[Ryan.Stoeppel]

Hey Robin, and welcome! Congrats on deciding to make a positive change in your life!

The first thing I would say is never count anything out. If your desire is to weigh the 140 lbs you were at while in the Navy don't automatically discount it as possible! Will it take a lot of work to reach that goal? Yes, but if that is your desire won't it be worth the work?

I used to think that I was a person who would never have abs, much less those washboard abs every person secretly dreams of having. Those things that seem so unachievable to us we tend to build big walls around, convincing ourselves that they are out of reach. After learning that I told myself that I should stick to that secret dream, and I fully believe that I will achieve that goal in the future. Will it be tomorrow? No. Will it be next year? Probably not, but it isn't impossible. The thing I've learned is that nothing is out of reach if you put your mind to it though.

Making a goal for yourself is important, but just as important is mini-goals. Reaching your mini-goals will help to keep you motivated.

Make sure you are taking pictures of yourself and keeping track of your measurements as well. It is very difficult for us to see the changes in ourselves, so both of these things are very important, as you can compare side to side how you are progressing.

As for how long you can stay on induction, Dr. Atkins never mentions a time when it becomes critical to get OFF of the induction stage. However, you do need to go through OWL and Pre-Maintenance at some point. You cannot do induction the rest of your life.

Based on your brief intro I am going to assume that you haven't read the book Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution yet. I very strongly suggest that you either go to your local bookstore and purchase it or get it off Amazon.com and read it. Don't just read it, but understand it. If you are going to make this change you need to understand all the inner workings of how and why it works, and that is what DANDR helps you with.

If you have any questions make sure to come here and ask them. Lots of very intelligent people here who can help you out! And come here every day to check in and let us know how you are doing and how we can be helping to support you! We all want to see you succeed!

Good luck and welcome!

Ryan