2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

[ADreamComeTrue]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

Very nice essay barrnone! Very inspiring!

-Christie

[mission to lose]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

I have been pondering whether to do this or not, because I keep thinking about the past, but I just realized this essay is supposed to really be about the future...

"What a good challenge............. there is no right or wrong, nothing to debate, just a good, honest, personal look at what you and I expect from our lifestyle of eating and living".

I don't want to rehash the past, but now that I realized this essay isn't really about the past I will do this tomorrow.

[Kntrylady]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

My expectations with Atkins

I had tried Atkins a couple of years ago, and was enjoying the success that comes with it. Then I succumbed to my addiction to carbs and slowly but surely gained all my weight back.

I finally become fed up with being fat, out of shape, tired, not to mention rising blood pressure, and blood sugar. I felt unhealthy, and had reached a point that I felt incapable of enjoying day to day life. My clothes didn’t fit, I got out of breath doing simple things, I no longer felt comfortable riding my horses (not to mention being able to get up on their backs) and no longer enjoyed hiking and exploring the area where I live.

I came back to Atkins, clear in my knowledge that calorie counting and/or a low fat diet spelled misery for me. I not only expected, but knew with certainty that this WOE would work for me, as long as I stuck with it and allowed it to work. I expected to loose weight. I hoped quickly, but recognized it could take a year or two. I hoped that the blood pressure and the blood sugar would go down, which I am happy to say it has.

I expect to be able to eat well on this WOE. With the decadent choices, why not? The food choices in induction are so easy that I didn’t expect how hard it would be for me to move up through the rungs in OWL.

As I loose weight and exercise more, I hope to get stronger, become more agile, and be able to return to exploring the outdoors around me, both on foot and on horseback. In spite of getting older, I hope to have less aching joints and more energy.


.

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

I have been pondering whether to do this or not, because I keep thinking about the past, but I just realized this essay is supposed to really be about the future...

"What a good challenge............. there is no right or wrong, nothing to debate, just a good, honest, personal look at what you and I expect from our lifestyle of eating and living".

I don't want to rehash the past, but now that I realized this essay isn't really about the past I will do this tomorrow.

SIGN UP AND WRITING YOUR ESSAY FOR THIS CHALLENGE CAN BE DONE NOW THRU DECEMBER 23

i'm always happy to have someone come along and want to get down to the bare knuckles of why we are doing what we do, that is, atkins
try to get that essay done for us and posted tomorrow. cut off is by the last hours of the 23rd, but those that know me best, know i'll extend what i can, when i can. i look forward to reading your thoughts.

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

My expectations with Atkins

I had tried Atkins a couple of years ago, and was enjoying the success that comes with it. Then I succumbed to my addiction to carbs and slowly but surely gained all my weight back.

I finally become fed up with being fat, out of shape, tired, not to mention rising blood pressure, and blood sugar. I felt unhealthy, and had reached a point that I felt incapable of enjoying day to day life. My clothes didn’t fit, I got out of breath doing simple things, I no longer felt comfortable riding my horses (not to mention being able to get up on their backs) and no longer enjoyed hiking and exploring the area where I live.

I came back to Atkins, clear in my knowledge that calorie counting and/or a low fat diet spelled misery for me. I not only expected, but knew with certainty that this WOE would work for me, as long as I stuck with it and allowed it to work. I expected to loose weight. I hoped quickly, but recognized it could take a year or two. I hoped that the blood pressure and the blood sugar would go down, which I am happy to say it has.

I expect to be able to eat well on this WOE. With the decadent choices, why not? The food choices in induction are so easy that I didn’t expect how hard it would be for me to move up through the rungs in OWL.

As I loose weight and exercise more, I hope to get stronger, become more agile, and be able to return to exploring the outdoors around me, both on foot and on horseback. In spite of getting older, I hope to have less aching joints and more energy.

kntrylady, thank you so much for sharing some thoughts with us. i loved your parting shot...... "In spite of getting older, I hope to have less aching joints and more energy".

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

i have really enjoyed reading the essays so far. i have not commented on all of them individually here in our thread but those of you who have submitted your writings have been sent a personal note and your award [cept kntrylady who will get her pm in just a couple minutes]. thank you so much for joining me in this effort! i love having the company.

[barrnone]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

This has been an excellent challenge and all the essays have been inspiring. It's been wonderful to feel a little closer to those that chose to enter this challenge. I've really enjoyed reading all of your essays.

[OzLover]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

2009 I Am Worth It Challenge Essay

I started 2009 with high expectations regarding my chosen way of eating/living. I expected 2009 would be the year that I would reach my goal. I expected not only physical health but some emotional & spiritual healing in areas of my life that had brought me to my highest weight. Were my expectations to high? Were my expectations unrealistic? I have asked myself those questions many times.

I have spent all of 2009 on a slippery slope with visits to Atkinsville & Carbville. Equal opportunity visits on my part.

My year has been full of ups & downs. I have had a neck/shoulder injury which has been quite an ordeal not only physically but mentally & spiritually. I thought my career as an operating room nurse was done. A long ordeal but I'm happy to say I'm back in the OR doing what I love! I've had several family members deal with health issues & that has been quite frightening. Through all of this my DH & I have been having difficulty in our relationship. This was certainly unexpected & the last thing I ever expected to happen. We are working it out.

I read my journal for the past year & I was so up & down. I was on a roller coaster of emotions. I gained back 26# of the 40# I lost. I could easily look at all the negatives of 2009 but I'm not going to. I'm going to look back & think about the many things I've learned. I'm going to look back at the gifts I received through out the year. I'm going to continue to try & generate a positive attitude whenever possible.

I'm grateful for Atkins & ADBB. I'm thankful for the blessings of my ADBB friends who have stuck by me this year. There were many days that words of wisdom, kindness & love from Sherri, Catherine, Jill, Carole, Everlosing, Pamela, Bluebelt & Brady lifted me up & kept me going. Their friendships are truly blessings!

I'm going to look forward to 2010 with a renewed commitment to myself & this way of living/eating. Bottem line is I truly am worthy!

[imagood1]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

This is what I wrote that didn't show up: I chose to start with where I came from, what I consider the problems that brought me to the point I was on my 1st day with Atkins - and what my expectations are going forward from this day in my life.


For the 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge we were ask to write an essay on Expectations and to post it in our journal and in the challenge area. So here is my essay:

I started my Atkins journey January 5, 2009. By this time I thought I would be close to my goal but that hasn’t happened. It’s true the older you get the harder it is and longer it takes to get the weight off.

My weight gain started 25 years ago after my father’s death from pancreatic cancer. The doctor suspected he had cancer but we didn’t know for sure, or where it was until the autopsy – 3 months from healthy vibrant man to his death. It was devastating for me because he was my world.

Fast forward through 25 years which include 2 failed marriages, a current wonderful 3rd marriage. I’ve had 2 bouts with cancer myself, fought and won through alcoholism (sober over 10 years), depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes.

My mom had cancer, got well, went home, got sick again and moved back in with us and sold her home.

My husband had emergency triple bypass 3 years ago, then 2 stents were put in and an ICD to make sure his heart keeps beating. 2 years ago he started using a CPAP, and we just found out after 3 sleep studies this year there is no real explanation for him falling asleep each time he sits down (it’s not Narcolepsy). 2 weeks after my stepdaughters 17th birthday she filed “abuse” charges on her father and I (which were unfounded after 8 horrible months) and moved in with her boyfriend and his mom (which is what she wanted to begin with). Stress has been everywhere – so I turned to food because I knew I couldn’t drink anymore.

For my health I decided to stop smoking and did that successfully but gained about 15 pounds trying to find something that tasted good….nothing tasted the way it did when I smoked, and I didn’t really like the way things tasted after…..so I kept eating. I kept eating because it’s something I’m good at. I’m a good cook but we like to eat out so we did…often – and rarely anything healthy.

I chose not to do anything seriously about my diabetes after I was diagnosed last June – I went through the motions but that was about it – I checked my blood twice a day and took the pills they gave me and went to a nutritionist. In December of last year something clicked and I decided I had to do something to get my health back. I am the “healthiest” of the 3 of us here….that’s a sad statement! I’m also the only driver, they expect the doctor appointments to be made, prescriptions to be called in and picked up, mom isn’t suppose to vacuum or most anything else in the way of housework (she could dust but doesn’t like to)….

I’ve had setbacks since I started– mostly self induced. Earlier this after getting good blood lab results I felt like things were looking up for me. I’ve been in a spiral for 6 months over cholesterol readings that were going up instead of going down. This round of lab work was different – everything is in the “good” range….it’s the first time in 5 years my numbers have been good….and the first time that I haven’t gotten a lecture about how unhealthy this is for my heart. My Endocrinologist told me she was very happy with the weight I’ve lost this year – that I’ve done it slowly and have incorporated exercise along with it so I’m healthier all over. She’s also happy with the fact my A1C has gone from 10.3 to 5.3 and said that proves I’m working hard to get everything under control. It was nice to hear positive words instead of negative this time – and it really helped.

So, my expectation for this WOE: I will get to my goal in 2010 – not when I first thought I would, but I really believe there is a reason…I’ve had to learn some lessons on this journey: I’ve learned about nutrition and how to keep from falling into emotional food traps. I have some wonderful friends here who are there when I need a hand or a kind word – you can’t buy friendship, you can only have friends if you choose to be a friend back, so I’m very grateful to each of them. I want to continue to be an active part of ADBB this year . I also want to continue to work on liking and believing in myself.

[Kntrylady]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

WOW, WOW, AND DOUBLE WOW !!!

In some ways it amazes me that we are not all 500 pounds. As I read everyones essay, I am overwhelmed by the journeys each of us has traveled in our lives, and continue to travel. IMHO, it screams the quote by Friedrich Nietzsche “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”.

The fact that we are all here to speak of our travels speaks volumes about our strengths. Yes, we may backslide here and there, but we are still here, fighting the good fight.

Thank you everyone for sharing your essays. Thank you for your honesty and the inspiration to succeed. We are all in this together, if we allow ourselves…

[bizzlekitty]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

Here's mine:

When I first started Atkins, I didn't even think it would work or for long. I had tried so many diets and had failed on them all (see highest weight), I was convinced I was going to be fat and unhealthy for the rest of my life. I have an underactive thryoid, fibormyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. How could I lose weight with all these conditions plus little self-control, especially when I'm hungry? But it was either try Atkins and hope it works, or seriously consider weight loss surgery, which filled me with apprehension. So I tried Atkins as best as I could. And to my surprise, Atkins worked, despite not even doing it 100% right. For the first time in my life, I started to think positive, to feel better about myself, to dream that maybe I could get back to that thinner person I hadn't seen since college. Then a combination of factors hit me.... I hit a long stall, I injured my shoulder, and other things just piled on that I fell off the wagon with a giant splat. I ignored the scale when I shouldn't have. I let various health issues become excuses. I made major mistakes, before and after falling off the wagon. Oh the years I have wasted when I could have been closer to goal by now! Last January when I realized how bad I had slipped, I got back on the wagon, determined to do Atkins right. I stumbled a bit here and there, but the past six months I've really been sticking to things better than I ever did before. I have been and will continue to talk about some of these in my journal.

And now, after losing nearly 60 lbs this year, I dare to dream again. But what do I expect? I expect to get healthy, as diabetes and heart disease run in my family. I expect to continue to eat healthy foods as I continue to lose weight until I reach goal. I expect to hit 135 lbs, maybe lower if I'm lucky. I'm not doing this for looks, but for my health. I expect to feel better and healthy again. I want to be able to ride a bike again, to go hiking, horseback riding again, to be able to shop in normal sized clothes stores. I also hope to be able to wear some of my very old clothes from when I was in college, a few things that I sewed for 4-H and would love to proudly wear again, I don't care how out of style they are! I would love to be able to share clothes with my mother again, as we did at one time. I expect to have control over how I eat and to not regain weight because I'm following Atkins for life, not just to lose weight. I think this one is big for me because for the longest time, I believed I could just go back to eating my favorite foods how I ate before, and I now know this is not true. I might be able to have a few of them here and there but I'll have to be careful. And it's very likely they won't be my favorites any more because I am changing as well and no longer desire many of those foods.

What I plan for when I reach my goal weight.... is to be the person I should have been years ago. I wouldn't say who I was 20 years ago because I had serious self-esteem and image issues. I'd like to have the body I had back then and the confidence of having lost weight and being much healthier because of it and the way I'm eating. I want to be an example for others that think they can't lose weight, that you can and be satisfied and feel so much better. I want to help others follow this WOL, because as my signature says, if it works for someone like me, it should work for about anyone if they do it right (that part is KEY).

As for 2010, I am really hoping, if I'm lucky, to hit Onederland by the end of the year. That would be the lowest I'd been at in 17 years. It's sometimes hard when I've had so much weight to lose to believe that I can actually hit 200 and lower, but so many people here have been an inspiration to me that I am keeping my hopes up. I have to keep working hard at this WOL. What I have been doing has been working. I have had only very minor cheats in the past couple of months. I've avoided all sorts of cookies, chocolate, candy, and more at work and at parties, I know I can continue to do so. My other goal is to hit pretty close to my lowest Atkins weight loss by my birthday in May (222). Once I do, I plan to change my signature and stats to become one again. I also plan to do clothes shopping because I do not have many clothes from below 220 since it has been so long since I weighed that.

Thank you for this essay challenge. I did some real soul searching for this and it really helps to know where you're heading and why. We need more similar essays with other topics.

[Georgiana]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

Here's mine.

*******************

When I started this WoE I was completely clueless about Atkins. The only book I've read about it was a German one that was describing what I later found out to be the 1992 Atkins plan. Those who know how "good" my German is (it's terrible!) realize how much I understood from the book. Google brought me to ADBB and I read the FAQs. I was eager to diet, so I didn't bother reading much else than the Acceptable Foods List and the Rules of Induction. I am saying "diet" in a pejorative sense; my only expectation at this point was to lose weight. The faster, the better!

With this attitude, it's no surprise I did a lot of mistakes along the way... and it all culminated in 3-4 months off Atkins two summers ago. At that time, I gave low fat a try. It was "easy" -- it allowed for junk, it required no planning, there were low fat foods/products avalable in every store. Yet, the blood sugar swings made me feel awful compared to how I used to feel on Atkins. I realized Atkins is the way to go if I wanted to have my eating back under control. At this point, I had given up my expectation to lose weight fast. My main expectation now was to feel good again.

I figured out everyone can lose weight -- after all, I did it many times before, some times on pretty crazy diets that were anything but healthy -- but it was the maintenance part that only few were good at. I began reading more about Atkins and paid attention to the advice given by people who've been maintaining for a few years. My stubborn self, the one who thinks SHE always knows better, had to admit defeat *hissyfit* -- THEY, the ones who were already in Maintenance, actually knew better. I had to shut up, listen and follow their advice. To my list of expectations, I added changing my attitude about Atkins -- it was clearly more than a diet.

Then there was Jo's cancer and reading her journal added a new expectation to my list: good health. Good health might not be a guarantee of Atkins, but at least I know I am doing my best to stay healthy by following this WoE.

What else I expect? I expect to never change my way of eating. I expect to always plan my meals instead of starting the days with no plan. I expect to always exercise. I expect to never make junk food my friend, whether it's low carb junk or sugary junk. And I also expect to meet more great people along my journey.

[ADreamComeTrue]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

Wow! Great essays everyone! They are so inspiring!!

-Christie

[mission to lose]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

I don’t want to dwell too much on the past. It will run too long, and I will be sitting here crying in front of the computer monitor. Briefly, I did not have any weight problem until 3 months before my wedding, (I weighed 119# and I was 5’4”, I have shrunken 2” since then). It was 1973. I went on the pill and timed it so that I wouldn’t end up with my period the day of my wedding, no PMS, no ruined honeymoon. When I went for my final fitting, my dress was too tight. I had gained 11#!!!

I actually went to Weight Watchers a few months later. I never had to lose weight before. They barely let me join, I had so little to lose. LOL! And then the Yo-Yo dieting began soon after, and here I am. As I posted earlier today when asked, “What was the last straw that got you started Atkins?” …my answer was…For me, when I finally realized the person I saw myself as in my head was DEFINITELY not the person I was looking at in the mirror.

I guess you call it denial, but I never looked at my self realistically enough to face up that I WAS TOO FAT! The girl in my head looked pretty darn good, but that was not the girl in the mirror. So I finally realized I am running out of time. How long am I going to keep up this road to nowhere? Dowdy clothes, sore knees, short of breath going up the stairs, tired and…..on and on and on.

After falling off of WW one last time, I hit the net looking for ideas of where to turn. I had been on Atkins for about 3 weeks without the book, back in 2004, when I friend asked me to be her buddy. I am not sure why I stopped. So I thought about Atkins again this summer, did some research, found the ADBB, and read some amazing success stories. I felt this had to be it. I asked some people on the board some questions, got some great answers, and I decided this was it. Started 8-10-2009.


I was pretty excited as the weight came off nicely the first month or so, and then it really has slowed down, some of it may be my age, post menopausal. I see other people saying they are dropping a pound a week, and I feel like wow, I am happy to lose 1# a month now. But this is not stopping me. It is not just the losing weight. It is deciding that this is now how I am going to live. Eating better, exercising more, and the discipline that comes along with that.

The weight will come off eventually; I guess when it is good and ready. I will work hard at it, but accept I am not going to win any prizes at how fast it is going to happen. This is the longest I have ever been on a food plan. And I am staying on it. No excuses. This is how I plan to eat now. I love not being hungry, and I love knowing I have a goal that is r4eachable and doable. This will happen. I am gonna do this thing! So my expectations are improved heart, mind, soul, and body. I look forward to reaching my goal, and maintaining. I hope goal will be reached by this time next year. If not, that’s ok too. I have to learn how to deal with the carbs the same way any addict deals with their problem. And with the help of the wonderful people on the ADBB, I will make it. Thanks to all of you.

So, in closing, I am happier now than I have been in years. I still won’t jump up out of bed a 5 am to run to the gym, but I have a new appreciation for exercise and enjoy it very much. I am feeling the benefits of it already. BTW, I never get up at 5 am for anything…unless I am going to the bathroom for the 3rd time or catching a plane…LOL.

Now when I look in the mirror, I am starting to see that person coming back a little at a time. I know she will be back, because there are no excuses anymore.

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2009 I Am Worth It Challenge

i have really enjoyed reading the essay's this morning. so many of us started our peice by looking back but just as i had hoped [and the challenge asked for] the writings ended with our hopes and expectations for our lives, our woe, our futures. we all have different stories but it's no surprise that many things touched us all.

THANK YOU GIRLS FOR A WONDERFUL WEEK