How Much Refined Carbs?

Yes, but you'll probably feel hungrier more than if you replaced those white starches with more whole grains.

Edit: For that matter, you can blow the MFP carb number out of the water and still lose weight as long as your calories in are less than your calories burned.

Why on earth would you want to torture and deprive your body like that?

am I torturing and depriving my body by eating lots of yummy sweets or by potentially switching to more healthy and filling complex carbs?

By getting all of your calories from empty, processed, bleached sweets instead of offering your body all the fiber, amino acids, polysaccharides, essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins it needs to thrive?

If you do, I hope you take a good multivitamin at the very least.

That depends on your personal metabolism and how well it processes different types of calories. A carbohydrate calorie is processed with a completely different chemical reaction than a fat calorie or a protein calorie. And some people's bodies are more or less efficient at processing different types of calories. This is why many people, those whose bodies don't process carbs as well as other nutrients, find it very helpful to adopt a low-carb lifestyle or at least to limit their refined carbs.

Whether this is right for you or not is a question that only you can answer. Everyone's body is different. If you switch from white bread to wheat and stop eating sugary snacks, and you find that you feel better and lose more weight, then that's probably a good strategy for you. How much you restrict yourself depends on your own personal lifestyle, and on listening to your body and paying attention to which strategies make you feel better and which make you miserable. This is something you have to do yourself, no one can do it for you. We can tell you what worked for us, but that may or may not work for you.

Personally, for me, the only way I have ever lost weight is by giving up wheat, rice, corn & other grains entirely, along with corn syrup and sugar. I'm not totally deprived, I've found good substitutes, like flaxseed muffins and protein powder pancakes. But even if I hadn't, I feel so much better now that what I give up is totally worth it for me. Like I said, that's just me, it's up to you to find what works for you.

Good luck to you!

Flaxseed muffins sound delicious. Are they vegan and, if so, where can I find them?

I'm afraid it's not vegan, the recipe calls for an egg & butter. Don't know whether substitutes would work or not, but it might be worth a shot. The recipe is "muffin in a minute," you just mix it up in a coffee cup and microwave for one minute; hence the name.

http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase/AllAboutMIMs.aspx