Hello Everyone. My name is Katie. I am really glad I found this site and am looking forward to researching all the information and advice in the forum! I guess I'll start a little about why I'm here and appreciate everyone who makes it through and responds!

I'm a 24 year old female, I've been overweight my entire life! Well, except when I was born up until I was 5! ha! Anyway, back in November 2011 I had a life changing realization that I was done being fat. This came near the end of my 4 year relationship with my ex. So, I started transitioning from eating like crap to eating healthier and becoming active. Since November of 2011 I have lost 100 pounds! I started at 315lbs and am now around 215. I am so far maintaining that weight. With my lifestyle change I changed the way I ate and viewed food, I mainly counted calories but then stopped because I felt that I was at a point that I was able to eat without eating because I was sad or bored or just because I felt like eating. Within the time of my lifestyle changed I did Paleo for about 2 months and lost 20 pounds. I got really bored with it and stopped but I was pleased with my results and felt so good. I just gave up because I ate the same stuff every day.... Literally!

Now since I have been maintaining my weight of 215 and not losing (and thankfully NOT gaining) I am trying to get 40 more pounds off of my body! I want to start paleo because I also want to start transforming my body by incorporating weights into my exercise routine. I have always only done cardio and it's time for change.

I am starting Paleo this coming Friday (7-12-2013) and I am nervous. I am a part time student and I also work part time and I have a pretty restrict budget for food. I am coming here for advice on how to transition into paleo with what foods, how often to eat, how to do cost effective meals, and whether or not to eat 6 small meals per day or 3. I remember when I did Paleo for 2 months I ate 6 times per day. It was pretty difficult to do because I constantly was munching which to me was a lot of work. I did feel good though and was never hungry.  Since I am starting in a couple of days I'm mainly wondering what foods I should start with. I have a list so far of Chicken breasts, tuna, Oranges, Almond milk and frozen fruits so I can do smoothies, almonds, broccoli, and so far that's all I have. 

I am sure there is more to learn about Paleo but from my basic knowledge is that it is all non processed foods, farily low carb, high fat, and high protein. I am not too concerned with any of those (Just yet) until I learn more but I'm not going to restrict my carb intake as I hear a lot of people are strict on carbs with Paleo. I've just made the conclusion from what I gathered about the lifestyle is that you get your carbs from mostly fruits. I by no means am 100% educated on all the details and feel as if the lifestyle is open to interpretation, so if anyone feels what I've said is completely wrong I'd like to reiterate that this is just what I've concluded from what I've read on the lifestyle.

So, with all that said I hope that I get some advice from the knowledgeable members of this forum and I look forward to reading other's posts!