Dill & sage cause me mild allergic reactions (hives & stuffed up sinuses) that are inflammatory and cause me to hold onto water weight more than what the salt alone would cause. I still have pickles on occasion because I like them, but don't go overboard. But knowing it was just the pickles, and not a failure of the diet causing the weight gain, makes it easy to use it as a learning experience to help keep on track. In the olden days I would have gone off the diet and eaten tons of junk.