Kate Guynn - weight loss-long....

[Guest guest]

My Weight Loss

I will try to make this as short as possible without leaving info out.

I am 36 years old and have struggled with my weight all of my life. I am

5'4.5 " . I have weighed as much as 235-239. I know through sole searching,

that as a young child my parents were fighting and I hated that so I ate

for comfort. I was active, soccer, swimming, horses etc. But I was always

chubby. When I quit swimming my Sr year in High School, I gained more

weight. I tried many diets: Craig, Weight Watchers, Mayo diet,

Phen-Fen and a few more that I can't think of. After high school my

exercise level became even lower and I ate more fast food. I was still

using food for comfort. It was during that time that I tried the diets.

Several years ago, I had looked at Atkins and said I can't do that, I can't

give up the carb. That was also before all of the low carb foods. Our son

was born in Aug 1998. That was when I hit my highest weight, although I

was close before I become pregnant (219 pounds). When he was about 2 years

old, I reduced my calories (around 2000) and ditched the regular cokes and

got down to 200. I hovered there and just watched my food, but my diet was

still high in carb. So about a year later I moved to a different work

location, I started taking the stairs (3 stories) and doing walking in

place for 10-15 minutes during lunch. I lost about 10-15 more pounds and

hovered around 185-190 until April of this year. I started my formal

training for The 3-Day, A 60 mile walk for the Komen Foundation in the

fight for Breast Cancer. I started walking 5 days a week. At first is was

1-2 miles, then it was 2-3 miles a day. That brought my weight down to

170. Now I'm going to say this wasn't very easy at all for me. I was not

diagnosed at that time, but I had a long list of symptoms. I had a feeling

it was my thyroid, but at that time I was without insurance(I was laid off

in June of 2003, so I am at home,also homeschooling our son). Because of

the heat in Texas, you have to walk early. I relied on my faith, I asked

God for strength to get me out of bed to walk. So I'd get up at 6:30am

with my husband and walk while he got ready for work. The fatigue was

really hard on me. But I had set my eyes on a goal, and I wanted for once

in my life to finish something. So in June my husband got a new job, we

had insurance right away and I went to my doctor to get diagnosed with

Hashi's. I started on Armour. I increased my exercise to 6 days a

week, walking about 20-25 miles a week. But I stayed at 170, and it

wouldn't budge. So I revisited the Atkins after doing reading that high

protein, low carb was the way to go with hypothyroid. So I started on it. I

got the book from the library. That is a very key thing, READ the

diet. I've talked to others who were upset that they weren't losing on

Atkins, when I quizzed them they were eating things that they shouldn't on

induction etc. So I then started losing again. I have found that my carb

set point is very low to keep losing weight. I need to daily stay with in

35-50 carb. I also added regular weights to my exercise plan. I had some

weights in Jan to April of 2004 and then I stopped when I started

walking. I did the walk in late Oct. It was 60 miles over 3 days. I

didn't stick to the low carb those days, I gained 6 pounds at the walk. I

came home went right back to low carb and dropped it right off. I haven't

done much walking in the past 2 months, but have kept the weights up. If I

don't do something physical, I don't lose. It just takes a little (10-15

minutes, 3-4 days). I will start walking again next week, just a few miles

a day.

So here is the nut shell:

Dealing with your feelings, making peace with those that have hurt you in

the past. Writing a note(not to send) or journaling if needed. I did that

as well as I prayed (not forcing my beliefs). I've finally made peace with

food. I still like sweets, just eat the low carb ones. It has taken me a

long time, but I decided that these feelings weren't hurting the person I

was upset with, they were hurting me. I finally said I don't want to keep

doing this to myself.

Low Carb Lifestyle-

Low carb pasta

Low carb pasta sauce

Low carb wheat tortillas

Low carb ice cream (must have sweets)

carb bars

Cheese

Beef

Chicken

Turkey

more....

I take a Phase 2 (white kidney bean extract) product. Carb Shredder

(Vitamin Shoppe)it has- Vit C, Chromium, White Kidney Bean Extract, Korean

Ginseng Extract, Bee Pollen, Green Tea Extract, Royal Jelly. I don't take

it every day, but I try to take 1-2 pills 30 minutes before a higher carb meal.

No potatoes

Very, very, little rice

I just kick caffeine 3 weeks ago-no diet drinks

I drink a drink (Sam's Club has it) Slim-Lite. It has Vit C, Calcium,

Chromium.

Chromium is something that Dr Atkins highly recommends for adding in weight

loss, others are now catching on to this. I do believe it helps.

15-20 minutes of physical exercise, 3-4 days a week. Start slow, build

up. It's also very good to fight depression. All of the Thyroid books

have stressed exercise. Weights are great, just buy some from Wal-Mart 2-3

pounds. Do some lifts. It also builds your bone mass.

Hope this might help someone else. As Dr Phil says put yourself on

priority status. Don't let your hurts run your life.

Kate