Introduce Yourself!

Hey!  I am Brandi.  I have been heavy in my mind as long as I had a sense of my body.  I look back at high school pictures and realize, I was just a kid, but not one of the long lean girls, so - well you know.  :} 

I have been on every diet known to man from Cambridge (yaay!) to being vegan and raw vegan, everything inbetween, well except tapeworming it or wiring my mouth shut.  Liked food way to much to be bulemic or anorexic :}.

Anyhoo, I know full well that carbs, while I LOVE them, are drugs of choice for me. I was the only heavy person in my family for generations.  NOT THE ONLY ADDICT.. just the only one with food as their drug of choice.  .

Anyway, I was sleeved in May of 2009, got to goal size in about December of 2009, so have been maintaining since then for about a year. 

I went into this knowing I was a junkie and knowing that I was not doing this to "be normal," I would not ever be someone whose daily diet consisted of "just a little bit of whatever I want."  I think its really great for the folks who can do that and maintain, but I am not one of those people.

And that's not a bad thing, or a good thing - its just the way I am!  And like anyone with sensitivities, I have to care and be proactive and protective enough to set myself up for success. 
Anyone who EVER came back to the board (before surgery I read the vsg board back to the first post there ever was) and the folks who came back and said HELP I AM X TIME OUT AND HAVE GAINED X WEIGHT - I looked at their latest posts, saw if they had never been on program, or if life had just squeezed them and distracted them, and marked down their potholes and their bridges out on my map.  If you could see where the things were that tripped you up, why would not you pay attention?

I have been a person who has had to touch the stove myself for so much of my life, I wanted to take somebody's word for it this time.  :}

So - the initial detox before and after surgery helped get the carb monkey off my back.   In maintenance I deal with "recreational drugs (carbs, be they sweet or savory)" by blocking them into special occasions, or foods that are just trouble and one bite and I'm its *****  Block that bad boy out.  I do not have food in the house that is trouble food for me, I am not so attracted to my husband's carby cereals which is good for me! But stuff that I abused on my way up the scale, is not a regular fare in my diet, and it does NOT come in my home, unless its for a party, and the night of the party - whatever dangerous foods are left get crushed, covered in diswashing soap, coffee grounds and anything else nasty I can find, put in the trash and taken out to the big trash. 

monthly, I allow for an anything goes MEAL. Not a day, not a weekend (unless its christmas at my mama's or vacation, but not at home) once a month (but we do not go out even once a month, so its not even once a month that it happens) and I know that for a few days after I have carbfest, I will have to push protein and deal with Trixybich (that chick in my head who tries to be the boss of me?) whining and trying to be sly about getting me to "just this once, just this time, just that thing."

Some stuff is not worth the hassle, some is, but eating DELICIOUS and clean 90% of the time allows me to have whatever I want once in a while and not have to attach emotions to it, and the consequences that show up on the scale?  They were either worth it or not - make a note Mrs. Ah-Whiggins. 

And I am verbose.  Just saying.  (I know..its hard to tell. :} )

 Hi,  I joined this group because Low carb/Atkins diet has been a part of my life for about the last 10 years, and I 'm interested in seeing what I can learn from this group.   I lost about 170lbs. on my own without surgery about 3-4 years ago using mostly the Atkins diet mixed with WW.  It was when I stopped losing on Atkins & had difficulty staying with it consistently that Idecided to undergo WLS.  I have always had great results with the Atkins diet.  My body seems to do very well when I remove all the sugars & extra carbs from my diet.  I would not call myself an expert at all when it comes to Atkins.  I actually never followed the steps that you progress to more carbs.  I had so much weight to lose that I would usually just stay on the 1st phase.  At least I would stay on it until I got really sick of it.  I would just get to the point where I wanted some carbs.  The problem with that system & having a full size stomach was that I could gain so much weight back so fast!!  That's how I ended up
yo-yoing dieting, which led to me getting the sleeve.  Thanks so much for starting this group.  I look forward to learning more.  

My name is Kim and like most of you I've been on every diet you can think of. I was a very small child and my dad was actually concerned that I wasn't growing and they forced me to eat. Biggest. Mistake. Ever. I remember at the time being taller than other kids (not now LOL) and bustier with a C cup in 5th grade and teased horribly! By 6th grade I was my full adult height... 5' 3 1/4" inches and weighed 130 lbs. Sounds good, huh? I wish -- I was tormented and teased horribly for being FAT. I went on my first official diet at the age of 12, Weigh****chers, and lost 15 lbs down to 115. I would kill to be that weight again, and yet I remember it still not being enough. And so the yo-yo dieting began. I look back at pictures of myself in high school and don't understand why people called me fat or even moo'd at me. It saddens me today because that was the catalyst for me turning into a yo-yo dieter, binge eater, and eventually super morbidly obese. I've lost 100 lbs over and over in my life...

I had RNY on 11-7-2005. I started out at 309 and lost 99 lbs in the first 9 months. My lowest was 188 and then went up and hovered around 200. I got into bad habits, stopped measuring, stopped portioning out, started eating slider foods, and then a bad roller coaster of issues started with each member of my family including my kids. I've been through one child being diagnosed with autism; Asperger's to be exact, one (my teenage girl) going through some horrific trauma, me losing my job... It's been a hellll of a few years and through it all I lost my marriage. My husband and I are working on finalizing our divorce. We live in the same home right now though, but in separate rooms.

I went up to about 220... came down again to 204 and now I have gone up to 210 again and my carb addiction is completely out of control. Atkins or any low carb high protein is how we're supposed to eat after having WLS, so I'm surprised every day when I see people following low fat, low protein plans like WW. The first I heard about the plan and "rules of the pouch" and how we need protein more than anything, the first thing that popped into my head was this. When I eat low carb/high protein I feel amazing. When I'm eating the white carbs, or really ANY bread, pasta, cracker, etc... I am pretty much in a low-grade dumping syndrome all the time and dragging my body around just to get through the day. So then I go and detox and feel awesome... and here I am kicking myself in the butt for screwing it up yet again and for being in this position. 

I just want to feel good and look good and get down to at least 150 lbs. 

Hi.  My name is Teresa.  I also have been heavy most of my life.  In 1998 I went to Weigh****chers and lost over 200 lbs but I was a programmer and when Y2k hit I started to work alot of hours and stopped eatting right and exercising and ballooned up to 416.  When my doctor told me that I would not be around in 10 years if I did not do something I looked into WLS.  I went to see my surgeon June 2009 and was told I had to loose at least 60 lbs before he would consider doing the surgery(I went home crushed because who wants to be told they are too fat for fat surgery) so I did a loose based atkins and lost 99 lbs before surgery and my surgeon said it was one of the easiest surgeries he had done.  My surgery was January 20, 2010 and I have lost 132 lbs for a total of 231 and have 40 lbs to go till I am at a normal bmi. 
I am glad you started this group because honestly I don't know alot about Atkins I just know to eat protein and some vegetables and to stay away from simple carbs.  For me it was easier to do Atkins before WLS because I really liked meat and I still do but have trouble with shrimp, haddock and other meat products.  So I will be anxiously reading all the information on this site. 

 Hi I am Jessica and just 3 weeks out from RNY. I hope to learn alot from this board. I am 32, heavy all my life. I lost my brother at the age of 27 last Dec he left behind a 1yr, so that is what got me started on my WLS journey I didnt want to leave my children. 

Jessica I am so very sorry about the recent loss of your brother.  I am sending you my sincerest sympathies -- I lost my sister when I was 24 -- and also sending a giant hug.  

Hi everyone!!  I'm Cindy and I'm going on 21 months post op of having RNY surgery.  I've lost 157 lbs. and off many meds and have done wonderfully until recently.  Unfortunately, I've developed reactive hypoglycemia and have NO clue how to eat any more.  I was doing ok at first with losing the majority of my weight then slowing down, as expected after a year out but then was diagnosed with RH and have to eat so often and finding out that when I eat, it has to be a mixture of carbs, fat and protein to keep my blood sugar on an even keel.  When my blood sugar drops too low, it's been suggested that I eat peanut butter crackers, the Toastee ones.  Since doing this, my weight has climbed up by 9 lbs.  So, I need the encouragement and help.  Looking forward in our new adventure together!!

Cindy

Hi. My name is Jacque and I am a carb addict. I have been overweight since grade school. I was put on my first diet at age 8 and given diet pills by my family doctor that turned out to be "speed." I have been on every diet known to mankind since then. I am a chronic yo-yo dieter. I have always been really good at losing weight, but I've never been able to maintain. I have lost 100+ pounds over and over many times. I decided to have WLS when I finally realized that it was my last hope. I had RNY on 12-04-2009 and I have lost 110 pounds. My goal is to lose 16 more pounds. That would give me a normal BMI for once in my life. My highest known weight was 319 and my surgery weight was 301. I currently weigh 193 and my goal weight is 175. I am 5' 11." I am really getting scared as I think about maintaining my weight loss. As I said before I have never been able to maintain my weight loss. I am looking at following the Atkins meal plan so that I can finish losing my weight and maintain it. I know that I am a carb addict and this is what I need to do for the rest of my life if I want to maintain my weight loss. I am so glad to have found all of you. I look forward to learning from all of you and sharing our experiences together. I wish you all many blessings and success in the new year!! Jacque

Hello Everybody!  My name is Vickie and I currently have a LapBand.  I am on track for a revision in the new year, but in the meantime am going to try to honestly go Low Carb/Atkins. I have never REALLY tried it, because I am afraid of all the cholesterol/fat, etc....but others tell me that all hype against the good Doctor.

I am 44 years old and if I don't do it now, then when?  I have 5 pet chickens, 2 cats and am back at college and tech school.  Now with Atkins, how many eggs constitutes 1 serving of protein? I am writing out my first week diet schedule and am afraid that I'll get bored of all the protein. Help me!!

~Vickie

With all those chickens, you'll be up to your eyebrows in eggs, and the nice thing about Atkins and many other low-carb diets, is you get to have as many eggs as you want.  Really.  You don't have to count them out, a serving at a time.