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Old 04-02-2007, 01:34 PM   #1  
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Lightbulb Introduction and My Journey


Hi! I’m Nikki. *waves* I’ve been a lurker here for probably a year or so and I figured it’s time to join in and put my introduction out there. Warning: This is going to be long.

About Me

I’m 26 from Alabama. I just got married to a wonderful guy last May…almost a year ago! Wow. Time flies! I’m a full time student, majoring in Biology with a double minor in Chemistry and Psychology and graduate next May. After screwing around for several years, I finally decided to go back to school. I hope to get into vet school after I graduate. It’s very competitive, so I’m not sure how much of a chance I have to actually pursue my dream. If that falls through, I want to get into med school and become an orthopedic surgeon. And if that falls through, I’ll go to grad school to become a researcher or psychologist. It’s good to have a plan. LoL. My husband is in law school right now and we never get to see each other. It’s really stressful. But in the end, I’m sure it’ll be worth it.

I have 2 dogs… Cedar, an Akita, and Ollie, a lab mix. Cedar just had a birthday yesterday and got to wear the cute party hat. LoL. I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars… and also watch House and Prison Break (season finale on tonight!). I love to read more than anything… I have a huge stack of books just waiting to be read. My current obsession at the moment is Bare Escentuals mineral makeup. I’ve spent so much money on that stuff in the past few months, it’s unreal.

Weight & My Journey

Okay. Now to the weight stuff. I’ve been heavy all of my life and it’s getting harder and harder to lose weight. This is the most I’ve ever weighed and I just can’t seem to get the motivation to change it. I know what foods to eat. I know to exercise. It’s just so hard when I’m at school, at work, or on the road. I commute for 10 hours a week. That’s a huge chunk of time right there.

For the most part, I’ve been a size 16 for most of my life. Even in grade school. My family is overweight as well. I never exercised until I started the marching band in high school. Then, my life of dieting began. My mother was constantly on a diet. When I was around 16, she took me to a weight clinic with her where they did low carb and prescribed medication. I lost 40 lbs immediately and looked pretty good. I have a large bone structure and know I couldn’t weigh less than 160 or so. After I lost that weight, I graduated and then my life was turned upside down. My mom and dad divorced, my mom moved out of state for a man she met online and took my younger sister with her, and I was pretty much just left behind. I moved in with my aunt and uncle since my dad was unstable then and then I started eating and eating. After a few months at their house, I moved into the dorms at school. I was on my own, had to eat cheaply, and just ate tons of bad stuff. That was the most I’d ever weighed back then. I think I got up to around 240lbs.

I moved back in with my dad after he saw the dorm I was living in and started working a part time job. I got on Atkins and lost about 15 lbs. I had to quit school because my job wouldn’t work around that schedule anymore and started working full time. I continued to work there for 3 more years and then changed jobs. I was off and on Atkins for the most part of those years. I’d gain and lose, gain and lose. I was also going to a gym on a regular basis, but never lost a pound or inches. I continued to wear a 16-18.

My life became really stressful because of my dad, my current job, a guy, and the lack of school…and I went to visit my mom and sister for about 3 months. I got back on my diet plan and stayed on it and lost a decent amount of weight. I left their house at 207. I stayed at that number for months after I got back home, despite cutting even more carbs and calories. Then, something just clicked. I started eating more fruits and veggies… and low carb tortillas and didn’t cheat at all. And I started losing again. I became obsessed about every drop of food that went into my mouth. I’m almost positive I developed some kind of eating disorder. It would worry me… but my dad told me to keep on doing what I was doing because I looked great. I started doing yoga then and getting on our treadmill at home. I dropped down to 192. I thought I looked pretty good. I see pictures of me from then and I think “wow!”. I didn’t look like I weighed that much.

It took me years and years just to lose those few pounds. I was in a zone when I weighed 192. I had quit dating because every guy I’d meet was a loser. Then I met my future husband… and all my weight loss efforts went down the drain. At first, I’d be doing the diet thing with a cheat here and there like when we went out to eat. I was still doing the low carb thing since I’ve understood that my body craves carbs and they’re what make me heavy. And I’m talking about breads and pastas.. not veggie carbs. I’d gained a few lbs, but I didn’t really worry about it. But then, 2 months after we started dating, I had a serious car wreck in August of 2004. I shattered my heel and had to have it reconstructed. I spent 4 months on my *** or on crutches. I couldn’t make my own food that was low carb and healthy for me. I had to rely on sandwiches and junk because my crutches wouldn’t allow me to carry stuff and cook properly. And I gained 30 lbs back.

My future husband and I got really serious then and moved in together in February. With my insurance settlement after my surgery was paid for, we went to Europe the following summer. I lost about 15 lbs before we went. I still don’t know I managed to travel over Europe with my foot still messed up and in pain, but I did it. He proposed while we were on the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. We set a date for a year from then. And the weight started piling up again. I dieted half heartedly for the wedding for a year. I didn’t really lose anything… and in the months before the wedding, I was so stressed with school, work, and planning, that I gained what I had lost back.

So, we got married last May and went to Ireland again for our honeymoon. We ate tons of good, bad stuff at the pubs… I had daily pints of Guinness with meals. When we got back, I took that summer off of school and worked full time.. Then I started going to a local university. We live in the sticks and have to commute if we want to have anything. Both my job and the university is an hour away. Last July, I went to my primary care doctor and talked to him about my weight. He told me flat out that he didn’t really know anything about nutrition and if I wanted him to prescribe a diet pill, tell him which one and he’d write one up for me. I was taken aback and wanted to talk about calories and metabolism. I’ve had my thyroid tested twice and both times, it’s come back on the low end of normal.. but they won’t do anything about it. I told him that I’ve tried counting calories and wanted to get off of strict low carb, but I didn’t know how many calories I should consume to lose weight. I told him that I read somewhere that I needed around 1800 calories for my current weight to lose weight and he told me that was far too much. So, we decided on 1200 calories. He wrote me a script for Adipex and sent me on my way. I have normal blood pressure and normal blood sugar. I’m overall healthy. My body temp is normally around 97.5.. and I’ve read places that that indicates hypothyroidism. But whatever. I took the Adipex, counted calories, and lost 15 lbs in a month. Then I started my new semester at the new school.

I didn’t have a normal lunch break. My classes were back to back and then I would have to go straight to work after class. I’d have to eat a high protein bar or something like that. I tried taking my lunch with me, but I felt stupid taking my lunch bag with me to class. If I left it in my truck, it’d get too hot. Sometimes, I’d be so hungry, I’d have to stop by a fast food place and get something to eat. I suffer from hypoglycemia as well and get so dizzy and irritable if I don’t have food at regular intervals. I continued to take the Adipex and tried to watch what I ate, but it didn’t work out well. Then, Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went. And the pounds piled on. This semester, I have an easier schedule since I’m not working quite as much, but my classes are much more demanding. I don’t have free time to do anything and after I drive an hour home after classes get out, I’m famished and tend to make horrible food choices.

We buy healthy food at the grocery store. We get lean meats like fish, ground turkey, and chicken.. no red meat. We get veggies, whole grain bread (when we do buy bread), and brown rice. Sometimes we get whole grain pasta. So, we have all the right things at home. It’s just hard for me to take something portable for school.. and very hard for me to bypass the fast food places to get a quick fix. We eat out way too much. If we’ve had a stressful day (which is 3-4 days a week), we’ll go to the local Mexican place and get a margarita or two. Which is bad, bad, bad. And we wind up eating there as well. They just put grilled tilapia on the menu though and it’s fabulous, so it makes me feel a bit better when we eat there. But, we love eating out together since we don’t have much time together at all and I always make bad food choices. And because of all of the school stress, new married life stress, and work stress, I’m back up to around 245. I’ve never weighed this much before and it makes me sick.

I’ve tried to get my dr to give me some more Adipex, but he told me he only prescribes it for 4 months out of a year. That helped my hunger so much. I didn’t think about food while taking it. It made me feel like I was actually doing something for myself and dieting. Since January, I’ve tried doing the counting calories thing and doing a moderate carb diet with low fat and a lot of lean protein. But it’s just so hard when I’m so busy and at school, or work, or on the road. I know I could stick with it if I just stayed at home and did nothing. But, this weight is taking a toll on my reconstructed foot. It still swells up on a daily basis and I had the surgery almost 3 years ago. I had knee surgery 6 years ago and I know this extra weight isn’t helping my knees either. I’m tired of huffing and puffing up steps and around campus. I’m tired of being the biggest girl in the classroom. I’m tired of being invisible. This one professor I have… even though I’m there for class and make good grades, he still doesn’t even look at me or know my name. It’s like I’m invisible.. and there are only 13 people in my class since it’s an upper level major specific class! It makes me feel worthless.

It’s so hard with these obstacles… and hard when you have a husband that doesn’t care what you eat.. that likes you just fine the way you are. I’ll try my best to diet and be good and he’ll say that he wants a margarita or something like that. And I’ll go along with it because I have no willpower anymore. He tends to cook whenever we do eat at home because he likes to and he’s a much better cook than me. But I feel that if he cooked whatever he wanted to eat and I cooked what I wanted/could eat, it’d be much better. He likes stuff with pasta and rice. And while we get whole grain or brown, it’s still bad for me. I still gain weight when I eat it.

I’ve read I don’t know how many diet books. Atkins, South Beach, Dr Oz, Body for Life, the Jillian Michaels book. I know what to do. I just don’t seem to have the motivation right now or the willpower.

This past weekend, we had a wedding to go to. None of my clothes fit so I had to go get some new clothes. I tried and tried on clothes. Nothing worked. Everything looked horrible on me. Then I went to lane bryant. I found some beautiful clothes that looked great on me.. I got so many compliments. But, I had to get a size 20. I haven't been that size in years and swore I'd never get to that size again. And here I am. I almost had a breakdown in the dressing room... but I didn't want to mess up my pretty makeup. LoL.

I’m ready for a change and ready to stick with it. We just bought a cool treadmill. I’m hoping I can find some time to do that and start yoga again.. because I absolutely loved doing yoga. I can’t do a lot of exercising because of my foot, but I can walk for a little bit. I’m looking to do a 1200-1400 calorie diet with high protein, moderate carbs, and low fat. It can be done because I did it last July and had some success. I just don’t know how to do it with my work and school schedule… and my commuting. And it’s just so hard to not stop at the drive thru and make life easier. I am so tired of this.

A couple of weeks ago, I was put on Prozac by my psychiatrist. I’m so stressed out and irritable and just generally pissed off all the time. So, I’m hoping that it helps my weight loss efforts as well. I get so depressed when I work so hard watching what I eat and counting calories and not seeing any results. Then I just give up and eat whatever and gain even more weight. It’s like when I diet, I’m maintaining.. not losing.

I want to get down to a size 10 and weigh around 165. I can’t make little mini goals because I never reach them and get depressed and go on an eating spree. I’m thinking that maybe I could have one “bad” meal a week so that’s something I can look forward to and will stay on track because of it. Like getting the grilled tilapia and a margarita every Saturday night. And then get right back on track Sunday morning. Oh, and I already drink at least 3 liters of water a day. I’ve trained myself from my Atkins days to drink that much… I don’t drink anything else during the day but water. Do I need to increase my water intake since that’s all I drink and my body is accustomed to it?

This is way too long and I’m very sorry for it! I was just tired of keeping this bottled in and hoping someone out there was experiencing the same obstacles I’m experiencing. Thanks and I’m glad to be here!
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Old 04-02-2007, 03:33 PM   #2  
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Wow, thank you so much for sharing so much! I really hope that if nothing else, I can offer my support for you. (I know that there are a lot of people here who can offer better guidelines than I can. I'm just plugging along as best I can!!)

Keep posting and keep reading. It is all right here for you! You can do it!
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Old 04-02-2007, 04:06 PM   #3  
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Welcome
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Old 04-02-2007, 05:03 PM   #4  
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Hi Nikki,

So glad you decided to stop lurking and join us on our journey. Your story is so very familiar to me...the times and places might be yours, but the theme is one many of us share.

Last edited by GirlyGirlSebas; 04-03-2007 at 10:42 AM.
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Old 04-02-2007, 06:44 PM   #5  
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This is a wonderful place to find the support for your journey! I look forward to getting to know you as we journey to better health together!
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Old 04-02-2007, 07:08 PM   #6  
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Welcome out of lurkdom Nikki! It sounds like you know what you need to do and hopefully you'll soon get into the zone you need to be in to stick with it. In the meantime just take it one step at a time - change what you can and work around the things that you're having problems with (Example: You say that it's just easier to stop at the drive through. While in general I think it's best to use fast food/drive thru's only occassionaly, almost all fast food places have something that could be made into a good choice simply by leaving off the mayo, not eating the bread, getting a side salad instead of fries, etc.). Your water intake sounds fine to me but each person is different and you may find that you want to increase it once you get back into exercise.

Doctors - I know it's really none of my business, but if my doctor told me that she didn't know that much about nutrition I'd be looking for another doctor. And if you have a medical plan that allows you to go to specialists without a referral from your primary care physician I would consider going to a endocrinologists since they specialize in thryoid disorders. You said that you're at the low end of normal - sometimes general practioners just order the basic thyroid test and that doesn't always tell the full story.

Good luck! I look forward to seeing more posts from you!!
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Old 04-02-2007, 08:54 PM   #7  
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Welcome to the forum, and thank you for sharing. I wish you all the best. I know it sounds so cliche, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it! I guess it's cliche because it's true!!!
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Old 04-02-2007, 08:55 PM   #8  
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I haven't been here long, but so far this seems to be a wonderful, supportive, balanced, informative group, and eveyone who posts seems to get answers that help her/him cope better. I'm happy to hear all of your story, and I'm sure you won't have to go through this struggle alone any longer. It could be my story, too, only I had about 25 years of dealing with health care workers who either admitted they didn't have answers or else called me (and some of my friends in a similar boat) lazy, unmotivated or even a liar. Now, there's better research, but access to doctors who are onto the latest information, is limited.

Besides a possible hypothyroid condition, you mention trouble with hypoglycemia related to going too long without eating, and some weight loss success with limiting carbs, when you can manage it. This sounds like you might also want to get checked out for Insulin Resistance (-not the simple fasting glucose tolerance test, for diabetes). The good news for people with IR is, calorie-counting is not so important, and some people are eligible to have one standard DRY, no fruit juice added, alcoholic drink per day, eventually. And the bad news is, depending on sensitivity, there may be no such thing as a good carb, except for once a day in small quantities. The whole diet lifestyle would have to be rethought. Not that that's the problem for everybody with a history of weight-loss resistance! But, you might want to eliminate that as a possibility; just an idea.

There are quite a few different support groups hidden around this site, in case you haven't already noticed? It's possible to find people with all kinds of experience working through different obstacles to weight loss, such as injury limiting exercise, underlying health problems, partners with different dietary wishes, prohibitive work schedules, and limited access to supportive diet aids. Just keep posting, people can't wait to lend a helping hand!

All the best to you, and me and all the rest of us, on this challenging journey!
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Old 04-03-2007, 10:29 AM   #9  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by becoming wisdom View Post
Besides a possible hypothyroid condition, you mention trouble with hypoglycemia related to going too long without eating, and some weight loss success with limiting carbs, when you can manage it. This sounds like you might also want to get checked out for Insulin Resistance (-not the simple fasting glucose tolerance test, for diabetes). The good news for people with IR is, calorie-counting is not so important, and some people are eligible to have one standard DRY, no fruit juice added, alcoholic drink per day, eventually. And the bad news is, depending on sensitivity, there may be no such thing as a good carb, except for once a day in small quantities. The whole diet lifestyle would have to be rethought. Not that that's the problem for everybody with a history of weight-loss resistance! But, you might want to eliminate that as a possibility; just an idea.
thank you for the info on insulin resistance. once i get all of these exams out of the way, i'll research it.

we also don't have health insurance since both my husband and i are in school full time. i work part time, but they don't offer it to me and he is forbidden to work during his first year. this fall when he starts working at a firm, we'll probably have insurance. it's really hard to get tests done when you don't have insurance. when i go to my PCP, he'll just examine me and not do any blood work unless i specifically ask. i had strep throat a few months ago and he didn't do a culture or anything, just wrote me up some antibiotics. i could've had anything. i know he does it to keep my costs down since he knows i'm without insurance right now... and he won't diagnose me with acid reflux yet because it'd be a pre-existing condition... just in case it gets worse and i have to have surgery.

thank you all for the warm welcome!!
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