Have you tried other diets? Were they successful? I did low fat/calorie a few years ago using e-diets online. Starved, ate, gained.

How long have you been doing Atkins? Have you lost weight? Started induction in May, shifted rapidly through OWL and into maintenance after losing about 10 lbs. I've been on maintenance since fall.

How did you decide on this diet? Did a health professional recommend it? From my mom....in 1972, when I briefly joined her in dieting. I wasn't overweight then, didn't gain weight until the 1980's.

What do you like about Atkins? Compared to other diets? I like the fact that I can eat good, healthy foods without starving myself. Also, eating out in restaurants is much easier and more flavorful. I have also found that I can control my binge eating disorder (like bulemia without the purging) when I stay away from triggering carbs.

What do you miss or crave the most? I thought I would miss pasta and bread the most (I'm Italian), but have found that I don't miss them. I've lost the desire for lots of foods I used to crave all the time - sweets, starches, etc.

Have you relapsed at all? I lost 17 lbs the summer before last, then in the middle of the school year (I'm a teacher), after I'd lost the weight, I foolishly thought that I could go back to eating the junk that I ate before. Whoops. Wrong move. I gained it all back by the end of the school year (therefore, the induction in May I mentioned above). I now realize that this is a healthy way of eating (WOE), not a "diet" that you go on to lose weight. I have developed new eating habits, more like what I'm genetically geared to eat. I have put "candy, ice cream, etc." back into their "special occasion treat" category instead of into the "every day consumption" category.

Dr Atkins says you can meet the RDA for calcium on his diet by eating the kale, broccoli and cheese allowed on the plan. Do you eat these foods? Do you take supplements? I eat 3-4 oz of cheese a day, and broccoli at least once a week. I do take Ca supplements in addition - I'm menopausal (not taking replacement hormones) and my doc said to take 1800 mg a day in addition to what I eat.

Do you think you are getting enough fruits, vegies & fiber? Hah. I ate fresh asparagus for breakfast today, 3 cups salad for lunch, and green beans for dinner. I've been eating a small apple every day lately. Berries and melon about once every two weeks (bum them off my partner, I'm too cheap to buy them myself until they're in season). Before this WOE I would maybe eat some corn or green beans once or twice a week, and fill up on bread, pasta, and rice. Another good thing about eating this way .... caution, this might gross you out.... NO FARTING! Processed grains used to give me hellacious cases of gas, but the whole foods I eat don't do that.

What about the study that found that after 1 year the amount of weight lost on a LCD and a conventional diet were about the same? OK, so I have two choices to lose the same amount of weight -- on one I starve myself and am miserable (I used to try and convince myself that a growling stomach was good) and on the other I am never hungry and eat well. Hmm....

What about the claims that Atkins may be bad for your health (ie. kidney damage, cancer, heart disease)? The two physicals I've had while on this WOE have been better than the ones before. My HDL has gone up, my triglycerides down, cardiac risk ratio very low, blood sugar and blood pressure fantastic, thyroid profile normal, etc. After all, humans evolved eating this way. If it were bad, natural selection would have kicked in and we wouldn't be here.

How do you use this diet? Do you cycle through repeatedly? It's not a diet. It's the way I eat.

Could you stay on this eating plan for the rest of your life? I developed poor eating habits, due to the industrial world (easy and cheap to process grains and sugars) and as a result gained weight. I have succeeded in breaking those poor habits and returned to the healthy eating my species required. I plan on keeping the good habits around.

Do you have any existing medical problems? Other than I'm a klutz prone to falling off stages and bikes (my orthopedic doc loves me), I'm healthy as a horse.

What side effects have you had? Health, energy, great self esteem and lots of positive comments from my partner and others.