Hello Everyone! I discovered the Carbo Addicts Program (Drs. Hellar) on the Oprah show back in October of 1999. I pretty well knew they were talking TO me, ABOUT me, FOR me...I immediately began that program and it was the most wonderful thing I had ever done. Super simple...felt 20 again (I am 36 at present), looked like a million bucks. I encouraged everyone in our small town who came to me and said, "How in the world?" My weight loss was dramatic ...93 lbs in 9 months. But most importantly, I was no longer enslaved by my severe addiction to carbs. Then the way to often unaddressed emotional issues of dramatic weight loss started to really take a toll on me. Stress built up with the daily hassles of building a new home, managing two businesses. I began to seek out the comfort once again of those foods that I KNOW are my enemies. Anyway, here I am...nearly back to my former weight, fully back to my bad eating habits, contemplating my fate...Think I just need to spend some time with some folks who understand the power of the addiction. Hope I didn't bum anyone out...

Hey off! Welcome to yah. Don't you start feeling guilty about the regain, yah hear!?! There is a place for you here, and lots and lots of folks want to help you and gain insight from you. You are further along than I, for example. I'm on my first swing, and want to stay down, but you and others know what I have yet to discover. So, come on in, stay a while, look around, see what's been going on. Why not start a journal as well?

You're one step closer to regaining your true figure and ideal way of life than you were yesterday or this morning. Now you have one of the most powerful safety nets known.

Thanks for stepping in and letting us know about you. It takes courage to lay it out there.

Thanks for the welcome! The one thing I know for certain is that being able to communicate with others who have actually experienced and owned up to their addiction is vital to success. I don't know what else to say on my own behalf, except that I want to be back where I was...not just the weight, that is secondary. I want the physical wellbeing. I want the mental clarity. I want the self-confidence and the FREEDOM from food. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Welcome aboard!

What next? Simple. You admit your errors, learn from your mistakes and move on. Sounds like you are right on target.

You will love this forum - talk about support! It's fabulous.

Be sure to start a journal in the My Journal forum - that will be a tremendous benefit both now and in the future.

See ya around.

You have hit the nail right on the head offdawagon! It is not so simple as lose weight and be cured. My story is somewhat similar. I've gone on long plateaus - self imposed plateaus - because I wasn't ready to give up the weight. It really frightened me because I hadn't done the mental and spiritual work to keep up with the physical changes. I was no longer a slave to carbs, but it boiled down to being a slave to food. It was a lousy way to live and quite freeing when I realized it. I could then give myself to recovery.

wbahn's suggestion of starting a journal is a good one. Feel free to peek into other peoples too!

Karen

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement folks. wbahn's words hit a chord...admit it and move on. I sort of feel like I'm on the edge of something that I know VERY well...lots of good things...lots of weighty (no pun intended) issues. So true that one must exercise mentally and spiritually in order to deal with the IMMENSE changes in one's life when a substantial weight loss occurs. You really need to have a well established sense of WHO you are on the inside, so that the realization of a totally new outside doesn't throw you off balance too badly. Throws others in your life off a bit, too, sometimes. People really do treat you differently according to your physical appearance. That was the hardest pill for me to swallow. Anyway, nice people here. Thanks for your input. Still thinking about the Cessna thing....

welcome, offdawagon. Yup, carbs are addictive and yup, after the initial high of a first big weight loss, all the difficulties of coping with stress are still there...without the carbs to self-medicate! this is all part of the learning process.

I wish you the best of luck on your re-start and your spiritual journey, too. We're all pulling for you!

Hi Offdawagon, I know exactly how you feel. I have been doing the introduction two week plan on dr. atkins. Went away for a week and 'BAM'' got into trouble. Those Carbs. for me are killers. Now I am starting all over again. I also have been kicking myself. We can do this. HANG IN THERE. JOAN