My husband and I are both volunteer instructors at a summer camp for children in horse 4-H. All year long I've been wondering how I was going to do at camp as they cook excellent meals--but they contain a lot of carbs! (Spaghetti...mashed potatoes & gravy...french toast, etc.) Part of me thought "what the heck--I'll just forget about Atkins for a week," and the other part said, "no way! you're not going to mess it up now!"

So--I packed a cooler full of legal Atkins foods along with a small propane burner, a couple of gallons of water (to drink, and also in case I burned the cabin down!) and all the legal Atkins snacks I could think of. My husband and I would both go to the lodge for meals--only I'd eat what I could and then give the rest to him. That way I could visit with the rest of the folks for a while, but then just slip away to the cabin where I cooked up my own meal. I made bacon and eggs, steak, weiners and pork chops and ate them along with a large green salad I had prepared at home. Other side dishes and snacks were boiled eggs--cheese--yogurt, Hansen's soda, pork rinds and peanut butter on celery.

I did splurge a little--a couple cups of popcorn and a small slice of watermelon. But--my carb count was still in the 20s by the end of the day so no harm done, and both snacks were bonafied treats after going without them for the past 6 months.

It worked out well and I came home a pound less than when I left. One word of caution though--be sure you know where the fire alarm in your cabin is located--mine didn't like me frying bacon and it went off in the middle of my preparations! Luckily no one was around or came rushing in with a fire extinguisher so I climbed on a chair and removed the battery very quickly!!!

Also--I found out that putting your tossed salad in a tight Tupperware container doesn't work very well. It must sweat or steam or something in there because it was rotten by day #2.

So--if you're headed to Scout camp, 4-H camp, YMCA camp or whatever--YOU CAN DO IT!