Did it before, now cant start, need help!

[jjmoonie]

Hi all, I previously lost 95 pounds with Atkins and didn't even notice for a long while. I kept it off with no effort too for 3 years. Suddenly last November, I went haywire and got back into all my old habits and put every last pound back on. Now I.m trying to get back on the wagon and everyday I fail.
Can any one give me some encouragement, a trigger phrase, something, anything, I dont know what's wrong with me. I've aged about 10 years since putting the weight back on.

Thanks for your time JJ

[Flamingo50]

Hi!

I know just what you mean. I too was very successful, but it was probably more years ago than you are old. HA! Also, I lapsed back into a carbo eating pattern and now am starting again....and again....and again!! However, all the writing about the one golden opportunity seems correct. It is much harder to do the second (or third or forth) attempt. However, I'm determined to eat this way even if I don't lose. I figure eventually it will be successful. I know I feel better when the carbs are very limited in my daily diet. Would be glad to try to share encouragement and successes, etc. Please e-mail me if you want at flamingo50@hotmail.com

[mackhead]

Hello to all...I KNOW what you both are going thru.
I did Atkins last year and lost over 40 pounds..and it seemed so easy. I only cheated once and worked out 4 times a week and walked every night....NOW...after having a baby 3 months ago..I cant seem to get motivated to stay on the plan. I have re-started 2 times already and going to re-start again soon.
It is so much harder now.
My hubby works 1pm to 2am and it gets very lonely around here just with me, the cat and the baby...I think that is alot of my problem but I would love to talk to someone else and get advice and tips and to keep each other on the straight and narrow.

[txprincess39]

Y'all just hang in there. I lost 50 #'s 3 yrs ago, then had a baby in the gereatric ward......well practically, now I am back on track and doing well. 40 to go............I wish I had more time to spend with my baby but I do work a lot which doesn't help because the people I work with will eat ANYTHING!! you should see me pass on the donuts! not easy. anyway, just wanted to say hi and keep it up, we will lose and feel great!! Now if we can just have some texas sunshine today, I will be happy.

[tiredofoldme]

hello,
I know what you all are talking about. I am desperate for some motivation myself.
I look in the mirror and I hate the person I see. My face is so puffy and swollen and tired looking. My body is another subject all together. My body feels like I am 80 yrs old instead of 37. You would think that I just need to keep looking in the mirror and that should be my magic potion.....
I start each day determined to do good. By 7:00 pm I am ready to eat the walls and pretty much eat anything that is bad that I can get my hands on.
I am a single mom and I think I am just lonely and depressed.
What is the magic bullet? Why do we keep destroying all of our efforts.
I would love to hear someones advise to help break this horrible chain of events that keep occuring.
I truly want to lose the weight, but am searching for the help to stay motivated.
Mary

[mackhead]

Mary
I have been trying to find the magic bullet also...I just realized I have to be REALLY motivated to start and stay on track. I sometimes wish I was a person who could just be happy with myself and my body image..but even when I was at my goal weight I still thought I was alittle heavy. I am just trying to get to my "happy" point.
Having this site does help and talking to people with the same problem..that is good motivation..having someone to keep me in line and someont to talk to.
Being lonely doesnt help either...I feel like my whole life is baby and with my hubby working really all day...the only thing left to do it eat...and I DO!
I read another post and thought about doing this...write down the postive of losing the weight and doing low carb and feeling great, then the negative, then write down the pos/neg of staying at the weight you are and being lonely and depressed. Wonder which side will win??

[tiredofoldme]

mackhead,
congratulations on the birth of your baby boy.
I can definately say that if I had the choice of never losing my baby fat from having my wonderful 3yr old son or not having him.....
I would gladly stay fat forever. What a wonderful gift you have been given.
I like the suggestion of making lists of the positives and negative of weight loss. I have a feeling my negative list will be very small.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I know you must feel like your life is nothing but "BABY" right now, but take it from me it gets a lot better. I work full time and I am a single mom. I can't wait to get home everynight to my "main man".
Thanks for your encouragement.
Mary
253\248\145

[mackhead]

Hey Mary
Thank you!!! I really have been blessed by having my baby. We tried for almost 2 year( on fert.pills and etc) and thought we would never have a baby..then bam..I got knocked up!!!LOL. He is my pride and joy...
My all "baby" problem is also my hubby working mostly all day and its just me, the cat and the baby..no real adult I can talk to and have a conversation with..so I get lonely and bored..and that makes me walk thru the kitchen 8 or 12 times until I eat something. I am going to wait until he gets alittle older to go back to work (saving money) so I am home ALL DAY!!
I cant wait for my son to crawl and walk and talk (even though he tries to talk now!) so it will get easier on me. This is my first baby so its all new..but I love it.
Ok isnt this supposed to be about low carb????? I get off track..I dont get out much!!HA
Are you doing induction now? Or still getting ready to start?
You can e-mail me if you want
heatandbaby@netscape.net

[cybervox]

Do you have the book Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution? And I do mean the NEW one? It hit the shelves here in the UK not long ago, and it has some new stuff in that might help you get the jump-start you need. Another good way of motivating yourself is a full-length mirror and a picture showing you how good you looked, or could look. The mirror shows you how you are, and if you don't like what you see, then it helps you make the resolution to change - for most effect, it should be in a place where you have to look at it every day. And if you don't have the picture, then you can get a photo digitally "doctored" to look the way you want.

I did Atkins for 2 months about 18 months ago, and lost about a stone or so, but lost track after Christmas. I didn't put the weight back on, but I've always been stable, slow loss, slow gain, etc. and I started again last week, and only cheated at my friends Birthday lunch yesterday (she took us all to a Portugese restaurant, and there was nothing low carb on the menu). I may be the exception, but if you really want it badly enough, you can stick to the diet and make it work. A technique I learnt called "Psychocybernetics" might be the key here. It uses the power of the subconscious mind to boost resolve - sort of like self-hypnosis. If you want more info, let me know, and I'll see if I can give you the basics on the board - the book was a coupla hundred pages long!

Cheers,

Cybervox

[txprincess39]

hey cybervox I am interested in that pshco(thing), please don't make me try to spell it though. I have the old atkins book, guess I need the new one.

I am at a stall, but I figure its hormones. had my baby 10 months ago at 42......so my body is doing some funky thing probalby. I am eating well and feeling good....do need to get the exercise in though.

for those of you that are "bored" and I say that word gently, because I do admire stay at home moms, that alone is full time...maybe you could join an exercise group or find someone to exercise with that also stays home and you can take turns watching each other's kids at the other times. You have to have adult companionship at some point. kids are great and my "first batch" as I call them are great people, at 21,20 and 18, but it is still nice to talk to "real people". Just join some kind of group...so you have someone to talk to. have a great day all!

[cybervox]

Psychocybernetics (yes, it is quite a mouthful) has its roots in meditation. It is also based on the assumption that the body conforms to the mind's own image of it. That's why some people can never be slim - they are convinced they will be fat forever, and so they are. The unconscious and subconscious minds are capable of adjusting your physiology so that you are how you believe you are (the Doctor who coined it said it could even work on illnesses etc.).

For a boost with getting slim, the Psych. dogma states that you need one of the following:
1. a picture of you taken when you were slim
2. If there isn't one, cos, like me, you've never been slim, you should get one "doctored" to make you look the way you want to be.
3. If that isn't an option either, find a picture of a body that resembles how you want yours to be - but be realistic, no waifs, bear your own skeletal structure in mind - and cut a picture of your head out of a recent photo and paste on so it looks like the body belongs to you. They do have to be in scale, of course. Doll-proportions are not exactly viable.
The other preparation is to create in your mind's eye, in as much detail as you can, a place where you feel completely relaxed and at home. Mine, for example, is by a waterfall with small river and pool on the edge of a forest in perpetua early summer, where I can feel the cold water and the bark of the trees beside the stream. The details are important - you need to be able to submerge yourself in this place later and feel that it is real to you.

Now that you have your special place and your picture, when you go to bed, take it with you. Try to go to bed a little earlier than normal, so you don't immediately fall asleep. Close your eyes, breathe deeply. Make sure you can see yourself at your goal.
As you exhale, think your way through the rainbow and count back from 7. Your thought process should be something like this:
(Breath 1 - exhale) Think:7, picture the colour Red
(Breath 2 - exhale) Think 6, picture the colour orange
And so on,like this: 7, red; 6, orange; 5, yellow; 4, green; 3, blue; 2, purple; 1, violet. This should obliterate almost all thought.
Now, put your mind into the place you created for it, and picture yourself there, happy and slim, beautiful, lithe, whatever. It is important to be able to see everything in detail, right down to your freckles. This doesn't mean your entire body. Your figure should be clear to you, so best clothes to see yourself in are things like swimsuits, bikinis, anything tight, really. Afterall, you want to be able to wear these things and look this good in them.
Tell yourself that this is how you really are, NOT how you will be. You are already like this, you know it, you just need to show the rest of the world.
Picture yourself doing all the things you want to be able to do again, or for the first time, if you're like me. You don't have to be alone in your little world, you can have admirers. Afterall, you want to be admired in the >real< world, so why not in this one? I'm just diving - in my swimsuit - from the top of the little waterfall, and walking around on the grass, climbing trees, sunbathing. Its up to you - whatever you want to do. Keep the images vivid - don't get distracted if you can help it.

This is the specific get-slim bit. Now the craving-buster.
This was described to me as the blackboard-whiteboard technique.
Picture a large black board in your world, with a loarge whiteboard next to it, with chalk and pen to write with. Now, think of all the foods you shouldn't eat. You hate these foods. They may taste nice, but they make/keep you fat. Write them all on the blackboard. Be specific, and focus on the worst cravings you have, e.g. chocolate. Picture yourself forming each letter, clearly and precisely.
That done, step back. Read the board. Tell yourself why you wrote them there, these foods. Concentrate on the fact that they are stopping you from achieving your goal. You hate them for that. Fuel that hate, and take it out on the blackboard.
Punch it, kick it, smash it to little pieces and watch it blow away, or get washed away. Feel the satisfaction that fills you for getting rid of these things. You feel - and are - so much better off for being rid of them.
Now write all the things you should (but maybe don't) eat on the whiteboard. Again, form each letter clearly with your hand in your mind. Step back and look at it. Think how good these foods are for you, and love them for it. Feel affection for these foods for the benefits they give you.

That's about it - and believe it or not, that's the short version! The only thing to add is that it is best done just before you go to sleep, and just after waking where possible, for 3 weeks straight. Give it a week's break, then do it again. After 3 months, you should be feeling and seeing the results. But don't expect miracles!

Hope this is of some interest,

*C*

[Chanteuse]

I hope I'm not too late to join this group... looks like we're all going through the same thing and can be of great support to one another.

Seven years ago I heard of the Atkins diet for the first time. I had 65 pounds left from a previous pregnancy, my boy was just starting pre-school, and it seemed like the perfect time to get in shape, since I would have that extra time in the mornings to excersise while he was in school. Sure enough, I lost every single extra ounce I had, but wouldn't you know it, a week after I finally reached my goal I got a bad case of the flu that turned out to be another boy !

Now the youngest is two, and I've been trying to get back in shape, but I've had a hard time with the diet. First, a family crisis that happened just a few days after my C-session had me fighting depression for over a year. I had three kids (one teenager, a 5 year old and a newborn!) So that first year I did not even try to diet. Now I am more into things, and have had a few false starts. I need to loose 55 pounds, and would like to loose as many of those as I can before I turn 42 next July

Like I said, I hope we can help each other along and celebrate together as each one of us reaches their goal