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Well, you've encouraged me to start today, and I'd appreciate any further tips you all can give me along the way.

I bought 2 Atkins books this morning before work, and the first thing I noticed was the link that Dr. Atkins notes between weight gain and certain medications -- especially Hormone Replacement Therapy and blood pressure medications. No other doctor recognizes that fact.

I worked for Weight WAtchers for many years and was successful with keeping my weight down until HRT, and then it went out of control. I no longer take those pills, but it is awfully hard to get the weight off once it's on. The new WW doesn't seem to heop -- it's too liberal.

BTW, I noticed the medication induced weight plateaus when I worked for WW. HRT and Prednisone were the worst. The people would swear they were following the diet slavishly and still not show a loss, and often a gain at the scales. Once I went on HRT, I found the same problem. I am no longer on it (I had been told that it was necessary for heart health -- totally bogus) but I still find it hard to take off the pounds that have packed on.

I have to admit that I am not following WW any more. WW is excellent for younger women. I think I still would have gained weight had I continued, but not as much as I have. I used to watch the other leaders and receptionists starve and cheat before the monthly weigh in, so I know others had problems too. And the older you are, the harder it becomes.

I was on anti-depressent several years ago and I gained weight on them. I'm not on them anymore, but the weight is still here and hard to get rid of.

I just restarted on Monday. Thankfully, I am no longer craving pie! LOL It was still difficult to walk past the vending machine with those Grandma's Lemon Cheesecake cookies staring at me, but I did it. I know it gets easier down the road.

Read the book all the way through before starting.
Drink lots of water.
Take your vitamins.
Stick with it! The first two weeks are the hardest.
Carbolite bars and candies are sent from Heaven, but eat them sparingly. LOL!

Good luck with it. Allow me to suggest taking a multivitamin during your program. Don't have to run out tonight and get them (I didn't start taking them until six weeks into my program) but it is a good idea to ensure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs now that you will be eating less foods.

Don't get the cheap "One-a-day" vitamins at the supermarket. Get a real comprehensive multi-vitamin, the kind that requires you to take three a day. You might need to go to a health store to find them. I use the Complete Nutritional Plan by Rainbow Light. It is food-based and has about 60 vitamins and minerals and all sorts of herbs and bee pollen and stuff like that. I definitely notice a difference since taking them and now I don't have to worry about not getting certain vitamins that I might be missing.

They costed me $30 for a bottle of 180-tablets (60-day supply) but the way I look at it, it's fifty cents a day. Certainly when looked at that way, it's worth fifty cents a day to ensure I am getting all my nutrition.