hi everyone,
my name is stephanie. i have never been part of an online or any type of support group but after coming accross this site and reading the success stories and looking through some of the pics i thought i would give it a try. this has really motivated me to stick with the atkins diet.
as of yesterday i weighed 211 pounds. i have not always been overweight though. before i got pregnant with my son in 2003 i weighed 105 pounds. during my pregnancy i gained A LOT of weight. when i delivered my son i weighed 227 pounds!! i have a fairly small frame so all of the extra weight took a toll on my hips and feet. i worked really hard to get the weight off and from the beginning of june to november i got my weight down to 170 pounds fairly easily. i then decided to start the eating for life diet and added exercise several times a week. by my sons first birthday in may of 2005 i was down to a healthy weight, around 145 to 150. so how did i get to be over 200 pounds again? that is a good question, and i sometimes ask myself the same thing. in sept of 2005 i got really sick and lost my short term memory. i was in the hospital for 31 days and when i got out i had to move back in with my parents. i was put on a ton of different meds. one of the prescriptions was a steroid to control a tremor that i had in one side of my body. from what my mom says (i have no memory of this) i would eat anything that was not tied down. i had a huge appetite that was never satisfied. i also didnt want to leave the house, i guess because i was embarrased about my illness (i couldnt even carry on a conversation with someone) so my mom would bribe me with ice cream to go to family functions, doctor appts, etc. as i recovered my appetite did not change and my weight eventually got up to 231 pounds around the beginning of 2009. at that point i decided that this had to stop. i reduced my portion sizes and tried to get a little more active which did get my weight down to around 215. i then decided to do the atkins diet. i did the induction for one week and lost about 7 pounds. i went on vacation with my family and went off of the diet. it has been about a month and today i started the atkins induction again. i drank a lot of water, exercised and did great with my carbs. i have teamed up with a friend at work and i feel that this is going to be the time that i succeed!!!
that is my story so far. i am looking forward to adding my progress as time goes by and reading other members stories to keep me motivated!!!

Welcome to the forums Stephanie! Congrats on your success so far! Keep up the good work! You might want to start a Journal;
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=36

It's a great place to meet people and other that you visit can visit you back. This is a very supportive place hope you enjoy, best of luck...Bru

wow what a story. hows your illness now? im keepin my fingers crossed for you!

I hope that you continue to loose your weight and to continue to get better. Welcome to the forums, there are really wonderful helpful and understanding people around here. Don't worry about asking questions because some one will be able to answer them. It is a good idea to start a journal, you can even vent in it if you want to!