I'm back at it again. Its been awhile since my last post because I haven't been able to get this blog to work. But anyway here I am again back on the horse. I ballooned back up to 198 lbs back around Christmas and decided to begin trying once again to lose the weight. I decided to try the Atkins diet. Mark and I both. We have given up bread, pasta, sugar and pretty much all other carbohydrates. I honestly never thought I could do this. I'm Italian for goodness sake! But low and behold I have lost 13 lbs since January 13th. Not the results some people have seen on this diet but I'll take it. I am currently stalled at 185 which is what I was the last time I posted on here. I feel amazing, I'm never really hungry and I'm seeing real results. I'm hoping to lose at least 40 lbs by June 14th which is when Mark and I are going on a cruise to the Bahamas for our anniversary. He has lost 23 lbs! I'm very proud of him. He, like me, had an immense love for food. I still love food but I'm learning to love real food. Not all of these processed foods that are available nowadays. We eat eggs, meat, cheeses, butter. And I gave up drinking everything but water and coffee and the occasional green tea. I'm still learning about this "lifestyle" which is what it is for us. We can't go back to the way we were eating and expect not to gain the weight back. I'm a little discouraged at the present moment because I seem to be at a plateau and so is Mark but we are trying to figure it out. I've started exercising so I'm hoping that will make a difference. I've never been able to lose without it anyway. So I am at week 8 and I've lost 13 lbs which puts me at about a pound and a half a week. I'm sticking with it. I'm not giving up this time. I know if I continue this lifestyle I will succeed. I will lose this weight.