The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[centuryclub]

yeah, I'm still playing with it in my mind. One the one hand if I do it everyday I feel like I'm more accountable and can see how my body reacts to different things I do. On the other hand, if I get one disappointing day with only like, a .1 loss or even a gain, that can be incredibly discouraging.

I think I might just settle on once every two days. My goal from here until the end of my MF journey is to lose 1/2 lb every day. At this point that is very doable, but later on it may be harder to achieve that. Regardless, that is my goal. So, every two days I will weigh myself to see if I have lost the 1 lb.

... although I havent been too good about that the last few days. I've weighed myself both days, losing .6 on monday and .9 today, to be down to 269.4. So I'm in the 60s. It's been awhile...


On another note, something kind of weird is happening. It seems the days that I eat the bars and perhaps have a slightly larger portion of the lean and green (closer to the 7oz side than the 5oz), the more I lose. I figure it's because my body may be wanting more calories. Anyhow, I'll just keep eating the bars every day (there was a time where I didn't eat them for a few days and the weight loss slowed a little bit) and see how it goes.

Anyhow, have a good day all!

[Mike]

It seems the days that I eat the bars and perhaps have a slightly larger portion of the lean and green (closer to the 7oz side than the 5oz), the more I lose. I figure it's because my body may be wanting more calories.

Its amazing how that works. When we give our bodies the proper amount of nutrition that it needs, it is okay to let go of the stored fat. Keep up the great work, and keep tweaking things for your program so that it works best for you.

[Sojourner]

So I'm in the 60s.

YAY for you, CC!!
Way to work the program,
I just knew you'd be good at this!



As far as the daily weighing goes... it is such an individual thing, but if you're finding (as you said), that small or no losses are really discouraging to you, it may be best to weigh less frequently. When you're totally OP, the weight will come off, but the fluctuations can be downright maddening. And even when we're experiencing good losses, we tend to focus on and more readily remember the negative stuff. It's just human nature. It might be helpful to look to other measures of success. Have you taken your measurements? Have you lost inches? Do your clothes fit more loosely? Do you feel better? Is your blood pressure down? Cholesterol levels? Stuff like that. The scale is just one thing.

Stacey was right about the daily weighing for those folks maintaining their weight loss ~ it's been a widely documented feature of successful weight maintenance to weigh every day. It is not, however, as important during the weight loss phase. Anyway, I'm sure that you'll find what works best for you with the scale, just as you've done with the program.

Oh, and bigger "lean" portions and daily bars might be working for you because of the higher protein intake. Just something for you to consider...

Congrats on the nice NSV with the family dinner out.
You're rockin' it!

[rodeomom]

Last time I visited the chiropractor I mentioned some muscle sorness from my workouts. He was impressed that I was pushing myself to the next level and asked if I was getting enough protein in my diet. He said that since protein aids in the production of muscle it also helps in repairing muscle (makes sense really). At any rate - ya'll were discussing protein so I thought I would add that little tid-bit.

Centry - you are making great choices and making the plan work for you. Sometimes we do have to tweak things and mix it up a little bit to give our body what it needs to let go of what it doesn't need.

Keep up the good work!

[centuryclub]

Thanks for the support everyone. I really appreciate it.

So I want off-plan yesterday. I had weighed in in the morning and not gained nor lost anything (So on Wednesday morning, my weight change was 0).

(This is probably a story about why I shouldn't be weighing every day!)

Anyhow, I was on plan for a little while on Wednesday and then I saw some of the Chinese leftovers that my family had last night. So I decided to pick at it a bit.

Then I got very hungry for off plan food and made myself a chicken patty That was a mistake.

I stayed on plan for the rest of the day, drank a lot of water, got good sleep and thankfully (and somewhat miraculously) I weighed in this morning (Thursday morning) having lost .4 lbs. I think the loss is some from Wednesday (I couldn't eliminate as I had wanted before the weigh in, nor did I get good sleep)

Anyhow, it was a minor slip up and I'm back and committed. That said, I lost .4lbs in 2 days, and considering my blunder I'm pretty happy.

So I got good sleep yesterday ( I had had horrible sleep for awhile, not being able to sleep more than 3 hours and sleeping at irregular intervals throughout the day, which I think partially contributed to the 0 gain/loss on Wednesday) and I feel great today! And so does my back! For the first time in a long time!

I even woke up early and went swimming this morning. I find that when I go swimming nowadays it feels like my throat is very dry when I'm in the pool, like I'm going to suffocate sometimes. When that feeling kicks in (usually after 20 laps or so of breast stroke) I switch to the back stroke.

Anyhow, this morning I did anywhere between 36-42 laps (I lost count a couple of times. 36 is the low number, as I KNOW FOR SURE that I did 36, but I think I could have done 42 or more, I'm just not sure.)

I asked the lady at the front desk about the pool dimensions, and it is 75 feet long. So it's about half the length of an olympic pool. So, by my calculations I swam 2700 feet, which is pretty good. I would have to swim 75 laps to get to a mile


Anyhow, on a completely non weight-related issue I need help and advice from you folks.

I was offered a job with a presidential campaign going through Nov. 4th (I had interned with them in the winter). Anyhow, they want me full time but I would have to skip a semester of school. I did the calculations - I will still be able to graduate on time (just in 3.5 semesters instead of 4) with minimal extra effort. We're talking about only taking two extra classes for my entire college career (I came in with some AP credit and had already taken an extra course) , which I would have done anyway.

My parents, though, are adamantly against it. They feel that I must stay in school, must pursue academics, etc. I tell them that this is a great opportunity, that I'll be able to network myself, that I'll still graduate on time and save them 20k, but they aren't budging. They don't even want to discuss it.


One of the reasons is that they are worried about what I would do from the end of the campaign (Nov 4th) till the start of my spring semester (Late Jan). That is a valid point. I became personal friends with someone who is a higher up in the U.S. Congress, and I've emailed him to see if I could intern during that time, which would be ideal. But can you folks recommend anything that I might be able to do for that 3 month spell of time?

And can anyone give me an advice on what I might be able to say to my parents to convince them to let me do it?

Also, for parents on the board, can you maybe help me understand better where my parents are coming from and why they are so adamantly against this? I don't think that it's because they're worried about how I would do on my own (I go to school in California and my internship with the campaign was in Las Vegas). Can anyone point something out?

Anyhow, thanks so much for any help that you can give me. I know I just wrote a novel, but hopefully some of you folks can offer me some solid advice.

Have a great day losing!

[Diana]

Hey, Century. Great course correction!! A friend recently sent me a Homer Simpson quote. Thought you'd like it given your victory -- "You can't keep blaming yourself. Blame yourself once and move on."

And forgive me as I respond with a novel of my own.

As for the college thing. When I was an undergrad, I took a quarter off. The parental anxiety comes from the very common pattern of folks who do so with every intention to return and finish but don't. The job I had during that respite didn't necessarily have a defined termination, and I gotta tell ya it was nice being flush for a change! I even talked with my supervisor about staying longer and SHE told me no since that's what had happened to her and, consequently, never finished her degree. "Come back when you've got your degree; the company will still be here," she advised. Good advice. And I never returned. I had other goals by then.

The break in momentum, though, is a huge concern. It took me about 16 years to finish grad school. So, I know both realities about taking a break.

If the internship with the campaign fits with your major, consider asking the university if you can develop an independent study (IS) plan of, say, 4-6 units centered around your work on the campaign during the fall semester. There should be something about your institution's procedures in the course catalog. Most likely, you'll need a sponsor or supervisor -- one of your profs -- and a learning objective of some sort, as well as a final product in mind. As to what you'll do with your "spare time" afterward, if you're on independent study, you'll need that time to finish researching and preparing your project/product/presentation. You could also volunteer -- find some "frontline" community connection that perhaps relates to a portion of the candidate's platform and the focus of your IS plan, perfect for the holiday season.

And just for the sake of conversation, my parents and I had an agreement when I went to college: they paid for the whole thing my freshman year; after that, we split it. Each year, they let me choose if I wanted to pay for registration/tuition and books, or if I wanted to pay for living expenses. Then I paid for all of grad school.

IF a significant part of they're concern is financial even though you were the one who brought it up, perhaps you could suggest that they maintain the financial status quo until the DATE you originally expected to graduate when you started as a freshman, then you pick up any and all expenses after that. Additionally, as a self-imposed consequence, you could offer to pay them $100 a month after the date their financial obligation ends through the month you actually qualify for graduation.

Bottom line, the best insight to your parents is gotten through first-hand active listening on your part. Hear them with your heart and don't sit there forming a rebuttle as they speak. Just take it in, then reflect back to them what you heard without any agenda except to understand they're point of view. (If this isn't something you do regularly, it will take HUGE self-control on your part to be more of an objective observer rather than acting like the accused or even the plaintiff.) THEN take a while (a day or two) to develop a compassionate and responsible reply. Spend some time writing it out. Read it out loud. Put yourself in their shoes as the listener this time. But don't take notes in with you when you go back to talk with them.

This isn't war. This isn't court. This isn't advertising. And this certainly isn't sport. These are your parents who love you and act on what they feel will be the best blessing for your future. You see your life right now and about 50 feet (chronologically) in front of you. Your parents hold your past, present, and about 30 MILES of your future in their view when they make decisions. Always remember they act out of love, not out of self-preservation, and they do the best they can with the information they have at the time. But this necessarily means you won't always understand they're objections.

(soap box now surrendered with the knowledge that free advice is worth exactly that)

[centuryclub]

thanks so much for the reply Di. I'll definitely read it over a few more times - sound advice. Thanks a lot

[centuryclub]

so on a weight loss related note, im down 1.6 today to 267.4. I began the week at 270.9, so so far its a 3.5 lb loss. I had made it a goal to lose 1/2 lb every day from here until the end of this process, so so far I've met that mark for this week.

It may be foolish to set this goal on something that can't be directly controlled by me, but I feel like I need to strive towards something concrete and numbers related - even if it is out of my control. If I do everything right - and for me, what I've noticed that's just as important as not eating off plan is getting good sleep, drinking tons of water and eating at the correct intervals - I feel like I should have no problem achieving this goal.

So, because forward speculation is always fun and gives you something to look forward to, I was running some numbers.

Assuming I maintain a .5 lb loss / day from here until my goal, which may change as I get closer to it though... I wrestled at 171/189 and was absolutely cut, fit, and healthy. I hope to get down to 150, but I'll adjust as I get closer.

So, assuming I want to hit 150...

I have about 117 lbs to go. If I do hit .5 lb/day, I'll reach goal in 235 days. That would be in 7 months, 25 days. So I would hit goal sometime early March.

Hopefully I'll reach before then, or maybe be happy with my results before that date. However, I'm fairly confident that I can maintain more than .5 lb/day, so right now, though it may be foolish, I'm considering that the bottom end. I figure plateaus will come here and there, and the rate at which I lose weight will decrease as I lose more, but right now, I'm going to take that as the bottom end of my goal - if for no other reason than to give myself something to strive for. If I don't reach my goal, I'll at least have done a lot for myself and will be fairly close.



On a not pounds related note, I got some sugarfree hazelnut syrup yesterday. Tried it a little bit in some of the oatmeals and a bit in the hot cocoa and it gave it a nice, different flavor.

And the other day I did freeze and add some lemon juice to my vanilla pudding - it tasted eerily similar to a lemon Italian ice. Good stuff.

I'm also finding that whenever I'm hungry inbetween meals, if I drink a little bit of water I'm totally fine. Before when I was doing other diets or just trying to watch myself, I didn't find that that happened. This diet is quite something.



And just one question for you folks - why are lbs symbolized as #?

[TonyR]

Great job century, and isn't it fun to try and figure out how long it should take to give you somewhat of a goal to get to? I lost my original 160 pounds in 10 months to the day. I adjusted my goal like 3 times...from 200 to 180 and eventually got down to 172.5...then life set in had our 2nd kid and the rest is history. Gained back about 90 pounds.

The reason I got to my goal was because I was bound and determined to get it off. Sure I had nibbles of offplan food here and there, but I wouldn't keep doing that all the time. If I saw the scale slip then I would make myself more bound to stick to plan. You are doing great! Keep up the good work and you could very well see yourself at goal before the 7 months!

[Mike]

Before when I was doing other diets or just trying to watch myself, I didn't find that that happened. This diet is quite something.

And just one question for you folks - why are lbs symbolized as #?

First, if you are following this program, its not good to think of this as a diet... diets tend to fail. Research shows that 85% of people who "diet" regain the weight. Follow the program, once the weight is off, follow the maintenance program and your life will be better forever.

On the pound thing.. I looked into it for you and here is what I found (Wikipedia):

Keith Gordon Irwin in, The Romance of Writing, p. 125 says: "The Italian libbra (from the old Latin word libra, 'balance') represented a weight almost exactly equal to the avoirdupois pound of England. The Italian abbreviation of lb with a line drawn across the letters was used for both weights. The business clerks' hurried way of writing the abbreviation appears to have been responsible for the # sign used for pound."

Good luck.

[BiggerInTexas]

Congrats on the continued loss, Century! You are Da Man!!! Great job!

I like setting numbers goals, too. It doesn't upset me to miss a goal - it gives me an opportunity to re-evaluate what I've done in the last week. I actually gained 2 lbs when I started exercising, but I was 100% OP, so it was OK with me. As long as missing goals doesn't cause you to get depressed or go off plan, don't be afraid to go for it! I think you've found a system that works right for you!

[centuryclub]

hey all

my posts are either going to be really, really sparse or quite frequent over the next few days/weeks

yesterday dad got into an accident - right now is in icu- they dont know if hes gonna come around. right now its wait & see, but in a best case scenario the outlook isn't good

It seems extremely unimportant now, but I did stay on plan all of yesterday and plan to keep staying on plan. my dad would've wanted it that way, and i do too

have a nice day everyone

[Mike]

Our prayers here go out to you and your family. Hope that your dad pulls through okay.

[Diana]

As you can, keep us posted, CC.

You're right, it seems that complaince is not nearly as important, but taking care of yourself is paramount in being able to support others. You need to be your strongest, most capable self right now, and that means not compromising anything in YOUR health plan/goals.

As Mike said, you and your family will be in our prayers throughout.

[dede4wd]

Hi Century,

I haven't met you yet, so I popped into your journal to say hello. I've read your entire journal. Your determination and attention to detail are inspirational.

My greatest hopes for a speedy recovery for your father!

DeDe