The journey begins......  

Posted by Shirl................

This blog has been created to document my weight loss journey.  My endeavor to lose these unwanted pounds has not been easy.  Why?  I'm an emotional binge eater.  Food has been and is the substance I've used to deal with life's issues.  Whether I'm happy, sad, anxious, fearful, etc food is the antidote to cure all temporarily.


Back in 1996, Atkins was the rage. I weighed 145 at the time but wanted to get back to 120-125. It worked well because I was focused and followed the plan as written. I lost 14 pounds during the 2 week induction phase and continued to lose getting back my 125 goal.  

In 1999, I became pregnant with my second child and gained back up to 196. After having her, I weighed 185.  This was the highest I had ever weighed in my life.  Using Atkins, I was able to lose 40 pounds weighing in at 145. It was a slow journey because I wasn't as diligent as I had been the first time doing Atkins.

During 2000 to 2009, life happened and I gained back up to well over 200 pounds.  In fact, my highest known weight was 225. Wow!  In 2009, I made up my mind to lose the weight. I tried Atkins, Fat Fast, Body 4 Life and several other plans and was able to lose 45 pounds.  In 2010, I hit my lowest in years of 196.  All was good in the world again until tragedy hit our family.  My grandmother, Ruby J. Lee passed away.  I just could not cope with the loss on top of having marital issues.  Food, once again, became my drug of choice to cope.  

Since then, it's been an ongoing struggle. I'll lose and gain the same weight over and over again.  

In 2010, a friend introduced me to the protocol and HCG. Several of my counterparts were on this plan and were losing insane weight while I struggled to lose 2 pounds a week on Atkins. Needless to say, I read the pounds and inches manuscript and decided to get it a whirl. It worked it's magic, but I was unable to stay on plan.  I lost 17 pounds rapidly and was able to get back to 181, my new lowest weight in years, but I had not dealt with my demons and gained back all the weight, ballooning up to 225.

So hear I sit once again, typing the same story that I've posted on several weight loss sites. I'm so sick of this. For once, I want to experience the joy of completing a project. 

I've decided to follow the protocol AGAIN!  I'm on week 2 and I'm down 9.5 pounds.  My beginning weight was 225 and I currently weigh 216.  My goal is to do a long round to reach 180.  Once I reach that milestone, I'll assess how I feel and decide what my next goal will be.