Hi all,

Firstly it's really nice to be here. Have been reading some of your posts and you all seem so friendly.

My name is Catherine and I am 27 years old, from South Wales in Britain. I now live in Greece with my husband of seven months.

I was on the Atkins diet last year and managed to get down from a US size 10 down to a size 8. I was really pleased with myself and well convinced of the benefits of the diet. My skin cleared up, a thrush type rash near my chest disappeared and I had more energy.

I got married and what possesed me to give up on the diet, I'll never know! Still, I did, and seven months on, here I am with every pound gained back and am wearing size 10 to 12 clothes again. I know at nearly 5ft 8inches, it's not horrendous but I feel obese and very depressed. Worse still, I am finiding it so hard to get going with the diet again. I tried going cold turket about a week ago but I just ended up feeling awful. This time, I have decreased the carbs over the week to one carb rich meal per day. I have also all but eliminated one small caffine drink per day and have tried to drink lots more water.

Saturday morning tomorrow and this is where it starts. In the last six months I have learned to cook (probably one of the reasons I abandoned the diet in the first place) and I am hoping these skills will provide a little more variety in my diet this time around. I have even made up a menu for the week and typed it up all fancy in French cafe style.

Sticking to the diet isn't always easy. Here in Greece it is impossible to come by the subsitutes so it's natual ingridients all the way.

The truth is I am so scared of failing again. I really, really want to drop a dress size, preferably in the next two months and have ordered lots of workout DVD's to help me along the way. I have just had a problem with my foot fixed and was given the all clear last night to work out again.

The main reason I want to loose weight is that I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and my husband and I want to start trying for a baby late summer.

I just wanted to tell you my story because I think I am going to need all the support I can get.

Thanks for listening, I really needed to get this off my chest.