I am really enjoying this thread! Basically b/c most everyone here knows what it feels like to be overweight. There are just so many things that overweight people think about that others wouldnt normally think about- like how fat we look in pictures, the red lines from pants being too tight, trying to suck in your belly roll for hours at a time, etc etc... No one can really understand what this does to a persons' self esteem until they really go through it. So, when I was 2 pounds away from 200, the heaviest I've been my whole life at 24 years of age- I knew I had to do something. I had to sit down and honestly think of all the things I was stopping myself from doing (activities/events) just becuase I was overweight and selfconscious. When I finally figured out that my being overweight was keeing me from being the person who I wanted to be and doing the things I wanted to do, I started Atkins. Thank god I found a different way to eat/live- not only can I fit into my clothes with room to spare, but I finally feel good about myself- as well as having the satisfaction of knowing that I made it happen for myself. Atkins has given me self control- who woulda thought?!?!?