Atkins any thoughts?

It's too extreme for me. I like to be able to eat everything, but in moderation. My friend has tried Atkins several times and each time developed gall bladder problems. Her dr. said this is not terribly uncommon for people on Atkins. I forget why this is. She explained it to be but it was complicated and I'm not very good at medical things.

Your journey should be a lifestyle change and you can't eat Atkins eternally.

No one can eat any diet eternally. Give Atkin's a try for a few weeks and see how you do. It can be quite effective.

High carb diets with lots of sugar, rice and grains can be considered pretty "unnatural" too

Atkins can cause kidney failure and diverticulitis. Just follow the if it fits your macros (IIFYM), aka calorie counting, approach that myfitnesspal is based on.

To lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. It's that simple. You might as well eat the foods you like to eat -- what's the point of deprivation? If you love carbs (like fruit!) and try Atkins, you'll feel miserable and fail. Take a more reasonable, moderate approach and you'll be more likely to succeed.

It personally worked for me, but short term. I found myself craving foods that were off limits all the time despite the fast that there are low carb breads, MIN, pasta, etc that you can eat. My cholesterol and triglycerides sky-rocketed. Dr placed me in the prediabetic category after following a low carb diet (sounds counter-intuitive, I know). I had the hardest time adding carbs into my diet. It took about 6-8 months to be honest. I was so scared. My doctor believes in following a natural holistic way of healing. Instead of putting me on meds for the conditions mentioned above, she told me to give up dairy and gluten. I did. I eat everything now (minus gluten and dairy), and I don't crave anything. I have clear mind, my body feels great, nothing aches anymore. The weight is falling off me!

Try Atkins for a month and see how it works for you. If it doesn't, try something else.... and keep trying till you find what works for you. You and I are different. What works for me, may not work for you. Same goes for everyone else on this site. Good luck!

My daughter did it 5 years ago and had great success, lost 65 pounds! And guess what!?!?!? She has kept it OFF! every last pound. She still follows a lower carb diet too! Good luck!
I feel excess carbs are horrible for us! I'm not big on some of the process foods that Atkins a allows but feel low carb is much healthier then eating large amounts of carbs!!!

Atkins can cause kidney failure and diverticulitis. Just follow the if it fits your macros (IIFYM), aka calorie counting, approach that myfitnesspal is based on.

Where do you come up with this nonsense? If you're going to make stuff up, just say "I don't know what I'm talking about" first.

Explain to me how avoiding excess carbs causes kidney failure. Complete garbage.

Well that was rude.

Sorry to burst your bubble, Einstein:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030317/high-protein-diets-can-hurt-kidneys

Many people who do Atkins end up consuming way too much protein. High protein diets can cause many kidney problems. And, I personally know someone who developed diverticulitis due to being on Atkins for several years.

Atkins can cause kidney failure and diverticulitis. Just follow the if it fits your macros (IIFYM), aka calorie counting, approach that myfitnesspal is based on.

Where do you come up with this nonsense? If you're going to make stuff up, just say "I don't know what I'm talking about" first.

Explain to me how avoiding excess carbs causes kidney failure. Complete garbage.

While it is true that if you have kidney problems, you want to avoid excess protein, that is different from saying protein leads to decreased renal function.

A lot of people tend to think Atkins ='s meat and nothing but meat. That's not entirely true. The induction phase is technically only supposed to be 2 weeks and it's that phase that makes you eat 20 grams or less of carbs. You can have veggies, especially ones like greens and broccoli, etc, but that phase is mostly meat. Some people stay on induction for more than 2 weeks as you do lose faster during that phase, but a lot of people move on to the next phase and still lose just fine. If you follow the program, you eventually end up eating fruit again along with a wide variety of veggies, even things like brown rice and whole wheat bread. Some people claim it makes them feel bad; headaches and fatigue. This did happen to me, but it passed after a day or two on induction. After that, I had tons of energy and I even stopped craving sweets.

It is not for everyone as it has no restrictions on saturated fat and it does involve a lot of protein. I had great success with it 15 years ago, but then I went off to college. It's pretty hard to stick to no carb when your roommate orders pizza every evening and thinks beer should be drunk more than water.

At this point in my life, I'd rather eat what I want in moderation and just count calories. It's easier. I don't feel as if I'm depriving myself and it's working. I still tend to eat low carb most days. It's not really on purpose, just evens out that way. I don't think sugar is all evil, but the amount of sugar in the American diet is atrocious.

Really though, it's whatever works for you. If you think you can stick with it, go for it.