Well, we all fall off that frigging wagon. For me, it has happened way too many times to count. BUT.....the important thing is, you learn to stop the fall quicker and quicker and get back ON the wagon. That way you minimize the damage. I've been bobbing around in the low to mid 140's for months now, and while I'm happy that I have more or less stabilized in this range, my bad eating behavior does tend to slowly get out of hand, with a result that up I go again. I've just gotten better at monitoring myself and not letting it go too far when I've got carb or sugar creep. In past years I could go months, years without paying too much attention to reversing it. Now I mostly just go days before I get myself in hand.

As of Monday I'm back on strict plan and when I do this right, it works so magically. This is why I love Atkins. Do it right, you see results, and that's always encouraging.

The key thing I now understand about myself is that my continued success rests on keeping non-Atkins foods out of my house entirely. I know I should develop willpower, and to a certain extent I have, but I just know myself too well and realize that if the junk is here, I'll eventually succumb to eating it. No way around that, I'm sorry to say, but at least I know how to make this work.

So for you, a 7 lb. regain in a month is more than a bit of typical bloat. I would consider it a sign to get back to basics and be consistent with that for awhile, and the weight will come off quite nicely. It's CONSISTENCY OVER TIME that works best. I've seen this over and over.