GIYF.

Hi Lisa,

The best suggestion to you is read everything you can about it.  Read the
archives of this ng and you'll find everyone's experiences already posted

book about as many low carb plans as you can.  Then pick one that best suits
you.

Nobody can answer your questions about how low you should go - if you're
going to do low carb, do it right.  Choose a plan and follow the
instructions to the letter.  There are quite a few people who do their own
thing and then claim that the plan failed them; if you're going change your
life for the better, it's worth doing the right way - whichever low carb
plan you choose.  If you decide to do your own plan, you still need to read
everything you can get your hands one so that you can design something that
will be effective for your needs and that you can live with from now on.

There should be no "afterwards".  This is something you do for life - not
just for weight control, but for better health.  Should you treat your plan
like a temporary diet, and should you go back to the eating and lifestyle
habits that made you fat in the first place, then yes - you will.

Best to you :).

Is being thin and without health problems what you would consider safe?

TC

Hi Lisar, welcome to the group!

I've had VERY good experience with low-carb.  Deciding to try it was the
best decision I've ever made, not only for weight loss, but for overall
improvement in health (dramatic for ME).  When you are asking how low
you should go, are you asking about how low the carbs should be or how
low your weight should be?  

Generally speaking, you will regain weight no matter WHICH diet you go
on if you go back to eating the same way you did before losing the
weight.  It's that simple.  Regaining is not a hidden, nasty after-
effect of a diet, it's just basic body chemistry.  Also, on low-carb,
you might gain an additional 5-7 lbs if you suddenly start eating a lot
more carbs on a regular basis because the emergency glycogen store in
the liver will get refilled, and each molecule of glycogen has about 4
molecules of water bound to it, but that would be WATER weight, not fat.