Guest guest Posted December 23, 2001 Report Share Posted December 23, 2001 Sarika, I know what you mean about people thinking all vegetarians are thin. I do not know where this comes from. Welcome to the group. This is the most wonderful group of people on the web. I look forward to reading your posts. Zephyr Introduction > Hello, My name is Sarika and I'm 39. I have lost about 60 pounds in a > little more than a year and have about 30 to go. I'm a vegetarian > (can you believe people think we're all thin? lol.) and I now eat low > fat and exercise regularly. I'm also into body sculpting. > I hope to share and exchange ideas as well as make new friends. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2001 Report Share Posted December 29, 2001 Welcome - You have landed in a wonderful community. When did you start WW online? It sounds like you get plenty of exercise. That's great. I am married and still enjoy my freedom. If and when you find the right person it is still possible to be an individual. Most of my friends say I am not the norm though. LOL Good luck with your journey and post when you can. Sherrie K (MN) "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." -- Dean8/01/01 - 180.5/140.5/135 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2001 Report Share Posted December 29, 2001 Welcome ... Your are going to love this group...I have reached alot of great support, recipes, and better understanding of the whole WW program from the group... Jump on in and let us know hoow it is going.... Lata (in LA) > Pie Chartshi! I'm . I'm currently 5'2 " , black hair, 200 pounds and doing weight watchers online. I am also big on doing fitness videos. My favorties are minna lessing, kathy smith and the firm. Right now i'm getting a rotation ready that uses my nordic track. > > i am single and i absoulutley love it. I'm a distance ed student through athabasca university. I'm curently studying towards a bachelor of commerce. > > I enjoy reading, movies, and my pets. > > http://pages.ivillage.com/mskatzburg/Katzburg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2001 Report Share Posted December 30, 2001 Welcome to the group !! Maureen > Pie Chartshi! I'm . I'm currently 5'2 " , black hair, 200 pounds and doing weight watchers online. I am also big on doing fitness videos. My favorties are minna lessing, kathy smith and the firm. Right now i'm getting a rotation ready that uses my nordic track. > > i am single and i absoulutley love it. I'm a distance ed student through athabasca university. I'm curently studying towards a bachelor of commerce. > > I enjoy reading, movies, and my pets. > > http://pages.ivillage.com/mskatzburg/Katzburg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2001 Report Share Posted December 30, 2001 Welcome to the group !! Maureen > Pie Chartshi! I'm . I'm currently 5'2 " , black hair, 200 pounds and doing weight watchers online. I am also big on doing fitness videos. My favorties are minna lessing, kathy smith and the firm. Right now i'm getting a rotation ready that uses my nordic track. > > i am single and i absoulutley love it. I'm a distance ed student through athabasca university. I'm curently studying towards a bachelor of commerce. > > I enjoy reading, movies, and my pets. > > http://pages.ivillage.com/mskatzburg/Katzburg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2002 Report Share Posted January 1, 2002 Welcome to the group ! I am sure you will love it here as much as I do. These women make great friends, not just on the weightloss journey, but on your life journey! Hugs, Tracie 350.25/288/175 62.25 pounds gone forever since March 2001 -- Introduction hi! I'm . I'm currently 5'2", black hair, 200 pounds and doing weight watchers online. I am also big on doing fitness videos. My favorties are minna lessing, kathy smith and the firm. Right now i'm getting a rotation ready that uses my nordic track. i am single and i absoulutley love it. I'm a distance ed student through athabasca university. I'm curently studying towards a bachelor of commerce. I enjoy reading, movies, and my pets. http://pages.ivillage.com/mskatzburg/Katzburg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Intros, first time or repeat are ALWAYS welcome here... You've had a lot going on. I'd really like to see your numbers.. I'm thinking, with the fluctuation that you've seen (hyper then hypo) and the nodule that you're probably Hashi's. It's a shame he won't run antibodies. This is gonna be trickly with your sickly heart. To get things in balance. I'm not really up on heart function, with the valves and such. Maybe you'll be able to educate us more about all of that... I know I sound like a broken record a lot of the time but I think it's gonna be real important to find out what's going on with your thyroid and get that supported, supplemented, what ever it is that you need there, so that your body can concentrate on the other things. I have a suspicion that you know that too. Or you wouldn't be here. It's scary to be awake during the night, when the world is all asleep and you feel so isolated and alone. Questions scampering about inside your head and not knowing where to go to figure things out. Can you tell that I've been there? I can't help you much with your specific questions, focal photopenic is a term that I'm gonna have to research to understand. Any body else here up on this particular topic? I'll hold my breath, with you, and wait for the numbers and what they may be indicating... We here with ya, don't forget that, okay? Topper () On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 09:52:16 -0000 "saeaden" writes: A while ago we were all asked to tell a little about ourselves. my nane is sarah, its 4 am and I can't sleep. so, heres a little about me and my problems.I have diabetis, the big E (Emthysema)moderate, thank goodness. heart attact in oct.'99, stents put in. they failed in march 2000, had bypass. And there my troubles begin. havn't felt right since.kept complaining to the drs. about being sooo tired i could hardly move. had heart cath, a year ago... it was fine. also a year ago my goiter started to grow.had a fna done it said ,it was ok. the dr. tested my tsh 3 times in 1 week and it was different each time. don't remember the #'s. soo, this year in march had ultra sound on heart and out of 4 valves i have 3 leaking the mitral valve is severe.the surgeon wanted things cheched out before he operrated. went to family dr. and was talking to him .mentioned my thyroid . that i thought it had grew again and didn't he think it should be tested again?(had NOT) been tested this whole year!!He just took the TSH and it said I was hyper-at0.331 went for ultra-sound then had another fna on a 2. something NEW nodule. it was ok.last week went for and uptake test and this is what it said; a large focal photopenic defect is identified involving interpolar region of right lobe of thyroid gland extending into lower pole. 6 hour uptake is app.3.1%and 24 uptake is app. 5.7%normal ranges are app. 5-15% and 10-30% respectively. NOW! heres one i dont understand! focal photopenic defect involving right of thyroid gland. the findins are most likely on the basis of non-functioning adenoma in view of patients biopsy of 3-17-05. the word ADENOMA scares me!! any way the test says i]m hypo-Lordy=Lordy!! went monday and gave more blood . asked what he was testing and it was all T's . I asked about the FREE's and the anti bodies.SEE, I learned something on this site already!! hehegot home from drs. office. nurse called about 45 mins. later and had to go back to give more blood. he ran all the tests i asked for except the anti-bodies. should hear tomarrow or now today, will post them then. sorry this is so long. i got pretty windy up here at 4 am all by myself.thank you for having this site its helping a lot.Saeah Eadensr68@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Intros, first time or repeat are ALWAYS welcome here... You've had a lot going on. I'd really like to see your numbers.. I'm thinking, with the fluctuation that you've seen (hyper then hypo) and the nodule that you're probably Hashi's. It's a shame he won't run antibodies. This is gonna be trickly with your sickly heart. To get things in balance. I'm not really up on heart function, with the valves and such. Maybe you'll be able to educate us more about all of that... I know I sound like a broken record a lot of the time but I think it's gonna be real important to find out what's going on with your thyroid and get that supported, supplemented, what ever it is that you need there, so that your body can concentrate on the other things. I have a suspicion that you know that too. Or you wouldn't be here. It's scary to be awake during the night, when the world is all asleep and you feel so isolated and alone. Questions scampering about inside your head and not knowing where to go to figure things out. Can you tell that I've been there? I can't help you much with your specific questions, focal photopenic is a term that I'm gonna have to research to understand. Any body else here up on this particular topic? I'll hold my breath, with you, and wait for the numbers and what they may be indicating... We here with ya, don't forget that, okay? Topper () On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 09:52:16 -0000 "saeaden" writes: A while ago we were all asked to tell a little about ourselves. my nane is sarah, its 4 am and I can't sleep. so, heres a little about me and my problems.I have diabetis, the big E (Emthysema)moderate, thank goodness. heart attact in oct.'99, stents put in. they failed in march 2000, had bypass. And there my troubles begin. havn't felt right since.kept complaining to the drs. about being sooo tired i could hardly move. had heart cath, a year ago... it was fine. also a year ago my goiter started to grow.had a fna done it said ,it was ok. the dr. tested my tsh 3 times in 1 week and it was different each time. don't remember the #'s. soo, this year in march had ultra sound on heart and out of 4 valves i have 3 leaking the mitral valve is severe.the surgeon wanted things cheched out before he operrated. went to family dr. and was talking to him .mentioned my thyroid . that i thought it had grew again and didn't he think it should be tested again?(had NOT) been tested this whole year!!He just took the TSH and it said I was hyper-at0.331 went for ultra-sound then had another fna on a 2. something NEW nodule. it was ok.last week went for and uptake test and this is what it said; a large focal photopenic defect is identified involving interpolar region of right lobe of thyroid gland extending into lower pole. 6 hour uptake is app.3.1%and 24 uptake is app. 5.7%normal ranges are app. 5-15% and 10-30% respectively. NOW! heres one i dont understand! focal photopenic defect involving right of thyroid gland. the findins are most likely on the basis of non-functioning adenoma in view of patients biopsy of 3-17-05. the word ADENOMA scares me!! any way the test says i]m hypo-Lordy=Lordy!! went monday and gave more blood . asked what he was testing and it was all T's . I asked about the FREE's and the anti bodies.SEE, I learned something on this site already!! hehegot home from drs. office. nurse called about 45 mins. later and had to go back to give more blood. he ran all the tests i asked for except the anti-bodies. should hear tomarrow or now today, will post them then. sorry this is so long. i got pretty windy up here at 4 am all by myself.thank you for having this site its helping a lot.Saeah Eadensr68@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 You need the antibodies because it's going to help tell you what the cause of your thyroid disease is, or will name the type of thyroid disease. This will give specific expectations and a better treatment program. Why in the name of heaven will these doctors not know this?! How would this doc even think you were hyper if he didn't even run the thyroid hormones (the former doc). OMG, I am soooooo tired of these doctors. Introduction > > > > > A while ago we were all asked to tell a little about ourselves. > my nane is sarah, its 4 am and I can't sleep. so, heres a little > about me and my problems.I have diabetis, the big E (Emthysema) > moderate, thank goodness. heart attact in oct.'99, stents put in. > they failed in march 2000, had bypass. And there my troubles begin. > havn't felt right since.kept complaining to the drs. about being sooo > tired i could hardly move. had heart cath, a year ago... it was fine. > also a year ago my goiter started to grow.had a fna done it said ,it > was ok. the dr. tested my tsh 3 times in 1 week and it was different > each time. don't remember the #'s. soo, this year in march had ultra > sound on heart and out of 4 valves i have 3 leaking the mitral valve > is severe.the surgeon wanted things cheched out before he operrated. > went to family dr. and was talking to him .mentioned my thyroid . > that i thought it had grew again and didn't he think it should be > tested again?(had NOT) been tested this whole year!!He just took the > TSH and it said I was hyper-at0.331 went for ultra-sound then had > another fna on a 2. something NEW nodule. it was ok.last week went > for and uptake test and this is what it said; a large focal > photopenic defect is identified involving interpolar region of right > lobe of thyroid gland extending into lower pole. 6 hour uptake is > app.3.1%and 24 uptake is app. 5.7%normal ranges are app. 5-15% and 10- > 30% respectively. NOW! heres one i dont understand! focal photopenic > defect involving right of thyroid gland. the findins are most likely > on the basis of non-functioning adenoma in view of patients biopsy of > 3-17-05. the word ADENOMA scares me!! any way the test says i]m hypo- > Lordy=Lordy!! went monday and gave more blood . asked what he was > testing and it was all T's . I asked about the FREE's and the anti > bodies.SEE, I learned something on this site already!! hehegot home > from drs. office. nurse called about 45 mins. later and had to go > back to give more blood. he ran all the tests i asked for except the > anti-bodies. should hear tomarrow or now today, will post them then. > sorry this is so long. i got pretty windy up here at 4 am all by > myself.thank you for having this site its helping a lot. > Saeah Eaden > sr68@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 You need the antibodies because it's going to help tell you what the cause of your thyroid disease is, or will name the type of thyroid disease. This will give specific expectations and a better treatment program. Why in the name of heaven will these doctors not know this?! How would this doc even think you were hyper if he didn't even run the thyroid hormones (the former doc). OMG, I am soooooo tired of these doctors. Introduction > > > > > A while ago we were all asked to tell a little about ourselves. > my nane is sarah, its 4 am and I can't sleep. so, heres a little > about me and my problems.I have diabetis, the big E (Emthysema) > moderate, thank goodness. heart attact in oct.'99, stents put in. > they failed in march 2000, had bypass. And there my troubles begin. > havn't felt right since.kept complaining to the drs. about being sooo > tired i could hardly move. had heart cath, a year ago... it was fine. > also a year ago my goiter started to grow.had a fna done it said ,it > was ok. the dr. tested my tsh 3 times in 1 week and it was different > each time. don't remember the #'s. soo, this year in march had ultra > sound on heart and out of 4 valves i have 3 leaking the mitral valve > is severe.the surgeon wanted things cheched out before he operrated. > went to family dr. and was talking to him .mentioned my thyroid . > that i thought it had grew again and didn't he think it should be > tested again?(had NOT) been tested this whole year!!He just took the > TSH and it said I was hyper-at0.331 went for ultra-sound then had > another fna on a 2. something NEW nodule. it was ok.last week went > for and uptake test and this is what it said; a large focal > photopenic defect is identified involving interpolar region of right > lobe of thyroid gland extending into lower pole. 6 hour uptake is > app.3.1%and 24 uptake is app. 5.7%normal ranges are app. 5-15% and 10- > 30% respectively. NOW! heres one i dont understand! focal photopenic > defect involving right of thyroid gland. the findins are most likely > on the basis of non-functioning adenoma in view of patients biopsy of > 3-17-05. the word ADENOMA scares me!! any way the test says i]m hypo- > Lordy=Lordy!! went monday and gave more blood . asked what he was > testing and it was all T's . I asked about the FREE's and the anti > bodies.SEE, I learned something on this site already!! hehegot home > from drs. office. nurse called about 45 mins. later and had to go > back to give more blood. he ran all the tests i asked for except the > anti-bodies. should hear tomarrow or now today, will post them then. > sorry this is so long. i got pretty windy up here at 4 am all by > myself.thank you for having this site its helping a lot. > Saeah Eaden > sr68@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hi ! Welcome and thanks for telling us your story!! Where in northern Maine do you live? I live in Nova Scotia but I go to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont pretty much every year on vacation. We cross at Calais, go down route 9 to Bangor and then over Route 2 to NH. I've been up to Greenville and Houlton once too. kitchat123@... wrote: Hello everyone,I joined the group a few days ago and now that my taxes are finally done, I have time to introduce myself. (Now you already know I am the Queen of Procrastination!) :-)I am very excited to have found you and to be here. As a newbie, my mind has been flooded with all kinds of feelings (mostly good ones, some not so good), observations, and questions in the past week. I will share some of those in subsequent posts. For now, I just wanted to say hello and tell you about myself.I am 55 years old, I am married and for the past 7 years, I have been taking care of my mother full time in our home in northern Maine. She is in the late stage of Alzheimer's. I am morbidly obese and would love to lose about 150 pounds but even 50 would be wonderful.I started getting chubby around the age of 8. I remember starting to shop at Lane 's around the age of 13. I also remember the shame and sadness written all over my mother's face that day we first entered the store. Those were not happy times for either of us. I went on my first diet probably around the age of 14 or 15, and basically I have been dieting on and off ever since for 40 years, with the end result being I now weigh just over 300 pounds. So if there is one thing I am SURE of, it is that diets do not work.I have been dieting quite intensively for the past 5 years. I did lose 30 pounds during that period, but of course I gained it all back plus another 30. And for the past 2 years, I have been losing and gaining the same 5 to 7 pounds. During the past 2 weeks, a few things happened which led me to Intuitive Eating. The first thing happened about 11 days ago. I was watching a movie on television, about a boy who was a "lost soul", trying to help his mother who was very depressed and suicidal. It triggered a memory in me of when I was 14 and my father was dying of cancer. During the several months up to that point, he was in terrible pain and he was very withdrawn and depressed and bitter. Near the end, my mother and brother were going to New York to the cancer hospital and I said that I would prefer to stay at home. My mother asked my grandmother to stay with me and away they went. I never got to say good-bye to my father or told him that I loved him and I have felt guilty about that to this day. For some reason, while watching this movie play out in front of me, this inner voice of wisdom came to me and said, "The reason you did not go to the hospital was not because you thought your father did not matter. It was because you thought YOU did not matter." A wave of clarity and understanding and relief flooded over me. It rang so true.Of course, it was not hard to understand WHY I felt I did not matter. To my mother, all that mattered was how much money you had, how big your house was, how attractive you were, how you looked in your clothes, etc.. My brother and I were fat kids and my mother was ashamed of us and criticized us constantly. No matter how well we did in school or other areas of our life, we were failures in her eyes. Sadly, she continued to feel that way all of her life until she developed Alzheimer's. She is a much kinder, less judgmental person now that she does not recognize us as her children.Well, anyway, there I sat, watching the movie and realizing that for most of my life, I had felt that I did not matter. It was one of those epiphanies we have in life on rare occasions. I felt some kind of inner strength welling up inside of me, the maternal, caring adult part of me reassuring this sad child inside of me, similar to the one in the movie I was watching, saying, "You DO matter. Never forget that. YOU MATTER." I don't think it was "by accident" that the next day I woke up, feeling depressed about the very restrictive "diet du jour" I was on and thought, "I don't think I want to do this anymore to myself. I am not happy living my life this way and if that means I have to learn to love and accept myself at 300 pounds, then by God, that is what I will do." The next day, someone was trying to persuade me to consider weight loss surgery by showing me some research about how diets don't work, especially for the morbidly obese. I had NO interest in the weight loss surgery, but those words, "Diets don't work," kept ringing in my ears.Somehow all of these "events" worked together to bring me to this place. I think once I realized that I MATTERED, I gained a new level of faith and trust in myself and felt that perhaps for the first time, it would be okay if I allowed myself to be in charge of my body and what I put in it instead of giving all the power to some diet plan guru and trying to live up to THEIR standards and live by THEIR rules. I did a "Google Search" and discovered the Intuitive Eating website, read the 10 Principles, and was more convinced than ever that I was on the right path. I ordered the Intuitive Eating book, which should arrive this week. Of course, those first few days, I just "went nuts" and ate with abandon, eating all the foods (to great excess!) that I had not allowed myself, except during binges, during all those years of dieting. I gained about 6 pounds (mostly fluid) in just a few days. Then I downloaded Gillian's "Six Simple Steps To Guilt Free Eating" and that was VERY helpful. I was glad to see the bloodsugar issue addressed and the advice to eat carbs with protein. Without having the book or any guidelines, I had been eating mostly just carbs (diet backlash!) and my bloodsugar was all over the place, causing more cravings, binges, etc.. Once I made sure to eat protein with carbs, things started to settle down and I have lost 3 of the 6 pounds of fluid I gained.I was very glad to see this forum because I know I will need support for this new way of living and thinking and eating and I will have many questions. So far, all I know is I feel MUCH happier, like I am breaking free from this mental prison I have been in for as long as I can remember. I think I will do a much better job taking care of me than anyone else ever could. I will take good care of me because I MATTER! :-) B.**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & Finance.(http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850) Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi ! (again) I just found your original post and clearly I didn’t already respond to you. I always find it amazing how people come to intuitive eating, I’m really glad you found us. It sounds like you have really had some major “a-ha” moments and I’m thrilled that you understand that you matter and are worth taking care of. And I’m really happy that my report was helpful, too! It’s nice to get feedback and know that the report is helpful. (Shameless plug: if you want to check it out, click the link in my signature below J). I look forward to getting to know you and please, let us know how we can help and support you! Thanks! Gillian Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM Healthier Outcomes Get your copy of " 6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating " by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of kitchat123@... Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 1:31 AM To: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Introduction Hello everyone, I joined the group a few days ago and now that my taxes are finally done, I have time to introduce myself. (Now you already know I am the Queen of Procrastination!) :-) I am very excited to have found you and to be here. As a newbie, my mind has been flooded with all kinds of feelings (mostly good ones, some not so good), observations, and questions in the past week. I will share some of those in subsequent posts. For now, I just wanted to say hello and tell you about myself. I am 55 years old, I am married and for the past 7 years, I have been taking care of my mother full time in our home in northern Maine. She is in the late stage of Alzheimer's. I am morbidly obese and would love to lose about 150 pounds but even 50 would be wonderful. I started getting chubby around the age of 8. I remember starting to shop at Lane 's around the age of 13. I also remember the shame and sadness written all over my mother's face that day we first entered the store. Those were not happy times for either of us. I went on my first diet probably around the age of 14 or 15, and basically I have been dieting on and off ever since for 40 years, with the end result being I now weigh just over 300 pounds. So if there is one thing I am SURE of, it is that diets do not work. I have been dieting quite intensively for the past 5 years. I did lose 30 pounds during that period, but of course I gained it all back plus another 30. And for the past 2 years, I have been losing and gaining the same 5 to 7 pounds. During the past 2 weeks, a few things happened which led me to Intuitive Eating. The first thing happened about 11 days ago. I was watching a movie on television, about a boy who was a " lost soul " , trying to help his mother who was very depressed and suicidal. It triggered a memory in me of when I was 14 and my father was dying of cancer. During the several months up to that point, he was in terrible pain and he was very withdrawn and depressed and bitter. Near the end, my mother and brother were going to New York to the cancer hospital and I said that I would prefer to stay at home. My mother asked my grandmother to stay with me and away they went. I never got to say good-bye to my father or told him that I loved him and I have felt guilty about that to this day. For some reason, while watching this movie play out in front of me, this inner voice of wisdom came to me and said, " The reason you did not go to the hospital was not because you thought your father did not matter. It was because you thought YOU did not matter. " A wave of clarity and understanding and relief flooded over me. It rang so true. Of course, it was not hard to understand WHY I felt I did not matter. To my mother, all that mattered was how much money you had, how big your house was, how attractive you were, how you looked in your clothes, etc.. My brother and I were fat kids and my mother was ashamed of us and criticized us constantly. No matter how well we did in school or other areas of our life, we were failures in her eyes. Sadly, she continued to feel that way all of her life until she developed Alzheimer's. She is a much kinder, less judgmental person now that she does not recognize us as her children. Well, anyway, there I sat, watching the movie and realizing that for most of my life, I had felt that I did not matter. It was one of those epiphanies we have in life on rare occasions. I felt some kind of inner strength welling up inside of me, the maternal, caring adult part of me reassuring this sad child inside of me, similar to the one in the movie I was watching, saying, " You DO matter. Never forget that. YOU MATTER. " I don't think it was " by accident " that the next day I woke up, feeling depressed about the very restrictive " diet du jour " I was on and thought, " I don't think I want to do this anymore to myself. I am not happy living my life this way and if that means I have to learn to love and accept myself at 300 pounds, then by God, that is what I will do. " The next day, someone was trying to persuade me to consider weight loss surgery by showing me some research about how diets don't work, especially for the morbidly obese. I had NO interest in the weight loss surgery, but those words, " Diets don't work, " kept ringing in my ears. Somehow all of these " events " worked together to bring me to this place. I think once I realized that I MATTERED, I gained a new level of faith and trust in myself and felt that perhaps for the first time, it would be okay if I allowed myself to be in charge of my body and what I put in it instead of giving all the power to some diet plan guru and trying to live up to THEIR standards and live by THEIR rules. I did a " Google Search " and discovered the Intuitive Eating website, read the 10 Principles, and was more convinced than ever that I was on the right path. I ordered the Intuitive Eating book, which should arrive this week. Of course, those first few days, I just " went nuts " and ate with abandon, eating all the foods (to great excess!) that I had not allowed myself, except during binges, during all those years of dieting. I gained about 6 pounds (mostly fluid) in just a few days. Then I downloaded Gillian's " Six Simple Steps To Guilt Free Eating " and that was VERY helpful. I was glad to see the bloodsugar issue addressed and the advice to eat carbs with protein. Without having the book or any guidelines, I had been eating mostly just carbs (diet backlash!) and my bloodsugar was all over the place, causing more cravings, binges, etc.. Once I made sure to eat protein with carbs, things started to settle down and I have lost 3 of the 6 pounds of fluid I gained. I was very glad to see this forum because I know I will need support for this new way of living and thinking and eating and I will have many questions. So far, all I know is I feel MUCH happier, like I am breaking free from this mental prison I have been in for as long as I can remember. I think I will do a much better job taking care of me than anyone else ever could. I will take good care of me because I MATTER! :-) B. ************** It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi ! (again) I just found your original post and clearly I didn’t already respond to you. I always find it amazing how people come to intuitive eating, I’m really glad you found us. It sounds like you have really had some major “a-ha” moments and I’m thrilled that you understand that you matter and are worth taking care of. And I’m really happy that my report was helpful, too! It’s nice to get feedback and know that the report is helpful. (Shameless plug: if you want to check it out, click the link in my signature below J). I look forward to getting to know you and please, let us know how we can help and support you! Thanks! Gillian Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM Healthier Outcomes Get your copy of " 6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating " by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of kitchat123@... Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 1:31 AM To: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Introduction Hello everyone, I joined the group a few days ago and now that my taxes are finally done, I have time to introduce myself. (Now you already know I am the Queen of Procrastination!) :-) I am very excited to have found you and to be here. As a newbie, my mind has been flooded with all kinds of feelings (mostly good ones, some not so good), observations, and questions in the past week. I will share some of those in subsequent posts. For now, I just wanted to say hello and tell you about myself. I am 55 years old, I am married and for the past 7 years, I have been taking care of my mother full time in our home in northern Maine. She is in the late stage of Alzheimer's. I am morbidly obese and would love to lose about 150 pounds but even 50 would be wonderful. I started getting chubby around the age of 8. I remember starting to shop at Lane 's around the age of 13. I also remember the shame and sadness written all over my mother's face that day we first entered the store. Those were not happy times for either of us. I went on my first diet probably around the age of 14 or 15, and basically I have been dieting on and off ever since for 40 years, with the end result being I now weigh just over 300 pounds. So if there is one thing I am SURE of, it is that diets do not work. I have been dieting quite intensively for the past 5 years. I did lose 30 pounds during that period, but of course I gained it all back plus another 30. And for the past 2 years, I have been losing and gaining the same 5 to 7 pounds. During the past 2 weeks, a few things happened which led me to Intuitive Eating. The first thing happened about 11 days ago. I was watching a movie on television, about a boy who was a " lost soul " , trying to help his mother who was very depressed and suicidal. It triggered a memory in me of when I was 14 and my father was dying of cancer. During the several months up to that point, he was in terrible pain and he was very withdrawn and depressed and bitter. Near the end, my mother and brother were going to New York to the cancer hospital and I said that I would prefer to stay at home. My mother asked my grandmother to stay with me and away they went. I never got to say good-bye to my father or told him that I loved him and I have felt guilty about that to this day. For some reason, while watching this movie play out in front of me, this inner voice of wisdom came to me and said, " The reason you did not go to the hospital was not because you thought your father did not matter. It was because you thought YOU did not matter. " A wave of clarity and understanding and relief flooded over me. It rang so true. Of course, it was not hard to understand WHY I felt I did not matter. To my mother, all that mattered was how much money you had, how big your house was, how attractive you were, how you looked in your clothes, etc.. My brother and I were fat kids and my mother was ashamed of us and criticized us constantly. No matter how well we did in school or other areas of our life, we were failures in her eyes. Sadly, she continued to feel that way all of her life until she developed Alzheimer's. She is a much kinder, less judgmental person now that she does not recognize us as her children. Well, anyway, there I sat, watching the movie and realizing that for most of my life, I had felt that I did not matter. It was one of those epiphanies we have in life on rare occasions. I felt some kind of inner strength welling up inside of me, the maternal, caring adult part of me reassuring this sad child inside of me, similar to the one in the movie I was watching, saying, " You DO matter. Never forget that. YOU MATTER. " I don't think it was " by accident " that the next day I woke up, feeling depressed about the very restrictive " diet du jour " I was on and thought, " I don't think I want to do this anymore to myself. I am not happy living my life this way and if that means I have to learn to love and accept myself at 300 pounds, then by God, that is what I will do. " The next day, someone was trying to persuade me to consider weight loss surgery by showing me some research about how diets don't work, especially for the morbidly obese. I had NO interest in the weight loss surgery, but those words, " Diets don't work, " kept ringing in my ears. Somehow all of these " events " worked together to bring me to this place. I think once I realized that I MATTERED, I gained a new level of faith and trust in myself and felt that perhaps for the first time, it would be okay if I allowed myself to be in charge of my body and what I put in it instead of giving all the power to some diet plan guru and trying to live up to THEIR standards and live by THEIR rules. I did a " Google Search " and discovered the Intuitive Eating website, read the 10 Principles, and was more convinced than ever that I was on the right path. I ordered the Intuitive Eating book, which should arrive this week. Of course, those first few days, I just " went nuts " and ate with abandon, eating all the foods (to great excess!) that I had not allowed myself, except during binges, during all those years of dieting. I gained about 6 pounds (mostly fluid) in just a few days. Then I downloaded Gillian's " Six Simple Steps To Guilt Free Eating " and that was VERY helpful. I was glad to see the bloodsugar issue addressed and the advice to eat carbs with protein. Without having the book or any guidelines, I had been eating mostly just carbs (diet backlash!) and my bloodsugar was all over the place, causing more cravings, binges, etc.. Once I made sure to eat protein with carbs, things started to settle down and I have lost 3 of the 6 pounds of fluid I gained. I was very glad to see this forum because I know I will need support for this new way of living and thinking and eating and I will have many questions. So far, all I know is I feel MUCH happier, like I am breaking free from this mental prison I have been in for as long as I can remember. I think I will do a much better job taking care of me than anyone else ever could. I will take good care of me because I MATTER! :-) B. ************** It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi ! (again) I just found your original post and clearly I didn’t already respond to you. I always find it amazing how people come to intuitive eating, I’m really glad you found us. It sounds like you have really had some major “a-ha” moments and I’m thrilled that you understand that you matter and are worth taking care of. And I’m really happy that my report was helpful, too! It’s nice to get feedback and know that the report is helpful. (Shameless plug: if you want to check it out, click the link in my signature below J). I look forward to getting to know you and please, let us know how we can help and support you! Thanks! Gillian Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM Healthier Outcomes Get your copy of " 6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating " by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of kitchat123@... Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 1:31 AM To: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Introduction Hello everyone, I joined the group a few days ago and now that my taxes are finally done, I have time to introduce myself. (Now you already know I am the Queen of Procrastination!) :-) I am very excited to have found you and to be here. As a newbie, my mind has been flooded with all kinds of feelings (mostly good ones, some not so good), observations, and questions in the past week. I will share some of those in subsequent posts. For now, I just wanted to say hello and tell you about myself. I am 55 years old, I am married and for the past 7 years, I have been taking care of my mother full time in our home in northern Maine. She is in the late stage of Alzheimer's. I am morbidly obese and would love to lose about 150 pounds but even 50 would be wonderful. I started getting chubby around the age of 8. I remember starting to shop at Lane 's around the age of 13. I also remember the shame and sadness written all over my mother's face that day we first entered the store. Those were not happy times for either of us. I went on my first diet probably around the age of 14 or 15, and basically I have been dieting on and off ever since for 40 years, with the end result being I now weigh just over 300 pounds. So if there is one thing I am SURE of, it is that diets do not work. I have been dieting quite intensively for the past 5 years. I did lose 30 pounds during that period, but of course I gained it all back plus another 30. And for the past 2 years, I have been losing and gaining the same 5 to 7 pounds. During the past 2 weeks, a few things happened which led me to Intuitive Eating. The first thing happened about 11 days ago. I was watching a movie on television, about a boy who was a " lost soul " , trying to help his mother who was very depressed and suicidal. It triggered a memory in me of when I was 14 and my father was dying of cancer. During the several months up to that point, he was in terrible pain and he was very withdrawn and depressed and bitter. Near the end, my mother and brother were going to New York to the cancer hospital and I said that I would prefer to stay at home. My mother asked my grandmother to stay with me and away they went. I never got to say good-bye to my father or told him that I loved him and I have felt guilty about that to this day. For some reason, while watching this movie play out in front of me, this inner voice of wisdom came to me and said, " The reason you did not go to the hospital was not because you thought your father did not matter. It was because you thought YOU did not matter. " A wave of clarity and understanding and relief flooded over me. It rang so true. Of course, it was not hard to understand WHY I felt I did not matter. To my mother, all that mattered was how much money you had, how big your house was, how attractive you were, how you looked in your clothes, etc.. My brother and I were fat kids and my mother was ashamed of us and criticized us constantly. No matter how well we did in school or other areas of our life, we were failures in her eyes. Sadly, she continued to feel that way all of her life until she developed Alzheimer's. She is a much kinder, less judgmental person now that she does not recognize us as her children. Well, anyway, there I sat, watching the movie and realizing that for most of my life, I had felt that I did not matter. It was one of those epiphanies we have in life on rare occasions. I felt some kind of inner strength welling up inside of me, the maternal, caring adult part of me reassuring this sad child inside of me, similar to the one in the movie I was watching, saying, " You DO matter. Never forget that. YOU MATTER. " I don't think it was " by accident " that the next day I woke up, feeling depressed about the very restrictive " diet du jour " I was on and thought, " I don't think I want to do this anymore to myself. I am not happy living my life this way and if that means I have to learn to love and accept myself at 300 pounds, then by God, that is what I will do. " The next day, someone was trying to persuade me to consider weight loss surgery by showing me some research about how diets don't work, especially for the morbidly obese. I had NO interest in the weight loss surgery, but those words, " Diets don't work, " kept ringing in my ears. Somehow all of these " events " worked together to bring me to this place. I think once I realized that I MATTERED, I gained a new level of faith and trust in myself and felt that perhaps for the first time, it would be okay if I allowed myself to be in charge of my body and what I put in it instead of giving all the power to some diet plan guru and trying to live up to THEIR standards and live by THEIR rules. I did a " Google Search " and discovered the Intuitive Eating website, read the 10 Principles, and was more convinced than ever that I was on the right path. I ordered the Intuitive Eating book, which should arrive this week. Of course, those first few days, I just " went nuts " and ate with abandon, eating all the foods (to great excess!) that I had not allowed myself, except during binges, during all those years of dieting. I gained about 6 pounds (mostly fluid) in just a few days. Then I downloaded Gillian's " Six Simple Steps To Guilt Free Eating " and that was VERY helpful. I was glad to see the bloodsugar issue addressed and the advice to eat carbs with protein. Without having the book or any guidelines, I had been eating mostly just carbs (diet backlash!) and my bloodsugar was all over the place, causing more cravings, binges, etc.. Once I made sure to eat protein with carbs, things started to settle down and I have lost 3 of the 6 pounds of fluid I gained. I was very glad to see this forum because I know I will need support for this new way of living and thinking and eating and I will have many questions. So far, all I know is I feel MUCH happier, like I am breaking free from this mental prison I have been in for as long as I can remember. I think I will do a much better job taking care of me than anyone else ever could. I will take good care of me because I MATTER! :-) B. ************** It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hi everyone, This is Meredith in South Florida. I've just joined the group and wanted to introduce myself. I'm looking forward to hearing more from folks who are putting IE into practice. I'm 27 - and have struggled with listening to my body's cues and being mindful of its signals. Time to learn a new skill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hi Meredith. Welcome! I look forward getting to know you better. Marttha>> Hi everyone,> > This is Meredith in South Florida. I've just joined the group and> wanted to introduce myself. I'm looking forward to hearing more from> folks who are putting IE into practice. I'm 27 - and have struggled> with listening to my body's cues and being mindful of its signals. > Time to learn a new skill!> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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