I started Low carbing on 1 Feb. I skipped any induction phase because I hated that so much in the past. I weighed exactly 350, which is high as my doctors scale goes.

In Feb I ate whatever I wanted as long as it was low carb, including entire bags of Garcia low carb tortilla chips in a day (90 carbs per bag). And in February I lost 13 pounds. I saw no reason to discountinue my strategy.

But in March I only last 4 pounds, and 3 pounds of that were in the first week. I decided I needed to get tougher.

I decided to limit both carbs and calories. On weekdays I would eat (throughout the day) 3 low carb tortillas with cheese and beef/ham slices. Each one was about 300 calories. So I was getting about 1000 calories, and 15 grams of carbs a day. My weekend "splurge" food is Tysons' pre-cooked Wings of Fire chcken wings which are very low carb.

Well I had great success in April losing 20 pounds. I didn't think a person could lose that much!! And I'm not really hungry.

To cap off my diet which I'm sure is making many of you shake your heads, I drink tons of diet sodas and haven't exercised yet.

So I'm down 37 in 3 months. I had to break out the size 50 slacks, and store the size 54's in the extra closet. And although the folks I work with know I'm dieting, and tell me they can really tell.... Last week was the first time (in my life), a casual aquaintance that didn't know, asked me if I was losing weight.

Felt so good I needed to share here.

Welcome and congratulations on your loss so far. I am certainly shaking my head at the diet soda thing because I just got out of the hospital a few weeks ago from kidney failure due to my excessive use of diet sodas and NO water. I had no idea that there was even a problem til I was on the operating table and almost died because of my weight and all the blood I lost during surgery. Now, I am not *itching at you, so please do not take this the wrong way, I certainly do not have any room to talk but if I had known the dangers to my kidney's, I may have drank a little more water and less soda.

On a lighter note, WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!!!!! I swear I am not the TDC Witch, I just wanted to let you know what I went through and maybe you can avoid the same thing.

I didn't know diet sodas could do that to you meltinaway so thank you for posting that.

Welcome JaxTom and I'm glad you're doing so well with your weight loss. There are a lot of supportive people in this forum who will give you lots of advice if you need it on your journey.

That is a different way to eat and I am glad that it is working for you. Please take care of yourself and make as many healthy choices as you can.

I used to drink a lot of diet pop, but am trying to switch totally over to tea, (iced not hot). It is working slowly, I couldn't do it all at once. Marty

Congratulations on your success--I also believe keeping carbs to an absolute minimum is the way to go. However I would really think about the diet sodas. Aspartame is not the perfect sweetener Monsanto wants you to believe it is. It breaks down into methanol, a neurologic toxin. Drinking straight methanol will make you go blind or deaf. One occasional soda probably will be harmless, but a ton of them could have unexpected results. Rush Limbaugh used to drink a caseload of diet Snapple before he went deaf for no apparent reason. I don't know if the two were linked, but why chance it when the chemistry speaks for itself. How about considering maybe plain seltzer or maybe one of the ones with natural flavors (no sweeteners). When I'm craving a soda, it really does the trick--and it's cheap.

Howard

Welcome!! Sounds like you are doing well - just make sure you listen to your body and take care of yourself =)!

Welcome to the TDC! Congratulations on the weight you have lost so far, too. This way of eating really does work and it's great to get the feedback from others.

I think many of us start out just eating low carb without paying any attention to the calories and/or eating healthy. We come into this way of eating just trying to use a "diet" to lose the fat. I've learned that this way of eating works much better if I focus on eating healthy foods, so I would encourage you consider that in your food plan as well.

I used to drink more than a case of diet soda per week. My father worked for the local 7up bottler and I was raised drinking as much soda as I wanted. He got it free and brought home several cases per week. Of course, back when I was a kid I was drinking the soda with all the sugar. Once I started coming to this forum and learned that drinking the water is so beneficial, I started drinking water occassionally. Over time I just started drinking the water all day long instead of the soda. My skin is softer and I just plain feel better. I do still have the occasional can of pop, but it's not very often. A case lasts a long time these days, and I'm glad to save that little bit of money too.

Good luck in your journey!

Welcome..you know, as yummy as your diet sounds, you are missing some vital stuff - veggies and salads. Our bodies really need those nutrients in order to be fully nourished and so that we have the vitality and health we need to function. Are there any you like that you could incorporate?

Just a follow up. 3 weeks later down another 10, total of 47 now. Waiting for the "big 50" (at 51 I get to use the 250 notch" !!)

Congrats on your lost. I would also try to drink more water and less soda. It really does make for better health. Try diluting your soda. At least half will be water Diet Mountain Dew and water is really good. Glad to see you hear.

hey tom! and welcome! i LOVE tyson hot wings. i eat em a couple times a week yum

Hay Tom:

I'm a Florida Girl myself. Welcome aboard! I see you got the lecture circuit above so I will just say welcome and glad this Way Of Eating/Life is working for you. Hope you found a way to get those veggies in..........Good Luck to you and Congratulations on you loss so far!

welcome to the club! (no lectures from me) if it works for you..do it. you can modify and add in healthy foods as you go along. I also drink a lot of diet sprite, and i eat the low carb products available to me, in moderation, of course. Good luck on your journey!

JaxTom,
Congrats so far. I share the doctor scale feeling. Got down to the 250 notch and recently got to the 200 notch. Just try to restrain yourself from the celebratory WOO HOO while in the Dr's office. You could scare the medical assistant like someone I know.