I had a rough first week or so on Induction -- terrible mood, fatigue, headaches, the usual symptoms. But with the support of everyone here, I made it through, and I am pleased to report that just as everyone said, I feel fabulous. I've lost loads of weight, I feel energetic, I'm in a great mood, my skin is glowing, and ... this is a miracle ... I am just NOT THINKING ABOUT FOOD ALL DAY.

This is an amazing liberation for me, a miracle. It is the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE this has happened to me. I'm not bingeing, I'm not starving, I'm not taking diet pills, and I just ain't that interested in food.

I wonder if other people have had this thought. I have been struggling with my weight, and I have been yo-yo dieting, since the age of eleven. I have been convinced, all my life, that there was something PROFOUNDLY WRONG WITH ME because I thought about eating all the time, couldn't "just have a little less," couldn't "just exercise a little willpower." I've been obsessed with food, obsessed with my weight. I've hated myself. I've been miserable. I have BEEN IN THERAPY to explore my "eating disorder," to talk about the "emotional" reasons I overate. I have been asked -- and have seriously tried to answer -- the question, "What emotions are you so scared to face that you have to hide them with food? Why are you afraid to be thin?"

Suddenly, I am beginning to wonder -- all these years, all that pain, all that struggling, all that self-hatred -- was it all just because I'm *oversensitive to carbohydrates*? Could it really be that simple? Could the solution really be that ridiculously uncomplicated? Could this really be it -- freedom from a lifetime obsession, a cure?

And you know what, everyone? On the one hand, I'm thrilled, ecstatic, full of hope -- but on the other hand, I'm so sad for myself, for that pudgy teenager who felt so inadequate because she couldn't stick to that low-fat diet, for the woman who kept starving and binging and studying all those books about how it was a "feminist issue," and trying to "write out the cravings" in a journal, and who would be unable to concentrate because she wanted chocolate and cinnamon rolls and fresh bread so badly -- foods that right now just seem, miraculously, like neutral THINGS in the world, not like some kind of Satanic temptation -- and I feel so bad about the waste of energy, and the misdirected effort, and, frankly, angry at all the people who told me it was MY FAULT (and stay away from those fatty steaks and that awful mayonnaise, young lady)! It makes me want to charge into junior high schools and rescue all those poor fledgling girl-women and say, "You don't have to go through this! There's a simple solution! Don't listen to what they're telling you about the food pyramid, it's going to make you nuts!"

Does anyone else find themselves feeling this way? As if they simply can't believe that it's all that simple, and that the problem wasn't that they were lacking willpower, or emotionally cripples, or spiritually unwell? Does anyone regret all the years they spent obsessed, feeling fat, dieting in misery, tormented by cravings?

I do.

We need to get the word out ... no one should go through that, now that we know better. What a waste.

Thank you, everyone, for the support you gave me to get through that first week. I shudder to think that I might have quit if I hadn't found this forum.

~SK

Congrats on your new wol!

Wow girl!!!....

I am one of thouse girls you are helping on telling me how I shouldn't suffer. I am printing your words to give me hope, you wrote all my fears, all the therapy, roads I have taken to understand "me", to understand WHAT WAS SOOO WRONG with me.

I did 7 days of the Atkins diet and all the cravings wen´t away, then I have to break the Ketosis in order to so a glucose test in two days. But all I am thinking now is..

Could this be it? and if it is, why is it taking so long for the world to understand that a lot of this now calles "E.Disorders" could be fix by doing this diet.

As I said, I am totaly new but your letter inspire me.. DO A JOURNAL so I can keep track of your sucess.

Very well written! Your thoughts are echoing what I have been thinking, it just amazes me that I got this big and it could have been avoided in the first place by cutting out carbs! I'm not going to let my girls go through that.

Congratulations on the weight loss! I've felt the same way since I started Atkins! All I could say over and over was, "Why didn't I do this sooner??". I knew many people who tried it and has success, yet I was still blinded by the "Low Fat/Low Calorie" way of thinking.

I was so excited by my quick and painless weight loss that I've been trying to convert everyone I know! Sadly, many are still starving themselves.

Good luck on your diet journey!

Vicki B.

Glad you found this WOE works for you. I had it figured out 20 years ago after reading a book called Sugar Blues. I went cold turkey on suger & carbs, cleaned out the cupboards, worked on the foods and upped the exercise. I lost about 30 lbs back then and was feeling fantastic.

Then someone significant came into my life and I put everything I learned aside so I could have a relationship with him and food was a part of it. On came the weight and I was back up the thirty lbs + some.

You know the rest of the story, up and down trying Weight watchers, TOPS, etc.

Now I have gotten back to what worked best for me. The lbs are finally coming off and this time they are staying off. We have to go through a journey to get to where we are going, some of us just take longer then others. Good on you for figuring it out. Welcome aboard.

It's great to be able to learn something the first time you experience it! But lots of people (like me) have to go through it over and over again before it finally sticks. I'm not only talking about weight-loss here, either.

I feel like weight loss is a metaphor for life - keep on trying until you get it right!

Liz

I hear ya loud and clear I wanna get some qualifications to for this very thing.
just dont keep beating yourself up for the years you missed out they are gone just be glad you found it now.

Hi Selena! I have been reading your posts and you are doing so great! I too have printed out your very good thoughts and will post them on my fridge. I notice that you "keep it simple" and I know I need that too. (and we are about the same in stats.) I do locarb but have never done induction and need to . I have really bad hypoglycemia and I know it would help but I have a hard time. Could you list your average daily menu especially including amounts of protein and fat. I would really appreciate it!! Au revoir Kay

Hi Kay, let's see ... yesterday for a late breakfast I had a tuna salad, about 8 oz, with a dressing made of about 1 T each of mayo and olive oil plus a little fresh lemon, mustard and pepper, served on a bed of a cup of spinach. For a late lunch I went out with a friend, so I don't know how much the steak weighed, but I'd guess it was about a 10-12 oz steak, and a couple cups of green beans in butter. Dinner was chicken strips fried in olive oil and chilis, 8 oz, and dipped in lemon mayonnaise, about two tablespoons. A couple cups of coffee during the day -- doesn't slow me down, I don't think -- and some chewing gum with xylitol (I don't usually have that, but my friend offered me several pieces during the course of the day, and I got worried that maybe he was tactfully trying to tell me that I had keto-breath, you know?) I took one of those fizzy multivitamins with minerals. And, literally, about 20 glasses of water. I don't know about everyone else, but I feel THIRSTY all the time eating like this, so it's easy to remember to drink water. So, tons of meat, tons of fat, green veggies. According to my calculations, this was more than 2,000 calories. I also did an hour of weight lifting in the morning, and my friend and I were out walking for about three hours. I was down another half-pound this morning. And I didn't for even a moment yesterday feel hungry or deprived, not even when my friend ordered and ate the crepes suzette. This was pretty typical, apart from the xylitol gum. Hope this helps!

Thanks Selena!! I think I know those fizzy mineral drinks. Is yours called Emergen-C ? Or something like that? Congrats on the 1/2 pound. Were you able to exercise right from the start even when you felt so awful or did you wait a few days? Have a great week and I will continue to follow your progress ....Kay

You expressed my own thoughts so well, Selena. It is that simple to have a good relationship with food when the food is capable of a good relationship!

Well said! But it is amazing how something that is so obvious to us, has other people shaking their heads, and thinking we're crazy. My two best friends, both big girls like me, constantly tell me they are worrried for me and my new unhealthy lifestyle. And they know I feel great, look great, eat great and a lot healthier than they do. I'm still hoping that they will change thier minds and give up the bread and potatoes.

Thanks for your post. I might print it off and give them each a copy.

Margie