I'll try to give you some answers from my experiences with both the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet. Some people, maybe you, maybe not, but definitely me, have a low tolerance for high carb foods, such as pasta, white rice, potatoes, breads, sweets, and even things like fruit juice. If I eat some of those, my blood sugar spikes and I want to eat more and more of these foods - therefore, weight gain. If I eat a small portion of whole wheat bread and a small portion of the whole fruit (with fiber - not just the juice) the body has to work longer and harder to digest the "good" carbs and my blood sugar doesn't spike high. Atkins has you eat enough meat, eggs, salads, and lower carb vegetables to fill you up and make you feel satiated while keeping the carb count to 20-30 grams per day, which is very low. On this plan I felt great and had plenty of energy and lost 22 lbs. in 2 months, but couldn't maintain that strict way of eating. South Beach emphasizes the "good" carb foods like, whole wheat products, brown rice, beans, and less saturated fat in meats, butter, and cheese. I've lost 11 lbs. in 6 weeks doing the SB diet and feel that it is a healthier way of eating that I can stay on forever. SB does get a little confusing at times; they have updates where they add foods that previously were not on their list of foods to enjoy; some foods they promote are hard to find in all areas or are expensive. For myself, I'm sort of combining the elements of Atkins and SB. I make my own Whole wheat bread, stay away from lots of processed foods, and those chemically toxic bottles of Diet Coke/Pepsi/Mt.Dew/etc. - sorry, but I had to say it! I do put real butter on my morning toast but don't have any butter the rest of the day. I use olive or safflower oil in cooking. I start each day with 1 or 2 eggs with turkey bacon or my homemade lean sausage and I have a cup or two of coffee each day. I usually have a small portion of fruit during the day, but not eaten all at once. I take nuts and cheese for my snacks and keep dinner to a protein and salad or vegetable. I try to drink a lot of water each day and have just discovered that I like Crystal Lite diet drink mix - but I add more water than is called for as I like them weaker. And I don't drink it exclusively all day. My job provides me way more walking and physical activity than I want. I'm also dealing with menopause - which I thought I was completely through - arrrggghhhh! But I'm not on hormones and don't plan to be. When I used to eat too much of a high carb food like potatoes, I would feel like a big couch potato - no energy at all. When I stick to protein and vegetables, I feel better and have more energy. It just takes a while to get completely away from our old eating habits. I've said I'm going to post a big sign at home and at my office that says "REMEMBER HOW GOOD LOW CARB FEELS!" Hah! You might want to do some internet searching and read up on low carb diets in general and Atkins and South Beach in particular. This seems to be more than just a fad now - companies are investing in making low carb products, fast food restaurants are adding low carb menus and....Krispy Kreme doughnut stock has recently gone down!! LOL! If you have other questions, I'll be glad to answer if I can. Teresa

Sisto, you need to work with your doctor to set your own goals. Everyone is different. What is ok for one person might not be for another. That said, and just for the sake of conversation, as a pre-diabetic on no medication, here are the goals which my doctor set for me. Waking up (fasting level) 85-110 mg/dl Before meals (4 hours) 90-120 mg/dl 2 hours after meals less than 130 mg/dl My problem is hunger and pickiness as to foods I like. I eat quite a bit of peanut butter (6 carbs per 2T--watch out some has added sugar) and nuts which are high in fat and have carbs too, but I don't have a weight problem. Wheat Thins/Nabisco makes a flatbread which is 12 carbs for 2 crackers which I can melt some cheese on, making a good snack. Half and apple, glass of milk makes a good snack. Eating out, make a good choice, and if it's not a good choice, only eat half, take the other half home for another meal. Besides carb count, quantity eaten is important too. When half a croissant might be ok, a whole one might be over the edge. Sandwich, just eat half. I make soup and stew and use a small amount of barley for the carb part of the recipe. I don't miss pasta, potatoes, rice, and I do eat 1-2 pieces bread daily. I miss the quantity of fruit I used to eat. I miss the big 8 oz. glass of milk at dinner, which I can have but then something else has to go. I fail when the family goes out for frozen yogurt, because I have some too. I failed the other evening when the family ordered delivered pizza, but most of the time I do pretty good. We'll find out for sure when I have the next a1c test. Sorry to ramble on, but it feels good to share with people who are "in the same boat."

"his dog treats (which is chicken jerky/dehydrated chicken breasts) are all loaded with sodium" Tammy, I lost two dogs to kidney failure within about a year of each other and I highly suspect the jerky treats I was giving them was a big part of it. I discovered later they were very high in salt. I switched to other pet treats but (and this might sound a bit gross) I always licked them to make sure they didn't taste salty. Well it was just hard to get good quality treats without salt. So I decided to try and make my own, and I bought a food dehydrator. The only thing that goes into my dogs' treats is lean meat, no flavoring, no salt, nothing so I don't need to worry about it anymore. It's actually pretty easy. I get the butcher to slice up meat nice and thin then I cut it into smaller strips and put it into the multilevel dehydrator, switch it on until they are done. I keep a bag in the fridge (not even sure if it's necessary) and put other bags into the freezer to take out when the fridge bag runs out. My dogs love them, no added flavors or salt needed.

One of my doctor friends says a calorie is a calorie. You can eat 2 500 calorie candy bars and call it your calorie intake for the day or you can eat 1000 calories of lettuce. In his opinion, you should have the same result. I do think portion has a lot to do with it, I think carbs play a factor but the most important carbs that we should watch is the refined sugar carbs IMO. And the closer to natural that you can get food (and then you cook it yourself) the better it is for you. So much food which we really don't considered processed food has added sugar which is added carbs. And I don't think artificial sweeteners are any better than real sugar -- in fact if I want something sweet, I would prefer the real deal. We're dieting now -- sort of semi low carb. We're making good progress and are better with our food choices. Feathers -- I've never went with all those "mini meals" -- to be it's just meals and snacks and if you want to maintain your weight when you're off the diet you have reprogrammed yourself to eat 3 more times a day so after diet, it becomes a morning donut and an afternoon candy bar. IMO, learning to eat 3 meals a day that leaves your full and satisfied is the best thing you can do.