Health

Dale from Melbourne, Australia, is 55 years old and is 5 foot six inches tall. Dale follows the Atkins program. Dale does not weigh herself, nor does she want to, but rather Dale prefers to keep track of her progress by her clothing size until she is closer to pre-maintenance. Dale began low carbing wearing a size 32 and is currently wearing a size 24. Her goal is to wear a size 14/16.

Christine from Ohio is 5' 2" tall and 36 years old. Christine has been following the Atkins program since May of 2001. She began her plan weighing 163 pounds, and is currently at her goal weight of 120 pounds. As far as her starting size, Christine said, "Sorry, I can't help you in this area. I was too scared to get a tape measure out! I do know I was in a size 14 jeans and now I'm in size 3/5. Whooohoo!!"

Shannon from Virginia is 31 years old and 5' 3" inches tall. Shannon has been following the Atkins program since January 7, 2002. When she began, Shannon weighed 305 pounds and wore size 28 pants and size 3X tops. Shannon currently weighs 220 pounds and is wearing a size 20 pants and size 18/20 tops. Her goal is to weight 135 pounds and wear size 10's.

Thomas from Dublin, Ireland, is 41 years old and 5' 7 1/2" tall. Thomas has been following the Optimal Nutrition low carbohydrate diet by Jan Kwasniewski for 10 months, and has dropped from 95kg and a size 44 waist to 80kg and a 34 waist. Thomas' goal weight is 78-80kg.

February 14th, Valentine's Day! As usual, there was food. Chocolate candy, strawberries dredged in chocolate, chocolate cheesecake... Lets see what else can chocolate be put on to add to the carb count? Well, you get the idea!

Alicia from Alabama is 22 years old and 5' 8" tall. Alicia has been following the Atkins program for three months, and has slimmed down from her starting weight of 200 pounds to just three pounds shy of her goal weight of 150 pounds. Alicia began following Atkins wearing a size 18, but is now sporting size 10/12s. She would like to eventually wear a size 8/10.

Ruth Glick doesn't know it yet, but her family is about to become larger. After reading her cookbook, Fabulous Lo-Carb Cuisine, trying some of the recipes, and talking to her on line, I've decided to ask her to adopt me. I want to eat like this all the time, and I'd like to enjoy her company. She's delightful.

In my last article, I discussed the development of the diet pill phenomenon. This brilliant marketing strategy changed the course of the medical treatment for obesity by grouping together different kinds of drugs that might (or might not, for that matter) have some relation to weight loss, and then selling the patient all the drugs at once. The plan was enormously lucrative for the drug companies who manufactured the chemicals, and also for the so-called "fat doctors" who prescribed them. But before we put all the blame on the drug companies and the doctors, we must face a certain reality. The public was very willing to hear the message that overweight can be treated with chemicals.

Jennifer Eloff, author of "Splendid Low Carbing" has created a wonderful 14 page guide and menu of wonderful recipes for you to share on that special day. This free document is available in Adobe Acrobat format and can be downloaded here. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it here.

Nancy from Monterey, Tennessee did not start low carbing for weight loss. Nancy is 69 years old, 5' 3" tall, weighed 111 pounds, and wore a size 6 when she began Dr. Richard Bernstein's program more than six years ago to control her diabetes. Today she still wears a size 6 and now weighs 114 pounds.

In this series of articles, I've been talking about diets and dieting. We've looked at plans and paraphernalia, machines, food combination diets, calorie counting, meals in cans, and weight loss clubs. The easy answer to losing weight continues to evade discovery.

Low-carb shopping can be hard on the budget, particularly if you are purchasing hard-to-find or specialty items. Where should you look for your groceries, and how can you be sure you're getting the best price?