At our New Year's Eve party, I was aghast to see an old friend, whom I hadn't seen for about six months. The thing that shocked me, was that the last time I saw him, he was actually fatter than I was. Now he was trim and had a nice appearing physical structure. When I asked his secret, he told me that he went on a low carbohydrate diet, and it worked wonders.

It was explained to me, that on this diet, calories don't count. You just have to keep your carbohydrate intake under 60 grams a day, and you will lose weight. The average, well-nourished person, eats between 350 to 450 grams of carbohydrates daily. Your body only needs about 60 or so, grams to function properly. When your intake exceeds this amount, your system turns a good portion of the excess into stored fat. When you eat less than 60 grams each day, your body makes up the difference by burning up what it needs from the fat you have stored up. Therefore, you must lose weight on this diet, and never go hungry.

To back up that last statement, referring to the menu I ate today, at the beginning of this article, there were only 52 grams total. As long as the intake is less than 60 grams, you must and you will lose weight.

All meats, fish and poultry, have no carbohydrates. They are all protein. All seafoods are very low in carbohydrates. Surprisingly, rich salad dressings, such as Cheese dressings, French and Italian, are very low. Mayonnaise only has a trace. Sauces, such as hollandaise are extremely low.

Mainly, you must avoid sugars, fruits, sweets and starches. Also certain vegetables like corn, okra, peas and potatoes. Don't let someone's birthday make you weaken, and eat a slice of rich birthday cake. One slice has 64 grams of carbohydrates. One waffle at breakfast, has as many as 110 grams. However, you can have as many eggs, ham, sausage and bacon as you desire.

I don't use sugar any longer in my coffee. There are a number of artificial sweeteners on the market, that are quite safe. Also, only drink diet soft drinks, the kind with no sugar. The total gram count for these is about 0.5 to the twelve ounce bottle. The diet sodas with sugar added is about 12 grans for twelve ounces.

I have been on this diet for ten weeks now. I have lost 35 pounds in weight and six inches off my waist. I intend to continue until I get down