jmarita1

Just to piggy back on this, I know a couple who are separated. They base who claims the kid each year based on who will see the biggest return. Then they split it. Seems like a reasonable and wise idea to me!

Absolutely you should. You can try it on me. Here, go:

This didn't bother me at all. Nope. Not. At. All.

I went through this in high school. I'm a girl and in high school I kinda hit my limit and did the Atkin's diet. I have mixed feelings about the diet itself, because it worked wonders for me and I lost about 80 pounds over the course of 7-8 months. The differences in the way people treated me (both those people I knew and then the attention I got from strangers after the weight loss) really fucked with my head though.

I ended up gaining all the weight back in half the time (someone said elsewhere in this thread that sugar/carbs is an addiction--so incredibly true. I had one plate of pasta at a restaurant after my weight loss as a "reward" and everything went downhill from there) and have been kind of stuck in this situation ever since (I'm 24 now). The thing is I'm pretty confident, and on good days, I know that I'm pretty. I'm fairly active but not enough to induce weight loss.

But every time I start to consider losing weight I think back to that experience and how much it saddened me. Not an excuse, but it freaks me out. Like somewhere in the back of mind I think I have this twisted idea that I want to find someone I love who loves me right now, and THEN I'll lose weight. Just to be sure their love is true. It's such a screwed up way of thinking but I can't seem to let it go. Stories like yours though are pretty inspiring! Thanks so much for sharing and good luck!

edit: left something out

Thanks for your words! I appreciate it. I feel like something's gotta give here pretty quick. I admire and envy your dedication! Hopefully soon I'll be able to follow in your footsteps!