The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[JenPearson]

--just to chime in--I have done Callanetics for a long time, off and on, and it's a great workout. There's no bouncing around which I hate, and its slow yet intense. Finding a VCR tape of it on ebay is the best bet; I'm sure its out of print. I think you will like at least 80% of it, it can be hard.

Congratulations on your change of career and your smarts regarding timing. Benefits can be so important given the costs of anything health related these days.

[DogMa]

You can get it on DVD on Amazon, which is what I did because a DVD is so much easier. BUT so far I can't recommend it. Even with the DVD, it's hard to tell if you're doing the stretches correctly - and really, it does seem to just be stretches. If you're looking for strength training, look elsewhere (and if you want to improve cardiovascular health or burn calories, there is zero cardio in the workout).

I also now have a shoulder injury that's curtailing my workouts for a while. I don't know that the Callanetics stretches caused it, but I do find it suspicious that I've been running and doing strength training all this time with no injuries, and I've managed to screw up my shoulder after just two Callanetics sessions. Sigh. I'm seeing my doc this afternoon, because I'm in a whole lot of pain. Not only can't I do strength training right now, but even running caused way too much jostling and made it hurt more. So all I did was walk this morning - and only for half an hour because even THAT hurt.

And now I'm REALLY glad for the job change - I not only can see my doc for just a small co-pay, but because I work here, I have an appointment this afternoon. And it's no big deal to take off for it, since it's just in the next building.

[BiggerInTexas]

Yay for perks of the job! Let us know what they find out about your shoulder! I know it's gotta be frustrating having it slow you down and mess up the routine!

[DogMa]

I was just getting my momentum back, too. Sigh. I think I may run tomorrow no matter HOW much it hurts. Maybe I can tape my arm in place or something so it won't move around so much. I'll ask the doc what I can do, since he's a runner.

And I need to get a sling or something (I had one, but I can't find it, and making one from a triangular bandage didn't work so well) because I keep using the darn arm without thinking. And then getting a nice, sharp stab of pain when I do.

[BiggerInTexas]

Man, something is really hurt in there! I wonder what happened! I know you were just starting to get your groove back. That would really frustrate me, too.

Have you heard of the Nike+ nano thing? I was wondering about it, if it would encourage me to walk/jog (wog?) more.

[DogMa]

I have, but haven't tried it. I have a regular iPod and a Shuffle, but no Nano.

And I dunno. I'm hoping it's just tendinitis or something, but hopefully I'll know more later. I just hope he doesn't tell me NOT to run for a while. Sigh.

[aquarianskye]

Hey Robin...sorry to hear about the shoulder pain. I really do hope it's not from the new videos. I've done callanetics in the past and never had any pain, well, more than some muscle pain!

I hope everything checks out ok for you!

[DogMa]

They ran X-rays, but they basically don't know what it is, and of course it started feeling better right before the appointment. Yeesh. I'm supposed to go to physical therapy, too, but I'm hoping it's better by the time they call me. As for running, he said to take up to four ibuprofen and try not to move my arm too much so it won't hurt, but he didn't think it would cause any more damage. So assuming it keeps getting better, I'll be back up on the treadmill for a run tomorrow.

I still don't know about the Callanetics, but I also don't know that it's doing anything positive. The woman's instructions still seem unclear to me, and it still seems to be nothing more than stretching. The only thing that was sore afterward was my arms, and only from holding them over my head for so long. I much prefer strength training and building muscle rather than just "lengthening" it. So once my shoulder's all better, I'm going back to Bob.

[BiggerInTexas]

I'm so glad it wasn't serious and it's feeling better! How does your arm feel this morning?

[DogMa]

Ugh. Last night it was KILLING me again. Popped three ibuprofen around 8 or 8:30, and by 10 it was even worse, so I had some trouble getting to sleep. It was better this morning, but I can tell it's the drugs and not that it's better.

Anyway, at least it felt good enough that I was able to run with minimal pain. Did all four hills, ran a total of 20 minutes (adding that fourth hill killed me, so I didn't run the full 25 minutes; I'll do that tomorrow, when I don't have any hills to do).

[BiggerInTexas]

I thought you might've gotten off too easy on the arm pain and suspected it might be back. Good job sticking with the exercise program, though. I hope the arm starts feeling better for good!

[Karli]

Hi, Robin,

It's so great to have your example here ! Thanks ! Have a great day !

[dede4wd]

Sorry about your shoulder, I so hope it feels better soon!

Thanks for the advice about Callanetics, I sure hope it didn't cause your shoulder distress. I'm going to pass on it. There's some kind of bar workout that I'm looking into now...haven't decided if I'm going to order it or not!

Feel better soon!

[BiggerInTexas]

How's the arm, DogMa?

[DogMa]

A little better, thanks, but still bothering me. I may try to do the lower-body part of Bob's workout today, but the arm stuff is definitely out of the question.

Another successful food weekend, though, so hopefully I'll see some results on the scale. (Couldn't tell today because of some potty and water issues; ahem.)

Saturday I went on another Meetup, to the Dallas Heritage Village and the Farmers Market across the street. It was VERY hot, but still fun, and I got some great produce at the market. Including the best strawberries I've ever eaten in my life, some wonderful peaches and raspberries, and some asparagus and eggplant. All locally grown (they have special signs to indicate which places and which specific items are grown in Texas). Also ran Saturday (but a short run because I wasn't feeling quite right), walked Sunday (slower than normal because I still was feeling off, but I stayed on it longer so that I still walked 4 miles), and ran this morning (ran 25 minutes, walked the rest; total mileage was 4.34).

If I don't see some progress on the scale in the next couple of days, I'm going to have to do something more drastic. I'm not sure what, though. I'd do Medifast for a month or so, but I think the calories are too low for me these days. I'm thinking of another "program" that involves frozen foods. More expensive, but I figure I'll only need to do it for a short time. Really just to lose maybe 5 pounds and get myself back on track.