Staying the Course -- 01-09-2017

[Superbob]

It is beginning to feel as though we've left the holiday season behind. Maybe one more splurge tonight with the national championship college football game -- Clemson versus Alabama, the culmination of the bowl season. Since my artificial tree is still up, maybe I will turn on the lights and make this one more night of celebration. Haven't stocked munchies for it though -- trying to stick to pears and apples and such as my snack fodder.

Our "storm of the century" here consisted of about 5 minutes of snowfall, and a few nights of subfreezing weather. Supposed to start warming up this afternoon and be over 70 by the end of this week. Just glad we didn't have an ice storm -- we did have a bad one a few years ago. I know some of you folks deal with a lot worse in way of winter weather -- hope you are doing okay.

Back to work -- or what passes for it for an old codger like me. About to take Ellie on a morning walk -- was waiting for temp to rise a little. Yesterday morning, we set out and I thought, well this isn't so bad at all. But then we turned around and I realized we had had a tailwind. Walking back into the winds with chill factor in the teens was tough. Anyway we made it. So now we can brag about it.

Time to start honing birdwatching skills for the Great Backyard Bird Count after Valentine's Day. Fun worldwide event. Google it and check it out if you are interested.

Look forward to hearing from you stalwart STCers when you have a minute.

Cheers,

Superbob

 

[honeybunny]

Cold in Houston this week but not unbearable. I'm working on a new diet: twice a week eat only 500-600 and resume normal diet the other five days. A co-worker told me about a year ago that her mother has done this for years. Then last week I read an article about it in my AARP magazine, which is reputable. I did it one day last week, and am shooting for under 500 calories today. I use the My Fitness Pal app to track the calories and I'm detailed about it; I include, for example, the 2-3 tablespoons of half & half I used in my morning coffee. I've used this app before but not for this diet.

I should probably eat only 400-500 calories when I fast due to my small stature (barely 5' tall). I mean, my calorie restrictions should be greater than for someone like Jimmy Kimmel, who (according to the AARP article) lost 40+ lbs on this diet.

Right now, however, I am craving a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese icing, when the cafeteria in my office building happens to sell :Smile:

 

[jwinter]

Good Morning everyone.

Seems your winter "storm" was pretty rough, Superbob. lol Glad you are back on coarse walking Ellie Love bird watching too

honeybunny, that diet sounds interesting. I am a calorie counter and believe the bottom line is 'calories in and calories out' as in exercise helps burn some of them off. Good luck to you!

I am still taking a lot of meds and my weight goes up and down still. I see my pcp this week and hope we can drop or lower a couple Feeling good these days but not sleeping so good at night. Easy to get to sleep but waking up way to early. More exercise would probably help and am going to look on YouTube for something non cardio. Doing what I can to stay the coarse...........

Oh and the weather here in Montana stinks. Still below zero most nights and around 20 or less during the day. Yuck!



.

 

[Superbob]

Diet sounds interesting, HB. Hope it works well for you as it apparently has for others. I think for me, it wouldn't, because I have to worry about blood sugar crashes. Will be interested in your progress.

jwinter, good luck in the search for the right exercise. There are a lot of great sources out there. Might check out the Mayo Clinic online and find ideas there. Montana must have fierce winters but I gather it is beautiful country.....

Cheers to all.

 

[epstns]

I've been "quiet" for a couple of days, but I am back now, I think. Monday was just a hectic day at the office and I didn't have time to do much else. We have made it out of the deep-freeze up here. The temp this morning was warm enough to melt the dusting of snow we got last evening. The only hitch was that the snow turned to ice, and the 4 or 5 blocks from my driveway out to the main streets was like a skating rink. My car has all-wheel drive, but that only means you can "go" - doesn't mean you can turn or stop. Those few blocks were a real trip. Good thing I do that part before the chickens are awake, so no traffic. The main roads and expressways were all salted, so just wet.

I'm heading back into my next cycle of "see the specialists" again. I get to see 3 next week and 1 or 2 the following week. That will keep things hopping. Add to that that we have to find a new internist/GP, as our guy has left the practice group. Bummer - we have been seeing him for about 7 years, and he was in the same hospital network as almost all of my specialists, so they all had access to each other's notes. Guess I'll have to grab another business card out of the fishbowl.

I've been watching my weight - literally. I've been going through some after effects from treatment for another condition, as well as some added meds, and my weight has bounced around a bit. I've gained about 3-4 lbs. for no visible reason, over the past month or so. I haven't changed my diet, and my exercise/activity level and intensity is down only slightly. Looks like I may need to make some adjustments, at least in the short term.

So, I'll be here. . . Stayin' the Course!

 

[Superbob]

Hey, Steve -- sorry you're having to run the gauntlet of all those specialists, but sounds like you are staying the course in good spirits. Yep, adjustments are something I need to make, too -- going to my annual "wellness exam" with my GP today -- maybe she will suggest some adjustments I should make. (Not looking forward to seeing what number the always-forbidding doctor's scales yield) Just a few more weeks before I start a senior fitness class; looking forward to that. As good as a daily dawgwalk is, clearly I need to do more. Just pedaling in a workout room gets kind of boring; maybe a workout class will be motivating.

 

[epstns]

SB - It is only boring if you let it be. I spend about 30 minutes on an elliptical machine most weekdays, and I use that time for meditating, thinking, planning, even daydreaming. I have long known that I could set my body to autopilot, and then use my mind for something else while I exercise. I used to run outdoors at 4:30 AM, and used that time to plan my day's work. Then by the time I got to work, I had the day's plan in mind and hit the ground running. Now I exercise in the afternoon after work, so I use that mind-time for more personal thoughts. I also find that if I am really troubled over something, I can let my mind churn on it while exercising, and often come up with the solution before I even realize it.

 

[FredW]

Hi STC folks,

Sounds like many of us are getting back into the routine of trying to be more healthy. Last weekend, when our area saw temperatures in the single digits, my wife and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale to have dinner with her daughter. It felt like I was some kind of jet-setter flying to Florida for the weekend, but in reality, we had credit on a airline that had limited options as to how we used them, so we decided to use the credit to go to Florida to have dinner and then come home. The people there thought it was cold, but we thought 55 - 60 degrees was summer for us.

The bad news is that the food there was terrific and it was one of those times, you have to throw caution aside and just live life. I compromised and to sway on the side of eating healthy, I had salmon for dinner, but the cheese and crackers I had earlier during the football game definitely put me on the 'just live' attitude.

I believe that to keep the weight down or loose it, I have to totally change the way I eat. Diets don't work for me, so I have to eat more vegetables, fruits, and fish, and less carbs, ice cream, sugar and snacks. I also have to keep active and on those days where the weather or IT demands keep me inside and on the desktop, I try to make time to get to the gym and do 60 minutes between the treadmill and elliptical.

I agree with Steve, spending time on the elliptical, or treadmill, could be boring if you don't take advantage of your mind-time. My favorite activities are to make up stories of those around me, solve problems, write new lyrics to the music I'm listening to, or fantasize about having a body like the 20 year old lifting weights in the next room. Then I look at myself in the mirror and think: "Hump! silly old man!

But, I stay the course!

 

[dornole]

I'm focusing on no baked goods, desserts or pasta along with my portioning plan and geocaching every day. I hope this will help with both weight and cholesterol #s.

 

[epstns]

Fred - Somewhere far back, we might be related. I read your tale of the weekend jaunt to Florida, and thought "Hey, that sounds like fun." I missed my annual Florida vacation this year, as we used that time (still working, gotta count vacation days) to take a whirlwind trip through England and the UK, but I still miss it. We always eat well in Florida, and we love fish. All kinds of fish, not just salmon. You done well, my friend. Enjoy life.

As for the gym time, my gym crowd is a good mixture of young, middle-aged and old folks. A few of us older guys are in better shape than some of the middle-aged and younger guys, but we'll never be "that" young again. We just try our best to delay the impact of age on our lives. Even though you're in PA and I'm in IL, I'm happy to add you to our "group". Our motto is "Getting old(er) is inevitable. Growing up is not!"

 

[FredW]

Steve, I can sign up for: "Getting old(er) is inevitable. Growing up is not!". My wife often tells me to "grow up".

My reply is: "Nope, never!"

 

[Superbob]

well, the number on the doctor's scales wasn't pretty; knew it wouldn't be. My GP doesn't scold me about weight but she liked that I have signed up for the fitness classes in February. She even indicated she could prescribe another round of aqua therapy for me later in the year. (The aqua therapy really helps my stenotic back.) My cardiologist though has started getting after me about weight gain, and rightly so. Soooooo....my goal is to lose 5 pounds by my next cardio's appointment in March and another 5 pounds by my next GP appointment in July. I'll step up the walking and do the fitness classes, and then maybe add aqua in this spring.

Stay the Course!

 

[honeybunny]

You can do it SB!

 

[epstns]

You'll do fine, SB. We're coming into the nicer weather when we can be more active outdoors. Only a few more months until better weather. . . although I can remember having snow one Memorial Day in Chicago.

 

[jwinter]

Superbob, sorry about that lousy scale reading and I do know how that is. Glad you have your goals set and they are not out of line. Some people try to loose too much too fast and end up gaining it all back (and even more sometimes) Take a look at volumetrics sometime if you get a chance. Basically, as I read it, you add more lower calorie foods to your diet meal to add volume and get a fuller feeling. When I made vegetable soup I would make the base of soup with meat and broth and add a few extra vegetables. Same with a salad meal. Basic greens and slices of chicken and then I added more radishes, mushrooms, edible peas, or whatever to make it a more satisfying meal. You maybe aren't interested but just wanted to throw it out there.

However you do it I agree with others and know you got this!!!!

 

[Superbob]

what a great group we have here! (And hey our door is wide open to any others who'd like to jump in any time!) I appreciate all the encouragement very much. And jwinter I have googled volumetrics and will read up on it tonight. Looks like it could be a helpful basis for meal planning. (Or maybe I could just eliminate the cream cheese icing on carrot cake such as found in HB's cafeteria.) -- jk -- or maybe make the carrot cake a reward every other month when meeting weight goals.

 

[dornole]

You got this SB - or should I say WE got this as I am also needing to lose weight.

Since we're sharing ideas I am finding this $10 e-course on "Establishing an exercise habit" really helpful and fun. Based on science of motivation to actually build a happy habit.

http://courses.christinecarter.com/mini-course/

I've done a geocaching hike every day this week and I feel SO MUCH BETTER and look forward to that kind of exercise!

 

[Duffey]

I really haven't worked on weight loss since my last post. DH went through a battery of tests to find the cause of his Afib, and is now scheduled for a heart Cath on the 23. Cardiologist suspects a blockage (s). Anyway, I'm going to follow the same Mediterranean diet that he's been prescribed, but for right now, we're in the wait and see mode. It looks like I'll have company from other Stay the Coursers which is good. You know what they say; misery loves company!

 

[neil]

been lurking around this group for a bit, sounds just what I need

 

[Superbob]

dornole -- I will check out the Christine Carter exercise plan -- always looking for new ideas. Thanks! Duffey -- will be praying for your DH as he has the cath and (I presume) faces possible bypass surgery. The Mediterranean Diet is justly renowned, but don't know when I can follow any diet strictly -- our life is so grab-and-go owing partly to some larger problems in our family that I don't think I can write about right now. It's complicated. Anyway, I am trying to eat sensibly -- last night when we took my son and the grandkids out to Olive Garden, I went with Chicken Marsala instead of the pasta-heavy entrees I love. It was delicious!

Neil, great to see you here, dear heart buddy. Would love to have you drop by regularly and give us the benefit of your perspective. As you've probably seen, we talk about whatever's on our mind as we stay our respective courses.

Finally, I will report a bit of a downer -- literally -- for me. I used to be pretty good basketball player (though football and baseball were my main sports). I could sink those long 3-pointers before there was any such thing in the game. SO when my son and grandson invited me to take some shots yesterday at the local gym after they had finished their shoot-arounds, I gladly accepted. Then to my chagrin I found that even my short lay-up shots were falling short. Took a while before I managed to make a few. This exposed a decline in arm strength. Then, even worse, a rebound came my way, and I don't know how, but I got off-balance and fell face-first to the hardwood floor. Seem to have done no permanent damage -- just some soreness this morning; still will walk dawg. But it made me think again about how I need to diversify my fitness quest -- gradually with some light weights to restore some of waning strength, And stretching and balance exercises are in order. As I try to stay the course at 75 I don't need to be playing any pickup basketball games. But I would like to be able at least to shoot around at the gym with my grandson without being a decrepit old man.

I have to say yesterday's happening was depressing. But I am determined to bounce back.