The holidays and my vacation are in the books, so the day I returned, I immediately went back onto the Atkins diet. I had gained about 15 lbs. of weight back during the last 2 months, and considering all of the sweets that I ate, I'm surprised I hadn't gained quite a bit more.

I'm tired of people telling me that everyone that loses all the weight on the diet gains it all back, so there's no reason to go on the diet. What a fucking cop out. Please stop telling me this when I talk to you, because eventually, someone is going to get punched directly in the face. What's worse, it's usually people that I generally respect as well-educated and well informed. My opinion on the subject is that you can lose whatever you want, go off of your diet, and when a certain threshold is reached, jump back on the diet. It's really not that hard. Stop with the excuses.

I have to say that restarting Atkins is much easier than other diets. I really didn't dread the first day coming, and quite frankly, I've missed the ability to eat quite a bit of food, always feeling full, and still losing weight (3 lbs. since Saturday). I also really missed the steady energy burn I enjoy all day instead of after meal lulls in the late morning and afternoon.

And the fast food industry is making life much easier. I had the opportunity to try a Subway Atkins wrap as well as a Carl's Jr. Low Carb Six Dollar Burger. Both were outstanding. I thought that the Subway wrap was a bit overpriced for a relatively small meal, but when time is short, this is a great place to stop and get something that tastes great and is hot. The burger at Carl's is simply outstanding. Even if you aren't on a low carb diet, you should try a burger wrapped in a bunch of lettuce versus a bun. I actually think it tastes better! I love In-N-Out's burgers protein style, but Carl's burger is much larger and more satisfying. I hope these products stay around. They make this diet so much easier to stay committed too!