How do women over 60 get in shape?

[Shelley]

Hi all!  I am starting this thread to help all the ladies from our old forum get started up again over here in the new place.  Hope you all find this thread.  Getting in shape after 60 has its own challenges especially when you have lost muscle, have slowed metabolism and hormone changes.  How are you getting and staying fit?  What s working for you?  

[Carol]

I've found you, Shelly.  Thanks for starting a new discussion for us.  How do we make it a group, or can't we?

[Shelley]

Yea!  Glad you found it!  As far as I can tell, we cannot do that on this location. But we can have a group in the Group section.  Which might be a good thing to do.  But I see the value of the functionality over in this section and it will be much easier for new people to find us too. It is almost impossible to find a group in the group section because there is no search function and there are thousands of them to look through.  Some of the fun stuff over here is you can use emoticons and your message auto saves so you don't lose it.  You can attach photos and more.  So we might want to try it out and see if it can be a good fit.  Allison says that they are trying to fix it so we can add a new discussion topic but that isn't up yet.  Perhaps when that gets up, it will suffice.

[Willie]

Last January I reached a turning point.  I had gotten to 278 lbs., have two bad knees and an aortic heart valve with stenosis (eventually will need replacement).  After two cardiac catherizations I wound up with a bad case of gout in my right foot and knee.  I told my husband that I needed to change and could not eat the foods he loves anymore.  We came to an agreement whereby he has a freezer filled with his favorite home-cooked meals and I eat what works for me.  I signed up for MyFitnessPal and have now a fitbit force which is synced with Pal.  To date I have lost 70 lbs. and intend to continue until I am at a healthy weight.  The feedback I get from Pal and my force are invaluable to my success.  I could barely walk last year and am now doing a mile a day on my treadmill.  Just take the first step and never look back.  Written by Kathy, Willie's wife.  

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Sunshineband]

Hi, Shelley! I live in MN and I have found that going to the club first thing in the morning to get my workout in works best for me. I spend 35 minutes on the elliptical bike and then I walk 2 miles on the treadmill. I have met wonderful people my age there and they keep me motivated. I have not been there for several days because I pinched my sciatic nerve shoveling snow. I am getting better and I am going back tomorrow to start slowly back to my full routine. Thanks for starting this discussion.

[kflannery]

thanks for getting us started and moved....I got the message about 9 months ago when i hit 249 pounds and my physician suggested gastric bypass...i looked into it and decided that it wasn't for me and began a new lifestyle of eating and exercise.  You should know that i am basically a lazy person who would rather drive to the store than walk across the street.  It has taken a lot of commitment on my part, but I have lost 75 pounds and just ran my fist 7K race on thanksgiving morning with my extremely fit son....so it can be done..it isn't easy but relearning how and what to eat and how much is the key and really wanting to do this....I now without a problem log 6 miles a day and am actually enjoying it....I log my food on MFP which helps a lot and keeps me honest..I have friends on here much younger who push me in getting my steps in because I don't like to come in second in anything LOL...I am thinking of joining a gym in the new year...  I will be 65 in January and newly retired so need to fill up some of my time....

[Chamois]

Found you all. Whew I was worried we would all get lost. Did better on my steps last days except for today. In meetings the entire day. 

[Chamois]

I found the emoticons...great..

Spoiler

[Colinm39]

@Shelley 

It is not only the women but the men..We are all looking and finding quality of life and this Fitbit has made us realise how tardy we have become as we age.

[Carol]

I see we are meeting more people here.  Good to have some new people joing our discussions.   I had another good day today because I got to go to the gym.  I missed it Monday because of the ice on the roads.  It seems as if I only get an average of 3-4 good days and the others I mostly sit.

We've got to get our other friends to find us here, Shelly.   The more that are with us, the more motivation we get from each other. 

One thing that made me chuckle is that we are listed as jogger.  If there is one thing I'm not, it's a jogger.  My knees would never take it.

[Colinm39]

Jogger is based on the amount of time we are active.

I'm finding the new system excellent because I can respond immediately from my phone and know it is linked in a thread.

[Chamois]

great work Carol. It all adds up. I just need to remember to move. hope the others find us. Shelly thanks for pulling this together. put up christmas lights... looks good. At least it keeps me from the pull of the couch. hi there collin.

[Shelley]

So glad to see everyone here and keeping fingers crossed that others from the old forum find us too.  Good to hear from new people too.  Such inspiring stories of committment and success.  I need those!  They help me to start believing it is possible to lose that much weight; to be able to say "If she can do it, so can I."  

[Colinm39]

Thanks Shelley and Carol

What Group are you referring to ?.

I'm finding this format excellent because I can respond with messages that are linked from  my Sony Android phone. No wondering where the earlier posts are like the non searchable posts in the Groups.

[sterhill]

oooh - we have html!  

Do ya'll know about Silver Sneakers? It is a free program included with many of the over 65 insurance (under medicare) programs and it is wonderful. You get FREE admittance to many gyms in your area, if you are not too rural. If you find a gym that does not participate, ask them to. We seniors go in during the day when the gyms are not so crowded, so it is a win-win for everyone. http://www.silversneakers.com/

I've learned with fitbit that I need more than that famous 500 calorie a day deficit but now that I know that I can work with it. Down 10 pounds, slow but sure.

Ohh we have images too?

[Sunshineband]

My insurance calls it Silver and Fit and it is so wonderful to be able to take advantage of this. I am down 14 pounds and I could not be happier.

[Carol]

Colin, our old group was for women over 60.  You'd think we would be the slow ones, but there were some in our group that walked 14,000 or more steps in a day.

Sterhill, Silver Sneakers is a great program.  I use it at a community center that has an exercise room with lots of weight machines as well as treadmills, elipticals and recumbent bikes.  I ride the bike because of my bad knees, but there are tvs and if I get wrapped up in a good show, I can get quite a few steps in.  I know the steps on the bike aren't as good as walking , but it's all relavent and I know what I can do.  The Silver Sneakers pays for the membership, but it costs me about $3 a day to drive to the gym because it's over 10 miles one way, so I guess it evens its self out.

Love your pretty poinsettia.

[SusanC]

HOORAY! Found us! I've been searching under Groups instead of Discussions...whew!  Good to be back and thanks for setting this up for us, Shelley!

[Shelley]

Love the tip about Silver Sneakers!  Good to know.

Colin, we had a "group" over in the old forum called "Women over 60."  The thing is it wasn't on the group section it was under the topic of "Big Losers."  So from a technology point, it was under a topic in the forum rather than in the Group section.  There were actually a lot of "groups" under that topic.  There were challenges going, and people with similar issues like being pre-diabetic or trying to do Weight Watchers.  I guess it was easier to make a group there than the actual group site which was a little overwhelming with 10,000 groups and no way to search it.   So we were worried about losing our "group" and each other when we saw that it was going to "read only."  We didn't know what to expect.  I actually set up a group on the group section  and named it "Women Over 60" and was going to get everyone over there and Allison encouraged us to try it over here first.  I started this topic to help get everyone transitioned over here.  The topic of Women Over 60 was started over a year ago by someone who isn't even around our group anymore.  I don't know why she made it about women and not men too.  I just know that it has been a place of encouragement, inspiration, laughs and friendship for me with some wonderful women and I didn't want to lose our community.  But I agree with you that fitness is important to both of us genders and we all can use support!  Guess we will see where things go over here in this new community!  I think things are organic and move and shift and organize around needs.  If people need a "women only" or "men only" group it is will happen and there is nothing wrong with filling that need.  If people need and want an open group of men and women, it will happen too.  That is the cool thing about these on-line communities!  Thanks for asking your question, Colin!  Let's all keep moving and getting our steps!

[Shelley]

Susan, so glad to see you over here! Glad you made it!