Hey! My name is Kim, from Portland Oregon. In March of '03 I got mad at my condition;health, body, emotional, mental. I had had 3 major leg surgeries in 4 months and was bedridden for most that year. I got so mad I got up out of my bed and went to the gym and slammed a basketball against the wall until I was drenched in sweat. That was the extent of what I was able to do exercise-wise. I told myself that if gastric bypass people could survive on bits of food all day then I could too....and for a month or more, I did. By May I had gone from 215 lbs to 180. I cranked up the exercise by hiring a college athlete to train me on the equipment and teaching me how to shoot hoops. I changed my eating pattern, concentrating on more protein, but still didn't have a plan for my life. By the end of July I weighed 162 lbs and was a size 14-12. I had an epiphany. This was the weight I always "lost to" before. I had never gone below it as an adult. I wanted something different. I knew I needed to change my nutrition radically and I did. I studied Atkins and some other low carb ideas and decided that this was right for me. I upped my meat intake....delightfully so. Upped my green veggies, cut out the sugar and white flour and...drum roll please. Today I am 138 lbs, size 6, 34C, 27 waist, 37 hips, 5'6". I have gone from 46% body fat to about 24-25 %. I work out 6-7 days a week, 1-2 times a day, dividing my workouts so I can maximize my metabolic rate. I work out with all the equipment and free weights as well. But I always, always warm up for 1020 minutes first with my basketball.

I wanted to finish my post! Here goes...so now I live the low carb lifestyle. I was able to do a one-woman show in August, and have just entered the Mrs. Oregon pageant. Hopefully I will be able to fulfill my dream of doing motivational speaking this winter. Just 10 yrs ago I was a full-size, or custom model wearing size 20 clothes....now I am a size I could never even allow myself to dream of, more active than I could have imagined. My optimism for living has returned. I would love to share the goodness of this with others.
I look forward to hearing from all of you.
Many blessings,
Kim

[QUOTE=kimlynette]I wanted to finish my post! Here goes...so now I live the low carb lifestyle. I was able to do a one-woman show in August, and have just entered the Mrs. Oregon pageant. Hopefully I will be able to fulfill my dream of doing motivational speaking this winter. Just 10 yrs ago I was a full-size, or custom model wearing size 20 clothes....now I am a size I could never even allow myself to dream of, more active than I could have imagined. My optimism for living has returned. I would love to share the goodness of this with others.
I look forward to hearing from all of you.
Many blessings,
Kim
"There is more Grace in the universe than any of us can stand to imagine" K.Sandstrom