I am not using Protein Power, but I am thinking about switching from my general low carb plan (inspired by Taubes) and doing a formal plan with stages. After years of Weight Watchers and low calorie dieting, I hate counting with a fiery passion, but I am beginning to realize that I probably need to do it again so I can start gradually upping carbs into maintenance. I like Protein Power so far - I'm not quite half way through the book.

Anyway, the calculation for finding your ideal weight seems very useful. It helped me get real about my goal. I had planned to lose down to 135 and see if I could go further - into the 120's where I was for about 5 minutes when I was a very depressed, anorexic 22 year old. Well, it turns out that in spite of the BMI calculator's insistence that 120 is within a healthy range for a 5'5" human being, it wouldn't be a good idea since I would have to sacrifice lean body mass. After crunching my numbers, my ideal weight is 132-142. Now, this could be bunk! But I think that the Eadeses were onto something here, and I think I will consider myself finished losing when I reach 135.

The other useful measurement tip is to average three measurements. I always have trouble measuring myself with a tape measure - it seems like it is different with each try! The solution is to take 3 measurements and average them. I will do this from now on.

Here is a link to the portion of the book that helps you calculate an ideal goal weight. (You will have to go forwards or backwards to get the complete directions.)