Been lurking about for a week or two, thought I'd step forward and introduce myself...

My name is Karen, and I'm not following any strict plan, but have made an effort to eat healthier and lower-carb in general. I'm still allowing myself small amounts of whole-grain products, but have completely cut white flour out. I started it just to "see what would happen", and turns out I've lost 30 pounds since November - and that's even with cheating at Thanksgiving and Christmas! I've never lost so much weight at once, and not only has it been fairly easy, but I feel great. Everybody around me is starting to notice.

I'm not exercising yet. I had a bad bout of mononucleosis last summer, and it hasn't quite been a year yet. I still feel fatigued after expending a great amount of energy. I'm fairly active as it is - I teach special ed preschool and live in a city with no car, so I'm walking and doing a lot of stair climbing as a regular part of my lifestyle. I feel like I could take off even more weight if I added a regular exercise program, but I can't afford a gym and have had knee problems in the past when jogging, so I'm not quite sure yet what I'll be taking up once the mono wears off.

I don't know if it's just the culture here or what, but in New York City I know a lot of people on different low-carb diets - +coworkers, friends, etc. It really seems to be taking over. I'm completely sold, myself.

So it's been great reading what everybody else has to say, and hopefully I'll speak up more! Lovely to meet you all!