Confessions of an Overweight Weight Watcher

www.healthdigeZt.com

I confess I am over my Weight Watcher goal weight. That’s not good because I am a Lifetime member, which means I need to be within 2 pounds of my goal weight at all times. If I’m not, then I have to pay to belong until my weight gets back within the target range.  Let me just say this right now: IT IS EASIER TO LOSE WEIGHT THAN TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS. 

I lost almost 50 pounds about five years ago, and have had a few ups and downs, but this is the first time in those five years where I’m not so comfortable with the “up.” I was at my doctor’s last week for the annual checkup, and we had a little talk about it. My doctor considers me an “A” student as far as health care and maintenance is concerned. He said he wishes he had more patients like me. When we had the little weight talk, he sort of shrugged it off. “Don’t worry about it. You’re doing everything right.” 

Sure, that’s easy for him to say. I’m not doing something right or I wouldn’t be over my goal weight. Let’s take a moment here while I flog myself. To make me feel better, he gave me the proverbial “note from the doctor” to take to my Weight Watcher leader to adjust my goal weight upward. Whew! I thought I was going to have to pay this month.

Here’s the thing: We all know what we need to do, but why don’t we? I ask myself this question all the time. Apparently I’m not alone. Information gathered in the Boomer Babes survey indicates only 24% of respondents were in the standardized BMI range for their height. Forty-one percent would fall into the overweight BMI category, with 29% percent landing in the obese category. Less than 1% of survey participants were underweight, and 5% left the answer blank or put in some humorous comment like “too much” instead of a number. 

We all have reasons (or should I say excuses?). For many of us, we spend so much time taking care of others; we neglect to take care of ourselves. For others, it’s medical issues. Thyroid disease can create havoc with our weight loss efforts. Medications can cause weight increase as well. Over the years, as more prescriptions are written for anti-depressants, I see the effect of that on the weight of people who use them. Some of us resign ourselves to simply saying, “I can’t do it.” Others keep trying, often one step forward, and one step back. Whatever the reason, we all have the best of intentions. 

I loved the Boomer Babes interview I did with a woman I’ll call Vera. She’s lived a very interesting life. She is married and they have raised five kids, three birth children, and two adopted. In the meantime, she was going to school, kept her household going, completed a Masters in Economics, built a career, and is now contemplating going on for her Ph.D. When things started to slow down in her life, she realized how much she neglected her own self and well-being and took some action. She began to work out and do strength training and ultimately lost 35 pounds. I think it’s safe to say her self-esteem went way up as her body re-shaped into her new self. Good for her. If only we were all so motivated!

I saw this post on Facebook last week titled 15 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight from a group called www.healthdigeZt.com. I thought I might find a clue as to why I can’t even lose these five pounds. Here are my thoughts on the 15 Reasons:

1. You over eat healthy food: I like to think that most of the food I eat is healthy, so if I overeat, it probably is overeating on healthy food. 
2. Skipping breakfast: Are you kidding? I would never skip breakfast! I want to start eating as soon as I open my eyes. My breakfast is usually is a cinnamon twist with my buddies at the local coffee shop. Maybe that’s wrong, but it’s a lifestyle choice. 
3.  Don’t practice portion control: Yes, I do. I have all the Weight Watcher tools and gizmos to measure portion. If I didn’t practice portion control, I would need to lose 50 pounds, not 5. 
4. Eat while standing up. Well, sometimes I do. I also read standing up, and sometimes watch TV standing up. To me, that means I’m being more active because I’m not sitting. 
5. Skimp on sleep. Oh, please, give me a break! I’m a menopausal woman who keeps the bedroom temperature down around 60 degrees with the ceiling fan on. I’m not skimping on sleep; I’m just having continuously interrupted sleep from hot flashes. My doctor has taken my sleep “crack”, Ambien, away from me. Did you know that when you turn 65, you are no longer allowed to take Ambien. It’s an insurance thing. They think we’re so unstable we might fall down if we take it.
6. Overindulge on diet foods. I remember when Snack Well cookies first came out. My daughter called me up and said, “Great news, Mom! They just came out with a fat free cookie. We can eat all we want.” So we did. I know better now. In fact, I now know there are so many additives that make diet foods “diet,” that I think we should all just eat real food and less of it.
7.  Forget to eat your veggies. Not me! I love my veggies.
8. You only do cardio. Well, yes, that may be true. However when I get to Planet Fitness the hum of the treadmill lures me straight to it. I put on my music and start running, and I’m in my own little world. I try to do strength training, but have two ruptured biceps and no upper body strength. It’s embarrassing to not be able to do more than a few reps on a strength machine.
9. Exercise on an empty stomach. I do try to eat something (usually the aforementioned cinnamon twist) before I run on aforementioned treadmill. I once ran a 5K race after eating a steak, and it wasn’t pretty. It just proves that carbs should be eaten before a work out, proteins after.
10. You leave out entire food groups. I don’t. It is my opinion that any diet that excludes any food group is not providing balanced nutrition.
11. You don’t sleep enough. Reference #5. I am a menopausal woman.
12. Always dine out. Yes, I do. Eating out is a hobby for my husband and me. You can still make smart choices at restaurants. Just watch portions and steer clear of the bread and alcohol.
13. Wear clothes that are too big. I remember how I felt as my weight was going up, and the first time I had to move from the petites section to the women’s section and large became extra-large. I also remember as my weight was coming down, and the first time I got back into a pair of pants that had a zipper and waist band vs elastic. Wearing good fitting clothes helps keep me on track. If the waistband feels tight, I know I need to be careful.
14. You’re addicted to condiments and toppings. Really? Do you know anyone that became obese by eating too many condiments? However, I really must restrain myself from the toppings table at Simply Yogurt. I can see how that could get you into trouble.
15. You eat without thinking. No, I don’t. I’m always thinking about food. From first thing in the morning until last thing at night. If I am eating, if I am not eating, I’m still thinking about food. I am highly conscious of food at all times.

So, I feel like according to these 15 reasons, I should be svelte, but I’m not.  I know I will never again be the 100 pound bride my husband married. So just like everyone else, I keep trying. One step back, maybe next week another step forward. Giving up is quitting, and I never want it said I was a quitter.

If you know someone who may enjoy this article, please forward to them. They and you are welcome to join the conversation at wisewomenofage.blogspot.com . You can also enter your email address above and you will receive an email each time I post a new topic on this blog.

 Through compassion, you will find that all human beings are just like you. - Dalai Lama

Start Me Up! A Senior's Map to the Technology Fast Lane

My first introduction to computer technology as we know it was around 1987 when the company I worked for installed word processing. As the only clerical person on staff, it was up to me to figure it out. There was no “online” because we weren’t. It was only for creating and storing documents. My scrooge-like boss was skeptical of it all, but when he realized how easy it was for me to edit, print, store, and then retrieve documents, he resigned himself to being OK with the technology.

Flash forward a few years to a new company, and we’re creating a networked database to enhance our record keeping and documents. As one of three staffers designated to get this up and running, I participated in classes to learn data entry. My first class of data entry was daunting. It took me close to 20 minutes to enter my first detailed data file. However, within two weeks, I could enter one complete data file approximately every 12 second.  I guess I’m a quick learner.

Flash forward again, and here we are in 2015. PowerPoint, spreadsheets, Facebooking, emailing, texting, Skype, and blogging; I consider myself proficient, but it was baby steps of accumulated knowledge. I have friends who are dazzled by my computer prowess, but it’s all a learning process. Employment forced me into computer skills, but social networking is a whole other ballgame.

E-mail became particularly important when both of my daughters lived in other states, one in the Midwest, one on the west coast. It was a necessary source for inexpensive communication. Remember, those were the days when we paid dearly for long distance calls. In a blog article I browsed at Age In Place Pros titled 50 Percent of Seniors Are Online and Why You Should Care it is reported from a Pew Research Internet Project that 82% of seniors use the internet on a daily basis, and that 48% of seniors use email every day. The report claims that email is the bedrock of online communications for seniors, with 86% of internet users ages 65 and older using email. 

Facebook came next. I skipped right over MySpace, glad that I didn’t waste my time there. My kids quickly abandoned their MySpace accounts when Facebook swept onto the scene. I got on the Facebook bandwagon because it was an easy way to not only keep in touch with my cousins in California, but to creep on what my kids and grandchildren were doing. All was going well until I chastised my granddaughter on her wall for use of inappropriate language, at which time she slammed the door shut on our Facebook friendship. The good news is she still talks to me in person.

A University of Arizona study finds seniors who use Facebook showed a 25% improvement in mental “updating” skills – essentially improving their memory, and that seniors who surf the internet can reduce depression by 20%. I taught my husband how to use the computer with a book titled Your Never Too Old to learn the Computer, and a series of screen shots with circles and arrows. 

I do have a Twitter account, but have never used it. Perhaps I will soon. I set up an Instagram account, but my oldest daughter promptly criticized me for it. She said I’m too old for an Instagram account. Funny, it didn’t ask my age when I set up the account. I pointed out that Oprah and Madonna both had Instagram accounts and she immediately countered that I am not Oprah or Madonna. I feel like I should insert a frowny-face emoticon here. 

Then there was the cellphone. Seventy percent of seniors own cellphones. I owned the traditional “senior citizen” flip phone for years, coercing my husband to carry one too in case of emergency. With the cellphone in hand, it made it easier to annoy my children and grandchildren by calling them too much. I then switched to texting when I realized that no one would answer the phone when I called, but they would promptly respond to a text sent seconds later. Too busy to talk to mom, but always have time to text. I feel like I should insert a frowny-face emoticon here too. I’ve now accepted texting as part of my daily communication, but found that using the old style flip phone was less than convenient for texting.  Next step up for me was the smart phone. 

I asked for a smart phone two years ago for Christmas, and received a Kitchenaid mixer instead. I asked for a smart phone the next year for Christmas and got a Ninja blender instead. Not that I don’t appreciate either of those gifts (because I wanted both of them), but I was hot on the trail of a smart phone. Thanks to a convenient family-plan offer from one of the major providers, in a phone-upgrading coup, my son got a new iPhone, my husband got a phone with a pop-out QWERTY keyboard to make texting easier,  and I got a mid-range Android-powered smartphone. By the way, my husband claims he hates his new phone, and swears his old flip phone was easier to use. “It’s a learning curve,” I keep telling him. When his contract expires in two years, I’m getting him a Jitterbug from AARP. 

I love my phone. I’m a Weight Watcher, so I can track my food Points with it, scan food barcodes to automatically calculate, my app enables me to track fluid intake, Map My Run tracks my outings and time on the treadmill, and the Waze app lets me know where the State Police are lurking when I’m traveling. It also keeps my calendar, my contacts, and allows me to voice record my to-do list so I don’t forget anything when running errands. Did I say I love my phone?

Kindle, Kindle Fire, Nook? Many of my friends own these gadgets. According to the Pew study, 11% of seniors own e-readers, and 8% own tablets. My sister loves her Kindle and this Christmas Santa brought her a Kindle Fire. I don’t see an e-reader in my future. I’m a bibliophile by nature, and prefer my reading to come on paper with a nice binding. The smell and feel of a book, the weight in my hand is all part of the joy of reading.

In the Boomer Babes Lifestyle survey, only one of the respondents out of 140 reported not using the internet. Apparently someone in her family “hooked her up” to answer the survey. So it does my heart good to know you wise women are keeping up with keeping up. 

For me, I’m glad to be connected. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be friends with many of you, and you wouldn’t be able to read this. In the meantime, if you want to call me, I will answer the phone. Drop me an email and I’ll get back to you. If you want to text me, I will text back. Want to friend me on Facebook? I’ll friend you back. Want to comment on this blog? I’ll respond. I’ll communicate in just about any format. Just don’t try to Tweet me. Remember, I’ve got the account, but don’t use it. Oh, and I’m not Oprah, so I’m not using my Instagram account either. 

If you know someone who may enjoy this article, please forward to them. They and you are welcome to join the conversation at wisewomenofage.blogspot.com . You can also enter your email address above and you will receive an email each time I post a new topic on this blog.

 Through compassion, you will find that all human beings are just like you. - Dalai Lama

http://ageinplacepros.com/pro-blog/50-percent-of-seniors-are-online-and-why-you-should-

http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/06/06/main-report-15/

www.aarp.org

http://www.greatcall.com/products/jitterbug

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.northpark.drinkwater

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weightwatchers.mobile&hl=en

www.mapmyrun.com

https://www.waze.com/download

Dogs and Cats and More, Oh My!

Santa brought Hazel a new raincoat for Christmas!

I met Hazel through a mutual friend. I agreed to help by dropping this dog at the local Humane Society on a Saturday morning. For Hazel, it was a return trip to the shelter. A mix between cocker spaniel with big, soulful eyes and long eyelashes and a sheltie with a long, silky coat, her crime of rejection was not doing well with small children. Hazel was quaking in fear when we arrived at the building. Just like Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, there was no room in the inn for her. The Humane Society was full and they couldn’t accept her there until the following Tuesday. I agreed to take her temporarily until there was an opening; and the rest is history. She fit seamlessly into our household. There is no way we could return her to shelter life.

It’s not surprising that in the Boomer Babes survey that 54% of respondents reported pet ownership. There seems to be an inborn need in us to care for something and a pet can easily fill the bill.

Dogs make up 53% of pet ownership in our survey. Compared to the rest of the world, dog ownership is highest in the United States. History abounds with dog relationships. There are lots of books and stories covering the topic of the loyalty of dogs. Recently there was a viral photo of a dog lying beside his fallen soldier’s casket; and of course there is the famous Grayfriars Bobby, who returned to the same railroad station platform day after day to wait the return of his master. They reflect the patterns of our lives and are intuitive about our feelings. They seem to sense our needs, sometimes before we even realize for ourselves what they are. They are quiet when we’re tired or sick. They exhibit boundless joy when we’re happy or excited.

In my own neighborhood I see a core group of neighbors who would be lost without their dogs. Their best friends give them reason to get up in the morning because there is something/someone for which to care. Their dogs keep them active as well. In my Weight Watchers group we say that if your dog’s overweight, chances are you are too. My own husband admits that if it weren’t for dog walking, he would not simply “go for a walk.”

While outing our dogs, we develop social interaction. They are sure to be conversation starters. Total strangers that would pass you by if you were walking alone will stop and engage someone who is walking a dog. Single men and women find them to be good “wing men” because of the enduring need by others to greet a dog.

When I interviewed Nola, her response to “what she wanted for Christmas” was simply to be with her little dog. She says it’s the center of her life.

Cats make up 37% of pets owned by those who answered the survey. Their aloofness sometimes comes across as arrogant and independent, but they still depend on us to care for them. They reward us with a playful spirit. Their antics can entertain for hours. Your hands sliding along their bodies are a sensual expression of your love for them.  

As I interviewed Wendy, her two house cats roamed under the table, swishing and swiping our legs. Cats are a great choice for her family. Wendy and her husband travel frequently for short periods, and the independent spirit and easy care nature of cats makes it simple to leave them. They love their cats enough to keep another one in their family owned business location. A chubby little male named Dave patrols the rambling building, and is a greeter for those coming into the store.

Diana recently moved from her own duplex to a high-rise senior building. One of her greatest joys before she moved was feeding the local stray cats. Now in her high-up residence, she misses that opportunity.

Tina and her husband have never had children, but are parents to a little dog, Zorro. However, Zorro’s not an only “child” in their marriage. Tina’s husband has a soft spot for stray cats and they serve as adoptive parents by bringing them into their home.

Five percent of our survey respondents had the best of both worlds, owning at least one dog and one cat. Birds and horses each took about 3% of “other” pets. Reptiles ownership was 1%. A few survey participants were lucky enough to have the farm life with multiples of horses, dogs, cats, etc.

Whatever the pet you own, the benefits are many. Our pets are our companions, confidants, comfort, motivation, and inspiration. For us who are empty nesters, they are surrogate children, giving us purpose. For those singles among us, they can be our family. Studies show that stroking your pet reduces your blood pressure (and your pet’s too.). Another study specifically indicates that survival rates following a heart attack are significantly higher for pet owners. 

Want to start a conversation? Tell a story about your pet and all listeners around you with pets will chime in too. Do you have a pet story to share? How did you and your pet meet? Do you have an unusual pet? You can share your pet stories and pictures with us here on this blog in the comment section below.

If you know someone who may benefit from this article, please forward to them. They and you are welcome to join the conversation at wisewomenofage.blogspot.com . You can also enter your email address above and you will receive an email each time a new topic is posted on this blog. 

 Through compassion, you will find that all human beings are just like you. - Dalai Lama