Looking for a Pen Pal just started

[Ladysunshine88]

Hello there I'm very new to this and would like to have a friend to share my experience with. I've been doing low carb, not any so called diet to speak of, but my start date was 02/19/07 stats 228/212/135 would like someone with the goals to talk to ;0).

[notsleepy]

Originally Posted by Ladysunshine88

Hello there I'm very new to this and would like to have a friend to share my experience with. I've been doing low carb, not any so called diet to speak of, but my start date was 02/19/07 stats 228/212/135 would like someone with the goals to talk to ;0).

Hi there Kelly ! I've never had a penpal here but it sounds like a nice idea!
I noticed that you're from IN too (I'm just north of Indy). I'll give you a little background about myself so you can tell if we might "fit"...(not that any of this matters)
I'm 43, I have done lowcarb before with great success...I lost 60lbs a few years ago, fell off and regained all that and more....I just started back two weeks ago and so far so good...I'm down about 6lbs, which isn't as fast as before but I'm happy to have lost that much.

let me know what you think !
Laura
ps I'm glad you posted this on the main board, I've never even thought about having a penpal until I read your post

[Ladysunshine88]

Hi! Wow sounds like we have a few things in common. I will be 44 this friday! ugh! Anyway I'm a mother of three and have been married for 22 yrs. Actually my oldest daughters name is Laura ;0). This is the first time I have done anything online like this so if I'm a little slow at first please bare with me. A
little background first. I really havent always been overweight my whole life. I was always thin 110's -130's, UNTIL....... Kids!!!!! Well I guess I cant really blame it all on them I did have a thyroid condition that effected me greatly and the fork to mouth disease. So now for about the last 10yrs I have battled my weight constantly, as in it has kept going up up up. This is the heavest I have ever been and frankly I am just sick of it. I've tried every diet known to man and/or woman to no avail. I'd stay on it for a few days maybe even a week or so and then one cheat and that was it. So I have been looking on the web and found this site!WOW what a great resourse we have here. Anyway for the last few days I have poured over this site and found that it will help me on my journey to me. I started 02/19/07 I havent cheated one time and I have lost 12 lbs to date. Yay!!!!!! Well enought about me Please share your story. I think we can help each other stay on track ;0)

[notsleepy]

Wow, it does sound like we have some things in common. I'll try and tell you a little bit about myself without writing a book,( I tend to go on and on).

I'll be 44 in June, and I agree, ugh.
I have two kids, Elizabeth is 18 and a senior in high school, and Eric 15 who is a freshman. I'm not doing very well with them growing up so fast, I wish I could do it all over again. I live with Ed, my SO (significant other), I just can't bring myself to say boyfried when I'm 43. He's wonderful and the kids adore him as much as I do.
I moved to Indiana from Michigan about 20 years ago, I married into Indiana.
We were married for a long time and for very creepy reasons, that didn't work out. Nothing illegal, just immoral. Thank goodness I got out of that. I don't think the kids and I have ever been happier, so it all worked out.
My weight problem started when I was in high school. As a result of using food for comfort I got up to 150, I'd love to weigh that now but at 15 it was huge. After high school I went through a lot of personal trials and soon found that I found comfort from not eating too. I could go for weeks without eating and soon got down to a size 2. I am not built to be a size 2 and when I look back on pictures from that time I can't believe how horrible I looked.
After meeting who would become my husband I started eating more and went from a 2 to a 9, which is where I think I should be. We got married and within 2 months I found out I was pregnant. I was thrilled. I had a normal healthy pregnancy, I didn't even gain too much weight. It was after she was born that I started packing it on. My husband worked out of town 5 days a week so it was just me and the baby. So, here I was alone in a new town with a new baby and most likely postpartum depression, which I didn't know at the time but looking back I have no doubt. That's when my weight problem got completely out of control. I was nursing her and figured I could eat whatever I wanted. I ended up gaining about 40lbs in that one year!
Well, ever since then my weight has been a problem, at my highest I weighed 242, ouch. Like I said, I did lose 60lbs using Lowcarb a few years ago, then when things fell apart at home I started eating wrong again, so, here I am.
I really believe that I can do it this time because I'm at a really great place in my life. I'm happy with everything except my weight so I can really give that my full attention.
You're losing very well!. I think that by dieting on and off for so many years that I've messed up my metabolism. I know that this works and I feel much better eating this way so I plan on remembering that if/when I'm tempted to cheat.

A few misc. things about me
I'm a photographer, mostly weddings but because of my weight I've actually turned down a few jobs because I don't want to be seen.
I love books and have way too many.
I like to go to garage sales, auctions and thift stores (and Indiana has so many of them).
I've sold a few things on Ebay and would like to do it more, I'm working on getting that together now.
I'm not very organized (understatement) and I'm trying to improve on that while I improve on myself.

I said I'd try not to write a book, but I think I did anyway, sorry!

You're doing so great that I don't really have any tips for you in that department. If I may offer one suggestion....measure yourself. I did the day I started and then after two weeks. With only a 6lb loss I lost 1 inch off of my waist and 1 off of my hips. That was inspiration enough to keep going full steam.

Thanks so much for writing back
Laura

[Ladysunshine88]

Well thanks to you for writing, this is kinda strange for me as I stated before I've never really talked to anyone online like this, but what the heck! Anyway we do have alot in common. I also like to go"Junking" as we call it . But as of late my home is so full of all the wonderful "Stuff" I've had to stop collecting the goods ;0) (or move my hubby out) ha ha. A little more history about myself, I have 3 children, Kyle 20, Laura 16 and my baby Alyssa 10, wow what a challenge. my 20yr old just moved out about a month ago a very sad but glad day in our lives he has been a real pain in the butt the last 18yrs! My girls though are wonderful and my husband is great. I'm an open heart nurse and I do believe that this is what God sent me to be. I love my job although it can be quite stressful at times. I also love to make krafts, mostly woodworking, I'm in the process of starting my own Kraft business, nothing big just going to the fairs and maybe selling at the local shops. Mostly seasonal stuff but it's so much fun and a great stress reliever. Well enough about my wonderful life, my weight has been an issue for about ten years now and I just let myself go. I've tried adkins a few times but never really got past induction I always felt so sick I just stopped doing it. So I this time I feel I'm really comitted, I havent cheated once and the quick loss has been a great motivator. I'm leaving for florida on friday, a little birthday present from my honey, I'm staying with a close friend for a week, no kids no hubby just me (wow),ah.............. anyway when I get back I going to try to start an excersise program. Right now I get none other then at work, and thats just not enough. So I thought I would do a little yoga and I bought an eliptical machine(evil thing that it is),and start moving this OLD BODY. Hey thanks for the tip I'll measure myself tonight. One more thing before I go ( and you thought you were longwinded) How do I get back to this spot to talk to you? I found in on the main lobby from my original post but I had to look back a couple places since they moved me. Am I doing it right or is there somewhere else I should look for you? DONT EAT CARBS!!!! That was my motivation to you. I'll do better next time.Well have a good night I'll talk to you tomorrow.

[notsleepy]

Hi again Kelly,
I'll start with how to get back to our thread. There are two ways that I know of. In the top left hand cornor there's a link that's called "User Control Panel" when you click on that it should show you all of the posts that you have responed to. Just click on the post that you want to go to and you're there. I just found out about that one last week. Another way is to go to any forum....then, right under the "user control panel" is "Forum Jump", click on the arrow and a menu will open up showing all of the fourms. There are a lot here so you'll have to scroll. The penpal fourm is there too, click on it and it will take you right to the "Lowcarbfriends Pen Pals", scroll down and you should find "us".

My house is full of wonderful stuff too, hence my selling some on Ebay idea. I grew up going to auctions with my parents and learned a lot about antiques and collectables. I can't believe some of the great things I find while I'm out.

A good friend of mine just got her nurses license last year. She battled (and beat) cervical cancer about seven years ago. She was so impressed with the nursing staff that she decided that it's what she wanted to do. My SO was in the hospital a few weeks ago and I couldn't get over how the nurses do everything! I thanked each and every one of them. I could never be a nurse, I like taking care of people but I don't think I would be strong enough to do it everyday, I'm kind of weak when it comes to medical type stuff.

I love "kraft" things ! Although I don't do much anymore. I found that I was really good at starting, not so much with finishing. My sister makes the most wonderful scrapbooks, every now and then I think of trying that. Maybe someday.

You're Florida trip sounds wonderful, and so does your husband ! I can't imagine being without my kids for a week, how relaxing and what fun !
I too need to start exercising. I usually go into things too gung ho and then give up. This time I decided to get through two good weeks with Atkins, then start adding some type of exercise. I will be so glad when it warms up here a bit, this drab cold weather is getting to be depressing.

Thank you so much for the "DONT EAT CARBS" tip. When I read that I started laughing, my kids ran to see what was so funny, they didn't get it. Funny enough it's what I need to hear. Maybe I'll write that down and stick it on my fridge.

Well, I see that I was long-winded again. So, I'll close with this, I didn't eat carbs (well, except for a salad) yesterday.

Laura

[Ladysunshine88]

HEy how did you do today? Myself it was a very good no carb day. Yesterday I think I put to much dressing on my salad I could just tell anyway didnt lose any lbs, so today I was very strict. Not sure how I'm going to handle the vacation, I'll try and be good. Well good luck also I found a new site that tracks your weight, it's pretty cool. Fitday.com, I will be at goal sept 1 if i keep on track. Thats' 2.3lbs a week. I think it's easier to keep it in perspective like that. Well I'm off to bed they beat me up at work today and I'm wiped out. Good night ;0)

[notsleepy]

I've stayed right on plan and I'm finding it easy this time, thank goodness. It's sounds like you're doing great ! I had used fitday in the past but forgot all about it, thanks for the reminder. I love the weight graph, it's nice to see it go lower and lower. Have a blast in Florida ! I look foward to talking with you when you return. Just knowing I have someone (besides myself) to be accoutable to will help keep me on track!

Have a safe trip and a Very Happy Birthday
Laura

[Ladysunshine88]

Well I'm back! Sorry for the long delay at getting with you, I've had the flu and havent felt like talking. So my vacation was horrible.http://images.lowcarbfriends.com/lcf...hysterical.gif 5wk old baby screaming it's head off mom tired and grouchy no transportation. well I could go on an on but I wont. Lesson learned , never go anywhere without your own transportation. As far as low carb I did pretty good except for beer. What else did I have to do? and really I'm not much of a drinker. So I gained a few pounds while I was gone but with the flu when I got back I lost it all. I havent really gotten back on track so much since I've been back. I havent gained any but I'm starting today and going to be very strict with my food choices. How's your scales doing this week? Wasnt the weather great last week. Indiana's weather is so crazy. That was one thing down there the weather was beautiful. Well I hope you have a great day. Keep on track and I'll talk to you soon.
Kelly

[notsleepy]

Welcome back. I'm sorry to hear that your trip was so stressful. I learned after a trip to visit my in-laws about the transportation thing. My FIL insisted on driving me everyplace I wanted to go, ugh. Then you came home just to get the flu? Thank goodness you're feeling better. The weather has been great, I can't wait until it sticks around, my house is old and drafty, my gas bill reflects that. My weight has dropped a little, I'm down 12lbs since 2-12. Not as fast as I'd like (of course) but I'll take it. I'm sure you'll do great jumping right back on. Good thing you didn't gain any, I'm terrible when I'm not at home, I find it so hard to stay on track. I'll be going to Michigan in April due to my sister having surgery, I'm going to plan ahead and take some things with me. Hope you're enjoying the first day of Spring !

Laura