Rob's Diary

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Had a good day today. I feel a lot better than I have recently due to the crap I was eating. I feel like a different person, the contrast is so sharp.

I went swimming today. I felt my calves might seize up again so I switched strokes to keep them engaged. I've been taking magnesium. The swimming felt good. I lifted weights too - DB bench, curls, and face pull. I noticed just a little increase in the amount I can bench. I listened to a running podcast while I was lifting to get some good information on nutrition for long runs. Marathoners eat a lot of carbs I think. Some are vegetarian. Two things I try not to do. One marathoner mentioned they trained themselves more to burn fat so running on an empty stomach and lower sugars during runs I think it was. Today was 14 days of no weight-bearing exercise on my knee. Can't wait to start running again although my leg still hurts mostly in the hamstring area now and I can feel it still in my knee. Total calories out according to my Fitbit are 3.5k. 10.6k steps.

Food was good today. I ate about 2.6k calories. I had fruit, yogurt, and eggs for breakfast, grilled salmon and chicken at lunch, and chicken salad for dinner. Veges, nuts, sprouted bread for snacks.

I connected with a relative over FB and I started meditation again. 10 minutes on transforming anger today. Paperwork, a little housework, online chess, eating behaviors support group also. Good day today.
 
Had an OK day today. I took some allergy medication last night. I felt spacey and unmotivated this morning and most of the day. My lower calorie diet may be catching up with me a little bit too.

I swam and lifted weights - glutes and hip abductors. I could feel my calves about to cramp while I was swimming after about 80 minutes despite switching strokes often. Total calories out are 3.4k. 7.3k steps. My resting heart rate is going back down as the effects from the junk food go away. Along with that, my sleep is improving a little bit.

Good food today. Chicken, salad, fruit, veges. I went to the store and got ingredients for turkey chili which I'll be making. Total calories in were 2621.
 
bensanon said:
I took some allergy medication last night. I felt spacey and unmotivated this morning and most of the day.
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I hate antihistamines, they may me groggy and light headed. I have to have a pretty bad cold to take one.

Your exercise and food sound good, from that perspective you did well.
 
I think anyone would cramp up after 80 minutes of swimming. You sure do throw yourself into exercise. How much magnesium are you taking, Rob?
I couldn't survive without antihistamines, but some are awful. I find fexofenadine the best for me anyway.
Your food sounds good & it's great that your sleep has improved, Rob.
 
Hopefully I'll adjust to the loratadine at the beginning of allergy season here. I have tolerated it pretty well in the past but I may also be more sensitive now. I don't take it everyday because it lasts up to 2 days for me.

Cate, I take 400mg twice a day of magnesium glycinate. This supplement in particular has all sorts of formulations.

Feeling a little foggy again and unmotivated this morning. Staring off into space and a little sleepy. Maybe it's the magnesium.
 
Thanks, Cate. I'm looking into increasing my dose.

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So I missed posting yesterday. I overate. It was on healthy food but I know that doesn't really matter. I kept my fat below a typical binge amount but the carbs were higher. I don't like it. Just an awareness and working on it like I am, I know is helping. It could be worse. It is what it is right now and I'm doing the best I can.

I went to see the PT today. It's the first time I've been to a PT so I didn't know what to expect. It was an open area with many different therapists and patients working. It was distracting and I didn't feel like this guy explained things all that well. He was in and out a lot too. He's the head of the program so perhaps it's just his style. I don't doubt he knows what he's talking about but if I hadn't been paying as close attention as I was, I would have missed a lot. I spent a lot of time after the appointment recollecting and putting my notes together too. It took me all day basically but I think it could have been presented a little differently. I have a plan now with stretches and exercises to do and a timeline. I still can't run but he did say about 4 weeks to get me back to it and I've got a lot to work on and they'll give me more. If it'll prevent the problem for good and teach me how to deal with it in the future, I'll sacrifice the four weeks and put in as much effort as needed. I'll continue to see him until I know it's not working anymore. I'll be staying on top of it.

Good food today. I'm tired and it's getting late. I'll update more later.
 
Hey Rob, do you plan to see the PT again, or regularly? Sometimes it takes a while to understand each other and figure out how to work together. I think you are trying pretty hard, if he is any good it should work.
bensanon said:
Good food today.
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Can't beat that.
 
I try to be cautious at the start, Rob. I’ve been hurt too many times by blindly trusting and just going along with it. Here, I’ll do it as long as I think it’s helping. This guy told me I was over-pronating, that I needed orthotics (he gave me the name of someone who sells custom made orthotics $300+), my hip was dropping and that I have weak ankles and a weak hip and cross-over gait, and my foot strike is in the wrong place, all without watching me run or walk without shoes. I think he thought he’d seen my case so many times, it had to be what’s happening. He said all the pain is from my sciatic nerve. I think he’s right about the nerve. I’ve had two different gait analyses done though and I don’t pronate that much and my arches look good. I have video of my stride from one gait analysis I’ll show him. It would be good to pin him down on the other stuff.

I think maybe it’s his personality and he knows what he’s talking about but it’ll be a matter of getting him to focus on my specifics a little more. My intuition and gut feeling is usually right in these situations and I run into problems when I don’t follow it. There are a lot of people on autopilot for various reasons and if someone‘s not paying attention, it’s incredibly easy to miss things and live in agony in perpetuity. I recently saw a periodontist for the first time and I didn’t get the same feeling. I knew she knew what she was talking about and was engaged. I’m sure this guy knows what he’s talking about but I don’t think he’s engaged.

The stretches and exercises he gave me will help me in any case so I’m following all instruction he gave including not loading my leg by exercising more on it for now.
 
bensanon said:
This guy told me I was over-pronating, that I needed orthotics (he gave me the name of someone who sells custom made orthotics $300+), my hip was dropping and that I have weak ankles and a weak hip and cross-over gait, and my foot strike is in the wrong place, all without watching me run or walk without shoes. I think he thought he’d seen my case so many times, it had to be what’s happening. He said all the pain is from my sciatic nerve. I think he’s right about the nerve. I’ve had two different gait analyses done though and I don’t pronate that much and my arches look good. I have video of my stride from one gait analysis I’ll show him. It would be good to pin him down on the other stuff.
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I know absolutely nothing about this, but if I got an assessment like that I think I would get a second opinion, particularly on the custom orthotics. I know you are being careful, this seems like a lot to commit to without understanding that it is what you need.

How was your day today?
 
Hey, Rob. Thanks for checking up on me. I'm doing OK I think even without being able to run. Things are dramatically different at maintenance or at least at this pause point I'm at. I was 189.6 this morning. I'd still like to get to 175 eventually but I need to get my leg situation worked out first. I'm trying to control the binging. I had one episode this week so far but otherwise I'm OK. I attend meetings online that help. I don't know what else I can do other than to constantly try to get it under control and outlast it with more positive behavior that will take over. Setting myself up by pledging not to do it is not the way to go for me. I will get it but I think I'll have to beat it into submission with the more positive behavior and not beat myself up when it happens. It's going to be a slow, slog-ish process.

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I met with the PT again today. I'm a little perplexed with his approach but I haven't ever had PT before and this is my first interactions with a provider who has a lot of experience in the sports and the fitness world. There seems to be a method to his approach and it looks like it'll be incremental progress and him following me along all the way. Most of the work is at home but there's quite a bit of work in the clinic. I showed him the gait analysis and he still believes I over-pronate and need orthotics and I'm a little more inclined to believe him than the running store employees. There's a slight angle when I land but it doesn't seem drastic. I don't have more advanced knowledge so I'm at the mercy of his experience and I think I'm OK with it for now. It's hard to pin him down much more for now until I know more.

My leg is still bothering me but he did say I can do the elliptical and bike. I'm SO happy about the elliptical. I've got stretches and an entire core and hip strengthening routine to keep working on things. He says I should be back to running pretty soon - 3 weeks or so maybe. I hope so.

I continue to eat a lot of protein and I think it really helps maintain muscle mass. I've been sidelined a little bit with weight lifting because of the PT but I try to get in a little and I'm keeping it in mind to get back with more after I get back to running.

I might do some posts about my diet/day, etc. but things feel different now. I like it but the purpose was always to bring myself to a fuller life and that may or may not include posting more regularly here. We'll see. I like that I can and I like the people and support here and I like following along others' progress. Cheers to anyone reading!
 
bensanon said:
Cheers to anyone reading!
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Thanks! a lot of people read your posts.
bensanon said:
I attend meetings online that help
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Can I ask what kind of meeting? Might be something like that would be helpful to me. I remember your comment on my diary a while back about waiting for the other shoe to drop, meaning a binge. I worry about that a lot, at times its only will power that keeps me from bingeing, and I know my will power can't last forever.
 
Hi, Rob. I always like reading your posts and following how a lot of your thoughts change as you go. I find that aspect of the forum much more interesting than the actual process of how people lose weight and/or get fit. Bringing yourself to a fuller life sounds like an excellent goal. If that does not include posting often then we can deal with that. We would miss you though.
How qualified is this PT? I'm being lazy not going back & looking, but is he an actual physiotherapist or a personal trainer?
 
Cheers back to you, Rob! I'm keeping quiet at this point, mostly, because I don't know anything about all the physiological things, but I'm reading along.
One thing - you've said you're at a "pause point"; that's where I am, too, pausing to try to maintain where I am right now, and to re-evaluate where I want to go from here. I think it's a good place to be, the "pause point". :)
 
Hello, It's been a couple days since I've checked the forum. I feel some distance from it but I'd like to get back to holding myself accountable here and reading and supporting others while I go for 175. I was 191 this morning. I'll try and get a little more organized and I may wait until I'm full on running again.

Cate, this guy is a physical therapist. He's the head PT at a good hospital's outpatient PT lab. I think he's worked with a lot of runners. I keep hearing good things but after 2 visits, I'm still unsure. I have another one tomorrow with another therapist he works closely with. We shall see.

My leg felt looser over the weekend but seems tight tonight after about an hour on the elliptical. I started water running on Friday in addition to the swimming and now elliptical. I've enjoy the water exercise but there's something about being able to sweat on land that I love.
 
So I went to my 3rd PT visit today. I saw a different PT and it was apparent there wasn't good communication between this one and the previous one who's the expert. I feel like I'm just in the system going through the motions and not getting individual treatment as well as I could. They're not very forthcoming with information which is concerning and there's some conflicting information now too.

We tried dry-needling today into my piriformis muscle. The thought is that the muscle is pinching my my sciatic nerve whereas the original theory was that it was being pinched at the base of my spine. They maintain that it's all of the above including other things we haven't started addressing. I don't know any better but I sense maybe there's some better treatment approaches out there. I'm trying to impress upon them my incredibly really strong desire to get back to running. They don't engage much with the latest research, what their previous experience with other patients is, how common this is, the long-term prognosis, etc., except to just answer generally. Hmmm......

I'd rather be at this place doing stuff like this compared to being alone with the pain like before, not knowing anything, but I'll keep my eyes and ears out for what else I can do. The other thing is that I gave them some pretty significant information such as losing more than 100 pounds and the start of my timeline in running but they don't explore that information much. It's like they're just following their process. I could go into a lot more detail but they don't ask and I think it's probably important. I'm risking being too pushy with them if I'm not careful. They have a lot of other patients too. I admit that my standards are a little high but that's the type of treatment I'm seeking but I'll keep following until I know how to get to the next level. Wouldn't want to risk losing these relationships I'm building now in the future either. They're good people, just not sure we're zeroing on it quite yet.

I'm tightening my diet as I've adjusted more to not running. It hasn't been easy but I don't feel as desperate with my weight since I don't have the running to help me. I have water running, eliptical, and biking I can do.
 
bensanon said:
The other thing is that I gave them some pretty significant information such as losing more than 100 pounds and the start of my timeline in running but they don't explore that information much. It's like they're just following their process.
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Not so good. I think your strategy of watch-and-see is good, keeping lines of communication open - but "just following their process" is a bit of a bad indicator.
 
My leg is still hurting me. It feels worse than before I started therapy. I’m feeling rather hopeless about it. I’ve gained 6 maybe 7 pounds throughout this and I’m struggling again tonight.
 
Hey Rob, you know the few pounds you have gained is minor compared to how much you have accomplished, think of where you were not so long ago. You've overcome significant obstacles, you can overcome this one. You are finding exercises you can do that are easier on your knee, and you are finding ways to cut back on your meals.

You can do this, you know you can!
 
Hey Rob, how are you feeling today? Better I hope.
 
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