I am a single mother of five. I have 4 sons (20, 14, and twins who are almost 4) and a daughter, age 11. I am almost 41 yrs old and currently weighing in at 193lbs... which is an almost 40lb increase since having the twins. I can't even blame them for it! I was about 157 two weeks after they were born.

I have struggled with my weight since having my first child 20 yrs ago, I was age 21. I had never been on a diet until then. I never knew it was so hard! I first did Atkins back in 1997 and had much success, but it was harder back then than it seems to be now. There was no such thing as Net Carbs, we did just 20 carbs, period. There were no online tools and there was a lot of criticism. And I worked in a restaurant, which made things harder. But I lost about 40lbs and maintained a weight of about 145lbs until I had my 2nd son. I stayed around the 175lb mark after he was born. Then I had my daughter and again, stayed around 175-180, sometimes more, but not more than 200, and on my 5'4" frame, its a lot of weight. When I got pregnant with the twins I was at about 155lbs. I only gained 23lbs with them and was back down to 157 within 2 weeks. I have been gaining ever since. I don't know what is wrong with me. I feel like I'm gaining without changing my diet. I had bloodwork done and everything appears to be normal, so it's just me! I need to come to terms with that. No more excuses.