Geriatric MM Warriors June 13, 2010

[Diane W.]

Hi everyone!
It's a beautiful day today! I went for my walk prepared as usual. I had to put my sunglasses on and take off my scarf & mittens. I was happy to see that I wasn't the only one who wanted to walk on the trail. There were plenty of footprints that made a nice path. I could also see ski tracks and snowshoe tracks. I still want to snowshoe! There is a winterpark nearby that rents them and has trails, but I don't want to go alone. No one I know is up for it. I'm hoping I can talk my niece and her new boyfriend into it.

I can't believe this is the last day of the year. Geez. I didn't work at all this year. 2011 will be the year that I get the best job of my life. Every New Year's day I light a bayberry candle and burn it to the end. My mother always did that. There's a saying: a bayberry candle burned to the socket brings food to the larder and gold to the pocket.

I wish all of my friends a happy, healthy 2011. The Year of the MM Warrior!
(Robin, I hope you have a safe trip home from CT.)

 

[Simpleone]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!



I wrote a very long post a couple of days ago, and I see it's not here! My sense of doom and gloom has lifted and I really seem to be back to my normal self. I started my morning workouts once again and a gratitude journal...seems to really be working.

It's appears that everyone had a very nice Christmas, me included!
We had a house full on Christmas Eve, pizza and dessert crazy....yep, I ate it! I must have been super good this year, I landed myself one of those past, present, future diamond sets...now where's that big cheesy smilie face when you need it? Hubby and Millie designed it and they did a really nice job.

I don't know what happened this time but I managed to slide right into Step I on Monday and haven't missed a beat since. Tiredness set in today for some reason, so I napped. I was over at my parents this morning and I told them how easy it was this time, after so many start failures. My dad said that because the stress of the holidays is over and asked if I checked my "moon sign stage" in the Farmers Alminac, and if I hadn't, it might have been perfect timing for me to make the healthy change. I looked at mom and asked her when he had become a "moon child", they had a good laugh but insisted that I check anyway. ...they'll be calling me before the day is over to tell me if I had the power of the moon in my favor.

I see on FB that Robin made it home safely! Come give us some details of your trip Robin!

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear about Tom's mother. I think you should declare that "11" be your lucky number! I saw the 17 Day Diet on Dr. Phil. I didn't get much information on it but it did sound interesting. I'm sticking with MM. It's been proven that it works for me, so I"m bound and determinded to have it get me where I need to be.

Diane, your walk sounds wonderful. It was in the 50's here today, why in the world didn't I think to go on our trail instead of falling asleep on the sofa!?! Gads!


I have babysitting duty tonight, so I'm off to child proof my house once again.

Here's to a healthy and happy new year to all my MM friends!!!

 

[Wisteria1956]

Pam: I'm so glad you're feeling better! Yippee!

Wow about the Christmas gift. Your husband sounds so thoughtful and wonderfully talented too.

My Dad got a Farmers Almanac for his birthday. He swears by it. Tom got me a 'phases of the moon' bracelet and earrings for my finishing the taxes gift this year. It's silver set with black onyx and mother of pearl. Each disc is the moon in a different phase. One is all black and one is all white. I think the crescent moons are my fav. I've always had a thing for the moon; you can tell your dad.

Tom's Mom went back to her care home today. Actually he's over at the hospital now making the arrangements. Poor guy. We had a chemo teaching appt, a sick dog and his mom in the hospital all on the same day. We're stretched about as far as possible it seems. Very glad to stay home tonight by the fire.

Diane: See if you can get Vinnie to go snowshoeing with you. Sounds like a wonderful activity. I hope you get to try it. You deserve a lot of credit for keeping up with your walking. 2011 will be the year you get your perfect job; I'm sure of it.

I'm still wrestling with how I want to eat. Tom's temporary diet is going to mean cooking sort of two meals for awhile. He needs a lot of bland foods and not much fiber. I'm thinking about going back to Dr. Perricone. I ate that way today and I really did love it when I did it before. I lost more weight. I gained when I got too busy at work to make my own food so being prepared is the real key. I find if I make my own food except for one night out a week I can stay on goal. Otherwise, forget it. And I have to exercise! It's nearly a year since I tore my knee so it's time to step it back up to normal again. I have a lot of goals for this coming week.

Here's to a wonderful 2011 for all of us!

 

[Diane W.]

They put a spotlight on the falls across the street. It looks so pretty now at night. When I first moved here I would say 'Is it raining out?'.

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/..._450750501427_653106427_5963429_1323406_n.jpg

 

[Diane W.]

Happy, Happy New Year!!!

 

[Seabreezes]

Happy New Year My Dear Friends

HUGS TO ALL

 

[Seabreezes]

Yes, Happy New Year. May 2011 bring health, happiness, jobs and the figures we really want!!!

I can't believe the week between Christmas and New Years went to fast. It is now another year!!!

We do go out for New Year's Eve. There is a lovely restaurant just down the street from us called Michel's and we go there. We could walk, but the weather has been a bit drippy so a five minute drive is not bad. We then come back home and watch the fireworks off of Waikiki Beach and all the surrounding areas. Our friends then call a cab to go home.

This was the last year to sell legal fireworks and people really went overboard. It is always and issue here because of the smoke in the air. People with breathing difficulties really have a problem. I love the huge aerial displays and they are fairly long.

Bob is off for his walk to the top of Diamond Head. I will head to the gym shortly. We are meeting other friends who are in town for dinner tonight. That will be chicken and salad bar. Some of the group have a midnight flight out of here.

Last Tuesday we picked up friends who had come in on a cruise ship. He is the Rabbi on the long cruises we go on. He was on for the high holidays on a cruise from Los ANgeles to here and back. He and his wife are just delightful. When they wrote and said they wanted to spend time with us we were delighted, but wondered if we could entertain them for several hours. We have dinner together on the ship or tour around together, but not for many hours. Well, we had one of the most delightful days ever. I don't think we stopped laughing. He has a sense of humor that is wonderful and she is as sweet as they come. We went out to dinner. I was going to cook, but know they have some dietary restrictions and didn't want to do something I shouldn't. All in all a great day. We will see then again on the 17th of January when we all get on the ship together.

I think I am going to do low carb and follow the MM timing of eating. I am not losing weight at all even being careful. My back has been very bad for the last couple of months and the pain will not subside. One of the people with us last night is a nurse. She has zero fat on her body and can eat anything, but doesn't. She also plays tennis for 4 or 5 hours on her days off, bikes or walks for miles. She used to run, but knees won't allow that now. ANyhow, I said that my MM book said it was hard to lose weight when in pain as insulin was being released. She said yes, the system thinks it is under stress and insulin is released all the time. Therefore I think I have to be super diligent to not have any more insulin released than necessary. It is such a fight.

Enough for now - will write more later.

Hugs to ALL

 

[Seabreezes]

Dear Kathy,

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!

Love, Jocelyn

 

[kater]

Happy New Year, my dear friends!

It is Halle's birthday today - she is 9! Her birthday present was a walk in the rain at the beach. We got soaked but we both had a good time. Brad had to work today - he won't get him home until about midnight.....

Diane - I would LOVE to have a waterfall outside my house. I loved the picture. If I could wish myself to your house (I have always wanted a magic carpet), I would love to try snowshoes.

Pam - I am glad that you left that doom and gloom behind you in 2010!

Jocelyn - I am so sorry that your back is giving you a hard time. Are you able to swim?

Lisa - what is wrong with Bonnie? I hope she is feeling better.

Robin - we need to know how you are doing. Your life has been a little too exciting lately. You need to take a break and spend a little time in land of the boring people. I do want to hear about the two rental cars that broke down....

Hugs to all.

 

[gettinhealthy]

Happy New Year (a day late, though). I hope you're new year has started out great!!
Thank you for the birthday wishes everyone!!
I managed to catch a nasty cold on Thursday, so just been babying myself not doing too much and trying to feel better before work tomorrow. I have a hard week coming up (Tues especially) and want to feel almost human LOL.

Diane, the waterfall is so beautiful!! I agree with Kate, I would love to have one at least nearby where I could go and just enjoy listening to it. When we went to visit my sister, we went on hikes in the mountains and there were so many beautiful ones.
Mike and I used to go to a place called Deep Creek, MD which is actually a ski resort town. There is a dinky place about 5 miles out of there called Swallow Falls. There are (if I remember right) 5 waterfalls in this area. There are trails you can walk which take you right down to the falls. Some of them are small enough you can swim in them, but the big one is about 150' high. You can take the trail to the top and actually get into the creek at the top of them and be safe and not go over them. It is such a beautiful place. We haven't been there for quite a few years. I am itching to go back. We stay at a Comfort Inn which is animal friendly (ok, is 3 dogs too many? LOL) and I'd love to take the dogs with us. They would so enjoy it. When we took them to a local waterfall/creek, they had sooo much fun!!

I am going shopping this week for my step 1 yet again. I think I am going to do some juicing with it also. Dr. Oz is pushing (so to speak) a green drink he makes. It has I believe kale, spinich, apple (making an exception on step 1 for that) and some other things that is supposed to help your body regain metabolism and such. I am going to pull the juicer out today and juice some apples I have that are going to be a bit too ripe soon. I will look in the fridge and see what I have to mix with it. I think I have some carrots and maybe lettuce or something. LOL.

Ok, got to go to work for a while. Kept putting my offices off because I wasn't feeling very well. Mike hasn't gotten called out for the last 3 days which was good because he got sick also. I got him Zicam to take and it seemed to help. He just had a little congestion and couldn't talk much.

I know I missed some stuff I wanted to say, so I'll try to get back.
Later everyone!!

 

[Simpleone]

Good day to everyone!

Kathy, welcome back to Step I!! Dr. Oz has always promoted breakfast within an hour of waking also, and I remember that green drink is always his stand by quick breakfast. I read in one of Diane K's recent posts that it gets harder and harder to get back onto the program with each new start... that your body will demand those carbs even more each time. Guess that answers why us 'redoers' have such a hard time getting on and staying on? Good luck!
Jocelyn, you too! I'm so glad that I don't have to live with any kind of pain, I'd probably weigh around 500 pounds if I did. For some reason, be it a headache or sore knee or achy anything, my first thought is always..."I need to eat!" I've always wondered what is wrong with me that causes that!?! I know you all have heard me say this before but I think it's a simple mindset to succeed with this way of eating. Mind over matter, we know what and how to do it, we know that it works, so what holds us back from making this a way of life? My resolution is to make this work for me as a constant, no loss goals, no size target, just to be healthy and eat the way I know I should be...onward to health, just that simple.
I'm not having a hard time, if anything, I'm finding it hard to eat period! Yay? Not too sure if that's a good thing!

Well ladies, let me be the first (and hopefully last!) to post some dreary news way too early in the year. My husband's mother passed away yesterday. She had a gastrointestinal problem that resulted in surgery yesterday morning. She did fine during the surgery but passed during recovery. Last August she kept telling us that she was "ready to go" and we all kept telling her she was fine and would out live us all. Maybe she truly knew her time was coming, while it was a real shocker for us. DH and two of his brothers got a flight out of Chicago at five this morning, so they're already there and have the church memorial planned. The funeral will follow the next morning. I feel horrible about not going, but we had to pay for both of the brothers flights, which kind of knocked me out of the equation. It's fine, it's far more important that they be there. I'm already wondering how or if it will affect DH's plans to keep up working on the home place and our trips down. I hope not, his dream has always been to fix up the place for us so we can retire to a far more simple way of life. It's hard to imagine him changing his mind about that,..almost as hard as it is to imagine going down now without either of his parents waiting for us to arrive.

Okay...shaking all that off.. In the mean time, I'll just keep painting and glazing these tiles!

 

[Diane W.]

Oh Pam - My condolences to your husband, you and his family. It's a horrible thing to lose your mom - no matter what age she is. So very sad. That was great that you were able to help his brothers with the cost of getting there. I hope they never forget it.

I agree that it is a mindset that helps with success in anything. I've kept up my walking habit since April mainly because I've decided it's the least I can do for my overall health. I know a 94 yr. old woman who was a member of the church I worked for. She was so agile. I said to her one day as we were walking across the courtyard (at a clip) and asked her how she managed to stay so fit. She said she always stayed active. Another woman I know from there was my most dedicated volunteer. She walked every day around her block. One way was uphill, but she took her time. When a hospital stay made her quit walking she quickly went downhill. She's still alive, but not as vibrant as the other woman. I've decided to walk at least 30 min. every day that I can. Most days it's over an hour, but I plan on just 30 min. Some days the weather doesn't cooperate, but I don't get upset about it.

As far as my diet goes..... I am thinking of Weight Watchers. But not the new program, I'm going to do the reg. points program. I have a points slider and will figure out the points from it.

My sister has lost 15 lbs. by eating egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast, grilled chicken salad for lunch and (since she doesn't get home until late) a Smart One frozen dinner. But she has decided if she wants anything she will eat it and not worry about it (not every day!). I think once I'm working again a more structure diet will fall into place like it was before.

I hope everyone is enjoying the day!

 

[Wisteria1956]

I got sick same day as Kathy with a really bad cold. The kind that makes you go back to bed as often as possible. Just a bit better today so this will be brief for now, but I loved seeing all of you today.

Pam: I'm so very sorry to hear about your MIL's passing. Your poor husband must be in shock. I agree with Diane - it was a wonderful thing you both did to fly his brothers there and so very important. I hope you do get to keep your dream alive for your 'home away from home'. You will enjoy it so much and be able to share it with future generations.

Jocelyn: Have you ever heard of cold laser therapy? Tom and I met a therapist who has a machine just days after I had also heard from my parent's neighbor that his back was pretty much cured by a chiropractor who used cold laser therapy. My shoulder and Tom's ankle, which had been swollen and injured for nearly a year, were about 85% better after only two treatments. If there is a practioner on the island with a machine you should give it a try. Our gal only charges $35 an hour. She does massage therapy and follows with the cold laser. The chirpractor charged $50 for the treatments to my parent's neighbor.

So sorry, Kathy, that I missed your birthday. I hope you felt somewhat better by then and could celebrate. You could leave the apple out of OZ's green drink. We really like cucumber and celery. They are both very refreshing and energizing.

Kate, Bonnie had the worst diaherria I have ever seen. $400 of tests and the good news is they found nothing wrong with her. She must have eaten something in her few minutes alone in the back yard. She's on medicine and rice and cottage cheese. Very sad about not getting her daily treats, but today she can resume

 

[Diane W.]

Hi everyone!
Nothing new - just wanted to say 'hi'!

 

[kater]

Checking in. My girls are heading off on a road trip today. Long story. They have to drive their step-sisters car to New Mexico and bring their step-mother's car back. Chloe sent me a cute text message yesterday. She said, "I am packing. I have my head lamp and left over Christmas chocolate. Should be good to go." I asked her why a head lamp and she said "you never know when you might need one." I had to agree. Anyway, keep them in your "safe travel" prayers.

I hope it is quiet here because everyone is having such a good new year.

Lisa - thinking of you, Tom and Bonnie.

Pam - I am so sorry about your mother-in-law.

Robin - where are you girl?

Oh, yeah. P.S. I am taking the HCG plunge. I will let you know when I start and how it goes. I am doing it with the blessing of my naturopathic doctor who I trust and respect (she has been my primary care physician for over five years). She is extremely intelligent and wouldn't be endorsing something that wasn't safe. She is prescribing the HCG (the only legal way to get it in the US - otherwise, you have to order from outside the US and have it shipped to you). I will see her once a week for check-ins. Although the diet is very low cal, she promises no hunger and most importantly, no loss of lean muscle.

xoxoxxox to everyone.

 

[Seabreezes]

I finally got on the site. I try late at night, at least by mainland time and I think they are doing maintenance or something.

Not a whole lot new on this end. We have been going out too much. Tomorrow we are having breakfast to celebrate my girl friend's birthday at the Halekulani Hotel. The setting is beautiful, right on the water.


I have not been able to swim, although the weather has been lovely. I got a huge gash on my leg about 4 weeks ago that required doctor visits and antibiotics as a precautionary measure. It still looks awful, but seems to be healing well without extra treatments. But...I was told not to get near the ocean or pool.

Pam, I am so sorry to hear about your MIL. The place you are building is near her I believe. Is there still other family there?

Kate - hope your daughters have a safe trip. That is quite a drive. I like the head lamp idea!!

Lisa, I hope your cold is gone. There seems to be so much stuff going around these days. How is Tom doing?

We are having black bean taco salads tonight. I think that is Bob's favorite so I made up a big batch yesterday. I won't have to cook for a couple of days.

Take care everyone.

Hugs to ALL

 

[gettinhealthy]

Well ladies, let me be the first (and hopefully last!) to post some dreary news way too early in the year. My husband's mother passed away yesterday. She had a gastrointestinal problem that resulted in surgery yesterday morning. She did fine during the surgery but passed during recovery. Last August she kept telling us that she was "ready to go" and we all kept telling her she was fine and would out live us all. Maybe she truly knew her time was coming, while it was a real shocker for us. DH and two of his brothers got a flight out of Chicago at five this morning, so they're already there and have the church memorial planned. The funeral will follow the next morning. I feel horrible about not going, but we had to pay for both of the brothers flights, which kind of knocked me out of the equation. It's fine, it's far more important that they be there. I'm already wondering how or if it will affect DH's plans to keep up working on the home place and our trips down. I hope not, his dream has always been to fix up the place for us so we can retire to a far more simple way of life. It's hard to imagine him changing his mind about that,..almost as hard as it is to imagine going down now without either of his parents waiting for us to arrive.

Pam, I am so sorry to hear about your MIL. I will keep you all in my prayers. I remember when I had Tris (C-section) and I was in the recovery room, there was a lady beside me who passed due to not coming out of the anestesia. It is so sad. I wish I were there to help you through this.
I hope you guys decide to continue with the house. A simple way of life I feel is the best kind of life.
Is there other family down there? Just kind of wondering.
I am also sending hugs your way

 

[gettinhealthy]

I agree that it is a mindset that helps with success in anything. I've kept up my walking habit since April mainly because I've decided it's the least I can do for my overall health. I know a 94 yr. old woman who was a member of the church I worked for. She was so agile. I said to her one day as we were walking across the courtyard (at a clip) and asked her how she managed to stay so fit. She said she always stayed active. Another woman I know from there was my most dedicated volunteer. She walked every day around her block. One way was uphill, but she took her time. When a hospital stay made her quit walking she quickly went downhill. She's still alive, but not as vibrant as the other woman. I've decided to walk at least 30 min. every day that I can. Most days it's over an hour, but I plan on just 30 min. Some days the weather doesn't cooperate, but I don't get upset about it.

As far as my diet goes..... I am thinking of Weight Watchers. But not the new program, I'm going to do the reg. points program. I have a points slider and will figure out the points from it.

My sister has lost 15 lbs. by eating egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast, grilled chicken salad for lunch and (since she doesn't get home until late) a Smart One frozen dinner. But she has decided if she wants anything she will eat it and not worry about it (not every day!). I think once I'm working again a more structure diet will fall into place like it was before.

I hope everyone is enjoying the day!

Diane, I also have to agree with the mindset. It plays such a huge part of anything. I also think visualization could be a big help with this. Just close our eyes and imagine our healthy bodies. If it's thinner, all the better LOL.
I know I need to exercise more. I haven't walked the dogs since Bailey had her pups almost 9 weeks ago. Really my bad

That is really good news about your sister!! I agree that structure in your day helps too. That is something I have somewhat, but my lunch times vary from day to day. Some days it can be as early as 11 and other days may not be until almost 2. I really need to work on that.

 

[gettinhealthy]

I got sick same day as Kathy with a really bad cold. The kind that makes you go back to bed as often as possible. Just a bit better today so this will be brief for now, but I loved seeing all of you today.

Lisa, I hope you're feeling better. I am slowly getting there. Tons of dayquil/nyquil. I even took Thursday and Friday off work. I don't do that very often, but like you said, bed felt too good.


So sorry, Kathy, that I missed your birthday. I hope you felt somewhat better by then and could celebrate. You could leave the apple out of OZ's green drink. We really like cucumber and celery. They are both very refreshing and energizing.

Don't worry about the missed birthday LOL. It honestly is like another day for me. I have decided to have UNbirthdays. I am now only 40 instead of 44!! I really like that idea!
I actually didn't get sick until New Years Day. I had been feeling run down since the week before Christmas, along with sneezing. When I sneeze, I know without a doubt I'm going to get sick. I managed to keep it away until the 1st. Then it hit like a ton of bricks. I did work Mon, Tue and Wed, so thinking when I crashed Wed evening, it was my body telling me to just lay down. Tris helped me with my 3 houses of Tues so that was great. Instead of working 8-9 hours, it only took about 4.
She ended up quitting her job when her dad got sick. Her boss told her to take off until after Christmas, but when Tris was in Pittsburgh those 2 weeks, her boss kept calling every hour with all kinds of questions. There is another girl who works there, and Tris finally got fed up and told her boss to ask the other girl (who was supposed to know what was going on with the clients) and quit answering her phone. When Tris got back, she just told her boss thanks for the time off, but she wasn't coming back. She wants to spend time with her dad. So she is going to help me with work, and I'll give her 1/2 the money.


Kate, Bonnie had the worst diaherria I have ever seen. $400 of tests and the good news is they found nothing wrong with her. She must have eaten something in her few minutes alone in the back yard. She's on medicine and rice and cottage cheese. Very sad about not getting her daily treats, but today she can resume

I hope Bonnie is feeling better. If her diarehea isn't better, boil her some chicken and brown rice and give her small amounts during the day. This will help calm her stomach. May take a few days to kick in.
You can also give her some 100% pumpkin. The kind you buy for pumpkin pie (Libby's) with no spices in it. Give her a tablespoon at each meal. Don't over do it though. If she gets too much, she will get the runs. But in small amounts, it clears it up.

 

[gettinhealthy]

Checking in. My girls are heading off on a road trip today. Long story. They have to drive their step-sisters car to New Mexico and bring their step-mother's car back. Chloe sent me a cute text message yesterday. She said, "I am packing. I have my head lamp and left over Christmas chocolate. Should be good to go." I asked her why a head lamp and she said "you never know when you might need one." I had to agree. Anyway, keep them in your "safe travel" prayers.

I hope the girls got back ok, Kate. Still sending a prayer for safe travels just in case they haven't.
She is right, you never know when you may need a light. Better safe than sorry

Oh, yeah. P.S. I am taking the HCG plunge. I will let you know when I start and how it goes. I am doing it with the blessing of my naturopathic doctor who I trust and respect (she has been my primary care physician for over five years). She is extremely intelligent and wouldn't be endorsing something that wasn't safe. She is prescribing the HCG (the only legal way to get it in the US - otherwise, you have to order from outside the US and have it shipped to you). I will see her once a week for check-ins. Although the diet is very low cal, she promises no hunger and most importantly, no loss of lean muscle.

Anxious to hear how the HCG goes. Sounds very interesting too!! Good luck!!!!
[/QUOTE]