On the other side!
 

I am now officially closer to 200 than to 300. What a wonderful day!!

Plateaued at 256 for an entire month (actually 5 weeks) but I'm back to losing now and so excited to see the scale move!

Started at 313 in September, I've now lost 65 pounds as of today, bringing me down to 248.

I've lost as much as my 12 year old son weighs (and this is his birthday, btw)

My BMI has dropped from 50.5 to 39.8 (I'm no longer "morbidly obese" just "obese". (I think that should feel comforting, but it still stings)

In 9 pounds I'll be halfway to my goal.

Only 35 pounds to lose until I reach 100 pounds gone. This must be accomplished by October!

All in all, I am feeling pretty darn successful this morning!

:wave:
Just checking in for today. Feeling defeated by diabetes this morning. Gained five pounds over the last two days, even though calories and carbs were in good shape, I slept well and I exercised. My body just refuses to lose any more weight and I don't know why. I'm not losing inches any more either.

I ate a tiny, carb-free breakfast and my blood sugar spiked. :mad:

I like it when ya'll post your successes. You make me feel hopeful. I like it when you post your struggles, because I feel companionship with you all.

I need to get out of this funk!!!!

Hope you have a lovely day, completely on track.

hello hello hello everyone! :wave:

I've been awol for a few months now and today is my first day back to being 100% on plan. As much as I thought I could go it alone, I simply can't. I need the support and a place to share all the ups and downs of weight loss and am incredibly grateful that this kind of forum exists.

The good news is that, when it came time to update my signature and profile and the like on 3FC, I only had to add .6 lbs. That strikes me as being nothing short of miraculous. I haven't counted calories or tracked my food for months (and months and months). I've weighed myself pretty regularly and have had my ups and downs - I got back into the 250s for a while and also made it down to 245-ish - but on the whole I've been pretty stable with my weight. Considering I've been going way, way overboard on sugar and fat... again, it's nothing short of miraculous.

What I've learned from my few months off plan...

My emotional eating comes from two places: 1) punishing myself for feelings of shame that come up; and 2) soothing my anxieties that come up in times of change. When I eat emotionally I gravitate towards high fat and high carb foods - fried meats, lots of oil, etc. I've been thinking about whether or not these are things that I can have in my life at all given what triggers they are for me. I don't have an answer to that quite yet, but until I do I'm going to go primarily vegan. The world's not going to end if I have animal products, but craving fried chicken or a greasy steak is a clear warning sign for me.

Filtering what comes into my world is really important for my long-term success. For me there's a certain vulnerability that comes with this kind of change. I feel really raw in some ways and really open emotionally in others. I'm not in a place where I can handle sustained contact with people who have negative views on body image or issues with self-hatred. I see a lot of that among fellow dieters. Like the issue with my specific food choices, it's a question of navigation. I'm still not clear on how to navigate being part of a community with avoiding the negativity that can also come with that. Eventually I'll be able to create better boundaries and limits for myself when it comes to all these different voices, but I'm not there yet and need a safe, little nest to exist in until I am there.

So I'm happy, thoughtful, excited, optimistic... all of those good things. I'm also looking forward to posting!

Martini!!! So glad to see you again! :hug: Sounds like you had a good break and you've done some good thinking about your needs. I find a lot of value in your post. Thanks for sharing!

It's hard to find the boundaries of where someone else's issues end and mine begin. I know what you're talking about! I was raised to be an empath on behalf of my mother, to take on her issues and work them out for her. And that led to doing it for everyone that came into my life. It's taken a lot of therapy and understanding to know the difference between my pile of junk and someone else's pile of junk. But I'm getting much better at it, and now there are less people in my life who expect me to deal with their stuff for them. And I'm so much happier and unencumbered by it all as I get better at not emotionally enmeshing myself with people. It's hard to learn how to be in relationships and not do that, but it helps when I'm in relationships with people who are emotionally healthy and differentiated. I constantly have to tell myself not to gravitate towards needy people!

I've just started Atkins today. Doing it for my blood sugar control. I'm going to be crabby for a few days because I'm also off coffee now. Doing that for my blood pressure. I thought I'd get all the difficult withdrawal stuff out of the way all at the same time. Glutton for punishment!

Hope you all have a happy Sunday!

I would like to jump in I hit onederland in May 2012 but found out I was pregnant June 4th and I was 195 gained 40 during pregnancy Im now 214 and working again towards onederland I want it again so bad its a great feelingto hit 199

Georgia - It's good to see you, too! Good luck with Atkins. What happened to the paleo plan? Are you still doing your fabulous goddess pilates?

Day 1 went on plan and I'm looking forward to another day on plan. With eating much less and avoiding fats and carbs I've had the most ridiculous rush of energy. I had an awful night's sleep because I was so jittery, but I'm still wired. I think at one point I'm going to have to look at the possibility of food intolerance and see if there's anything more to the energy woosh than simply a day of healthy eating.

Martini, Paleo is still on and is fully supported by Atkins. Paleo is about the food sources, so my grass-fed bison and organic greens are totally cool with the Atkins program.

I haven't been to a proper Pilates class in five weeks! I'm so upset about this because it's the medication I'm on for the diabetes that makes me too woozy to work out. I still go for a private session with my trainer, but half the time I'm hugging the walls for stability. But my doctor has just switched me to a new medication and I'm hoping in the next day or so the woozies will go away and I can get back to class.

How are you going to figure out your food intolerance? I did an eliminaiton diet to figure out that I had the soy intolerance. I've been reading up on allergy testing and I'm considering going in to have other stuff tested, since I'm allergic to mold and dust too.

Ky, welcome to our little enclave. We look forward to celebrating the 199 with you!

I've already been on the rowing machine this morning, had my breakfast and my decaf, started laundry, kitchen is clean. Gotta finish organizing my bedroom/office. I'm going to be moving the office out to the living room soon. Maybe then I won't be on the computer right up until I go to bed. I think it gives me bad dreams!

Georgia - I'm so sorry to hear about the woozies! I know how much you love your classes and it's a shame you haven't been able to do that. What I just noticed, though, is the update on your counter (I haven't seen it for months) - woo hoo!! Now very, very firmly in the 200s!!

I have finally found an online source for clothing and got my first shipment of new pants and bras last week. I still can't believe the reality of it. I was wearing my size 24/26 pants hitched up with belts. I'm now very comfortably wearing size 18s!! I'm also down from a size 44DDD to a size 40D bra.

The nice thing about not wearing my old clothes is that I have less leeway now for going off plan. When I had a spare 4 inches in my pants, it was no big thing to overeat at dinner because there was no tightness in my clothing. Now I definitely notice it if I'm retaining water or if I have a big meal.

Martini, good to hear from you and glad you have picked up some new clothes that is always a good time. :) I don't need new clothes yet but I always seem to spoil myself. Guess its the same with food I am still struggling to say no to my inner two year old who is saying "gimme gimme gimme" :)


Weighed myself today at 315 that is 1 lb away from ticker which is better than I was a week ago (showing at 330, thats how much water I was retaining CRAZY)

I don't know I keep making excuses and i just don't know how to find the motivation , I browse here still trying to find it but its not coming i know HOW to lose weight, I've done it before I can do it again I just seem to keep not engaging the right behaviour and making excuses.

I'm having one of those down days girls. Sorry!

silentarctic - Hey! I'm really glad to see you're still posting!!

I think what you're saying about your inner two year old is pretty profound and it really, really rings true for me. I've been up and down these past couple of months and one of the things that got me back on plan was recognizing that I also have that two year old. She likes fried chicken and pasta with cream sauce and pastries for breakfast a lot. But if I wouldn't give a child the keys to my car, why in the world would I let that petulant, demanding little voice inside me run the show?

I don't have any answers for you, but I know where you're coming from and I know exactly how hard it is to keep on going. For me it often comes down to distinguishing between what I want and what is right for me. Sometimes they're the same thing, but a lot of the time - especially when it comes to food - they're completely different. When there is that difference, I try to go on autopilot and just go through the motions of staying on plan even though that stupid little two year old doesn't want to.

Martini! Size 18! Woohoo!:carrot: And so glad you found a source for clothes too. That should be quite an emo boost for you! Have fun shopping!

Silent :hug: Don't give up sweetie. I know how motivation is such an important factor. You did really well to get back on track with losing the excess water weight. I know all about that stuff! What are you doing to help yourself, to nurture yourself. What sorts of things usually work for you? For me, I find that getting in a really pissy mood helps me get things done. Then life gets a little less cluttered and I can refocus. When too many factors are weighing down my brain, simplifying life can help too. And sometimes, just a good night or two of sleep.

Sorry to not have been consistently here for the last few weeks. I've been over on the diabetes support thread a lot more, and now the Atkins forum. Have had to rethink some strategies since going on the meds. But the number one strategy was to go on Atkins induction very strictly and not worry so much about fat intake, for now, until the hunger-management features of the ketogenic diet kick in.

And secondly, I have taken myself off all the meds because they were just making my life worse! I went on a series of three medications. They all gave me a foggy brain, nasea and vertigo. But this last one added terrible water retention. I gained six pounds in three days, even while I was drastically cutting carbs. I have been so lethargic for the last two days. So last night I opted to stop meds altogether and this morning I lost almost four pounds. I've been in the bathroom several times today because I took some cranberry pills to help with the water retention. Feeling a little more lively now.

Yesterday I went to see a doctor in Sacramento. He has a world-class weight-loss clinic and just deals with diet solutions, no surgery options. His philosophy is about cutting carbs and fats really low, keeping calories around 1200 and taking a lot of supplements plus phentermine to deal with appetite. I'm not sure I'm going to do this, it's pricey. But the first visit was free and I got my BMR done on one of those biometic impedence machines. It's 1950. I found out that my lean body mass was 160 lbs., which is spot on track. Shooting for 190 lbs is a great goal for me. I'm bound to lose some muscle mass as I lose weight, so I've got to keep exercising. I'm happy to report that I'm now comprised of more lean body mass than fat. Feels good! It was the emotional boost I needed to get back on track.

I see that it's almost lunch time. Not sure what I want to eat...I've had fish for three days. Maybe chicken. And a salad...no...kale! No, I don't really feel like turning on the stove. How about turkey cold cuts rolled up with French goat cheese and romaine lettuce. Yep, that's it!

Hi everyone! :wave:

I've been on plan all week and it looks like I'm going to be down a couple of pounds for my weekly Sunday weigh-in. I'm really glad to see that the scale is inching down again.

After my "break" I'm finding there are some moments when it's hard to get into a dieting mentality. It's not the calorie counting or the weighing and measuring - that part is almost fun. It's the slow, incremental weight loss and having enough patience to keep on doing the same thing, day in and day out, and watching those numbers drop slowly.

Part of me thinks, "well, I've been counting calories for a week and therefore I should weigh 150lb by Sunday." I know that sounds ridiculous and I've gotten pretty good at talking myself through those moments, but still. I'm having to force myself to refocus on making it through those individual decades of weight and not thinking about how far away the big picture feels right now.

Hello
 

Thanks for the great posts. Very encouraging and motivational reading. I had 100 pounds to lose. I lost 30 then hurt my foot about 2 months ago and have gained back 15. The doctor tells me to stay off my foot but I work 2 jobs and since I can't exercise I've been putting the pounds back on. Very discouraging after all the hard work I've done. I take 2 mg of thyroid medication so exercise is a very important part of my weight loss.

I still have to lose 85 pounds and wondered what program you all are on. I've thought about counting calories, then I read about the Jorge Cruise Belly Fat Diet, then I've thought about Weight Watchers, and now I'm totally confused what to do. :?: Should I just eat as healthy as possible and let the chips fall where they may? Any input would be appreciated. :^:

Thanks and congratulations to all who have lost weight and good wishes to those who are struggling like me.

Hello all.... glad to find this thread. I'm desperate for the 199. I've had some weird fluctuations with my weight - and since starting my weight loss journey about six weeks ago - I actually gained almost 15 pounds. Much of this was water weight....because of all my exercising. I got on the scales yesterday at the gym and was back at my starting weight (haven't updated yet - because I'm not supposed to weigh in til Sunday). I know I'm smaller...though I didn't take starting measurements so I don't know how much. I know I'm fitter. And I know I'm more muscular. But darn it's depressing for all my hard work to be back where I started. 199 seems miles away.

Hello hello! My Sunday weigh-in has me down for 3.3lb this week and I'm really happy about the good start to being back on plan. I'm going out for dinner tonight with friends and expect that the number will be a bit higher tomorrow, but it's headed in the right direction and I think that's something to feel good about.

Buttermilk - I think your choice of plan is ultimately up to whatever would work best for you. I count calories. Others have a specific diet plan that they follow. In the long term I think it comes down to what can you sustain over the long haul because there's absolutely nothing about weight loss that's quick or easy.

AlmostMe - Keep on fighting the good fight!