I am a 33 year-old stay-at-home-mom. My weight issues started after I had my first child in 1996. Before then, through college, I hung around the 125-130 range. Perhaps a touch overweight, but for my frame type (between med & large) it wasn't too bad. I was usually about an 8 in those years. In the summers I would lose weight due to increased activity, so could get down to around 120. The summer before my senior year I was down to between 115 & 120, and was in a size 6.
The day before my son was born, I weighed 158 lbs. After he was born I was down to 142 and in a size 12. Still not too bad, but I started to gain weight over the years. If I could have just lost that 12-20 lbs back then I may have done okay. By 1999 I was I think up to between 185 & 190.
We had trouble conceiving a second time, and by the time we did in 2003, I was 196. I only gained 8 lbs in my second pregnancy, ending it at 204. Immediately after our daughter's birth I was down to 187. Again, if I could have just continued to lose, I might have made out better, but now the weight has continued to go up.
At the end of Feb. 2006 my husband & I started a healthier eating & exercise regimen. Just mild exercise, but it was still exercise. At the time of starting, I was up to 202.
Then in April 2006, I had gotten down to about 194. Then I learned that I was expecting again after an OB/GYN visit due to extreme bouts of pain and some other symptoms. At first I was elated, but the negative symptoms continued. A week later I learned why, and that is because the baby was in my left tube and the tube had ruptured. I had to have emergency surgery and ended up with a large incision and a rather lengthy recovery time (for me).
Whenever I calculated the time of conception, I realized it coincided pretty well with when we started our healthy regimen. That discouraged me because I didn't know if the weight loss (only about 2.5 lbs a week) was due to our healthy living or being pregnant and not knowing it.
Between the emotions following the loss of the baby, the physical recovery, and then the discouragement about how the weight loss occurred, I wasn't ready to start anything again until the end of this March. By that time there were moments when the scale read 210. I knew I had to do something. I might not have a tiny frame, but that is still WAY too much.
Here is where I am having problems. Last year, I was following a modified Eating for Life thing (didn't follow the Body for Life exercise regimen, but exercised). I never felt deprived or hungry. I always felt that we were doing healthy things, and the idea of a "free day" was a comfort. It really felt like something I could stick to
But this year, I was sucked in by the wonderful reports from those who have used South Beach. While for the longest time I thought I couldn't manage low-carb, reports of up to 14 lbs lost in the first two weeks made me think maybe I could.
I first started on March 30 at 208 lbs, and only made it until April 2. I was sick of nothing but eggs for breakfast and salads for lunch. I was tired of all the time I had to spend in the kitchen, between preparing the foods and cleaning up, and all the money I had to spend. And I missed fruit. And it was before Easter, probably not the best time to start. So we decided to wait until April 16. I started again on April 16, back at 208 lbs, and made it this time until April 20, ending at about 205 lbs. I had even modified things so that I was eating SB Phase 1 foods, but not exactly what was in the 2 week plan in the book. But I got to the 20th and really wanted pizza for dinner, and that's what we had.
In this time, I had also been looking at "You: On a Diet" which seemed very nutritionally sound, and like something I could stick with easier. So I started that this past Monday, April 23. Only problem--I started to gain weight back! That discouraged me right away, so I quit that.
So now I don't know what to do. I'm still tempted to try South Beach once again to jump start things, but I feel I'm jumping all over the place here. I wonder if starting Eating for Life again would make a difference. It seemed like such a liveable plan. With the others, you have to cut so very many things out and you pretty much shouldn't make mistakes, because the weight comes right back on.
I have about 85 lbs to lose. That's a lot. It has piled on over the course of about 10 years or so, but I don't want to take 10 years to lose it. Every year my husband & I talk about how we want to lose weight by his family reunion in July, but we never do. A friend of mine is also getting married at the end of July. I am enough of a realist to know that it would be very risky to try to lose everything in just a couple months. But it does seem that about a 2 lb a week loss would be reasonable, and would start to make me feel better, too.
I just really need support here. I don't know what is going to work for me!!
Hello luvmyfam! you came to the right place for support, it is great you found the site! I found it myself about a month ago. you are really going to find lots of support and great friends!
It is my personal opinion that diets don't really work, in my experience I dieted a few times and soon after I would find myself having to loose it again. I have lost about 15 Lbs. (depending on the time for day I get on the scale, I am addicted to it, LOL) but not by following any diet. I have been working out regularly at the gym, I just started lifting weights, I didn't want to before I lost some weight. But I did do lots of cardio I love the elliptical, I find it to be a great way to burn lots of calories, that is what works for me anyway and watch carefully what I eat. I have tried really hard to stay away from fired food, bread, pasta and eat lots of salads, eating healthy will not hurt you, and it is a way of changing our lifestyle, I am not going to tell you it has been easy, my husband loves to eat he doesn't watch his diet and he is happy where he is at and I have learned not to say anything to him and just love him not matter what.
I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do, you sure came to the right place. We chat every day, every day there someone posts with the new date and we all take it from there.
looking forward to get to know you,
Dear luvmyfam....I have found that making goals, writing them on paper, and reviewing them everyday is a big help. Your goals must be realistic, and it sounds to me that you want to loose 50 pounds over night. I don't think you can achieve any permanent weight loss, or even lose any weight at all as long as you are looking for a quick fix.
You can lose weight on any diet...even the ones you have tried and discarded, but you have to figure out what you are doing wrong and what you are willing to change.
So sorry to hear of the lost pregrancy.
I think you have come to the right place...a lot of really great people here that will love hearing about your travel from fat to thin, and cheer you all along the way.
Hugs
Welcome!!! I agree with the above posts. Diets do work and you will lose weight. However, keeping the weight off is the hard part. I've done Atkins (similiar to SB) and WW over the years and both worked great. The weight came off and before long, I got lazy, bored, sick, holidays kicked in, etc., etc... I'm now at a point where I don't want to go on a "diet" ever again. I now try and take things one day at a time. It's such a nice feeling to go to bed each night and think back on the choices that I made that day ~ from eating right to exercising ~ and feeling good about myself. I've had way too many nights of not feeling good about the choices that I made. That isn't to say that those days are over ... my birthday is this weekend and I'm going to try really, really hard to not have a second piece of cake and ice cream. One day at a time... Best of luck to you and I'm sorry to hear of your miscarriage. Give your other little ones big hugs before bed tonight ~ Joan
Your goals must be realistic, and it sounds to me that you want to loose 50 pounds over night. I don't think you can achieve any permanent weight loss, or even lose any weight at all as long as you are looking for a quick fix.
Hugs
Thanks, moxiesd. Honestly, I don't want to drop 50 lbs overnight. I know that is unrealistic and won't stick. Last year I was perfectly content with about a 2.5 lb/week loss, which I think is pretty sensible.
It's just that in this mom group I'm in, the conversation turned to diet/weight loss/nutrition. I've always had HUGE reservations about Atkins and South Beach. But the glowing reviews about South Beach in that group, and the news that the strict part was just for 2 weeks, got me thinking it would be nice to lose 8-14 lbs in two weeks.
What appealed to me in the past about Eating for Life/Body for Life was that it was all about making healthy changes in lifestyle. Not just a diet. It was about sensible portion control and meal balancing, and the whole thing just resonated with me.
It has been a hard year--since my ectopic. Why I'm not just going back to Eating for Life is beyond me. Perhaps it's that I put on all this weight in the past year and it's freaking me out. My mom has been heavy most of her life. I know how hard it has been for her. Even she has lovingly told me she doesn't want me to go through the struggles and health problems she is. That's another reason I need to do this.
I don't know! But I'm really trying to find my way. Part of me wants to give South Beach one last whirl as a jump-start. But the other part of me screams "DON'T do it! Just go back to what you know is steady." At this point, slow & steady is better to me than fast and quick failure.
Yes, my goal is to lose like 85 lbs. But not overnight. I know that won't come off in just a couple months. But 15-20 lbs in a couple months is much more realistic, and is much more likely to stay off in the long run. I just need to find my way back to what worked.
The South Beach cookbook has some fantastic, balanced recipes in Phases 2 & 3. I do plan on using them at times, even if I do decide to go back to a more liveable plan.
Thank you for giving your $.02. It's support like this that encourages me to buck the popular trends in dieting and go back to what stuck out to me as a REALLY sensible lifestyle change plan.
Hello luvmyfam! you came to the right place for support, it is great you found the site! I found it myself about a month ago. you are really going to find lots of support and great friends!
Thank you for your welcome and your input, Hanna. Being here helps me so much more than some other places. It's helping bolster my confidence that what I did last year probably did work for me better than anything else I come across.
Welcome!!! I agree with the above posts. Diets do work and you will lose weight. However, keeping the weight off is the hard part. I've done Atkins (similiar to SB) and WW over the years and both worked great. The weight came off and before long, I got lazy, bored, sick, holidays kicked in, etc., etc... I'm now at a point where I don't want to go on a "diet" ever again. I now try and take things one day at a time. It's such a nice feeling to go to bed each night and think back on the choices that I made that day ~ from eating right to exercising ~ and feeling good about myself. I've had way too many nights of not feeling good about the choices that I made. That isn't to say that those days are over ... my birthday is this weekend and I'm going to try really, really hard to not have a second piece of cake and ice cream. One day at a time... Best of luck to you and I'm sorry to hear of your miscarriage. Give your other little ones big hugs before bed tonight ~ Joan
Hello, Joan,
Thanks for the welcome and your thoughts! See, what gets me about some restrictive diets is how if you mess up just a couple days, the weight seems to come back on fast. I don't want that. I want something with the freedom that I can take the day off for a special holiday or celebration and have it not completely mess up the diet.
Thank you, also, for your condolences. It's been a tough year at times. I'm so blessed to have our other two kiddos.
HI Jet! Stick around here for lots of support! Maybe you could try picking a few aspects from the different plans that you like and have worked for you?
Hey there! I'm new here too...I lost this same weight 8 years ago before I got married and started birthing babies. After I had my son in June 2005, I expected the weight to melt off as it did right after I had my daughter. Nope, it's stayed until one day, I looked in the mirror and couldn't recognize myself.
I did go the severe calorie restriction thing, and do a saline cleanse once in a while.....but find that exercise is really theonly way that the weight comes off quickly.
I have a treadmill in the house so I usually put on a DVD for the kids and run RUN RUN!! Atleast 3-4 miles a day!
Hi there , i am also new in the last month . i think loosing weight and getting healthy is a great idea but just not that easy to do. something i have been advised to do on my plan (SFL) is to try and not have carbs for/after supper unless it is fruit and even then try and limit it. by the way i have pizza 3 times a week . Pita pizza that is at lunch time. it takes care of my gosh awful cravings . i could easily eat a 12 inch pizza to myself and then garlic fingers with cheese . it is just one of those things . i love carbs . any way drink lots of water . oh yeah after i allow myself my one bad meal a week i usually expect the scale to be 3 to 4 lbs heavier for the next 3 to 4 days until my body recovers from the shock of fat and high carbs. anyway so much more to add but it is bed time . good luck and see you around
Hi, I'm new and need support!
you are really going to find lots of support and great friends!
