I love the Atkins diet and I love their meal bars and shakes even more. You can get them for cheap at http://www.imedmart.com

Best program I have ever done as far as effectiveness...this works for me.  Yeah..you gotta give up bread and potatos and rice....but I also gave up a lot of fat on my body and I kept it off...kept it off for years and years and have good health to boot.  I figure you do give up some things but you get some things in return...so its worth it.  First three days are the most difficult...get through those and the rest are much easier...just do yourself and don't cheat because then you go through the difficult three days again.  It is just easier to stick with it than to cheat and have to get yourself straight again.  I have stuck with this plan with for a LONG time...long, long time...since Dr. A first came out with it over thirty years ago...my short strays have lead me to weight gains.  I do best with the original plan which is a little more strict...the newer products have just made my taste for carbs more discontent....I decided to stay clear of them.  I am now 50 years old...I remain a size 4...I LOVE Dr. Atkins and appreciate his research as I come from a family of obese people and was well on the road to obesity in high school.  If not for this lifestyle I would be one of them...no question.

I went on the Atkins diet about 2 years ago. It was difficult at first and I had NO energy for the first week. I stuck it out and dropped down to an American size 2. I slowly reintroduced complex carbs and din't gain an ounce. Forget about all the bad press: I just got a complete work up done at the doctors. My cholesteral and blood pressure are low and my vitamin levels are perfect. This diet really works!

I was on Atkins for about a year and lost 27 pounds in total. It worked well in the beginning, then weight loss ground to a screeching halt. Unless I stayed on the Induction Phase (under 20 carbs per day) I gained weight. I have since gained back 90% of the weight that I lost. On Atkins I also developed Acid Reflux and other GI problems. Since switching to a low fat high fiber diet, my digestive problems have improved, though I will need to reduce my calories more to lose the weight. I am attempting Weight Watchers but am having trouble sticking with it so far.

Did you ever think of what all this fat is doing to your ateries? Red meat, butter, etc. ekkk

The problem is all the misconceptions about the low carb lifestyle. My husband is a physician and when I read the book I asked him about the science and medical aspects of the plan. He agreed that everything was medically sound in the book. So much so, that his whole department in the hospital changed the way they ate to this plan! Atkins or low carb is all about eating healthy for the rest of your life, not just for two weeks or so. What they are trying to teach us is to cut out processed foods and fast food. Those are not naturally occurring items and are not meant for our bodies. Let's get real, you can eat bread....but whole grain w/o the unnecessary sugar. You can eat vegetables...in fact they encourage it! You can eat fruit, but in moderation. Remember, back in the "olden days" fruit was a treat. We have a skewed view of foods now-a-days and need to get back to simplicity.

this diet is very good if you really like meats and no breads at all. i lost 45lbs took me awhile but i got there, it is hard not being able to eat fruits or veggies. you defenitly must read the entire book or see a consultant before you start. you CANNOT cheat on this diet or you will pay for it on the scale right away. ive had to spend a whole week just trying to lose for cheating on one weekend! it does work though

This is a very unhealthy approach to weight loss and any good nutritionist will tell you so. Yes, you will lose - but no, you will not keep it off if you stop. In the meantime, you will also miss out on the nutritional advantages of eating a variety of foods and your immune system and energy levels will suffer for it. Your body NEEDS carbs - it may not need as many as most people eat - but it needs them just the same. This diet is a gimmick which made an old guy and many other people wealthy. Cutting off parts of your body will cause your weight to go down too, but I wouldn't recommend that either. All you need to remember is; exercise, drink lots of water and variety and moderation in food and drink. Ever noticed that any time someone tries to complicate something that simple you can bet that it is all about the cash involved.

Linda238's review hit the nail on the head. What makes the Atkins diet so controversial is the many people who follow it incorrectly. I have seen people pig out on mounds of meat and cheese at buffets, as if their overindulgence wasn't going to hurt their body and they were still dieting. The Atkins regimen isn't supposed to be about eating less vegetables, it's supposed to be about eating less processed junk food, with food choices that help someone stay feeling full while eat far fewer calories overall. Nutritionists are more likely to recommend the South Beach diet because people are less likely to overdo the increased protein concept. South Beach also better communicates the importance of seeking foods that provide vital nutrients and fiber during meals.

Linda, thanks for clarifying some of the misstatements about this diet. And congratulations!

I went on Atkins 2 years ago and lost 40 pounds in the first 6 months and have kept it off to this day. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, multigrain bread and wraps, drink lots of water, eat lean meats and tons of dairy. I even splurge on the occasional ice cream or chocolate bar. THIS IS THE ATKINS DIET!! So what do I not eat? White Flour (no nutritional value at all), Sugar or potatoes. I have been plagued with health problems in the past but have not been sick at all since I started the diet, my acne cleared up and I have the energy to work out 4 times a week in addition to being a full time student and keeping a part time job. This diet is not for everybody but if you are going to try it, at least read the book or check out the web site and get educated about it first. If you go on the Real Atkins diet, it is very safe. If you go on a diet that is based on erroneous opinions of what the Atkins Diet it, it is very dangerous. Oh, and one more thing....I have seen people say that this diet is not natural. Well, part of the lifestyle change I had to make to lose the weight and keep it off was to stay away from processed and prepackaged food. REAL FOOD, not the preservative ridden, dyed, and processed until all the nutirients are gone food that sits in the grocery store freezer for 5 years.

Stupid Fatkins! It makes me want to stab someone in the eye with a hot french fry! Seriously though, I need my carbs. When I ran track I was on a carb heavy diet that usually exceeded 4000 calories a day. I had about 5% body fat. Run more, people.

I just think that too much protein can't be good. I suspect people will have kidney problems down the line from it. I think all things in moderation is the way to go. Look at other nations that eat mainly carbs (Asian nations for example) and they are much thinner than Americans. Plus I feel that all the fat can't be healthy, and is going to cause heart problems down the line.

Low carb to no carb, thats the way I see this Atkins weight loss diet, gonna keep it up for the rest of your life, I dont think so, Tiny portions of bread to no bread at all, Mnnnn. God gave us bread, remember the 5 loaves and fishes, fed the multitude with a miracle, from God its good, from Atkins its not, whos right?????. fill yourself up with bacon, eggs, steaks, pork, ham, nuts, sausages, rinds, eat anything as greasy and high in fat and cholesterol as it comes and don't feel a bit guilty because Atkins says its OK. Atkins is dead by the way?????. Whats wrong with water and fresh fruits as a weight loss diet, watched a man recently devour a pound of ham and half a pound of cheese as high in fats and cholesterol as it can be, then refused a small container of beautiful fresh fruit that must have looked like a container of snakes to him because he's on ATKINS diet. Amazing how the brain works these days. To conclude I am going with God and bread the staff of life, cut back on the cholesterol and saturated fats, that saturated fat Atkins recommends, incredible, got to be a 1 rating............

ok i haven't even tried it and i already know how bad it is..... once you stop the diet your body wont function right and you will end up bieng obese again...

Steak and potatoes without the potatoes? Tha's cruel and unusual punishment to my stomach.

I hear that someone got sick from eating this.

perfect diet for Americans: eat all the meat and cheese and fat you want. works b/c your body is starving for carbs. if you get on Atkins, you might as well stay on it forever, b/c you'll get fat otherwise

It certainly is preferably to not go on this fad diet at all but if you must, proceed with caution. Atkins is, despite what the books tell you, a short term diet program only and if you follow it otherwise you are setting yourself up for a dangerous lifestyle. Plus, do you really expect to never have another carb for the rest of your life? What happened to Chris01981 is very common when on this diet.

No way. I love my carbs;I cannot live without bread.

I went on it, lost weight, gained it right back as soon as I started eating carbs again... went on a low-cal diet and felt 100% better than when I was on the Atkins crap

my friend got diverticulitis (blocking of the colon) on this diet.. since no fiber is allowed on this diet, your colon may block up.. one of those i cannot reccomend.

FAD diet with lots of downsides....we'll see it again in 20 years.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is just a recycling of the popular Carbohydrate Diet of the 1970s. There are very few things you're allowed to eat, and what you can eat is mostly high cholesterol. No thanks! It's boring and depressing. And even though it works to some extent, the pounds will come back quickly as soon as you start eating normally again.

There are other diets that are healthier. Just eat fruits and vegatables and you'll be fine. That's what I'm doing!

Although it is true it will make you lose weight, the Atkins diet is unhealthy and dangerous. For one, carboyhdrates are the main fuel for the brain! With a limited supply of these carbs, one becomes less sharp and slower to react! Even more, it has been proven that it raises risks for several diseases. Not to mention it leaves out pasta (which has disease-preventing Folic Acid), bread (said by many to be healthy), pizza (w/ life-saving lycopene), breaded fish (w/ many good fatty acids), and many sweets and other foods that just taste great!

The only postive conclusion I can make from the Atkins diet is that it is a step in the right direction but many miles from graceland. The Atkins diet was originally inteded as a very short term weight loss program to get people back on to a diet where they can consume an adequate amount of carbohydrates. If you were to try and live off this diet you would simply kill yourself. What most people don't realize is that you need carbohydrates to burn fat, fat is burned in the furnace of carbohydrates. When you take carbs out of your diet, the foods you do eat generally are high in fat or cholesterol. I've heard many instances where people on the Atkins diet have developed high cholesterol or even risks of heart disease. The Left wing Atkins dieters are the ones that scare me because they are anti-carb fanatics and don't realize they are putting their health in jeopardy.

I have a friend who has been on this diet for about ten months. She was a only a few pounds overweight before she started it. All she needed to lose was about fifteen (maybe twenty tops) pounds. But to see her now -- she looks very gaunt and sickly. She is a very sweet lady, and I wouldn't want to tell her because it would hurt her feelings. She actually thinks she looks good, but she does not. Actually, I sort of pity her. My opinion is eat balanced, everything in moderation, get yourself a little excercise routine going, and you can't go wrong. That's what I'm trying to do, only I'm leaving myself just a LITTLE unsatisfied so as to shrink my stomach a little. I went shopping for some clothes the other day, and discovered I've dropped a couple of sizes. That tells me I'm losing weight. It's a slow (but safe) process. Then when I get to a reasonable weight, I will maintain it, and continue to eat balanced. So, if the Atkins Diet works for you, fine! However, I'm happy with my own method of losing weight, thank you!

I don't think that eating a straight diet of bacon, meat, and fats is good for you. It is effective as a means to lose weight very quickly, but the cost is feeling very weak and generally ill the entire time; it's a very unbalanced diet. People who are on this diet have really bad odor and bad breath as well primarily because proteins and fats take far longer to process in the body. Carbohydrates are an important part of our diets because they help us burn proteins faster. Eating lots of fats raises your HDL Cholestrol, which isn't as bad as other types of cholestrol, but still it's been correlated to heart disease and high blood pressure which could lead to strokes. Other posters on this forum have delinated such personal problems caused by Atkins. I will say that it does work on some people, everyone has a different body type and maybe an all protein diet does work for them. I'm not overweight, but I try to eat well. Limit your consuption of sugar, eat a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins and fat. You can't pig out everytime you eat as well. Exercise a lot as well, for some just 20 minutes 3 days a week is enough to start weight loss. Diets don't work because they're temporary. Many people go on Atkins, lose a lot of weight and then they re-gain it because they can't balance carbohydrates back into their diets, which is the 2nd part of the Atkins plan. This trendy diet is definitely not for everyone, I wouldn't suggest it. At best you'll lose a lot of weight quick and just re-gain it later, at worst, you'll come out with health problems. Don't eat a lot, exercise and the rest will fall into place. It's all about discipline of course.

I was on atkins for about a year. I went off the diet and now am 15 lbs heavier than when I started it. I now have high blood pressure and extremely high cholestrol. I never had any of these problems before. I also find it almost impossible to get rid of any weight even though I am eating fruit, vegetables and very little meat. I know of three others who are sharing my health problems. Stay away from this diet. It has ruined my life.

I was on it for a few weeks. Consuming all those eggs, bacon, sausage, pork rinds, & nuts I actually gained. I had excrutiating leg cramps. It may work for some, that's their business.

Very effective short term, not just for the metabolic effects, but also because you very quickly prefer to just not eat, rather than eat more eggs, bacon, and meat, so you end up consuming less calories. Long term, the diet as it is cannot be sustained, if for no other reason than your health.

Eating all the bacon and meat you want, putting all the fat in your body. That has to be really good for your heart. Atkins doesn't sounds very appealing to me.

Alot of people who ridicule the Atkins diet don't seem to realize that what they are criticizing about it is the Induction Phase, which only lasts for 2 WEEKS! That is the only part of the diet that restricts almost all carbohydrates. After that, Atkins states that once you have achieved your weight goal, you can add all the carbs back into your diet taht you want up to the point that you start gaining weight again. That amount will vary from person to person, but by the time you are in your maintenance phase, you should be able to eat plenty of carbs. Maybe 20 or 30% of your nutrition coming from carbs is alot less than the absurd amount of over 50% that is typical of the American diet, but that is still PLENTY of carbs. All this criticism of how many nutrients Atkins adherents are depriving themselves of, and all the talk about how you can't eat fruit and other important vitamin sources, is completely bogus, because once again, Atkins deprives you of NONE of these things once you have past the 2-week induction phase. During the ongoing weight loss phase your are a little less restricted, and once you've reached your target weight, from that point on, you can have all the fruit, bread, pasta, you name it, that you want, AS LONG AS you don't start gaining weight again. Why do the anti-Atkins naysayers constantly mistake the Atkins diet as a whole for the very short initial phase? I think it's because they can't stand the thought that it might actually work, and that it actually can be healthy!

Atkins has shown me hot to take it off and keep it off. It's not for everyone, but it has worked for me and makes sense.

I'm probably not the best person to rate this one, as I don't believe in diets (only lifestyle changes). BUT, like many other people have said, this diet is incredibly unhealthy! I can't believe how many people are doing it. It's like a fad! It's funny, because people freaked out & won lawsuits over the health problems associated with Phen-Fen (sp), but people always seem to forego common sense in an effort to try to lose weight. Who are they going to sue when the ill health affects of the Atkins diet kicks in? I personally think that these people are responsible for their own dumb actions!

this is brillian but only try and do it for 2 weeks at a time, then very slowly introduce carbohydrates back into your diet. I thought this diet sounded too good to be true but i made sure i had health checks b4 and after doing it and it only improved my cholesterol levels and i lost 15lbs in two weeks. i havent put the weight back on because i didnt go mad on carbs as soon as i had finnished. It does make you feel tired during the 2 weeks but after the two weeks are over i felt i had much more energy then b4 i did the diet. overall i think ATKINS is great! just make sure you read the book carefully so you know how to do it right. this is not a long term diet so dont try it! because then it can become dangerous, check the atkins homepage for details on how to keep the weight off after you end the 2 weeks.

This diet is not for every one. It can make some people sick. Please talk to your doctor before you try it.

My sister lost over 30 lbs on diet, my Dad over 50, my Mom over 30, and I've lost over 5 lbs just in my first week (I only need to lose 10)! The best diet around...not only to lose weight but to live a healthy lifestyle...it's the way we were meant to eat. Check out the recent New York Times article about the Atkins diet...it talks about how effective the diet really is, and how those low-fat diets are actually the cause of America's obesity and health problems! No one should ever go on a low-fat diet!

Yhea, you lose weight, but it's just gross to be on a diet that lets you eat all the bacon and fat you want. You can always smell someone who is on the Atkins diet too. They have stronger BO from their bodies trying to break down all that protien and fat, and their breath reeks too. Deep down I'm sure Atkins followers know that their diets are hurting their bodies. They look sickly and smell bad.

Fat reduction is quite visible. If you can deal with the less variety of food, I think this diet is ok.

I wish I had enough time and energy to write an entire book on why the Atkins Diet is bad for you, but I will only stress a few major points. Atkins is doing a lot of people a very bad service. 1. The Diet is impossible to maintain in the long run. No fabricated diet that calls upon the individual to completely forego an important part of a normal human diet can be sustained for longer than a few weeks, maybe months. If you are able to stick to the diet for longer than that, congratulations, you probably have enough willpower to lose that weight without Atkins. 2. Atkins is essentially a metabolic trick, a gimmick if you like, which fools the body into 'thinking' it needs to burn off fat. Blood contains an amount of available glucose (obtained mostly from carbohydrates) which once depleted, will cause the body to go into a fat-burning mode. The reason for this is simple: once the body believes it is starved- essentially when no or little glucose is detected in the blood- the body uses up all of its other stores, moving into a second phase called 'ketosis' where fat stores are mobilized. In this phase the body secretes a hormone called glucagon which prompts your body to burn off its own stores of fat. Normally, the body secretes a balance of both this hormone and insulin, the latter being released when increased blood levels of glucose are detected. Ketosis is not a normal state, it is a state in which the body burns off its own fuel when other sources are unavailable. One need not me a biochemist to note that if the human body were designed to cope with a diet full of fats and proteins, our bodies would not be required to enter an otherwise rare 'ketosis' stage where fat stores are burned off. Ketosis does occur to some extent every day, but IT IS NOT A NORMAL METABOLIC STATE- ESPECIALLY NOT FOR EXTENDED PERIODS. While it is true as Dr. Atkins points out that insulin-resistance (associated with Type II Diabetes) is increasingly problematic, the link between insulin resistance and Dr. Atkin's solution of a ketosis (fat burning) diet is not at all clear. When one gorges on carbs- especially those with a high glycemic index (i.e. simple carbs)- the body releases high levels of insulin to lower blood glucose. Eventually the body may become resistant to this insulin, causing a form of diabetes. HOWEVER, most of us do not normally gorge on simple carbs, we probably take in a balanced meal of carbs, proteins and fats. Atkins takes one specific hormonal/metabolic problem- insulin resistance- and generalizes to the whole population, in effect actually prescribing a 'cure' only for people with Type II diabetes. 3. Atkins not only gives you bad breath- a result of ketones released from ketosis- but it creates a slew of other more dangerous health consequences. Atkins admits that a diet high in fats may lead to an increase in cholesterol (DUH!), but states that once your body starts to burn off its fat, there is an increase in the HDL 'good' cholesterol, which more than compensates for the overall increase in total and LDL cholesterol. But why would anyone desire to have higher cholesterol levels, which are associated with heart disease by themselves? Second, Atkins dieters are neglecting important sources of nutrients which an unbalanced diet such as Atkins does not provide. Atkins makes little light of the need for a balanced diet, and for good reason: ATKINS IS NOT A BALANCED DIET. What I mean by balanced is that your body needs an even complement of fats, proteins, and carbs. Getting a good balance of the three is not simply for caloric purposes. Many sources of carbs- which Dr. Atkins says are No No's- are actually high in other sources of nutrients that are very good for you. For example, that nasty carrot (nasty only according to Dr. Atkins and his followers) I mentioned earlier which causes your blood glucose to spike also contains high levels of Beta Carotene, the precursor to Vitamin A, an important vitamin and an anti-oxidant that may help fight cancer. If you are on Atkins, you might have to supplement your diet with the Vitamin A you are not getting from this healthy natural source. Another vitamin you may not be getting is Vitamin C, a powerful anti-oxidant, which is only available to humans via fruits and vegetables. Sailors who ate only salted meats- pretty much an Atkins type diet- developed scurvy because they did not ingest any fruits-or vegetables- high in vitamin C. (A large number of fruits and vegetables besides citrus have vitamin C). Moreover, many fruits and vegetables (No No's for Atkins) are high in fiber. Fiber is not only good for you because it helps you stay 'regular', but it has also been shown to have a positive effect on both total cholesterol level reduction and cardiovascular health. And because most people on Atkins eat almost no fruits and few vegetables, they naturally get fewer of the vitamins and fiber as well, which must be supplemented (little wonder why Atkins suspiciously adds 'vitamin supplementation' as a seperate part of the book. It's not because he simply wants you to stay healthy: IT'S BECAUSE ATKINS DEPLETES YOU OF VITAMINS!) Moreover, the low dietary fiber causes you to be constipated. Little wonder, again, why Atkins devotes an entire section to constipation problems!

VERY UNHEALTHY!!!!

Effective for weight-loss, but if you knew this kid who lived down the hall from me this year at school (he didn't break his atkins diet for like a year-and-a-half or something ridiculous) you'd start eating ONLY carbs. This kid, despite the fact that pounds were "melting" off him (his word), seriously looked like something was wrong with him. And he could burp for whole minutes at a time--an added atkins bonus, no doubt.

There is no question that this diet works. You can lose weight in a hurry by eating nothing but meat, cheese, and eggs. I lost 8 pounds in 14 days while eating like a pig while I was training for a basketball tournament. The problem is that you feel like crap all the time... you have no energy, you get a pale glow to your face, and you just feel tired all the time. Also, in the back of your mind, you just know it's not healthy for you. But if you want to lose weight quickly, give this diet a shot.