Hoping to do it this time
 

Hello everyone,
New to Fit Day, but hoping to get some great advice. I am 54 years old and weigh 192.5 lbs. (5'5") I have a lung disease and have had three total hip replacements on one hip. Because of the lung disease, approximately 3 years ago, I was put on a high dose of Prednisone, which caused me to balloon to 243 lbs. The steriod made me so sick, so I opted to discontinue it and eventually was able to get to the weight that I am today. I still have breathing problems, and because of so many surgeries on the one hip, I now have to walk with a cane sometimes (especially long distances). My biggest problem is that I cannot quite master the cravings. I eat fairly well, I mean fruits, vegetables and all, but I have cravings for sweet stuff. I wish that I could do the exercises that I use to (back in the day), but my hip just will not permit me to do those. My husband and I have begun to walk at the gym and I use my cane, but again, my hip becomes painful pretty quickly. I cannot afford a personal trainer or physical therapy because I am now on a fixed income because of my ailments, so I would appreciate any advice.

are you able to ride the sit-down stationary bikes? I would think that perhaps that would be an easier exercise to do. My mom is 62 and it's her favorite machine at the gym :)

Good luck to you and I wish you much success!

Hi there,
Congrats of the great weight loss so far!
Some ideas I have for when I am craving sweets:

Grapes or another fruit with cool whip on top
Quaker mini rice cakes - the carmel ones taste sweet and good
Apple slices with carmel dip, in small amounts of course
1 container of Snack Pack pudding
100 calorie packs - cookies, etc.

Hope this helps! I would love to hear any other ideas.

Best of luck on your journey!

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will try the bicycle. I bet that would be easier for me. And thanks for the craving sweets ideas.

hello,

What about swimming? It is easy on the joints and great all over exercise. Great suggestions Destiny regarding small 100 cal sweet treats. My usually sugar addicted self has found fruit to be key! healthy, satisfying and low calories. Another trick (you have most likely heard a million times) Just don't keep that stuff in your pantry and house. If you can see it, You will eat it.
Good luck to all of us! We can do it!

Hi, your heading caught my eye. I'm hoping to do it this time too. I'm sort of close to you in age and weight (55 years, 200 lbs). I'm starting a weight loss program next week called Transitions. It's a 12 week program and I'm really hoping that I can stick with it. I'd like to be able to walk up and down the stairs without getting too winded! Wish me luck. I have moderate knee pain and I have found that a recumbent (sp?) bike works very well for me. Best of luck to you.

Sweets
 

Hello,
Typically your body craves things when it is not properly nourished. Perhaps your diet is lacking something. Are you eating from all of the food groups. There are many things that you can eat that are both naturally sweet and healthy. I hope this helps!:p

For the knee pain, try taking a supplement of Vitamin D. It is fairly inexpensive and take a couple of days and really seams to help me (in the same age bracket - 53 - and I am back here again as I know FitDay works. Just keeping track of what you eat and seriously looking at the food breakdown is very helpful and sometimes very surprising. I was out with my Mom the other day and we stopped for lunch at a national donut shop (where she wanted to go) Ordered their soup special got home and looked up the nutritional value and was surprised to learn they had it down as 500 calories. Yes sometimes we do screw up but you can bet I won't make that mistake again:)
By the way - for my suggestion google Mayo Clinic. That was my source regarding the Vitamin D.

I have read that magnesium is also very good for pain, and we are often deficient in it, and it works with both vit D and calcium, you must have all three in order to have good bones and teeth!

I am needing to lose around 30, although I have already lost 5 pounds this year, maybe more. I have been doing really well, maybe too well....averaging 1100 calories a day, and it should be at least 1200.

My hardest challenge is to keep the the ratio of carbs, proteins and fats correct.

What has helped me this time, is I have really made an effort to stay away from processed foods, eating mainly fruits, veggies, whole grain cereal and breads. Dairy products - low or no fat versions. I do keep a small supply of diabetic candy in the house for those times when I MUST have a sweet treat. If you stay away from chocolate the fat content is minimal. What has been interesting is I was a sugar addict and drank a lot of coke, no diet coke either! I haven`t had one since Dec 31. I wonder if cutting refined sugar out of your diet gets rid of the sugar cravings, because I have really not had much trouble with sugar cravings at all...which has surprised me!

Have you cut out your refined sugars?

Hi, Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try.

I have noticed the same thing. I have a serious coffee habit, and I've been drinking it black, eating whole grain bread, and fruit and I've noticed the same thing. The only time I seem to have a problem is the stereotypical week or so of PMS. I've been saying, I'm really surprised how easy the food part of this is going for me so far. I can definitely tell I'm not getting the crashes I used to a month ago. I'm also cooking all my own foods that I'm not eating raw instead of relying on all the processed diet crap, and I just feel healthier. Its making is really easy to stick to this change. Now, if only I could wean the boyfriend off of Mt. Dew....