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Picture taken by my friend Cyndi Leos....thank you Cyndi.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Confessions of a 65 Year Old Woman...

I know I have not been consistent with my writing on my blog...and not with my weight loss either.  As some of you may remember I had a work out plan to lose twenty pounds by my 65th birthday.  I turned 65 on June 8th and did not lose hardly any weight.  Well, I did lose a few pounds, but with all the company we had, I gained it back.

One would think all the moving and packing I did in prep for the laminate floors would have carved some weight off me....but no....nothing.

Now that I am 65 my Medicare Advantage plan, Humana Gold Plus kicks in.  It will pay for my Curves membership.  Even when I paid from my own pocket I did not have much success with Curves, but I am going to try it again.  I have some girlfriends who are doing it, so maybe they will help me stay focused and committed...  I just HATE gyms as I have written many times...

I have promised myself not to get down on myself and just re-group.  At our family BBQ, I invited my husband's ex wife because she was staying with the kids here in town planning on attending our grand son's graduation.  I decided long ago to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem in keeping my husband's large, extended family together, so I made nice with his ex's.

She and I sat and talked for a long while about the Caveman Diet... has anyone ever heard of it?  She lost 30 pounds (her goal) over four months and then lost 12 more over two more months!  That is incredible!  If I could just lose twenty pounds I would feel so powerful and motivated I could keep going!  She said it is quite a commitment and not an easy diet to follow, but it sure works.  She did not do any exercising either.  She also hates gyms.  She told me if I exercised I would probably lose a lot more weight.

We went to see What to Expect When You Are Expecting yesterday.  It was cute.  My husband loves comedies.  I have to admit I got teary eyed in a few scenes because anything about people giving birth or little babies makes me cry.  I was a blithering mess when I took my two young daughters to see the original Parenthood with Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen after my divorced.  I was crying so hard after the movie, I could not drive.  I sat with them on a grassy knoll outside the theatre and sobbed loudly.  My poor pre-teen daughters kept gently asking if I wouldn't be more comfortable crying in the car....

My youngest daughter, now a Mother herself,  called me the other day and told me she watched it on TV and had to call me as she remembered that day so vividly....

Normally I would be beating myself up for not reaching my goals....but I am so proud of how much I have accomplished around the house in my de-cluttering and re-decorating as well as creating more of a social life, making friends and being more socially active, I feel confident I will meet my goals eventually because I really want it.

I am learning in my older age (approaching heaps of wisdom...I hope) how important it is to be gentle with ourselves and with others.  As a wise person once said, "Don't sweat the small stuff, for it is ALL SMALL STUFF." It will all unfold as it is suppose to unfold...If I am so locked in and focused, I will miss all the blessings and laughter along the way...

7 comments:

DJan said...

There's another saying about there being a time for everything, and just because you wanted it by a set date, that was obviously not the time. You can do it, I know you can. For me, the hardest part was getting started. I've gained back a few pounds (maybe three) of the 18 pounds I lost a year ago. I am still following pretty much the same diet I used to lose the weight. Maintenance is WAY harder than losing, though. Hugs and happy thoughts sent your way... :-)

Helen said...

Hi! I appreciate the candor and honesty in your post today. You are right, be gentle ~ with yourself most of all.

Jeanie said...

It is great to hear you sound so positive in this post, Donna. I know you are glad to have your floors and all the work asssociated with that done.
I will be 65 next month and I'm sure I should probably be doing some reflecting about that but for now I'm just sort of rolling with the flow. Everthing is good right now and that is a lot to be grateful.
BTW, happy birthday....a little late.

Pamela Kieffer said...

I will be 80 in the fall and since January 2010 I have lost 44 pounds. I owe it to sticking with the Weight Watchers food plan and 3 visits to the gym a week. You can do it...and you will feel really wonderful, mentally and physically. Pam

betty said...

I need to do some checking about that diet, Donna; it does sound interesting. I think it is great that you made the decision to be friends with your husband's ex; I commend you for that because as long as there are kids around, the ex's will always be around, so might as well make it a pleasant situation rather than an awkward one. It is neat you are decluttering and working on different aspects of your life; the progress you are making I am sure is so beneficial in so many different ways :)

betty

LindyLouMac said...

I am sure you will get there it sounds as if you are a positive person.

Gill_Ruth said...

What a lovely post to read tonight after a tiring, slightly wearing day. You are absolutely right, life happens as it is meant to, and too much looking ahead can mean overlooking some wonderful moments in the present.