Thin-Fat-Thin again!!!
 

I spent my childhood as somewhat overweight before puberty, and then thinned out. In high school I had practice after school everyday for 3 hours and THEN went to the gym after that...I craved exercise. I was kind of low carb, in that i ate no pasta, and was a health nut...smoked salmon, spinach, soy bread, the works. I was literally lean and soooo cut! I never had to worry about cellulite, my friends would make fun of me because you could scrunch my thigh fat and still there would be no dimples...good genes I thought.

For everyone that says you can't get fat if you have good genes, I am proof that isn't true. I was 5'7, very lean and muscular and a size 2. i moved to italy and of course my lifestyle changed inevitably. I stopped exercising when i moved here. Slowly the pounds crept up and subtly because without noticing my muscle turned to fat, so the lean muscular arms which were my trademark, were a thing of the past. In 2007, I went through a VERY rough patch in my life, and without noticing it, I ballooned up to around 185 of PURE FAT. My clothes did not fit anymore, I got unsightly stretch marks on my thighs that basically ruined my legs that were previously cellulite free. I couldn't fit in to anything at my favorite store, ZARA, and couldn't go to the beach because when i tried on a bathing suit I literally burst into tears. I can't count the number of times that I burst into tears in dressing rooms. Seeing your body become MONSTROUS in so little time is just devastating and traumatizing.

The moment I realized it was time for something drastic was when i signed up for the gym where they require you to do some cardiovascular tests beforehand. The doctor asked me what type of cardio I wanted to do and I said running, since I used to love running, he looked at me with a weird face and said "I don't think that would be appropriate for your weight, you should try water aerobics so you don't hurt your joints" To someone who used to train other people and live in the gym, it was heartbreaking. I got to the point where I faked feeling sick so I wouldn't have to get dressed and leave the house to go grocery shopping! My clothes were not fitting anymore. I would not leave the house unless I really had to, I even felt uncomfortable going to the farmacy or to pick up take out.

I started considering laser lipo because I could not stand the sight of my body in the mirror or even a glimpse of it when I would change. I needed to do something drastic to regain control of my body, that was when i started googling atkins and found this forum. The pictures, stories gave me the push I needed.

The results were astonishing, the first 2 weeks i lost 14 lbs!! I started in july 2008 and have lost over 45 lbs since I started all without exercising, without lipo. I am still not where I want to be yet and I want to start working out hard again, but I feel like myself again, I like myself.

Those unsightly stretch marks are a daily reminder for me of how far I've come. Maybe one day in the future I will have them removed, but for now they are my "battle wounds" I hope to get my body back to what it used to be without flabby skin, but I look pretty good now too and I am happy I can actually say that now and actually really BELIEVE it.

I hope to convince just one person that they can do it too, thank you guys for reading my story and happy low-carbing!!

p.s. I live in ITALY and I can do it...haven't touched pasta in almost a year-and haven't even WANTED to!!

Ciao
Veronica

Wow your story is sooo inspirational!!! And your before and after pictures are amazing. Awesome job!

:cheer: :cheer: Congratulations to you!!! :cheer: :cheer:

You have done an outstanding job! You look great! And to hear how great you feel is the best part!!!

This IS a great WOE and a wonderful WOL... and if YOU can do it in Italy, anyone can!!! Woot Woot!!!

Thank you guys!

I think the most important process, is kind of like with an addiction : admitting and BELIEVING you have a weight problem and realizing that only YOU can do something about it.

The hardest part was convincing myself before I started that I could do it and to regain confidence (not physical, but psychological) in myself again and to believe that I could actually do something for myself! You guys keep on going with your goals, and have faith that low carbing really works, and I think (in my own very modest opinion) that it is the diet you are most likely to stick with because it is SOOO doable and of course is not a diet ! No counting calories obsessively, no counting fat, no weighing food, I mean come on, when you are out for a night on the town what's easier to order a steak, or ask if oil or butter is used and how much and if they can substitute this for that etc...

My only sin is pop corn, but it seems to have no effect on my weight at all (and I mean the movie theater gross kind:)


Pammie you are doing great! I was prob closer to 190 when I started and as soon as I started atkins changed my life, I feel so in control of body now :) .... I wish you the best of luck ladies!!

baci
Veronica

Great story!

Congrats on your weight loss!

You look wonderful Veronica.

Veronica,

OMG! your story is so inspirational! You need to write a book, you brought tears to my eyes, I am so proud of you and your accomplishments. Living in pasta world must be difficult, how did you resist all that temptation.

What an achiever,
congrats,
Jordan

Hi Jordan!

Thanks for saying that, positive feedback means a lot, and you are well on your way too! Pasta world seems tough, but in truth there are so many awesome cheeses and prosciutto, that cutting out the pasta to eat a ton of the other stuff feels like I am cheating somehow, but I am really not lol :)

Have a great evening!
Veronica

This is awesome, keep up the good work. I would be 900lbs if I lived in Italy.

Lol everyone thinks it's harder here, but really I guess it just depends on your motivation...mine was like from here to infinity! It was tough to start, to convince myself that I could do something that's insecurity I guess!

I think your weight loss is amazing and inspiring. And you did all of this with out exercise too? That's pretty good and you lost a lot without the added in work. For me, i'm not going to work out even though its good to put in as much effort but I already have a very physical laboring type of job so as long as I do that I think exercising for me is covered. Take care :)

Thank you, yes I did it without exercising...I worked during the summer doing tours which entailed a bit of walking, but nothing intense or anything and even when I finished work in Oct I still maintained/kept losing

I identify with your story sooo much...Well done you! I keep failing, but the one thing I have not done is give up trying...hope I can be a success like you, you look great!

I really needed to hear everything you said. Thank you for paving the way...

The most important thing to me and the reason why I wrote this and put my blackest moments on paper...well on the net...is to help someone realize that there are other people that have felt the same way.
It's hard to verbalize that you cry about your weight and that somehow it ends up ruling your days....but the moment you ARE able to say that, is the moment you can start to "get out of it" and really lose weight and make every aspect of your life that much better. People say weight is not everything and you know what-if it doesn't affect the way you live everyday it isn't but if it prevents you from doing even just ONE thing, it is a big deal. Reading these posts and seeing other people in the same boat, actually starting the atkins and seeing the first few pounds I lost was so empowering, and you know what? The weight loss has helped EVERY single aspect of my life; I like going out of the house, I like taking my dog to the park, I like going shopping, I don't get as tired at work (doing tours of Rome all day), my sentimental relationship, my relatives don't look at me like "who knows WHAT happened to HER", I want to capture every moment now by taking pictures, whereas for a year of my life (when I had gained the weight) I don't have any pictures!
The most important thing is to be convinced and to start....after all, what's the worst that can happen- you'll lose weight?