Hey 50 & over gang We have a new spot

[flowers 0]

However, you did say you were dieting. To me diet is a bad word, For your cruise, I don't think April would be too last minute to get clothes, though have never shopped Ebay, is their shipping really slow?

Actually, I have 5 cruises next year. For most cruises I have clothes that will work. Doing Carnival in January and RCL in April. They are not dressy like QM2, thats the one I need clothes for. I dont work and live in tee shirts and jeans and things I cant wear on the QM2, not even during the day Im told I need nicer outfits. (never been on the QM2, it was a free cruise which ordinarily I would never have booked :laugh: ) Its a new group Im booked with and I want to fit in.

Thats why I'm so worried about that one in particular. Some of these women in this group look so glamorous and I know I dont have that look. I wish I could be at goal by the time I meet them, but aint going to be possible to be in the 120s by July 1st!!! So, I will buy clothes for this trip and then a few months later Im afraid I wouldnt be able to wear them anymore, so I dont want to spend too much on looking good either.

I hate the idea of buying a whole wardrobe for one trip and then not wearing it again.

As far as dieting, to me if I cant eat sweets and junk food, its a diet, lol. sorry. Those foods just are poisen for me and I know I have to avoid them to lose. I did have some raspberry danish yesterday. My parents get two danish every year from their broker. Its so good, but I shouldnt eat it at all, so its a diet to avoid eating it much.

[flowers 0]

JoannMarie, I am so sorry about your dog. I have been there and done that and it still hurts. Not something that I can easily talk about. But I am sorry what you are going thru. How awful for you.

[shortgal 5]

Actually, I have 5 cruises next year. For most cruises I have clothes that will work. Doing Carnival in January and RCL in April. They are not dressy like QM2, thats the one I need clothes for. I dont work and live in tee shirts and jeans and things I cant wear on the QM2, not even during the day Im told I need nicer outfits. (never been on the QM2, it was a free cruise which ordinarily I would never have booked :laugh: ) Its a new group Im booked with and I want to fit in.

Thats why I'm so worried about that one in particular. Some of these women in this group look so glamorous and I know I dont have that look. I wish I could be at goal by the time I meet them, but aint going to be possible to be in the 120s by July 1st!!! So, I will buy clothes for this trip and then a few months later Im afraid I wouldnt be able to wear them anymore, so I dont want to spend too much on looking good either.

I hate the idea of buying a whole wardrobe for one trip and then not wearing it again.

As far as dieting, to me if I cant eat sweets and junk food, its a diet, lol. sorry. Those foods just are poisen for me and I know I have to avoid them to lose. I did have some raspberry danish yesterday. My parents get two danish every year from their broker. Its so good, but I shouldnt eat it at all, so its a diet to avoid eating it much.

Hi Flowers, I read this thread but don't post much. Wanted to respond to your clothing dilemna.

Eddie Bauer has several dresses on sale right now. I ordered two of them. Both are knits ( which can be very forgiving with 10 pounds either way unlike other material). Both were $40 each. One is black and has a wrap/cross over style v neck top with three quarter sleeves. Comes in both petite and regular sizes ( not sure which you need). Black is always in style. Dress it up with jewelry, which you can use at anysize and maybe a cute new pair of shoes.

You might also want to check some online site like Lands End and Talbots online in their "overstock" or "outlet" section. I find lots of bargains this way. Like jeans at talbots for $23.99. Many times they have both summer and winter clothing available in the "outlet" or "overstock" section. A pair of nice black slacks and you can change the top ( or add a sweater) and different accessories for a new look. For a dressy night, one of those fancy wrap, blouses with the portrait collar and rhinestone buckle in white or pink would look beautiful with black pants.

Don't know if you wear capris for daytime, but a pair of white ones and then several different sweaters or blouses would also work with cute sandals.

Ebay has lots of cute purses to help change the look. Stagger the sizes of the purses and you can nest them inside each other for packing. I bought a black and white toile purse from ebay and I have another black cloth one with small green palm trees on it, that I got in Charleston, S.C. I always compliments on them.

Your cruise on the QM2 sounds great. I would love to go on that ship. Where does that cruise go?

You'll have a wonderful trip.

[flowers 0]

Hi Flowers, I read this thread but don't post much. Wanted to respond to your clothing dilemna.

thanks for your ideas. I actually let a new $300 dress get by me that went for about $26.50 plus shipping on ebay. A big name designer dress. You can find them on ebay, but its a lot of work. The ones you described sound great too. I will have saggy arms and neck when I lose a bit more, did last time when I did nutrisystem (and gained 90 lbs back in less than a year :laugh: ) I want to use up all that money I have sitting on paypal first, then Ill shop other places. You are right, I need some cap sleeves or small sleeves. That makes finding a formal dress a lot more challenging. Most are sleeveless.

There are just too many dresses on ebay and it takes time to sort thru them, should have grabbed that one that was a size 12, chickened out (I started to worry I wouldnt get down to a size 12 in time). I am 5 7, so I try and avoid petites, Im leggy. Sometimes in bathing suits I even need a "tall" thru the body.

I got the QM2 for booking another group cruise on RCL's Oasis, but prices were only starting about $1210 (total) and they were including airfare with that price. My cabin on a higher deck was $1260. The cruise goes from NYC to Hallifax and then to Boston on July 4th, and stays in Boston until midnight to watch the fireworks and then back to NYC. Its only a 5 day cruise, but Im staying in NYC 3 days precruise to do musicals and sight see. Two new things. I have never seen NYC either, but Im assming folks dress up for dinner and a Broadway show there too.

thanks for your ideas. I'll add them to my list for shopping. Coldwater Creek has a outlet store too that many cruisers use, non wrinkable type dresses.

[shortgal 5]

Flowers, If you're 5'7" ( you lucky devil) then the regular Eddie Bauer size would be perfect. They also have a cute yellow sundress that was available ( don;t know what sizes are left). I have it and wear it with a light sweater to cover my arms ( so many places have a/c I need it anyway). The fact that so many dresses are sleeveless is very frustrating to me.

I've seen the QM2 in Newport for the fireworks there. One of the local fishing fleets does a fireworks cruise and we were anchored right next to the QM2. Magnificent ship!

People dress more casually on cruises than the old cruising days ( my first cruise was in like 1965 and I was about 12 or 13 then, I guess) but you're right some ships are just dressier than others and the length and places the ship are going figures into how dressy it is.

Another catalog for nice packable clothing is "Travel Smith" lots of easy to pack knits.

Have a ball!

[phyllser 3]

Joann.... So sorry to hear about your dog.

That's a tough one.

You are doing so well since your surgery...

as we all knew you would.

Ok can anyone tell me, when you go into surgery do you have to have an IV? I know that it sounds funny, but I just hate having an IV. If it is in my arm I do much better than in my hand. Just wondering! I have learned more from all of you on this thread than any I have been reading. Thank you all so much for your wisdom. One more question. When you say you need to walk the first couple of days, like what are you talking about? Going around the block? down the driveway? What is exactly walk mean? We live on a farm and our blocks are huge! LOL

Hi! And WELCOME!

If you really have an aversion/fear of IVs, they can give you a little happy medicine before they insert it. But I think you will have to have one for the anesthetist, and because they have to have quick access to administer Rx should anything go wrong.

Walking after surgery.... around the house is fine. Just so you don't sit and veg... get up and move about.

You live in one of my favorite parts of the country....

Garlic Country USA! We are snowbirds... travel from WA state to CA each fall. Our oldest son is stationed in the bay area, so we usually spend one night going in each direction in Gilroy at the RV park behind the new Salvation Army store. And there is a mandatory trip to Garlic World where we buy everything garlic that we can! Last time we even stopped at the little winery near there and bought a bottle of garlic red wine! There's a funny story that goes with that...

another time!

[flowers 0]

Flowers, If you're 5'7" ( you lucky devil) then the regular Eddie Bauer size would be perfect. They also have a cute yellow sundress that was available!

A yellow sundress sounds very cute. I am typical of anyone who is insulin resistant (also called pre diabetic), big stomach :tongue_smilie:. That's one of the biggest warning signs. I carry most of my weight of my thin frame on my stomach, so that's probably why I have to still buy large sizes, it hasnt gone down much yet. I cant do sit ups and crunchs yet, osteroperosis has set in too.

I am writing down all these shopping sites. I sure cant wait to have a cute figure again, and not look like a overbalanced pear. Sometimes I wish we all lived closer together so we could all go shopping together and meet for real. Wouldnt that be fun? Im just almost in regular sizes now. Its so much more expensive to have to shop online and in special stores for "larger women" lol.

[Great2BThin 5]

Flowers, good luck in your shopping. The cruise sounds wonderful, even more so if it was free! As for NYC, some folks still dress up for the Broadway shows but many don't. Just about anything would fit in. I just usually wore dress slacks and a dressy blouse or sweater, depending on the season. I had to be very mindful of the shoes as we typically would be doing a lot of walking around before and after the show and couldn't do it in heels or something.

BlkLab, I think you have to have an IV in case of an emergency or something and it is also how they adminster a lot of the medications. But I do believe you can ask them to put it in the arm, but guess it would depend on the hospital/surgeon/or nurse doing it. I hate them in the hand too, to me it was the worst thing about the surgery.

I also love Gilroy. There was also a cute winery there that I got a bottle of "rottie red' in honor of my rottweillers we had at the time. I never opened it and keep it in a place of honor on my wine rack (kitchen is decorated in grapes and winery things.

Janet, my starting BMI was around 43, so not sure that is considered high. It was to me!! It's 31 something now and I can't wait to be under 30 and be 'just overweight' and no longer 'obese'. It was also a big deal to be under 40 and be just obese and not morbidly obese.

Does anyone else think that BMI chart is unfair. I mean over 40 to 50 is morbidly obese. then it's 30 to 40 for 'obese'. Then it's just a window of 5 from 25 to 30 to be overweight. I mean really couldn't we have a bigger overweight window? :tongue_smilie: And the normal window is smaller too. What's up with that?? :tongue:

[shortgal 5]

Flowers, You're BMI is lower than mine. I'm a shortie and still very much overweight but happy with the smaller me.

I had my band only eight months with very little restriction and then the band had to be removed. I lost about 45 pounds after surgery and I'm down 60 from my highest weight. On my short frame, that is several sizes down, but I still wear a fairly large ( but regular size). Without my band I am not optimistic about losing more weight but so far I have been able to maintain what I lost. Just staying at the same weight will be enough for me to handle now.

I need petites which are a cut a bit smaller than regular sizes and can wear 14 to 16 depending on the fabric, cut, name brand etc.

I am slightly smaller in the shoulder and waist and a little bigger in the belly, hips, thighs, but not a big difference between the top and bottom half, which does make shopping easier. If I had a Tummy Tuck, I would be down a pants size easily.

At first, I found buying new clothes was hard. I didn't even know where to look if I wasn't buying plus size and found it all stressful. I am quickly getting much better at it now! LOL!

You have six months to lose some more weight and that always makes the search for clothes easier!

[flowers 0]

Does anyone else think that BMI chart is unfair. :tongue_smilie:

My problem with the chart is it doesnt take into consideration your frame size. My sister is probably around 140 lbs right now and into a size XL top now and a size 18 dress. ... but at 5 7 (she is a mite taller than me at that), she is almost considered to be a normal weight, BMI wise, and that just aint so.

I'm not as small framed as she is but I used to wear a size 30 blouse, and shop in the children's often because I was too narrow shouldered to wear women's sizes. I didnt gain this weight until I went thru menopause.

Then I read on here there are women who are over 200 lbs in smaller sizes than us...and they are shorter?. The BMI charts need to be like the old charts and have a range according to your frame. The BMI charts make no sense to me either.

As far as getting to dinner and the show with the group, they are providing transportation for us around NYC that night and putting us up at the Grand Hyatt, so I dont have to worry about walking too far, but not used to heels.

[flowers 0]

I had my band only eight months with very little restriction and then the band had to be removed.

You have six months to lose some more weight and that always makes the search for clothes easier!

I dont think I was a good candidate for lapband, Im doing all the work. I never ate large meals and was back and forth about getting the band. Im a nibble. I dont do things the lapband way. If I walk and dont eat sweets I lose. I think you can too, dont give up without the band. If you stick with this group, they will keep you motivated to keep on track. Just stick with eating right and walking or whatever exercise is easy for you to do.

As far as having 6 months to lose, with two cruises between now and then, that loses another month. I cant lose 60 lbs between now and then and go on those other two cruises. I do good to maintain kinda during a cruise. But I sure intend to be closer. Im hoping down to a size 12 by then. I bought 3 bathing suits in size 10, 12 and 14, lol and they cost less than buyine one from a store here, so Im all set for that lol. Buying in all 3 sizes for other things too. Im hoping I can get into the size 14 bathing suit by my april 5th cruise.

[Sleeved12/29 2]

Joanne,

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of you furbaby. Cancer in our pets is a horrible disease. My baby was diagnosed with OS (osteoscarmoa) in October '07. We had his left front leg amputated November '07. When we took Gretzky back to begin chemo, they found a tumor in his anal gland. At this point, my baby was so ill. We were told 3-6 months if we didn't do chemo. We decided on holistic meds. That was almost 14 months ago and his sitting on the sofa with me as I'm writing this.

I lost my mother in July 06 and Gretzky was diagnosed with OS Oct 07 PLUS I had a teenager dealing a lot of issues....I gained a lot of weight during that period of time.

If you ever need a pair of ears to listen about your baby, e-mail me privately.

We also have a 16yr old boxer mix. Our vet told us this past Thursday that she has a few months at best.

They are such a big part of our family....

[shortgal 5]

I dont think I was a good candidate for lapband, Im doing all the work. I never ate large meals and was back and forth about getting the band. Im a nibble. I dont do things the lapband way. If I walk and dont eat sweets I lose. I think you can too, dont give up without the band. If you stick with this group, they will keep you motivated to keep on track. Just stick with eating right and walking or whatever exercise is easy for you to do.

As far as having 6 months to lose, with two cruises between now and then, that loses another month. I cant lose 60 lbs between now and then and go on those other two cruises. I do good to maintain kinda during a cruise. But I sure intend to be closer. Im hoping down to a size 12 by then. I bought 3 bathing suits in size 10, 12 and 14, lol and they cost less than buyine one from a store here, so Im all set for that lol. Buying in all 3 sizes for other things too. Im hoping I can get into the size 14 bathing suit by my april 5th cruise.

Flowers, Walking is exactly what I have been doing to maintain my weight loss. I walk either 3.5 or a five mile route. The weather is slowing down how often I go right now, but some months in the past I have walked over 85 miles for the one month. It's takes that to just maintain for me. That's why I doubt I will lose much more, but I am ok with that, as long as I don't start going back up.

If I could give up sweets, I wouldn't have gotten a band in the first place.LOL!

The less we weigh, the less we can eat to lose more weight and the weight loss slows significantly, so as our BMI gets lower we generally lose much slower.

The last few years before the band, I ate much less than I did when I gained the weight, but menopause hit and I was unable to lose very much as I got older and less active, that's why I got the band.

I mostly stick with my November group of band friends. It's not that I don't feel welcome on other threads, while I read this one, I don't often post since I lost my band. I have less in common without having a band and it's just different trying to lose more without one.

I'm sure you will figure it all out on what to wear and bring with you, the important thing is to have fun and enjoy yourself and not stress about having the perfect oufit, but one you feel pretty and comfortable in.

Not gaining is very difficult when vacationing, boy do I know that! It usually takes me a month to get back down after a vacation. I always wonder how I could gain five pounds in a week but it can take me a month to lose that amount!

Been nice chatting with you! I'll be watching this thread for your posts as you return from each cruise.

[IndioGirl55 32]

I posted here yesterday morning - but I don't see it!!!

Flowers, good luck in your shopping. The cruise sounds wonderful, even more so if it was free! As for NYC, some folks still dress up for the Broadway shows but many don't. Just about anything would fit in. I just usually wore dress slacks and a dressy blouse or sweater, depending on the season. I had to be very mindful of the shoes as we typically would be doing a lot of walking around before and after the show and couldn't do it in heels or something.

BlkLab, I think you have to have an IV in case of an emergency or something and it is also how they adminster a lot of the medications. But I do believe you can ask them to put it in the arm, but guess it would depend on the hospital/surgeon/or nurse doing it. I hate them in the hand too, to me it was the worst thing about the surgery.

I also love Gilroy. There was also a cute winery there that I got a bottle of "rottie red' in honor of my rottweillers we had at the time. I never opened it and keep it in a place of honor on my wine rack (kitchen is decorated in grapes and winery things.

Janet, my starting BMI was around 43, so not sure that is considered high. It was to me!! It's 31 something now and I can't wait to be under 30 and be 'just overweight' and no longer 'obese'. It was also a big deal to be under 40 and be just obese and not morbidly obese.

Does anyone else think that BMI chart is unfair. I mean over 40 to 50 is morbidly obese. then it's 30 to 40 for 'obese'. Then it's just a window of 5 from 25 to 30 to be overweight. I mean really couldn't we have a bigger overweight window? :tounge_smile: And the normal window is smaller too. What's up with that?? :wink2:

Long - I may have been confusing you with someone else - I thought it (bmi) was like 51 - your actual bmi - is about the same as mine - I was like 42.9

I agree with all of you - the bmi chart doesn't take into consideration of your age - frame - etc... Well it's just a guide line in my opnion - we all carry our weight differently

Flowers, You're BMI is lower than mine. I'm a shortie and still very much overweight but happy with the smaller me.

I had my band only eight months with very little restriction and then the band had to be removed. I lost about 45 pounds after surgery and I'm down 60 from my highest weight. On my short frame, that is several sizes down, but I still wear a fairly large ( but regular size). Without my band I am not optimistic about losing more weight but so far I have been able to maintain what I lost. Just staying at the same weight will be enough for me to handle now.

I need petites which are a cut a bit smaller than regular sizes and can wear 14 to 16 depending on the fabric, cut, name brand etc.

I am slightly smaller in the shoulder and waist and a little bigger in the belly, hips, thighs, but not a big difference between the top and bottom half, which does make shopping easier. If I had a Tummy Tuck, I would be down a pants size easily.

At first, I found buying new clothes was hard. I didn't even know where to look if I wasn't buying plus size and found it all stressful. I am quickly getting much better at it now! LOL!

You have six months to lose some more weight and that always makes the search for clothes easier!

Hey Shortgal

OMG you have done wonderfull - I am so happy for you and proud of what you have accomplished even with out your band... You are doing FANTASTIC...

Yep at first venturing into the regular section of the store is nerve racking - but now I have it down pat.... Loving it but my check book isn't

[Socialdot 0]

Charlene, Indo and all, Thank you for kind words. You all encouraged me and I made an appointment with my dietician (the best $35 I have spent in a long time). One of you had also told me to use Fitday, so I was able to pull up my meals for her. She helped me re-plan my meals and Snacks and I feel very much back on track. I wouldn't have done it without your encouragement. One thing she told me that was a great idea is to get some lean honey ham and have it for a snack when I am hungry instead of my loved Slim Fast. One-two ounces really does the trick to help my sweet tooth! Thank you all again. Dot