Hi! I am new to this site, but not so new to low carb dieting. I stumbled onto this site yesterday and I hope it will be an encouragement to me. I'm a 51 year old female. I have had a weight problem most of my life. I have gone up and down, mostly up. I have found that in the last 5 years or so, it has been increasingly hard to loose weight. I have decided that I HAVE to lose this excess weight and KEEP it off. In the last year I have lost almost 50 pounds. It has come off very slowly. I can live with that. I have managed to not gain anything during the holidays, which is a first for me. My problem is, I think I have messed up my metabolism to the point of completely confusing my body. I have switched back and forth from low carbs to slim fast this whole last year. If I would get on a plateau with one, then I would switch to the other. It seemed to kick start me into losing again. I hadn't lost anything since August and I was totally discouraged. I decided that after the holidays I would get on a low carb program and STICK to it. I started this last Monday and quickly lost 3 lbs. I am determined to keep the low carb way of life now. I am encouraged by the letters that I have read and the articles that I have seen on this site. Later, Patsy G