cool-- thanks for the advice! i kinda had the same thing happen to me-- got back to college and got way to skinny-- 90 lb....yeah, it was gross, my legs looked like toothpicks, my bras were loose, and my face looked kinda drawn-- i flipped, esp since curvy women are in now and i had this hunch that my crush liked women with a bit of meat on them....so i started eating cereal/milk and tons of nuts and just went binging--i felt so out of control, bloated, and felt really fat/unhealthy so i got on the LC wagon . surprisingly, the weight came off fast though (maybe it was mostly water?)-- how long did it take u to drop back to 93?
i still feel like i have too much fat (i want muscle!) What kind of weight-lifting do u do? Like bicep curls or something? i'm trying crunches and push-ups right now, but nothin so far =)

Did u not gain weight when u started bc pills though? I heard nearly all women gain like 10 lbs! I was worried i'd have to go back through induction and then would be scared to leave again, or that it may not work the second time around....

LOL first of all, even if you did gain weight on the pill, I don't think you would need to re-lose it. But no, the BC pills out right now have improved hormone ratios that they don't make women gain weight like the original BC pill.

I'm def. not trying to lose any fat, just add muscle.. so I use the machines at the gym and in my dorm I use free weights. Every other day so your muscles have time to repair.

I am trying not to get obsessive with the scale, so I dont know how long it took me to lose that weight. Body weight fluctuates day to day. I was wondering though, how long did it take you to get to where you are from 165? And you did straight induction w/ no cheats? Were you always 165? My weight right now is around the weight I've been up until college, so I was just wondering, cause of that set-point theory (you can't get past a certain weight where your body is used to being.). I'm pretty sure I'm at mine, or at least I hope I am!

well, i just want my clothes to fit, u know =)...it'd suck to gain like 10 lbs and have everything feel tight....

I was 165 when i was younger--like junior year of high school, and then i lost the weight gradually-- went to 120 for a while and then to 100 (and then dropped to 90 so went crazy and went back to 120). When I went on atkins this winter, I was around 120 and the thing is, i sort of did induction without cheats--like i did it clean and then later found out i wasn't clean (found out egg drop soup has so many carbs, that i was eating too much cheese, etc, that nuts weren't allowed) so i read the book really carefully and then did a clean induction. i think everyone has several set points-- 165 was one for me for a long time (no matter what i ate/dieted/binged, never changed)...and then 120-125 was it for me for a while, and now it seems like 95-100 is another point... weird, uh?

i wonder how long it takes to build muscle....probably a long time...

Hey rose-- thanks for the tips! always nice to hear from someone who has success.... (oh, just to clarify, i don't have lanugo but had heard other people in the forum talk about it so had just inquired)
mind if i ask a question? did u reduce your fat percentage while adding carbs? I mean, won't eating high fat/high carb be unhealthy? any advice on how slowly to add back carbs?.....5 g a week still or would it be ok to move to 10 g a week?.... i guess my prob is that i eat a lot as it is (cal wise, and also i just feel full!) and its hard to add more food.....i'm not sure what to cut out-- like, if i start eating more veggies, do i reduce my meat portions?

Gee, I'll pop in here, how many carbs a day are you at now?

Did you actually do OWL or stay on induction all the way? Cause Owl is when you up your carbs, now that you are 2 pounds from goal, you should of already reintroduced several carb foods forbidden early in the plan.
There is a thread here, titled foods prior to maintenace, ( something like that :>) have a read through it.

Cheers Kathy

yeah.... i sort of did induction with unintentional cheating (didn't know all the rules/miscalculated carbs) so decided to do a clean induction--in that process, i reached my goal weight...so, i decided to do "owl" with a twist by adding lots of veggies.... ended up dropping below my goal weight (haven't updated stats)....i'm at about 30 carbs, or more (i don't really count, just eat tons of veggies cause i love veggies), and am trying to figure out what to do now-- i'll def check out that thread, thanks!

thanks kathy-- that was actually really helpful! I guess i forgot to add that besides veggies, i've also added a ton of cheese (i love cheese, and need the calcium cause i'm mildly lactose intolerant) and tofu and all--i see now that i really should include more other foods, but i'm a bit nervous-- don't want to get a major increase in weight. Plus, i'm in college on a meal plan and so berries/nuts aren't available, and tofu is scarce....maybe that's why i turned to veggies and cheese besides the fact that i like them so much. Any other thoughts on how to bring back carbs slowly?-- i did get some of those shakes, and have tried those this week...low carb products are so expensive though and not really close by for me =) so i feel trapped into massive veggies or a major carb overload like the regular bread or pasta offered in the dining halls

Trustycat, I hear ya! I'm not on a meal plan but I am rarely in my apartment so I eat most of my meals on campus. Plus I am a poor college student so I can't afford the LC goodies, and gosh cheeses and nuts are pretty expensive too (plus, like you, I do not tolerate dairy well) So I have trouble getting enough veggie carbs from the limited offerings at the dining areas. Most of their veggie offerings are drenched in sauces so I have to stick to salad veggies and I really wish there were more options for me. How are you doing by the way? Maybe you could try fruit? I personally hate most fruits except bananas (and those are definitely out of the question), so I dunno what I'm going to do when I reach that rung.

Hi Rose, thanks for the post. I am really scared to up my carbs and was wondering if you could elaborate on how you did it because I have been below induction level carbs for a couple months now (I began to climb the OWL ladder after reaching goal in late fall, but reinducted after the holidays and have stayed on strictly ever since, honestly never going above 10-15) and now that I need to raise my carbs, I'm afraid my body has adapted and I cannot raise my carbs even a little bit without the bloating, headaches and weight gain I got from eating high carb. This week I am using veggies to get to around 20, I am guessing 30 as my CCL(I'm pretty sure it's low) Did you have to up your exercise when you raised your carbs? I was able to do moderate exercise on induction, but now I only weight train. Should I start cardio as I introduce more carbs? Or Lower calories (I eat 1400-2000, usually 1500-1700 most days) and fat? I haven't been lowering my fat (around 65%) because I love fatty foods. Is this bad, or do I only have to worry about that when I start getting around 30 gm of carbs? And how should I know if a level is causing me to gain weight? Is the initial gain just water weight/bloat, and I need to wait a week? SOrry if I'm asking soo many questions; I was doing it right the first time but now I think I screwed up my metabolism by staying at such a low level of carbs that this time around it is different for me. Thanks so much, and congrats on your successful maintenance!

Thanks for all the tips, Rose! It says you joined the forum in Aug. 2003- but when did you start lowcarbing? When did you reach goal? Your stats are impressive, I hope mine will be a success story as well.
One more question though- how do you know that you've reached your carb threshold? Many people say that when they first increase their carbs, they put on some water weight. How long do you wait to see if it's actually just that initial water weight gain or if you're really gaining weight? Or did that not happen to you?

Hey rose--thanks so much! That is very encouraging-- and quite impressive! I have a question for you though-- what are "good" fats? Like olive oil and nuts? What about mayo--good or bad? =) Also, just a general thing, everyone says tuna is a fatty fish but the label says it has zero fat?--so confused Also, what are "lean" meats?--like turkey and chicken? Are eggs good or bad? (haha, sorry for so many questions)
Believe--i came to the conclusion that my weight was prob too low for my height/natural status and that was why i was having a reaction to carbs. So I've been eating A LOT and reduced exercise, and have gotten to about 105 (prob a lot of water weight though cause i haven't really gained inches). And i saw your other post-- just to let you know, i am incredibly bloated as well! Not in the face, but mostly in the stomach (i look as if i'm pregnant at the moment) I think it happened cause i ate too much cheese though, cause i know i'm sensitive to dairy--also, maybe upping the carbs too fast had something to do with it. Weird that u and i got the same symptom though, huh?