Thought I should introduce myself! Sorry about the length. I'm in my late 20s was just diagnosed with some sort of metabolic disorder (possibly PCOS) and had a hysteroscopy earlier this month. I was put on Metformin a week ago because my insulin levels are not right (sorry, not sure of the exact terminology to use) and while I'm not diabetic, it might be messing up my fertility. My doctor thinks my husband and I have a small chance of conceiving a baby and one of the things we're going to try in order to make that happen is have me lose weight. I'm at 220 right now and want to lose as much as is healthy in the next two months because that's when we're going to start trying to have a baby. The doctor wants me to get down to 150 eventually. I will of course continue trying to lose weight after that, though my exact diet and how much I try to lose will naturally depend on whether I get pregnant.
The good news is that I'm very motivated to lose weight and am really hopeful that it will help with my health issues. I'm trying to take the whole dieting thing easy and not jump into anything really strict because I really want this to develop into a healthy eating lifestyle instead of just a way to lose a lot of weight quickly and risk gaining it all back when I stop dieting. I will also start going to the gym soon, just have to wait a couple of more weeks until a health issue resolves. I used to be a real gym nut and was there every day lifting weights and doing cardio (really enjoyed lifting weights), so I'm rather looking forward to getting back into that. As a child and teenager I was not overweight and I know how to eat healthy, so I'm hoping that once I get the ball rolling on the weight loss and eventually get to my goal weight, I'll be able to maintain it for the rest of my life if I work hard.
So far, my eating approach is based on what my doctor told me to do. I'm completely cutting out all grains and starches (wheat, corn, potatoes) and sugar (except for natural sugar in fruit and veggies). This is a big one because I LOVE bread, potatoes, pasta, rice... I think cutting them out is what will make the biggest difference for me and is what has been hardest so far. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so the sugar thing isn't a big deal. The doctor said to eat a lot more lean meat because I usually only eat it once a week or so- eating it every day has been interesting! I'm also eating lots of veggies and fruits, and trying to eat more dairy. Things like beans and lentils are high in carbs, but the doctor said I should eat them anyway because of the protein. Beans aren't what made me overweight! I'm also keeping an eye on portion sizes and fat.
At this point, I do plan to allow myself the occasional meal that has grains and sugar in it, but I will be careful not to go overboard. Thinking I'll do this once a week. If it makes things worse or harder, I will of course ditch this idea! My reasoning behind this is that I THINK (might be wrong) having a bowl of mac and cheese or a cupcake once a week will help me feel like I'm not being limited too severely.
I'm only on I think day 4 of my new way of eating, but so far, so good Haven't slipped up yet. We still have quite a bit of non-HuggerBunny friendly food in the house (going to donate it to the local food pantry soon!), but I've done okay so far. We desperately want a baby so the knowledge that the more weight I lose (in a healthy way!), the more likely we are to conceive is a great motivator!
One last thing- for now at least I will not be weighing myself except for at the doctor's office every month. In the past when I've tried to lose weight, it's been so tempting to step on the scale every day and it's frustrating if the number doesn't go down and panic inducing if it goes up. I think I will keep calm and stay the course better if I just do my best to eat properly and exercise without the scale as a frequent companion.
Sorry about the novel