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It's been nearly a year since we have checked in on Suzy to see how she is doing after reaching her goal and maintaining it. I recently caught up with her, still cheering others on at her favorite low carb newsgroup, and asked her to bring us up to date on how things are going.

Some of you, my dedicated fans, know that I recently lost my job, and that I'm pretty bitter about it. After all, when I asked why I was being let go, I was told that I obviously didn't like working there, and that I didn't really want to continue at that company.

SugarBane from St. Louis is 5’ 1" tall and 37 years old. She began her low carb journey weighing 225 pounds and wearing a size 28. By following the Atkins program SugarBane got down to 155 pounds and was wearing a size 12 prior to her first pregnancy and the birth of her son last summer. She is now pregnant with her second child, and is currently weighing in at 185 pounds and wearing a size 18. Her goal is to weigh 135 and be a size 12.

Last time we continued our discussion of the history of diets and dieting by talking about the first low calorie diet plan, and about the beginnings of counting calories. We also looked at diets that were based on 'magic pairs' and on special food combinations said to promote weight loss because of some supposedly long-forgotten-but-now-rediscovered chemical connection between the two foods. These connections were said to somehow fool the body into absorbing less nutrients than the individual foods, eaten separately, would provide.

Every now and then I get a success story letter that leaves me saying, "I can't improve on that." This is one of those cases. Here is a letter I received from Dee in Iowa about her and her husband Lee’s low carb success.

Amazingly enough, you can find mazes of maize, and walk through them, searching your way from one end to the other, with nary a kernel passing your lips.

I've been on low carb many times in my life, but when I started trying to lose weight in 1996, I finally stuck with it. I weighed 208 when I started. In December 1998 I got down to 137. I've been maintaining ever since then.

We've been discussing the history of diets and dieting. It may seem obvious to you that the idea of the calorie, at least as it pertains to dieting, must have been with us since the beginning of dieting. However, such is not the case. As we discussed last time, it wasn't until the 1890s and early 1900s that chemists Wilbur Atwater and Russell Chittenden did the initial work of measuring food as units of heat that could be produced by burning it. But from the get-go, the calorie concept has never been nearly as scientific as it may appear.

Anne from Tennessee is 54 years old and 5' 4" tall. She has been following the Atkins program for six years.

Our low carbohydrate way of life is not new, dear readers. Last time I told you that the world's very first diet book was a low carbohydrate plan written in the mid 1800s by William Banting. Banting was told about this approach to obesity control by his ear doctor, Dr. William Harvey. Dr. Harvey said that he had heard about healthful advantages from a diet low in sugar and starch while he was in Germany and Paris. He related that he had traveled to attend a lecture given at Stuttgart by a celebrated physician and professor, Dr. Niemeyer. Dr. Harvey had also gone to Paris to hear a certain Doctor Bernard report on using the diet plan for treatment of diabetes.

Kristina from Indiana is 5' 5" tall and 46 years old. She started her low carb journey weighing 178 pounds and wearing a size 16. She currently weighs 148 pounds and is wearing a size 10. "I started with Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution and Protein Power," Kristina told me. "Now, I am drifting toward The Zone and Protein Power."

It's bound to happen. You're going away on vacation for a week or need to take a business trip for a few days. You'll be in a new city or visiting relatives who might not be familiar with the way you eat. Don't fret it, you can maintain your low carb lifestyle with very little effort.