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I'm ready for spring. No, I'm actually ready for summer. I want to grill out and have delightful meals on the patio, punctuated by the cries of the birds and cooled by soft breezes. Unfortunately, when I got up this morning, the outside temperature was 22 degrees, and it wasn't much warmer inside since I'd forgotten to turn the furnace back on. (Boy, did I catch what for from my family for that!)

Tonight's meal takes advantage of two different spring vegetables, radishes and spinach. If you garden, you're going to want to plant both. Radishes are particularly easy. We had a neighbor when we lived in Hicksville, Ohio (yes, there really is a town named Hicksville!) who used to bring us over bunches and bunches of radishes each spring. I finally asked him why he planted so many more than his family could use, and he replied, "Oh, we hate radishes, but they're the only thing we've been able to grow." Evidently, even someone with a brown thumb can grow radishes.

Anne from Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia is 61 years old and 5' 4" tall. Anne has been following the Atkins program since October of 1999, and has dropped from her high weight of 246 pounds and top size of 24 to a current low weight of 173 pounds and is now wearing a size 12.

The Standard American Diet is now to be promoted in every aspect of school life, not merely in the so-called Health classes. Only "healthy" foods are to be mentioned in books for kids. Much mention of pasta, bread, and sugary juices; no mention of some object cutting through something else "like a hot knife through butter!" When they teach small children that milk comes from cows, what will they say comes from pigs?

Today is officially the first day of spring, and what comes right on spring's heels? BASEBALL! Monday is Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds, and it's a very big deal here. At this point in the season hope springs eternal, and we all KNOW that the Reds are going to win the World Series this year. There's a parade before the game, and both kids and adults cut school and/or work to attend the pre-game festivities as well as the ball game itself.

We've been talking about diet medications, and most recently, about Fen/phen. There seems to be a constant hunt for chemicals that will make one slim. Today we'll take a look at some of the herbal preparations for obesity that are vying for our consumer dollars.

Don from North Carolina is 62 years old and 5' 7" inches tall. Don began the Atkins program weighing 330 pounds, and wearing 5X shirts and 54-inch-waist pants. Today Don weighs in at 164 pounds, just 14 pounds from his goal weight. He now proudly wears medium shirts and 33-inch-waist pants!

Dale from Melbourne, Australia, is 55 years old and is 5 foot six inches tall. Dale follows the Atkins program. Dale does not weigh herself, nor does she want to, but rather Dale prefers to keep track of her progress by her clothing size until she is closer to pre-maintenance. Dale began low carbing wearing a size 32 and is currently wearing a size 24. Her goal is to wear a size 14/16.

In the process of collecting all this low carb food, I've tried a great many low carb specialty products. Note that I am aspartame-intolerant, so there are many perfectly good low carb products that I've never bought after reading the labels. Also, there are many products I haven't tried because I've already found something good in that category and therefore haven't explored further. Keep in mind, too, that tastes differ, and you may love something I hated or vice versa. So here, without further ado and in alphabetical order, are my picks and pans.

Christine from Ohio is 5' 2" tall and 36 years old. Christine has been following the Atkins program since May of 2001. She began her plan weighing 163 pounds, and is currently at her goal weight of 120 pounds. As far as her starting size, Christine said, "Sorry, I can't help you in this area. I was too scared to get a tape measure out! I do know I was in a size 14 jeans and now I'm in size 3/5. Whooohoo!!"