Hi All! My name is Laura and I hail from Missouri. I'm a typical country girl but ended up with extra padding! I currently weight 342 lbs. My highest weight was 363 lbs. I have struggled with my weight since I was 12. I'm now 29. Growing up fat was horrible. Kids used to laugh at me and moo as I walked down the hall. I never dated even missed prom so that I could avoid being made fun of.

Luckily after college I met the man of my dreams. We married and have been happy for 5 years now. Lately I have been feeling less and less attractive. My husband is six years older than me and is afraid of us getting pregnant before I lose some weight. He is generally supportive but when he comments that he'll never get to be a father it really hurts.

I am diabetic and take five shots a day. It makes it very hard (sometimes it feels impossible) to lose weight. Any help or friendship would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Hi there! I would love to get to know you! Please keep me on your friends list, if there is such a thing on these forums! I'll be keeping in touch. I can relate so much to what you are going through.

Hi LAURA . . . . . . so glad you found us. This is a wonderful place for lots of support and encouragement as you travel the long and often bumpy road to better health and fitness.

Unfortunately, the trip can take a little longer for those of us with Diabetes. Almost all the drugs available have a negative impact on our weight loss efforts and Insulin is the worst of all for that. Hope you'll come over and join us in the Diabetes Support Forum -- it really can help to discuss things with others that really know what you are going through . . . http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/index.php . . . I'll be looking forward to getting to know you better.

Hello! I am 31, and started this journey at 330. I am now down to 275 and feeling much better. I too have been heavy all my life, I remember feeling big when I was in kindergarten.....crazy.
This site has been fantastic for me, if I can do anything to help you, please let me know!

Laura, welcome to 3FC and my best wishes of good luck.
I have no experience with diabetes but I am sure you will find lots of advice on the diabetes forum. Don't give up!

Laura,

I hope you come back. I would love to have you as a friend here at 3FC!

Hi there and WELCOME!

I've also been heavy my whole life, so I hear you there! Good luck beginning your journey; this website is a wonderful resource and source of support and encouragement.

Laura, count me in when you need a You have started well on your journey today, and gotten some support already. I'll be glad to keep in touch with you here. I think you did something brave today

Meowee beat me to it, but join us on the diabetic site too. They are helping me alot on that thread. I am still kinda new at this Type 2 thing. I notice that it isn't any easier on meds--I'm not on any, so it is tough any way you look at it.

I'm still kinda new here too. Still finding new things on the site when I have time to hunt around.

Have a good evening. Holler if you need someone--I might catch you if I'm on late!

Kathy

I am with you 2 babygirl. I hate being overweight and want to do something about it with you, trust me I will be in the company of friends with you and together I know we can make a difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

laura! You will find great friends and support here! You can do it!

Thank you all for your support so far! I feel great having support of people who know what I am going through

Everyone have a great day tomorrow. I will not check in until evening time as I have to work and then get to tap class before dinner. You hang in there, Laura.

Kathy

I have photos to prove I was actually scrawny until age 4. I was obese by my kindergarten photo, and was put on a strict diet in kindergarten. I even remember the "bribe" was two painted turtles just like the ones in our kindergarten classroom, and when I had lost 4 of the 8 lbs, they became illegal because of the salmonella risk, and were removed from our kindergarten classroom. I was inconsolable and refused to diet any further (sneaking food after everyone had gone to bed). I don't know why my parents couldn't find an equally attractive bribe (or up the ante to a puppy), but it was the beginning of my lifelong yoyo diet rollercoaster.

But fast forward to the present, it's taken me about three years to lose 50 lbs. Insulin resistance and an autoimmune disorder (and frequent courses of prednisone) have contributed to the slow weight loss, but it's such a pitiful loss that I probably should give up, right? (Of course not).

You've lost 20 lbs and are maintaining it, that's success, and if you never lost another pound, it wouldn't erase the success of maintaining the 20 lb loss. So try not to think of this as your last attempt, but an ongoing journey into practicing success. How long it takes, is the least of your worries, you can just take every day, one day at a time.

For me, I was only able to keep this three year downward trend going (even if the progress was snail slow, it is a breakthrough in that I haven't regained) when I stopped looking at success as losing at least 1.5 lb every week. When I had an agenda of a certain loss, or even just a loss, there were many weeks that I "failed." But the only failure is giving up, because that is when I gain and keep gaining.

So, remember that every week you do not gain is not only success, but a remarkable success. A loss of course is even better, but even a week of maintenance is worth celebrating.

There are other things to celebrate also, in getting healthier. Pounds lost is not the only measure of success. Can you walk further, tie your shoes more easily... Even though I "only" lost 50 lbs, my sleep apnea and asthma have disappeared, I can shower standing, and wash my hair without pain. I can put dishes away in the high cabinets, and can shop without using one of those electric carts. I'm even swimming once a week, and volunteering at the humane society to walk dogs.

I don't know if I would have noticed a lot of this progress if I hadn't kept a journal. Getting off the CPAP at night, of course was memorable, as was being able to stop my asthma meds (that was rather sudden as I learned that I was allergic to the NSAIDS I was taking for osteoarthritis), but most of these changes to my health have been very gradual, and so small I'm not sure I would have noticed them.

I really didn't think my weight loss was noticeable at all, certainly my family hasn't noticed, but I got my drivers' license renewed last week, and comparing the two - Yikes at least my face is oblong again and not gigantically round. I also found some measurements I had taken about 3 or 4 years ago, and I've lost 5 inches in my bust, 3 inches in my waist, and unfortunately ZERO in my hips (oh, well).

That's what is so frustrating when you have a lot of weight to lose, you can lose a lot and still not notice, but the progress is there. I really do recommend having a photo taken every month (I'm going to start that up again) and keeping a journal of your progress. It really helps to see that progress is happening. Even if you've not lost a pound, but can walk further than you could a month ago, that's still a sign that some miraculous progress is going on, you know?

You're doing great, really. It is hard, but it really is worth plugging along, even when you don't think you're seeing any progress.

Hi Laura,

Glad you came back! This site is great. I have found friends and encouragement in the short time I have been here. Love it!

I wanted to share with you that I was over 300 pounds (and age 34) when I conceived my daughter. She was beautiful and healthy from birth, and is now 2.5 years old. I didn't expect to get pregnant because I had been married for 5 years and never used birth control (and in all that time, no pregnancy). I knew I had PCOS and that most likely my fertility was affected. But then I lost about 30 pounds on Weight Watchers. I quit dieting (for no particular reason except that I got tired of "dieting"). A couple months passed, and then I got pregnant.

I want to have another baby, but I am trying to lose some weight first because I want to feel lighter and healthier this time around. But you know what? I actually felt awesome when I was pregnant. I didn't have any problems except in the last couple months of the third trimester, my blood pressure went up and they classified me as having preeclampsia. But that runs in my family, and both my mother and my grandmother had that in their third trimesters...and they were younger and very thin when they had it! I also was blessed to have a doctor on the floor (during the time when I went in to the hospital to have my baby) who also had experienced what it was like to have preeclampsia, and she was very slender and young and pretty. (She looked just like Reese Witherspoon actually!) So I never felt like it was my fault for being overweight.

Here's a good Web site you might enjoy checking out:
http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/

There is so much wisdom in this post. Thank you for sharing, kaplods. I know I'm not the only one who is encouraged by your words! It's all true. The important thing is improving health, quality of life, and moving forward a day at a time. I keep telling myself that I am learning the skills, habits, ways of looking at food and exercise that I want to take with me for the rest of my life. I have to find a way of eating and exercising that I can keep up for the rest of my life. So I look for things that I enjoy. I really love how I eat now. I have a lot less cravings now that I am eating all healthy food. And exercise actually gives me more energy which is so cool.