Hello Everyone!
My name is Luke Fisher and I am new to this forum. I am 39, 6'1", was 282 with a (tight) 40" waist. Since all of my height is in my torso, I thought I looked like a snowball on stumps with a 30" inseam! I am a pretty muscular build, but with a thick layer of fat everywhere. I have always had a huge chin and love handles, to put it mildly. I have done Pritikin, where I got down to 160, I did the Hitchiker Starvation diet, the Amphetamine Boogie, the Excercise till you look good diet, lots of things. Never did it stick for more than a year or so. I finally gave up and just ate less french fries! I did my physical early april. My Doctor told me I had better lose 50 pounds quickly and do something about my triglycerides of 565. GULP!. OK Doc, what do I do? He said he had seen much success with some of the low carb diets working on both the cholesterol and the belly, so I said I would try. He suggested Atkins and a couple of others. We even bought other books. Gonna garage sale them one of these days...I was already at 274 when I did that physical...but 40's did fit. I now wear a 36 comfortably and am at 227(!!!YIPEE!!!) I am kind of a role model among my freinds, I have helped 4 people get started on Atkins.
My estranged brother does Atkins...he was always heavier than me, but last time I saw him he was at 190 or so when I was 90 pounds heavier than him...I remember sitting in a restaraunt watching him eat a Bacon Burger with no bun! I thought he was gonna die of liver failure and arterial sclerosis! Now I know better.

If you are new to this or just investigating, READ THE ATKINS BOOK! No foolin'! Read the Atkins book, cover to cover. Read this Forum, wait a few weeks on trying the bars and the candies and the ice cream (thank the Gods!) Get the peepee strips and be careful! get in the kitchen and cook your own food...make food be kind of "Enjoyable Drudgery"(tm Luke Fisher, 2003) (just kidding...) know what you are feeding yourself, know why. Find an article on prehistoric human food and eating patterns. You will see why this thing works, and why it is so important to know what happens and why!
Good Luck and skinny butts to all!

Luke
PS tha attached pic is of me at about 275 and my 16 pound cat Sasqautch. He has 28 toes. He has a hard time finding a good spot on my much smaller belly, so he misses the old me.