The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Lauren]

I was buying it until I got to 257...I don't even think you were in the two's at your heaviest, were you? You're a tiny thing, Miss Robin!

Very happy to hear you're doing great. Even happier that the site seems to be *almost* functioning at a good speed. I totally gave up on it for a while there...

Have a fab trip!

lauren

[DogMa]

Ha. Yeah, I actually started at just about 200. Maybe 203, maybe 197, somewhere in there, depending on my fluctuations.

And I know, it's still a little iffy, but it seems better than it was. I'm SO glad to be back on track, though. And I noticed last night that my infamously horrible ab strength is much, much improved. I can do crunches and sit-ups and dolphins and all kinds of stuff. Although the side plank, especially on my right side, still is pretty lacking.

[Lauren]

Hey, Robin, hope your weekend was a good one!

Site is finally running nicely, so I am trying to catch up with some folks here - I bailed when the site was so clunky...

How's the job going? Getting a little more interesting/exciting? I know you were concerned about boredom...

Just checking in, hope all is well!

Cheers,

Lauren

[DogMa]

Hey, Lauren. Yeah, things are going well at the job. We're midway through this huge project, and so far I've done not only my part, but a bunch for other people, too. The people are great, the commute's not as bad as I feared (most days, anyway) and so far I really like it.

My weight's still up, though, and I've been struggling a little there. I've done better with workouts, although this morning I woke up feeling like someone was standing on my chest. That didn't seem like a good sign at ALL, so I just lay down for a while and hoped it'd go away. It did, mostly, so I think I'm OK. But having chest pain kinda freaked me out.

Anyway, to get the food under contol, I'm going to try to do mostly shakes for a while. Not Medifast, because a) I'd have to order more, b) I don't like the taste anc c) I'd have to drink even more of them to keep my calories at a decent level. So I got some high-protein, low-carb shakes at Costco, and I'm going to get more when I get to Montana on Wednesday, and try to have mostly shakes with a meal or two a day, plus some veggies and maybe fruit to supplement. Just till I get things back under control and get my head back in the game.

I think I've been more stressed than I've realized lately, between the job and the travel and this darn trip to Montana, which is sounding more and more nightmarish all the time. Now I hear my cousin's water is so rusty, it SMELLS. His sister, who's staying right now (after his surgery) said she's using bottled water for EVERYthing because of it. And the hockey playoffs start this week, but since he has no TV and his Internet connection is too slow, I won't be seeing the Ducks play the first few games - and they're even playing the Stars. Sigh.

Anyway, I doubt I'll be on much while I'm gone since he only has one computer with an Internet connection, and his DSL is apparently very slow because he's so far out in the middle of nowhere. The good news is it should be easier to stick to shakes and not eat anything I shouldn't while I'm there, since I'd have to drive into town on unpaved, icy roads to get anything.

[Lauren]

Hey, Robin, glad to hear from you! Very happy to hear the job is going so well, that's awesome, and I am sure you've already made them pleased with bringing you board. That's key when you're new, impressing right away can make the long road ahead all the better!

Regarding the chest heaviness/pain: while it probably is nothing, if you have ANY other discomfort or extreme fatigue, please go to a doc tomorrow before you head out to Montana. You can't take these things lightly, it's just too important.

Hmm, yeah, the stay in Montana is sounding a little, um, rustic, but think of it as charming (as opposed to totally a**-backwards!). Sometimes it's great to be disconnected from the world, it's a chance to regroup, and it definitely sounds like a good opportunity to get the weight/eating in check.

Have a safe and wonderful trip if we don't hear from you again before you go.

Cheers,

Lauren

[DogMa]

Thanks, Lauren. I HAD planned on seeing either my doc or someone at work if I had anything at all this morning. But I was fine by the time I went home last night. Even did my PUSH workout. Got up feeling perfectly normal, so I hit the treadmill and got in a good, very sweaty workout. Still no hint of pain or breathing problems or weakness or anything like that, so I think I'm OK. Not that I wouldn't mind an excuse NOT to go to Montana. Heh.

I almost forgot - I'm also getting slightly greener. I've been feeling bad because even though I recycle my water bottles, I use an awful lot of them every day because I drink so much. So I finally found a reusable bottle that I like and bought two of them. This way I can buy bigger bottles or even get my water delivered, and not go through so many little bottles. It's still bottled water, so not GREAT for the environment, but I don't like tap water even when it's filtered. So at least it's an improvement. (Oddly enough, I'm drinking even MORE water with the new bottle. I don't know why, unless it's just that I've been dehydrated the past few days.)

Anyway, current treadmill routine (since it's been awhile)
Walk 5 minutes at 3.5 mph to warm up. Jog 6 minutes at 5 mph (or today, it was actually 5.1 mph). Then for the rest of the hour, I walk at 3.7 mph at a 1 incline, and every 10 minutes I run for one minute at 6 mph. Total today was 3.9 miles.

And then for PUSH right now (although I think last night was my last time with this workout), I'm doing a warm-up, then 12 "one-armed push-ups," 12 dolphins, then side planks, then regular planks (on elbows, then on hands), shoulder presses, some sort of ax-swinging motion with a weight, slow half-squats, fast sumo squats, two kinds of one-legged squats, regular squats (holding at the bottom), hamstring curls, bike crunches, pass-through crunches and a bunch of stretches. And probably a couple of things I'm forgetting.

[Sojourner]

Hey Rob!
Thanks for stopping by my house ~ I've missed you! The site issues were exasperating enough to keep me away too. I think people are still not back to full force yet, it seems pretty quiet around here.
Glad to hear you're feeling better today. Also glad to hear that things are going well with the new job.

You mentioned that you might've been dehydrated and it made me think that perhaps your chest pain could be attributed to muscle spasms - ?? That happened to me once and I thought I was having a heart attack! Rushed to the ER and everything! Turned out it was spasming muscles in my upper back/shoulder blade area. It was like the whole muscle wall was spasming, so it didn't feel like a cramp or anything - just lots of uncomfortable pressure and restricted respiratory issues. Something to think about anyway...

Have a wonderful time in Montana!!

[DogMa]

Could be, Sojo. Heck, I get spasms and muscle aches everywhere ELSE these days (although I've noticed my hamstrings have been almost pain-free the past couple of weeks - till this morning). I'm going with dehydration or something muscular (or both). I was TERRIBLE about water over the weekend. I'm much better with my pretty purple bottle (and my pretty pink bottle that I got as a spare).

Maybe I should send one to Tawanda ...

And yeah, still very quiet around here. I hope people come back! I'm in a chatty mood. Obviously.

[Lauren]

Hey, Rob! You back from your trip? Was it as much a nightmare as you anticipated? Hope not!

Touch base here when you have a minute, it's soooo quiet, which makes me feel bad for the newbies!

Cheers,

Lauren

[DogMa]

Hiya, Lauren!! How are things?

I just got back yesterday afternoon. The trip was definitely an adventure. For starters, I got there, got my rental car, drove all the way from Missoula, found his address ... and freaked out when I saw this his "driveway" is actually a very steep, winding, narrow little road (about a quarter of a mile long) and was covered with snow and slush and ice when I got there. After talking to Rob and then his sister, Carol, I got out and walked part of the way to see just how bad it was. It turned out it was a lot of slush, so I gave it a shot and thankfully made it down OK.

She was right about the water being stinky. It was AWFUL, and I couldn't bear to use it to wash my face or brush my teeth (drinking it wasn't even a consideration). I did shower in it, but I took fewer showers than normal because it was so awful.

The dogs were great, although taking care of them was a lot of work (there are 23 Siberian huskies - two are indoors, and the rest are working sled dogs). I had to haul a big pail of water out in the morning and make my way around the dog yard (still very snowy and icy - and very stinky) to get water to each dog. In the evenings, a pet sitter came to feed and water and scoop most of the days, but I had to do it over the weekend. The snow was just starting to melt, so there was a LOT of extra scooping to be done. Plus I had to haul around a big bucket of water AND a big bucket of food, and give each dog its correct amount (everyone got a different amount).

BUT I saw a bizillion deer while I was there, plus a whole herd of Rocky Mountain sheep. And we made it into "town" Saturday night so I could see part of the Ducks-Stars game (we stayed long enough to see the Ducks tie things up, and then his hip was bothering him so we left, and missed the part where the Ducks were humiliated; sigh).

Food was up and down; I was great for a few days, then indulged during the game (burger and fries) and a few other times just because I was so glad to be out. Got out for some nice walks, though, and even jogged a bit outside. Couldn't do my PUSH workouts without my weights and with no room (they don't take much, but there wasn't even space in my room to do a push-up). But I got home last night, and this morning I was up and running (literally).

[DogMa]

Oh, and I almost forgot. I was talking to my cousin (because that's all there was to do, when my eyes got tired of reading so much) and ... let me back up. This is my cousin who is very into fitness. He's a black belt in tae kwon do, he rock climbs, he mountain bikes, he runs, he mushes, he skis, etc. He's extremely fit, and he's 52 and single because he wants someone who looks a model and is 30 (although now he says she doesn't have to BE 30, she just has to have the body of a 30-year-old). He also lacks social skills and is adamant that it's better to be honest than nice. The positive side of that is that if he says something, he means it.

So that said ... in the course of conversation, he commented that I could easily meet someone if I wanted to, because I'm "cute and thin" (umm, he also said that most women my age are fat ... like I said, not big on social skills and generally brutally honest). Anyway, it actually meant a lot coming from him, because I know 100 percent that he would never say something like that to spare my feelings or to be nice or anything.

[DogMa]

And we had to save up all the trash and then take it to the dump, about 15 minutes away. They do offer trash pickup in the area, but they come very early in the morning, so he'd have to either get up before 6 (he's not a morning person) or set it out the night before. Which he can't do because it will attract bears.

[DogMa]

Whiiiiiiine. No run this morning. Not even a walk, or the stairs at work. My hamstring was hurting so much yesterday afternoon that I could barely walk, and it was still painful enough this morning that I decided to quit after about three minutes on the treadmill. I'm hoping it'll be OK after a day of rest, though.

[cydj21]

So that said ... in the course of conversation, he commented that I could easily meet someone if I wanted to, because I'm "cute and thin" (umm, he also said that most women my age are fat ... like I said, not big on social skills and generally brutally honest).

Sounds like a pretty great compliment coming from him! I think the best confirmation that I've made huge progress is when it comes from unexpected sources. I have an uncle who falls into the socially challenged category and he recently complimented my weight loss, which nearly knocked me on the floor. Good for you!

[katieb920]

Hey Robin,

SO GLAD YOUR BACK. Sorry about your hamstring. I admire you, with the amount of exercise you do.

How is the new Job