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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
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From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 11:10 AM (1 of 31)
Any of you middle-aged people exercise? It is sooooooo boring to me. Yesterday hubby went out and bought us both a bike! These are what they call "classics" which means they have made them to look like the old fashioned ones with wide handlebars, pedal brakes and wide seats.  We pick them up next week. I also have a pointy white helmet to wear with my electric blue bike! Picture that one. There is a bike trail behind our house so that is where I can go and get my exercise. Along with the diet, I should lose a little and be in better shape.  What do you do for exercise or do you? MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: Pudge99
Date: 10-03-2004, 12:35 PM (2 of 31)
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Mary, Wow! You lucky lady you. I love getting a new bike. I'm not quite middle aged yet but have never been a big exerciser. When I bike I have to be going somewhere. I can't stand just riding to be riding. I guess that is because I am such a multi tasker. If you find it hard to just go riding get a basket for your bike and use it for quick runs to the store. Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: dmoses
Date: 10-03-2004, 01:07 PM (3 of 31)
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I walk around my neighbourhood every day. I just walk out my door and start...very convenient. I have a membership at the Y, but I don't like the 'gym' atmosphere...just not for me. I've lost about 25 lbs since I moved here, most of it since I started back walking. I've also lowered my cholesterol to a healthy level.
Take care,
Donna |
User: dmoses
Member since: 02-22-2002 Total posts: 964 
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From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 01:24 PM (4 of 31)
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Donna, that is great but my neighborhood is so small. Really just a cul-de-sac that goes out to a hiway. Not enough walking really. The trail behind our house is great but I don't want to walk down a path thru the bush alone, night or day. I just don't feel comfortable doing that. The bicycle ride will be fine. I have lost 10 lbs. in 5 wks. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Sherri
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:06 PM (5 of 31)
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I am trying the walking but having a hard time fitting it in to now working again. I have lost 30 pounds since May and feel a lt better about myself. Sher My website
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User: Sherri
Member since: 02-07-2001 Total posts: 357 |
From: dmoses
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:07 PM (6 of 31)
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Wow, Mary, 2 lbs/week is excellent! Are you following a special diet regimen? My rate is slow, but I am not really dieting...I am trying to make more healthy choices, though. I have a bike, also, but haven't used it since the brakes went. We bought brakes for it in Canada two summers ago when we visited(too expensive here), but my husband hasn't installed them yet. I'm very awkward on the bike and suffered the humiliation of falling off a few times, but I did enjoy it(NOT the falling off part!). Still, I will always prefer walking, and would be very unhappy if I didn't have a good place to 'get my stride on'.  I find it very therapeutic, also, because I can think through my daily stresses.
Take care,
Donna |
User: dmoses
Member since: 02-22-2002 Total posts: 964
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From: dmoses
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:12 PM (7 of 31)
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Congratulations, Sherri! That's terrific, too! You ladies are dropping pounds like crazy! It is hard to work in the exercise when you have small children. I used to go after supper, when my husband could be home with the kids. He noticed such a change in my mood, that he started encouraging me to go. You know what they say, "When mama is happy, everyone is happy" Take care,
Donna |
User: dmoses
Member since: 02-22-2002 Total posts: 964
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From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:16 PM (8 of 31)
Sherri, that is very good. 30 lbs. is a LOT. 
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Magot
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:19 PM (9 of 31)
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I like to ride my bike to work and back but the onset of colder weather activates an asthmatic response and I'm no good to Man nor Beast arriving at school a wheezy wreck. I am ashamed to be a fair weather biker but there we are. Otherwise I have an excercise bike I don't ride anymore. I used to do aerobics twice a week but my work hours have increased so that puts paid to that. I do between 60-80 sit ups each morning and work out with weights/squats and so on to keep toned - anything to keep the "bingo wings" at bay!! Though the tennis elbow is starting to complain again about the weights.. grrrr.... I hate swimming so that is out. A group of ladies from work and I used to go Line dancing but that fell apart after a while. I know, Sex! that's what tones my buttocks! love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:42 PM (10 of 31)
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LOL, where is your mother?
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Sherri
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:48 PM (11 of 31)
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Yes 30 lbs does sound like a lot doesn't it. But now I have hit this plateau. I am trying for about another 15 but have not lost barely any in about the last 2 weeks. I am not following any specific diet plan. But I try not to snack and have added water as my drink of preference. My children are 7 and soon to be 6 so they are now in school fulltime. When I am not working I try to walk after they have been delivered to school. Of course there all these things calling to me at home so I often skip it. Also the weather is getting colder (no snow yet but they keep threatening) and I often find it harder to stay motivated into walking instead of driving because of the weather. So I guess I could be called a fair weather exercisor to(which is not good when you have 9 months of winter , 1 of spring, 1 of summer and 1 of fall a year. I wish my husband was home in the evenings so I could walk then but he is not really here ( usually out working or volunteer about 5 nights a week) and when he is here it is because I have asked him to be so that I can go to a meeting for skating or gymnastics or school (ie kid activities) so unfortunately that is out. I tried doing an exercise tape (ie Yoga) after the kids had gone to bed at night but I found it energized me to much and I had trouble sleeping. I find it easier to build my exercise around a kid centred activity. Last winter I took my dd skating twice a week. So I got some exercise there. I often start my walk by walking the kids to school so even if that is all I get I at least got a little walk. I have committed to running the free skate for the kids skating program once a week so that gives me a little work out. Maybe those last 15 pounds will come off. Or maybe I should get my hair cut that should at least take off 5 pounds. Sher My website
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User: Sherri
Member since: 02-07-2001 Total posts: 357 |
From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:53 PM (12 of 31)
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Sherri, don't get discouraged. Hitting a plateau happens to everyone apparently. It will last for a while until your body has adapted. Keep up the excellent work. Poul must be so proud.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Sherri
Date: 10-03-2004, 02:58 PM (13 of 31)
Yeah he's mostly happy I am not going out and buying a fat wardrobe because most of my clothes are starting to fit again . Other then that I am not sure he notices. 
My website
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User: Sherri
Member since: 02-07-2001 Total posts: 357 |
From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 03:12 PM (14 of 31)
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Men can be so blind sometimes. Couldn't you just shake him.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Magot
Date: 10-03-2004, 03:18 PM (15 of 31)
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does that class as excercise too!
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: dmoses
Date: 10-03-2004, 06:38 PM (16 of 31)
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Here is a tip I got some time ago, concerning plateaux when dieting. If you are lowering your calorie intake, you should increase it every third or fourth day(just for that day...then go back to the diet amount for the next three days, increase for a day, etc). Apparently, the body starts trying to conserve when you eat less, so the periodic increase 'tricks' the body into not conserving.
Take care,
Donna |
User: dmoses
Member since: 02-22-2002 Total posts: 964
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From: MaryW
Date: 10-03-2004, 06:43 PM (17 of 31)
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Or as a stress-buster.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: Material Girl
Date: 10-04-2004, 11:21 AM (18 of 31)
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hello Im 29 and changed jobs from walking around all day lifting boxes etc in a toy shop to sitting on my behind for 9 hours a day staring out a window at a desk job:o( I get up I sit for breakfast I sit at work I sit for lunch I sit for work I sit to eat dinner I sit to watch tv if Ive not planned to visit a pal where id sit at their place. I used to cycle to work but recently boufht a car of my generous parents.If I bought a bike it would cost more than the car did. I have put on 2 stone since i started here. These are not excuses.i have filled in an application form for a gym. A new series has started on TV calle Fat Nation, following a whole street of people on there bid to get fit and healthy. We used to be obsessed with DIY make over programmes but hopefully fit/eating healthily programmes will become the new thing and we will all become a slim nation. It seems if something is on TV its bound to take off so fingers crossed. ***Well done to anybody who loses weight*** |
User: Material Girl
Member since: 10-04-2004 Total posts: 35 |
From: Mischka
Date: 10-04-2004, 01:57 PM (19 of 31)
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Have any of you tried Pilates? I find it great for staying toned, plus it's really helped my joints. I know, I'm only 26, but I was a gymnast for years so you can imagine the damage done! It's helped me to utilize alternate muscle groups, and hold my shoulders in the sockets better (hyperflexible). It's also been great for my knee problems - I can ski most of the day now without pain! Used to be only a couple hours, with knee braces, taking 3 ibuprofen before, during, and after (if not real painkillers), ice and off my feet for 24 hrs...so a HUGE improvement. And it's great for your posture! Sessions can get a little pricey, but lots of trainers and gyms offer lower-priced group sessions. Oh, and it's really not like yoga - I can't stand yoga, but I enjoy doing the Pilates. Kudos to everyone who's working so hard!
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User: Mischka
Member since: 09-01-2004 Total posts: 63 |
From: MaryW
Date: 10-04-2004, 02:26 PM (20 of 31)
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I just went around the block twice on my new bike. Such a keener. LOL My legs feel like two rubber bands, I am sooooooooo out of shape. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: blackie
Date: 10-06-2004, 12:37 AM (21 of 31)
Am I allowed to be in this forum? I am 27. Depends on how wide the middle-age range is, I guess!  What do you do for exercise or do you? I pack two kids around in arms or in a backpack. I refuse to do a stroller. I like to feel I'm strong enough to carry my kids. My husband and I also jog together some nights (he takes one kid in the stroller, the neighbor listens in for our oldest who is in bed by then). see the mundane life of a housewife.
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User: blackie
Member since: 03-31-2004 Total posts: 594 |
From: Magot
Date: 10-06-2004, 03:04 AM (22 of 31)
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Middle age is an attitude of mind - and a betrayal of the body! A couple of years ago I was giving blood when I realised I could become a bone marrow donor as well so asked the nurse about registering for tissue typing. She asked me how old I was, "27," I replied instantly," No, wait, I forgot, 46." I was too old! You had to be under 40 but in my head I was only 27. By God, that must have been a good year for me to get stuck there. Many people are internally stuck at much younger ages - me I'm 27. I'm off to cycle on the bike-to-nowhere. Cold air aggrivates asthma and I least I can do this in my jammies. love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Sherri
Date: 10-06-2004, 09:56 AM (23 of 31)
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I'll be 29 in December Blackie. Sher My website
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User: Sherri
Member since: 02-07-2001 Total posts: 357 |
From: Brenisback
Date: 10-06-2004, 06:26 PM (24 of 31)
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I have a pilates tape I have never got into... I should try it after your great review...I am full of arthritic ...maybe it would get me in shape to ...do you do it at home Mischka?...I realy am not a great joiner of gym's ...great intention's but to tired to go after I finish work... does it really work the tummy? Buy the way... you guy's are really doing great...I'm going to join you . Have any of you tried Pilates? I find it great for staying toned, plus it's really helped my joints. I know, I'm only 26, but I was a gymnast for years so you can imagine the damage done! It's helped me to utilize alternate muscle groups, and hold my shoulders in the sockets better (hyperflexible). It's also been great for my knee problems - I can ski most of the day now without pain! Used to be only a couple hours, with knee braces, taking 3 ibuprofen before, during, and after (if not real painkillers), ice and off my feet for 24 hrs...so a HUGE improvement. And it's great for your posture! Sessions can get a little pricey, but lots of trainers and gyms offer lower-priced group sessions. Oh, and it's really not like yoga - I can't stand yoga, but I enjoy doing the Pilates. Kudos to everyone who's working so hard!
Brenda
People come into your life ...for a Reason a Season or a Lifetime. |
User: Brenisback
Member since: 09-20-2004 Total posts: 228 |
From: Sherri
Date: 10-07-2004, 02:58 PM (25 of 31)
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Mary I just read in the newsletter about a sore behind. I have a suggestion. A gel seat!!!! The best thing I ever bought for my bike adds a little extra cushioning for those of with a little extra cushioning. Sher My website
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User: Sherri
Member since: 02-07-2001 Total posts: 357 |
From: Mischka
Date: 10-07-2004, 08:02 PM (26 of 31)
Brenisback - Given that you have arthritis and haven't done Pilates before, it'd be a good idea first to go to a mat class a few times, or schedule a private session or two with a certified teacher. Many have flexible hours and "introductory" rates for a first session. And yes, it is definitely a workout for the tummy!Watch your tape through beforehand to get an idea of the exercises on it. That way, you can ask questions and get advice on how to adapt them for you. i.e., if you think an exercise would irritate your arthritis, there are alternate positions you can use for it, and still work the right muscle groups. It may be difficult if you start off with just the tape - you don't know how the exercises are supposed to feel, and it's very easy to use the wrong muscle groups. Differences between the "right" and "wrong" ways to do things in Pilates tend to be miniscule!  But once you get a feel for it, the tape can be a great tool. I know that if left to my own devices, though, I'd choose to watch a movie instead! Which is why I've got a mat class in an hour.If you'd like any more info, just send me a private message and I'd be happy to tell you whatever I can. Good luck!!! |
User: Mischka
Member since: 09-01-2004 Total posts: 63 |
From: allie-oops
Date: 10-10-2004, 02:45 AM (27 of 31)
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Boy, do I need to exercise...with all the computer and sewing, especially! I have severe spinal arthritis, and degenerative disk disease - plus really messed up feet. So walking is out [I limp on both feet, lol] and so is about everything else. I have a recumbent exercise bike that I LOVE - I sit and pedal and either watch tv or read. I can't just sit there. My doctor just did an EMG and found major nerve damage to my legs, arms, feet and hands, and told me to take up swimming every single day for the rest of my life...well, can't afford my own pool, and darned if I can find one to swim at! There is a nice one close, that's open almost 24 hours, but $400 a year is too steep right now. All the others are $800 a year. I've always been about 112lbs. All my life. Gained 60lbs with both kids, and lost it right away. Then....I turned 40, and put on 50lbs overnight! All in the middle. I'd love to lose it, but what do you do when you can hardly move? I know, swim, lol. Back to square one. If I could find some exercise I could do while sewing or being on the computer, I'd be in heaven!!!!!!!!!! Allie "onward through the fog"
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User: allie-oops
Member since: 10-25-2002 Total posts: 282 
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From: sewingrandma
Date: 10-10-2004, 03:57 PM (28 of 31)
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I would love to be able to afford one of the Endless pools. They have a counter current in it so you can swim in place. They are only about 8x15 feet. It is a hassle and big expense going to the pool daily. You have to deal with the crowds at them so it is hard to get in good swim time. I would love to be able to go to a water aerobics class.
Brockie
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User: sewingrandma
Member since: 03-06-2003 Total posts: 432 |
From: Marty39
Date: 10-10-2004, 04:54 PM (29 of 31)
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Mary, I don't consider myself middle age, lol, I just turned 65 and I'm in very good health, thank God, I have exercised all my life and the only kind I don't like is doing to tred mill. I walk everyday at least 2 miles, also ride my bike for 6 miles each day, Since I live in MI where it's almost impossible to walk and bike out side in the winter, I joined Curves and I go there for 3 days a week, My friends want to know where I can find the time to do all that each day and my reply to them, If you don't take the time for yourself especially at my age it's a sin. And because I take the time to do the work outs, I have so much more energy to sew, and daily chores. As for the sore bottom, Mine used to get sore until I invested in a seat that has springs in the seat. It's great, a little pricey but worth it. Blessings! Marty |
User: Marty39
Member since: 05-31-2004 Total posts: 4 
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From: Marty39
Date: 10-10-2004, 04:57 PM (30 of 31)
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Mary, I don't consider myself middle age, lol, I just turned 65 and I'm in very good health, thank God, I have exercised all my life and the only kind I don't like is doing the tred mill. I walk everyday at least 2 miles, also ride my bike for 6 miles each day, Since I live in MI where it's almost impossible to walk and bike out side in the winter, I joined Curves and I go there for 3 days a week, My friends want to know where I can find the time to do all that each day and my reply to them, If you don't take the time for yourself especially at my age it's a sin. And because I take the time to do the work outs, I have so much more energy to sew, and daily chores. As for the sore bottom, Mine used to get sore until I invested in a seat that has springs in the seat. It's great, a little pricey but worth it. Blessings! Marty |
User: Marty39
Member since: 05-31-2004 Total posts: 4
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From: Dexter
Date: 12-29-2004, 08:49 PM (31 of 31)
| I get plenty of exercise nearly every single day. I treat every day like an epic adventure. I love venturing through the vast forest while contemplating various aspects of my existence and just using my wonderful imagination for…whatever. I have this natural tendency in me to explore, and while doing so I get plenty of exercise. I have always been in relatively good shape, physically and psychologically. |
User: Dexter
Member since: 11-05-2004 Total posts: 48 |
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