New to Atkins, intoducing myself.

[enw8782]

Hi guys! I'm Nikki, a 25 year old stay at home mom of two/housewife. Long story short, due to unhealthy habits in the past, I was always very small (5'7" and my lowest weight was 105 pounds. WAY too small.) However, after beating a cocaine addiction, the birth of two children, and quitting smoking, I ballooned from a healthy 140 to my heaviest weight of 230.

I'm sure many of you know how depressing it can be to be overweight. My husband told me over and over "I love you, I think you're beautiful no matter what." But he doesn't know the shame of going to buy new clothes, putting on a size you don't want, and realizing you still look horrible in it. He also has no clue what I weigh. He is well built and at 5'8", 170 pounds, I'm ashamed to let him know that I outweigh him by quite a bit!

After trying (and failing) at calorie counting, I decided to give Atkins a shot. The idea of being able to unrestrict myself with things I love (meat, cheese, etc.) sounded great, so just this past Monday, I began induction. I read the online warnings about "carb crash" and feeling horrible, but truthfully, I have never felt better. I wake up with my children at 6 AM, energized and ready to go. I have more energy than I have in years. I feel GREAT! Did anyone else feel this way? A lot of what I read online was negative, but I love it.

In addition to feeling great, I have dropped eight pounds since Monday! I'm sure it's all water, but whatever it was, it's eight pounds less than what was on my scale less than a week ago! I'm so excited, and can't wait to get to my goal weight.

I stumbled upon this forum while searching for info on induction and decided to join. You all seem so nice, and it's wonderful to see somewhere where you can get support from others who have "been there, done that." I enjoyed reading the success stories, viewing the "before and afters" and know that one day, I will be posting there as well.

Anyways, just wanted to say hello and introduce myself! I look forward to participating in this forum with you guys!

God Bless!
Nikki

[sallyseachange]

Wow! Congrats on a terrific start, and a warm welcome to the ADBB. It's really nice to hear you're feeling so good on Atkins even right at the start. So many of us have a bout of the induction "flu" in the early days of carb reduction and I can tell you... you're not missing a thing there!!!

Post lots and keep us up to date as to your progress. We're all rooting for you!

[Bluebelt2007]

Hi Nikki, so wonderful that you are here. He have already accomplished and overcome a lot in life. You will do wonderful here and make it to your goal.

[dreamof145]

Welcome Nikki. Glad you've joined us. My advice is to go for it, don't look back. You'll be so happy in a few months and be on a new road to health and fitness. Take advantage of the wonderful people here and the great support that is offered. Make lots of friends and enbrace this new way of life. WELCOME.

[missdkendall]

Welcome Nikki. I totally understand your feelings. You will find so much help and support here. I have only been here for a little while, but everyone is so amazing. I feel better than I have in a long time. YOu will do great, adn we are all her for you

[Zarabelle]

Hi Nikki

Welcome to ADBB! Congratulations on your great start.

I also feel great on Atkins and have lots more energy. So glad you didn't feel bad at the start. It is grim having the flu symptoms in the first week so it's great you escaped them.

Good luck and look forward to chatting to you.

ZX

[2intenseSP04]

Hi Nikki,

I just started too. I started on last week. However, I became a little weak and now I am starting over. I think your story sounds so much like mine. I'm not married but my boyfriend is constantly telling me how beautiful I am. He does not know what it feels like to go shopping and not be able to find your size. He does not know what it feels like to not want to go on the plus side of the store. It's so many things that he does not know! I just want to be able to say thank you to him and really mean it. Well just wanted to say good luck and congratulations. I am starting over today so I will be on this journey with you.

[mitzimarie]

Greetings, Nikki

Welcome to ADBB!

I understand your feelings about weighing more than your husband. Up until about 7 months ago, if my husband and I had gotten on a teeter-totter, I would have sent him to the moon! He has trouble staying above 140 pounds.

I'm glad that you found us when you were searching on info about Induction. I would just like to remind you that the very BEST place to get info about any of the phases of Atkins is the 2002 version of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR for short). That is the book that we follow on this board. So much of the info put out by Atkins Nutritionals since the death of Dr. A has some fundamental differences to the book that Dr. A wrote himself. Check it out, if you haven't already.

Here are some other links that you may find useful. The first one is to a website that a lot of us use for recipes. The others are links to various places around the board. Good luck!

Linda's website for lowcarb recipes:
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html

Atkins FAQ forum:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard....isplay.php?f=79

Review My Menu forum:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard....isplay.php?f=50

Exercise Challenge forum:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard....isplay.php?f=51

Journal Chats forum:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard....isplay.php?f=31

Journal Stats forum:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard....isplay.php?f=94

[enw8782]

Thank you everyone! Why am I not surprised to receive such a warm welcome?

2intensespo4: Good luck to you, too! We'll be right here together and we'll reach our goals and never look back. Plus sizes will be a thing of the past.

Mitzimarie - Thanks so much for the links! I was not aware of any of those, except for Linda's Recipes, which I discovered instantly and I thank God for! *lol* Thanks for the info, I know it will help on my journey! (By the way, what a transformation! You look fabulous!)

[I_WILL_Lose_Weight]

Hi Nikki

I'm a little late to the welcoming, but oh well =) *hugs* I'm so glad you found us! I on the other hand have never been ... well, "small". I think my lowest weight since third grade has only ever been 156... I've always been a fatty =( But at least when I was slimer at 156 I felt better! And now I feel absolutely horrid that I have to keep going up a size because my thighs won't fit in my jeans!!!

I understand what you mean about the energy... for whatever reason, I seem to have more energy simple because I -know- I'm on the way to a healthier me, no matter how slow the pounds may drop. It just makes me feel better that I know in my heart that since I've made this choice this is the worst that it'll get and as I go along things will only get better. Good luck to you!