When I started Atkins three months ago, I could not pull a pair of 38 waist jeans up over my hips. Today, just for fun, I tried on an old pair of 36 waist jeans expecting the same result. Lo and behold, I pulled them all the way up, zipped and buttoned them! Yes, I had to suck in a bit but not bad. My non-scale goal is to fit comfortably in a pair of 34 waist Levis (or Wranglers, or whatever), so this is very encouraging!