Jessica,
Believe me-- I know how frustrating medical issues can be, but you have to realize a doctor would NEVER tell you to gain weight to help your joints! That is counter-intuitive. The more weight on your joints the harder it is on them. I am a big proponent of multi-vitamins and calcium. I feel the multi-vitamins help to balance any missing nutrients as it is so hard to get everything in daily. Women need Calcium especially as they age (I know you're young now!). My mom had severe osteoporosis so I've taken Calcium for years (I'm not a big dairy eater/drinker so I know I need more) and I've already been diagnosed with osteopaenia (early osteoporosis) so I'm on meds for that too.

Neuro, I forgot to answer your question about Passover, sorry! I typically get about 60-70% of my calories from carbs. Rice, pasta, and cereal are the staples of my diet, so during Passover it feels like I'm going on some kind of low carb diet! I have a lot of trouble cooking during Passover because I have very few recipes that don't involve rice or pasta.

Michele, thanks! I guess I am worried about it because whenever they examined my joints, they always came back with saying it was tendinitis rather than any sort of arthritis. I don't know, maybe tendons need more fat?

Jessica, sorry to jump in. But tendons and ligaments need time to heal. That means time without putting any stress on them. The same is true for plantar fasciitis. All of the connective tissue components of muscles and joints heal more slowly because they don't have as much circulation. That means if someone keeps on pushing, it is counterproductive and just keeps injuring the tissues again and again.

If you haven't done this already, discuss your exercise regimen with your doctor and ask him or her whether that might be contributing.

Jay

Jay, yes, I know they need time to heal. My exercise regimen is massively reduced from what I was doing last summer and I haven't exercised at all this past week except for some crunches. I haven't been running and I have barely been walking for months now.

When I first saw my doctor about the plantar fasciitis and tailbone issues, she okayed me for swimming, strength where I am not stressing my feet, and biking as long as I sat so that my tailbone wasn't stressed. Since my wrists acted up a little over a week ago I cut all of those out as well.

135 lbs. this morning! I find the number on the scale (because I've been living with it so looong - since I was 11 - 44 years of weigh ins) still has a lot of meaning for me. I need to use it to keep on track . Stop weighing, start gaining.

Now the serious business of actual weight loss starts. I know the 6 lbs. I've shed so rapidly was mostly bloat due to all sorts of excesses but now I'm seriously maintaining at the dog sit and then dieting .

I will not have access to my own scale until Thursday but I will weigh in on my client's scale and record any change in the number there. I can translate that to my own scale when I get back from the pet sit.

It can be totally scary getting on someone else's home scale. I remember "gaining" 13 lbs. in one go with a strange scale. Turns out it just needed an adjustment - phew!

Good Saturday all (I'm working all day - in the rain - get out the violins )

Dagmar

Woot! Dagmar!! 135 is a significant number for me as well as that is what I weighed on my wedding day. Once I gained weight, my ultimate goal was to get back to 135. When I actually went lower, I changed my goal. I often wonder if I beat myself up too much. If I was happy at 135, why am I now miserable at 130?

Regardless, I have also seen great weight loss this week. My first week tracking on sparkpeople and I've been keeping my calories low. I quit eating bananas too and I think that has helped! I was 126.6 this morning which is the lowest I've been in several weeks. Now to push back down the three more pounds to get to where I'm happy maintaining.

What is it with me and self-sabotage? The only positive thing I can say about my binging on Friday was that it didn't include any sugar. Instead, I ate about 2 cups of brown rice, an entire bag of light popcorn (which turns out to be 3 servings) and, best of all, a full measuring cup of cashews (over 700 calories in and of itself), ALL AFTER DINNER. What's been triggering the binges for me is simply calorie and carb. restriction. Each time I get within a few pounds of goal, I seem to be unable to control myself after dinner. Each time I binge, I feel better (physically, not mentally) and more in control for a few days (while my weight bounces up a few pounds and then drifts back down). As soon as I get back to 123 or just under, the cycle seems to repeat itself. I thought if I cut carbs instead of calories, I might be less prone to binging, but that approach seems to be provoking more trouble for me, so it's back to my prior ratio of 50% carbs (including fruits and veggies), 25% each protein and fat.

This morning I was back to 123 even, and managed to eat a clean 1400 calories yesterday and today, but I feel in my bones that another few days and I'll wolf down something else. I JUST WANT TO SEE 119 FOR A DAY, to prove to myself that I'm physically capable of doing this, and not being ruled by my appetite. I've been trying for sooo long to hit this goal, its beginning to feel like a fantasy. For god's sake, there are women my height who start to panic if they hit a high of 115; it's not like I'm aiming for an underweight BMI.

On a less mentally unstable note, Jessica, Michele is right. I'm a doctor and I would NEVER tell someone to gain weight. I promise you it's not the fact that you're lighter now that is provoking your problems. Without more information, I can't tell you what IS doing it, but it is infinitely more likely to be unrelated to weight loss, just coincident with it. In the meantime, if your stomach can handle it, try taking 400 mg of naproxen sodium (Aleve) twice a day along with a good glucosamine/chondroitin supplement to see if your ligamentous pain doesn't calm down. My wrist pain flairs if I use a machine like a stepmill where I brace myself with hands behind my body, or I lift heavy dumbbells over my head. When I lay off those activities, it takes a week but the pain stops on it's own.

neurodoc Sometimes our bodies tell us the lowest weight they're willing to tolerate waay before our brains.

Back when I was aiming to get to 125 (a number I picked out of the air) as goal my body started fighting with me every time I got to 133 or so.

I am now still determined to get down to 130 but in my heart I know my "goal" weight will realistically be 133 - 135. I have bought clothes etc. in anticipation of this.

I am not willing to be binge-hungry every day for the rest of my life to get to a specific number. My body wants 136 but is willing to tolerate 133. Good enough!

Dagmar

Little bit of a bounce back up, but I go into the week 2.5# lower than last Monday. Kidlet decided he needed to make cupcakes. We went to the store and started reading cake mix/prepared frosting labels (omg!!!) - and settled for an organic vanilla cake mix, and I made him a buttercream frosting (4 ingredients and only 9 syllables!). But there was a lot of bite/lick/tasting going on, I confess. All in all, one of my better weekends otherwise.

Funny about 135 - I fantasize about that number too! I dimly remember passing by it in the late 80's - was probably about there when I got married 22 yrs ago. For me, it's linked to an old rule of thumb about 100 pounds for the first 5 feet, and then 5 pounds an inch after that. Even though it's not going to be realistic for me now, there's always that wishful sigh ...

Neuro - Glad you're here with us - I'm familiar with the blank stare you can get from "outsiders" and they just say, "Well, why don't you just stop?" I've never had the experience of my body going rogue from restriction - my overeating is so purely in my head ... your struggle is totally opposite. I hope you can find peace with it before you drive yourself crazy. If it helps to rant here, keep it up! By the way, I remember you asking where I am in MI - not sure if I answered, so ... I'm in Fenton, between Flint and Ann Arbor.

Work remains completely out of control. Apparently another top-down re-org is on the way, so no one is capable of making any decisions. I expect to be in limbo and covering 3 positions until it's resolved one way or another. Oh well. I'm sure 5 years from now I will look back on it and if not laugh, wonder what the big deal was. Breathe!

Sigh....
I am another one who sees the numbers going in the right direction and then just blows it!
I didn't do anything particularly bad this weekend-- ate healthy foods-- just TOO BIG of portions! I also only exercised on Saturday (not Friday-- too busy, and not Sunday too sore!).
Scale was back to 130 this morning after I had seen 126 on Saturday. Back to work....

I also saw the numbers moving the right way on Friday and then imploded over the weekend. Sigh.

Me too. Weight up from the weekend, I ate junk (at least I didn't eat junk FOR my meals, just in addition to my meals...). I did finally get some exercise though -- my wrists were feeling better so I went swimming yesterday. Better than nothing and my wrists held up pretty well -- swimming actually tends to make them feel better for some reason (increased circulation?). I think if they never manage to figure out my other issues I will just become a swimmer. (Until I injure my shoulders, at least! )

Thanks for the health advice guys. I'm going to see the podiatrist tomorrow and the endo on Wednesday. I wouldn't mind being prone to tendinitis if it would just respond to standard treatment! They have had me on prescription NSAIDs for a couple months now and all they do is give me heartburn (or gas, depending on which one it is). But I am hopeful that something useful will come out of the endo visit, if only a better understanding of what my thyroid is doing.

Tonight marks the beginning of the Passover diet. I will try to limit myself during dessert at tonight's seder and make sensible choices at the main meal. I already have recipes planned out for this week for the nights we aren't eating at the relatives' house.

I was 130 on Friday morning, 133 yesterday morning, 131 this morning. Normal pattern, up a little over the weekend and back down during the week. I hope I'll drop under 130 this week.

I started feeling desperate and crazy when I got around 125 lbs - binging because of physical, not emotional triggers. neurodoc I feel your frustration; it's so hard seeing people the same height easily dropping into weight ranges below mine while I feel like I'm starving to death 15 lbs above the "underweight/healthy" BMI cutoff.

Ah, another oy to add to our thread today. Feeling blue and tired, or tired and blue, chicken/egg.
We also celebrate Passover and I am up by 5-6 lbs (acute awareness of weight as we have large family dinners and I tend to remember these things when choosing outfits) since maintenance began. I am also very jiggly and that is probably why I feel significantly bigger than 5-6 pounds. And yes, the pics show my face a broader than I would like.
OK, for crying out loud. It is 5-6 pounds. I can so do this. Oy.

well, on plan breakfast under my belt (so to speak, lol). it's exercise and lack of it that I need to address. and food. hm, familiar.

Here's hoping for Dagmar to stay dry, Jessica's wrists to reduce inflammation, Neurodoc, Michele, Becky, Shannon, Krampus and I stay on plan and keep moving!

Kittycat-- yesterday I was saying OY VEY at school! And a teacher overheard me and agreed with me. I told her I think it is going to be an "oy vey" week!

Scale down again today but I'm getting tired of the mind games already.

Question for those of you that count calories, nutrition, etc. Can my diet be too low in fat? I've only been tracking for less than a week but my fat intake is about 20 grams a day-- some days a little higher and some a little lower. My calories are low (about 1200 ish) but everything else is in "normal" range-- protein, carbs, fiber, etc. I think this is where it has been for a long time but I've just never tracked it before.