My introduction
 

First off, I want to say that I LOVE this forum! I've been lurking on and off for a bit and you guys are awesome! I feel so at home here even though this is the first time I've posted. Okay now, on with the intro... this might get a little long.


My name is Krystine and I am a recovering food addict. I had extremely low self confidence and I ate because it made me feel better. The catch was I gained weight from all of that eating, which made my self confidence lower and caused me to eat more and, in turn, gain more weight. Vicious cycle isn’t it? I’ve always struggled with body image and in high school was anorexic and bulimic, once recovering from those illnesses, I went the opposite way and gained and gained and gained.


I finally managed to break out of my eating, feeling bad and then eating more cycle a few months back. I really feel that I don’t have a choice anymore, I HAVE to lose weight! My husband and I have been trying to have our first baby and have not been having much luck. My cycles are out of whack and trying to figure out when I’m ovulating is a nightmare because of it. I can get pregnant eventually, but each of the three times we’ve succeeded, I’ve lost the babies. The doctors can’t seem to find anything physically wrong with me other than that I was obese. If I want to improve my chances of having a baby (and I desperately do), I need to lose weight!


I’ve taken up swimming as my main form of exercise and swim 5-7 days a week for an hour a day. I just added in some weight training this week and plan to do it 3 days a week along with the swimming. Since the beginning of May, I have lost 24lbs, my menstrual cycle has returned to normal, and I feel so much better about myself. When it gets too cold to swim outside, I plan to join a gym... there is one 30 minutes from me that has a pool too.


I haven’t been paying attention to how many calories I’ve been eating as I wanted to focus on getting an exercise routine first, but I just purchased FitDay for my computer and I started logging calories on August 1st. I definitely see some room for improvement there still! Food is going to be my biggest struggle, and for that I will need some support. I really have no one to turn to offline, my mother is in competition with me and puts me down when I do something good, my sister has never weighed more that 105lbs at 5’4”, my sister in law is an aerobics instructor, and my mother in law just doesn’t listen! My husband is very supportive and tells me I look beautiful every single day, somehow he really means it! I don’t see the beauty yet, but I do see myself looking better and that’s enough for now.


I’m looking forward to getting to know you all, thanks for being here!


~ Krystine Michaels

Krystine - welcome to 3FC and congrats on your loss so far! You have a great start going.


I look forward to reading more posts from you!

Glad to have you!
 

:wel3fc: Krystine!

Kudos on the success you have already achieved. It sounds like swimming is really working for you. Getting the exercise routine nailed down is half the battle. That was always the hardest part for me. Regardless of how well I ate, if I did not manage to include the workouts in my routine, I couldn't get to that "perception" that I need to be at to maintain the new lifestlye and I would always slip back into my old eating habits.

:cheer2:Keep posting!

Welcome! It sounds like you're off to a good start. I am a calorie counter myself. Works for me :)

:welcome2:

Another calorie counter here - it works for me, too. :cb:

:woohoo: on 24 pounds down already - you are on your way!

Thanks for the welcome!

:welome2: Krystine!