True enough - failure is NOT FUN, and taking the blame for one's own failure is worst of all.

The friend who got me into Atkin's just fell off of it. He was 270 and I 280 when I started - but he stalled as I was dropping. I was eating outrageously - a pound of bacon w/ 4 eggs, etc, and still losing. He decided to eat less to try to catch me, and totally sabotaged himself.

I tried to tell him, "Dude, you need MORE cheese sauce, not less." but he just couldn't buy into it.

Anyway, he is now on a more traditional calorie-restricted diet. And I know he's going to hate it as much as I love Atkins.

Poor b~st~rd. I am grateful to him, though, for he pointed me in the right direction, even if he couldn't make it work for himself.