[Hinoki Cypress]

Bravo, Sam! I also have lost 51 lbs since April on the Atkins Diet, and enjoy the heck out of filet mignon, eggs, bacon etc, 3x day. When I do eat pastas, I can drop the weight from them quickly, and continue on with my weight loss regimen. Dang, I do still miss some of those carbs.

The only downside: my cholesterol has jumped from 212 to 248. My doc wants a "lipid panel" done to see what's up with HDL and LDL quantities. Smalll price to pay, actually, and it's easily controlled with food changes and meds, I hear.

[jennyp]

The only downside: my cholesterol has jumped from 212 to 248. My doc wants a "lipid panel" done to see what's up with HDL and LDL quantities. Smalll price to pay, actually, and it's easily controlled with food changes and meds, I hear.

I didn't get a lipid panel before I started the diet so I don't know what my baseline was, but here are my numbers:

JennyP's numbers since going on a low-carb diet

Date	Mos. into diet	Weight	BMI	Total	HDL	LDL	Total/HDL	Triglycerides
10/20/99	0	163	24.8	unknown - wish I had tested beforehand
4/21/00	6	147	22.3	244	76	158	3.2	48
3/20/01	17	156	23.7	241	74	149	3.3	90
5/15/02	31	154	23.4	219	78	128	2.8	66
6/09/03	44	141	21.4	233	77	143	3.0	66

After losing 1 lb per week, I plateaued at 17 lbs below starting weight. Then I drifted upwards over the next year to around 8 lbs below starting weight. Then I cut out ice cream for dessert (we couldn't resist giving ourselves bigger & bigger portions over the months!) & my since then my weight has drifted back down to 23 lbs below starting weight. I also switched to a canola-based margarine, but recently I couldn't find any; perhaps that's why my total cholesterol number came down last year but then has drifted back up.