Personal Experience

A variety of Holiday articles presented by CarbSmart.com.

Here's something to ponder during Tax Month. On average, one teaspoon of honey is the lifetime labor output of twelve bees. Imagine that, twelve bees. I point this out to you in order to prove, once again, that things could always be worse.

Theresa from Florida is 5' 4" tall and 43 years old. She has been following the Atkins program since mid-September of 2001, and already lost 40 pounds, dropping from her high weight of 260 pounds down to 220 pounds. Last September Theresa wore a size 26, but she is now wearing 18/20s!

"What is this I hear about tweaking?" you ask. Well, at some point during your Low Carb Journey, you'll begin to notice that certain foods work better for you than others and some low carb foods that don't cause problems for other low carbers cause problems for you.

Mary from California is 37 years old, 5' 10" tall, and has been following the Atkins program since July of 2001. She has lost 59 pounds, dropping from 200 pounds to 143 pounds. Mary has reached her goal weight, and has reduced her dress size from a 16 to a 4/6!

Top O' the Morning to ye, boys and girls! Aren't we all Irish on and near St. Patrick's Day? Isn't it a law of our fair land? Doesn't everyone have to wear some article of green clothing, or suffer the pinching consequences? Anticipating that you have been hunting four-leaf clovers and practicing to do a proper Irish jig, I will now ask you this burning question: What's Irish and spends the summer outside the back door? It's Paddy O'Furniture, don't you know!

I'm currently hovering around 240 pounds," says Meg, "and still hope to lose another 50 to 60. My panniculectomy surgery (removal of the abdominal "apron" of skin) only took off 17 pounds, not the 30 that the surgeon estimated, but I'm okay with that, and I've lost a bit more on my own, though the scale isn't moving as much as I'd like due to the fact that I'm building muscle. I do have some hernias from previous surgeries which will have to be repaired at some point, so with luck my insurance will pay for a tummy tuck."

This may just be the sleep deprivation talking, so bear with me. It's 2AM, and inspiration has struck me in the form of a red-haired muse. And that red-haired muse? Mrs. Garrett from "Facts of Life," of course!

Diana from Illinois is 52 years old and 5' 4" tall. "I used to be 5' 6"," she laughed. "See what age and weight can do to you, besides giving you arthritis?"

CG from California is 43, and is happily married with two sons. She is 5' 5 1/2" tall and currently weighs 165 pounds, down 28 pounds from her starting weight of 193. CG's goal weight is 150 pounds, so she only has 15 pounds to go! When CG started low carbing, she wore a size 16, and she is now comfortable in a size 10. She would like to wear a size 8.

Are you prepared for it? Are you ready to face the armies of jelly beans, marshmallow peeps, and chocolate bunnies that are about to be marching down your street and are in the aisles of every supermarket from coast to coast? Are you prepared to face the horror of the Ultimate Rational Cheat Day!?!?!

Cyndee from Washington State is 40 years old and 5' 3" tall. Cyndee began following Protein Power plan weighing 260 pounds, and currently weighs 134 pounds. She is just seven pounds from her goal weight of 127. Cyndee has dropped from a size 28W to her goal size of 10, even though she has not yet quite reached her goal weight!