Hi! I showed up here almost 2 years ago, and this is what I said:
Quote:
Hi there. I am new here, and I will admit, a little hesitant to post. I am an almost 40yo homeschooling mother of 4 kids, and I have been struggling in a big way with my weight ever since my 2nd child was born about 10 years ago. By "struggling" I mean that I have watched myself gain enough weight that I am now double the weight I was before I had kids (which was a healthy weight). I have joined and rejoined Weight Watchers more times than I care to count. When I was in college, I used it to successfully lose 20 pounds and become a lifetime member, so there has always been a loyalty. And the accountability that it provides has been the most successful element to any weight loss attempt that I've had. But I am now becoming more interested in some of the ideas of the "Real Food" movement and with the ideas of people like Gary Taubes, which are somewhat in conflict with WW ideas. So that, combined with my difficulty fitting meetings and food tracking into my schedule, has made me slip further away from WW.
My hesitance to post comes from the fact that while I very much WANT to lose weight, I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to actually commit to it. It's hard to start something like this right before Christmas, but then there's always a reason...Anyway, I feel the need to have a place to go for support, so here I am, reluctance and all.
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Since then, I was given the fabulous gift of money to go towards a medical weight loss program, and I on an Optifast (6 meal replacement shakes/bars per day, no other food) diet, I lost about 107 pounds in about 11 months.
I was still well above my marriage weight, but feeling pretty darn good. I had gone off of all of the meal replacements and was successfully losing weight on real food, for a couple of months. I was shooting for at least 10 more pounds to hit a certain "even" weight, even though I could certainly go lower. One day I gave myself permission to go off plan - which isn't a bad thing to do now and then - but for me, it sent me down a slippery slope. And I started going off plan more and more, and more, and more. I have now gained back about 35 pounds in 9 months and am struggling to keep it off. I know exactly what I need to do, but I have struggled with the motivation for a variety of reasons. There is a weight I never wanted to go above again, and I am getting dangerously close to it. I am still a patient at the clinic with the plan that helped me lose all of that weight - I see a doctor or NP weekly, and go to groups. That accountability and support is very helpful. But I need it during the week. So here I am, wishing I had gotten more involved in this board the first time, hoping to get some support, and also maybe share some of the great things I've learned over my weight loss journey.
Returning!
