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Old 06-02-2004, 04:05 PM   #1  
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Question What does it take?

After years of diet pills, energy pills, starvation diets, cabbage soup, laxatives, and prescriptions, I finally developed enough self-loathing to boot my *** into gear. I had hit a serious low in my self-esteem and a serious high in my weight. It took all that before I was willing to really sit down and make the changes that I knew I needed to make all along.

So my question is, what did it take for you? What was your turning point? When did you finally decide 'french fries be damned'?
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Old 06-02-2004, 04:20 PM   #2  
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What made me want to make a serious change in my life is my daughter, my hubby and I'm sick of feeling sick.

Hitting rock bottom with my weight, depression and ooodles of other things for me has been the turning point.
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Old 06-02-2004, 05:21 PM   #3  
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Looking at myself in group pictures during Christmas....and having my skinny minny sister say she'd do Atkins with me. SHE doesn't do this anymore. But I thanked her for setting me in the right direction. Also, I didn't want to have to go out and buy the next size jeans
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Old 06-02-2004, 06:04 PM   #4  
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I guess mine in a little different... I was always skinny, a make-you-puke size 1-2 , even. than I suddenly lost energy, was always very cold and started gaining weight very quickly. I didn't know what was wrong with me, I blamed my job, my boyfriend, I became miserable. I went to the doctor and found out that it wasn't in my head, I really was sick wiht Hypo. It took a while for my hormones to get back into balance because I didnt have insurance at the time and wasn't taking my pills like I should've. (Boy did my Mom get madat me for that!) Anyway, I finally got insurance and was taking the medicine again last summer, but the weight was still there and I wasn't taking care of myself. I was going out all the time, partying every night... and I don't like to admit, we did not just drink. We did other things, too. My world came to a screeching halt this Christmas when I found out my Mom was terminally sick. I moved up here to South Dakota and cleaned up my act. this is just another step in the process.
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Old 06-02-2004, 07:04 PM   #5  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ellisdeekat
I guess mine in a little different... I was always skinny, a make-you-puke size 1-2 , even. than I suddenly lost energy, was always very cold and started gaining weight very quickly. I didn't know what was wrong with me, I blamed my job, my boyfriend, I became miserable. I went to the doctor and found out that it wasn't in my head, I really was sick wiht Hypo. It took a while for my hormones to get back into balance because I didnt have insurance at the time and wasn't taking my pills like I should've. (Boy did my Mom get madat me for that!) Anyway, I finally got insurance and was taking the medicine again last summer, but the weight was still there and I wasn't taking care of myself. I was going out all the time, partying every night... and I don't like to admit, we did not just drink. We did other things, too. My world came to a screeching halt this Christmas when I found out my Mom was terminally sick. I moved up here to South Dakota and cleaned up my act. this is just another step in the process.
sorry to hear about your mom!!
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Old 06-02-2004, 07:25 PM   #6  
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It was not this Mother's day but the one prior, my mom sent me the pictures she had taken of all of us as a group and I was bigger than the tree we were standing in front of. I am HUGE in that picture. Also my sis has a picture of her daughter in her wallet and I noticed it was a picture that I was holding her in but I am no longer in the picture. I asked her why and she said mom said to cut me out because I look so big in it, that to cut me out so I wouldn't feel bad. That is when I started realizing I was outta control, and then started noticing little things like not being able to fit into chairs, not being able to fit into public bathroom stalls or turnstyles, and never playing with my kids cause I was too fat and tired. So I decided this is it.
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Old 06-03-2004, 12:03 AM   #7  
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My "Oh my gosh, I need to lose weight" moment was when my DH started seeing another woman. For me, when I was with someone who loved me "no matter what," it was hard to see that I needed to lose weight. He was very accepting of my body, and we both knew we had gained weight, but it just wasn't a priority to lose it. Well, after he started the affair, I lost some weight just because I was depressed and miserable. That was a jump start. I lost about 15 pounds. I had a hard time really getting focused on losing the rest of the weight. After almost a year, I realized I couldn't lose the rest on my own -- I tried pills, shakes, the cabbage-soup diet, the grapefruit diet, and a low-fat, high-carb diet. I also realized I'd become a real loner. I never wanted to go out. I always stayed in my apartment by myself. I know this sounds irrational, but I never wanted to meet new people because I was afraid the subject of if I was married or single would come up. I didn't know what my answer would be or I was afraid I would start crying within seconds of meeting someone new. So, I avoided those situations. I finally decided I needed to do something about both of my problems, so I did some research and found TOPS (a weight loss support group). I finally got the courage to go, and I met great people, and I finally started making progress on my weight. I know with Atkins, I'll get the rest of the weight off.
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Old 06-03-2004, 12:07 AM   #8  
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Jina, I know how you felt, I spent 5 yrs alone cause I never wanted to tell anyone my fiance cheated on me and left me. But I did learn ALOT about myself in that time and learned to live life on my terms so actually looking back it was liberating, I just didn't know it then!!
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Old 06-03-2004, 12:45 AM   #9  
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Great Thread Star!!

For me it was the culmination of several things.

When My DD was 6 months old, I was diagnosed with osteo-arthritis in my knees. I was told that if I didnt lose weight I would not be able to walk by the time I was 35 (I was 31 at the time) So I got on WW and lost 56 pounds in 10 months.

Then we moved a couple months after I hit the 56 pound mark. In 3 years my weight slowly crept back up until I gained back 30 plus. In february of 2003, I went back to WW.. and in 2 months I GAINED 20 pounds. As soon as I stopped ww, I lost most of it but still. it was weird.

Then in July I found out I needed surgery again for my endometriosis. I had talked to my doctor about all my options and we talked about my weight and how it plays a part in all this. When he did my pre-op blood work he also checked my insulin. We discovered I have insulin resistance. Since that is one step away from Diabetes, and it runs in my family, he recommended to me the Atkins diet.

I watched my aunt suffer with adult onset Diabetes. She died at age 64 of complications because of it. She had lost 100 pounds and still had to lose another 150 to be anywhere near a normal weight.I didnt want my kids to deal with that. I want to be around for them and be able to participate in all their activities...So I started Atkins.

Now, 10 months later, I am 40 pounds down (Less than I was when I lost that original 56) My insulin is stabulizing and I feel wonderful! Sugar? Who needs it! Give me a steak or shrimp scampi any day of the week!
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Old 06-03-2004, 08:36 AM   #10  
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I wish I had had some kind of enlightning experience to have gotten me started but it really was just the fact that I was sick and tired of gaining weight and buying bigger clothes. I refused to buy a size 16.

I had tried WW so many times and just couldn't do it. I still have ALL of the weekly booklets that they gave you for "inspiration". The only time I was successful was when I was in my 30's. Makes a HUGE difference (no pun intended) when you are in your 40's let me tell you (all who are younger than that....lose it now!)

When I got married 2 years ago I was at my heaviest. I looked at the pictures and was so dissapointed in myself. I wasn't taking up two chairs or anything but I could see that I was getting out of control.
I hated the way I looked and knew that if I looked better I would feel better about myself in the head as well.

I don't know exactly what made me choose Atkins except that I had tried everything else.....Meridia, WW, LA Weight Loss, Sugar Busters you name it.
Sometimes I think it was just time that's all. Time to do something, time to find what is right and works for me.

When I started chatting with all of you is when I finally figured it out. I have learned so much since starting this woe. I now take my vitamin everyday, calcium too. I have become more involved with what is going into my body than I ever did. Makes me feel good to know I am gaining control.
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Old 06-03-2004, 09:49 AM   #11  
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TG: Thanks for sharing! I thought I was the only person who thought like that!! It's crazy that we didn't cheat -- our respective SOs are the ones who cheated and left -- but, we're the ones that feel ashamed!

It is amazing how much better I know myself now. We've been separated for a year and a half, and no matter what happens, this time apart really has been great for me, personally. It's been really rough and miserable, too, but I can see the good.
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Old 06-03-2004, 10:41 AM   #12  
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Is it just me or does it seem like we're not just losing weight here? Reading these has made me realize that we're also losing a lot of pain.
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Old 06-03-2004, 10:48 AM   #13  
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Very true Star.
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Old 06-03-2004, 11:03 AM   #14  
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Well, I typed my whole story and it was very cleansing and then 3fc said I wasn't logged in and erased it all. I'll try again later
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Old 06-03-2004, 11:27 AM   #15  
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Star, what a great thread. It's nice to see the deeper element in people that sometimes you just don't get during the chat. Thanks for this.

My moment started to come last November when I was diagnosed with Diabetes. I was bawling uncontrollably in the doctor's office. It was awful. I tried to control it w/diet and exercise, but it just wasn't working. I ended up on two pills a day. I saw a dietician who put me on the diabetic diet, which totaled about 135 carbs per day. His recommendation for losing weight was to just decrease my fat intake until the weight started to come off. This probably won't surprise you, but the weight didn't come off and my motivation really lagged.

So, I stayed on the pills, kept exercising, kept the carbs to 135 a day, and the weight didn't move. Then at the beginning of March, my Dad died. That completely knocked the foundation right from under my feet. I never expected it. I was 30 and he was 58. Way too young to die, way to young for a daughter to lose her father. Then I really started to look at it. He and I have always been very much the same. Same disposition, same body time, same fight with weight all our lives. He developed Type II diabetes several years ago, and died after a major stroke (same scenario w/his father at 60). Having developed diabetes 20 years prior to his age when he got it, it really shook me. Time to make something positive happen out of a very negative situation. If I don't do something, my son will be watching my funeral when I'm 58. I'll miss so much, but mostly, I don't want to put him through all that. SO not fair.

So, now I'm tearing up at work, so I'm ending this, but that was my aha, where everything clicked into place. I must say though, that without this diet, I would be struggling and I don't think I could do it. This website has also been essential for keeping me on track. Thank you chicks!!!

P.S. Having lost 20lbs since being diagnosed, I'm now down to just one pill per day, and hopefully no pills soon.
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