For anyone getting back into exercise or a quick little mid day work workout you can even do in th office with your door closed! Everyone has 7 minutes, right? 
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7minute workout is a great suggestion. Before retiring I sometimes did that at home office.
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@Youdon_tsay I understand it’s a personal thing whether one needs to workout for an hour to feel like something is worth the effort. I commented to point out to other people who think they don’t have time or motivation, that even a mere 25 minutes of exercise can have positive results on health. Your average person is not an ultra-marathoner. My initial comment about 25 min YouTube videos was meant to be helpful to someone who was here looking for advice, and was not a former elite athlete.
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I’m going to be “that guy.” My apologies in advance. I’m just going to point out the obvious here.
Just ballparking numbers, if you would like to lose weight, ROUGHLY, you would like to be around 1,500 +/- calories/day.
I’m speculating, but the coffee drink above is probably in the neighborhood of 400-500 calories with the heavy whipping cream and syrup, depending on size. So, that’s between 25-50% of your daily caloric intake, if weight loss is desired, which is almost all unproductive calories.
Of course, the caffeine does increase productivity, especially when working out.
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Depends. 2T of whipping cream is about 100 calories. She’s using sugar free syrup. Coffee calories, nada. Now maybe she is using 1/4 - 1/2 c. whipping cream - I don’t know that!
I know that I will give up a lot before I give up my coffee with half and half and a little maple syrup (NOT sugar free!) but I do only have “one cup” a day. The rest of the time I just drink water. Beverages of most any sort beyond that cup of coffee does nothing for me!
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First, I’m estimating and I made that clear with my 2nd word “speculating.”
Also, we don’t know the size of the drink and sugar substitutes do affect blood sugar and insulin. And then there are the preservatives in the syrup and possibly the whipping cream, but I don’t have the labels in front of me.
Look, if someone desires to lose weight, then their entire everyday diet needs analysis and cuts needs to be made.
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I liked to exercise and also track food. Almost 5 years ago I started walk/run… which turned me into a runner (slow pace, but I go 5k a few times a week). I only lost a few pounds in the first months because it seemed too hard to do new exercise habits AND new eating habits. Eventually I also started to use MyNetDiary for food logging (similar to MyFitnessPal, which many people like.) I’ve continued to log food even when at weight goal because I really like the nutritional breakdowns and weekly rollups.
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I get what you’re saying but maybe we ask @Gatormama first some details about her drink.
Many of us have our “limits” and everyone needs a starting point. It’s good to make anyone aware though that your innocent drink or snack or even protein bar may in fact be packing more punch than you realize.
@Colorado_mom tracking is a REALLY good idea for those starting out. It’s a way to see where you’re doing well or not well nutrient wise and calorie wise!!!
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@Youdon_tsay – I hate Diet Coke so my soda habit was sometimes as many as 3 or 4 regular Cokes a day. Cutting them out was horrible.
My 1st step was to get down to 2 (morning and lunch). I stayed at that point for a long time. To get rid of them the rest of way just took not having them in the house. I now drink more water and when we go out I just pick something else.
TBH-- it still sucks and I miss the taste, if not the calories. I probably drink 1 Coke a month at this point (if that many).
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My husband says that he cannot lose weight without tracking everything he eats. And it can be surprising how little things add up.
I also drink a cup of coffee with a little half and half. I have found that I can be happy with a skim milk latte that has considerable more milk in it. Skim milk can froth pretty well. I bought a frother and found that I can get used to to skim milk.
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I’m sure I’m just different. If someone told me today that coffee is bad for you, say like causes cancer, or changes your diet in some bad way, then for me, it’s GONE!
I don’t have limits, in terms of any protected dietary items.
My objective is to add or maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible and lose as much body fat as possible, w/o affecting my overall health of course.
I want be able to live as long as possible and be able to get into tubs and showers, get off chairs and couches with ease, not have a walker or walk around with an oxygen tank or have any need for long term care. I watched my parents generation. I don’t want to be a burden to my children. And I don’t want to sit around the table talking to friends and relatives about health problems.
So, I eat for my performance (inside and outside the gym) and health to achieve that goal. Really, in terms of food and exercise, nothing else matters, but my long term health.
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If you’re looking for something that can help you remember, do, and track exercise and fitness, take a look at the Amazon Halo band. It’s different from the Apple Watch. Its big advantage is that via subscription (six months free with purchase), you get access to a huge library of health and fitness tools, workouts, and programs. They range from meditation to sleep to yoga to strength to nutrition to flexibility to aerobic and much more. You can set up routines and get daily reminders. Some routines work with home equipment but most do not.
Disclaimer - a family member works on this project. I got Early Access (not through him) for a reduced purchase price and no monthly fees for a year so have seen it really expand its offerings. It’s not my cup of tea (nor is tea, for that matter, all coffee here) but really enjoyed exploring the offerings.
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Well, I know HWC isn’t the best, but I got into it during a year or so on a keto regimen - no carbs in HWC - and I got used to it.
I can’t drink black coffee without a vat of sugar, so that defeats the purpose, and straight milk has those carbs that I was avoiding… Now, it tastes so watery to me…
I use about 2 tbs. of the hwc. Not a huge amount. The syrup is Torani SF vanilla; ingredient list is: Water, Natural Flavors, Acesulfame Potassium, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate (to preserve freshness), Sodium Benzoate (to preserve freshness), Xanthan Gum, Sucralose.
So not great stuff there.
But in the scheme of things, I am fine with a luxury item in my diet. I am not fine with total denial of all food items that I love. I mean, yes, I would like to live longer. But I would like those years to be full of treasures. 
Like I said, the weight bothers me but not nearly as much as the strength issue.
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@Colorado_mom - that was a bum link; hoping you can steer me to the right video as there are a dizzying number on that site!!
Oh, this brings up something maybe y’all can help with: my daughter is in tech theater at college and was lifting something too heavy for her about 10 days ago.
Her back is still hurting her.
She is starting tech week - that’s the crazy week before performances start, and they pretty much do not sleep, they’re so busy. She says she can’t take time out to find a doctor and do a visit.
Are there any stretches or something she could do that might help her? Not sure what else I can offer her, but I feel like I am failing in my mom duties.
For muscle strain or inflammation I usually take 3 Advil, 3x daily for a few days. I don’t know her medical history or her size but she may need an OTC pain reliever on a regular basis for a few days.
Gentle yoga stretches?
Obviously have her watch a video of how to properly lift heavy items!
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My H always uses a heating pad to help a strained back (in addition to the Advil thing). I hope it feels better.
I’m also one who won’t give up treats. For me, life would not be living if I never had junk food and moderation just doesn’t work for me either. For me, I eat it all on one day/week. I don’t necessarily endorse this for everyone, but it has worked for me and my temperament for almost 25 years now. Of course, I’ll never be magazine cover worthy, but I’m ok with that. (How many times can I say, “for me?”)
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I also didn’t give up treats but greatly reduced the amount of them at a time. Well, more so when I did my initial life style changes but some of it stuck! For a while I was eating a quarter of a cookie as a serving - enough to delight my taste buds. Or one square of a dark chocolate bar which I would slowly let melt on my tongue.
Two big problems moving to San Diego were (1) more tropical cocktails since there are so many lovely outdoor venues and (2) ice cream is year round here. Nevertheless, the city is geared up for much more healthy dining choices than I am!
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Sorry for the bum link . Will try again. If still bad, try google for “fitness blender tank top arms” - Tank Top Arms Workout - Shoulders, Arms & Upper Back Workout - YouTube
Not sure what could help your daughter. I’d start with advise above.
This is the other fitness blender I like - lower body active stretch. For me it pairs well with a partial episode of Netflix Grey’s anatomy;) Or Schiit’s Creek. Or Grace and Frankie Lower Body Active Stretching Routine - Low Impact Workout to Tone and Stretch - YouTube
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When shopping for MOB dresses… oops, wrong thread
Advil is my preferred back pain reliever too. Without knowing exactly the problem, lower, upper, mid, side, it’s hard to diagnose. But generally, I like using a roller and roll out.
In terms of eating treats, like cakes, cookies, ice cream, chocolate, donuts, alcohol, etc., in my mind, they’re simply just no longer treats.
If they could synthesize everything you needed to survive and thrive in a pill, or gruel, that would be fine for me. 
I feel like we’re all in The Matrix. And as Cypher said:
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