Hello,

I just joined Sunday, have over 100 lbs to lose and need a buddy to help me stay in line and keep me from going over the line. I have a history of eating disorders and have for years just ignored my weight thinking it was the easiest way to keep from old and dangerous habits. I can't ignore it anylonger, it has become a health issue as dangerous as the one I was avoiding.

I started this on May the 14th at 235 and am now at 229. I am struggling with patience, it's not working fast enough for me. My biggest fears are that I will slide into my old BAD habits and find myself in the active throws of bulimia or worse, anorexia, or that I will just not lose enough to make a difference in my health.

Yes, I know that is a contradiction. Honestly that is what you get if you buddy with me, but I REALLY NEED someone.

Thank you,
Renee' AKA: ms_poody

Renee, Congratulations on your six pounds!! It's all uphill from here.

I am also desperately in need of a buddy!!

I have never had any eating problems that I can relate with you, but I have a good ear. And I also know that you can change your ways of relating to food.

During the last 2-3 years, I have gained a whopping 60lbs. I don't even see myself as really over weight but I know darn well that I am and I don't like it one bit.

I suffer from other things also--depression and back pain due to a herniated disc. Maybe you could give me some advice also. I gotta tell ya, I really need it.

Like you, I also just started around Sunday and am getting absolutely no support what so ever in the home front--I almost feel like I should be shipped to a deserted island for my induction and get it over with.-hehe

We have pretty much the same goals--lets team up--write back and keep your head up

Cherly,
Thank you so much for your responce.

I'm very sorry to hear that you have no support at home, that is so important, in everything we do. Thank God we've found this site. My husband tries to be supportive, and usually does a great job, but there are just somethings he can't relate to, or understand.

I would love to buddy up with you!!

When I was hospitalized for my eating disorder [years ago] I was taught that I needed to think of food as medicine. Too much can make you sick, too little can too. You have to find the right prescription and stick to it.

Well I'm affraid I've been paying far too less attention to my "meds" and that seems to be what has gotten me into this trouble.
I've found it simple to slip back into that way of thinking and am now trying to figure out my own personal "perscription"

Since I first came here Sunday I've realized that I was tempting my body to go into starvation mode by not eating enough [not hard to do with my history] and that I need to drink more water.

So, I've added a few counts to the carbs I'm taking in and drinking WAY more water [atleast a gallon a day]

From personal experience I can tell you that when I'm loosing weight or after I have gotten down to a less than blimp state, I have far less depression to deal with. I was told by my Dr. that the extra hormones produced by my fat contribute to my depression and that ridding my body of it helps significantly to break depression cycles. I'm sure I can't be the only one this applies to and therefore can assume that you too might be. Also lets face it, back pain is a common problem among people who carry around the extra pounds we do.
Thanks. Renee'

Thanks for your response. I really like the information that you got from your doctor about, the extra fats cells causing more depression. That kind of ties it together because I thought I might be more depressed lately just because I was fat. Now it seems like losing this weight will help me with yet another problem. Can't beat that.

From what I have been reading around here I know that you don't want to starve yourself or your body may start using muscle instead of fat to fuel itself and that doesn't sound like a good idea. So, I am glad that you found that out early on and ya can't have too much water.

I weighed myself today and I have lost 4 pounds. It is probablly alot of water but it beats the heck out of gaining four pounds. That was getting old. Actually, when I was getting fat I never weighed myself.

So, how do ya feel since you have been doing your induction? I can tell ya one thing, I don't miss that sluggish feeling that I always got after eating one bit.

I off to try and figure out how to change the weight on my stats!!YEAH

Talk to ya soon....

Hey Crazy_lady,

Congrats on the 4 pounds!!!!!! You go girl!!!!

You are so right about your body going into starvation mode. In the past I had screwed mine up terribly. I think I'm on the right track now Plum and Little Ann have reminded me about it and I am so greatful. They also told me about FitDay.com, I went there yesterday and found out that I was eating a lot of hidden carbs I have to fix that, and have really had to rethink a lot of things now. The first thing is that I will plan my meals far [days if posible] in advance. This way I won't have to rely on memory of carb counts and I can check the totals at FitDay.com to make sure I'm not missing anything that wants to slip in. My husband is going to hate this because he likes to go out for lunch when we are working, and that's going to have to slow down some. I'm doing ok with the water, but I'm trying to cut out the coffe. This is tough as I have been a heavy coffee drinker. The withdrawals suck [had a cup this am, Tried not to but by 11:00 headache was terrible] I guess it won't be too bad to not go completly cold turkey. I was drinking coffee at 18, that's been 21 years now, I think quitting within a month sounds reasonable. One cup when I just can't handle the pain, until there is no more pain...sounds like a plan to me...what do you think?

Today I Promise myself that I am going to redouble my efforts to get and stay healthy!!!!

See ya,
Renee'

How are ya doing Renee'??

I'm glad to here that you might have figured out what your stall was. I am the same way. I WANT TO SEE RESULTS!!!--hehe.

I have a coffee situation also. I drink my black and not everyday. I don't think that I am going to worry about giving that up because I don't think it is affecting my weight loss, but we'll see. Although coffee does have about 0.8 carbs in it and has to be counted. Good luck with your try to ditch it--I know it's hard. I would ween off of it also in order to avoid the headaches.

Have you ever thought about ordering a breakfast omelet for lunch? I do it all the time, even before I started LCing. Just make sure it's the kind without potatoes. Or even a chef's salad--yum!!

I have been having alot of trouble sleeping(big time) so last night for dinner, I ate what everyone else ate. I wasn't feeling right at all. I have been tossing around the idea of switching over to CAD for a couple of days now, mostly because we can't afford two menus in this house at this time. What do you think? Do you have any information on this or have you tried it before?
Anyway, I didn't have a problem with craving carbs afterwards. I'll see how it goes. If it doesn't go well then I guess it's back to Atkins induction

Good luck with your day!!!

BTW-I think planning in advance and using the fitday link is an awesome idea--it won't seem like such a struggle.

Write back soon--your buddy

Cheryl,

I am really working on my patience, results will come when they do [have you read my journal?] I keep telling myself that it's a marathon and not a sprint. It seems to be working!!

Why are you cooking 2 meals? Most meals consist of meat vegis and [carb rich] bread, pasta, rice or something. I haven't really changed "what I cook" so much as "how" I cook it and what of it I eat. For instance...the meat is not breaded [if it would have been] and I eat a generous serving...the vegis are not steemed or boiled, I sautee them in butter & olive oil and add garlic or fennel or any number of herbs and spices [this is MUCH better tasting] the breads...I simply prepair as usual for the family, but I skip them.

I don't know anything about the CAD diet. I will look into it and let you know what I think.

As far as the sleeping goes I may actually have an answer for you. Protien is very helpful. Are you sure you are eating enough?
When I was hospitalized I was having a REAL hard time sleeping. My doctor "prescribed" a can of tuna half an hour before bed time. It worked. Since tuna has 0 carbs, it sure wouldn't hurt to try. I don't know if camomile tea has any carbs or not but this is also helpful as is [believe it or not] catnip tea. Maybe a can of tuna and mayo with a cup of tea would be just what you need.

I'm doing well with the coffee, cutting down. Thank you for confirming to me what I believed. Also the breakfast omlet idea is a good one, I prefer scrambled eggs but see where you are comming from

Renee'

Cheryl,
I have looked at the CAD and don't think it would be the best thing for me , I need more structure, affraid the reward meal would set me up for a binge, but it seems several people are having success with it.
Maybe you should ask someone with more experience than me before you make up your mind. Little Ann and Plum have been great with my questions, maybe they could help you too, but there are many here with lots of knowledge who'd be happy to help if you asked.
As you see it written over and over in here, everyone is different and everyone has to find what works for them. This might be the perfect thing for you, but then again you could be like me and find it to be a disaster.
If you have a tendancy to binge, I'd avoid it like the plague. If you don't have that problem.......do some research and talk to more knowledgable people, then do what is right for you.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and keep me informed please.

Renee'

Hi Renee,
Thanks for your research.

I am sorry that I haven't been on the last couple of days and have to make this a short entry.

My Grandma is suffering from demensia and needs someone to care for her 24 hrs. a day, so I have moved alot of my things over to her place to stay with her. She has a finished garage and I just got my computer hooked up in there today.

I have been trying the CAD with no binge tendencies yet. but ya never know. If my weight loss stalls I will change my ways. Kind of hard right now for this to be my first priority but I am still working at it.

You haven't let me know how you are doing. I hope you are coming along great!!!! Write back and let me know.

Take Care

Cheryl,

Sorry to hear about your grandmother, that must be very hard on you. I'm glad you've been able to get your computer hooked up there, you'll still be able to get the support you need.

Remember, it's not selfish to take care of yourself. Many times we forget this and it can be a major contributing factor in our weight and life problems. You are better to others when you are better to yourself. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. I thought that taking time to do what I knew was good for me was taking something away from my family. This was a terrible way to think!! Once I found balance and realized that if I took better care of myself, I felt much better and stronger and was therefore much more able to be of help to others.

I know that this next part doesn't apply to your situation with your grandma Cheryl, but I'm gonna say it anyway.

Often when we start to take care of ourselves, we realize that an awful lot of the "help" we are offering to others isn't help at all, it's meddling. It's a way of avoiding our own problems. This is very destructive behavior and is something that a lot of people are totaly unaware of.

Take what ever good you can from this Cheryl. I certianly have no idea whether or not this applies to you in any way, but I do realize that you are capable of overlooking it if you are one of those that have none of these tendencies.

As for myself, I'm fitting much more comfortably in my clothes, have much more energy and am seeing very slow progress in the scale. I have decided not to fixate on the numbers.

Other people are noticing the difference so I must be doing something right...

Look at my journal for my meals. I've added more vegis and have started subtracting the fiber count from the carb count. I'm keeping right around 20 when I do. I'm wondering if I need to bring my cal count up a little, I'll see if I stall before I do tho. I calculated yesterday what I would have to eat to bring it up and don't look forward to eating that much at all. It's scary to me. I've gained all this weight eating much less than that. I know in my head what my heart hasn't fugured out yet. Anyway, hopeing to be able to avoid that lesson...lol.

Renee'