Hi Everyone
I just love this site and was so happy to find triple digits. I'm sorry, but when I read the posts from people that only have 20 pounds to loose I get really depressed. I started Atkins on March 13th or 14th then went on vacation and messed up over Easter. Now that I'm back home I'm back on track and doing pretty good. Just wanted to check in with all of you and I'm sure I'll get to know you before long.

Mary Ann

Hi, Mary Ann! I know how you feel (about people with what seem to us as "small" amounts to lose), and it is nice to have a place for people who have a longer way to go.

Welcome -- you'll fiind a lot of support here, and some day YOU'LL have only 20 pounds to lose

Hi Mary Ann..

Welcome to the "Big Losers" club

Yes, I agree. People with 20 pounds total to loose or less just can't understand what it's like to be this big.

Easter was hard for a lot of people. You did great by getting back on this WOE. Keep up the good work.

Dee

Yep, us triple-digiters share experiences that others seldom can truly imagine - we are unwilling members in a "faternity". We bring with us a whole range of problems - both health and physical as well as social and mental - that the "little leaguers" don't have to contend with, at least to nowhere near this degree.

But, to be fair, the folks that "only" have a "few" pounds to lose - say especially the 10 and 20 crowd, have a whole other set of problems. They have frequently spent years being "this close" to their goal and never finding it. That creates it's own stresses and miseries that we have generally been spared by the shear fact of being so far away for so long. Plus, we can usually see pretty steady progress whereas they frequently see very slow progress with very prolonged stalls. In addition, their trials and troubles - which are VERY real, especially to them - are often downplayed and dismissed by those of us with lots of weight to lose.

So we must do both - seek and provide support and encouragement from others in similar circumstances AND seek and provide support with others that are in very different circumstances. That is especially true for us because someday we hope to have the problems they have and we will have just as much, if not more, troubles coping with them unless we learn from those dealing with them now beforehand.

Cheers!

Thanks Guys,
I didn't mean to sound like I was coming down on those with only a few to loose. I just wish I was there. Believe it or not, I can remember back that far to where I only had 20 to loose. I am in the process of re-reading DANDR and picking up more as I go along. I have one more week to go in induction (since I restarted after Easter) I just can't get those sticks to go past "small". I read from one of Nats threads that it is probably because I drink so much ( at least 3L/day) I will probably go down a little on my daily carbs for a short time. Right now I'm hanging at around 20.
Well, all for now.
Take care
Mary Ann

You don't WANT the sticks reading much above "small" - anything more is almost always a sign of dehydration.

Also, try to keep your carbs right in the 20g range and try to have the vast majority of them from allowed, green leafy veggies. Much lower than 20g and you won't be getting the micronutrients that you need and that cannot be packaged in a pill.

Keep the Faith!

Welcome to TDC, Mary Ann...

...lots of helpful and caring folks here with much to share.
Let's get smaller together!

Donald

Thanks William for the stix info,

I am nearing the end of induction and starting to think about OWL. In reading the book again it said to base your carbs on your stix readings. I think I have only read small once, make that twice today was small. I usually have trace. I've been loosing but just don't want to get caught in the trap of thinking I'm doing the right thing and not. I seriously doubt about the dehydration part since I drink a minimum of 3 L/day of water plus decaf coffee and other no carb no calorie drinks. I keep track of everything in FitDay and even though it shows I am lacking in some nutrients, when I add the multiple vitamin I'm taking everything looks good.

Well, time to go feed the hubby.
Thanks again,

Mary Ann