The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[katieb920]

This is what she said. I took off my jacket, and she said oh you look good. And that was it. I really do love my sister, I think she might be a little jealous. Who knows. The only thing I know is that I am going to finish this to the end..........

Sunday is going to be a tempting day. My company is doing a Duckathalon. Yup that is right a duckathalon in NYC. Where you get all of these famous restaurants and famous chefs running around in Chelsea Market, doing a scavenger hunt. It is pretty funny. I am bringing my RTD"s with me and of course my soy crisp and my Carmel nut bar (which is absolutly my favorite.

Saturday Matthew and I are going to the carnival. That is also going to be a hard one. I LOVE FUNNEL CAKE. What I keep saying to myself, once I am in Maintence I will be able to eat that. But that is a long ways off.

Well have a good night.

PS Matthew pitched tonight 2 innings. Not one kid got a hit off of him. Love watching him play.

[Tawanda]

Katie, some people just have a hard time being happy for others that they perceive that they are in some type of competition with through out life.

Your weekend sounds like it is going to be fun (and food challenging).

Congratulations to Matthew! Sounds like he is a pretty awesome pitcher.

[cydj21]

The Duckathalon sounds like a blast! Good for you for not being overwhelmed by the prospect and instead planning ahead to avoid being tempted.

Potentially jealous or not, at least your sister admitted you look good! Just think of how much better you're going to look before it's all done, too! I don't know about you, but somtimes those lukewarm reactions are all I need to motivate me even more.

[DogMa]

Yep, at least she said something, even if it was minimal. She may also be used to a certain pattern (didn't you say she's always been the thin one?) and it might be hard for her to accept that that's changing.

So is there duck involved in the Duckathlon?

[katieb920]

NO ducks invvolved in the Duckathalon. Except for <img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/thirtysixdegrees_photos/flippers.jpg" border="0" alt="flippers"> The owner of my compnay is french . Great sense of humor huh LOL. These crazy chefs will run around nyc having races Who can waddle the fastest, and who can tread water the fastest.

So I was driving down to the shore yesterday, to visit some of my chefs when I noticed my arms are are so flabby. Does anyone have any exercises I could do with out going to the gym.

Today it is raining. I am suppose to take Matthew and his friend to the carnival. Maybe if it stops we can go.

Well have a great Saturday everyone.

[lifelovinaries]

push ups, push ups, and more push ups! I hated them in the beginning because i could not do even ONE (on my toes) and i could barely do one on my knees. Now i am up to the sets of 72's (on my knees, "women's" style. I am actually happy with how my bat wings aren't as wingy It really helps and when i noticed the difference it made me keep up with them. Try the wall or counter pushups to start if your upper body is real weak.

To do the 72's, count the pushups as follows:
1
1,2
1,2,3
1,2,3,4
etc...until you get to the set of 8, then come back down
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
7,6,5,4,3,2,1
6,5,4,3,2,1
etc...

before you know it, you have completed 72. I couldn't complete them all at first but i worked my way up to them in no time. Rest briefly between each set. Time yourself and see how long it takes you, then after you are able to complete the entire set of 72, work on decreasing your time.

[Diana]

Hiya, Katie.

Sounds like some biceps and triceps work might help. Robin probably has a ton of information -- talk about a great body transformation -- but here are the ones I started with.

If you have handweights, great. If not, start with a one-pound can of something.

Biceps curl:

Palm up (with can or weight in it), arm down. Anchor your elbow at your ribs/waist. Keep upper arm still as you curl your fist toward your shoulder but STOP before you actually touch it. Then lower to your starting position You should be about to count 2 on the way up and count 2 on the way down -- don't do it too fast. Switch or alternate arms, or do them at the same time. Do 3 sets of 10-15 curls with each arm, rest for at least one minute in between each set.

Over the head triceps curl:

With a weight in one hand, put your arm straight up next to your ears. Now drop your hand behind your head, palms facing up, forearm just about parallel with the floor. Without moving your upper arm, curl your lower arm up so that your whole arm is straight, then back down. You can use your free hand to stablize your working arm. Put your fingertips just below the elbow to make sure your upper arm stays put. This one's easier NOT to alternate -- just do the reps for that arm, then switch. Again, 3 sets of 10 - 15 curls with each arm with a 1 minute rest in between.

I actually started out with no weights, particularly with the triceps.

There are lots of demos and instructions on the internet. I did a Google search for arm exercises to make sure my directions were correct. Lee Hayward has great pictures along with directions (even one way at the bottom of the Governator before he started dying his hair).

Here's to fabulous, not flabulous, arms (to borrow one from Nancy!).

[aquarianskye]

Hey lady! Sounds like you've been busy. Just finally coming around to check in. Keep on truckin girlie.

[cydj21]

To do the 72's, count the pushups as follows:
1
1,2
1,2,3
1,2,3,4
etc...until you get to the set of 8, then come back down
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
7,6,5,4,3,2,1
6,5,4,3,2,1
etc...

Interesting! I would never have thought of doing it that way. Katie, have you given it a try yet? I also need some serious arm help. They have come a long way in recent months, but I want to step it up before summer.

Also, I'm really glad you're here, too. I love that we are so close in weight and can keep each other motivated to stay on track. I wish you had hit the 180s! I think seeing your weigh-in yesterday morning motivated me to drink some extra water yesterday...I didn't want to come up 0.1 short, too! This week it is going to happen for sure and we can race each other to the 170s. Such a number is unbelievable for me I can hardly stand the wait to get there!

[katieb920]

To do the 72's, count the pushups as follows:
1
1,2
1,2,3
1,2,3,4
etc...until you get to the set of 8, then come back down
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
7,6,5,4,3,2,1
6,5,4,3,2,1
etc...

Interesting! I would never have thought of doing it that way. Katie, have you given it a try yet?

That would be a big fat NO Push ups scare me. I think I am going to try them tonight. Maybe I will try to get around the 40's first

[aquarianskye]

Wow to all those push ups. I started doing the wall ones a few months ago and then Robin mentioned the counter ones so I've been doing those. I only seem to get them in 2-3 times a week. And I usually only do 10-12 at a time but I can totally tell a difference in my bat wings. Let us know how it works out for you.

[katieb920]

I started doing the wall ones a few months ago and then Robin mentioned the counter ones so I've been doing those. I only seem to get them in 2-3 times a week.

You know what really scares me about doing the wall and counter. Is that I am going to slip and break my nose. (i am blonde ya know)

[DogMa]

Hee. Notice in my instructions I always say to be careful NOT to slip and slam your face into the counter. Because I was always kind of afraid I'd do that, too. (It's MUCH less likely with the wall, though.)

But yeah, push-ups are great. There are lots of tricep things out there, too. Check a site called www exrx net (with dots between, of course) for help. They list exercises with or without equipment and by muscle group, and they have videos to demonstrate everything. And if you don't have hand weights, use cans or pretty much anything else you have around.

Even now, on my current PUSH video, Bob has me do regular push-ups (non-girlie) and then chair push-ups (using the back of the chair, although I use the back of my couch because I can't seem to keep the chair still). In one of the earlier ones, he did wall push-ups, too.

But of course, there also is no such thing as spot reducing. You can lose fat and wait for the skin to tighten up (and hope that it does), and you can build the muscle (but it won't get rid of the fat or skin). I still have some jiggle there, but my arms DO stop waving shortly after I do these days.

[aquarianskye]

Hehe, Katie, I might not be blond but I am very clutzy. My momma used to call me grace when I'd walk in with another sore. She said I get it from the best of them cause she's a clutz too. When I first started doing the push ups I'd only do a couple of them at a time and play with my footing to make sure I wasn't going to, um, hurt myself.

[lifelovinaries]

word to the wise...just don't wear socks wile doing counter pushups ask lil lulu (chynnadoll) about here experience! Although the 72's may seem daunting at first make sure you rest between each set and you probably won't be able to make it thru the entire set the first few times. Then it seems like it will take forever for you to get thru the whole set once you are able to work up to it. Then before you know it, you will be able to breeze right on thru (well, not really breeze, i still struggle at times but i get them done). With time, i found that i lower myself to the floor even more so evn tho it's still not EASY, i am getting even more of a workout by going lower. I had only worked myself up to 15 girlie pushups when i tried the 72's. With the way the 72's were structured (with resting between the sets), i was able to make it through to the set of 8 and back down to the set of 6 then completely gave out. So just keep pushing, it's really not that bad. Evn if you can only make it to the set of 4, you have done 10. Then next time you try push for making it to the set of 5 and so on. Before you know it, days (or weeks, whatever ) will have passed and you will find yourself being able to do 72 pushups total.