Greetings Everyone - - - - Shannon here!

I'm 17 and have been on countless diets. I discovered the low-carb WOL back in 2000, and gave it a try using Protein Power. Within a short amount of time, I had lost 20 pounds and felt great! For some reason (no reason is an excuse anyway) I gave it up.

Ever since my brief success, I have been trying to get back in the swing of the LC lifestyle. I fail everytime. I've tried PP, Atkins, Carb Addicts, and even a couple of my own invention. I don't know why I can't stick with it. When the cravings hit, I can resist for awhile, but then I think, "it doesn't matter at this point anyway", or "I'm going to eat whatever I want this week so I won't miss it when I start again on monday". I know that saying this to myself won't help, but I still do it!!!

I've been heavy for a while, but this is the heaviest Ive ever been (230 lbs at 5'3''). When I hit 210, I panicked and started a diet. I weigh around 230 now, and for some reason, Im not as shocked as I was for 210. I just feel sad, like no matter what I say, I can't change (and let me tell you, working in a bakery isn't helping my situation...helllOOOO chocolate chip cookies).

BUT I WANT TO CHANGE! I come into this forum and see how many people have changed their lives for the better. I want to be one of those people, but I feel like I don't know how to start, even though I've read the books.

All of my clothes with buttons and zippers are soooo not happening on me. If I need to wear my khaki skirt for work, I leave it unzipped/buttoned, roll it down, and wear a long shirt with an apron. Everytime people talk quietly, I assume they are talking about me.

I have stretch marks as my battle scars, but I've lost all of the fights so far.

I pray for the strength to help me make it through highschool as a fatgirl. I guess I just want reassurance that there are people like me who have been through it. Of course, I know that this forum is full of people with weight issues, but I feel alone.

Wow, I would be depressed reading this...I don't mean to bring anybody else down. Just trying to sort through the junk and get back in the saddle again...Thanks for Listening.


Shannon

I'm so glad that you found us, Shannon. And please don't worry that your post will be considered depressing. Trust me, we all have stories that are difficult to read about.

The best place to start is by choosing a program and following it to the letter. I'd also suggest staying prepared by planning menus and snacks on the go. Be sure you know what you can order if you're eating out. The more you educate yourself, the more likely your success.

Welcome to the forum and to the Triple Digits Club. There are lots of wonderful people here...but some are a little shy and many are very busy. So don't worry if it takes a while for them all to show up. When they do, it's a very good thing.

donald

I am very glad you found us.



You've come to one of the best places I know to find support for doing that. If you have any questions, post them in this forum or pop into one of our journals and ask them (click on the journal icon at the bottom of someone's post to get to a journal). I thought I was incapable of losing weight, but since finding low carbing I have been steadily shrinking. This way of eating does work!

QUOTE]Originally posted by Star85
I pray for the strength to help me make it through highschool as a fatgirl. I guess I just want reassurance that there are people like me who have been through it. [/QUOTE]

I feel for you. High school is so difficult for anyone who is the least bit different from anyone else. You will make it through and things will get better as you get older.

Shannon, your story wrenched my heart. Consider yourself cyberhugged.

I'm a one-week expert ( =D ) and from my own brief experience I can say that once you are low-carbing for awhile, that ferocious hunger won't plague you, and you will be able to say goooooodbye to the chocolate chip cookies and give a satisfied helloooooo to celery sticks with cream cheese. =D

What plan looks like the best one for you?

Wow, thanks to everyone for replying so quickly! Yesterday was one of those dark days! I'm sure you all know what I mean by that! Today I feel much better, and I feel good knowing that I am LCing once again (this time for good!) and that there are REAL people out there who can relate!

I get tired of the magazine articles that feature someone's amazing weight loss because I always want to talk to that person! But there are so many more people here that have been successful, so congratulations to everyone so far! Especially Donald! It is wonderful that you have already lost over 100 lbs! You are truly an inspiration!

From all the different LC plans that I have tried, Protein Power has been the only one that I could stick to! I felt like Atkins was too strict for me, and the CAD would probably be better for someone with a little more self discipline. I ate my reward meal in under an hour, but its amazing how much I can put away in just 60 minutes, lol.

I want to start posting some pictures of myself so that I can visibly chart my progress (and if I tell myself I have to put up a picture every once in a while, that will probably keep me honest!) I tried to access some before and after pictures from the success story board, but for some reason the pages showed up blank. The only ones I could see were Donald's because he put them in one of his posts (once again, WAY TO GO! WOO HOO!).

I'm havin' myself a little turkey right now, and on my way to trading in those chocolate chip cookies for the celery

~*Shannon

Welcome aboard Shannon! You have definitely found the right place. Here in the triple digits club, we have all struggled and feel the pain of being this overweight. I am so excited for you! I wish I had found this when I was 17 and weighed 230 instead of being 46 and 286 pounds! You have such an amazing opportunity to start this now before it becomes an even bigger issue in your life. Sad to say, but obesity is a progressive disease.

I don't think your post is depressing. I think you are being honest about your thoughts and feelings and that is gonna take you a long way!

You might want to consider starting your own journal where you can really "let it all hang out" so to speak. My own personal rule for myself about the forum - is that I will post no matter how good or bad I am doing. Every other time in my life I quit if the going got too tough. This time I am making a committment to be here for the duration - not just the good times.

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Cindi

Just like Cindi said, I think you are really lucky to have found Low-carbing and this forum so young in life. I have been heavy all my life and I understand the struggles you are going through, too. You can get so much help here, its just wonderful.

I agree that you need to choose a program and stick closely to it's rules, in order to give it a chance. Then, if that particular program doesn't feel like a good fit, you can always try another. It sometimes takes time to figure out which one is just right for you. And, don't rule out CAD, necessarily. A lot of people think that they will be out of control at the reward meal, but soon find that they can handle it just fine, since their cravings have decreased, and that CAD fits in nicely to their lives. But, whichever one you use, we are all low-carbers and all willing to help in any way we can!

And, start a journal... that was great advice

Take care!
Tracy

Shannon,

I think we all know or can at least relate to what you are saying. I know for me this is the umpteenth diet/WOL I have started, and I know that I have to do this. Two things have really helped me this time.....I hope that maybe they can help you too!

1. I am truly taking this one day at a time. I tell myself every day, just do this today and if you TOTALLY hate it, don't do it tomorrow. But every day, I want to do it again. I started Jan 2 and have not cheated as of today. I won't lie and say it has been easy, but I am doing good with taking it one day at a time. It is not nearly as overwhelming and I can deal with it in such small chunks. Tomorrow, I know I will do it one more day and so on until I am LCing as a natural way of life!

2. I am working very hard on making this a WOL. I won't lie and say I am there yet, but the longer you do it, honestly, the easier it is to think that I can do this for a lifetime. Every time I pass on something I shouldn't eat, it adds that little bit of strength to me, and I am building quickly on that strength. Just do #1, and #2 will follow (at least it is for me).

Check in and let us know how you are doing!!!

Amy

Thanks for the great advice everyone!!!

I want to look at some of the journals other people have done, but I think I will start one of my own! And thank you Amy, I'm going to try and think of this process as a day by day venture, not a "forever" thing (I don't think I can imagine that quite yet).

I have some questions for you all! Will it hurt my progress if I skip breakfast? Should I reduce my salt intake? and...the last one....I woke up last night with a horrible leg cramp where it felt like my muscle was squeezing together and would rip apart . My mom said it might be from not getting enough potassium, but I'm not sure. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but has anyone else experienced this?

Have a great day everyone!

Low carbing naturally causes you to lose fluids - and that means you will lose minerals. When LC'ing its very important to drink lots of water - and most LC gurus reccommend taking supplements - particulary potassium. If your potassium goes to low, it can cause muscle cramps - so your mom is probably right.

I take 595mg of potassium gluconate (which equals 99mg of elemental potassium) - three times a day. Never had a problem with leg cramps.

Its also important not to skip breakfast, in my opinion. One of the main principles of LC'ing is that you want to keep your blood sugar levels consistent - skipping meals can cause your blood sugar to drop, which will cause major hunger and carb cravings. Then when you finally eat something, your insulin may spike. You end up bouncing between sugar highs and lows, and this is what feeds carb addiction. I good rule of thumb is not to go more than 5 hours without eating - and since you will be fasting while you are asleep at night, you will need to eat something in the morning. If you normally skip breakfast, that may have been why you found Atkins to be too restrictive - you can't survive an atkins induction if you skip meals. (But of course, PP is fine too, if its more to your liking.)

If you aren't a breakfast person, it will take some adjusting - I used to skip breakfast and even lunch all the time. But once I planned 3 meals and some snacks throughout the day - it really improved my energy, no more carb cravings, and best of all I wasn't so "spaced out" at the end of the day.
:-)

Thanks for all of that info Rhachacha!

You sound like you know what you are talking about, so I will definitely look into finding some supplements keeping that potassium in mind! Thankfully, I haven't had any bad cramps since that one horrendous one, so maybe my body is starting to get used to this WOL.

Regarding the breakfast thing, I have been trying to eat breakfast in the morning! Now I try to grab some jello before I run to school, and someone gave me the idea of packing up some deviled eggs to fill me up. I'm trying not to skip meals anymore, even if I have just a little something.

Keep LCing, and thank you again for all of your tips! (sorry it took so long for me to post back, I didn't even realize there was a response! It must be because I was "spaced out" from skippin breakfast...



Shannon

Shannon -

Do you have trouble with the smells in the bakery giving you cravings?

I first found out about low carbing when I did a web search on "insulin" and "smell" after noticing that my blood sugar responses to food seemed to happen faster than I would expect to be able to process the food. (I would be blood sugar shakey, then have just a bite of something low carb and start feeling a physical sense of relief really fast.) I'm not sure there's any hard data on the effect of smell on insulin levels, but there was some speculation that looking at and smelling carb rich foods could trigger cravings in people who were prone to cravings.

I work in a big food factory and the smell of yummy carbs (pizza!)is in the air all day. It has a lot less effect on me since I started on CALP, as long as I make sure I eat enough to prevent cravings and only expose myself to craving inducing carbs once a day (during my CALP reward meal). I need to be very careful about hidden sugars in meats, and eliminating caffeine and restricting Nutrasweet until dinner time also helped.

I honestly think that folks with strong carb cravings can trigger them with the smell and sight of carbs, and need to be extra careful to make sure they are not hungry when going into those situations. As you can probably guess, I better not skip breakfast! I guess I have to choose to eat a few extra calories as a trade off for preventing cravings - and in the long run I save calories by preventing unplanned eating or binging.

Lynda

. Hi Lynda

Actually, I don't really have many problems with bakery smells!!! I probably would, but I just don't really notice it anymore so it doesn't affect me. The visuals get to me sometimes though . When someone asks for cookies, I do it pretty fast and try not to look at them! If I get really hungry, I either snatch bacon from the kitchen (the bakery is part of a restaurant) or mangle a ham and swiss croissant until I can get the inside without the dough on it!

I agree that smells can trigger cravings though! When I smell it...I want it! (as I said before, thank you dear lord that I don't notice the bakery smell!).

Pizza.....mmm. That would probably be tough for me! Thankfully you can slay the craving at your reward meal! You go girl! I tried CAD once (I know you do CALP, but its still basically the same principles right?) but I find that it is easier for me to restrict carbs majorly, than to moderate for dinner. I admire the people who can do it though, but for right now, I sure could'nt be one of 'em! Keep eating that breakfast, its a lesson everyone keeps telling me and I better believe it!!!



~*Shannon

Shannon,

Do you mind doing exercise?

If you like exercise maybe you should look into Body for Life. Since I have started this plan I haven't ever been hungry or have I ever had a craving to bing on carbs.

Just a thought.

Tom

Hi Tom

Truthfully, I have no objection to exercise! The only thing that I hate is running, but I can force myself to when needed (used to be when running to eat carbs )

I have heard some people talk about body for life, but I actually have NO idea what it is. Is it a plan or a gym? Whats the scoop?

Thanks for the suggestion, once I figure out what the heck it is, maybe I will give it a try .

ARgh! I REALLY need to start exercising. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention (I actually almost exercised today!). Excuses excuses.

Anyway, nice to hear from you!


Shannon