I posted this same thing in the intros, but...
Hello!
I am a 33 year-old stay-at-home-mom. My weight issues started after I had my first child in 1996. Before then, through college, I hung around the 125-130 range. Perhaps a touch overweight, but for my frame type (between med & large) it wasn't too bad. I was usually about an 8 in those years. In the summers I would lose weight due to increased activity, so could get down to around 120. The summer before my senior year I was down to between 115 & 120, and was in a size 6.
The day before my son was born, I weighed 158 lbs. After he was born I was down to 142 and in a size 12. Still not too bad, but I started to gain weight over the years. If I could have just lost that 12-20 lbs back then I may have done okay. By 1999 I was I think up to between 185 & 190.
We had trouble conceiving a second time, and by the time we did in 2003, I was 196. I only gained 8 lbs in my second pregnancy, ending it at 204. Immediately after our daughter's birth I was down to 187. Again, if I could have just continued to lose, I might have made out better, but now the weight has continued to go up.
At the end of Feb. 2006 my husband & I started a healthier eating & exercise regimen. Just mild exercise, but it was still exercise. At the time of starting, I was up to 202.
Then in April 2006, I had gotten down to about 194. Then I learned that I was expecting again after an OB/GYN visit due to extreme bouts of pain and some other symptoms. At first I was elated, but the negative symptoms continued. A week later I learned why, and that is because the baby was in my left tube and the tube had ruptured. I had to have emergency surgery and ended up with a large incision and a rather lengthy recovery time (for me).
Whenever I calculated the time of conception, I realized it coincided pretty well with when we started our healthy regimen. That discouraged me because I didn't know if the weight loss (only about 2.5 lbs a week) was due to our healthy living or being pregnant and not knowing it.
Between the emotions following the loss of the baby, the physical recovery, and then the discouragement about how the weight loss occurred, I wasn't ready to start anything again until the end of this March. By that time there were moments when the scale read 210. I knew I had to do something. I might not have a tiny frame, but that is still WAY too much.
Here is where I am having problems. Last year, I was following a modified Eating for Life thing (didn't follow the Body for Life exercise regimen, but exercised). I never felt deprived or hungry. I always felt that we were doing healthy things, and the idea of a "free day" was a comfort. It really felt like something I could stick to
But this year, I was sucked in by the wonderful reports from those who have used South Beach. While for the longest time I thought I couldn't manage low-carb, reports of up to 14 lbs lost in the first two weeks made me think maybe I could.
I first started on March 30 at 208 lbs, and only made it until April 2. I was sick of nothing but eggs for breakfast and salads for lunch. I was tired of all the time I had to spend in the kitchen, between preparing the foods and cleaning up, and all the money I had to spend. And I missed fruit. And it was before Easter, probably not the best time to start. So we decided to wait until April 16. I started again on April 16, back at 208 lbs, and made it this time until April 20, ending at about 205 lbs. I had even modified things so that I was eating SB Phase 1 foods, but not exactly what was in the 2 week plan in the book. But I got to the 20th and really wanted pizza for dinner, and that's what we had.
In this time, I had also been looking at "You: On a Diet" which seemed very nutritionally sound, and like something I could stick with easier. So I started that this past Monday, April 23. Only problem--I started to gain weight back! That discouraged me right away, so I quit that.
So now I don't know what to do. I'm still tempted to try South Beach once again to jump start things, but I feel I'm jumping all over the place here. I wonder if starting Eating for Life again would make a difference. It seemed like such a liveable plan. With the others, you have to cut so very many things out and you pretty much shouldn't make mistakes, because the weight comes right back on.
I have about 85 lbs to lose. That's a lot. It has piled on over the course of about 10 years or so, but I don't want to take 10 years to lose it. Every year my husband & I talk about how we want to lose weight by his family reunion in July, but we never do. A friend of mine is also getting married at the end of July. I am enough of a realist to know that it would be very risky to try to lose everything in just a couple months. But it does seem that about a 2 lb a week loss would be reasonable, and would start to make me feel better, too.
I just really need support here. I don't know what is going to work for me!!
you are really going to find lots of support and great friends!
