May I join you?
My name is Jennifer and I am a married mother of 4 from Illinois. DD-9,DD-7,DS-3,DS-1. I work full time as a registered nurse at our community hospital, third shift (every F,S,Su- 12hour shifts). My specialty is ICU but I was recently promoted as house supervisor June 1st.
I had never been "overweight," until I had children. Since I got married 11 years ago I have gained 100 pounds - God that was hard to write.....

I have so much to be happy about in my life, but I am miserable. I can't stand to be in my own skin! My whole life hasn't been about me since I had the kiddos and I believe it is quite apparent that I have neglected myself. So- here I am! I think support will be the key to my success. I have attempted every diet scheme you can imagine over the last few years and now I want to do it right.

I am not quite sure though, how to do it. I have had some success with low carb and I believe that there is truth in watching carbs as well as calories, but I have no idea how many calories to consume a day.

Also, I am a bit of an emotional eater....not sure how to tackle that.

I will admit that I have started something that I have gotten a bit a flack for on this site...........a doctor prescribed appetite suppressant. For the first time in my life, my every waking thought isn't about food. I think I can see the light at the end of this tunnel of obesity just for that reason alone.

I will admit though that the scales are moving a bit slowly and I am feeling a bit down. My starting weight however may have been a bit higher because I didn't start on my own scale. I don't know.

Sorry to bend your ear for so long.........Thanx for listening!

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer, welcome! You've found a wonderful place here. I'm pretty new myself but the attitudes and support of everyone here is fabulous. It's really been a great motivation.

Don't worry that the scales are moving slowly, just be thankful that they're moving. Every pound lost is a battle won and something to be celebrated.

Looking forward to seeing your posts.

~Dee

Welcome, Jennifer! We're a pretty non-judgmental group here, so don't worry about getting flack. If what you're being given is doctor approved, safe and you really find it helps, then good for you. I'm not saying we don't have "discussions" about the various things different people are doing, but that's all part of what a forum is about, right?

If you're looking for support, understanding and a few laughs (we'll probably wait a little while before asking if you shave your private parts) you've come to the right place!

Hello. glad to see you made it to our group. My weight started coming off really slow as well. I monitor what I eat on www.fitday.com. At first I just journaled everything I ate just to see how many calories I was consuming. It was quite shocking to learn I was eating 3000-4000 calories a day!!! No wonder I kept gaining weight. So I started out by trying to stay under 2500 calories. Once I got that under control I went down to 2000, then 1800, then 1700. When I tried to stay around 1500 I lost it. It was just too hard.

You can do this.

Hi Jennifer, and welcome! I know you'll love it here. As long as those demon scales are moving in the right direction, then you're doing okay! Take care of yourself, and good luck. We're glad to have you!

Hugs,

M'Chelle

Welcome, Jennifer!! Hey, you're doing what you and your doctor feel is best for your body so don't let anyone give you flak!

Jennifer,

It is wonderful to have you join our little group. It is a wonderfully supportive place with great information sharing and support. I am a Mom too, and yes, you do lose yourself for awhile out of sheer necessity but then they grow and finally you get little tiny pieces of time to yourself that you treasure. I work in healthcare too and have done some ICU work and it is hard to caregive all day in your career with such great intensity of life and death and then caregive 24/7 at home. In my life, I have worked hard to try and carve time out for myself (without guilt!) and I am getting there but gosh, it is hard. It is fantastic to have you here, jump right in! Whatever choice it is that you make on how you choose to get healthier (ie - medication) is completely your decision, what is the saying - judge not be judged. I have noticed that to be the philosophy of this board. Do what you need to in order to get to where you need to go, just be gentle with yourself in the process.

Hiya Jennifer...welcome. As everyone else said, you needn't worry about anyone here being judgmental. I've found this to be a really supportive and loving place, and I hope you do, too.

If you're not sure what plan you're going with yet, I'll echo what Dawnyal said about fitday. I'm not on any specific progam per say, but fitday keeps me honest and in check. It was quite sobering that first few days of logging my food and seeing where my calories were coming from. And how many of them there were! The simple act of being accountable for what goes into my mouth has helped a LOT. Baby steps are a good thing.

Again, welcome. And congratulations on your promotion -- yay you!

Hi Jennifer,

I was on Meridian (prescribed appettite suppressant) about a year (5 years ago). I found that it worked really well to make me super aware that full feeling. It was like my brain needed to be rebooted and relearn that feeling. That's exactly what Meridian did. After a year, I felt that I no longer needed it, so I stopped taking it.

Welcome to the board!

GJ

Welcome and you found a great place for support. Look forward to getting to know you.

Same as what everyone else said. Hey, I'm tired after all that exercise!

Welcome, Jennifer.

I am so glad of all the support! You guys are great! I checked out fitday......seems like it will work for me. I have stopped looking at the scales. I am only going to weigh 1x a week! The scale thing can sure become addictive. Problem is that my weight can really fluctuate from 1 day to the next.

I look forward to getting to know all of you!

Jennifer

Just wanted to say welcome to the board!! Great bunch of people here!!! Feel free to jump right in!!!!