Mary's Weight Loss Journey

[Pcola Girl]

Ok here I am posting my journal for all the world to see how a fat, old obese lady like me is losing her weight.
My journey began in November 2000. I had just got in from my doctors and he was so rude to me about my weight that I came home crying and so embrassed of how big I really was.
That day I weighed in at 325 lbs. What a shocker to me because the only time I ever weighed was when they did it at the doctors office. I did not even own a pair of scales anyway. I always stayed away from scales because I did not want to know what I weighed. I knew I was fat and needed to lose weight but I had already tried all the other diets and failed with them, maybe lose some on them but always gained it back plus more.
Well this day was different for some odd reason and so I just made up my mind to lose the weight but first I had to find a diet plan that would work for me, not only to lose the weight but to show me how to keep it off to..

To make a long story shorter I found me another doctor first because I hated the other one I was seeing because he always treated me so rudely. Well I found a doctor by accident really. it went like this, they were opening a new medical center not to far from where I lived so one day when I was out with a friend we stopped to eat at a restaurant right next to where the doctors office was opening up, so I went in there and asked the girl at the front desk if I could make a appointment to come in a see a doctor about my weight and some some other issues to, so she made me one for the following week and I went to see this new doctor I have never met before and he was the nicest, most caring doctor I have ever met.
I talked to him about my weight and right away he told me to cut out the carbs. Now I never knew what carbs were so he explained them to me and gave me some papers on what foods not to eat and ask me to try to keep my calories at around 1200 aday. He told me to not eat any white foods, or anything with sugar.
So thats how I began my low carb, I first just cut out my white foods and sweets and I lost 10 lbs. the first week just by doing that. Now remember the Holidays was coming up, it was November 2000, and I just knew I would blow it, but as I cut out carbs the cravings for all those sweets and other foods that I thought I could not live without, Well I just did not want them anymore. When the holidays got here, Thanksgiving, Xmas, they came and went and I did not eat anything that I was not suppose to eat.
Now for the amazing thing, In January when I went back to my doctor for a check up, I had lost 45 lbs. I amazed my doctor and myself..So after that I would go in to see him every two months to get weighed and have my sugar and blood all tested, to make sure I was ok during the time of my losing weight.
Well in one years time I had gone down from 325lbs. to 220 lbs. No one could believe the weight I had loss. I even had people ask me if I had the stomach surgery that everyone is having these days. When I tell them no, that I did it on low carb, they would shreik in terror and would tell me how bad it was for me..That I was killing myself..
(I was saving my own life) Thats how I felt about it.
Now why would anyone tell onther person that, especially after they has already lost over 100 lbs. on it. Maybe jealousy I guess...Thats their problem, not mine...

Well now its 2006 and I have lost alittle more, only 60 more to my goal weight of 140 lbs. My weight lost has slowed up quite alot these years not because I have cheated or gotton off low carb because I have not,Well maybe some, but I just had some bad health issues and several surgeries on my back for bad disc's. I found out after I had lost the weight that I have degentive disc disease and alot of arthritis in my knees and spine. After the weight was off I found out why I was in such terrible pain all the time, it was not just my fat body causing it, it was bad medical problems which now have been taken care of. But the damage is done and will probably always reamin with me for not getting the medical care earlier when I was at 325lbs.

When I was fat all the doctors, especially that rude one I was seeing, would tell me I was hurting because I was obese and told me to lose weight, but never did anyone ever tell me how or wanted to help me with it until I started seeing this new doctor. He was a mircle from God I know, there is not other way to explain it because he was there when I desperately needed him.
I have lost 120 lbs. so far and am working on my last 60 lbs. now.
So I need all of you here to support me ok. and I will be here for you to.

This has not been a easy journey for me, I have had my ups and downs, good times and bad times to, but the one thing I did do is stick to the low carb plan and take one day at a time and always look forward, never backwards to what I was. I was lucky to have such a great doctor helping me and my husband to and a great friend who stood bedside me along the way to. I know some others may not have that but they do have this board and friends here to help them.

By the way I found this board when I got to talking to my doctor about Atkins so when I came home I looked him up on the internet and found this site and been here ever since and that was around January 2001 I think....I know its just been a long time that I have been here and I have met alot of wonderful people to, some life long friends also.

So this is my low carb journey. Nothing special about me like so many think,
just someone who is losing her weight with the help of great peopler here on this board.
We can do what we set out to do if we keep looking forward and doing the things we know we need to and not dwelling on the things that we think we cannot do.
When we think we are a winner then we will be a winner.......................

[Pcola Girl]

My menu for today is:
Breakfast-coffee and a whole wehat muffin

Lunch-chinese food-lunch out with my daughter.
baked fish and boiled shrimp with some veggies and small salad
with ice tea.

supper- grill steak and fried zuchinni sticks..Ice tea.

snack for tonight is rasberry jello.

[Pcola Girl]

My menu for today is:
Breakfast--brand muffin and coffee and small glass of OJ.
Lunch--salad with chicken and green ice tea.
afternoon snack- jello
supper tonight--will be red snapper and cole slaw.

So far I am sticking to my diet real well and even am down a few more lbs.
I usually still weigh in once a month at my doctors.
Am getting in my swimming to when I am able to, with my back the way it is sometimes I do miss it, but always go back into the pool when I get to feeling better.

Looking for some different low carb recipes from the ones I already have so if you have one for me please post it here ok.

[Pcola Girl]

The weight is beginning to come off buts its still slow but I am noticing my clothes are fitting looser on me so maybe inches are coming more thant the lbs. right now.
But I am eating right and doing what I need to do so hopely by the end of this year I will be my goal weight or close to it.
Still swimming to when I can, could never give that up, just glad the pool is indoors and heated so I can swim year round. This is all the exercise I get anymore because of my back and legs.

Made a great omelet for breakfast this morning and will be having tuna salad later for lunch. Think supper tonight will be either hamburger steaks or meat loaf, have not decided what I will make with the ground beef yet.

Boy its hot outside to, went to sit on the patio but it was so hot I had to come back in the air and cool off. I can take this heat as long as I am in the pool but when not in it I just cannot much heat like I use to do..

Am planning on ordering some flax seed items and add that to my diet to see if it will help my back and strengthen my muscles in my legs more.
Don't know yet what items I will buy but want to start with a vitimin maybe.

Our garden is running over with fresh red tomatoes and green bell peppers so I have been cooking with them alot. We also have radishes and carrots to in the garden but they are not quite ready to eat yet.

Feeling alot better now that the weight is coming off again, for so long I was in a slump and just could not seem to get out of it.
Cannot wait to get in to all those smaller size clothing, its just makes me down when I have to go into large women sizes to buy clothes, they never have much I want to wear, guess thats why I always wear my jeans and sport clothing.
My daughter has lost over 40 lbs. now on low carb and she got her some of the cutest tops I have ever seen, remind me of the clothes from the early 60's. She tries to get me to buy some to but on me since I am so big, they just don't look right so I stick to my tee shirts and button front blouses.
All my friends call me Martha because they say I look like Martha Stewart. I don't think I look any like here....

[Pcola Girl]

Not much going on with me today, the carbs are staying low and thats good but I am just not feeling to well. Been having alot of problems with my back and stay in alot of pain so I am not doing much of anything right now. I am watching what I eat so that I won't gain any of this weight back from sitting still for so long. Right now I cannot exercise, not even go swimming because my back and legs hurts so bad. My doctor has me on bed rest all week-end so I now that will be FUN, me with bed rest is like taking a fish out of water, I hate it...I usually rise early in the morning and go all day so we will see how long I will keep that bed rest going..

My life is a simple one and sometimes I get bored so I am always trying to find new things to do. My daughter got me a scrap book starter kit and I love puzzels and games so I try to keep my mind occupied with them. But otherwise i just stay around the house and with church or on this computer.

My meal for today is...
breakfast-- 2 scramble eggs with one slice whole wheat toast and coffee.
Lunch--leftover spagetti from last night
Supper tonight--salad with bake salmon.

[GRAN4]

So this is my low carb journey. Nothing special about me like so many think,
just someone who is losing her weight with the help of great peopler here on this board.
We can do what we set out to do if we keep looking forward and doing the things we know we need to and not dwelling on the things that we think we cannot do.
When we think we are a winner then we will be a winner.......................[/quote]

Mary, I think you're wrong ... YOU ARE SPECIAL! What a great inspiration you are! To lose over 100 lbs.....what a great accomplishment!!!

Heaven knows you know what you're doing Mary, but how can you drink OJ (20 carbs) and eay whole wheat bread(8-10 carbs) You must be on maintenance, right?
Whatever it is you're doing, it's working for you!

[sheryl0423]

Congrats on your progress!!!!!!!!
You are so lucky you found that Dr when you did. I mentioned to my Dr once that I only have sucess with lc eating and he called it a "FAD" I just smiled and said yes Dr.

[Pcola Girl]

No low carb is not a fad, at least not for me. I began on my low carb in November 2000 and am still following it and lost over 100 lbs. to. With still more I need to lose I am slowly doing it on low carb.
I know how most my other doctors use to shun low carb but by luck I found one who did not shun it and is even on it himself when I first met him and he lost alot to on it.
We talk low carb every time I see him and I say if any of you can find a good doctor who believes in it , what a difference he can make in your life. By the way he is my primary care doctor and I see him on a regular basis for blood work not only for my medications I am on for my back and some other things, but to see how the low carb is effecting me, my liver and other organs as well.
So far I am in excellent health for all those things. This back problem I have goes far before my low carb diet began so I know it has nothing to do with this spinal arthritis I have in it. In fact I think it has helped it alot. Not only by losing the weight did it help but I feel it also helps keep some of this inflamation down in it to.
So I am a great believer in low carb, Only wished i had known of it many, many years ago, maybe I would have never have gotton so large if i had know of it..

I am doing well these days with my eating and losing but slow but thats ok with me because i know as long as I eat like I am doing I will eventually lose all this weight. i have about 60 lbs. more I want to lose which is not too bad considered how much I had to lose in the beginning..I was 325 lbs. and now around 210 lbs.. Not bad for me I don't think, for someone who had tried every other diet plan in this world and never lost it like this or ever kept it off this long either....

Really, I hardly ever think of eating any other way anymore except for low carb like I do now. I just normally buy the same foods to eat, my meats and veggies and once in a while I will make something sweet to eat but not often. But I do like my jello with alittle fruit in it though.
When I dine out I just seem to know what I want to eat, I love my grill seafood and steaks and thats what i get most often with some sort of veggie with it or salad.
Now I do admit I will once in a while go to the mexican place with my daughter and have something, mostly fiata's and my quamolee salad, but I do not eat all those chips they bring you though. I bring them home for my grand kids to eat . (They can run off the calories from them)...
But I am very careful of what I eat anymore and maybe if I do induldge in something one day that I should not have I always eat right the next day. I never go long without getting right back on my low carb way of eating even on vacation...

**As for the OJ and fruit I eat, I just it in moderation and try to get alot of swimming in to for my exercise. I sometimes use it to in place of a veggie during my meal.

I am just a 60 year old woman who wants to eat right and feel good for whats left of this life of mine on this earth....Low carb has helped me do that to.

[godsbeloved79]

You can do it Mary!

[GRAN4]

Mary, you're wonderful!!

[Pcola Girl]

I am doing it, I am losing my weight, only 58 lbs. to go before I meet my goal.....

I am doing it, I am doing it, I am doing it.......................

[godsbeloved79]

Originally Posted by MaryT60

I am doing it, I am losing my weight, only 58 lbs. to go before I meet my goal.....

I am doing it, I am doing it, I am doing it.......................

I'm rooting for you!

[kmf1028]

WOW !!!! You are such an inspiration!!!!!!!! thanks so much for sharing your story it was very movitational.

[Pcola Girl]

Guess I need to post in my journal today. I am down a few more lbs. five to be exact. I was really proud of that. Even went out and got me some new jeans and got a size smaller than usual. They are alittle tighter than I like but they are comfortable. The next size up was to large so I opted for the smaller size. I know in a couple of week they will ok. I just like my jeans loose on me because I don't like feeling squeezed in at my stomach area when I sit down.
My eating is going well for me these days in spite of me being sick the entire month of July. I had some fluid on my chest wall and some torn tissue on my left side and was in alot of pain for a few weeks. Doing better now, have a doctors appointment this Tuesday and hopely he will tell me I don't need to come back.
Made a nice salad for lunch today and tonight I have cooked a pot of cabbage with some ham in it. Thats always a good meal because you don't have to do much except give it a stir every once in a while, while its cooking. Have to make my hubby corn bread to have with it but I promise I will not eat any...I am not a bread person anyway, never have been so giving up breads was easy for me.
I do like to eat my seafood and steaks, they are my favorites and as long as I have those I know I will eat good and low carb to.
I have cut way back on my diet rites and only drink one a day now. I use to drink about five of them aday but it was causing me some bladder problems so I gave them up and drink my water instead.
I am still swimming to at the club except for the month of July because I have felt so bad but next week I will be there, swim if I can, if not then I will just try to do some water exercise because I have to get myself back into shape again. This illness has worn me down.
Its so hot here in Florida that you can barely stand it outside during the day time. Maybe I am getting older , I don't know what, but the heat never bothered me before now or like this. I use to be able to stay in it all day years ago, but not anymore.
Sure will be glad when I meet my goal, I am almost there, around 57 lbs. now to meet it. Down from 325 lbs. in year 2000 to 205lbs. now. Never ever thought I could lose it but I sure did with low carb and thats without any stomach stapleing either, I did it on my own with just low carb and alot of willpower and fighting that awful urge to eat and to change my eating habits.
Only wish I had know of low carb and did this earlier. Maybe my health would not be like it is today if I had lost it sooner.
But I am doing my best coping with my problems and i know I will come out a winner in the long run.

[godsbeloved79]

WTG with the 5 lb loss! Keep up the good work Mary .

[kmf1028]

Congrats on another 5 lbs toward your goal!!!!!!

[GRAN4]

Had to come see you again Mary, you're such an inspiration ....now down 120! WOW, you are motivating me right now....maybe I can get past the cherry pie sitting over there screaming at me!!
Keep smiling, Mary.....you don't know how much your story helps us newbies!

[sheryl0423]

Yayyyyyy Mary!!!!!

Bye Bye 5 lbs

KUTGW

[Pcola Girl]

Hi Sheryl and Gran--Hope you are having a great day.
I have been here all alone today, my hubby had to get some work done at the office before he begins this big job on Monday..

Not much going on here, I just bathed my kitten and got her all dried and smelling good again, she just smelled like litter box thats all and I try to give her a bath once a week anyway.

Take care..............

[amhouse36]

Thanks for sharing your weight loss story...very inspirational I have to lose 100 pounds to get to 140 also....which of course seems so incredibly far away- but I love to hear stories like yours to give me a boost...thanks and good luck on the last 60 pounds

[godsbeloved79]

Hey Mary!

Just checking up on you .

[GRAN4]

Mary, back again to see how you're doing. Obviously you're doing great ....down another 5....I'm awed by your stamina and hoping it rubs off on me! Rub screen HERE!

[GRAN4]

Where are you, Mary?!? We're misssin' ya'!

[Pcola Girl]

really have not been doing to well, that is with my health. Just got home from the hospital yesterday after a weeks stay there. Got a bad cancer scare but the biosopies said there was no cancer thnk God. But I still have to go for a PET scan on the 28 to make sure there is no cancer, if there is any that will find it. I have been having alot of problems on my left side at my rib area and just got worse. when I had to be rushed to the ER they found I had two broken ribs, not torn tissure like suspected at first and a mass of some sort under my ribs, they thought it may be cancer but so far all my tests shows is is not. Had two different biospisies and they both came back negative. I am so worried that I cannot even think stright. I do not want to have cancer. I always thought of myself as healthy, now this pops up on me. Just pray that the PET scan stll shows no cancer.
As for the mass under my rib cage,well the doctor will decide after the PET scan if it is something tht he will need to remove or not, so if it needs to be removed I will need surgery. All I wanted was to lose my weight and be healthy and live my life not hurting with my bad back all the time, why did this have to happen to me now? I know I am just feeling sorry for myself right now but with this cancer scar on my mind I don't know what else to do but pray to God.

[GRAN4]

Mary, I will pray for you to be cancer free and I know if we all pray with faith, the Lord will do what's best for you. I'm so sorry for all your health problems and the pain that brings. Please let us know how you're doing!