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Great (love oatmeal stout myself, but nothing can compare with Chimay Blue). You have not told us, however, what the diet is, if not Atkins.

I have been leaning towards "Power of 10" which is based on weight lifting (slow motion), low carb (lots of water), and rest.

Can you recommend a book/plan?

The South Beach Diet is a good one.

Well that's just the thing. It's not an official plan that you would find in a book somewhere. During late March-early April, I did some research. I read the Atkins book, the Zone book, the South Beach book and several other books on low and normal-carb diets. I didn't adopt any particular plan mainly because I wanted to do this on my own, for myself. So I basically charted my own course and made adjustments along the way.

I have documented what I have done, keeping a logsheet of all my foods eaten and exercise. I might put a website together using that information and who knows, I might be the author of a diet book myself someday.

In a nutshell, this is what works for me: I get up at 5AM every morning and walk for at least one hour (more when I can). I then have a good breakfast of eggs and bacon (lately yogurt instead of bacon) to start my metabolism. If I am hungry, I'll have nuts and berries too.

At lunchtime, I have a very light lunch, usually have a tin of sardines in olive oil or a hunk of cheese and then I walk again. Usually for at least 45 minutes. (Sardines are great for lunch because you can pack them on the road - just don't forget the plastic spoon to eat them with.)

Dinner is usually 8-12 ounces of meat or fish with vegetables dripping with olive oil and sometimes butter. Olive oil has become a real mainstay of my diet, by the way. I have at least 2-3 tablespoons a day.

For snacks I will have nuts or cheese. Nuts can be smoked almonds, pistachios, cashews, macadamias or peanuts. Never more than an ounce or two a day however. Cheese is usually in 2oz cubes. I cut it that way as soon as I get home from the supermarket and wrap it up. Once in a while, I'll have beef jerky for a snack but I'm trying to wean myself off it because it does contain some sugar.

That's pretty much it. I drink at least 72oz of spring water a day. And I have tea flavored with Splenda usually in the morning. I used to be a coffee drinker but since getting up at 5AM every day, I no longer need it and find that I prefer hot tea. Then I have a beer or two (or wine) at night. That's sort of a bad habit (drinking it at night) but so far it doesn't seem to have impeded my weight loss efforts.

After dinner, I have absolutely no food at all until after my morning walk.