Hello, My Name Is...

Hi. My name is Ashley. And I'm a Carb Lover. I'm 28 years old, married, and teach 5th grade. Being a teacher, my stress level is incredibly high; especially since I teach in an inner-city school corporation with low poverty levels. Because of a high stress job, I usually come home and pig out on whatever I can find in the fridge/cupboard. A lot of times, I get home late and I'm too tired to cook. Which results in calling my husband and saying, "Hey, grab whatever is on your way home."

I've always struggled with my weight. As a kid I was always the "big girl." Luckily I grew up in a small rural community and was never really teased about it. When I was 20 years old, I had to go to my first "woman doctor" because I was not regular. Come to find out, I have PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrom). This is another huge factor in my weight problem. My hormones aren't regulated so it's very difficult for me to lose weight.

5 years ago I managed to lose 30 pounds on my own. I watched what I ate and exercised daily. 5 years ago, I was getting ready to become a bride, so I had something to work for. Well, I got married and stopped caring about how I looked. I had my husband, I didn't need to try to look good for other men. I have a very loving and accepting husband. We want to start a family and because of PCOS and my weight, I'm not regular and at this point I'm unable to conceive. Getting healthy is my top priority now so that I can become a better wife and ultimately a mom.


Hi. My name is Carrie. And I'm a Carb Lover. I'm 25 years old, I've found the love of my life, and work as a financial planning assistant full time and at Victoria's Secret part time on the weekends. A year ago I moved back in with my parents to save money and pay off some debts. Since then I have gained about 30 pounds. I'm an emotional eater. When I'm angry, stressed, depressed I eat. I've dealt with depression while in college and have struggled with it since then. My sophomore year of college I lost 20 pounds for my sister's wedding and promptly stopped working out afterwards!

Up until recently I have been very happy with my body. I'm a curvy woman and always have been. I have accepted that and know that I will never be super skinny (like my 110 pound sister). I love my curves, but recently the curves are becoming more of a bulge. As my boyfriend and I work towards marriage, I would love to look good in a wedding dress! Not only that, I want to be healthy at the same time.

I'm the kind of person that can sit down and eat a loaf of bread, a stick of butter, or a bowl of popcorn. I LOVE carbs! As much as I love these foods, I have to have portion control and eat the "right" kinds of carbs.

We came across the "CarbLover's Diet" (by Ellen Kunes & Frances Largeman-Roth, R.D.) purely by accident. Carrie's mom announced after Christmas that the entire house was going on a diet! She went and bought several different diet books and the "CarbLover's Pocket Guide" caught Carrie's eye. While skimming through it, she noticed there were no "don'ts/no's." It seemed like something she could do. This lead Carrie to mention it to Ashley and thus begins our CarbLover's Adventure!

We officially started January 9, 2012. After a week, Ashley lost 10 pounds and Carrie lost 8 pounds. After 2 weeks, Carrie and Ashley lost 2 more pounds each. We decided to have a "cheat day" at the end of our 2nd week and realized "Yeah, that was premature!" We have decided to the "7 Day Kick Start" over to help us get back on track. (We also went and bought the full version of the CarbLover's Diet book and the cookbook.)

Over the next few months, help us stay accountable to our weight loss goals. Visit often, leave us encouraging comments, and feel free to ask us questions! We'll be learning together.


Ashley...being forced by Carrie to put this...is weighing in at 284. (This is after the 12 pounds I've already lost.)

Carrie...who is doing this because it's a good accountability...is weighing in at 172. (This is after the 12 pounds I've already lost.)