Hello there! My name is Meagan, and I'm a 26 year old mom of two darling little girls. I've done the LC WOE before, but slacked off. Now I'm starting over. Here's a little bit of my story....

In HS, I was a nice, proportional 145 at the most. Pretty good for me since I'm 5'7" with heavy Norweigan bone structure. I was always busy, so never had time to eat properly, my statple was cherry poptarts and cherry coke during my senior year, so I can only imagine how thin I would have been had I acutally eaten healthy.

I went into the Air Force, and went up to 150, but actually slimmed down, all my weight converted from fat to muscle mass. I married, had a horrible short marriage, and as we were divorcing I went down to 135 in a matter of weeks because of all the stress. It was the thinnest I'd ever been in my life, but physically I felt GREAT.

I was 138 when I got pregnant with my first daughter, Bethany. Over the course of my pregnancy I gained 100 pounds. I lost about 75 of that within a few months of having her, but I never got below 160. I got pregnant again when she was 14 months, and I was at 185. During my second pregnancy I ballooned up to 245. I again got down to about 185 after giving birth, but it didn't last long.

I had never been on BCP before my first pregnancy, and my doctor convinced me that I "needed" to be on it afterward. (Yeah, ,and it worked so well too! ) I'm sure that this was one of several reasons I've gained so much weight and haven't been able to lose it.

I was back on BCP after my second pregnancy, and yet again got pregnant while on the pill. This pregnancy ended in a badly ruptured ectopic. Within just a few months I gained 55 pounds, I was up to 250. Depression made matters worse, I'm an emotional eater and seek solace in carbs.

I'm tired of looking into the mirror and not recognizing the woman that I see there. Even after a few years of being heavy, I'm still taken aback when I actually SEE myself. I recently saw some video of myself from Christmas morning, and as I walked across the screen my "tummy flap" could be seen bouncing. UGH. At the end of January my husband and I went to Hawaii with his family. I had difficulty even getting the seatbelt across my tummy when we were on the plane. I saw the pictures of us from the trip, and again I didn't recognize myself.

I'm tired of not being happy with who I am. I am NOT a fat woman. I'm Meagan, mom to Beth and Catey, wife to Brian, friend to some wonderful people. I don't want FAT to be my identity. I want the world (and the camera ) to see me for who I really am. I want to be happy and content with myself again.

So here I am. I'm starting up on the Zone, slightly modified with CALP. I've got my membership at the YMCA and intend to use it at LEAST four times a week, if not more often. (When I actually get up and get exercising, I love it, it's just that whole motivation thing....) I weighed myself last night, expecting to see that I was at 260 or so, and was THRILLED to see I was "only" 239. So, only 89 more to go!!!!!

I'm so glad somebody pointed me to this forum, and I really look forward to all the support and friendship that I can see is so prevalent here.

Blessings to all!!!!

Hi Meagan,
Welcome to the forum.
You've got a great attitude, that will serve you well.
How about starting a journal? Just read the "sticky" at the top of the thread for info. A journal is a great way to make friends and give and receive support here.
Good luck, Meagan, and keep up the good work!

Rosebud

Greetings and welcome aboard!

I know the feeling of not recognizing myself in photos - and being utterly ashamed of myself once I accept that it IS me in the picture. I, too, want that to end.

So welcome to the program that's for the long haul - the rest of our (probably longer) lives.

Just always remember - nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

Keep the Faith!

Hi, Meagan. Let me add my welcome

Thank you for posting such a thorough introduction -- it's so nice to know someone's background and history. You sound as if you're really ready to make this work -- not just looking for a quick fix -- and that's a very good sigh, I think

All best to you. I'd echo the suggestion to start a journal -- it helps if you actually see what you're eating. You might also want to look into fitday -- www.fitday.com It's a free site where you can enter food and it calculates protein, fiber, etc. You can copy the totals and paste them into your journal, so you're not doing double duty

I'm sure you'll find a lot of support here -- all best to you, and please keep us up to date on your progress

welcome, and I hope you achieve all you wish!

I am so with you on that point! When I see pics of myself now all I see is a pigeon! You know, all "puffed up!"

I don't want to be the "pretty chubby girl," I just want to be me again! "Matronly" is not my identity!

On top of that, I have become a "shoe-aholic" as that is the only part of me that has stayed the same size! Anyone else have that problem?


-Shelly

Hi Meagan and welcome!

I have a daughter named Bethany too! Good luck in your low carbing. I think Dr. Atkins mentions that birth control pills can make it difficult to loose weight, so you may want to check into some alternatives if you find that is the case.

Actually, I haven't been on BCP since the ectopic in July 2000, they just really messed up my horomone structure. So did the depression medications that I was on. I just recently got OFF of Clomid, we were trying to have another baby but decided it was time to focus more on my health than getting pregnant. The only thing I'm taking now is Allegra for my allergies, and I just recently started taking that. I'm probably going to start with supplements soon. It will be NICE to have regular horomones finally!!!!