Hmmm ... that brings up another point. Many of us who've been low-carbing a long time are no longer following a rigid "program". It's not that we're breaking the rules, rather we've learned from experience what works, what doesn't ... and added a few things, possibly adapted from other programs, or eliminated otherwise "permitted" foods because experience has taught us certain foods may be fine for others, but not for us.

Before I knuckled down and decided to do Protein Power exactly as written ... I fiddled and diddled with a "homegrown" low-carb diet. I lost a few lbs, but nothing spectacular, then stalled out. And it was too tempting to cheat, and stray .. because there was no black and white GUIDE for me to follow, just a vague "cut back on carbs" mental rule.

I'm curious of the longterm success rate of low-carbers who start out not following a program and are just "doing their own thing".

Even though it's almost 2 years for me ... I do find it very grounding and comforting to return back to basics every now and then. Just do the program exactly as written and follow the menus in the book as a guide. It works wonders

Doreen