Hi, I was 33 when I joined this site, I am now 35 and have had success with Atkins 7-10 years ago, as well as restarting several times over the last couple of years with a major plateau that took the wind out of my sails...Now armed with better knowledge of how to shake those inevitable plateaus I hope this time around will bring even more weight loss. I need to lose 80-90 more lbs to be at my "ideal" weight. I don't put a great deal of stress on that number though, I simply want to feel better, have more energy, and look nice in my old "skinny" clothes. I want to dance again, and feel desirable. This summer has brought many new challenges to overcome, including a diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis (a very painful bladder disease) that changed a LOT of what I'm allowed to eat. I intend to stay true to a low carb high fat approach, just with the necessary dietary adjustments for my condition.

Here are my past mini goals that were reached in 2010:
27 lbs by Thanksgiving= 240 lbs *reached December 3rd*
10 more lbs by New Years Day= 230 lbs *reached December 22nd*

Updated mini goals for 2013/2012: app. 2 lbs loss per week average,

230 lbs by September 20th
225 lbs by October 2nd
220 lbs by Halloween
210 lbs by Thanksgiving
199 lbs by Christmas/New Years Day

188 lbs by Valentines day
180 lbs by March 25th (my B-day)

Now I realize that the goals will be met only if I can maintain a steady loss of 2 lbs per week average. So I may need to adjust these numbers in a couple of months as the weight loss slows a bit. But I am going to try to shake things up each time I have a slow or a stall in weight/inches reduction.

Good Luck to me and to ALL my fellow companions on this journey to better health!