[vNZsk39B]

Hello there to everyone out there it' been awhile since I've posted, been busy with work and then the holidays around the corner..

I've started the atkins back in September and in the beginning I weighed myself but stopped because it was to much of a demotivator and I think sometimes we are so concerned with the pounds and we don't look at the inches. I actually gave away my scale. Anyway I still have no idea how much I weigh but now I'm wearing a size 6 gap jeans and my waist is a 23 inches and hips are 37 inches. when I started my hips were 45 inches and waist was 34.
Losing the weight was the easy part now its maintaining the weight loss.
counting my calories and carbs and also giving myself oneday to eat what I want every 2 weeks is my plan to keep the weight loss off plus I walk 2 miles everyday and do spinning 2 days a week. I know a lot of people gain the weight back after atkins but you have to change your eating habits.. This diet is a lifestyle change and you have to change your eating habits once the weight is back off.

[rfceicizgm]

This was an excellent post and I just wanted to congratulate you on you progress. I wish I could free myself from the scale but it is the only thing that keeps me honest some days.

[vNZsk39B]

Hey and thanks. This forum has definitely been helpful and motivational in my weight loss and staying focus, so if this post was any help or motivation to anyone out there I'm honored.

For me I had to take the scale out. I was weighing everyday even though I know you aren't supposed to and when the weight would go up I would panic and lose motivation. Someone in this forum recommended keeping a log of your inches because with weight gain you have to take into consideration that you could have water retention or gain muscle and for me not seeing that scale go down was a demotivator, so I threw it out and kept with the inches log. and to be honest we wear clothes according to inches and not by your weight. The scale was an obession and I had to stop. But for some the scale is a motivator, I always tell people you have to do what works for you and the scale didnt work for me at all.. People ask me how much you weight now and I tell them I have no idea but that I was wearing a size 14 or 12 depending on the brand and now I'm wearing size 6. What I did was give myself goal with clothes like I did with my jeans like to see how they fit every 2 weeks or once a month and that was motivational for me and also seeing the inches drop and the difference in my clothes.

[rfceicizgm]

I agree with you there. I have all the cloths I bought when I was skinny in 2004. Every other day I try something else on and I'm getting closer. I'm trying to make it stick better this time so I'm more liberal in my food choices to make it more of a way of life I can actually live with. For that reason, I'm a daily weigh er so I can keep track of what calls me to stall so to speak. I don't panic if I go up from one day to the next but from one Wednesday to the next I expect to drop.

[vNZsk39B]

Very good for you.. the scale isn't a problem for you and that is great.. but doesn't it feel good when you start to get back into your skinny clothes and feel and see the difference..I look my old sizes 12 and 14 and see how far I have come.

I definitely see your point in seeing what stalls you and etc.. what many people have to realize and often fail and gain the weight back is that it's a lifestyle change. You have to ask yourself how did you gain all the weight in the beginning and you have to change your eat habits I always say to myself "I control the food it doesn't control me". I'm determine to stay at this size and so far I've been doing good. I've changed my eating habits and I give myself every 2 weeks to eat whatever I want..

[rfceicizgm]

I'm one of those people that failed and gained it back. All 100 lbs and 10 more on top of it. I got too complacent, had a very stressful couple of years career,family and life wise and fell into all my old habits.

This time Im trying to not entirely get rid of my old habits but more so control them. Pretty much eat what I want on weekends, within reasonable portion sizes, and I'm still able to lose for now. I'll have to adjust as I get smaller I'm sure but what I'm doing now is in my opinion reinforcing control and getting a grip on emotional eating. Being able to stop for a second and say "I don't need that right now" is becoming easier.

[vNZsk39B]

I agree with you 100%! You are doing the right thing to avoid the yo-yo dieting as they call it and find a long term solution for your weight loss. I only can imagine the disappointment that you felt from such a big weight loss only to gain it back, but this time around you are doing it right.. and you will do it.. portion control is definitely a good thing and when you deprive yourself of things for a long time you are going to over -do it and the best way to beat that is portion control.. life and stress does play a factor in weight and in your health in general so getting a grip on that and trying to deal with it besides from eating is the way to go.. I'm an emotional eater too.. so I understand and I've gotten a grip on my emotional eating...

so how long have you been doing atkins and how many inches or pounds have you dropped so far..

[rfceicizgm]

To be honest when I put it all back on this time around it was a blur. I don't really remember when it started to come back on. All I know is it was about the time I stopped weighing myself every day. It took about three years.

In that time I did quit smoking (18 months yesterday) so it wasn't a total loss.

When I lost the weight I turned into a bit of a long distance runner. In this go round, in the little bit I have done on the treadmill, I have already noticed that I don't get winded as easily and I usually have sore legs before I'm exhausted. My heart rate reflects this as well as I can run faster now then when I did a 1/2 marathon even though I'm about 30 lbs heavier now then I was then, Feb, 2006.

As best I can fill in the blanks, March 2004 320, December 2004 220, Feb 2006 265, March 2007 300, Feb 2008 305, August 2008 320, October 2008 330.

This go around, I started on October 22 at 330.2 lbs. Today I'm 297 lbs.

So as you can see, it has gone from the waist up mostly between the waist and chest.

[vNZsk39B]

hey there but the site was down for sometime so I couldn't post and comment on your inches lost.. keep up the good work, you are slimming down for sure