Hi everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself to you all, as I plan on posting and posting and posting on this board throughout my weight loss journey. I've bee lurking for some time and everyone here seems so nice and thoughtful that I thought "what the heck, I'll join, too."

Anyhow, I'm BlondeGirl. I'm 23 years old and live in central California. I currently weigh 180lbs, which is an awful lot on my 5'2" medium-large sized frame. My goal weight is 130lbs and I am very, very dedicated to reaching it.

I've struggled with low carb eating recently, though it has worked wonders for me in the past (you know, last time I was actually AT 130lbs). I thought that since I had lost the weight I could go back to my old habits and BOY WAS I WRONG! So yeah, here I am.

I've read the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution time and time again and from cover to cover, and it is the low carb plan I try to follow. With the help of Ketostix I find that I get into induction fairly easily but losing weight while in ketosis is not so easy for me. Because of that, I have spent the last two months (or so) doing the yo-yo low carb diet (you know, the one where you low carb for a few days until you become discouraged, eat an entire pizza, then swear you'll low carb again because you feel horrible for eating that entire. large. pizza.).

Like I stated before, my ultimate goal is to reach 130lbs, though I've got a few goals along the way, as well. These would be: 165lbs, 150lbs, 140lbs, and 135lbs. I've got small rewards planned for myself upon the completion of each of those goals, as well as a huge reward (new wardrobe!!!) when I reach 130lbs.

So yeah, that is me and my diet related info. in a few (perhaps a few too many) sentences. I'm so excited to be a part of this community and hope that I can get to know many of you!

Hi, and welcome! It sounds like you know what to do to succeed and stay there this time!

I haven't been around here long enough to know all of the answers to your questions, but I will tell you to get out a tape measure and measure yourself! I think most people end up with more satisfaction by doing that than weighing. This WOE has a way of putting on muscle while at the same time taking off fat, and sometimes inches lost show up more easily than the weight, so don't get discouraged!

Thanks so much for that suggestion, LilaCotton. I have my handy tape measure sitting next to me, as a matter of fact. As I am counting today as "day 1" of the induction diet, I weighed and measured myself this morning. I'm probably going to wait until next Monday to weigh/measure again, as I do tend to get discouraged if I'm not losing weight every 5 minutes (even though I KNOW it's not really possible to do that).