Hi, I'm Beth
 

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post or just read posts. I thought about it a few days and feel keeping a journal of sorts here will help me. So, here I am.
A short history: until the age of 7, I was of average size. After that I ballooned up in height and weight. I stopped in height at the age of 12 topping at 70 inches. When I started high school I was up to 250 pounds. I ended high school at about 285. I never dated or went to prom or school functions. I was teased, but, seemed to be well liked by everyone since I would laugh along with them. IIn college, same thing I got up to about 325 and maintained that weight for years, never dating. I wasn't made fun of there, but, I didn't participate in any functions. I didn't finish college.
I came home, got a job, went to a bar for the first time in the insistence of my mom. She had told me there was a guy she wanted me to meet. I went eventually. I ended up marrying him. I also ended up divorcing him later.
I'm 2 divorces down now, and last week weighed in at 391. I was horrified and frankly, disgusted. The doctor decided it was time to do something about it. The "" No Sugar No Starch" diet from Duke Medical.

Btw, a couple of other interesting facts about me: I have a several medical conditions. Two of which are Agoraphobia and Bipolar disorder. I won't go into the rest during this post.

I have a lot of weight to lose, I don't have a scale at home, but, have agreed to go back to doctor in 3 months for checkup and see how the diet is going.

Well, I guess I've written more than I should have for an introduction, but, that's who I am.

~~Beth~~

I wish you well on your journey. Low carb eating can have marvelous health benefits that go well beyond the loss of weight. One thing that I would recommend you think about is to consider this new way of eating as a long term life style change rather than a diet, which people often think of as a temporary fix. Those of us who have had long term success in losing weight and improving our health have found that sticking to this new way of eating beyond any weight loss goals is what keeps us healthy long term. So much of changing the way we eat is not just learning what to eat and what not to eat but changing our entire attitude towards eating, changing our relationship to food. Low carb eating can result in many long term mental health benefits as well as physical benefits. I wish you well.

Welcome Beth, you've come to a safe spot - there are lots of folks that have many angles on the "low carb" thing here. Continue to read and lurk and see if you can find a plan of eating that suits you. It doesn't have to be drastic at first, for myself, I avoid, in general Grains, Potatoes and Sugar (GPS)

I think that's similar to the no starch thing. You might here about Dr. Westman Page 4 items to eat and to avoid - that's a great place to start ... Oh look at that, I think it's the same thing found this just now...

https://www.dietdoctor.com/se/wp-co...starch_diet.pdf

Hi Beth & Welcome! I’m glad you decided to pop in. You will find a wealth of inspiring information and support here. Browse around the threads. Good luck.

Hi, Beth :wave:

Welcome to the forum! Best wishes on your journey. I hope you experience the types of improvements in health and happiness that many of us here have found with the low carb way of life. Your doctor is very wise. The No Sugar-No Starch diet is also referred to sometimes as Dr. Westman's Page 4 diet, and it truly is a wonderful guideline to eating nutritious foods that support physical and mental well-being.

Congratulations on making a commitment to do this for yourself.

Teresa

Congrats on making the commitment to the Duke orogram. Its a variation on the Atkins program. Look for the dr. Westman thread, its here.

If you have questions , give a shout. There are many exoerienced folks here with answers. My biggest tip was salt, eat enough salt, as low carb is a diuretic the kidneys kick out salt with the water.

Hi Beth! You will find a lot of our experiences will help you with the hurdles.

You might also want to look up Carrie Brown who has a food blog and is currently one of the "Two Keto Dudes" podcast. She's got an amazing story about managing her bipolar with very low carb. This is the episode of the podcast where she told her story, before she joined Carl as one of the hosts: http://2ketodudes.com/show.aspx?episode=125

There are also many other great stories about treating other neuro disorders like schizophrenia, ADHD, autism, depression, and anxiety with low-carb diets.

I think you may find you get some other benefits besides weight loss!

Welcome Beth. As Thud said, you can feel safe here. I've hung around for a couple of years now and still feel comfortable enough.

I totally get the thing about not going out much while growing up. I was exactly the same. Got all the usual grief from everyone else about my weight, for which my coping mechanisms tended to take me towards inside activities like books, TV, computer games etc. If they can't see you, they can't hurt you, you know?

Anyway, have a look around, make yourself at home, read as much as you like, post as much or as little as you feel comfortable doing. I found a journal was a great way to keep me focused on the task at hand, since at times it can feel like things might be taking a while to come right. Just stick with the plan, allow time for your body to heal and do what it wants to do, and you never know, as CityGirl suggested, you may discover other benefits beyond just the physical weight loss as well.

Good luck!

Thank you all for the kind and encouraging words and links. Very helpful. I'm still doing a lot of reading. Knowledge is power, or so I am told. Thanks again for the support.

A thought just occurred to me, when you said, "knowdledge is power" My mind immediately thought...

"No, knowledge is like gun powder, it needs a spark to be useful"

By that I was thinking that "knowing" about all this lowcarb stuff is useless if no action is taken. The power is putting the knowledge, how ever flawed it may be at the time, to action - and that's the spark.

Keep the spark alive.

And in my opinion, the most valuable knowledge that can be gained is by observing your own experience and using that as a guide to determine what is true for you.

Sorry of the bad analogy.

Listen and Read, but not so much that it takes away from what you put in your mouth on a consistent basis. There's no getting around that elephant in the room.

I wish you well.

Hey Beth, take a listen to Grav being interviewed on Flippin Health podcast. So awesome. I was a normal sized kid - I sure hope I didn't tease or leave out heavy kids in school, but, unfortunately I probably did. I'm now trying to make amends by helping who I can if they are suffering.

https://anchor.fm/flippinhealth/epi...e5f2et/a-ao4om8

Hi Beth, welcome!! I wish you success on your journey. A couple resources for you...may be helpful:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
http://itrackbites.com/?gclid=EAIaI...ASAAEgIeTPD_BwE

Best wishes Beth!

Hi, Beth! Welcome. As others have said this is a safe and supportive space. Post as much or as little as you like. I have experience with the diet your doctor gave you. My Doc gave me the same diet (aka Dr Westman’s pg 4). I lost 110 lbs following it. So it’s a good one. I am surprised though that your doc would let you go 3 months without support. I saw my doc every 2 weeks until I lost 10% of my body weight and then went to monthly visits until I reached goal weight.

Renee, she wasn't happy at all about me not coming in for 3 months, but, that was the earliest I would commit to. I am agoraphobic and very rarely leave the house. I will call her if I start having any serious problems.