Heya, fellow LC'ers,
Well, I have been on the Atkins induction diet for well over 4 years,
now, and it really worked for me.  However, I am on a plateau that I
cannot break.  See, about a year ago, my then-girlfriend said I was
too skinny, and she made me carb for the entire month of February.  I
was happy at 195# (down from 270#) (I'm 6'2", so 195# was a perfect
weight), but apparantly, she wasn't.  So, I obliged (like an idiot).
She bought me all kinds of food that I haven't been able to eat for
the 3 years before that, and I enjoyed it, but I gained 30 lbs.  She
was happy, but I wasn't.  Felt bad, looked bad, and kinda felt like a
low carb traitor.  Anyway, after we broke up, I started trying to lose
the weight I had gained during that month of unrestricted eating, and
couldn't do it.  It has been nearly 8 months since the breakup, and I
haven't been able to lose a pound.  I have been exercising and eating
less than 10 carbs a day, but the flab hangs on.  
The point of all this:
Last night, I was looking around on ebay, and saw one of those ads for
carb blocker pills.  I laughed at it as usual, but I decided to do a
search for "carb blocker pills" and the word "bullshit" on google.  I
ended up reading a thread on some fitness website that mentioned
something called R-ALA.  The person had been taking it before carbing
(5 days of carb restriction, 2 days without restriction each week) and
this stuff actually kept him in ketosis, even after loading up on the
carbs!  Apparantly, this stuff will make muscle tissue accept a LOT
more sugar than normal, and greatly reduces insulin resistance in fat
cells.  It also puts your mitochondria into overdrive.  Could this be
the cure for plateaus?  I certainly hope so.  I have done a lot of
research on this stuff in the past 24 hours, and so far, it looks
GREAT!  Now, don't get me wrong.  Even if this stuff works, I am NOT
going to go off half-cocked and carb myself to death, but it may help
out when I eat my semi-regular meal of sausage/pepperoni, cheese, and
sour cream.  Not to mention my after dinner dessert of sour cream,
cream cheese and splenda with some sort of extract mix (cheesecake
without the eggs and the baking).  After eating these kinds of meals,
I get the standard "carbo shock" of an insulin spike and consequent
sudden lowering of blood sugar.  Supposedly, this kind of food is
really low carb, but there must be some sugar in it somewhere, becuase
a little while after I eat it, I can't keep my eyes open!  Anyway, do
some research, and if any of you try this stuff out, post your
results.  The best way to research it is to google search "glucorell",
which is the name of the supplement after it was patented.  There are
a lot of forums out there, mostly fitness oriented, that talk about
it.  So far, it looks like a miracle.  I ordered 240 caps for me and
240 for my roommate last night.  I will let you know what happens.  We
will both be doing some carbing over Easter (yes, I cheat 3-4 times a
year for a day or two), and I want to see if this stuff will keep me
in ketosis even after eating some kind of garbage food.
Take care, and stay off the damn sugar!
Captain Darwin
270/225/195