Hi Bawdywench!, feel free to ask what you like! I see you've read my success story - thanks for all the nice comments. I've stuck with Atkins for 3 years now and I have pretty much stayed with the induction all the way through, even to this day most of the time I eat the same stuff I did at the beginning. I do allow myself days where I'm more relaxed about it all - a low carb chocci bar (or three!!), a big meal out(always low carb though!), but on the whole I always retreat back to induction most of the time - its my way of balancing out the times when I do "relax" So I probably have around 20 - 30g of carbs a day. But I enjoy what I eat and I like having the control and knowing what I can and cant eat. I've never been good at these "everything in moderation" diets

What I found strange was that as I was nearing my target (originally 140lbs) I didnt really know how to add more carbs and was scared I'd lose control if I added too many, so I just kept going with what I was doing. I went passed my target and went down to 126lbs where the weightloss just stopped, that was 2 years ago! So I suppose I eat a typical induction menu most of the time - although I have a tendancy to skip brekki and usually have a mid morning brunch instead. I had bacon, eggs and mushrooms this morning (11ish), I've just had a bag of macadamias nuts (its just after 3pm here) and tonight I'm having a salmon steak with broccoli soaked in butter.

!8 months ago I started to get menopausal symptoms and after a blood test was told I was going through the menopause AAAAAGGGGHH - I was only 40! My waist seemed to get a bit thicker, from 25 - 28ins, but I was then put on HRT and 10lbs appeared from nowhere and I started to feel fat and sluggish, so I stopped the pills. The weight came off again, but my waist still seemed/seems a bit thicker 26ins. I cant complain though, I remember when it was 38ins.

I had a tummy tuck last October (4 kids and yo-yo dieting took their toll) which helped, but I still feel as though my body is trying to become fat again, I dont know if its in my mind or whether this menopause stuff is taking over!

i had a quick "google" at the schwarzbein thing and at a glance it looks like a media friendly version of Atkins. as for the hormone and HRT bit, well I dont know. What i do know is that if HRT makes us put on weight then I aint taking it!!

jo