Hello ssibtain!

And welcome to this WOL (Way Of Life) and WOE (Way Of Eating.)

As for the carb addiction, most people report that the cravings actually go away after a very short while. I never thought I could live without my beloved beer and rice (love Asian cooking), for instance. Now I never even think about it! And this "chemical change" in my metabolism just took a few days! (Expect a few hog days in the beginning of Induction though, just ride through it and you'll feel much better soon.)

As for heartburn. I have never been troubled by that myself, but the issue has just been discussed on a mailing list I'm on and the general opinion is that heartburn goes away quickly with this WOE! It's the *combo* of carbs and fat that causes it. The less carbs you combine with your fat intake, the less risk of heartburn. Isn't that nice! (There are even some - non-Atkins, but "Inuit" etc "extreme" diets - people on that list who eat purely animal-based (no carbs whatsoever) and their heartburn is totally gone.) So, although you definitely need your veggie fibers/roughage acc. to Atkins plan, an idea might be to have them separately from fatter foods. (NB! I'm not a doc or expert, it's just a suggestion to relieve heartburn acc. to the info I recieved. Someone else might have another solution.)

Best of luck with your new you!

/gil