[Junrlaeh]

I totally agree with you... there's a LOT of BS out there. So, let's cut to the chase.

1. No one can eat unlimited portions of anything and hope to lose or even maintain their weight. Overeating is overeating. The "unlimited" means you don't have to limit yourself to 4oz of burger or plain boneless chicken breast (like some diets)... you CAN have more IF you're larger/hungry/etc. As one of our members used to say, "Just because you CAN eat a whole cow doesn't mean you should." IMHO, it's a semantics issue... and we overweight/overeater people see "unlimited" and think... OH BOY. But I believe the term simply means "eat what YOUR body needs", and not what "your mind wants".

2. ATKINS is actually 2 different things... the DIET, and the COMPANY. The diet is what Dr. Atkins developed. The company is what it became after he died... and what is now marketing those bars, shakes, etc. Just because it has his name on it doesn't make it special... or appropriate for everyone. You will hear warnings about these products because REAL people find they cause weight loss issues for them. You should try them, if it's important for you to have these items for your lifestyle/diet... but be cautious, and watch for wt loss problems. The only people I've ever seen be able to successfully use them are very large/tall/young men. So... go for it, but just be willing to ditch 'em if necessary.

3. You don't want BS, so I'll say it. 8 to 9 pounds for a man your size isn't all that much in your first month. You screwed up. Those 5 days where you "totally splurged" probably set you back by two weeks. You took yourself out of ketosis and replenished your glycogen stores... so on top of those 5 days you now have to add 3 to 4 more days getting back into ketosis. PLUS I'm sure you gained during the 5 days... so now you have to relose those pounds. Yup... you lost at least two weeks of losing weight. So really.. you lost 8 to 9# in half a month. It would have been more probably, had you actually been following the Induction Foods List for those two weeks.

You don't want BS? Get the book. Read it. Get the Induction Food List. Follow it.

To accelerate the weight loss... do NOT take days off, be sure you get the 12 to 15 net grams from the foundation veggies every day, drink 64 oz of water every day, get moving/be active, watch the limits on things like cheese/cream/artificial sweeteners, keep a food journal so you KNOW and you're not GUESSING at your carb counts and finally, get involved here. The support from others is the one thing you can't do yourself. You need to be part of a group... like here. The daily give and take are so important to successfully changing your lifestyle.

If you do all of those things, you will lose weight. How much? Well... as much as you possibly could between now and the wedding. You can't lose more than your body will allow. So concentrate on the plan... let the weight loss happen and know that no matter where you end up on the day of the wedding, that you are the best you could be because you did all that you could. You can't ask for more than that!!

Also... have you thought about how you're going to handle the holidays??? It's not too soon to start planning for that, wrapping your head around the fact that THIS holiday season is going to be vastly different from all of the past ones. If you associate the holidays with food... time to change that. Look for other ways to celebrate and mark the season. Go into it determined to stay the course. I don't mean that you'll "try"... I mean that you will DO IT.

I haven't said this in a while... but it seem appropriate here:

Weight loss happens in the head.

Change the way you think and you will change the way you act.

There... I don't think there was any BS in there!

Anything else? LOL

Tril