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Introduction Text Maintenance: The Final Frontier! Heck with "Space"... unless you're talking about what one fills. For newbies to this page... I was not always like this. It has been a long road getting here, with lots of hills and valleys. The "really, really before" picture is hidden in my photo gallery. Pictures are good reality checks for me, but I ran out of room and dumped some of the "in progress" progress photos to make room for recent athletic ones. I did keep the before January 2010 one that marked the beginning of maintenance, and you can see that in maintenance phase I've still become fitter. Why "A little old lady in training"? "Little" because I have become small. "Old lady" because that is my goal, to live to a ripe old age. "In training" because that's how I intend to make that goal happen: by training my mind and body. I stopped "drifting" downwards on the scale in July or August, 2010. I have become comfortable calling the 120's "home". I had found a comfortable way of eating healthy, a comfortable calorie range, and a training goal to keep fitness level alive. This is how I want to live the rest of my life. Basic biographical: I am a 65 year old empty-nester, retired as of the end of 2017. I've lost, regained, lost, regained, lost in cycles of years, across decades. I am more confident of maintenance than ever before in my life. If it takes the rest of my life to learn how to do this, I'll take that long, but I feel more confident with every passing year. No single program or diet is the "final answer" for me: I'm a compulsive over-eater. The plan I choose to follow must be balanced nutrition and activity, because it truly is not about the number on the scale. It's about living LIFE, as fully and with as much vibrant health as I can. The end goal is to keep working at developing and maintaining healthy habits. In the process, I'm living some dreams and checking off some bucket list items.

Stay on track, live consistently, be healthy. That means a balanced diet and an active lifestyle. Nothing says you have to curl up in a ball just because you're past the half-century mark.

The two pieces of my program when I started: 1) Reduce my intake of saturated fats, while eating a balanced diet with my favorite fruits and veggies prominent. 2) Keep moving at the rate of 30 minutes of walking almost every day, and two strength training days a week. Since that time, I've started living some athletic dreams: In 2011 I walked my first half marathon, with HOT4FITNESS. In 2012, I completed my first Sprint distance triathlon. In 2014, I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon. In 2015 and 2016, I participated in the age group national triathlon, at the Olympic distance. In short, my basic program morphed into training for "big" (to me) events, over time. It takes modification of both nutrition and activity to do this, but it makes me feel alive.

Obviously, from my groups, you might infer I'm from Nebraska. You would be right. I grew up around here, moved away while my son was young, and moved back when he was a teenager. Love it here, it's home.

As of November 20, 2016, I am STILL an active Sparker, and it is my intent to continue this for as long as God grants, to offer encouragement to others, as well as to remember why I did this, and why it remains a priority for me. Never forget your roots, but do NOT stop at the goal line, either!

Add a Link - Barb Defeat is temporary: giving up makes it permanent! Never give up! Max lifetime weight 224.5 (1989) Maintaining with 125 marked as "goal"
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