The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Lizabette]

Miss you already, but take good care of yourself!

[DogMa]

Thanks, guys. And thanks to Tawanda, who has convinced me (I think) that maybe it doesn't have to be all or nothing and I can stay but just scale back my reading here a bit. So ... apologies in advance to people I don't keep up with as much as I used to, but I'm going to give it another go. I may be mostly sticking to my own journal, though. Sorry if that's selfish, but it's what I need right now. (But if anyone needs/wants me, they know where to find me.)

Whew. OK, so that said, I ran a full 30 minutes this morning and am very pleased with that. And I'm going to try not to be concerned about my weight being up all week. I'm eating the same things I always eat (and even ran it through FitDay yesterday to check - I was at just over 1300 calories, so nothing terrible even though I'd actually eaten extra that day), so I have no idea what's up except that I haven't been getting much sleep and I'm also fighting a bit of an injury. And I increased my exercise a couple of weeks ago, so the whole calorie thing is still questionable. Too many? Too few? I have no idea.

Anyway, that's it for me. I hope everyone's doing well.

[Tawanda]

Robin, I'm so glad to read your post!!!

[Sojourner]

(((((((((((((((( ))))))))))))))))

[bikipatra]

She came back because she missed me, she just doesn't want to admit it....

[DogMa]

Argh. My secret's out. Biki, how did you know??

So weight is still climbing, little by little, but body fat is supposedly dropping. Which I don't get at all (And no, I didn't put on almost 3 pounds of muscle in a week!!) I dropped my calories, but it's not helping, so maybe I need to increase. But how do the Biggest Loser people eat so few and still lose? Or the people here who work out a bunch and still lose? I don't understand why my body doesn't work the same way.

Sigh. Maybe it's the leg problem, which I thought was a pulled hamstring but appears to be sciatica (which I think is the problem I've had on and off for years that the stupid doctors couldn't diagnose). Anyway, today will be a slightly higher-calorie day, followed by a very low-calorie day tomorrow (because I'll be fasting till dinner).

Off to the treadmill.

[Lauren]

Robin, sorry your leg is still a problem, and that your weight issues are frustrating the heck out of you. I have found that on days were I have more fat based foods, and when I think I'll gain weight, I end up dropping weight, so it does seem that the increased calories, when really active, are probably the answer - for me at least - so it's worth giving it a shot.

I wanted to ask if you were totally stressed about fasting tomorrow. I've always fasted for Yom Kippur, but last year, when I was still in the weight-loss phase, I did not. I decided that since the "rules" are that you don't have to fast if it's for medical reasons, that losing this weight was most certainly medical, and I truly believed that I was making the right choice by staying on plan. I am happy I did. However, now that I'm on maintenance, I feel I should fast again, but I am slightly freaking out about what that means. That means I probably can't/shouldn't exercise, bc I won't have the fuel, it means no water throughout the day, and it means trying to figure out what to eat at break the fast that will fill me up enough to not be ravenous for the next two days, but that won't throw my body completely out of whack. Did you fast last year? How were you planning on doing it? Oy vey! :-)

Lauren

[DogMa]

Hey, Lauren. Yes, I fasted last year - except I drank water all day, which is what I intend to do this year. I've found that if I go all day without water, I end up having a headache for at least three days afterward. So using that medical "out," I drink water and stay hydrated. The fast itself wasn't a big deal, though. I had a normal dinner the night before, and basically had a pretty normal dinner after fasting - and took the day off from exercise. I can't remember if I worked out the next morning or waited till later - I can check my calendar when I get home, because I keep pretty good records of that kind of thing.

This year, I figure I'll do about the same thing. I'm taking Saturday as my day off from working out (although I may walk that evening if I feel up to it after breaking the fast). On Sunday, I'll just see how I feel and either run in the morning or wait and do it later in the day, after I've had a chance to refuel.

As for calories, I just don't think I function that way. When I increased my calories, I seemed to maintain at 1300 and gain at 1400. I tend to lose at around 1200 (although not this week, for whatever reason; my body fat has been dropping on the Tanita all week, which usually means I'm retaining water, so maybe it's the inflammation in my leg). I think my metabolism still is not normal, and it may never BE normal. I apparently spent far too many years eating too few calories, and now I wonder if I caused permanent damage. Because nothing seems to be improving things.

Although in looking back, I also saw that my fats were a bit lower a week or two ago (about 25 percent, instead of 30 percent), when I dropped down to the lowest I've been in a while. So I'm going to try dropping my fats again next week and see what happens.

[DogMa]

Wow. Ate too much for the holiday (before AND after), but I so don't even care. I went to a friend's for the break-fast, planning to stay maybe an hour before escaping - and stayed till past 10 (more than THREE hours). Met a couple of people I'd actually love to see again (and they said the same, although of course part of me thinks they were just being polite).

Anyway, back to normal today. I'm going to walk instead of run because I was so short on water yesterday (I wound up doing the full fast - no water). And then later I'm off to a running store with a friend to have my gait evaluated and get better running shoes. Three weeks till my 5K.

[Sojourner]

Met a couple of people I'd actually love to see again...

...and get better running shoes.

So, Rob...
These people - are they men?
Might our "soap opera" return from hiatus?
Biki will be so pleased!

Cool about the shoes. We did a similar thing for DH's workshoes...it's really made quite a difference ~ less pain and fatigue in the knees and back at the end of the day. They were a bit pricey, but well worth the reduction in pain and increase in comfort. You might want to keep these shoes up on a shelf though, and away from the Mojo Maw!! He's made chew toys out of your running shoes before, right? Or is he out of that stage now?

I'm glad that you had a nice holiday!
Hasta!

[DogMa]

Ha. No men. It was actually all couples (plus one couple with a 6-year-old) last night, except for me and one woman who brought her mom because her husband was out of town. Another reason I normally wouldn't stay long.

And definitely, on the canine monster. My running shoes are used only for running and are kept far away from her. I try to keep ALL my shoes away from her, but sometimes I slip up.

And this was very cool. He measured my feet and watched me walk to check my gait (as I thought, I underpronate - or supinate - which is pretty uncommon, but if I'm anything, I'm ... uncommon), then brought out four different shoes - all of which felt great. But one felt even better than the others, so those are the ones I got. And they actually cost LESS than my Shox. I'll try 'em tomorrow for my run. (But I had to get a pretty big size - they say to get a full size bigger than your shoe size, which actually measured bigger than the shoes I can wear. I was a 7 on one foot and 7.5 on the other, so they put me in an 8. My normal running shoes are a 7, and if I wear REGULAR shoes any bigger than 6.5, there's a huge gap between my foot and the back of the shoes and they fall off my feet!!!!)

I'm also mixing things up once again this week, or at least trying to. To give myself a little more time to work out in the mornings (without getting up any earlier, because I just can't), I'm going to try having a protein smoothie for breakfast after my workout (low-carb whey-soy-casein protein plus some unsweetened almond or soy milk and frozen berries or banana) and have my fritatta later on, at work. I figure I'll give it a couple of days and see how it goes.

[DogMa]

Argh. Only did half my run this morning because those fabulous new shoes turned out to be not so fabulous. I'm taking 'em back today (instead of the workout video this afternoon, but I'm going to run again when I get home). Sigh.

[bikipatra]

Argh. Only did half my run this morning because those fabulous new shoes turned out to be not so fabulous. I'm taking 'em back today (instead of the workout video this afternoon, but I'm going to run again when I get home). Sigh.

Sorry about the shoes! I don't even know what my shoes are supposed to feel like but they didn't cause me any pain in my feet. I did have a slight twinge in one of my ankles...Obviously I can't buy some new shoes right now so I will stick with my MBT's for now.

[DogMa]

Sigh. I love my Shox, but every running site in the world says they're terrible for running so I thought I'd try something else. They never hurt my feet, but I thought just maybe some other shoes would help with the hamstring issue.

MBTs are stability shoes, which unfortunately are completely inappropriate for people like me, who supinate (or underpronate). They're for overpronators (the majority of people).

[Tawanda]

Robin, rotten about the new shoes not working out well.

What happened with the guy that you had to send the letter to telling him to quit trying to contact you? I hope he's gone for good.