"What Is a Whoosh?

     The term for this phenomenon was coined by, Lee Rodgers circa 1995 after losing 12 pounds overnight. I had been following the diet diligently counting carbs and staying well within my CCL (critical carbohydrate level). After experiencing no losses in scale weight or inches for several weeks, I awakened and reluctantly got on the scales one Saturday morning and I was down a whopping 12 pounds. Talk about breaking a stall. Boy howdy! Of course I got on and off the scale several times to be sure it wasn't a fluke. It wasn't.

     I was at once elated and frightened. I discussed this miracle with Lynne Axiak who didn't recall seeing this phenomenon. Although quite happy with the long awaited loss, I was nevertheless concerned. I went over my daily food diary trying to find anything that could explain this whoosh phenomenon of losing a significant amount of scale weight overnight. In re-reading the original "Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution" and "Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution" I found vague references to losing inches without losing scale weight, but nothing was discovered that matched what I had experienced. So, The Whoosh as a weightloss phenomenon was born.

      When one loses a significant amount of scale weight, seemingly overnight, (~ 4 pounds) and said loss cannot be attributed to glycogen water loss, isocaloric deprivation or illness, the phenomenon of significant overnight weight-loss is a Whoosh phenomenon. The loss phenomenon typically follows a long period of no losses in scale weight. However, the loss phenomenon may follow some loss in inches. However, no one can adequately explain why a whoosh phenomenon occurs, but those blessed with one never forget the experience and continually long for another.

      Superstitious lowcarbers have begun hunting for a mythical creature called The Whoosh Fairy(tm) as the perpetrator of this magnificent deed. To adopt your very own FREE Whoosh Fairy(tm) CLICK HERE. Please remember that a whoosh fairy(tm) is a FREE spirit. You can't buy whooshes. They come to those who work hard at following the guidelines of their chosen WOE-WOL. Good luck and God bless.

     An ode to The Whoosh Fairy appeared in Alt.Support.Diet.Low-Carb Newsgroup and can be found at Ode to the whoosh fairy(tm) The poem made me laugh so hard that I asked for permission to give it a permanent home. Hope you like it too.

Lee Rodgers