I started the program in October 1999, and it took only about seven months for me to lose over 50 pounds. This exceeded my goal of losing my weight by July 2000. My goal was to surprise my family on a return trip to my native country of Sweden for my sixtieth birthday celebration. My family in Sweden hardly recognized me when I got off the plane. I feel great and very proud to say that I am keeping my weight down. My cholesterol went down, and I am no longer a borderline diabetic. If I can do this, anyone can. Even though I'm also a proud grandmother, it's nice to look too young to be a grandmother. If you don't believe me, just look at my before and after pictures! Thank you, Dr. Markham! • A glass of wine or light beer is allowed, but not by itself. Because these beverages contain up to 4 grams of carbohydrates, you must consume them with protein. Have your wine or beer with lunch or dinner or with some cheese as a snack. Mixed drinks are also acceptable as long as you use a sugar-free mixer. Example: vodka with sugar-free tonic. Believe it or not, distilled alcohols, such as vodka, rum, whiskey, gin and so forth, have zero net carbohydrate value. Therefore, distilled alcohols are the preferred alcoholic beverages of choice. • Get enough fiber. Adequate fiber intake is essential for healthy diges- tion. To make sure you get enough fiber, take over-the-counter fiber sup- plements or sugar-free orange-flavored Metamucil mixed into 8 to 10 ounces of drinking water. Drink up to 2 glasses a day. Refer to "Appendix B, "Recommended Products," in the back of the book for recommendations of fiber supplements. • Take a high-quality vitamin and mineral supplement daily. • Use the "ballpark" technique. When dining out or when in doubt, this is an easy way to make sure you eat the proper amount of protein and carbohydrates. Keep your protein choice (meat, poultry, or fish) to a por- tion about the size of the palm of your hand-roughly 4 ounces. Choose a salad or vegetable portion about twice the size of your protein portion. Ex- ample: Caesar salad with grilled chicken. (Remember to take it easy on the croutons, and don't eat any bread.) Reading Food Labels One of the most confusing things for most consumers is understanding how to read a food label and how what's listed there relates to our health. Now, with the recent flood of new low-carb products onto the market to serve more than 59 million low-carb consumers, food labels have become even more confusing. We will discuss how to read a "low-carb" label in a moment, but first we need to know the following information about the new food label provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The New Food Label Under regulations of the Food and Drug Administration of the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services and the Food Safety and Inspec- tion Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the food label offers more complete, useful, and accurate nutrition information than ever before.