3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community - Officially introducing myself

Hi everyone, I thought I should officially introduce myself. My name is Stacy, I am the proud mama to two beautiful children who are the light of my life. I never really had to deal with the battles of losing weight until after having children. Prior to having kids I was a workout junkie, I could never get enough. I spent a lot of time in the gym and loved every minute of it. I loved the way I looked and loved the way I felt. When I became pregnant with my first child I gained a significant amount of weight, I was and still am convinced that I was given the wrong due date and my son was way over due. He showed all signs of being an overdue baby and after the initial due date I was given at the beginning of my pregnancy is when I started to have a lot of complications. I gained a lot of weight those last couple weeks. After he was born I had some medical complications that required me to be hospitalized for a week just two weeks after having him. I had pancreatitus and my gallbladder needed to be removed, but there were other complications that prevented them from being able to take the gallbladder out. For a whole week I wasn't allowed to eat a thing. I dropped a lot of weight during that time and was down to being only 10-12 pounds heavier than what I was prior to getting pregnant at 6 weeks post partum. It was amazing and I felt great.

I was able to keep the weight off for a while. About a year and a half after having my son I discovered that I was pregnant again, but sadly I lost that baby just three short days after finding out that I was pregnant. I was devastated. I became very depressed and did a lot of emotional eating. I had gone from being 125 pounds to being 142 pounds. Soon after losing that baby we discovered that I was pregnant again. I was so nervous so I tried to do everything I could to ensure that this baby had every chance in the world of making it full term. I was fortunate enough to delivery a healthy baby full term. She was a breastfed baby, breastfeeding helped me lose a great deal of my pregnancy weight which I only gained 15-17 pounds. Then afterwards I kinda got lazy, I ate what I wanted and chalked it up to needing the extra calories for my daughter.

About 18 months ago I was involved in a motor vehicle accident that left me with two ruptured discs and one torn disc. Only solution for relief is a lumbar fusion and disc replacement surgery. It took one full year to diagnose my problem. My insurance was being a major pain so as time went on the pain grew more and more intense. I was so depressed about what was going on, I felt like my body was letting me down, I was miserable because of always being in pain and barely able to do anything. Finally relief was given once a diagnosis was found. Now here I stand at 18 months since the accident and I am still battling this non-sense. I am on numerous medications to keep this pain under control and nerve issues I have.

Reality hit hard when I stepped on the scale and seen that I weighed 168 pounds. I wanted to cry, I felt like such a failure, how did I let myself get this heavy. Someone who used to be so physically fit weighing in at 105 pounds at the heaviest is now considered to be class 1 obese. I sat and sulked for a few days and while at the store I seen a magazine that advertised "The Belly Fat Cure" it caught my eye but I figured it would be another diet that was too good to be true. I read the article and researched it quite a bit and decided to give it a shot. I am making sure I don't go over 15 grams of sugar and no more than 6 servings of carbs a day. I am also making sure I get at least 25-30 grams of fiber a day. I have noticed a big difference. First time in a while that I have actually felt great and had energy to do what I wanted. I stepped on the scale today at the doctors office and I am officially down to 153 pounds. I just started this diet 5-6 days ago. That is amazing, I know I have a long way to go, but I am thrilled to know that I only have 3 more pounds before I am in the 140 range. It will be nice to not have to feel embarrassed when the nurse who is weighing you at the doctors office has to put that bottom weight on the 150 marker.

BTW I am 5'1 so 105 pounds suits my frame very nicely, I am by no means saying that 150 pounds is heavy because it all depends on how you carry it and what your height is. Someone who is 6'1 would look sickly if they weighed 105 pounds. I just didn't want anyone to get offended by me saying I didn't like being embarrassed when the nurse took the bottom weight to the 150 marker while getting weighed at the doctors office.

I look forward to meeting everyone, I have lurked for a while and have seen that everyone is quite supportive of one another and very helpful. I hope I can help others keep their motivation to achieve their goals. thanks for reading my intro, sorry it was so long.