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The idea that starch or fat can be blocked from digestion appears to be an appealing idea. For the past thirty or more years, these products have come to the forefront periodically with promises for a new generation of overweight people. Each time they come on the market, they offer up suggestions that you can eat what you want so long as you take their product. The product, so goes the promise, will protect you from the consequences of eating the blocked food group.

She won't appreciate my telling all of you this, but there is no getting around it. Glorious Spouse has a Significant Birthday this month. Birthdays being considerably better than the alternative, she has resigned herself to the fact, and seems very happy that I suggested we have a party to celebrate.

Dr. Gruber is a graduate of the Southern California University of Health Sciences, and has been in private chiropractic practice in Long Beach, California since 1964. She also received both a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree from California State University at Long Beach. She has written on health-related subjects for over 30 years, for several different publications. She lives in Southern California with her husband of 33 years. Both she and her husband follow and live the low carb lifestyle full time.

The combination of ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin is commonly referred to as the "E-C-A Stack" or just the "Stack". Many of the herbal products on the market contain ma-huang in combination with willow bark, a naturally-occurring source of a chemical similar to aspirin, and with guarana or kola nuts, sources of caffeine. There are also products that mix chemical sources of caffeine and actual aspirin in the mix with the ma-huang. Some people who take the Stack prefer using ephedrine/ma-huang alone, and accompanying it with a caffeine-containing beverage and a half an aspirin.

Mike from North Carolina is 43 years old and 5' 10" tall. He has been following the Atkins program since September 9, 2002, and in just 8 1/2 months has shrunk from 230 pounds and size 44 pants to 179 pounds and size 34 pants!

Ah, Memorial Day! It's not just a day off work. It's time to take the opportunity to remember those military personnel who have given their lives so that we can remain a free nation. Take a moment to remember our fallen men and women. Fly your American flag, and be thankful.

I don't know anyone who hasn't cheated on their diet. I'm not talking about just low carbers here, but about all dieters. Everyone I have spoken to, written to, or heard from has cheated on their diet at one time or another. Why do we do this to ourselves?

I like lamb. I like lamb A LOT. But as fate would have it, I am married to a non-lamb-loving man. He doesn't hate it, exactly, but he does nothing more than tolerate it unless I jazz it up with some sauce of some kind. Sauces he likes - the more sauce of any kind, the better. He likes it best when there's so much sauce that he can barely see the meat or fish under it.

Josie from Texas is 33 years old and 5' tall. Josie has been following the Atkins program since August of 2002. Her starting weight as 130 pounds and she was then wearing a size 9/10. In just three months Josie reached her goal weight of 115 pounds and goal size of 3/4.

For the past several months, I've been writing articles about the history of diets and dieting. Eventually, I would have written about Dr. Atkins. 'Eventually' came too soon.

Dr. Robert C. Atkins died recently, not of the heart attack or stroke that some many of his dietary opponents predicted, but from head injuries received from a fall on the ice outside The Atkins Center in New York. Dr. Atkins, who was 72, had just walked a mile from his apartment to the Center to go to work, as was his routine.

Trish Z. from Buffalo, New York, is 5' 1" tall. "That is, on a good day," Trish laughed. Trish began her low carb journey following the Atkins plan, but for the last twelve months has primarily been following the Stillman program. "I bounce back to Atkins for a weekend here and there for my sanity," she explained with a smile.

Spring and Easter always make me think of baked ham. That makes sense within the context of ham being a traditional Easter dish, but then I start wondering why ham is a traditional Easter dish. Hogs are traditionally slaughtered in the fall, not the spring. It would make more sense if ham were traditional for Thanksgiving or Christmas, not Easter. But then, how long does it take to cure a ham? Weeks? Months? I honestly don't know. Maybe ham is traditional for Easter because that's when it is finally cured/smoked to perfection.