Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, and yes, as the title says, I've hit rock bottom. I have put it off going back on Atkins for three years now, but at my doctor visit on April 7th (two Mondays ago), I weighed in at 175 - my highest weight ever. (I'm 5' 1".) The numbers themselves devastated me, but my blood sugar and other health problems I'm experiencing has finally made me realize my weight and my life are out of control. I started Atkins in Feb. 2004 and quickly lost 30 pounds. I was down to 127 - my high school weight - that September, when suddenly I stopped losing. I couldn't figure it out what was wrong, and I didn't feel very well, so I went to the doctor and discovered I'd done nothing wrong on the diet - I was pregnant. A relative miracle, since I'd been told 13 years earlier that I would never have any more babies, and that was after going through fertility treatments. Atkins had gotten me back in such good shape, I got pregnant on my own. Well, once I found out I was pregnant, the doctor really got on my case about Atkins. There was a lot about it in the news at the time, and some doctors I've noticed are less "Atkins friendly" than others. I knew not to be in ketosis while pregnant, but the doctor insisted I go off Atkins completely and go to a nutritionist, who in the end, upped my carbs. I didn't think too much of it at the time, my focus was on the pregnancy - which was great despite gestational diabetes. I had a healthy baby boy the following May, and soon he will be turning 3. Once I had the baby, though, my way of eating simply went to pot. I lost ALL the pregnancy weight right after delivery, but within 6 months I'd gained back the entire 30 pounds. Here it is three years later, and I have put on...what? An additional 20? 18 on top of that 30? Needless to say, I'm pretty depressed about it. At my last Dr visit, he pointed out my weight was contributing to the things going wrong with me: breakouts and other crazy skin problems, tired and sluggish, and easily irritated. My monthly cycles are no longer regular either. It may sound ridiculous, but it took the doctor fussing at me to make me realize I'm never going to feel better until I actually "do something" about why I'm feeling so rotten. Of course, I've known what was wrong with me for a while, but eh, what can I say...I'm a stubborn old gal. *lol* So here I am, back to square one. My goal is to lose from 175 to roughly 125 (give or take a few pounds) and maintain it. Over the course of this week, I plan to reread the Atkins book. Refresh myself on the free foods, etc. I also have to get rid of all the non-legit foods in the house. (Shouldn't be too hard with two kids - a toddler and a teenager - hanging around the house. lol) Thanks for letting me share, and I hope to make lots of encouraging friends here. I couldn't have gotten so far as I did last time had it not been for the support of an Atkins forum. :wink: