130 pounds to lose...one at a time

[MoreInMind]

Hi everybody, I am back to try this way of eating again. About 2 and a half years ago, I tried low carbing and felt great! But like most people who seek this change as just temporary diet and not a permanent life change, I gained that weight back plus more to put me at my highest weight ever imagineable for me which was 300 pounds. This is a stark realization for me that has been spent with many miserable moments, crying, justifying my weight gains, the "why me" syndrome and even denial. But I refuse to be a victim anymore and have started again and have lost about 10 pounds in the past 2 weeks which puts me at 290.

I am current away at law school and my goal is to reach 235 pounds by time i visit home again. My final goal is somewhere around 160.

I think it will really help to have someone to relate to on these terms and have someone to whom I can be accountable to. I do weekly weigh-ins on Mondays and will be posting the results on the forum.

I hope that I can help others to stay encouraged and can find encouragement here as well. I welcome any emails from anybody with questions, advice, or just to say "hi"!

ShiniaLambert@aol.com

[Maxibee]

Welcome to LCE. The best advice I can offer is to take your time and look over this site thoroughly. There is a wealth of encouragement and information here. Since you aren't really a "newbie", you are just starting over, you'll know some of this, but I learn something new from here every day.

Next, STICK to your plan. I have yo-yoed for the last couple of years "playing" lowcarb and it's really got my metabolism messed up. Each time a person starts over with lowcarb (and possibly other plans) it becomes less and less effective, in general. (I'm sure there are a few exceptions to this.)
But, ultimately, the healthiest and best thing for you is just what you are already doing: getting on a plan and doing your best.
Always come here for advice and encouragement as you need it. Take care.

[CushieButterfield]

I know it's tough to have lost and then gained it back plus some. I lost almost a hundred pounds gained that back and then recently put another 40 on top of that.

But I found this WOE and am determined to stick to it. This is a great site. I think you'll enjoy it. I know I have.

[Rob]

Welcome! I started at 310 pounds 19 months ago and recently reached 100 pounds lost. I also wanted to lose 130 pounds and also had previously low carbed and lost and regained. You're right to look on this as a way of life (WOL) but I think it was necessary for me to stray and get back on this woe in order to realize that. Looking forward to seeing your progress in the weekly weigh-in threads.

[reneed70]

Yes being here will help you out. I always stop in to get my daily dose of friendly LC advice here! Just knowing all kinds of people are struggling just like me helps. Good luck at law school and YOU CAN DO THIS I've lost 102 lbs just since January! I am proud, but know I still have more to go and the last part is the hardest I bet. Stick with us, we'll help ya thru!
Renee

[Goddess]

shinia- hey, you're getting off to a good start! we put it on one pound at a time, so that's how it comes off, too. you'll find tons of "return lc-ers" here who have had similar experiences, and just weren't 100% ready to make the permenant change. great to hear you're on board for the long haul.

[celest24209]

Hi Shinia, glad youre back to what u know works. I am reading your thread and seeing that your stats are almost the same that i started with in jan. of this year. Just like you i want to get to 160 lbs, one lb at a time. I started 142lbs from goal, currently i am 65lbs from goal. While youre not a newbie, but anytime you need encouragement, support or even a place to vent, we're here.

Good luck and happy low carbing.

[April]

Hi, Shinia:

When I began low carbing, I was facing having to lose 172 pounds.

That's an entire adult, plus some.

I weighed 352 pounds and initally lost 163 pounds in 23 months. I gained back some weight when I explored low carb products, so I don't eat them any longer.

I didn't focus on the total number of pounds I needed to lose. I focused on one pound at a time. I learned not to expect to lose a set number of pounds per week. Instead, when I stepped on the scale, I told myself that I would be happy to lose 5 pounds per month. At first, my monthly average loss was 12 pounds per month. I only weighed once per month.

Now I weigh once per week and I'm headed back towards my goal of 180. I've learned after more than 6 years of low carbing that this is truly a way of life, and I've learned to tweak my eating regimen to get my body to respond.

Welcome. Post here often. Lend support and encouragement, and we'll do the same.

[teelbee]

Each time a person starts over with lowcarb (and possibly other plans) it becomes less and less effective, in general.

eh? I've not heard anything like that before, and it doesn't seem reasonable to me. Do you know of some studies?

I suppose any yo-yo pattern of weight gain/lose would tend to undermine future weight loss attempts. I not sure I believe that's more attributable to the food plan or more due to establishing that kind of mental habit. For sure, it's important to stay focused on healthy eating habits during maintenance.

[Maxibee]

I've only read DANDR, Protein Power, and CAD, so it was in one of those books. It was actually a footnote at the bottom of a page and the author used the words "start/stop" in this passage. My Protein Power book is on loan, and I'll look thru DANDR and CAD and see if I can find it.

I've also read on other websites about "the Golden Chance" or something like that, referring to a person's "maiden voyage" into l/c. I've notice just talking to other people that they've (most of them) experienced the same thing: this WOE is less effective for weight loss (though not in health aspects) the more often it is aboandoned for a length of time, and restarted. As I stated in my original post, there are exceptions to this and most other "rules". But, our bodies are very good at learning to "conserve" energy.

If I find the exact source of that quote, I'll post it here.

[April]

Click this amd scroll down to the article entitled "Low Carb the Second Time Around." This is the "golden chance" to which many refer.

Personally, I do not agree with that theory. I've been low carbing now for a little over 6 years and each time I go off plan -- for whatever amount of time -- I get right back on plan and continue to lose weight. I DO believe that counting calories as well as carbs helps tremendously, however, and I've always done that. For me, it's all about portion control in conjunction with counting carbs.

[LovinLowCarb]

Welcome Shinia!

You have definitely come to one of the best lowcarb forums on the Internet. It's a great group of people that are so willing to share their story and support each other AND the advice is invaluable!

I have made several weight loss attempts since I was a teen and now I am 40. Last year I decided to lose weight because I hit 269 lbs and I was so sick and tired of not having the life I wanted. The thought of turning 40 was incredibly depressing, but I didn't know where I would find the strength and willpower to be successful. My past attempts had demoralized me!

Long story short...I decided to low carb, which is something I had done successfully many years ago. I can honestly tell you that there is so much more waiting for you once you don't allow food to control you. I have lost 75+ lbs since November 3, 2003 and feel like a whole new person. Somewhere along the way, I had a complete awakening and my whole mindset is different...I have no desire to go back to the old woe. My everyday life is so much easier with the weight loss...it's hard to describe...just walking up the stairs used to wear me out. Now...I bounce up them!

You seem to have the right frame of mind...one lb at a time. Now that the wl has slowed a bit, I tend to get impatient, but I just hang in there because I am so much better off than I ever imagined!

I can't say that low carbing is for everyone, but it works for many many people and I feel that I eat healthier now than ever before!

Best of luck to you!

[Maxibee]

I retrieved my Protein Power book from my boss today and looked in it for the elusive quote. I found it on page 133 in the "Putting it All Together" chapter of Protein Power.

Protein Power is a book written by Mary Dan Eades and Micheal R. Eades (M.D.s) and the quotes in this post are taken from this book.

"If weight reduction was a part of your goal, slowly increase your carbohydrate intake as outlined until your carbohydrate intake equals your protein intake or until you stop losing weight. Remain at that daily total carbohydrate level for two months to allow your fat cell activity to stabilize. 7"

Footnote 7: The very act of weight loss causes your fat cells to want to store fat. This heightened storage activity falls back to normal after several months. This is another reason why it's in your best interest to get focused on the program and lose all your excess at once, not stop-start."

Their words, not mine. I've wished 1000 times that I had stayed on my lowcarb eating plan when I first went on it. I dropped 40 pounds in the first 4 months, the first 19 in the first month alone. Now, I struggle with each pound. Maybe it's age, since I have the same job as I did back then, and also an exercise routine I DIDN'T have back then. (4 years ago) And I have talked to other people who said the same thing: it doesn't work AS EFFECTIVELY the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time around. There are exceptions to most every rule.

I love this story from page 210 of Protein Power about a young man who weighed 420 and wanted to lose over 200 pounds. When the Dr.s told him he should expect to lose at least 2-3 lbs. per week, "he grumbled that at that rate, he would be twenty-five before he reached a normal weight. Well, of course, in two years he was going to be twenty-five whether he lost the weight or not, so we said he might as well reach twenty-five thin instead of overweight."

Time is going to pass....it's what we do with that time that counts.

[MoreInMind]

Hi everybody,

Thank you all for the encouragement. Today was kind of a hard day, there were student organization elections at school today, and everyone's campaign seems to be food related. One person bought in chocolate chip cookies and another ordered pizzas. It was frustrating, because where I have to fight temptation at home, now I have to deal with it at school??? But that's reality, temptation is everywhere. I just kept thinking, those foods are not going anywhere, there will be atime when you can enjoy those things occasionally and in moderation. Stop acting like if you don't have a cookie or a slice or pizza now you are going to die. Remember, all those cookies and pizza is how you got here, and you're not happy with the results? lol so it worked and I was able to focus my attention elsewhere, so now I'm sitting in bed, really needing to be asleep, trying to drink a few more glasses of water....hope everyone else is having a good day and nite!

[Maxibee]

April-I just read that "Second Time Around" article. Thanks for the link, it was very informative and backs up my belief in "The Golden Shot". I guess I'm not one of the lucky people who can start over and over and have great results each time.
I do know that I feel so much better when I'm eating clean and my stomach thanks me, too!
Now that I am taking a digestive supplement and eating right, my stomach issues are a thing of the past.