Well, since I just made my first post in another thread, I figured I should introduce myself.

I'm 32 years old, female, and making my first ever serious attempt at weight loss. This has been a long time coming, and the straw that broke the camel's back was finding out that the reproductive issues I'm having are most likely due to my weight. My husband and I have been trying, unsucessfully, to conceive for the past year. After having a boatload of doctor's appointments, blood tests and scans, it seems there's no reason except for my weight that my menstrual cycle has become so irregular. My husband and I are now investigating fertility treatment options, but my OB/GYN has made it clear that weight loss would likely improve my chances of getting pregnant.

So, I've been trying, and it's been a struggle so far. At my Jan 3 appointment with the OB/GYN my weight was 284, Jan 10 it was 281, and two days after that (Jan 12) it was 279. I was thinking - so far so good! I'd finally gotten a period at the end of December after 2.5 months, and the uncomfortable bloating I'd felt since the summer had eased. But then last week at an appointment with the endocrinologist (Jan 17), my weight was back up at 285... and I burst into tears. I told the endo I'd been counting calories and didn't know how I could have gained 6 pounds in 5 days, and he told me I must be counting wrong.

Anyway, that's where I am right now. I'm not talking about this with anyone except my husband, and I thought this might be a place where I could track my progress, be accountable, celebrate my successes and share my failures. I'm still trying, still eating better, still trying to up my exercise and still counting calories. I don't know if I've lost any weight this week... but my hair is super shiny these days, so that's something.

Thanks for letting me share my story and join you all here.

A big factor as far as I am concerned in regard to weight fluctuation is sodium. Make sure that you reduce the level, you can buy low sodium product or stop using processed food. It is amazing the amount of salt they put in there.

If you do not drink enough water you body will keep every drop of it and that can add also. Once your body is well hydrated it will function better and this help with eliminating toxins.

Food rich in potassium will help also, cantaloup is a good source.

As far as calorie counting we often underestimate the portion size, buy a food scale, they are not expansive and remove all the guessing.


Good luck to you and your husband for the baby.

hi there! don't be too hard on yourself. losing weight overnight will not make you healthy all of a sudden. it's actually ideal that you lose 1-2lbs in a week. this is the most healthy way of losing weight and keeping it off permanently which you need. it's a continuous process. a healthy diet and exercise is what you need. a simple mantra which I follow, stay away from sweets, salty foods, oily foods and fatty foods. drink at least 2 liters of water. avoid sodas and drinks with preservatives. avoid anything with preservatives. do you get to exercise? exercise is also vital to weight loss. to start it off, walk/jog at least 30 minutes a day. then take it up a level higher by jogging or running completely. you may also get yourself a personal trainer. with determination and commitment, I'm sure you'll achieve your targets and eventually have a baby.

you are not alone i just started also and my periods have been irregular also. i plan on talking to my doctor about it and will see if maybe it is my weight that is affecting them. that was some good information. thanks. it has been a struggle for me also. im trying to up my water intake and also to not count my house cleaning towards my daily exercise count so far downed two 16.9 oz bottles! still at 240 even after a week but still hanging in there! not giving up yet!!!!

just wanted to say hi

you're not alone... I just started my weight loss journey again. After yrs of going up and down, with help of a great DR, I finally found what will work for me and now I just need the support to sick with it. I hope you find your support here too.

Janni

definitely, definitely not alone!
I'm 40 now and my husband and I do not have children. I wanted them so badly but I never did anything about my weight. I let everything else keep me from focusing on me, and what I needed to do in order to make my dream come true. I said good bye to that mindset at the beginning of the year. I don't know if I'll ever have the opportunity to have children at my age, but I'm certainly not going to make it harder for myself!!
My point is that you should be very proud of yourself that you're young and paying attention to clearly the most important thing. You need to get your weight down so that you can have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. You can do it - day by day, make honest choices and give yourself the kindness you deserve. When you hear in your head that it's too hard, or that this one little thing wont hurt or make a difference, then give yourself a shake. It's that one little thing, time and time again that all of us have rationalized into the state we are all in.
Be strong, you can do it. Really you can. I know I can - and if I can, so can you.
As your weight goes down, your periods should come more frequently and if they don't then maybe go on the pill for 6 months to trick your body back in to it's cycle.
In order to be successful though you have to be honest with yourself, make sure you have lots of support, and be kind to yourself.

I'm here if you need to a kickstart or a shoulder, because I really do understand. I'm just happy that you're starting this now at 32 instead of me here at 40.

Thank you so much, all, for the welcome, the advice and the encouragement. It's such a relief to be able to talk about it here without judgment, and to find that I'm not the only one who is in or has been in this position. Honestly - my most sincere thanks.

Hayley - Your post was so encouraging, and I really can't thank you enough for your empathy and words of support. I can see from your ticker that you've lost 13+ pounds already, and that is just amazing. Truly. I don't think I've ever lost that much weight in my life, I've just gained and gained. I am so hopeful for both of us and our dreams of being the healthy people we want to be and having the families we want. Many, many women get pregnant in their 40s - my old boss's wife didn't have her first child until she was in her late 40s! Please let me know how things go for you - I wish you all the best.

My best wishes to all of you, and thank you again.

You're so welcome!

I'm sure you can think of one positive step you took towards your goal today too if you try. Logging on here is an easy one!

My mantra today is 20% effort is better than 0% effort anyday - so if I don't feel like I have a lot of energy to get up and move around for 30 minutes, either for a walk or to go to the gym and sit my butt on a bike for 30 minutes - then I have to remember that even if I just do a little, it's more than nothing and it's a change from the norm. And that is a good thing.

Chickadee hello! So glad you found 3FC! As Hayley said you are never alone! I understand your frustration and feel your tears! I am back to 3FC, I have had a 42 lb weight gain since May 2010, 35 lbs in three months, I too was at the end of my rope, and not getting any answers from my doctors. I was counting calories and keeping between 1500 and 1700 per day and was still putting on weight. I am now beginning a medically monitored weight loss program with my Dr. Everyone here is wonderful. If you need an ear, I've got two!

Good luck with your efforts!

Thank you CoCo and Lillian for the welcome and encouraging words! I am looking forward to participating in the forum, and am feeling suprisingly comfortable already. CoCo - I wish you the best of luck with your new program. I have been thinking about looking into the one at my OB/GYN office, and so would definitely like to hear how it goes for you!

Hayley, thank you again. I'm not doing so great with the exercise yet (one day out of the last 7!), but one step at a time. My first goal was to get my diet under control, and I've made really good progress on that. It's way more work than I thought just to track the calories and fat in everything I'm eating, but it seems to be paying off... I weighed at the OB/GYN today, and I'm 10 Lbs. lighter than I was on Jan 3! Half of that was probably just having gotten my period after so long (and finally losing all that bloating I was feeling), but the rest - the 5 Lbs. lost since my Jan 12 appointment - is all me! It feels so good to be doing something positive for my health for a change, and I'm really feeling like I can stick with what I've started on the diet front. Next comes the exercise!

Thanks, all, for letting me get some of this out in a place where I can feel comfortable getting started. I promise to make my way out of the introductions and into the rest of the forums, and to stop back here to give other new members the encouragement you've given to me!

Thanks again.

Just wanted to let you know that I understand the heartbreak of fertility difficulties. Mine was due to another factor, but the sadness and anxiety are the same. There are still only a few people who know what my husband and I went through, but their support helped immensely. We have 21-month old twins now, so keep the faith!!

Welcome! I also am new here and reading your post was like my words. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 4 years ago and very rarely get a normal period. I'm working on losing weight instead of trying fertility treatments again that were unsuccessful. I've just been eating healthy and excercising a little and am down about 4 lbs in 10 days so I hope the scale keeps going down and not back up Good luck!

sushi - a lot of sadness and frustration. Friends and family keep saying, "Oh, it'll happen, just give it time..." It's been more than a year - something clearly isn't right! I can only imagine all that you must have gone through to be where you are now with your twins... Thank you so much for your post, it really gives me hope.

lucky - welcome to you as well, and congrats on the weight loss! It's so odd: I've always suspected PCOS, but I've never been diagnosed... this despite the fact that my testosterone is elevated, I've had ovarian cysts on and off since I was 12, and I presently have a 3cm complex cyst on my left ovary! I'm confident though that the weight loss WILL help, for both of us, and it's something really good that we're doing for ourselves, our spouses, and the children we hope to have. I wish you great success with all your goals