Another newbie here...

[bethany.aaron]

Just wanted to make an introduction! My name is Bethany, I am just about to turn 29 next month, living in Houston TX, and am a newlywed (married in December). I have Type 1 Diabetes and use an insulin pump. I learned about NF last week when Steve was on Chalene Johnson's podcast and just loved him and this whole idea (thanks Steve!). I joined the Academy, too. I won't disclose my nerd level, but I will say that right before posting this I was watching a video on Facebook about how to create a secret Bat Signal on your driveway that only shows up when it rains. And now I'm considering how I can do that at my apartment complex without anyone noticing. So... yeah.

Fitness background, I was raised on in healthy choices and took that with me into adulthood. I was a skinny little kid but started gaining weight when I was about 8 years old, so it's been a 20 year struggle. It's fairly spirit-crushing to a 10 year old to step on the scale and see it say "180." I am 5,10" and have a larger frame so I can carry more than the average woman, but my heaviest was 252 in 2013. I hadn't realized it got so bad until I saw a picture of myself in April 2013, and now that one that I use as a before photo. I joined Weight Watchers and have dropped 60 lbs (went from clothes sized 18-20 to sizes 10-12), but now I'm struggling with that last pesky 20-30 lbs. The good and bad thing about Weight Watchers is that it allows absolutely anything, in moderation. That worked great for those first 60 lbs, but the rest isn't coming off until I focus more on nutrition, which is what I've been doing. (I am still basically eating within the WW points plan, but I'm no longer eating just any crap I have the points for, ya know? And I don't worry about eating a little extra if it's something that is healthy.) After much research about inflammatory foods (because I have several auto-immune diseases. The only one tough enough to kick my butt is me) I've been cutting down on sugar, totally cut out artificial sweeteners (which lowered and stabilized my blood sugar, by the way!) and started to work on cutting down/out grains and dairy. Unbeknownst to me, that basically left me with the Paleo diet, which I totally thought was a fad until I looked into it more. I've now been doing Paleo since last week and I instantly dropped a handful of lbs, and a ton of bloat and water retention. My stomach feels flatter and my jeans fit looser, after just about 4 days of a 95%-98% Paleo diet. That's enough to convince me to keep going. It's also keeping my husband fit since he eats anything I make him for dinner

So, there you have it. That's me! Mild-mannered Purchasing Agent by day, Nerd Rebel by night.

[Nedwin]

You're doing great! Keep focusing on your goals and you will do even greater!