Hi. My name is Stephanie and tommorow begins my first day of of low carbing. I started Atkins last year and lost 12 pounds on it, but then switched to a low fat diet and after loosing only a few more pounds, I gained back those 12-14 pounds and then some. I have made the decesion this time to do it the right way, and make low-carbing not a diet, but a way of life. I have struggled with my weight since the beginning of high school and now that I am in college, I want to be healthier and not overweight. Any advice and support would be greatly appreciated. I am really motivated by just reading the success stories of all of you here. It is nice to feel like you have someone. At the moment I am 173 pounds and my goal is to be 120. I am looking forward to getting started, shedding pounds, and eating right!

Welcome aboard!

You will find that this forum is fabulous. I highly recommend that you start a journal (read the sticky at the top of the thread list). Feel free to peruse other people's journals to see what struggles they have had to face and overcome - you will get to face most of them sooner or later. Many of them VERY soon - Induction is not always a cakewalk (low-carb cake, of course!).

In particular, read quite of few of the Introduction threads - that will give you a GOOD feeling for what Induction is like and to prepare yourself for some of the common difficulties that people have and to also show you that they can and do get past those difficulties - not always flawlessly and not always without making mistakes that they get to learn from, but they get through them if they just stay the course.

welcome to the board

advice: water water water, read as many of the books as you can, and take advantage of your campus's weight room and free training advice. Gaining muscle mass makes the whole process go much more easily, it helps firm you up, and you can weigh more and still be a fashionable slender size.