Geez, it seems I've tried about every plan out there. Mostly the past 6 years have been devoted to Atkins and Protein Power. I dabbled in some other plans, but always those with very low carb levels. I never did South Beach or similar plans because I was convinced I had to keep my carbs down to 20 - 30 grams a day.

A little history. Last March 27 (my 50th birthday) I weighed 151. My all-time high was at least 190. The last actual scale reading was 187, but I know I gained more after that reading, and probably more than 3 pounds, but 190 is a nice round (I'll say!) number.

I was able to lose about 40 pounds, down to the low 150s, and maintain there with relative ease. I work out strenuously 5 to 6 times a week, both weights and cardio.

Then, from the end of March last year to around September, I gained 20 pounds. WTF? No change in menus or workouts. Started feeling dragged out, always sleepy, always achy. With all the exercise I was doing, you'd think I could bound up a flight of stairs two steps at a time. Nope. I would trudge up, and then have to almost sit down because my legs felt like jello.

From the research I did, I felt the problem was hypothyroid or adrenal in nature. My doctor did tests for all kinds of things, but said everything was normal. On paper, I was healthy. In person, I was a wreck. He thought it could be menopause, so he referred me to a gyno. She did the tests, found I was nowhere near menopause, and said my only problem was that I wasn't working out enough. She told me to pretty much drop the weights and instead do high-intensity cardio (75% maximum heart rate) for 60 minutes 7 times a week. I did that for 15 days until I couldn't do it any more. I felt worse than ever, and didn't drop a single pound.

So, I went to the Women to Women Center here in Maine. I spoke with the NP for more than an hour and showed her my test results for thyroid and cortisol. She said I'm definitely hypoT, but said she would bet the farm that my problem is really adrenal in nature and that if I can heal my adrenals, the thyroid will take care of itself.

She recommended that I do Michael Thurmond's "6-Day Body Makeover" for a jumpstart and then Schwarzbein. She wanted me to read both the first and third books, but to actually start with the plan laid out in the first book.

I just finished the 6-day thing yesterday and have lost 5 pounds. Good. Nasty fluid retention. I feel better, but no way would I do that plan for any longer than 6 days. I could only eat 2 ounces of chicken breast (no salt) at a time, and there was no added fat and no other type of protein. Yuck.

So today I start Schwarzbein. It's sure going to be hard for me to eat all those carbs. From the charts in the first book, I'm to eat 30 carbs per meal (I consider myself to be in the "Active" category). I don't have to have snacks if I don't want. Still, that's a minimum of 90 grams a day. That's more than I typically eat in 3 to 4 days!

There you have it. I'm studying the book and poring over the food selections. This forum seems to be a little slow. Not too many people on this board following TSP, huh?

I'd love to hear from some of the veterans. 90 grams of carbs a day and around 1800 calories (the NP's recommendation, though she doesn't really want me to count calories) seems like way too much. And yet I know people lose at that level.

Looking forward to chatting with you all about this new plan!