Hiya,

1. I started at about 165#.

2. 1500-1800 calories a day at first, but have gradually reduced that to 1200-1500, mostly just through learning how to tell when I was full.

3. 1.5# per week, pretty steadily all along. I think that has more to do with carbs than calories.

4. I am still at induction levels. I'm planning to increase starting this weekend, which will make it exactly 5 months. Before now I had more like 15 carbs most days.

I hope you don't mind a little editorializing, but I have to say that I'm not sure losing as fast as possible and keeping it off forever are compatible goals. I went into this planning to lose the weight and then go back to my "normal" eating habits, but after 5 months I'm sold on low carb as a lifestyle. Which means going slowly enough, especially at the end, to learn how to integrate it into my life permanently.

2+ pounds a week is an aggressive goal, especially with the amount you have to lose. You may be able to do it, but I've found that trying to force myself to lose at a particular rate makes me miserable, and often doesn't work anyway. But then again, I'm not willing to suffer in order to be thin I could never do a traditional diet (much less a crash diet), but low carb has been great for me.

Also you may have already read this, but a lot of people with lengthy histories of yo-yo dieting report slower progress at first while their body adjusts. Something to think about if you run into any frustrations early on.