So apply now for your Carb Credit Card. Go ahead, make one in your mind. Personalize it with that dream outfit, the family portrait where you don't take up more than your share of the frame, or an activity you wish you could do.

Give it an expiration date: the time you think you will reach your goal weight. Maybe it's really close, and you are almost paid off. Maybe it's a bit into the future, and you need to buckle down now.

Make it a gold card, or a platinum, special, members only card. It's important. Put your name on it, proudly, and sign the back with a flourish. It's time to be a responsible consumer.

What sort of interest rate do you get? Good question. If you've abused your body credit in the past, you get a higher rate of interest. You do have to transfer the current balance. A large amount on the account will lower your metabolism, and increase your interest rate.

You certainly want to watch that rate. You can lower it with exercise, and by consistently paying down the balance due. You raise it again by slacking off, putting too much on account, and not making your payments in a timely manner.

Every day you get money put into the Carb Account. That's your allowance for the day. This allowance, your Carb Level for Losing Weight, is designed like a good budget.

A sensible budget is just right. If you live too restrictively, you suffer from a constant burden of deprivation and longing. This sets you up to overspend in vulnerable situations. You need to establish a level that lets you enjoy yourself. This has enough leeway that you can have careful days where you can go a little under, and you get credit put on the account. Go over, and you run up a bill.

Because your body works on metabolic laws that are tougher than any banking laws. There's no hiding under an assumed name, or taking off to a country with no extradition. Your body is with you no matter where you go.

By treating your carbs like money, you get a whole new perspective on spending. You get to ask yourself if the leftover cookies in the breakroom are really worth the exorbitant price. You will take the time to cook some low carb treats when you look at the amazing carb savings that you get. We've all been in a situation where someone urges us to "break the bank" on certain foods. Do you really want someone else to decide how to spend your valuable carb dollars?

Your very own Carb Credit Card will create accountability in your head. By imagining your carb dollars, you can correct the unreasonable thinking about food that got you into debt.

You can tell your credit card company that your latest mall spree "didn't count." You can say the new outfit you bought for your birthday is "something they owe you." You can pay more than you expected for that new gadget...and then buy everything in the store while you're at it, because, "I've already blown the budget."

Does this reasoning work with the credit card company? Heck no. It won't work with your Carb Credit Card, either.

So the next time you are tempted, take out your Carb Credit Card and look at that special picture you put on the front. Whether it's issued by the Bank of Atkins, or South Beach One, or some other Credit "Carb" Company, you know the rules of your eating plan.

Is this temptation really important enough to run up that much of a debt? How long will it take to pay off? How will you feel when you see that statement, day after day, in the numbers on your bathroom scale?

No matter how big a bill you have to pay off, it can be done. But only if you decide you have the goal of living debt free. You need to make your resolve high, and your interest rate low. It's all about responsible spending.

Because this is one court that doesn't allow bankruptcy.