One month gone, the rest of my life awaits
 

Thanks Alto for the inspirational idea. Since you bit the bullet, I guess I will too.

Today is day 29, the start of week 5, the start of the second month. This is my 1 month success story.

If you will indulge me, I'd like to share what happened to me in the days just before I discovered LCing. Those days were full of :tears: and disappointment at my weight, my lazy cooking habits, and my lack of discipline and stick-to-it-ness in general. :help: In desperation, I had booked a mini spa day to uplift me. I've never done something like this before, and going into it I was sceptical. It was for an EMS (electro massage stimulation) and herbal body wrap, guaranteed to melt away a minimum of 6 inches all around.

EMS starts by dampening the abdomen and thighs, then applying round pads that are hooked up to an electrical pulse generator. It apparently stimulates and tones the muscles. When turned to the recommended dosage at the salon, it is nothing short of electrocution. The muscles certainly respond, by going into controlled spasms. During it I thought, OK, well this is one I won't go through again, but I had to try it once to see. :daze:

On to the body wrap. Guaranteed to trim off 6 inches all over or your money back. First, all your measurements are taken (oddly she seemed to pull the tape measure tighter on the after measurements than she did on the before measurements).

If you are sadly out of shape, lumpy, feeling low, then standing in your underwear in front of a stranger who is a slim and trim goddess, is completely demoralizing. The body is covered with green herbal goo that is supposed to help break up fat cells. You are wrapped up mummy style from ankle to chin, in warm, wet elastic bandages that are pulled so tight it does nothing but pack your fat into less physical space. Knees or elbows cannot bend. You are basically immobile, then forced to try to get into a rubber suit and lie on a bed for 30 minutes. The fact that my final measurements were 9 inches less all over were meaningless. Once my body relaxed from the restriction, it would all come back. And the scales at home, they were the same in the afternoon as they were in the morning. :bash:

$225 was the final bill. It was the biggest waste of money of my life. It was the most important waste of money of my life. You see, one of the things the technician gave me was 3 pages vaguely describing a low carb diet. It was half a page of description, and the rest was food carb counts (which were grossly inaccurate). It recommended staying below 80 carbs a day.

There wasn't enough information on those sheets to satisfy my curiosity. So I got on the internet to do some searching. :read2: :read: One of the first links I found was this LC site. For a day and a half I kept coming back, reading posts, reading information from the various sections, amazed that people could stay under 30 carbs and still eat well. After lurking around for almost 2 days, I decided to register, because I had questions, many questions. :confused: :confused:

I can't put into words how grateful I am for the support and encouragement from everyone here, and for the wealth of information that is posted. Nat, LC Sponge, Karen and Doreen are angels for watching over us. :angel: The everyday trials of people just starting out and sharing their thoughts and techniques, their feelings, their hurts, their successes makes this place all the more real. This little corner of the internet is worth it's bandwidth in gold. THANK YOU each and every one of you. :wave:

What has my progress been in the last month?

:bhug: I've discovered how wonderfully supportive and caring my husband is.
:p I smile every day now.
I wear makeup again.
I take time to fix my hair nicely in the morning instead of my 3 minute "it's good enough for today" look.
I feel great about myself.
:thup: I've found something that I can stick with for more than one day in a row. I've stuck with it for 29 days now. There have been goofs. I kept going. For anyone who knows me well, I'm shy, I'm a bit of a loner, not a joiner. I've never lasted more than 2 or 3 repeats of things that required a regular schedule of meetings (like weight watchers). I hate routine and live a lifestyle that has no routine, no discipline. And yet, 29 days later, I have fallen into a routine that doesn't feel like one. I truly believe that this will be a lifestyle change for me, not just another diet.
Oh, I almost forgot - 15.5 pounds gone. 1.5 inches from my tummy, which is the only measurement I can do with reliability, and the only one I'm concerned with. Thighs are noticeably thinner. I am noticably happier. I smile every day now.
:p :p :p

Wonderful News
 

:Party:

Yay!!!!! WAY TO GO!!!!

Thanks for sharing...... I enjoyed reading about your trials and errors and all of the highlights you have experienced!!!!


You accomplished so much in such a short time!!!!

A Thin me!

Thank you for sharing, Angela
 

Enjoyed reading that. Well Done and Congratulations on the weight loss so far.

That EMS might have cost you £225, not to mention the humiliation etc but it DID give you the single gem that set you on the right course ... enough information on LC to whet your appetite and start your search.

Hope you continue on this WOE, WOL now and reach your goal weight in record time.
Take care.

Thanks A Thin Me and Fiona.

Unfortunately, the first month was easy for me. There were no demons to face. They are still lurking around waiting to pounce and get me off track. Keeping them at bay will be my real success story. That will happen once I am settled enough in this new way of life to finally say no to cigarettes. Each time I've quit smoking before, I stopped quitting after gaining 10-15 pounds. No success there. Still smoking and heavier to boot. This new WOL has promise for endurance during the long haul of no more cigarettes, when that day arrives.

Yay! Another Monther :) We'll be in the same class -- you'll graduate a bit before me, I'd guess, but we'll still always be Freshmen together.

I loved your green herbal goo story, Angela. I can totally relate to that. I remember when I was in high school getting Ayds chocolates (remember them?) and really thinking I would wake up thinner.

The "stop smoking" may come as a natural part of your journey. When you say you're wearing makeup and caring more about your appearance, that says you're caring more about yourself (in a good way) and being more aware, and more in control, of what you're doing. I stopped smoking the last time I lost weight successfully. I didn't lose to goal, but lost to a bearable weight. Then I started riding a bike. One day I realized how stupid it was to get up at 6:00 (yes, me!, but I was young) and be out on a beautiful, fresh April morning only to have a bike break so I could sit on the grass and have a cigarette. (I also noticed, as a supervisor, that the people I could always get to work overtime, Saturdays and weekends were the smokers. The nonsmokers would say, "Thank you, but I have a life.")

Anyway, I think you're doing wonderfully. You say you're undisciplined -- ha! If that was a challenged, you've certainly addressed it and gotten it under control. You're a role model for me in that area -- we approach things the same way, but you're better at execution :)

I'm really glad you posted this. I hope it will inspire others to do the same :)

Best of luck in the Second Month.

That I can relate to. My husband and I started walking in the summer, and after a while it seemed foolish to take cigarettes with us. We've temporarily stopped walking but hope to resume again soon. But I have found a walking buddy at work, and we have agreed to find one day each week where our schedules allow walking together. The rest of the days we are on our own.

As for disciple and execution, well discipline is the whole point of this for me. I'll need that to deal with no smoking. And as for execution, sometimes you just reach a point in your life when you know that you need to do things differently.

So, we made it through month 1. I put on lipstick. You ate a vegetable. And we both found a couple of new friends. All in all a good month!. :p

A very good month :) I relate to the lipstick/hair, too. I've only had my hair cut professionally once in the past six years. I've been doing it myself -- it got better once I got the energy to stand in front of the mirror :)

My first short-term goal is 240, and it will take at least three months to get there (I can't quite break away from time/weight goals yet). And my "reward" is a hair cut. I want to be sure I fit in the chair and the robes first :)

Jan 25 - the end of 12 weeks and more to tell
 

21 pounds gone!

Measurements:

Waist -       Before 38 inches, Now 34, 4 inches lost
Tummy -     Before 40 inches, Now 39, 1 inch lost
Hips -         Before 46 inches, Now 42.5, 3.5 inches lost
Right thigh - Before 26.5 inches, Now 24, 2.5 inches lost
Left thigh -   Before 26 inches, Now 23.25, 2.75 inches lost

Other unmeasurables - my rings are too big and need resizing. My size 8 1/2 D width shoes are all too wide and floppy. Only the lace up ones still fit. I'm wearing shoes I haven't been able to comfortably wear in 5 years. My ankles don't swell and my feet don't hurt at the end of the day. Turtle neck sweaters don't choke me anymore.

Total inches lost 13.75

The best new, and the things that keep me going - no more migraines and tension headaches, no more digestive problems.

People haven't really noticed any difference...rarely a comment, but that's ok. I expect that once I hit the 30 pounds lost mark that it will be much more noticable. That will be size 14 territory, and 2 dress sizes smaller. This weekend it's time to clean out the closets and start getting the smaller sizes ready for a new life.

AngelaR...
I want to thank you for taking the time to be so through in your posts. It sure helps to have someone else's detailed discription of their daily struggles, successes and measurements.
I will do the dirty deed.. and go measure myself now. If you can do it - so can I. Thanks, loulou

What a wonderful inspirational story. Thanks for sharing.

I too have taken my measurements, and I notice, like this month, I have not lost any weight, but I have lost a total of 6 1/2" just this month, so even though the scales may not show a "success" the inches are melting.

Congratulations again on your success.

Thanks AngelaR for your posts. Real inspiration!
I am in my 3 week and doign well I think.
I have noticed the same changes as you, I am wearing make-up again and I do my hair in the morning now. I just came back from the hair salon and got a new cut and colour! In two weeks I will go back for a manicure, that's my treat, every two weeks....

It's only been two weeks and I feel better in my jeans. Sweet!