New Member
Hi everyone! My name is Mona, I am 35 years old and I live in Beachwood, Ohio. I work as a loan officer for a mortgage company and am in my 2nd year of nursing school. I started Aktin's Diet on Jan. 4, 2004 weighing in at 378 pounds, this morning I weighed in at 319 pounds. I have lost 59 pounds so far and my goal weight is 159 pounds.
I did the induction phase for the first 2 weeks (20 grams a day) and on the 15th day, I increased my carbs to 35 grams a day and am still at 35 a day.
I actually tried this woe 3 years ago and had lost 29 pounds in 30 days but like a numbskull, I decided to cheat "just one day" and then go "right back on" the next day. Well, my "one day" actually lasted 3 years! Not intentionally of course, but no matter how hard I tried, I just could not seem to get back on the bandwagon.
I made a commitment to myself on Jan. 4th of this year that I was going to lose weight and I was going to do it the right way once and for all! You see, I have been overweight as long as I can remember. When I was 17, I weighed 210 pounds and decided to go on a diet but stopped after a few weeks. Like clockwork, I would go on a diet every year, only to be self-defeated and gain back what I lost PLUS some. Over the last 18 years, it has added up to a whopping 378 pounds. My family would constantly encourage me to lose weight but I just couldn't seem to buckle down and stick with it.
At our family Christmas this past December, my dad said something to me that would change my life forever. He asked, "Mona, how many people your size do you know or have you ever seen over the age of 50?" I thought for a moment and could not think of any. I said, "None that I know of, why?" He replied, "That's because people your size don't normally live past 50 because they die of weight related health problems." As harsh as that statement may sound, it's the truth!
At 378 pounds, it took every ounce of energy I had just to get out of bed and go to work. I could not walk through the grocery store for 5 minutes without having to ride around in an "old folks electric cart," my back hurt, my legs hurt, I had trouble breathing, I developed sleep apnea (when you stop breathing during sleep,) my cholesterol was 550 and my triglycerides were over 700. In 2002, I had a heart attack at the "ripe old age" of 32! I was truly a walking corpse. For me, an early death was imminent. I realized that if I did not do something about my weight, I would probably not live very much longer.
I am happy to report that after losing 59 pounds, I can do my grocery shopping without having to get an electric cart, my back does not hurt as often as it used to, I don't have as much trouble breathing, my sleep apnea has disappeared, and most importantly, my cholesterol is now 151 and my triglycerides are down to 115. My doctor is amazed that despite all the fat I eat, my blood lipid levels have been drastically reduced to normal levels.
I still have a long way to go before I can run a marathon, but at least I can say with conviction that I am well on my way. I think back to all of the times that I started a diet and stopped and started a diet and stopped and over and over and over again! If JUST ONCE I had stuck with it, I would be at a healthy weight now and probably would not have suffered the heart attack either.
I will be posting to this board quite frequently because I need the support and I would also like to give support to anyone here if they need it. After all, we're in this together and we all have the same goal.
I would also like to leave a few words of advice to other new members here and anyone else this may help:
Please don't get discouraged because you don't always see a weight loss on the scale. There have been many times that I did not see a difference on the scale for a week but the inches was steadily reducing. When you are in ketosis, your body is burning it's own fat to survive and burning fat means losing fat and losing fat means losing inches.
Even if you only lose a pound a week (or none), it is far better than gaining a pound a week. If you look at the big picture, 1 pound a week is 52 pounds a year, 2 pounds a week is 104 pounds a year, and 3 pounds a week is 156 pounds a year! It all ads up.
Finally, whenever you feel like you are not losing weight fast enough, remind yourself that you did not gain the weight overnight and you certainly will not lose it overnight. If you stick with it, you WILL reach your goal. It sure beats giving up, gaining back the weight that you lost (maybe more) and having to start all over again. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.
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