Hello fellow wenches & swabbies (are there any swabbies here?)!
My name is Pamela. I am 42, 5'3", 160 lbs and I just plain enjoy food! Chocolate is good, carbs are good, fruit & veggies are good, and so on ...
I was skinny and somewhat underweight until my mid-twenties. Then I gained a bit, maybe 10 pounds overweight which I lost for my wedding (1989) My DH is a good cook and my weight slowly crept up and I was probably about 15 lbs overweight before DS7 was born. I gained almost no weight other than the baby (gained about 12 lbs and he weighed about 9 when born) which worried the doctors, but didn't seem to cause any problems. The real weight gain came right after he was born. After 24 hours of labor, he was born by emergency c-section. Then they found he had been "breathing" meconium (sp? - his own poop) for quite some time and had an infection. He stayed in the Neonate ICU for a week. I was sent home after 3 days without him. I've never known exactly why, but I was totally wiped out from the surgery and was under orders to not go up/down stairs, not lift anything, not walk any more than inside my house, etc. Even after DS finally came home, I still wasn't allowed to do anything. Finally, 4 weeks later I was allowed to go out for "short" walks around my yard and then around the block. During those 4 weeks of forced inactivity I was bored out of my mind and ate continuously. I topped out at around 180 lbs and started trying to lose it. For the first 3 years, it didn't seem to matter WHAT I did, I couldn't lose anything - excersize, 1000 calories a day, nothing worked. It was very frustrating and I didn't always stick with it (eating more didn't cause me to gain either - I was just stuck!) but when DS turned 3, I finally started to VERY slowly lose weight. I am averaging about 5 lbs off per year which is insanely slow, but at least it is the right direction. I have dropped from size 16 right after he was born to size 12 right now.
In a typical day I have a slim-fast "shake" for breakfast, about 300 calories for lunch and a "normal" dinner. I have found I actually handle sugar/chocolate cravings better if I allow myself a little treat each day. So I'll have one dessert like thing. If I try to skip the sweets completely, usually after a couple weeks I'll just go nuts and seriously OD - like make a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and eat the whole thing!
I get to the gym at least once a week and try to do little things, like park farther out in the parking lot so I walk a little further. In the summer, I go for walks and garden, but that just doesn't work for me in the winter. It is 8* today and the sidewalks are all covered in snow and ice!
So anyway, I'm right with you trying to lose weight! I would love to lose 20 lbs by the cruise, but am trying not to get my hopes too high - past experience says that I will only lost 7 or 8 lbs in 18 months! I just keep trying to tell myself that it is better than nothing or gaining... My doctor told me that at least losing it this slowly, I have a really good chance of keeping it off!
pdarrah (Pamela)
. Of course, when he started Atkins the soda had to go. He has switched to Peach Tea Crystal Light. The one positive effect of cutting out the soda is his sleep apnea seemed to improve drastically 
. I think he was consuming so much sugar before bedtime he never really went into a full sleep (REM?).
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