Starting date: Aug. 6, 2006
Lost to date: 45 pounds

How much is enough? One of the lures of the low-carb WOL is the promise of life without portion control. No calorie counting. Keep the carbs low and you can't help but lose. Of course, even the esteemed Dr. A recognized that there are limits, and that calories count. But the much-touted "metabolic advantage" meant they don't count quite as much as they would seem to on the surface.

The real metabolic advantage, of course, is that you aren't as hungry on LC, and it's easier to feel satisfied. But there are some of us, and I, unfortunately, am one of them, who just can't lose on 1,500 calories or more a day--regardless of our weight, and regardless of how low our carb count. Might it come off eventually? The mathematics of the situation would say yes. But so slowly that few of us--or at least me--would have the patience to stick with it.

So I cut back. I try to listen to body cues--eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm not. It's not an easy thing to do after years of binge eating.

I realized as I woke up at 2 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep that it wasn't insomnia keeping me awake--it was hunger. I ate very little yesterday because I wasn't hungry; at 2 a.m., I'm suddenly starving.

I think I've got the signal thing down; now, I need to work on my timing.