Hi! I am a 36 yr old mom of dd 8, and ds 10. I run an at home daycare to support my family, as hubby is a full-time student. (He worked for 12 years at a dead-end job and is going to change careers.) Anyway, I am looking for support pals who are in the same weight/height boat. So far I have lost almost 20 pounds.

My story: I found out the day of the 9-11 terrism that I have insulin resistance and pcos, a hormonal and ovarian disease. I was off- and-on doing atkins and zone dieting... honestly, not very seriously. (I went from 224 to 203. In less than 2 years I gained it almost all back.) Well, I started to feel very unhealthy recently with heart racing and palpitations. I decided to get serious. I purchased a good quality treadmill and weight lifting system and turned the garage into a gym! I started doing the insulin resistance diet since reading the book about 6 months ago. I started again at 219 lbs last Oct. and six months later am only down to 205. I am ready to get serious about this weight loss, and am looking for buddies to go thru the daily rigors together! My weaknesses are pizza, alcohol, eating out at fancy restaurants, and since I quit drinking alcohol altogether a week ago, desserts!

I worry about my kiddos. My kids are very active now, dd is a swimmer for the city swim team, a front runner even! Ds is a baseball player and is always busy playing basketball or something with the neighbor kids. But I worry about what they eat and my part in teaching what them to eat. I want to be a good example for them as much as I want to be healthy and thin again. I was a lovely popular teen, and I wish so much to look and feel like that again! Anyone who wants to talk please write. I am ready this time!
Tera

Oh, I forgot....I LOVE CHEESE! I think it messes with my progress tho! OH NO!
Any thoughts on this? Also, I retain water and I think it is from salt. Is cheese too salty? Because the weight gain I see from eating cheese is always temporary. Thanks is advance for response!

I am kind of the same boat you are in height and weight wise. I am "almost" 5'1"!!! I haven't been officially diagnosed with PCOS but I think I have had the mild symptoms for a while now. That was one of the reasons for beginning the low carb WOE. That and also my father is a very non-compliant diabetic who is starting to have multiple disease related ailments and won't think of any way of eating except the diabetic diet (which he doesn't do!) because that's what all the professionals have told him. I really do not want to end up like him.

Any way I have three boys 12, 10, 2

I have tried all the low fat diets and have obviously failed them all because I am here and this is working for me!! I have lost 8 pounds so far. Tomorrow is my last day of the induction phase. Hope we can keep supporting each other.

P.S. How come all the fat clothes are X-tra long?????

Jill

Thank you for your response Jill! I was happy to see you there this morning!
I agree! I always tease my dh that I am going to start a line of clothes for shorties like us who need room for the abundant boobage. lol! (btw I am 5'3"). That's tall actually, since my parents are only 5'7" and 4'11.5". My little sister is ever an inch taller than me...brat!

Wow, you have your hands full! I know, as I said I run a daycare. I have two right now, they are busy watching tv, but I have to go soon and start preschool projects with them.

About the pcos, I knew something was wrong with me forever, but never could figure it out. I always had weight problems since 19 yrs old, irregular periods and mood swings. I was infertile for 8 years before I started line dancing in the 90's and dieted down to 165 lbs. I guess that got my insulin regular enough to ovulate or something cuz surprise! ds was conceived. My doc told me that if I want more children that I should have one immediately because my body would be more fertile since it just had a baby. Baby # 2, dd was born the next year. They are 15 months apart. I wish I could have spread them out and enjoyed having a baby twice, but I am grateful for them that is for sure! I guess that is why I couldn't leave them and go back to work, hense the daycare.

You should get the testing done to find out for sure if you are a pcos sufferer. There is a good book on it called pcos, a woman's guide to dealing with pcos, by Colette Harris and Dr. Adam Carey. The symptoms are weight problems, usually upper body and middle, extreme moods, facial hair and hair on belly and or breasts, scant and irregular periods, infertility and acne (never had the acne symptom). We are lucky, I used to talk to ladies on a pcos support website and a lot of them are infertile with no children. I used to because they were quite bitter with those of us who do have kids and I got tired of all the cat fights posted. I finally got diagnosed because it had been 3 months since my last period and I felt off. I walked in the door and the nurse practitioner immediately suspected pcos. She said I had the classic build and complaints. Sure enough my blood tests revealed my insulin problems and the ultasound showed ovaries full of cysts. The cysts are eggs that were never released in ovulation and reabsorbed into a little bump like thing. So the ovarties appear, well, bumpy! lol! It sounds like you know the dangers that lie ahead if left untreated because of your dad. I personally do not want to die of heart disease or any of the other. How are you feeling now?

Ok, back to the diet. I did great yesterday, until dinner. I ate only 3 ounces of chicken to have a six pack of corona with lime. Love them! I ate only 1874 cal all day, but I am not supposed to drink beer anymore or carbs, and beers are carbs of course. That was the only alcohol I had in a week tho. I was raised in a drinking family and used to love to party with my friends. I'm no alcoholic rest assured, but I miss corona. Silly heh? (I dropped one pound today tho! Yeah! ) Now of course I am craving carbs like crazy because of my indiscretion (spelling?) last night. I was good a breakfast tho and had only a 6 oz hamburger patty with catsup and mustard and a little mayo. Oh and bunless.

Well, it's time for preschool. Thank you writing and please keep the notes
coming! Tera

Jill,
Forgot to ask, how did the induction phase go/work? I tried the Adkins diet and found it very hard to reach ketosis.

Hello again,

Yeah I know I should probably get tested but I know what and how they would treat me anyways. That's why I am trying to cut my carbs now. I don't seem to have many of the symptoms of PCOS as I do just plain insulin resistance. I also never had fertility problems but carry most of my weight in my midsection as all of my mother's family is. My husband laughs when we go to a family reunion because everybody is the same shape!!!

I haven't had too much problem with induction but it seems that I will probably have to keep my carbs to a bare minimum because the second I eat a little bit of carbs my weight loss stalls. I have been very disciplined and sugar/carbs aren't even tempting right now.

What exactly is the difference in the insulin resistance diet and SBD/Atkins?

I am not sure about the differences between SBD and IRD as I never read anything on the SBD, actually never heard of it before this site. The difference between Atkins and IRD is there is no induction phase in the IRD and the carbs aren't so limited. In the IRD they recommend you eat 30 grams or less of carbs per meal and they always have to be "linked" to protein foods. So if I eat 2 slices of bread (about 30 grams carb), I have to have at least 2 ounces of protein (about 14 grams protein) food with it. It is pretty easy. Just have the sandwich and forego the chips or fries. I love salad so it is ok with me. I can have a large green salad with low-carb dressing, half a baked potato and meat. I usually try to keep my meals between 400-600 cals. They also advise that I wait two hours before having any more carbs. All vegetables are unlimited except corn and potatoes, and they recommend limiting olives and avacados because of their fat content. (They recommend watching fat more than I do. I guess I do a combination of Atkins and IRD, because I also take my carbs lower than I have to out of the Atkins habit.) I can eat fruit with protein but not in unlimited amounts like I can veggies. Some fruits are ok to eat alone because they do not raise blood sugar. That is basically it. Glad your diet is working for you!

It sounds like it's a lot less restrictive than Atkins. Basically the major difference between SBD and Atkins is that SBD really stresses to limit the saturated fat. Red meat, cream cheese, mayonnaise etc. which I think makes the diet alot harder to stick to (sounds alot like what I did when I was on a low fat diet-which I obviously failed miserably). But now I know that "I" didn't fail, my diet did!!

Is your family supportive of the diet? It's hard to cook for my family when nobody ever seems to want what I can have. My middle son asked me one time when I was in the kithcen "Mom, what are you doing?" I said I was making supper, to which he promptly replied, "Oh darn, I don't like supper!!" That about sums up my meal dilemmas. But I must say when I can get them to eat what I am eating they eat a lot healthier than before.

You mentioned that you were worried about passing bad eating habits to your kids. You are not alone. Chalk up another reason for this WOE! I hope my children will not have the food issues that were passed down in my family.
Have a great day-going to bed. I work third shift!!

Jill

Jill- now I get why I don't see you on-line til late! I looked for you yesterday a few times. My hubby used to work graveyard...yuk! Some people like it, I hope you are one!

My family is supportive except for fish. I would love to serve fish regularly, but dh hates it. He will eat seafood tho. Most of it that is. My kids are very flexible. My ds is a little picky, but likes sushi and seafood, go figure! Dd is nearly a natural born vegetarian. She eats red meat and loves the fat tho.

I have to close and run the kiddos to school. I only have one little boy today til the after school crew comes home. Yippie! Tera

Hello again,

Just checking in before I go to work. How did your eating plan going today? We went out to dinner and I was able to stick to LCing great! It gives you a lot of encouragement when you are good (but how I wanted that whole plate of french fries that my son didn't eat because they "tasted funny" (See what I deal with on a daily basis?

Anyway, Have a great night!!

Jill

Hi Jill! good girl! Eating out is my weakness!!! I started a journal today!
You can go check out exactly what I ate every day if you really wanna keep me in line! LOL!!! I was a good girl today too. I actually had to make myself eat dinner because my salad snack filled me up! My cal. count is 1714 for the day.
I am not fanatical over calories, but do you know if I need to count my veggie calories if the IRD says I can eat unlimited amounts? Tera

Good Morning,

It's almost not morning anymore!! Your journal looks great. Keep up the good eating habits!! I am so not motivated enough to keep a jounal. It's enough for me to just check in here and write a little at a time. (Demanding kids )

No actually I spend all my time in the kitchen. Just kidding! Although sometimes I do feel like I have been cutting up vegtables all day.

Keep up the good work with your journal and I'll have to read it occasionally (Just to check on you!!!)

Jill

I personally wouldn't count any calories from most vegetables. Heck my body is just happy I'm eating them and trust me I didn't get fat from eating "too" many veggies.

Also I figure if I am eating lots of veggies then they fill me up and I won't eat as many calories on other foods. (In theory of course)

Eat away I say

Thank you for the compliment, and info. I think your veggie opinion is right on the money. I will not count them. Guess what! I lost 2 more pounds! That makes 5 lbs in a week! I feel like I am on the induction plan of Atkins! I am eating between 1600 and 2000 each day and you saw for yourself in the journal I am not starving myself. Go figure! Keep up the good work, and I really enjoy seeing your message each morning! Tera

P.S. I know what you mean! Do I need to move my bed to the kitchen or what? lol! It will get easier with time. Like I don't have to weight things anymore after 2 + yrs of practice!