actual message.  This has me wondering - why did they call so soon - did they get the results in one day?  If it was good news, wouldn't they have left a message?  And today, thanks to the holiday, they're closed.  My good friend who went thru this a few years back told me that if there is something, they'd find out pretty quickly...

So, needless to say, I'm reeeeeeeaaaaallllly worried....Yesterday I fell off my no sugar wagon and ate candy and had an icecream cone.  Gee, I guess I am an emotional eater afterall.  :)

Well, I hope y'all have a better weekend than me...

Cheryl :)

Hey Cheryl,

I will definitely be praying for you and for peace. Your are the 4th person in two weeks who has found a lump that I *know*. Can I say I know you since I have never met you? I think so but others might not agree. :) Anyhow, please keep us posted.

brigitte

Thanks, Brigitte, for your prayers, and yes, you can say you *know* me (lol)! A few years ago my 2 best friends BOTH had breast cancer at the same time! One was 36 and the other 45. It's just so darn common! I'll probably know the results by the end of the week, but I think (given the very limited info they gave me) that I diagnosed myself (it's a bad habit of mine). We'll see if I'm right (I usually am...) - but I'm guessing I have DCIS (ductal carsonoma in situ - not sure of the spelling). This actually would be the best thing - since it's concidered stage 0 (more like precancer - however they do count it as a cancer). If this is it, it's a lumpectomy and radiation. I know everyone tells me not to look up things on the internet, but I just can't help it :) Okay, well, my weekend wasn't THAT bad - it was beautiful here and my family came over for a barbeque. As for my diet - all I can say is: "What diet?" Ha! Cheryl :)

Cheryl, You have been on my mind all weekend. I'm glad that it wasn't horrid for you. Hopefully you'll hear soon. I am guilty of self-diagnostics,too, and would have done the same if I had to wait a long weekend in suspense! Good luck, and I'm hoping all is well...please keep us posted. btw...I have been in the "what diet" state for the last month. The scale says it's time for me to get motivated again.

Edie

It's b9!!! I'm so relieved!!!!  Turns out it was a cyst that was solid.  So I was WRONG and I'm GLAD!

Whew!!!  I never realized how big of a wimp I really am....

Cheryl :)

Great news Cheryl!  Big sigh of relief.  I can only imagine how that was weighing on you while you waited for results.  Yikes!

I know what you mean about looking stuff up and self-diagnosing.  I just went to the doctor today because since about last Thursday, my hands and arms have been very stiff and sore, especially when I'm trying to sleep and in the morning.  On Friday I couldn't even lift my right arm without helping it with my left hand.  I could barely put on my makeup or do my hair this morning and consequently my braid is bugging me all day today because it's drooping on one side.  Ah, vanity!

So I looked it up and rheumatoid arthritis is what fits my symptoms.  Doc gave me a steroid (oh joy) for the inflammation pending the results of the bloodwork and x-rays to verify exactly what's going on.  Naturally, my symptoms seem to fit the more serious and ugly Rheumatoid Arthritis instead of the more common and manageable Osteoarthritis, but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and just have carpal tunnel syndrome or something!  lol.

Anyway, glad your news came out basically positive.  Scary, scary!

Wow, Digigirl, that sounds scarey too! I never heard of that before...keep us informed. Does anyone in your family have Rheumatoid Arthritis?

You know, there is nothing better in the world than good health - we just don't realize it until it's gone. Cheryl :)

So, so true.  And, to add insult to injury, I lost zero weight this past week.  Could be because of the steroid they gave me, could be a plateau starting or it could just be a slow week.

No, there's no history in my family that I know of, but frankly we hardly know anything at all about my father's side of the family.  My mom used to occasionally complain of some arthritis pain, but it was never diagnosed as that nor treated and never to the extreme that mine was.  Who knows?  Maybe I'm just the lucky recipient.

Trying to just keep eating right, working out more and moving forward and to not dwell on it.  It's the being healthy that's important, not the number on the scale, right?  Right!?  lol. 

Cheryl, what a relief! Glad that ordeal is over for you.

Digigirl - good luck. Let's hope that it isn't rheumatoid. That is so painful. Let me know if you have any weird reactions to those steroid shots. I had cortisone injections in a hip about 18 months ago. I developed a "dent" in my left hip (it was so large that I could hold a golf ball in it!). The Dr. said that sometimes the steroid injection will do that. It burns the fat. I tried to get him to inject me the whole way down the back of my thighs . I'd be interested to know if you have any of the smae symptoms. It took over a year for it to fill in and there still is a dimple.

Edie, they just gave me some pills - no shot (thank goodness).  It worked like magic for the first few days.  My hands and arms felt like I'd never been stiff.  But just in the past couple of days I'm feeling kind of vaguely stiff - not sure if I'm just paranoid or if it's really creeping back.  I'm starting to taper off this Rx now, will be on it for several more days, but the dosage gets less and less.

We'll see what happens when it's all gone.  Should be hearing from the doc this week with results from the tests. 

A whole year for your dent to go away!?  Yikes!  That doesn't sound like fun.

Hello,

So glad to see your results Cheryl! Digigirl Im praying that whatever that stiffness is, your great attitude to keep moving forward and continue toward health will really benefit offset the rhuematoid arthritis.

My Husband and I were blessed witha long weekend away in Richmond , VA this past weekend. Coming home to the kids and the stress has been quite depressing. I almost wish I never left because coming back to reality has been awful.

The kids bickering with eachother, ignoring me or their chores, back talking. Ugh.  Strife, strife strife and Im at a loss with how to show them how wrong it is. It's just selfishness. And in my selfishness I just want them all to get along.

So what did I do today? Totally pig out! Im definitely a stress eater! While O was gone I really ate well, didn't blow it overeating and exercised every day at the hotel gym.

I just suck as a mom. I wanted to run away so bad! Sorry for the whining- I  need to snap out of this mood. Thanks for letgting me vent

brig

Hi, Everybody,

I am 43 and a Stay at home Mom of 6 kids. I weigh 184, down from 195 in Feb. I married at 140 lbs. I weighed 160 after 5 kids. Then, I had my last child and weighed 170. I had a car wreck 16 months ago and gained another 25 lbs. BLAH.   My self esteem has fallen to the floor with this last weight gain.  It has been really hard to lose the 11 pounds but I am down one size. I do Tae Bo 6 days a week. I've ordered the Jillian Michaels workout dvd which I heard was really good.  I have not hit the menopause phase and want to get this weight off before I do.  Sheesh, that makes me sound old.  Anyway, Good morning and have a nice day! 

Home4Ed,

I just read your post.  I can completely relate to your situation!  I have told my husband many times  "I'm leaving and I'm never coming back" because the kids fight, fight fight. I have a 3 year old that is very "energetic".  I have days where I just want to run away and never look back. Then, there are days when I am so grateful for my children because they really are good kids. They don't get into or cause serious trouble, just the kind that annoy a mother occasionally. Can I add you as a buddy?

Brig, oh, you are so where I was at a few weeks ago!!!  My 11yo was starting to get a very bad attitude toward me and I HAD IT!!  I took away all of her most prized possesions - she was already grounded from a previous infraction (disappearing with her little brother  - I found them 1/2 mile away on a dead end street on their scooters).  Anyhow, the bickering between dd and ds and the eyerolling (at me) made me go off the edge.  When I started homeschooling dd at 9, she was sooooo sweet....and then I got her involved in dancing, where the girls were all spoiled brats.  So, at 10 she started to change.  At 11 I put her in a Christain school and, surprise, the girls are just as bratty as the dance girls!  I have witnessed her best friend treat her own mother like such dirt.  I had a big talk with my dd about how her friend treats her mother, and she agreed that it was wrong.  I did rant and rave a bit too, but in the end I think she saw my point and since then all has been well.  This all happened on Mother's Day - when my dd just couldn't bring herself to wish me a happy day...I just lost it.  Anyhow, we do the best we can.

Cheryl

Misskady,

Wow, 6 kids AND time for Tae Bo - hats off to you!!!  That's great that you lost weight from Feb - I've been soooo bad and have hardly lost anything.  Today is a new day and I'm going to do my best. 

Did anyone catch Oprah the other day - where they had awesome weight loss stories?  One women was 700#s and lost something like 500#s!!  That is unbelieveable.  Most of them just did it on their own - just cutting back and moving more.  I do think that as you get to the point where its 20#s or less to lose, it just is so difficult.

Back to the steroid shot melting fat....is that true?????  And if so, any reason why they haven't use that for weight loss??

Cheryl :)

Of course you can add me as a buddy Misskady! And I agree with Chery: you deserve kudos for all you do as a mom and doing Tae Bo! It is comforting to know Im not alone and my kids are not the only kids that are natually extremely selfish.

As for our plateaus and  lack of current weight loss, I would like to  propose a weigh-in day and accountability day where we post our weight, how many days we stayed with in our calorie count limit, drank our water, and how many days we exercized and our goal weight. This really helped me loose my fist 17 lbs. and I do this with a couple of friends here but I would be glad to be accountable to you all too! I suggest we do this on a friday. Anyone game?

Sure, I'll play!  I weigh on Wednesdays, but I'll just post my Wednesday weight on Friday.  Y'all won't know the difference.  ;)

Starting tomorrow?