I read an online article by a "nutritionist" that said you'd lose muscle mass unless you ate at least 100 grams of carbs per day. 100 grams!

OK, reality check, folks:

One year ago, I was eating low-fat and exercising regularly. I considered myself to be doing well if I could do 30 push-ups and 30 stomach crunches. Fast-forward to this morning. I put 4 pounds on my back and did 54 push-ups in 2 minutes. I put the same 4 pounds behind my neck and did 87 crunches in two minutes. That plus 30 minutes on the treadmill is pretty much my routine every morning. I'm 44 years old.

Oh, yeah, lo-carb is really hard on your stamina!

(I tell you, most of these "experts" just make stuff up and call it scientific fact.)

I read the articles and posted the comparisons between the labels on the LC packages and the test results by the Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Affairs and while I don't always believe everything I read I took back 4 boxes of LC candy bars to Sam's Warehouse.

I have been on a LC lifestyle since Nov 00 and have lost approximately 45 lbs. The last 2 months have been a standoff and I think it was because I was hitting those bars too often. I make take various vitamins and feel as strong as I ever felt and at the same time I can now tie my shoe laces with ease.

Go Pete Sampras

why do we imediately dissmiss this article. i have read many articles that blast the atkins diet, and this is no conspiracy. i'm not saying that their opinions are absolute or that there is one method only to loose wieght, but seriously, let's look at this logically. i've been looking at people's stats and have noticed a common thread- rapid wieght loss followed by a long plateu. can anyone say crash diet? to karen, no where in that article does it say to eat a lot of sugar or supersize fries. it's not one extreme or the other.

abka, i agree in that i don't believe in extremes... but i do think that extremes is what made us gain weight in the first place (i.e. too many carbs) so what atkins suggested is in the beginning to do the opposite extreme (i.e. very little carbs i.e. Induction Phase)..this opposite extreme is to correct blood sugar levels, insulin levels etc.. then as we are slowly correcting that (and same time losing weight as a side-effect)..we can become more and more balanced in our food choices (i.e. Maintenance Phase).