Cinnemon,
I am new to the board, too. I tried Atkins a few times, and would lose for 3 weeks, and completely stop. I'm not putting Atkins down--it works great for so many people, and I believe in so much of its philosophy.
I do the Curves low carb plan in combo with its low cal plan, along with strength training there. In 9 months, I lost 65 #. For me, it seems I cannot eat high fat. Even if I kept my carbs to 20 grams a day, if I ate too much fat I would not lose.
Walking and treadmills are great, but working all sets of muscles will burn fat so much faster. Check to see if there's a Curves near you. Or buy the new book and do the exercises at home.
I'm not trying to "sell" you on anything--just letting you know what worked for me.
I hope I've been of some help.