Hey fairchild, DO NOT, I repeat, do not go to 900 calories a day! Your body will think it is starvation mode and shut down your metabolism. Then you really will not lose any weight, if anything, you might gain some. Yes, it's hard when your live Atkins examples are male and have lots of weight to lose, but females are different and everyone is VERY different metabolically. Also when the TOM comes, you can expect to put on some lbs. due to water retention (I put on 2-3 lbs., I've seen other posters complain that it can be as high as 10 lbs!). But, be reassured that it all falls off afterward, and other posters have experienced a mini-whoosh afterwards (although personally I don't know about this, because I will not weigh myself before, during, and after the TOM). Happy LCing!