Hello everyone~! My name is Natasha and I am here to seek support with this long journey I have in front of me. I am a 31 year old mother of 3 and I weigh 344 pounds, I gained all of this weight in the last 4 years, and I want my life back. I am afraid that my 3 beautiful children are going to lose their mother if I do not regain control of my life.

I am trying the Fat Smash Diet, because I really think it's s great way for me to reintroduce myself with great eating habits, and to start with a fresh, clean canvas if you know what I mean..

I am a stress eater, 3 children in 4 years, hurricane Katrina, hurricane Gustav, and so many more stressful situations have taken a toll on me, I really need to learn how to deal with my stress in a healthy way, rather then picking up a cheeseburger and fries and eat my way out of my mood. Which never works, as we all know. My first goal is to lost 45 pounds and get under 300 pounds.

I started my first day today on my Fat Smash Diet and I am very excited, I plan to exercise for 30 minutes a day, slow walking, My feet and ankles are so swollen that this will really be a task for me. I am so tired of the constant pain in my body, the struggle of shopping, not being able to play with my children.. I just want ME back and I have to get rid of this weight.

I am deeply inspired my those of you who have taken on this challenge and losing the weight, I love to read these blogs and I plan on being here a lot!
Good Luck to ME and all the rest of you ~!

Starting weight 344.2 lbs.

WELCOME and good luck. You will find so may supportive people that are working day by day, just like the rest of us. Also, there are a lot of maintainers. Check out the goal and mini goal photo albums. That can only motivate us more.

Natasha - WELCOME to 3FC! Your situation sounds so very familiar. The last 5 years have been quite a struggle for me and I got through it with food and laziness.

On August 1st I finally woke up and got my act together. I've been closely watching my calories and logging all my food on Fitday.com. I hired a personal trainer and I've been strength training 3 days and week and doing cardio 6-7 days. I'm down about 27 pounds so far with a long way to go. I'm feeling better than I have felt in years!

You can do this. You will do this...for yourself, your children, your life!

There is so much great support here. Please jump right in wherever you feel comfortable.

Barb

Natasha..welcome to the group! We are glad to ahve you!!

Natasha,
Good for you for making the decision! I know you can do this, we are all here for you.
Toni

Natahsa,

Welcome! It sounds like you have a plan and that is so important. You mentioned pain and swelling so I wanted to suggest that you might want to start with less than 30 minutes a day if you have been fairly inactive. Just starting with 10 minutes is a good start and you can build up with out hurting or frustrating yourself. Every little change adds up. Good Luck!

First off thank you very much for the very nice posts & advice. I feel very happy knowing that I can release my thoughts & perhaps enlighten someone else. I have one of them magical scales that say hi to me ( like it's really my friend) tells me my bmi, hydration level and all that good stuff. So on Day 3 of my lovely diet, or new way of life I should say, I lost 2.4 pounds whoooooo, and I am finally, after a year of drinking water, at a hydrated level that means something, I can't understand how I can constantly be dehydrated when I feel so bloated that I could possibly poke holes in my body and watch water leak out.

My mental state is great, you know how you start diets every week and you never make it more then a day or two. I feel like this is the time that I won't quit, and even if I mess up, I will continue on without hesitation. I made a pact with my children that "mommy was going to be healthy" and I want to be a great example for them. Living in New Orleans, it is HARD, I love jambalaya, gumbo, shrimp, crawfish, meat pies, red beans, black beans, neckbones, etouffe, fried catfish, cornbread, butter beans and rice.. whhhoa, I am making myself hungry.... BUT, that stuff will always be here, I may not be if I continue to sooth myself with food and more food. I have to realize that I am worth so much more then that, my life means more then what I put in my mouth )
This is my 3rd day to walk 30minutes, it is a long, slow 30 means, but I somehow manage to do it, my feet do ache though, I can't wait for the day when my joints don't ache so much.
Even at my weight, I am quite the girly girl, one thing that I would love to beable to do is paint my toenails without the hassle of fighting with my stomach, I want to be able to go to a restaurant and not having to sit and tables because I am too afriad to sit in a booth, afraid I won't fit, also, I can't wait to shop, I have been shopping at Lane Bryant and Catharines for too long now, nothing against them, but I want the freedom to go into anystore! Okay! I will update you all on my progress very soon!

Day 1. 344.2
Day 3. 342
total lost: 2.2

Welcome WantToBeFree! I can totally relate to you wanting your life back...and to your body hurting...and to the stress eating.

Just wanted to say I wish you the best on your journey! :-)

Also, my mom lost her home during Katrina - she used to live in Metairie. At almost 70 she didn't have the drive to rebuild and stay so she's now living with my brother in TX. Looks like you went back! I wish you a calm rest of hurricane season! :-)

Hey there,

Just wanted to say hi and welcome to the board. You're not that far from me: I've done the Katrina / Gustav thing too, and I can relate.

Warm thoughts and much encouragement. It's a long road, but totally worth it.

Welcome and I know where you are coming from. I started 7/28 and started at 314 lbs. I am taking a different approach to this change than I have in the past. I am doing Atkins which is hard but is working for me. I have 2 girls and realized as I watched my oldest (5 yrs and the baby is 2) that I had to change. She is 5 and starting to have problems with her weight and I realized it was my bad habits causing it.

We now are eating better as a family (she is NOT doing atkins), and we exercise every night. We do situps (I started with 5 and am up to 30), crunches, leg lifts, and she even runs in the house. I feel so much better knowing that I am teaching her good things now.

I have lost about 25 lbs and 1 pants size. I have a long way to go, but I have the best little inspiration in the world. Welcome and hopefully we can enjoy our journey together.

Once again, thank you so much for all the support everyone! I can honestly say that I have not been this thrilled and this consistent in a very long time. I forgot what day this is as far as my diet goes, I decided that counting days was silly, too much to keep track of! Anyway, I am down to 341, so I was all excited, I can soon say goodbye to 340's and absolutely say that I will NEVER weigh 341 again! I feel good all over and I am really proud of myself.

The Fat Smash diet is awesome, I really like it FOR ME, I know different strokes for different folks, but I am the type of person that really needs restriction, my will power doesn't exist and I believe this is a great way for me to FIND it again! good day )

Good Luck! I am new to 3FC too and have already received so much encouragement! Keep strong and we can succeed!

I'm new too! Welcome and I look forward to getting to know you