Hi all...

I'm not sure if I've posted here before (major brain fade these days). If I have, please bear with me; if not, here goes:

Although I've known for a long time that I needed to make some changes, things weren't really clear until recently. Believe it or not, it happened when I was buying school clothes. No, not for my boys, but for me! I teach third grade and wanted some nice, professional-looking clothes for the upcoming school year.

Talk about depressing! I could find very few things that fit and that I liked. I seem to be dressing like my mother more and more. I'm only 40, and I'm certainly not ready to dress like an "old woman"! But...I know that at almost 280 lbs., there ain't gonna be too many cute clothes out there!

Anyway, I've been reading Dr. Atkins' book for awhile and decided that I'm going to get started tomorrow! I have exactly two weeks until school starts and have some free time to concentrate on what I need before I have to start worrying about what 20 third-graders need.

Gosh, this has been a long rambling letter. I didn't even know that I had so much to say. Thanks for "listening".

Any advice would be great!!

Lori

Welcome to the forum Lori!

Have you poked around in all the nooks and crannies? There's tons of info here.

Advice?

Don't think about it as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. Take as long as it takes to reach your goal. Only weigh yourself once a week and don't obsess on every twitch of the scale. Read lots of different low-carb books. Every time you fall off the wagon, just get back on. Look around you everyday and think of all the things you have to be grateful for.

How's that?

Karen

Thanks for the welcome, Karen!!

I have checked out almost everything here. Lots of stuff to digest, but I'll keep coming back and reading. I like the support that everyone gives each other.

Have a great day!!

Lori

Hey Lori! I started on the Atkins Diet on Aug 1st due to some serious "going back to school" motivation, too! Although in my case, it was more fear of sitting in classes filled with nubile, lissome 18 year olds Induction was a bit rough but rewarding! I lost 7 lbs and have tons of energy. And I can imagine you'd need the energy trying to wrangle 3rd graders all day. I'd stay on Atkins even if I didn't lose another pound. (Although I devoutly hope I do <crossing fingers>) You'll do great and this site is a goldmine of info! Good luck! Danielle

Hi Lori and welcome.

I can really relate to what you're saying. I turned 40 this year too and it really made me realize that I didn't want to continue down the road I was on. Nothing fit well at 223 lbs. I never had any energy. Even my kids were starting to complain that I was always tired. I decided to make a change when my doctor recommended the Schwarzbein Principle book to me. It is similar to Atkins but I think for me it's going to be easier to make this a permanent life style change. Like Karen suggested, read alot of different low-carb books. The Schwarzbein Principle is the one I recommend. At any case it helps you to understand better how all your body's systems work together. Very easy to read.

Good Luck.