Hi I am Elizabeth

[txfemale]

Hi I am Elizabeth. I weigh 342 pounds.I started out at 350. I go to TOPs support group for weight loss.I started out 4 months back trying lose weight, and lost 17 pounds and fell back and i started over 2 months back.

I am addicted to cokes, and desert sugar products in a sick way. However I have not eaten any deserts or drink any soft drinks for 2 months.I start out like, that I lose a little because my appeite goes down.Sense Im so addicted to carbs i am going to work my way down to a low carb diet.I had been drinking sweet tea and lemonade sometimes to get off cokes. however i started this week dirnkiing ice water and juice and milk only. Im going to let myself get use to that for few weeks. Then I will go ahead and cut out fried foods, potatoe chips, popcorn, hi salt snacky carbs that are addictive.
That leaves me with the only white carbs left in ky diet being, noodles, beads, biscuits, and potatoes not fired.Ill let myself stay on that for awhile, last time I did it it only took a couple of months to lose 17 pounds. my appetite goes down automatically, it seems I use to only eat almost all bad dangerous carbs, I use to quite often literally live off of cokes and sweets, desert type products, leaving out vegies fruits protien and any healthy carbs. Im surprised I have not developed diabetis, if I have I havnt had an serious medical problems with it.

After i get use to my new diet for awhile, i will switch off to only healthy whole wheats and whole grains, then eventually on down the road I would like to work my way down to avery low carb hi protien paleo type of diet.

I start out here working my wat down because when I try to switch off completely over night to an all hiprotein diet, I fail, its like being detox, i need to ween myself off first before i can get down to it. How does it make me lose weight? Loss of caffien, sugar, and lowering carbs, and salt intake even a little autimatically lowers my appetite and I just naturally eat less.

Having a hard time now,massive headaches, leg and foot cramps and a little shakiness from going off of cokes and sweets, its terrible unbelievable but Ill make it through i guess.

Elizabeth

[ldypgmr]

Hi Elizabeth:

Welcome aboard.

Have you read any of the Atkin's or other LC books? The reason I ask is that I am/was like you. I knew that if I cut out the sugar and fried foods that I could loose weight. However I also had to take the caloric count down to under 800 calories a day!

After reading Atkins and Bernstein I realized that I am insulin resistant. That instead of backing slowly off the carbs, I needed to do a detox. One fell swoop! I love the way I feel on LC.

Just a suggestion...

Best of luck...

[LiveWell]

Hi Elizabeth, welcome to the forums! It sounds like you have a plan in mind. Thats great! Hope it works out well for you.

[fatnfedup]

Welcome! Best of luck!

[bob2112]

Welcome to the forums and the TDC!! I think you will find this is a great place for support and motivation. Let us know if there is anything that we can do to help.

[Charran]

Welcome Elizabeth! I wish you all the best!

[Calianna]

That instead of backing slowly off the carbs, I needed to do a detox. One fell swoop! I love the way I feel on LC.


I have to agree with this.

By backing off from them slowly a little at a time, you're subjecting yourself to the addiction related problems over and over, each step of the way.

If you do a strict induction, you'll go through it once, and be done with it. Then you can start to really enjoy your new way of eating a lot sooner.

~~~~~~

Now, having said that, I have to admit that I cut my carbs in steps - sugars first, then 3 years later, cut out the starches. Separating it into only two steps, and separating them by 3 years helped (in a way), because I didn't have to go through the withdrawl from one thing, then a couple weeks/months later, go through it all over again with another.

For most of us, it would be terribly stressful to go through it in several stages like what you plan to do, but you have to know yourself, and how you react to change - some people can't handle so many major changes all at once, while others do much better if the change is swift and final.

[mmf503]

Welcome Elizabeth!

If your gradual withdrawl plan works for you then more power to ya! I'm with the camp of getting it all over with at once! LOL.

[Greenwitch]

Welcome Elizabeth!

You know, you mention getting shakey if you don't have your sugar and it sounds like you don't know if you're diabetic or not. You might actually want to just get your doctor to test you. It's not a complicated test and it's good to know where you're starting. Just for your health's sake.

I give anyone who can do this in stages credit. Me, I did it all at once. I went through a couple of days of feeling a little sick but you know, that passes and then woosh you feel better than you have in ages. That shakey feeling goes away, it all goes away and you feel amazing!

Post often and get to know everyone. I've only been here a couple of weeks and I feel so at home amongst these great people. It's so moving to see such genuine care and understanding and real support from people who know how we feel. You'll love it here. :wave:

[amy411]

hi Elizabeth :) welcome to the journey !!!!

i live near Dallas as well !

[txfemale]

Thanks for all the advice,I will go and get checked up for diabetis soon. Im surprised
I havnt gone into diabetic shock with way I use to eat, one good example of one of my last days on my old diet: a box of cocoa krispies cerial, a box of reeses peanut butter chocolate cereal, a half gallon of chocolate milk, 3 20 ounce cokes and a half of a sandwich. In one day thats what I ate and nothing else, eating a whole entired box of sweet cereal with a half gallon chocolate milk poured into it all day- nothing else no meat nlothing.It unbelievable my addicition to sweets. this in part maybe why i dont gain weight, or I lose it while off of the sugar, junk and fried foods and high salt foods. i simply dont over eat or binge on any other food. even warm hot bread they bring to the table at restaurants before the meal-I eat one slice maybe 2 at the most. But if I order mexicn food which is more liekly for me, and get the hot fried tortilla chips and salsa-yea gonna eat a ton of them.

So why it may not sound like it makes sense, it really does, i dont overeat on meat or regular bread, and certainly not vergitables or fruit.

however the one item I have to count the portion size for, and be careful about is milk and cheese, 2 to 3 servings a day, in cheese that like an ounce per serving. thats the one drawback, and the one thing I do have to actually keep up with and measure for my food. Thats a temptation.

The rest of it, forget it, no when i go to spagetti warehouse, and I love their meatballs and spaggetti, but an order of regular meatballs and spagetti-Ill eat maybe half the spagetti on my plate sometimes not even that much.But the cheesesticks, thats my weekness.I guess its just different for different people, one the one hand Im lucky cause I dont have to count my proportions, except for cheese and milk, or count calories or measure my food or count points or anything. on the other hand, Im not free to eat sweets of any kind cokes, carbonated water, i need to be off breads simply for diabetic reasons, I may have diabetis and if I dont i feel sure, i am borderline so for those reason have to cut that out eventually and be on a hgh protein diet when i can work way down to it.

On the other hand there are those who dont have to be on a high protien diet who can eat deserts and cokes because they can count the servings and proportions and be modest with their eating of it, so i dont know which is better.

[Greenwitch]

Well, speaking just for my own situation of pre-diabetes (which really some will say doesn't exist, you're either diabetic or your not..so it's debatable), I know that following the actual diabetic diet did work for me. Brought my cravings and blood sugar right down into control. My problem, however, was that I was hungry and really didn't lose much weight very fast. It was a struggle for me. Low carbing, however, brought my blood sugar down, removed all of my cravings AND I'm losing weight.

Getting rid of the 'habit' of overeating is another thing some of us have to struggle with. The WHY AM I EATING question. If you are not craving food because of hunger, it may be habit, or who knows possibly some other reason. Getting to the bottom of that issue is important. For me, there are emotional sides to why I'm fat that I'm working on. I know I tend to want to overeat when I'm stressed, for example.

You can do this. How did you yesterday?

[Kandra]

Txfemale,
I agree, you are addicted to sugar (carbs). It takes courage to own that. I know because I'm also a sugar and carb addict.

I like that you know yourself well enough to take this one step at a time. However I noticed that you haven't read any of Dr Atkin's books yet. Go to your library or a bookstore TODAY and pick one up.

This will give you the clarity to make a clearer plan of action. Right now you're thinking high protien will cure the addiction and that eating spaghetti is okay. Please read his book. Take the time to understand what happens in the body when a sugar-carb addict eats carbs and what LC is rreally about. If not Atkins then one of the other LC plans.

Here's a link for you to see the various LC plans. I personally like Atkins. http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-low-carb-plans/
Different people here on the forum are doing different plans and the guidelines are different, so you will just get confused if you don't have your own plan to follow. You said you've only read the Weight Watchers book and so I encourage you to rethink everything you've been taught and get into one of the LC plans. You will be so glad that you did.

I've spent hours and hours reading posts and journals here and I know that LC works for sugar and carb addicts. The addiction and cravings won't control your eating and your life any longer.

Keep up the good work in not being an addict any longer. You can do it. :thup:

[txfemale]

Yep, my Mom is a recovering alchocoholic of 26 years and I really think theres a connection between my sugar addiction and alchohol. Like the alchoholic whio drink away his food and had no appetite for atcual food, I was the same in my sugar-no appetite for normal foods just the carbs just drinking away my meals so to speak.

I will look at that sight thankyou very much.

[BetsyJ64]

From one Elizabeth to another.....WELCOME ABOARD!! This place is the best! Glad to have you here sharing with us! :wave:

[SRabbit]

Elizabeth, welcome to the boards---you are probably having headaches from caffeine withdrawal also---

I am with the camp of getting on board and making this a new lifestyle---my concern is that your steps of cutting things out don't fit with the way you ate in the past--mostly living on sweets, it may be harder for you to plan your meals out in stages...

You know yourself, of course, but I would suggest getting the Atkins book and reading it and thinking about what you really want to do---as it really works, and has worked for many people that were not only heavier than you but had the same kind of addictions you have. I know what it's like to eat only sweets all day; now I make a mock danish or have berries with cream...it isn't chocolate, but being down a lb the next day on the scale is so worth it, and losing 41 lbs since Christmas is so worth it...

Take care of yourself; I wish you great success!!

[txfemale]

Well thankyou for all the advice. I will say this. Taking outn cokes and caffien, sugar and caffien pump up your appetite, without it, my appetit has gone down. i'meating way less anyway.

Another thing is this. When i went on this diet with weight and just skipped right to the core plan straight high protein diet, and also I did it with OA How which is a very strict version of it a while back, I had 2 problems. Number one jumping into it and or any diet overnight, at this weight I tend to lose oh anywhere between 8 and 12 pounds a week. Its too much too fast,its too stressful, its almost impossible to lose that much weight overnight and keep it off.Number 2 now with OA How, I lost my blood sugar count, it went down too far and I ended up at the docters office who told me I needed to eat some sweets. This of course came from the idea that you cant eat more then one or 2 fruits a day with that program,nore sacuses for your meat only one peice of wheat breat brea a day, almost zero sugars except from the fruit you eat with no juice. So some programs are too strict for me, i may be diabetic, some I can do some I cnat, I have to have some carbs or a little anyway.

But no it seems to me that big obese people like me have 2 choices, die in our obesity or go on a strict diet and lose it all at once,or lose a huge amount right at the first. I think its wrong, itsb a set up to fail and maybe why so many of us at this weight die in our obersity instead of staying on a diet. Now, in the next week, I will change over to not eating any fried foods, no highj salt carbs like chips and popcorn. That will also change and affect my appetite, these things do pump up your appetite. So i will bve losing wieght twith that also. Im losing weight now-eating less anyway. But I have no intentions of losing 100 pounds in 3 months which is what will happen if I jump into this all at once, nope. I also talked to a guy on my bus route last year, he was diabetic, weighed I dont know maybe close to 300 but he had lst alot of weight also by a low carb program. He didnt suggest the step by step program im on.

However, he did suggest to me that if Im losing too much weight at first to start out by eating all whole wheat and whole grain carbs for awhile and that would give me a chance to get use to it also. So Im in part taking my advice from him, he had lost a bunch of weight so apparently he knew what he was tlaking about. After I get use to this new diet for awhile, I will switch out to whole wheat grains and breads. Its a good idea, its rediculous to expect us big obese people to lose 10 pounds a week and keep it off, although some of us have no choice for health reasons. Luckily mine has gotten down that bad, im very VERY lucky, Im not sure why I didnt just go into diabetic shock with my old diet, I guess God was watching out nfor me,

Thankyou for the replies.

[txfemale]

The first line is suppose to say WEight Watchers sorry

[txfemale]

Well Ive decided Im tire of this weight and would like to start losing at a faster rate. Id also like to be done with making changes to my diet. so Im going down to eating all whole wheats and whole grains for my carbs, that way the enxt step will be a full blown high protien mode.

It gets tired an dold in the beginning when your this fat, it easy to give up, i just want to start seeing some results soon.

[Saiyara]

Hi and Welcome!

I am new here, too. Been here only for about a week but have already been inspired by the people on this board. Great that you have a plan set. Best of luck to you!

[txfemale]

Thanks, berrys and cream huh that actually sounds good, not a bad idea.I may look at a book. i got off of frieds and potatoes chips and popcorn this week doing better, but I got off it tonight by eating pizza.

i do think going on down to whole wheats and grains is good and then ill try to get on down to a full blown high protien diet, i will look at Adkins and maybe some others this week to see how it is, tomarrow I egt weighed at TOPS wish me luck. My weight last time-342.

[txfemale]

Well I got weighed yesterdY and Ive lost 5 and a half pounds! yea for me.

although I do feel myself slipping a little, I had a sunny delight tonight which has sugar in it.

im thinking of going on weight watchers plan, the core plan which is low carb. im not sure people here approove of it though. WW 's core plan allows you to have 35 extra points a week to spend how you want. juice is not on the diet but you can spend your 35 points on it.They also allow all the raw fresh fruit you want to eat and steak sauce and bbq sauce all you want as well,its not as strict as Atkins, but i like their plan. i may save up my money and go back and join, its a good place to socialize its cool.

[txfemale]

I just found out saturday I dont have diabetis, and my holesterol is down to 218,it use to be 295 I am so excited Woohoo!