The 50 Million Pound Blog

Karen, this is your home girl Nikki from Macon, GA. You didn't tell me when I talked to you the other week and told you I had joined that you were already a member. You look Good Girl and I am very Proud of you....I finally got to see the results of your diet, since you haven't sent any pictures.....

Dear Karen,
I found your story to be very touching, one of the reasons is because I myself is over weight and currenty a high school student. Though I can admit I have been overweight since the 5th grade I feel that now more that ever being that it's my jr. year I want to make a change in my life. Last weekend my grandmother told me she test postive for sugar. This scared me a lot because she's one of the healthiest women I know and if she has it I feel that I'm next.I want a change but my eating habbits are hard to break. What should I do???

Karen,

I am inspired by your story. I have to lose 95 pounds and like you I am concerned about my weight. What helped you through the rough times? I have tried countless times before and keep falling back in the same trap. Any suggestions?

Hi Karen,
I just wanted to say congrats. I tried the Atkins diet twice and the smell of the meat literary made me sick. A big thumbs up for you to be able to lose weight on that diet. What has made my weight loss journey successful is a company that my Holistic Nutritionist found at an expo in CA. The wholefoods (fruits, veggies, nuts, etc.,) products via the internet have assisted with my healthy weight loss. They helped re-start me nutritionally. When I read the information I was unsure, but I had the opportunity to order the product and taste them. I have been eating them now for about 6-months. I hope you have an opportunity to try them. I will be a customer for life. I'm sure my life will never be the same. My son gets his 5-recommended daily allowance of fruits and veggies right from the bag with no preparation.

We eat the all-natural wholefood meals, soups, smoothie mixes, snacks and treats. I eat the wholefood meals (Phi Plus, etc.,) for a healthy breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. I have never felt better and the pounds are coming off the healthy way. Feel free to contact me at anytime, my number is on the link. Be blessed Karen, and if there is anything that I can do to make your continued journey easier email or call me.

Karen,
Your story has inspired me on so many levels.
You see I was also just released from the hospital with a heart attack scare, and am still under a doctor's care. I would like to lose 100 pounds within a year,but will be pleased to do my best and see wher that takes me. Thank you for you story. I believe it gave me that extra push I needed to get started.

P.S.
We share the exact same name!
could this be a sign
please write back

Karen,

What a great achievement..You kept your eye on the prize and went to your weight loss promised land. Now that you have tasted the sweet honey of fitness success, I'm sure you will definitely continue on your fitness journey.

My moment of truth came in the summer of 07, I was at a high of 274, 5'11.. I said to myself,
" I'm GETTING CLOSER TO 300 THAN 200."In addition my doctor said , I was pre-diabetic, pre-hypertension, high tricyleride walking man.I was a walking time bomb as far as I was concerned. My last child had graduated from H.S., so there were no more excuses. Through strength training, clean eating and cardio I am down to 239, and my vitals except for bodyfat 34% are in normal range. I saw Dr. Ian on t.v. and finally found the website when the address was flashed during NBA game today and I joined. Let's continue as family to share fitness info and make fitness strides..

Karen,
You are definitely motivational. I just signed on to the challenge today and after reading stories like yours, I am certain that I can reach my goal of becomming 100lbs thinner and healthier. God is good! Keep up the good work.

I would like to start by saying that it is a pleasure to commit myself to a great group of people. My goal is to lose 40lbs by June. I finally became motivated enough to try and stick to my goal.

The problem I am running into is eating enough calories a day. I wanted to try and eat at least 1800 calories daily but I can't its either I am not eating enough or that I get so busy I forget to eat. Because I am not a breakfast eater. I miss breakfast. I haven't started my exercise regiment yet because I want to get my eating habits under control. I didn't realize that its hard to get a good intake of calories. Especially now that I am watching what I eat. Please help and give me some guidelines.

Great job Karen!!

I just found out about the challenge myself. I recently had lap-band done (2 weeks ago today). It's not magic... you still have to eat right and work out. Most of all, deal with the past. I decided to make a change because fear of my family history: diabetes, stroke, heart attacks, and high blood pressure.
This is my final chance. My story can be followed at:
http://thepitstop.typepad.com/the_pit_stop/

To all challengers out there... Keep up the good work!!!

Hi Karen,

You go Girl! I have just signed up for the challenge today. I weigh 180 lbs and I hope to get to 145 -150. I am 40 and going to get more active. I wish you well...Be encouraged and blessed. We have to take care of ourselves.
You can do it! I will post a picture soon..

Be Blessed..

Paula

Hi Karen and congrats on your weight loss. You have encouraged me, I had a scare yesterday that put me in the hospital with a heart attack scare. Thanks to God thats all it was a scare and a wake up call because I had every sign & symptom but God kept me from having a heat attack now it is my time to do what I know is best LOSE the weight and live a healthy life. You are the motivation I need, keep up the good work & thank you!

Karen, I really needed to read your story! Congrats to you and your son! I'm sure that your story will be a positive motivating force for me in my endeavor to drop 50lbs. May God continue to keep you and bless you!

Karen,

Thanks for sharing your story, this is the additional motivation I needed, I too have been on the Atkins program, which I love, but every now and then we all need an additioanl push.

Bless you

Hi Karen,

Wow! You look great! Thanks for the inspiration and motivation. Sister, you make us proud!

Fine Figure

Way to go Karen. Be encouraged!! You are encouraging so many others. I just joined the challenge today. I have lost 38 pounds previously and am looking forward to the new, healthier me! I have about 100 pounds to go and am motivated by your accomplishments.

Karen I am so proud of you and I wish you all the best. I went to the 50 million pound challenge when they came to milwaukee but hadnt really got serious until now. I have motivated several people at the job to join and we have no started a challege team we are all so pumped and i will share your story with them for extra motivation! To a healthy and happy 2008.....you go karen! Keep up the good work! i would love for you to email me of keep in touch so we can motivate each other and share tips! I went to my manager with this website and we are now looking into getting the whole center to lose weight. i work for AT &T and if i can pull this off that will be great! Hope to talk to you soon!

Barbara

Karen your story brought tears to my eyes. I too had cancer and the treatments made me gain alot of weight. Your story is a ray of hope that I too can do it.Please feel free to write back.
God Bless,

Hi Karen, your story is so motivating, and let me add that i'm so proud of you, you hung in there and you done it. I'm just now enetering the challenge, at first i was doubtful, but after reading your blog i'm not doubtful anymore. So congrulations to you and your son. Please free to write me back.

Karen thanks for sharing your story this ispired me to also have a goal of 50 pounds in 10 months.

Great job. I am just starting to lose weight. I need to lose 116 lbs So far I have lost 11 lbs. Just reading you story lets me know I can do it as well. God Bless you and your son.

Encouraged in
Louisiana

Reading your profile is very motivating!! I am the largest I have ever been at 180# due to just simply eating larger portions and being less active. I own a treadmill and a dog so my goal is to walk daily and start watching my intake...
tajuana

I played sports through high school and didn't have a problem either until I got a desk job after college. I'm a solid 300+ man, 6'3", and now since I'm in my middle age, its starting to be a problem. I need to lose about 30 pounds across the middle. Pray for me. Thanks for the encouragement and I plan on dropping 70 pounds by 2009. That a little over 5 pounds per month. Thanks for all the encourage.

ncrisp, committed team.

That is awesome!! I am so glad that you were able to over come your challenges and have the ability to tell the story. I am struggling to lose weight. My goal is also 100 ponds. I am 34 years old and I am afraid to have health problems. I need discipline and encouragment. I will carry your story as I start my journey in weight loss and I hope I am as successful!!

It's a blessing to hear how you two take care of each other. Maybe the Atkins Diet is for me too! Congrads

Hi since 2002 I gained maybe 100lbs.
I have been trying to get back to 120lbs every since. Some times I dont always follow a healthy eating habit but I try. One of the things or should I say food that was holding me back was icecream. One day after complaining to my mother that I was having a hard time losing weight she advised me that I should let go of the icecream and I wouldnt have trouble losing weight. I did and it works...the things mothers know lol

I lost 12lbs in a week, then I head about the Challange on my Birthday 12/31. I joined.

I look forward to the many pounds that I plan to lose.

Thank You for creating this Challange

Lady Love

WOW ! Congratulations .. 100 pounds in 10 months - All I can say is amazing you should be proud of you & your son . Your story is amazing and very motivating. The Challenge has finally ARRIVED in CANADA and I am very excited and I can't wait to get started.
Keep up the great work and I hope to do as well as you .

Janiebananie
Canadian Aurora Office
:)

Hello all, my family and I just joined the 50 million lb challenge and we wanted to know how to post our picture on the website. I could not find any information on the website about posting a picture. Your time will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Natalie

This is so encouraging because i started the Atkins diet on 11/29/07 and as of today i have lost 20 pounds. This really works for me!!! I have not started working out yet but i plan to get started next week. Congrats on your weight loss maybe i will have a story to tell soon.

I gained about 80lbs during my pregnancy with my son. He was born this past June and it has been so hard to get back to my regimen prior to becoming pregnant. Your story is very inspirational. Congratulations and continued success!!!

You have a lot to be proud of! Thank you for sharing your story. I need to lose 40 pounds and your story helped to motivate me! Thank you!

Karen,
Your story is inspiration. It wasn't until years ago that I started gaining weight. At first it was a few pounds here and there and now it is out of control. I decided to join 50 million pound challenge because on Christmas I took a picture with my son and I finally realized just how big I really am. I want to be healthy so that I will be around to see him grow up. I have truly been inspired by your story and I hope that I will be able to stick with the program and lose my 100 pounds.

Your story was very inspiring, keep up the good work

I have kind of plateau'd at a certain weight, and I know that I need to add more exercise?...but I struggle, If what I was doing took the initial weight off why it wont continue to come off?...Confused?...lol*

Leslie Bailey

Hello and Congratulations to you and your son. I'm proud of you both. Your story is wonderful! After reading Dr. Ian's book and attending the rally here in Detroit (over the summer), I decided to officially join the 50MPC. It's definitely going to be a challenge, but I've already been shopping for my supplies, renewed my gym membership. Most of all I prayed!! I'm ready to smash the fat to get rid of the 20 lbs I've gained and to start eating healthy like I used to.

Signed: "20LessN08"

You are my inspiration and I can only hope to work
as hard as you did and feel as good as you have.
I am like so many others when we've tried it
at least 1000 times only to give up but this
time thanks to you I am going to do my best to
keep this up..
I am so proud of you and your son.

I decided in May of 2007 that I wanted to make a change in my life. I have been always been a heavy person but I felt the need and desire to be different and look different. This had never happened to me before. I joined the gym. This was something I had done in the past but this time it was going to be different for me. I started working out 3x a week and changed my eating habits. I didn't go on a diet per say but I was more aware of what I was putting in my mouth. I've been a diabetic for 16 years so my eating habits and lack of exercise were no longer an option for me. Fried foods were discontinued, late-night snacks were stopped and double peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were put on halt. Today amazingly enough (seven months later), I've lost almost 60 pounds. My 240 pounds of girth have dwindled down to 185lbs. My biggest challenge now is cleaning out my closet and getting rid of my size 18 clothing for a size 12. I look forward to this challenge immensely.

Good for you, Karen. I haven't logged on to the site for a while because my weight has been stagnant. I really need to step up the exercise. When I did yoga at least I didn't gain so I'm looking for a class(my former health club eliminated its yoga class in favor of kickboxing)where practicioners are serious about the benefits of yoga. Until then I use my tapes at home and log on to the challenge mor often. Keep striving and stay on course.

to day is the 1st day to the beginnig of my long journy to lose 50 pounds see i tryed every thing to lose this weight but nothing help but after a long period of time i started to realise that the real reason that i could not lose weight was because not alone because i love candy but because i was not trying to lose weight for my self but for other people but now i realise that starving my slef is not the was to go the only thing that thats does is slow my metabolism and makes me very upset but after i get my challenger kit and then exercise more and try to eat better i know i will be loseing weight like never before

signed
april stone

My bad guys... I haven't been checking in as I should have. Moving takes a lot of time and energy so I have slacked on my communications and postings. However, I have been true to the challenge. My lifestyle changes are in place. I walk two miles a day. I don't indulge in edible delectables as I used to. I have seen improvements, and feel great about them. My striped pajama pants (that show everything) that I couldn’t fit when I purchased them, I now look pretty good in. I am working on the total me; and I thank Dr. Ian, The Challenge Staff, and my fellow Challenge participants for camaraderie and being a part of that. I received two emails from Dr Ian telling me that the challenge misses me. Thank you for that.

I started my weight lose in June and stopped immediately after that. But on October 29th of this year, I stepped on the scale I found that I was 38 pounds from the 300 pound mark. I knew then that I had do something with my frame only 5'5" and now high blood pressure problems. I thought immediately about my 2 year and 19 year old sons that I did not want leave behind. I have been working out 4-5 days a week for about 30 mins to an hour each day and I have lost 22 pounds. Thanks so much for your story because hearing of your 10 month progress has so encouraged me even more. I would love to lose a 100 pounds in 10 months too. I have learned not to concentrate on the big goal of 100 pounds because I would become discouraged; so, I am for 10 pounds at a time. Now at 240 pounds, I am just concentrating on getting to 230.

Well i can say that we have so many thing in comaion the only thing is that you did it you are sucessful you are my shero!! I also was very active in school and after i had my last child in o4 its truly been a strugle!!on top of that my husband came to the crossroads in our marraige and he has alway wanted me on the big girl side but the lady that he devoped a realationship with was bigger than you and me!!!!So that was the last big straw!!!Its on!!I So happy that this challeng has started. Take care keep up the fight!!!!

Patricia Moore las cruse n.m

Good for you girl, keep it moving. That was a great idea to have your son in on your decision to lose weight and simply live. I'm going to have my daughter join my efforts as well. I joined the challenge today so I got to get going. All the best and well wishes.
brooklyn, new york shout-out!!

Every email I get from Dr. Ian is blank. Who can I contact so they can fix whatever is wrong?

Karen Thank U for encouraging me and my family to it together!! I recently lost my mom to a long, long battle to stroke, high blood pressuer, and diabeties. U know the ones that kill us blacks the most.(By our own consumption). My mom didn't take care of herself and if I don't want the same fate, I better start taking care of my family and especially myself. My theme is "" I WILL NOT WAIT IN 2008!!!!"" Karen, Continue to be Blessed!!

The Weekes Family in Triangle, Va.

I thank you for your story. I am 32 with 100 pounds to lose and your testimony helps me see that this goal is attainable. Thanks!

Karen,

You are such a strong person. I admire your courage and the strength not to give in to fear. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I hope others, like me, don't wait until an illness to push us to take care of ourselves. You are a motivation! Stay strong; stay focused and take care of yourself. Your family will benefit from your being there for them, in a healthy state. I am taking your testimony with me, into 2008, as I tackle my weight.

congratulations..I sure could use some encourgement to keep me motivated to loose the weight. I'd like to lose 60 pounds. I have purchased both of Dr. Ian's books but am still having trouble. I read the books and still can't figure out how to stay on the diet. For instance:

what is a small salad in comparison to a large salad? Should I eat a cup of salad for the small and two cups for the large? That's what makes sense to me...cups, ounces, etc. In his extreme Fat Smash book he says no more than two snacks a day but then I look at his schedule and there are three snacks provided in that time frame. I'm so confused.
I just wish someone, be it Dr. Smith or another challenger, would help me understand exactly how to do this diet and be successful. H E L P !

wow I love u like thats crazy if a 37 year old can do it then i know i can

Congratulations Karen. Thank you for your motivating story. I have maintained my weight but have not had the motivation to really get on the bandwagon to lose. Your story was just what I needed to get serious. My own health challenges demand that I commit and seriously get busy with a weight loss program. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, so I can do this. Be Blessed and continued good health in the coming New Year of 2008, the year of New Beginnings.

Peace, Love & Joy
Rev Regina Hoist

KUDOS TO YOU KAREN! That is so amazing. 100 pounds in 10 months! I think I read a comment that Dr. Ian left in FAQS about it being possible to count previous weight loss to the challenge so you should...I would. I also wanted to thank you for posting your story because I too have a problem with healthy eating and exercise if I don't see results fast enough. I will come back to your story and read it again and again whenever I need that extra push. You are amazing! Thank you.

Im really encoraged I justed enrolled in the challenge and Im excited about it my son is aslo overweight and he will be my buddy.Thanks for your testimony and may you continue to be successful in your your weight loss.

You are certainly motivating others with your story. Thanks!

Karen,

This is truly a great story to help motivate people. I hope you continue on your quest. I had to lose some time from my journey for medical reasons but I hope to regain momentum soon. I agree with you about needing a buddy to help keep you motivated and on the right track - especially during the holidays:)

God Bless!

Congrats on your success Karen! You are truly a source of motivation for me and many others.
Keep up the good work...

You are amazing! How inspiring that you did not allow your health to make you feel hopeless. Keep going. I recently joined the Challenge on December 5th and I need help to stay motivated. Since we live in the same area, I'm wondering if you workout at a particular spot or meet with a group for support?

You have motivated me to get back to what was working for me and that is true you need to have a buddy with you to keep you going. Your store has inspire me to keep push and never to give in. May God continue to bless and keep you under his precious wing.

Thats really encouraging. I haven't started yet...but I will pick up my kit tomorrow. My mom had a stroke and as a result I am now a full time caregiver. I haven't been taking care of myself because I've been focusing on her and taking care of my family.I have gained 30+ pounds in the last year. I guess I'm getting out of this depressive mode and am ready to get healthy and look good again while I'm at it.

Motivated in Orange Park,Fl