Hey, Glo!
I have been thinking about you alot, especially after reading your post about having the blues. I hope you are feeling better, sweetie.
Maybe the stress is a factor in this plateau? Maybe it's somehow causing you to retain water? I don't know anything about Atkins, so I can't help you out there. But I do know that living under stressful conditions sucks and that it's not healthy. It will take a toll on you mentally and physically.
You jump started the weight loss when you began to exercise again. Not only did you jump start the weight loss, but you felt a great sense of accomplishment and control when YOU made the decision to exercise. Your posts were sounding very gloomy before you began to exercise, but there was a remarkable change in your attitude when you decided to go for it. I wish you could go back in time and live through that feeling again. I am sure you felt alive and invincible and proud of yourself and very much in control of things.
I have no idea what is causing all the stress in your life. All I can say is that worrying about ANYTHING won't solve the problem. It will only makes things worse for you. Worry and guilt are useless emotions and should be tossed out the window at the first opportunity we get.
I am not in your shoes. I am not trying to make light of anything that is happening in your life. But I am telling you, as a friend, that you are the only person in your life who can control how YOU feel. If someone is behaving nasty with you, there is nothing you can do to change their behavior. What you can do is decide how much power they are going to have over your life. My mother lived in fear of my father's sister for over 30 years. This woman is a self centered stuck up you know what. She loves money and anything to do with money. My mother grew up poor and has never been able to shake that feeling, even though she lived a very decent lifestyle and she and my father worked hard to have nice things and provide us with a decent home. To this day my mother STILL let's this woman intimidate her and rattle her cage. I will not allow anyone to control how I feel. You can't either, Glo.
You HAVE to stick with you program or go to your doctor and find out what alternatives there are. Unfortunately, it seems like when you have a lot of weight to lose, the first 1/2 to 3/4 comes off pretty easy. It's the last part of the battle that is the most difficult. Just keep thinking of the sweet reward you will have when you reach your goal. This is your lifestyle change, not just a temporary solution to get to where you want to be. It may take another year to reach your goal. What is a year in the scheme of things? I am hoping you live to 100 and that you'll have that sexy body is great shape all the rest of the years of your life!
Glo, be gentle with yourself. Don't burden yourself with should haves or could haves. Take life a step at a time. Give yourself permission to day dream. Unless you absolutely have to, try not to live in "reality". Life is all about perspective. You could be 20, 30, 60, 80 100, 150 pounds heavier than you are now. You could be 10 15 20 25 pounds lighter than you are now. You could also be happier than you are now. Don't settle for less. Don't put yourself down.
I am not a religious person and I apologize if I offend anyone with this statement. We are all precious beings. We are all here to live a joyous life, filled with love and laughter and happiness. We are all in control of our destiny. We are all perfect in our own way. We are all made of the same matter. We are all connected in our hearts and souls. I am no better than anyone else around me. But I have to treat myself as the most important person in the world. You have to treat yourself that way too, Glo. Everyone does. Unless we take care of ourselves, we won't have the energy to take care of the people we love. And unless we truly love ourselves, we won't be able to give 100% of our love to the world.
Ok, off my soapbox now...
Um, can you tell I care?
