The Losers' Lounge

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Thanks to Atkins, Yoly1001 has found the bubbly girl that could walk into a room and make people smile or laugh. She now has the ability to be perfectly comfortable in any situation, with any new person. That’s what it was about for her and what it is still about.


I was the chubby nice girl that people liked in high school. My weight wasn’t a big problem to me, in fact I rarely thought about it. I can’t tell you exactly how much I weighed in high school because I never weighed myself, but it was probably around 200 pounds. I knew that I was over weight but I dressed nice, I had friends, and it didn’t affect my personality at all. I was very friendly and outgoing. In short I was never really conscious of needing to lose weight or even what was going on inside my body.

I remember going on a diet in 6th grade and losing 7 pounds in a week, I look back at that and laugh now, it was low carb. My mom was always trying some kind of diet or another, my junior year in high school more in support of my sister then myself I started working out. I got down to the thinnest I’ve ever been 165. I didn’t keep this up and slowly gained it all back and then some. I kept gaining, then I got pregnant. After I had my baby instead of losing the weight, I gained more. I ended up close to 250 pounds. I knew that my weight had become a problem but I was completely clueless on what to do about it.

I joined Overeaters Anonymous, I knew I had a problem with food, they helped me deal with the issues in my life but they didn’t teach me how to eat. I needed the other part. It wasn’t until I didn’t recognize myself that I knew I had to proactively do something about my weight. I didn’t know who I was anymore; I had become a quite introverted person. I didn’t talk to new people, I felt uncomfortable in new situations, and I even felt awkward around old friends who had known me as a thinner person. I hated myself, I considered suicide but I had a baby at home and knew that that wasn’t the option for me. I wasn’t a quiter. Instead I went to my mom’s house, I knew that she had a ton of diet stuff.

She gave me the papers for low carb and the grape fruit diet. I went out and bought 20 grapefruits that day. I still wasn’t sure which one I wanted to do. I came home and got on-line, I wanted as much information as I could get on both plans.

That’s when I found ADBB. I looked around, the thing that drew my attention the most were the siggys. I couldn’t believe the amount of weight that people had lost on here, lol, I thought most of you were lying, (sorry) I know that’s not true now.

I looked at the sticky’s, the next day. I went out and bought the book and read it cover to cover in about 3 hours. I also threw all the grapefruits away. I’ve been on this WOE ever since. I signed up for an account on the board. I remember laughing out loud when I typed in my goal weight. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was impossible for me. There was no way that I would be able to get there, I knew that other people had done it but that I could not. I did it anyway. No one was more surprised then I was when after two weeks I lost 15 pounds.

I joined a support group that kept me here and legal, but I was hooked. I knew that I would never waver from this WOL, it was the only thing that gave me my life back. It has been a difficult process, I am not perfect, I don’t always exercise, I don’t always drink all the water, or I may have a low carb indulgence every once in a while but all in all I am here, I have cheated only once about 8 months ago, I felt so awful afterwards I knew that I never would cheat again, and I haven’t.

I’m a slow loser, I’ve been here working this program for 13 months and I’ve only lost 60 pounds, and that was with a ton of exercise, I know people on here who lose much faster then I do, but it’s good it keeps me here every day working towards my goal. I’m busy, I think we are all busy, I am a mom, a wife, a full time student who gets strait A’s, and a part time employee, oh and three nights a week I am basically a single mom when my husband goes to class. I study until the middle of the night, I spend quality time with my daughter, I have friends I see and keep in touch with. Through all this I remember that if I don’t value myself and dedicate time & energy into what I call my program then I will have nothing left for anyone else.

I revitalize myself by eating right, excercising, drinking water, and taking supplements. I look at this as a kind of recharging my batteries, if I don’t do this then I will be no good for anyone or anything else. Yes this sometimes means waking up at 4:30 in the morning to exercise or spending all Sunday cooking in preperation for the following week but if you want it badly enough you’ll do whatever it takes for your success, I want it, badly! Now not only do I not laugh when I look at my goal weight but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will reach my goal. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I feel good today. If it takes me another year or even two I will be here working it every day to make it to my goal and to stay there. It’s not about vanity for me, even though I definitely like the way I look now. So does my husband.
__________________
23f sw240/cw179/gw140

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

LC Dave says, "You never realize how fat you were until you try to lose it! I am a big believer in doing this for life, so I take my time and don't stress about the little failures in my diet. I fully believe that I will reach my goal weight."

The origins of my super obesity began at the age of 7 years old. I was a scrawny kid much like my two other little brothers. However I had athsma. When I was 7 years old I came down with the chicken Pox. Unfortunately this led to some severe athsma and weeks of convalescence.

I was given massive doses of prednisone to keep me alive. According to my mother I was always on these cortical steroids when I was a child. When I returned to school after recovering from the pox, it was my first memory of being fat amongst my peers.

Needless to say being an overweight kid was devastating to a highly sensitive kid such as myself. Since that time I have never been a normal weight.

Many people who have gone through emotional trauma and have been to breaking point, will know that there is no 'going back', the damage is permanent. It is common knowledge that people who deal with suicidal thoughts, don't actually want to die, they just want the endless pain to stop. To get through it alive, something definitely dies inside you. You become changed, like a cracked vase. Even as a 30 year old man I am deeply 'freaked out' by schools and scared of spending time with children. Bad Memories.

I grew up in Northern Queensland in Australia. The drive to our capital city was 21 hours non-stop. This is how isolated it got. This is why I appreciate the wonder that is the internet!

Now Prednisone is a powerful steroid that really fixes the athsma. But it's side effects are listed as causing: increased hunger (times 3), lowered metabolism, and insulin resistance to name a few. These were never explained to me, Doctors just prescribed it and said “see ya later!” Even from an early age I was on all the fad diets – all involving reducing calories.

At age 18 I was 120 kilos (264 pounds). I was put on a liquid diet because I was so obese! (groan). I made it down to 100 kilos (220 pounds) and then my parents said that they were no longer paying for the program (because I was stalled). They assumed that I would stay at that weight. Because people only gain weight because they are lazy pigs, metabolism has nothing to do with it! (groan!)

Fast Forward to age 22 and I am now 150 kilos (330 pounds). Fighting my ever fattening body, I mastered all my will and committed to Weight Watchers. Through Starvation and an hours walk daily I got down to 120 kilos (264 pounds). Then I met my fiancee (who I am still with!). Suddenly I can't do my daily walk because I'm staying up too late! At that point I could no longer continue that starvation on Weight Watchers – suddenly hunger was overwhelming me and I was bingeing or indulging in all the forbidden foods!

I kept gaining my weight back. There was many times that I tried to to restart the Weight Watchers program. In fact I have probably joined weight watchers in excess of 20 times! But I was rapidly learning first hand what the words 'insulin resistance' means. I could now no longer go one day on the WW starvation plan. I would usually pass out at night, feint from sugar lows, absolutely starving!

People say that you are treated different when you are large – well they are right. It's amusing because when I lost weight I experienced people treating me totally different, then when I stacked on the weight and got up to my highest – 215 kilos or 473 pounds, I was a social pariah! I would go to networking functions for my work in insurance and it was absolutely amazing how nobody talked to me. I was totally ignored. Many people had that “Oh my God” expression on their faces!

There are a lot of medical issues that the morbidly obese have that I never knew about, until I experienced them. Even though I had been fat all my life, I had never been more than twice my goal weight – mostly fat!

I first heard about the concept of Low Carb at the age of 25 years. A friend of mine and his girlfriend had decided to go on the Atkins diet. They had the book and were actively reading it. They explained all the concepts to me. I was totally shocked and didn't believe it was healthy (I was brainwashed by Weight Watchers). Well I investigated it for myself by searching on the internet (that God for the internet!). I purchased my own copy. I started to deprogram myself. It was a long and arduous task which took 4 years until I could properly start it! I tried to start it many times, but I could get no further than 8 days on induction. Then in July 2005 with the help of an online forum in Australia I gave it a concerted effort to begin induction.

At 473 pounds it was immensely difficult for me to do because I had such severe insulin resistance. In the first 48 hours of induction I literally had suicidal thoughts. But I got through it because I knew this was a chemical imbalance in my body. A massive detox and withdrawal of a drug (carbs) that was killing me!

Slowly my hunger and blood sugars where getting controlled. I could not weigh myself as in Australia they don't sell scales that weigh over 330 pounds and there was no way I was going to one of those cattle weigh stations! I judged my success, by the feel of my clothes and the notches on my belt.

I am a big believer in the support of internet forums. They have played a role in my success that I probably don't give them enough cedit!

In December I found ADBB. It is great to have a dedicated board to the Atkins diet, this is the secret of it's success. In January I committed to doing an induction boot camp and I was able to graduate. I learned a lot in those two weeks.

When I weighed my self last week I weighed 171 kilos or 376 pounds. That's a loss of 44 kilos or 97 pounds.
__________________

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Easttexasdaisy could have easily given up when the induction flu struck. At 95 pounds gone...she's happy that she stayed with the program and met her goal.


When I started Atkins I weighed 260 on a 5'7" frame and at 34 years old. My son wasn't trying to hurt my feelings but wanted to know why I was bigger than the other moms. Anyway, I had tried Atkins once before and the induction flu was horendous. Thought I would rather be dead it was so bad. Anyway, later I started with a protein breakfast then lunch and supper would be 1/3 protein and 2/3 veggies. At lunch I would have an apple or piece of bread. I was starving but it allowed me to get a little closer to induction level carbs and after awhile I went ahead and jumped into induction full force. Still had induction flu a little, but it was much more bearable. I say this because if someone decides to start Atkins on Monday and eats all the garbage possible for a day or 2 before you may really have troubles with terrible flu like symptoms.

Anyway, I lost a lot of weight on induction in the first week and then like a pound the second week, then nothing the third week. But overall it was pretty steady for 260 to 190. Then I hit a long term stall.

I carry a lot of muscle so even at 190 I could wear some size 10's in pants. My arms were too large still, but they have shrunk considerably now. But at 190 I was so much happier with myself I just decided to relax a little and not focus on my weight loss as much as just not gaining. Better to be happy than discouraged.

Anyway, my husband is a type 2 diabetic. I encouraged him to give induction a try. He did induction and so did I to be supportive and the weight started dropping off again. And I seemed to quickly drop to 165. I know my eating was very clean tryng to show him what he could eat.
Anyway, I'm ecstatic to be 165! That is 95 pounds gone. I intend to keep exercising and toning. The last few pounds came out of my arms and I now have wings.... Hopefully it will tighten up some, if not than at the very least it is gone! Also a little loose skin on my thighs and tummy, but not enough to be seriously worried over. I feel very blessed to not have more.

It seems like I loose weight or inches, I lost very minimal inches with this last little bit of weight loss. Seems like at first I would lose 5 pounds and 2 sizes. I lost almost 25 pounds and not a full size this last period of serious losses. I was really thinking I would be in an 8 at this weight, but you never know. With Atkins anything is possible. Maybe in maintainance I'll loose a inch here and there....Especially with continued exercise.
__________________
sizes 22/10-12/10
260/164.8/165

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Bizzlekitty says "If I had known these things back when I was in college, I would have saved myself years of unhappiness and health issues."


Unlike many people who are overweight as adults, I was never overweight as a child or teenager. I was 5'2 and 120 lbs until I got to college. My parents had me on a perpetual diet growing up, fearing that I would grow overweight and thus, I never really learned to eat right. I learned to sneak junk food, carby foods, etc. Once I got to college, my eating habits got out of control because I could eat what I wanted (starchy foods!) and I gained weight. One summer, I lost about 20 lbs through diet and exercise but regained it again back at college. After college and living on my own, I continued to eat starchy foods, low fat (that was supposed to be best for weight loss, right?), and fast food alot. Lots of diet coke, no exercise. And kept gaining weight. I tried to eat "healthy" but those were my "favorite" healthy foods, veggies like potatoes, corn, carrots, lima beans, fruit like bananas and apples, and low calorie bread, pasta and microwave dinners. My weight continued to climb. I tried phen/fen, liquid diets, B vitamin shots, Nutrisystem and more. I never ate alot of sweets, but I did eat alot of carbs, not alot of protein, and drank alot of Diet Coke.

Then I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid. No one had checked this before. But no one recommended a better diet for my health either. I kept trying low calorie/low fat, but my diet was still heavy with starchy foods. Eventually, I just gave up, figuring there was nothing I could do, since no diet was working. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which just made everything worse, pain, fatigue, brain fog, IBS.

I tried Weight Watchers with friends of mine and lost 30 lbs. But then I stalled for 8 weeks, was laid off of my job, and realized I was tired and hungry all the time and couldn't afford to pay for WW anymore. I regained the weight. Another job, laid off again, and had to take a contracting job (no health insurance) out of town for a year. I stopped taking my thyroid medication (BAD BAD BAD thing to do) because I didn't want to pay for the hassle of blood work and doctor visits without insurance. I gained another 50 lbs and felt horrible. My fibromyalgia was terrible, I was out of breath, my feet hurt alot, had chest spasms (due to fibro)I couldn't walk far distances, none of my clothes fit, I had to get a Size 5 women's suit to wear for my job interview. (And they still hired me!). I started to consider gastric bypass, convinced nothing else could help me. But the thought of surgery, of not being able to eat normally again, scared me.

In January 2004, I got new job back near home with health insurance. A friend of mine was doing Atkins and had been losing weight. The same friend and I had tried Atkins before but it had made us both sick (because we weren't doing it right), but this time, I had the Internet to research things better. I bought and read the book, I researched online and found ADBB. I lurked and read everything I could and I decided to start Atkins doing it right by the book and by ADBB and I started on a Sunday. I went to my doctors for my first visit that Monday and got weighed in (347!) and got blood work done and placed back on thyroid medication. I couldn't believe how heavy I had gotten. If Atkins didn't work, I wasn't sure what I would do. I didn't even have a scale at home because I had been avoiding them for years and had to buy one to weigh in at two weeks. I was shocked. I had lost about 10 lbs on Induction. Not only that, but I stopped drinking diet Coke, drank water, was eating veggies and feeling a bit better. I used Fitday to track my carbs and percentages. I got my menu reviewed, I asked questions. So many people on ADBB were so helpful and motivating. A diet was working for me!!!! The weight slowly kept coming off.

My first year on Atkins I lost 60 lbs. I didn't exercise because I thought my fibromyalgia would make it too painful. I was wrong. I started exercising in year 2, starting out very slow, some cardio plus lifting weights once per week. Then I started using my own treadmill at home to do 2x a week. Now, I have added a third day by using the gym at work and am still lifting weights and walking 3x a week. At first, it would take me 2-3 days to recover my energy from exercising, now it's down to 1-2 days.

The change this had made in my health and body are amazing. My fibromyalgia symptoms have improved dramatically. My energy is tons better. My cholesterol, BP, and thyroid numbers have improved. In February, 2006, I had to have my gall bladder removed, a problem probably exacerbated by my weight loss but something I had had issues with for the past 10 years. But my recovery from surgery went alot better than I expected, probably because I was so much healthier. I have lost 100 lbs total and want to lose another 100. I stall alot and that's annoying, but I am continuing to lose inches and build muscle through weight lifting.

I've been doing a lot of research lately trying to figure out why I had gained all the weight. I knew how to eat "healthy", I had learned this in school home economics and in 4-H. The Food Pyramid, avoiding fats, etc. But the more I read, the more I realize that we've been misinformed. Low fat is not necessarily good for your health. Vegetables are NOT all the same. If you replace fats with carbohydrates (like I did), you are likely to make yourself insulin resistant and kill your metabolism, as I did. Everything I had learned and tried to do in my life had been wrong.

It's not about eating your "favorite foods" to be healthy, but eating the right healthy foods to be healthy and making those your "favorites" foods. It's about eating what you should, not what you want. Too many carbs are far worse than too much fat in your diet. Low carb as extreme as Atkins might not be for everyone, but Dr. Atkins devised an amazing program to help you break those bad eating habits that were messing up your body and metabolism using a detailed plan. All we have to do is follow it. There are other similar diets out there that get you to about the same point as Atkins does in OWL. Ever notice that most celebrity diets are very close to low carb?


Nowadays, I am taking a day at a time, still trying to eat right (spirits/berries rung of OWL), though I might try changing things up a bit occasionally to try and break my stalls. But I am not worrying about losing weight fast. My skin and body seem to be doing pretty well losing weight slowly. I might not ever get back to 120 lbs again, but I know that I am slowly undoing years of bad eating habits and that its going to take some time to get back to a healthy weight again.
__________________

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Valid Rouge started Atkins at the weight of 268.5. She now weighs 198.8, a total of 69.7 pounds! She said her boss told her last month during an annual performance evaluation in regards to her better attitude and cooperativeness--“Whatever you are taking, I want some of it.” Valid Rouge told her that the only change has been that she cut out sugar and refined carbohydrates…and that she felt eating sugar was making her crazy.


My story is one similar to most. I grew up in a family where food was an integral part of our lives. My grandmothers and my parents loved to feed people. I learned to love food very early in my life. All food, meats, vegetables, fruits, breads, pastas, and desserts were my friends. When I look back at pictures of my childhood, I was a skinny child for the most part, until about 4th grade I’d say. By the time I hit Junior High School, I was overweight and clumsy and didn’t have a very good self image. My mother encouraged me when I entered High School to try out for the dance/flag team with the band. I was accepted and I think that kept me relatively fit in high school, but I was taller and bigger than all the boys and all the other girls. It was embarrassing when I had to have my uniforms special made because they didn’t come in my size, or I had to squeeze into them.

Over the years, life has been both good and bad. I lost my first husband to a car accident and lost a lot of weight through grief…but once I worked through those issues I started putting on the pounds again. I’m one of those people who puts on weight when I’m happy. When I’m down, I lose my interest in food. Food is happy for me.

I went on Atkins for the first time in 2003 and lost roughly 40 lbs. During that time, I met my current Husband and reverted to my old ways of eating…and I was happy. We got married last year and I happily ate my way up to 268 lbs and size 22 pants. That was the wakeup call for me. I was not happy with the way I looked, and my doctor said I had to do something about my weight I tried to get life insurance for myself and my husband and the insurance company denied me coverage because of my weight. My attitude sucked at work and was starting to spill over onto my marriage and friendships. I had chronic heartburn and ate Tums and Pepcid Complete like they were candy. Headaches were frequent. My temper was out of control. It didn’t take anything at all to get under my skin and I’d fly off the handle. It got to the point that I was just plain mean at times to the people I loved and respected the most for no real reason.

I decided to go back to Atkins in January 2006 and haven’t looked back since. I slipped up during my first two weeks on induction, and then did a clean induction for two weeks. I just want everyone to know that I did not lose a SINGLE pound during the 3rd and 4th week (it seems to be common). I immediately moved into OWL and found that my weight loss actually picked up. I’ve had a great time adding foods back in to add variety to my diet and test my metabolism for food allergies and such. I’ve also had a great time finding ways to make my favorite foods into low-carb versions that I can have without feeling guilty.

I use ADBB to give and receive support. I’ve used the power of the people here to help keep me on track. I’ve learned about exercise and made wonderful friends. To date, I’ve lost 64 lbs and gone from a size 22 to a size 12 in some styles. I’m still working toward my goal and there is no doubt in my mind that I won’t ever return to eating the food that made me fat and miserable. I’ve even quit smoking within the last 3 weeks, and I’ve been thoroughly supported with overcoming that addiction here at ADBB too! Being in control of my eating really helped me to overcome the nicotine addiction.

My tips for success are:

1) Focus on what you CAN have, not on what you CANNOT have.

2) Make your meals BETTER than what everyone else around you is having. If your food is better, how can you possibly feel sorry for yourself because you are missing out. Seek out recipes that are low-carb and delicious!

3) Don’t allow yourself to get bored by staying in induction for too long. Weight loss slows a bit whether you stay on induction or if you move into OWL. If you move into OWL and add variety to your diet, you won’t get tempted to “cheat” and feel guilty over eating foods that you could legally have on OWL.

4) Don’t allow the junk in your house. Clean out your kitchen and then don’t ever bring it back in. My family eats the foods I eat and if they want something else, they eat it away from home.

5) Don’t fall victim to the “low-carb” junk food (sugar free sodas, candies, low-carb ice cream, low-carb bread, etc.) the only weight you’ll lose eating that stuff is the weight out of your wallet ($$$).

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Dotsamantha says, "I'm 28 years old and have spent the last ten years in the U.S. Army. You would wonder how it's possible to become overweight with that lifestyle, but it was easier than you think". Here is her story:


I was never wispy, but have always managed to maintain a weight that was at the high end of healthy. As long as I was active I didn't really have to pay it any mind. Over the past three years or so my weight kept creeping anf creeping. I believe I was 155 lbs around age 25, and although it seemed "sudeen" I realized I was nearly 190lbs about 8 months ago. On a 5'3" body there's nothing good about that. I knew i could drop the weight if I went on an exercise tear but it would always creep right back up. I had heard from a few people who had done Atkins the righ way how effective it was, so I decided to read the book. I bought Atkins, South Beach, and Sugarbusters. As I read through them I realized how much sense Atkins was making so I decided to give it a shot. Who knew not even 6 months later I'd be 45 pounds lighter? I couldn't believe the change. I hadn't been at this weight in almost ten years. I also was suffering from chronic gerd and heartburn and I always thought it was from acidic foods like tomatoes and so on. After 2 weeks of this wol I had no more indigestion. It was amazing. I had known in my mind for a long time that I needed to make a change, but I didn't know what that change needed to be. I'm 2 pounds away from my first goal of 140 pounds and I have a maintenance goal of 130-135 pounds, depending on how I feel. Maybe I'll go lower or higher. I'm almost ready to move to pre-maintenance so I can continue this forever and be healthy and happy with the person I see in the mirror.

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Momma Glass says the first time she did Atkins, she started losing weight, "I was creeping up on 300 lbs. At 5'2", it was a harsh sight for me to look in the mirror. I couldn't put my arms down "flat". They would lay against my sides, but they stuck out at an angle from my "actual" side."

My husband (at the time) told me his mother said "Melinda would be as pretty as that girl over there if she could lose weight". I had started shopping for size 24s. It sucked. Life sucked. I felt hopeless. I had a coworker who started losing weight and said she was having fun doing it.

This was in 1999. She was doing "Atkins". She ate hotdogs everyday and cheese and steak and said she had so much more energy. Now, I know, hotdogs and cheddar is not Atkins. LOL She ate green beans sometimes and salads occasionally. It didn't sound like the healthiest of diets but being as wide as I was tall wasn't healthy either. So for the first time in my life I tried dieting. I ate steak and green beans all the time. I didn't read the book, I didn't really do "Atkins" as we know it. But it started working. I lost 25 lb the first month. Then my marriage started its quick spiral down the toilet drain. I didn't think about dieting anymore. I was preoccupied with dissolution of what I thought was my future. But I didn't feel like eating as much anymore anyway. Upheaval will do that, ya know?? LOL I had a major change in lifestyle. No longer sitting behind a desk chuggin' southern sweet tea all day. I was back on the road, working at Renaissance Faires. That meant alot of walking during the week and eating less 'cause I was only making a little money and living in my van. But on the weekends, I had been hired to pop kettlecorn. By hand. That means stirring that huge kettle of the sticky sweet popped corn allllll day long and then also during the week to make extra for the weekend. When it's just oil, corn kernals and sugar, the stirring with the 3 foot paddle ain't too hard. When the stuff pops and gets stick, it takes effort.

I lost another 30 lbs during that 6 week period. I continued to have jobs that kept me physical. Physical enough, that I ate like crap and continued to lose weight. I got down to about 165 over the next couple of years just being active.

I did "Atkins" for 2 weeks and then got pregnant during my second marriage. Had the baby, lost 5 lbs during the pregnancy. Got post partum. Watched the scale climb while I wallowed in misery, clueless as to what was up with me. DH gentley urged me to go see the doctor. I did. Went on Zoloft and started feeling better that afternoon. Granted I walked around clenching my teeth for no reason, but I wasn't depressed anymore! Stepped on the scale. 196!!! I was almost 200 lbs AGAIN!

That was the major straw that broke the fat camel's back. I WOULD NOT be over 200 again. I could not go back to being that sad fat girl. I did not love her. I loved the "real" me. This was the end of November 2005. I immediately thought of Atkins. So I did some research, found ADBB. Learned about the "Real Atkins". I ordered the book, read all the stickies. I spent hours everyday for weeks reading and studying and waiting for my book to come in the mail. I had been on induction a month and lost over 15 lbs by the time my book showed up. I met my Atkins partner, Austlyn.

We did The January Bootcamp. And I have been having fun and loving it ever since. I fell in love with this way of eating and this community! Yeah, I have had my share of bumps in the road but that sad, fat girl is 120 lbs behind me and I will be leaving her there forever. I have been armed with the knowledge to control my body, not be controlled by it. Atkins works... if you let it.
Hope I wasn't too long winded.
__________________
*Melinda*
*Condiment Queen*
31 yrs female 5'2"
Started 11/26/05
HW 276 SW 196.5 CW 156.4 (Back up to 159.6 DOH! ) GW 135
New Mini-goal 150 by Thanksgiving!!
Member of the Thigh Suspenders Club 2006 Keep lookin' forward!!!
GO TEAM !! Austlyn and MommaGlass

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Julie (julirama723) says "Since August, I have learned how to eat properly. I have done Atkins the RIGHT way, not my way. I have learned what healthy foods are. I have learned that water is the best thing for a body. I have not had a single migraine! I have remembered that exercise is one of the best feelings in the world. I have read the book, followed the rules, and am still on plan. I have NOT cheated. I have not had regrets. I have never been so healthy or happy in my life!"

I wasn't always overweight...
When I was a child, my parents actually thought I was underweight. I was an active, outdoorsy child who wasn’t overly interested in food, but I was by no means skinny; I looked healthy.

My parents, on the other hand, were very interested in food! One of my earliest memories is watching THEM watch TV; they were like life-sized chipmunks, nibbling on chips and candies and goodies, shoving the bits of food in with life-size paws.

Somehow I escaped obesity during childhood. It certainly wasn’t due to healthy eating habits. Food was used as a reward, food was used for celebration, food was used as incentive. Good behavior in church? Let’s go to McDonald’s! Going shopping with Grandma? Let’s order pizza afterwards! Made your bed and cleaned your room? Of course you can have a cupcake or two!

It wasn’t only years of poor food choices that made me fat, it was my total lack of understanding what “portion size” meant. My father would pack my lunch everyday in 1st grade. In my lunch would be a whole sandwich, a banana, a small bag of chips, cookies or cupcakes or twinkies, carrot sticks and peanut butter, and a full size candy bar. Perhaps he thought he was packing a lunch for himself. I vividly remember that every single day I gave away the carrots and banana, threw away the sandwich (oh, to think of all that money wasted!) and ate the cupcakes and the candy bar. My parents had no clue I did this until just a few years ago! I had to confess.

Eventually, I did gain a bit of weight, around the age of 10 or 11. I stayed at this pudgy cuteness for a few years until slowly and unexplicably began losing weight. I was thirsty all the time, and could drink a two-liter of soda with no problems. I was ravenous, and would regularly order an appetizer, salad, entrée, and dessert in a restaurant, and STILL be hungry enough to go home and eat a snack. I had insomnia and night, and exhaustion during the day. I suffered from random and copious nosebleeds. I had heart palpitations and dizziness. In fact, I had suffered from most of these symptoms for about 4 years before I told anyone. Eventually it was diagnosed that I had Grave’s Disease, or an overactive thyroid. My hormone levels were 3x that of a normal teenager. Immediately I was put on medication to regulate my thyroid and metabolism, and at one point, I was taking 18 pills a day. Unfortunately, I had been enjoying all of this hearty eating and drinking and had no intention of stopping. And indeed I was never warned of the grinding halt my metabolism would face.

I gained 50 pounds in a matter of months.

Talk about devastating—this happened my freshman year of high school! What a rough time for a kid anyway, without having to deal with a body that you don’t understand, let alone dealing with a super-duper over-medicated and sluggish body that feels totally foreign.

So thus begins the “fat” period of my life. I was fat through high school and most of college. My weight fluctuated depending on how active I was. My eating habits never changed, and my diet consisted of fast food junk, pizza, carbs, carbs, carbs! I was probably eating 5,000 calories a day at this time. I never truly tried to diet either. I just accepted that my body was fat because I messed up when I was 13.

It was during college I met the man of my dreams, Geoff. He thought I was sexy (and still thinks I’m sexy) no matter what size I am. He has always been my best friend, top supporter, and #1 fan through all of this. From trying strange new vegetables, to buying me “skinny” clothes, he’s been an active part of my Atkins journey.

Fast forward to my senior year of college, 2003. My parents began the Atkins diet. In the past, they’d done the Scarsdale diet, the Mayo Clinic Diet, Weight Watchers, and numerous other things with limited success. But here they were, in their 50s, and with more energy and youth than I’d ever seen! So I asked about it and did some research. The real clincher for me was the blood sugar symptoms test. My gosh, so that explains my mood swings, migraines, irritability, wooziness, and general malaise. CARBS! I began my own version of Atkins in March 2003. I refused to read the book, and just based my plan off the Atkins website. I broke what few rules I followed, but somehow managed to lose about 70 pounds. I looked pretty darn good, and felt good too. Eventually I slid TOTALLY off plan, eating fast food and pizza, but still maintaining my exercise schedule and my weight. Within a few months, I let stress get to me, ate bad foods, and stopped exercising. Over the course of a couple years, I gained all 70 pounds back, plus AT LEAST 15 more.

This takes me to my ah-ha moment in August--seeing a picture of myself that made Shamu look like Kate Moss. I looked like a whale and felt like one. I thought back to how I felt on Atkins, and decided that I should do it again. I had a rough start. I ate bars and shakes, and didn’t read the book until a week into “induction.” During this time I was trying to do research on Atkins, and came across ADBB. I began “lurking” and reading threads, amazed at all these people who were at goal, who were successful, who were following the plan as intended! I finally read “the book,” joined ADBB, and decided to do a clean induction, meaning I gave up all frankenfoods, caffeine, and diet sodas, and I have not had them since!

I am by NO means finished. I have at least 25 pounds until I reach goal, and I might be rethinking my goal weight. Right now it’s set at 180, but a number is so abstract. My ultimate goal is a size 8 or size 10. But in reality, I want to pick the place where I am happy, healthy, and confident.

I honestly and truly believe I could NOT have done this without ADBB. This board adds such a human element to the struggle. Yes, the book has SO much information, but without that personal component that ADBB has, I doubt this stuff would have hit home like it did. The fact that there are others who are having the same struggles and triumphs is a humbling experience.

I predict no problems staying with this plan and making it a WAY OF LIFE. I love the foods I am eating, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on ANYTHING. I am currently on Rung 7, trying to find my CCLL. I drink at least a gallon of water per day. I exercise 6 times a week. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

And, oh yeah, I’ve managed to lose 60 pounds along the way. If you find them, PLEASE don’t return them.

[dreamof145]

Re: The Losers' Lounge

Outback Jess says her wakeup call was a day when she looked at her unhappy unhealthy very overweight daughter and said to herself, “She is here because she is following me. It was one of the darkest days"


I have used food all my life. I come from a family that used food and alcohol for a good time. My mother and her parents entertained, there was always a party, always wonderful food and always lots of alcohol to enjoy. From a young age I “used” food to comfort and satisfy myself. When ever I was unhappy with our very turbulent life, I pulled away with food. Bread and butter on a very specific Italian bread seems to come to mind as I look back…

By my teen years I weighed 150lbs. Finding jeans that worked was really hard, I came of age in the 70’s where hip huggers where in, the lower the better…But I had a belly. After high school I started jogging, because jogging became the rage in the late 70’s. It helped me keep my weight down, but I did it for pleasure. I had quit looking in mirrors long before I jogged.

For the next 10 years I went up and down. Big ups and big downs. I tried the most popular diets of the day and was usually very successful on them, because once I make up my mind, I go for it completely. Then one day I just quit…it’s all or nothing for me.

My highest weight came at the birth of my daughter, 223 and I only gained 23lbs during my pregnancy. After she was born, and thru the next 10 years my weight slowly crept up. I was very unhappy and ate to again satisfy and comfort myself. I was a stay at home mother who would eat all day, out of boredom.

Somewhere in there I reached out for Atkins. Got the yellow DANDR book and read it and did it. I lost a lot of weight, I felt great and I was so peaceful and my emotions were so calm. I know I am a different person away from sugars, and processed carbs. There is no cycle causing me to graze all day long. I had energy, and I was happy with the good foods I could eat. I exercised all the time. Soon I did not miss the sugars or the emotions that they provoked.

I stayed on Atkins in my own little “modified” way, not really following with understanding the correct ways of this diet…Eventually I slipped away, having not given myself enough variety, I got bored and began to drift back to the foods that make me crazy!

2 years ago my mother came to live with us, and we moved to a larger house to accommodate this transition. This move impacted me the most. It was my mother I had to help and it was now my bigger house and yard to completely take care of. I felt a pressure that I tried to soothe with food and alcohol. Slowly I gained to a new level of weight.

My mother would make a lot of comments about how unhappy I was and it drove me among other things to dive in deeper…I could tell I was gaining weight, couldn’t sleep, was mad at every one…I was eating tums and over the counter acid reflux meds. I felt totally out of control and I wanted to scream so badly, scream and never stop! I felt so trapped in this place I had volunteered for. I was deeply upset with myself for reach for things that would in no way help me.

This past July we went on vacation. We took my mother and rented a condo at the beach. It was a terrible ordeal for her. It was worst for me, I wanted to hide in cold beers and sunsets and I found myself constantly taking my mother to those sunsets and sitting across the pool away from her…I wanted out of my life…My daughter had just turned 15 and she was wrapping in beach towels from head to toe because she weighed 170 at 5’3. I had led her to this place…My only solace was the sunrises I would creep out to watch with my coffee…I quietly began to talk to myself. I knew I needed to do something because everybody had had it with me. I felt like I was unraveling emotionally heading towards a meltdown. I felt a huge crash coming. I did not care at all any more about holding everybody’s world together in my family.

We returned from the trip, exhausted. I sat on this couch and said, “this is it, I can’t live another day like this, I’m right back where I started in this crazy cycle”. I got up and got a water bottle out of the fridge. (at that moment I could not handle the thought of low carb) I pulled the bike out and put it in front of the tv and I rode for 15 mins and drank that water. I felt so good from that experience and so empowered. I got up and went to Sam’s and got all my favorite low carb foods. I went to the library and got the book. I got my kid organized on Weight Watchers, and declared we were changing our lives right then and there. I braced for the induction flu that I knew was coming. It came and stayed for 4 days. I went to Akins.com and found it had completely changed. I wanted to read the success stories. I couldn’t really find what had once been…I came here. I had never been involved with a support place or bulletin board format. But as I ventured out, it all has come together thanks to a few who befriended me and answered my most basic questions.

Yesterday was day 190 for me on Akins. I’ve lost 60lbs. I weight 165. I am not the same person. I am calm, happy, empowered to make my life better. I eat well, I exercise all the time. I have set small goals and am constantly working towards them. I am happy with myself, and my lifestyle. I know what I want!

I want to be here, eating well, living a happy healthy productive lifestyle in a year. I want to then learn to keep the weight I’ve taken off, off. I want to keep the positive energy I live in, going. I want to sustain what I have more than loose more weight. I do want to loose weight, but I want to sustain what I have now on a daily basis.

My advice:

• For me exercising first thing kept me empowered to then eat right and drink all my water. It set my whole day on the right course. I never failed to get the big rocks in the jar first thing. Then all the little stuff easily followed. I got up early if need be. I went to bed early. I’d do whatever it took to get this done first thing in the morning.
• I picked dates I wanted to be here and on the program. Day 100, Jan 1, 2007, my birthday and Aug1, 2007 my 1 yr anniv. I talk up those dates all the time. If I am “here and eating right” on those dates, the weight will have come down…
• I am after a lifestyle and do all I can to establish positive healthy habits that sustain that goal.

I do my very best to let the weight just take care