Time to make a change

[Copper82]

Hi everyone,

I'm Lina, 27 and I live in Germany, so sorry for my English :) I've been overweight for my whole life and I'm sick and tired of it, I feel like I spent most of my youth in hiding because of my weight. Now that the end of my youth is near (yeah I'm seriously freaked out by my nearing 30th birthday :lol: ) it's really time to change that. I want bikinis! Short skirts! Cute girlie stuff! And I want them now, not when I'm wrinkly and covered in varices ;)

I had my share of crash diets in my teens which probably messed with my metabolism, after each diet I was heavier than before. When I finally came to my senses I weighed 194 pounds, but could at least hold that without any effort. At 19 I started running, and after some time 22 pounds came of without any dietary change. Not much, but it made an amazing difference in the way I felt and got treated, finally I was normal, could shop whereever I wanted and the guys took notice of me :cool:
Then I met the love of my life and disaster took its course ;) . He's overweight, too and I happily adopted part of his rather unhealthy lifestyle. This and some other reasons (eg stopped running) led to a rapid 45 pounds weightgain. Looking back I can't unterstand how I could turn a blind eye to this, I think part of it is that hubby has never had anything but praise for my body at any weight and i lulled myself by thinking that I could easily lose this weight, just like before. Well I was wrong.

Tried running again, but now I was unfortunatly too heavy for that and my joints protested, so I thought that I would be better off losing 20 pounds another way and then start again. My method of choice was calorie-counting. At first it worked, though I never lost more than 15 pounds and quit after a few weeks, not beeing able to live with the the constant hunger anymore. In the blink of an eye I gained all back, then spend a few months in "don't care, it's hopeless anyway"-mode before I could muster enough motivation to start anew. My last cycle began 18 months ago, I joined a sports club with a large range of courses and workedout at least 2 times a week, combined with a calorie-reduced diet. Lost the whopping amount of 2 pounds per month for 6 months and then... nothing. Not a single pound anymore. After another 6 months I was so fed up with stalling and so low in energy and motivation that I quit sports and counting, et voila, I'm back at my old weight.

I might have thyroid problems (besides feeling tired all the time I have other problems like dry skin and some more, I will get my test-results next week), so I did some research on this topic and stumbled across low carbing which has apparently helped many people lose weight who just couldn't do it any other way. This woe isn't really popular in Germany yet and I hadn't considered it before because my only knowledge of lc consisted of a very skewed view on Atkin's Induction phase ("Limiting fruit and veg? He must be nuts! Fruit is good! :lol: ). But after actually reading one of his books and tons of info on this forum, I'm game!

Actually I'm a perfect candidate for LC, I love meat and veg and have never really cared for rice and potatoes, but I do have a sweet tooth. Now I finished my third day with controlled carbintake, and I'm amazed! Not only have I already lost 3 pounds (I know it's only water, but after a year of not seeing any weight loss at all I don't care, it's great!) but also I had no sugar cravings! That's nothing less than a miracle, usually I HAVE to have something sweet in the evening. So I guess this really might be the way, though it's a little early to break into song and dance, YET :) . l'm definetely going talk with my doctor about this and I will spend a looot of time here in the future :wave:

[pinkelsie]

Hi! Your english is very good, don't worry! You probably spell better than me, and I live in Wisconsin, USA. I can relate to you. Although I am not married, my boyfriend always tells me I look good, even though I have gained 15 pounds since we met, 2 years ago. Maybe he really can't tell the difference, but I can, and enough is enough. Just the thought of lo-cal dieting makes me want to cry. I hate feeling hungry. Atkins is hard, but you feel so much better after the first week (induction flu) has passed as compared to a low calorie/low fat diet. I live in a very liberal and highly vegetarian area, so low carbing is not popular here either, but I have to say that many of my veg friends look like they could use a few months on Atkins as they tend to be "doughy". :lol:

I am with you sister! I am starting induction tomorrow (along with a new job, yikes!) and I already have plans to eat tuna salad for breakfast and bring pork roast for lunch. We can do it!!!!

With love from Wisconsin,

Pinkelsie

[Cleveland]

hi Welcome! I love reading about eating low carb in different parts of the world so I hope you will share. I am thinking there are some great fatty German meats that will make the diet quite possible. Shanks, knuckles and roasts seem popular. Also if the sausage does not have bread filler, it would be great.
Berries and rich cheeses are probably easy to find too. I do not envy you trying to avoid the beer (if you drink it). German is beer is some of the best in the world. Once I lost the taste for beer though, it no longer tasted good.
sauerkruat as some carbs but if used in moderation it is not bad. Regular cabbage is even better.
best of luck on your plan. DOn't forget to drink plenty of water too

[bkloots]

Welcome to a great forum. You'll enjoy getting acquainted here.

My two cents worth:
--Atkins is actually not "hard" because the rules are simple, the food is fresh, and you adapt it to your own tastes as you go along.
--If you like to exercise, resistance training (weight lifting of some sort) will be the best companion to your new dietary program. Much better than running for building muscle, burning calories, and especially burning fat. And you can do it no matter how much you weigh now.

Best wishes.

[Copper82]

Thanks for the warm welcome ~all, I really think I might feel at home here and actually post something now and then, usually I'm a notorius lurker ;)

Today I had eggs with bacon, tomatoes and rocket, some almonds, one salami and a very satisfying casserole with minced beef and leek and I still feel very good, even took a 4 mile walk after work instead of taking the subway. I guess it means I'm not in ketosis yet? Or isn't there necessarily something like the indcution flu for everyone? Anyway, in a few days I'm going to order some ketostix and then we'll see.

~pinkelsie
See, I made a mistake, I wondered why you assumed I was married and finally cared to look up "hubby" and realized that it means husband, duh. I thought it just meant something like my significant other :lol: So no, we're not married, but after 6 years together it doesn't make much of a difference and I'm pretty sure we will marry someday when we grow up.
It's the best feeling in the world to be loved and accepted no matter what you look like, but sometimes i really wish that he had said something. Poor men, they can never do it right ;) Hope you had a great day at your new job!

~Cleveland
Yeah, the beer. Luckily I don't drink regularly, but every two weeks or so I go clubbing and like to drink something then, and beer is by far my favorite drink. I'll have to experiment and see how much one night with beer puts me back, maybe I can give it up then. But not yet :p
Funny you mentioned sauerkraut, that's become a dish you would get at your grandma's, but I've never seen it on a menu. And my friends think I'm disgusting when I say that I like it. :yum: My parents are from poland and cooked it quite often, I guess there it's still as popular as it was in Germany. The standard dish for a german 20something is probably pasta with tomatoesauce, and Germans eat A LOT of bread, for breakfast, for dinner (dinner is called "Abendbrot", which literally means evening bread) and as a snack inbetween. And there are bakeries everywhere! On my seven minute walk from the subway station I have to pass 4 of these temples of seduction. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of variety when it comes to food to go, so finding something suitable is on top of my to-do list.

~bkloots
I tried weights in the gym 2 times for 3 months each (first time about 7 years ago, second time last year) and though I'm certain that it's the most effective training, I ended up doing less because I was bored to death. I need to be outside, or play something, or have loud music and people moving around me or otherwise I will sit around and read a magazine :lol: Some of my courses include bodyweight excercises, so it's not going to be running only.

[bkloots]

have loud music and people moving around me Exactly! That's why I gave up trying to lift weights in the fitness room in my condo and joined the YMCA. I go to class. Loud music. Lots of people. Energetic instructor counting down. That's motivation! :hyper: