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Well, hello everyone. For some reason I missed this part of the program and just jumped in without ever formally introducing myself.
So, hi, my name is Michelle. I live in Manitoba, Canada and I'm a carboholic, as well as a compulsive over eater. Stress and "not feeling well" are great reasons to fix all my problems with food.
Back in 2003 I moved to Ottawa, Ontario with my husband and daughter. I was the biggest I'd ever been (around 210 or so) and was miserable. I had horrible problems with hypoglycemia and was going into shock several times a week. I had decided I wanted to lose weight and immediately went on a low fat diet. I gained 6 pounds.
At the same time I had switched to diet pop. I hated the taste but thought it would help me lose weight. Well, it didn't, but it did help stabalize my sugar issues and I stuck with it.
Moving right along. A few months after we arrived in our new digs, I heard about Atkins, twice in the same week. Once was on the show Big Brother (Allison was saying how she'd lost 3 pounds in two days doing this high protein thing) and a friend of my mother-in-law's had lost a load of weight doing Atkins (again presented to me as a high protein diet). Well, I now know it's not high protein, but first impressions sometimes stick longer than you'd like.
So I told my hubby that I wanted to try yet another new diet. He asked why this one would any different than all of the others. In tears I said I didn't know but I had to do something.
I think I started the diet before I read the book but I had immediate results. I ended up losing 30 pounds in less than 3 months and half my hair along with it. I know now that any radical change in diet and weight loss could cause that, but at the time I thought it was Atkins that had done it. I didn't take suppliments (not even a daily vitamin) which I'm sure didn't help.
Another issue was the I was losing so fast that my skin was very loose and I felt like the saggy baggy elephant. You know, I'm sure we've all thought that we'd be soooo happy if only we could wake up and all this fat would be gone. Well, that's sort of how I felt, and it scared me. I also didn't have any support and didn't know about this bulletin board (if only I had!). So I stopped doing it.
Contrary to what everyone told me, I didn't start gaining any of the weight back for a whole year, but when it did start it came fast. I was back to my old eating habits and tricks and popped back up to 205. A very fit friend of mine gave me a diet to follow. She was very anti Atkins, and little did she know that her diet was exactly the later stages of Atkins. So I followed it, exercised regularily and lost a butt load of weight again. More success.
A funny thing happens to me when I start feeling good and successful...I get complacent and think I don't need to work so hard anymore. It's like I rowed like mad to get to the island and could then lie around on the beach and not have to build a shelter, or fire, or find food. So I gained weight again.
The yo-yo goes up, the yo-yo goes down.
For some reason last summer I decided I would give the old starvation a try again. I did lose 20 pounds but it was miserable and I don't even want to think how much muscle I lost! I started taking boxing at the same time and realized that I couldn't work out hard and not eat, so I bounced back into OWL of Atkins, exercised hard and made it down to 155. The lowest I'd been in at least 10 years! I was on top of the world.
Unfortunately, an incident with a black forest cake and a ill timed comment from a family member made me feel selfish about my behavior. She made it sound like I was making everyone worry about my lifestyle and I stopped.
Four months later and 27 pounds heavier (as well as several unsuccessful attemps at getting back on track - including the starvation trick) and here I am. I'm eating well and exercising regularily, drinking my water and taking my vitamins. The weight loss is slower than it ever was, but even though I haven't lost anything in two weeks, I also haven't gained, and I know I've decreased in mass.
I had started this account back in January and could never figure out why I couldn't post. I would come and read and wish I could participate but didn't know why I couldn't. When I changed my e-mail address in my profile, an e-mail was sent to me to confirm it. As soon as I did that my account was activated and I could post. Yeah!
Wow, this is LONG. Sorry about that. Well, anyway, that's me, at least a little bit about me. I'm looking forward to getting know all of you and sharing this journey with you.
Michelle
So, hi, my name is Michelle. I live in Manitoba, Canada and I'm a carboholic, as well as a compulsive over eater. Stress and "not feeling well" are great reasons to fix all my problems with food.
Back in 2003 I moved to Ottawa, Ontario with my husband and daughter. I was the biggest I'd ever been (around 210 or so) and was miserable. I had horrible problems with hypoglycemia and was going into shock several times a week. I had decided I wanted to lose weight and immediately went on a low fat diet. I gained 6 pounds.
At the same time I had switched to diet pop. I hated the taste but thought it would help me lose weight. Well, it didn't, but it did help stabalize my sugar issues and I stuck with it.
Moving right along. A few months after we arrived in our new digs, I heard about Atkins, twice in the same week. Once was on the show Big Brother (Allison was saying how she'd lost 3 pounds in two days doing this high protein thing) and a friend of my mother-in-law's had lost a load of weight doing Atkins (again presented to me as a high protein diet). Well, I now know it's not high protein, but first impressions sometimes stick longer than you'd like.
So I told my hubby that I wanted to try yet another new diet. He asked why this one would any different than all of the others. In tears I said I didn't know but I had to do something.
I think I started the diet before I read the book but I had immediate results. I ended up losing 30 pounds in less than 3 months and half my hair along with it. I know now that any radical change in diet and weight loss could cause that, but at the time I thought it was Atkins that had done it. I didn't take suppliments (not even a daily vitamin) which I'm sure didn't help.
Another issue was the I was losing so fast that my skin was very loose and I felt like the saggy baggy elephant. You know, I'm sure we've all thought that we'd be soooo happy if only we could wake up and all this fat would be gone. Well, that's sort of how I felt, and it scared me. I also didn't have any support and didn't know about this bulletin board (if only I had!). So I stopped doing it.
Contrary to what everyone told me, I didn't start gaining any of the weight back for a whole year, but when it did start it came fast. I was back to my old eating habits and tricks and popped back up to 205. A very fit friend of mine gave me a diet to follow. She was very anti Atkins, and little did she know that her diet was exactly the later stages of Atkins. So I followed it, exercised regularily and lost a butt load of weight again. More success.
A funny thing happens to me when I start feeling good and successful...I get complacent and think I don't need to work so hard anymore. It's like I rowed like mad to get to the island and could then lie around on the beach and not have to build a shelter, or fire, or find food. So I gained weight again.
The yo-yo goes up, the yo-yo goes down.
For some reason last summer I decided I would give the old starvation a try again. I did lose 20 pounds but it was miserable and I don't even want to think how much muscle I lost! I started taking boxing at the same time and realized that I couldn't work out hard and not eat, so I bounced back into OWL of Atkins, exercised hard and made it down to 155. The lowest I'd been in at least 10 years! I was on top of the world.
Unfortunately, an incident with a black forest cake and a ill timed comment from a family member made me feel selfish about my behavior. She made it sound like I was making everyone worry about my lifestyle and I stopped.
Four months later and 27 pounds heavier (as well as several unsuccessful attemps at getting back on track - including the starvation trick) and here I am. I'm eating well and exercising regularily, drinking my water and taking my vitamins. The weight loss is slower than it ever was, but even though I haven't lost anything in two weeks, I also haven't gained, and I know I've decreased in mass.
I had started this account back in January and could never figure out why I couldn't post. I would come and read and wish I could participate but didn't know why I couldn't. When I changed my e-mail address in my profile, an e-mail was sent to me to confirm it. As soon as I did that my account was activated and I could post. Yeah!
Wow, this is LONG. Sorry about that. Well, anyway, that's me, at least a little bit about me. I'm looking forward to getting know all of you and sharing this journey with you.
Michelle
It's nice to "meet" you! Congratulations on your commitment.
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