Question

[chrisie_20]

I have over a 100 pounds to lose. What made you finally stick to the program. I am having trouble with the depression of why bother. I am going to end up giving in just like always. Help me out here please. I really want to shed these pounds. I know it is mostly up to me...but if any of you have any suggestions it would be wonderful!

[msnicksmom]

Re: Question

Chrisie, I'm not a CC memeber, but found your post through the new posts button, please don't be offended for my chiming in.

YOU ARE WORTH IT. You can do it. "Giving In Like Always" has now been replaced by "I Love Curves" and "Fat Rocks" and "Nothing Tastes as Good as Thin Feels". You WILL do this. You are worth it. It's going to be a great year.

My very first suggestion is read Tabekat's stickies, I think they are onthe induction and the main boards, but might be on this one too. Take them to heart.

My second suggestion is find the foods you REALLY like on this WOE. You know that dumb nutrisystem commercial where the chick from reailty TV says "And any diet that will let me eat chocolate every day is the diet for me"? Find your chocolate. For me, it's CREAM, BUTTER, CHEESE with my delicious veggies. And pumpkin cheesecake. Any diet that lets me eat these is the diet for me. Is it steak? Salad dressings? Omelets? Find it, and embrace it.

Then. MOVE. Move your body. Get Walk away the pounds, the one mile. You might not be able to complete it at first...but then you WILL. Just do it. It's simple, and doesn't make you feel clumsy.

We are here for you. I'll be checking up.

Hugs
Denise

[Katlam]

Re: Question

Chrisie, You're looking at us to tell YOU why you want to loose the weight? Does that make sense to you? I know my reasons, you tell us, why do you want to loose it.

Until you try this you won't know how well it works. Unless you commit to it (no cheats, even little ones hurt) you won't fully succeed.

What benefits will you gain by doing this? better health, lower cholesterol sure

You will feel better about yourself. You will get to buy a WHOLE NEW WARDROBE.

What are you afraid of? Being noticed? You better believe folks will notice. The positive comments will lift you up. Explaining your new meal plan, you can...or you can just say you are allergic to sugar and flour and so you can't have those things (they don't have to know that it's because you break out in fat ;-) )

C'mon, it won't bite, you just have to get thru the first week and then you'll notice the change. Promise yourself you'll give it the full 2 weeks.

I'm here cheering you on!

Kathy

[LC_Dave]

Re: Question

I have over a 100 pounds to lose. What made you finally stick to the program. I am having trouble with the depression of why bother. I am going to end up giving in just like always. Help me out here please. I really want to shed these pounds. I know it is mostly up to me...but if any of you have any suggestions it would be wonderful!

Christie, my experience was pretty much the same.

I tried on and off for about 4 years, before I could commit fully.

Basically the issue I had was trust. Did this WOE for long term weight loss, as I had been betrayed by Weight Watchers (Put a lot of my money, time & spirit into WW - years of my life).

Over those 4 years I read about Low carb and the studies, and I listenned to people who were very big like me, and I saw how these people were dropping big numbers.

I finally decided to put all my will and effort into making it past the first two weeks.

That was the hardest thing,

trusting again

and starting.

Ever since it's been great!

And as I always like to say: The first 100 pounds are the easiest!

[chrisie_20]

Re: Question

No, you misunderstood what I am trying to say. I am not looking for anyone to tell my why I want to lose weight. I know why I want to lose weight. THERE ARE 100'S!!! And I have had tried Atkins several time. I just keep falling off. I just need to know what made you finally stick! And, I know the benefits. You totally misunderstood my question.

Chrisie, You're looking at us to tell YOU why you want to loose the weight? Does that make sense to you? I know my reasons, you tell us, why do you want to loose it.

Until you try this you won't know how well it works. Unless you commit to it (no cheats, even little ones hurt) you won't fully succeed.

What benefits will you gain by doing this? better health, lower cholesterol sure

You will feel better about yourself. You will get to buy a WHOLE NEW WARDROBE.

What are you afraid of? Being noticed? You better believe folks will notice. The positive comments will lift you up. Explaining your new meal plan, you can...or you can just say you are allergic to sugar and flour and so you can't have those things (they don't have to know that it's because you break out in fat ;-) )

C'mon, it won't bite, you just have to get thru the first week and then you'll notice the change. Promise yourself you'll give it the full 2 weeks.

I'm here cheering you on!

Kathy

[chrisie_20]

Re: Question

Thanks guys for the helpful support!

[Vampyre]

Re: Question

What made it finally stick for me is my health. There have been several threads about doctors not understanding nutrion issues, but there is one thing they have got right. Being overweight is harmful to your health. When I had a really bad checkup, I decided it was time to take chaning my WOL seriously. So far I've been through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, several family birthdays, a bat mitzvah, and a wedding without falling off the wagon because it's now MY wagon. I own it. I'm not dying for a piece of cake.

[lisaj]

Re: Question

I have only been cheat free for 3 weeks, I started my fourth week monday. It's different when restarting, after failing because you have to get over the failure and stop reliving it. Also you have to learn from it. I know what triggered me to cheat, and avoid it. I'm learning how to use the splenda allowance for when I programmed myself into believing I had to end a meal with something sweet, or its 3:00 chocolate break. I went to a graduation party, a birthday dinner, and fathers day bbq and did not cheat. You get one under your belt and the 2nd is easier and the third, my thought was, No way am i eating that crap. Its harder day to day sometimes, i cut my boys watermelon. I love melon, but I KNOW i am not ready to move onto that rung, it triggers me to crave sweeter things. I had to stop myself from grabbing it out of instinct to "pick" while i cook. Those small things feel so monumental. My main thing is, if i cheat, i feel like i have wasted that day.Then, its going to take 2 more days to get me into fat burning again, and i just don't have days to waste anymore.

[aquaryus]

Re: Question

I just need to know what made you finally stick!

A few things helped me...

1. Being diabetic.. The results showed on my monitor before they showed on my waist. Going from 250+ after a meal to 140 after a meal was a relief!

2. A week into my induction, i was able to fit into my jeans w/o having to unbutton them to sit.

3. Two weeks into it, co workers and friends started noticing that my sides and belly were getting flat. I wasn't bulging out all over.

4. Going to buy new tank tops at Lane Bryant and finding that the 26/28 was too big got me giddy!

5. My gut no longer touches the steering wheel in my car!

I tell myself everyday that this is about ME now. No one, not the food industry, my family, not even the government can persuade me to think that eatting all those bad carbs is good for me or harmless. I see the results, i feel the results and even though I have 150 lbs to lose, I'm not going to let it get me down. Tomorrow will be exactly a month (6/24/06) that I'm on Atkins and with all the above happening in that short of time gives me incentive to keep going. I also realize that I will have to do this for life, and that doesn't bother me one bit. I wanna be healthy, I wanna live a full life! I want to maybe wear a bikini someday! I want guys to look at me and go "Damn!" There is just so much I want to do in life and let's face it, being big is a burden. I'm 28 years old.. I could go into my 30s in this body or the one that's hidden beneath all this flab.

I hope this helps you.. Please send me a message if you want to talk!

[Kate113]

Re: Question

What makes me stick to Atkins? I do!

I've seen the changes in myself. Everything on my body looks better and feels stronger. Clothes fit better and are much smaller than the clothes I wore 2 years ago. I am also mentally stronger. I told myself I was doing this and no cheating this time and I'm sticking to it because I don't want to gain the weight back again and have to start all over.

I also like the compliments. "Wow! You've lost a lot of weight!" You're darn right I did and I'm gonna keep going until I get to where I want to be!

The longer I stay on plan, the more I lose. The more I lose, the better I feel.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Question

if you should have a failure don't say whell I've blown it might as wekll cruise the drivethroughs and the bakery and then restart tomorrow. make the very next bite Atkins. this is called practicing carb harm reduction. every time you do it you will find the off plan times get smaller and less frequent.
clear out your house of all high carb not allowed foods give them to charity. stock up with the stuff you can have and have at it.

for me I'm very stubborn. I knew i needed to lose read the book checked out the science and said okay 14 days is a very small time i can do this and we'll see if this fellow knows what he is preaching. I fully expected to gain weight after 14 days eating all I wanted to satisfy my hunger but a funny thing happened after I recovered from the caffeine withdrawls on day 4 I woke up with a calmness and energized almost high. I loved the feeling and when day 15 arrived and I jumped on the scales and saw how much was gone I was hooked. Staying cheat free was the key for me cause I knew that 300+ pounder was chasing after me trying to reclaim my body and would get it if i allowed her on bite. I rewarded myself with $5 a pound in a new account and decided 100 pounds gone was the day I could spend it. I loved going to the bank and depositing my lost pounds and thinking about what i was going to get. A funny thing happened on the way down what I was going to get kept changing but I knew i could have what I wanted at that time when i was at 213 pound s so it was never too much to acheive.


challenge yourself! one week cheat free and then reward y9urself with some nonfood reward that will be important to you cause if I'd used Brook's perfumes and lipglosses i'd have had no motivation to lose there. then make it 2 weeks and go. soon you will be cheat free forever. i know I made it a whole 22 months before I had my first cheat cause I was getting rich!

[Katlam]

Re: Question

Chrisie,

So giving up is not the option you want. You have to want to stick with your new meal plan more than the siren song of those carbs and such.

And yes, 100 pounds is a lot to loose. I'm still waiting to hit that 100 pound mark and I've been here over 2 years.

My main motivation was FEAR! Total gut wrenching FEAR. Actually seeing how big I'd become, I knew it on an intellectual level but had found ways to avoid the mirror and the camera for so long that I'd stopped SEEING. Then my friends gave me the photo of all of us moms smiling and happy at Christmas. I looked like I was about to DIE. Red faced, double/triple chinned and wearing a red sweater that could have housed both my children. I was smiling but I absolutely HATED how I looked. That photo was my kick in the butt that I so needed! That was what got me started.

Then I came here and found such support and great folks who were and ARE so supportive. Knowing I could check in and get a boost and a reminder about that slippery slope that still exists to take me back to that fat lady from Christmas of 2003 if I don't keep in eye on things.

Maybe you can find a buddy here who'll hold you accountable for a little while and then once you're in swing of things you will just find it easier to stick with it rather than risk blowing it all. I know I had a few folks I would check in with regularly. That made coming here fun.

Trying new recipes is fun too. I'm a bad planner for food but when I'm in the groove, oh man I love to cook up all kinds of new stuff. Discovering the faux mashed potato recipe of Dawn's (or did Kent change it some too) was awesome. And then Jicama as hash browns. Cauliflower as fried rice...well it just doesn't get any better!

Hope you find your motivation soon and do check out the recipe section, it keeps the boredom of the same old foods away!

Kathy

[Kent]

Re: Question

What was the clue or the cinch for me was the scale. I was one of the fortunate that consistently saw results of some sort, whether it was pounds, inches, or photographic evidence. My suggestion would be to document as much as possible from where you started. That way no one (not even yourself) can doubt as far you have come. One of the big helps for me sticking with it without cheating was accountability. Whether it be here or simply at Fitday, I knew I had to record what I was doing. Doing something offplan would require me to admit it. That negative avoidance certainly worked for me.

[IrishIrish]

Re: Question

It was a Monday morning like most Monday mornings. I was starting a new diet. But this time was different. I had read the book. I had a copy of the Acceptable Food List and a copy of the Rules of Induction. Copies were in my purse, my briefcase, my study, my refrigerator, my glove compartment and I didn't deviate from the list or the rules. And soon, I began losing and I kept losing.

On thing that inspired me besides the successes on this board was Chapter 1 in DANDR. I read it every morning, like a Bible! I still read it, often.

[lisaj]

Re: Question

I have been thinking about this question, since it was posted. I have to think " how will i stick" because i have only just started my journey also. At work, they always bring in illegal food. Friday, what it made me think, while i watched them eat pie, was this........I used to eat because eating made me feel "good" or so i thought. Even tho you had the guilt of, I should not be eating this, that food "satisfied" or so i thought. I ONLY felt good while i was eating it. NOW, because of the food i have eaten, between meals, DAMN, i feel good.The energy is there, the cravings are GONE. I just told them at work, I have done the "fall off the wagon, and hit the carb train before" trust me, I'd feel sicker then a dog, I'd have the runs within minutes, and then the guilt. Its just so not worth it to deliberatly sabatoge a good thing. You cannot rationalize it away, when you are serious about your life choice. This has to be a lifechoice. Failure can't be an option.