[birdie_poo]

To sum it all up, I never really started dieting until after I had the first Surrogate child I carried. that diet started almost immediately following his birth in late January 2001. At that point, aside from being pregnant, that was my highest weight ever.

I did Atkins and was extremely successful, but my love of bread and raw cookie dough won out.

After the Surrogate twins were born (Dec 2002), I set a goal to get back to high school size (not weight - that would be impossible). Since I was pumping milk for the babies, it was easier to start the weight loss. After 4 weeks, I was in the community college's advanced volleyball program and started a 1200 calorie diet. In addition to volleyball, I walked several times a week.

Boy, did that take the weight off. By my b-day in April, I was at my goal size (size 10). Everything was great and I was able to keep the weight off, after modifying my caloric intake, and upkeep with the walking.

Then it happened. All heck broke loose at work and stress city, there I went. In a matter of less than 2 months, I gained the weight back, started breaking out in zits, had hair loss, and the doctor prescribed some pills that knock me on my butt.

So, here I am.

My husband has decided that he wants to lose weight, himself, since he put on more weight than I did while pregnant, and has yet to lose any of it.

Today, we started SBD, Phase 1, Day 1. I am gnawing on my celery and thinking that, yes, I am hungry right now, but don't want to go back to feeling miserable about myself. There is little I can do about what's going on at work, but if I lose my sense of self and become overweight, then I've lost.

I know I need to start walking again. That was so helpful before. I work full time, I go to school 1 night a week and on Saturday AM. I have 3 children (2 freshman, 1 7th grader), and we have a small farm (1 acre).

Knowing I can eventually eat bread, regardless of whole grain or not, is an incentive to continue with the diet. My husband's weight and health are a more paramount concern, than my own. He has extremely high cholesterol and after an extensive physical, his body determination was that he's actually 5 years older than he really is. that may not seem like much, a 35-year old in a 40-year old body, but when you add in extremely poor eating habits and no exercise, that equals trouble. There is only so much I can do at home, when he's at work, it's a whole other story.

I would love any ideas that you may have on how to keep my husband on the wagon. I'd love to hear about any new recipes, modifications to old recipes, foods that aren't listed that we can have, etc.

BTW...in phase 1, you only eat the stuff from the book, right? What if you still get hungry? Anything kin to free foods in Atkins, that don't do any harm???

[Snoozin]

Welcome birdie! This is a great site for support and info. Just join in the different threads and you will learn a lot about this WOE. I had a difficult first three days on the plan, but after that, I must say I have felt better than I have in a long time. Stress can wreak havoc in MANY ways, so a support system is key to success in my book.
Stick with the plan as closely as you can, but I substituted some items that I didn't like for things I could eat and enjoy, that still were acceptable on the plan. There are a lot of creative people with good ideas here that help make it easier to follow.
Good Luck to you and your hubby!