<p>I have a pocket calendar just for weight stuff in which I put my weight and work-out every day. I put in my B-W-H measurements at least once a week. I journal the food separately on the computer. I find it helpful to see the fluctuations, trends, and patterns in both weight and the weight/inches relationship. I usually discount the first five pounds that I lose whenever I get ultra-focused since my weight will bounce right back up by about that much if I “go off program” for even a single night, so it can feel discouraging. Now I know to persevere through that. I am still going to have my two glasses of wine on Friday night and my weight is going to bounce up on Saturday and that’s OK. Over time, however, the flucations level off and the bigger picture trend becomes clearer. </p>
<p>Inches initially come off faster than pounds for me, particularly if I am working out, because my body will hold onto weight and then all of a sudden have a large drop at once if I don’t give up. Or, I can plateau for several months sometimes. It’s like my body is testing my resolve, but I know all of its tricks now so it can’t fool me anymore. </p>
<p>I highly recommend taking a “before” picture. If you are like me you may not like getting your picture taken when you are feeling heavy, but you will want that picture later. I take a new picture every ten pounds and put that into a different journal with just periodic comments on mood and attitude. I have those journals going back for many years. </p>
<p>As you can tell, maintaining my weight takes a lot of work. There is nothing automatic about it. I have lost 60+ pounds four times and lesser amounts up and down more times than I can count. But I have gotten better at catching myself sooner when it is headed up. I only have about 11 pounds that I need to lose right now to get back to goal. I am trying to not let myself get more than five pounds above goal, but if I get busy at work and ease up on the intensity of the workouts or start reaching into the peanut butter jar with my celery, I can bounce up 20 pounds in a matter of weeks.</p>
<p>Ellipticals are the easiest on knees and joints. The way it was explained to me is that your knees get only so many miles in a lifetime. That why so many runners and former athletes get bum knees in their 50s.</p>
<p>Mousegray, there are weight exercises that tone the back. If it’s just skin–some people get this from having lost weight, there’s really nothing you can do. If there are fat cells there, you can’t spot reduce (I’d not understood that until recently), you just have to get leaner overall to lose it.</p>
<p>My husband does the same thing - peanuts or pistachios in the shell. Every night after dinner. Cracking the shells reduces the quantity ingested, I suppose. It’s also sort of a comforting ritual.</p>
<p>On toning arms and back: I do Pilates three times a week and my arm and back muscles are well-defined. Yoga is also good - plank and downward dog positions done properly really work these areas. Pushups also work the back and arms. </p>
<p>I read recently that a 45 year old fit woman should be able to do about 15 military style pushups. Do two sets of 15 - one set with fingers facing the front and another set with hands turned inward. With consistent work, these areas are actually fairly easy to tone.</p>
<p>lilmom, if your husband is an avid exerciser used to running outdoors in the freezing weather, he might want to consider cycling outdoors in the freezing weather. One has to bundle up more to ride a bike, but my cycling friends in cold-weather climates ride through the winter. And, after all, people cross-country ski and snowshoe in the winter, so why not ride a bike?</p>
<p>I now live in a warm-winter climate, but I didn’t always. One of my favorite bike rides was while it was snowing.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the advice and support. I am not actually tracking calories but I am recording what I eat and I am eating less with smaller portions. I am sticking with mostly fruits, veggies and lean meats and eating a lot less starches and sweets. I think I need to drink more water, though. </p>
<p>If this continues for another week or so, I may start to count calories.</p>
<p>Oh this was so much easier years ago. In my 20’s I could drop 2 or 3 pounds just by cutting back for a few days.</p>
<p>“…45 year old fit woman should be able to do about 15 military style pushups.”</p>
<p>This I can do When I was 15, girls in my HS PE class had to do 40 of them to get an A. Guys had to endure a much worse torture.
My H loves his Perfect Pushups. I thought it was just another as-seen-on-TV gimmick, but this is one of the few as-seen-on-TV devices that actually do what they claim they do.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the suggestions. He will get checked out by his dr. He’s due for his annual, anyway! </p>
<p>As for me, I feel like I’m on a roll - went to the gym twice this week and power walked on the other days. I’ve discovered plain vanilla yogurt - love it! But i have to sneak granola in it…</p>
<p>thanks for the tips, Gourmetmom. And funny about the nuts. I guess there are far worse nightly rituals! Actually, it doesn’t really bother me—it just seems like a personal quirk to me. </p>
<p>Will try the push-ups at the gym later today. 15 at a time, eh? Well, it’s something to work towards.</p>
<p>Fall Girl - In my twenties my closest friend and I would watch what we were eating to prepare for bathing suit season on HER birthday - May 1. In our thirties and early forties, we started on MY birthday - in February. We now laugh and say we need to find a friend with a birthday in September.</p>
<p>Mousegray - in our house DH’s ritual is cracking walnuts. He likes to have only a few (I am sure he has a precise number in mind) and cracking them slows him down. Gosh, if we all get together, we had better make sure we have enough nut crackers!</p>
<p>Speaking of coffee (well, someone was talking coffee yogurt) I see ALOT of people at work who could save a lot of $$$ AND calories by not coming in every morning with a store bought coffee “drink” in their hand! The lady in the office next to me gets one at lunch too! (and I promise, it SHOWS).</p>
<p>What do you drink in the morning - do you have a guilty low-calorie pleasure? I drink water when I first get up, a little milk for breakfast and water on and off during the day but have to REALLY remind myself just cause I’m not a big drinker in general.</p>
<p>But my morning routine is either a cup of herbal tea with a little sweeter - very little. Or some chai mixed with skim milk, OR a small cup of one of the General Foods Int Coffees - sugar free version. I know, still has the sweetner, but I choose that over sugar-full. One cup of any of the above is all I need for the morning - I just warm it up if it gets cold. :)</p>
<p>Not counting smoothies, cause for me that’s more like a meal!</p>
<p>My low calorie morning drink - a large cup of unsweetened hot coffee with 2% or 1% milk (I hate both skim milk and half-and-half). I cannot imagine drinking coffe/eating breakfast at work or in the car. Breakfast is a sacred ritual in our family, and I can probably count the times we had to skip breakfast using the fingers on just one hand. </p>
<p>I’m not a huge coffee drinker and usually I get by with just my morning cup. I can’t stand the yucky coffee we have in the lunchroom at work, so on a very rare occasion when I have to work late and I need an extra jolt of caffeine, I visit my local Starbucks (which now posts calorie count for all of its drinks) on the wall and I get a small 2% latte. A small coffee Frappuchino is not that bad either :)</p>
<p>Extremest checking in here: my breakfast is either poached eggs on a bed on spinach (amazingly filling for under 200 calories), or a green drink: juiced spinach, kale, parsley, wheat grass, carrot, a half apple or Asian pear with flax seed.</p>
<p>My morning routine is coffee w/fat-free half n half. I know it has 20 cal per serving but since I’ve started exercising, I’ve been drinking less coffee in the morning!</p>
<p>In college, it wasn’t uncommon to see me w/a 32 oz cola because I wasn’t into coffee. Now, it’s rare for me to have any soda.</p>
When I was 15, girls in my HS PE class had to do 40 of them to get an A. Guys had to endure a much worse torture.