Hi, new friends!

Today's my first day of keto. I'm no stranger to health and fitness (I love trying new workouts and diets), but I'm a keto newbie. So far, the most successful diet I've tried is the Tim Ferriss "Slow-Carb" diet. But even he concedes that keto sheds pounds faster, so I'm pretty excited.

I used to be really fit, but having a serious live-in girlfriend for two years now has made me complacent and lazy when it comes to eating habits. As such, I weigh in today at 180 and approx 21% body fat. I can do better!

My goal is to drop 20 pounds of fat and hit 12% (with muscle and water loss this means I'll probably lose 30 pounds overall, but I'll be trying my best to retain the muscle mass during the diet). After that I'm planning on intensifying my workout routine, adjusting the diet a bit, and putting 15 pounds of muscle mass back on. So my end goal is really to be 165 pounds at 12% body fat.

What are your goals like? Are you measuring weight, body fat percentage, body dimensions, or are you just going by look & feel? There's obviously no wrong way to do this -- I'm just interested to hear about your varied approaches.

Aside from the physical goals, I want to regain my old control and discipline towards food. It's so easy these days to let loose! I love oatmeal creme pies and I used to eat one a night ... sheesh!

While my girlfriend is going to eat healthy with me, she's not going to do keto. What are your mental motivators that help you get over those sources of temptation?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting healthier with you guys. This community seems awesome. Best of luck to all!