Happy birthday @musicmom.
Happy birthday, musicmom! <:-P
Thanks for the birthday wishes!
I have to admit I’ll be thoroughly enjoying a (small) slice of carvel ice cream cake tonite while watching our DVR ed episodes of Homeland. I guess tv binging is better than food binging…
I’ve been away from CC for awhile (I work as a college counselor and kind of took the Summer off). This post-menopause weight gain is so depressing. I’m 20-25 lbs. up. I lost it last year, slow and steady eating lettuce leaves and using my fitbit, prior to my son’s wedding, and it crept back up. I use MyFitnessPal and find that I literally can barely eat ANYTHING without gaining weight. Simple things, like a sandwich, blow the whole diet up. It’s really depressing feeling as though, in order to maintain a weight that looks and feels good, enjoyable food simply can only be a, maybe, once a week part of my life. I think about food, or lack of food ALL THE TIME! Which also means I binge out of defiance, yay me! I’m about to start pilates, for strength training, as soon as the first wave of college applications are through. We have a new puppy, so walking will soon become more of a priority. (He still can’t walk very far) I feel as though my metabolism has come to a screeching halt. I’m just venting, I guess, as I head back to square one and keeping track of everything…again! Sigh.
Happy Birthday, musicmom!
SJTH - Welcome! this thread has lots of good advice. We are here to support each other.
@SJTH- I teach pilates -so let me know if you have any questions
Welcome @SJTH! No one can live on lettuce leaves alone - and who wants to?! There must be a happy medium for you. You said you used MyFitnessPal - did you track food/nutrients on it??? A sandwich for instance could be bad - depending on the type of bread you used, if you used deli processed meats, mayo - that kind of thing.
I always say, there’s no perfect time to exercise - just excuses to not exercise. Don’t let a whole season go by waiting for the right time to do it - figure out how to do it now and regularly. Your body cannot help but make a change of some sort - either losing weight or inches, or toning or whatever - if you are burning a few hundred calories daily through exercise.
Thanks, all. I’m plugging away. Apparently, I needed to vent!
Vent away SJTH - it’s not easy!!
I downloaded the Map My Run app for my phone. It is great. I set it to walk and it shows how far as well as how many calories burned (not enough, sadly) as well as walking speed. There is also a pause feature. Walked 7 miles on Sunday and 2.2 today.
A doc. said that while one needs to exercise for about 30 min. / day to prevent a coronary disease, 2 hrs / day are required to prevent a heart failure. I have been doing 2hrs (and more) for many years. It has nothing to do with my weight though. I have gained about 10 lbs over few years going to all inclusive for vacations. Since weight does not affect my life style in any shape or form, I do not worry about it. My daily exercise includes swimming for 1 hr 10 min ( I am very slow, it takes me that long to do about 1.25 miles) and walking for 2.5 - 5 miles, depending if I decide to do it 2 times instead of one. I simply feel good, especially after swimming. There is some kind of high that swimming creates in our bodies, not like any other exercise. If you do it first thing in a morning, there is absolutely nothing that will be able to upset me during the day. You will stay at peace with very clear head even without coffee and if you slept only 3 hrs or actually did not sleep at all. I do not sleep well, but I am never tired.
However, all of the above has nothing to do with the weight at all.
SJTH, Congrats on the puppy. I walk my dog three to four miles in the morning and another mile at night. On the weekends we often go on longer hikes out in the state forest, which brings the average up to about five miles a day. Doing the math I’m walking off more than half a pound a week (and he’s nine now). Another bonus is that he’s a northern breed and loves the cold weather so much I don’t mind going out in the winter.
I’m sure this has been mentioned over and over again but for me the trick was cutting back on starchy carbs. I also think weight training has increased my overall fitness in a way I never realized it would. I have been running since I was a teenager but I have never been as strong as I am now in my late fifties. 
I think swimming is a terrific workount, Miami, but I just don’t like to swim. I know how (had to pass a swim test to graduate from HS), I just don’t enjoy swimming.
Swimming is great but weight-bearing exercise is better for most folks because of bone health.
If you are a swimmer and that’s your thing, great, but for those of us who struggle to gasp through a small number of laps, there is no magic in swimming. I get out of the pool angry with myself for failing.
I hate cardio, so I hate swimming. I also hate the having to change, redo my makeup, hair etc (shallow, I know!). I am so much more fit at 54 (55 next month) from weight training, body weight exercise and circuit training than I have ever been. I could be more fit cardio-wise but data is showing heavy lifting weight training is more important than thought in the past and cardio less so. And I know it’s not about the weight loss, but I love the weight loss. I love being really slim for the first time in my life. The wardrobe benefits alone rock.
I don’t even consider what MiamiDAP does as real swimming (as she herself has described it). It’s basically a long distance float up and down the pool. Not much cardio benefit and certainly no bone density benefit. I’m glad it has mental benefits for her, but it certainly is not for everyone. I have been on Master’s swim teams and have done triathlons, and I agree that there are many benefits to swimming, but, frankly, if you aren’t pretty good at it the benefits are much less. It is very technique dependent and frustrating to learn as an adult. Also, you have to have access to a pool or open water. No knocking it at all- great exercise and can be very intense. Just not practical for many folks.
Yeah. I don’t do starchy carbs. I eat very healthy, lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meat etc. My metabolism has just stopped. :::::screechy brake noise::::: We do have an older dog, so I am a “long walker.” It’s just hard to take one and not the other right now. It’s all fine. Well, sort of. My life is pretty great, compared to such horrible things my friends are going through, that I really need to stop whining. Just keep my “eyes on the prize” But, man, I wish I liked cardio! Or organized exercise classes.
For those of you doing weight training, are you going to a gym or is this something that you do/can do at home? I don’t need to lose any weight, but could really use some toning and I would prefer to do a workout at home rather joining a gym.
I have a pair of 15 lb dumbbells that I use every other night for a small circuit of free weights exercises. Additionally, I do planks and pushups and wallsits and whatnot. I think this provides enough muscle toning for me.
I got a printout with free weight exercises from my gyn doc. It was produced by Harvard School of Medicine, and unfortunately, it is not available online in public domain. The exercises are very basic, for example, bicep curls. I started with 8 lb dumbbells and progressed to 15. The idea is to start your circuit with a weight that lets you do up to 8-10 reps of each exercise and then your muscles need a few seconds of rest. As soon as you can go beyond 15 reps comfortably, you will need to up the weight. I don’t feel any need for a gym membership at this point. But be warned: metal is expensive!!
You might want to flip through the older pages in the Diet Exercise etc. thread - there is a TON of advice in there for what can be done at home.
Bunsenburner, I am amazed what strength! you are strong!
15 lb is way over a starter dumb bell set for me.
I have a kettlebell that weighs in at 9 lbs.
I work out at home. I have resistance bands, a 2lb dumbbell and started using the kettlebell.
Last week, I found my boys left behind a barbell out back. I have added this barbell lift and it is only the bar to my day. The barbell,with no weights, is 45 lbs. I am pushing really hard to get it over my head once right now. It does not go up evenly or easily yet.