Why You Should Read My Blog
Hello there, my name is April and I’m a bona-fide millennial, born in 1986 (so I’m 23 for those who don’t want to do the math). Wikipedia defines millennials as those who were born after 1981, so that’s what l’lI go by. Seems to me there is no one set definition for it, anyway. I figure I should start off explaining why you should read my blog, because that’s always the first question I have when I stumble across one.
First off, I am not a doctor, nutritionist, anything like that. I’m actually a marketing research analyst. I’ll admit it: I am a big dork who loves to research. I have a lot of questions and if there is an answer out there I’ll find it. In particular, I’m obsessed with research pertaining to diet, nutrition, and weight loss. Thus, I’ve read A LOT on all kinds of diets (yes, even low-fat ones).
So what’s my weight loss story? I was overweight as a teen, and I always craved things with sugar and starch. At the age of 21 I was diagnosed with PCOS, or poly-cystic-ovarian syndrome. I’ll post more on what exactly that is later on, but it’s a condition that makes it harder for women to lose weight due to higher insulin levels. If left untreated women with PCOS are at a higher risk for diabetes, cervical cancer, and complications with pregnancy. After doing a lot of research on PCOS, I learned that the best thing to do is lose weight, and the next best thing is to go on a low-carb diet (good thing the two go hand-in-hand!). So I did the low-carb diet and lost 30 pounds in 4 months. Unfortunately, as a lot of these stories go, I gained all the weight back within 2 years. Why? Because I started eating carbs again! I wouldn’t stop, even though carb binges gave me an upset stomach and in general made me feel like crap. I started low-carb in November, and have lost 16 pounds so far, and this would probably be more if it weren’t for the holidays and the fact that I don’t exercise regularly (that’s another post, though). Currently I’m steadily losing about a pound a half a week, which I’m happy with!
I’m going to chronicle my low-carb journey and show the world just what the process is like. Of course I want to lose weight, but my ultimate goal for myself is to change my perceptions so that I can live like this forever. My ultimate goal for this blog is to convince others my age (or any age really!) to do the same. I think there are a lot of people out there who have seen blogs from prominent low-carbers that have achieved the weight loss through low-carbing, but have no clue what someone actually goes through day in and day out. You always hear/read “You can do it!” but if you are like me you still have doubts as to whether or not you truly can change and stick with it.
I am a very honest person. If I have something on my mind I say it without fear of being reprimanded by society or my peers. This journey to low-carb enlightenment is going to be hard, and I’ll document both negative and positive emotions that I experience along the way. Not eating what you want to and exercising regularly sucks sometimes- let’s be honest! I won’t sugar-coat things (literally and figuratively) or be overly enthusiastic about going low-carb; it’s just not my style. I also psycho-analyze my feelings often, always trying to look for what exactly caused me to gain weight and how I can change that for the future. I promise that you will see an honest portrayal of what life is like when you live low-carb.
A final thought: I’m sure there will be some people who read my blog that are firm believers that a low-carb diet is horrible and that one can never be successful or healthy while doing it. I’ll tell you here and now that I won’t listen to you. I know what is best for MY body, and you don’t. I encourage anyone wanting to lose weight to find what best works for them, not what somebody else or the media tells them to do.
So, welcome to my blog!
