"All these "fad" diets work, but I have heard from some people that have done the Atkins thing that they just re-gained the weight/fat when they stopped the diet.Thats the problem with most of these diets, but some do work.....But that is just my horse shit opinion."

People can't stick with the atkins forever because it doesn't give you a cheat day, and people go crazy. they then get stuck in this viscious cycle of guilt over feeling like they failed for (gasp) not wanting to eat meat and fat exclusively.

the atkins diet works and believe it or not, bodybuilders pre steroid era used low carb diets to cut up for a contest pretty much exclusively. I believe studies from Harvard (when the study was started to disprove his claims, if I'm not mistaken) as to it's benefits much more than I believe some NYT reporter trying to dig up dirt. Dr. Atkins was ancient when he died and had a genetic heart problem. He went into a coma after that fall and become very bloated which is where everybody is getting the idea that he actually died of a heart attack. It's really pretty tasteless to just go after somebody like that when they're *dead*, and it shows how petty and catty the nutrition biz is.

And Mark, after believing in the low/high glycemic index thing for years, (and it does matter) I've found through experience in dieting that calories in/calories out matters a lot more than what type of carbs, or even fats, that you're eating. The only problem with high glycemic index carbs is that you usually won't be full after eating a sensible portion of them, but that isn't a problem for me personally. (besides, I love a ripe to the point of being near rotten banana, and nobody can make me stop eating them, dammit)