3 years ago...275 lbs and unhappy. I went on low carb for 8 months and dropped 80 lbs. I found a wonderful man that makes me happy...and loves to eat carbs. 2 years later I went back to 234. I have been trying to shed these pounds since the beginning of the year. Today I am at 210 and really trying to get to my goal weight of 175. I love how I feel and how great clothes look on me.

Junk food is not such a problem...I miss mashed potatoes and sandwiches. I really want to win this time.

At work we are doing the biggest loser. currently I am in second place and very close to first. This Friday is our final weigh in and I am super close to winning $200. I worry that once it is over, I will have an excuse to cheat.....

I do not get support from my most of my family. They do not understand. I am here where you all understand to make this work.

wish me luck....it has to happen this time!

Holy crap what a huge accomplishment!! Awesome job!! Keep up the good work....

You've gone this far... cheating will not be worth it! As you know, it's sooo hard to get back on track after a cheat....

not going to wish you luck. that is not going to do it. you can do it and you can do it for yourself. you've done it before you can do it again for life. i am a third timer (at least) so i know the struggle, but no excuses no whining (except occasionally and momentarily). we can do this one pound at a time.

Missing mashed taters? One trick I use to do for Thanksgiving back when I did all the fanfare of that dinner - do a big batch of mashed cauliflower and add a single boiled/steamed/however you do your taters for mashed, potato. It imparts enough flavor and adds just enough of that "starchy-creamy" to tame that "I'm being deprived!" monster.

Just remember your portion size (i.e., an entire kettle is not "one portion"! more like 1/2 cup or so) and if you crater and drown your mashers like I do, just use melted salted butter instead of gravy (unless you have a solid low-carb gravy recipe).

Sandwiches? I prefer turning them into salads. Pastrami, provolone, cuc and tomato with ranch in romaine...yum!

I can't do the flax route but if you look around this site, you'll find several flat bread recipes that would work as a bread substitute. Or once you get into maintenance, there's plenty of actual low-carb bread recipes here as well (ASSuming you tolerate them well). Low carb doesn't mean "never again" as long as you're willing to do it yourself (i.e., bake) vs. relying on companies that nudge and fudge numbers all in the name of selling you a product for profit.