Rating: 
Summary: And still counting DOWN
Review: I'll keep this to the point cuz there are so many other detailed testimonials. My wife and I started this while on vacation six months ago. I started at 201 lbs, and saw 159 this morning. My wife has lost about 25 lbs (I'm not allowed to know exactly ;) but the ratio is similar). Then I could hardly walk a block or two without getting winded. Now I can play tennis early in the morning for a couple of hours on the weekends and still function for the rest of each day; not be exhausted. I'm buying clothing for 34" instead of 38"; M instead of XL or L. To reiterate what other have said because it is SO important: DO read the WHOLE book - the Induction diet is just the start. Some of the naysayers would have you believe that is it, forever. YES, it does help to be able to cook with some imagination; there are cookbooks available if you need a nudge or two. Emphasize on quality, not quantity of food. Pay extra for asparagus and artichokes and avocados and good cuts of meat. You won't need to eat as much of them to feel full, as the bit of butter or sour cream to go with them satisfies the appetite centers in your brain. When we started we couldn't finish a meal because they seemed so rich. Now we make smaller meals. YES, there are sweeteners that can be used that aren't ghastly chemicals - try Stevia which is a pure simple plant extract. I make an awesome chocolate sauce with just cocoa powder(unsweetened!), Stevia, butter and cream. Put a dollop of that over a quarter of a cup of nuts and dried (unsweetened!) coconut and you have a truely decadent dessert where most of the carbos are fiber. There is variety - different nuts, hot, frozen, flavorings such as orange, berry, etc. Unsweetened gelatin is making a comeback with cream and nuts and simple flavors... YES, there will be bumps in the road. I was stuck at 172 +-2 for about six weeks. OK, Thanksgiving and Xmas were in there, and I didn't succeed in avoiding everything forbidden that floated by. Still, I didn't gain anything. When the gang wants to go out, go to a smorgasbord or cafeteria. Then you can pick the stuff that isn't loaded with useless carbos - salads, certain veggies and meat and still pig out with the best of them. Once you've regained control of your situation, and the carbos aren't ruling you anymore (see binge testimonials below), you can still allow an occasional indescretion if you sort of plan for it. On a recent trip to New Mexico we relented and had a couple of wonderful Native NM meals that contained corn chips, corn tortillas and sopapillas (fried bread) with honey. But because we isolated those events with our NOW normal high protein diet, we were able to get away without gain. In fact I lost 3 lbs over the week and a half, also due in part to the other physical activities. In summary, the Atkins style low carbo diet may not be for everyone fighting lethargy and weight, but I must say it has worked for us. Now, when I look at what that the, ah, gravitationally-challenged folks in my office eat, it is no longer any surprise to me why they are what they are...
Rating: 
Summary: I feel great after losing weight the Atkins way!
Review: After my first child was born, I never managed to lose any of the weight I had put on during pregnancy. Then I bought the book. Now the weight is just coming off - in 4 weeks I have managed to lose 24 pounds (it was hard at first, but now it is just part of my everyday life).
Rating: 
Summary: made me sick
Review: I tried the diet in 1998 and fell in love, instantly lost 10 pounds and thought I had found Jesus. Kept to it for 2 1/2 years while my digestive system disintegrated. Was on a prescription stool softener, a prescription enzyme to digest food, an anti-acid pill, Propulsid and Metacloymide, Metamucil and fiber pills, also! Nothing moved food through my system, and in the meantime I innocently kept stuffing meat down my throat. Have been off ALL meat for 1 month now, have lost weight, gotten rid of all medicines and went to a raw foods fruit and veggies diet ... Feel like I'm alive again.
Rating:
Summary: Update - It STILL Works
Review: I am approaching one year and minus 90 pounds with the Atkins Diet Revolution. It is simply that - a revolution. Removing the bun from a fast-food drive through sandwich is now a way of life. I no longer want chips or fries. Pork Rinds are just fine. I again encourage people who are considering this Plan to READ THE BOOK! Don't just rely on bits and pieces of conversation from a "friend of a friend." I will, however, attest that one can vary from some of the strictures in the book. I never gave up caffeine. There are NO carbohydrates in Jack Daniels' - one need not change one's entire existence :-) Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: My results were mixed
Review: Frankly, I was pretty disappointed with my results on the Atkins diet. I admittedly lost eight pounds the first week, and during the time I was on the diet I ate plenty of foods that are "verboten" on other diets like red meat, eggs, and cheese every single day. However, it's been over a month since I started the diet, and I've only lost an additional two pounds beyond the first eight I lost (which I assume was mostly water weight). As much as I like eggs, eating them for breakfast literally every day has gotten extremely repetitive, and as someone who likes to "eat and run," not being able to eat sandwiches for lunch (since basically all breads are off limits on the diet) is a real pain. I know plenty of people successfully lose weight on this diet, but the modifications I've had to make to my normal diet -- I LOVE having my cereal and orange juice in the morning, for instance -- are just too severe. I plan on switching to "Sugar Busters," which seems like it's much more in-tune with my usual dietary behavior.
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Summary: The last Diet you will ever need
Review: Prior to Atkins, I was a Slim Fast fan. Lost weight. But then I realized that Slim Fast is just low calorie sugar and the weight I had lost was more lean tissue than actual fat. I had just become a smaller fat person and got tired of just drinking shakes all the time. I also tried the 40-30-30, lost weight there too but was always hungry and tired. It was hard to stay on and I quit.I also tried to work it off by going to the gym only to put it right back on again. I also tried jogging, that was hard on my knees and back. I was so out of shape I could hardly run a block. Exercise is for fit people.I tried the "BALANCED DIETS" too including nutritionist and dietician recommended programs. I lost some weight but was tired all the time, hungry, looked gaunt and nutritionally depleted. In short, the conventional and so called "sensible" ways to lose weight don't work. I felt tired, depressed, and hungry and very quickly regained any weight that I lost.Then I heard about Atkins. What a enjoyable way to lose weight. I wasn't hungry. I wasn't tired. My skin became tighter and firmer. My hair and nails improved. Even my beard became thicker. My skin became radiant again. Something I haven't seen in myself since I was in my twenties! No more dry skin. I looked rejuvenated, younger and healthy.I read an article about protein. It stands for of First Importance. No article ever said that carbs are of first importance. Now I know why.My weight dropped from 250 to 173 in five months. I have gone from a 45 waist to 32. I look and feel like a teenager again and at 44 that is great.I intend to stay on Atkins ad infinitum. The program is safe and effective. You get to eat real foods and some really great foods like lobster. I cheated over the Thanksgiving holiday and did not gain a pound. This diet is incredible.I have started jogging again along the beach. Now I have the energy ro run 3 miles, no aches and pains. The people who advocate exercise for weight loss don't understand the fitness and overall condition of the morbidly obese that I was. We need another vehicle. Atkins is that vehicle. Read the book and follow the program. It works. Don't reinvent the wheel. Don't try to combine this with other diets or believe you need those fruits and veggies. Try it, just try it. You'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Sounds too good to be true
Review: I went out and bought the book after I'd seen a friend of mine (looking as good as ever) and he told me it was the Atkins' Diet that did it. So I sat down and read the book and decided--after much consideration--to give the diet a try. I've tried many diets as everyone else has but I've never known one to allow you to eat AS MUCH AS YOU WANT so long as it isn't bread nor sugar. The book was helpful and consisted of a lot of useful information and it's been a good three days that I've been on the diet so I can't state whether it's helping me or not. But, for now, I'm not complaining. I eat, as the book says, as much meat and vegetables I want so I'm not hungry. Once I've lost half of my goal weight, I'll be back with an overrall review. So far, everything's peachy with me!
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Summary: This works very well for complusive overeaters
Review: I have used this diet for years but never used it long term. Instead, I would do the 2week induction, lose 10lbs. or so, and then go back to regular sugar shock. Now, for the first time I have been using this diet loosely for a year and have lost 70lbs. I still have about 50 to go. My secret to this success is based on a schedule of dieting as follows: I do the induction phase, then after two weeks I switch to the "Carb Addicts Diet" where I get an hour reward meal every day. After a few weeks on that I go back on Atkins' induction phase, etc. The funny thing is I actually only spent half the year dieting. THe other half I just ate lots of carbs and binged and felt terrible! So I basically lost 70lbs in 6 months on this "alternating" of diets. And it was fairly easy I must say. I think these types of diets are best for seriously compulsive overeaters like myself, because you can almost still have your eating issues and lose weight as well, since neither diet is based on quantity. And after a while, I don't feel that overwhelming need to binge on junk. Like they say it's all based on insulin. People who challenge these diets and say they are not healthy don't realize that no matter what it's healther than the way most of us heavyweights eat! Sure, I've heard arguments that bacon/eggs every day may not be the greatest thing for the body, but it's gotta be better the all of the potato chips, sweets, etc. that I was eating before in large quantities! Also- a tip for the social people- I have found that although alcohol may slow the process slightly, it's worth it because you don't feel deprived when out in a social/drinking setting. Just don't drink beer or wine! I always drink vodka or whisky mixed with diet soda/club soda. People may question the "psychological issues" associated with compulsive overeaters like myself and say that diets like these still don't address those issues. That may be slightly true, but they do address them chemically. Since I know that I can't eat "junk" but I can eat large quantities of other things, I don't obsess as much. Diets like Weight Watchers and other restricted-calorie diets pretend to address psychological issues but never really do. Instead, they give you a little bit of everything and leave you wanting much more every single day. I'll never do a diet like that. I plan to lose the rest of my weight in the next year doing exactly what I've been doing.
Rating: 
Summary: Great diet, lousy book
Review: This is my second review of this book. I read it a couple of years ago when its popularity had skyrocketed. At that point (really for the last 10 years up until a couple of months ago) I was an adherent of the low-fat diet. I have lost but gained back weight several times on that and so recently decided to actually TRY the Atkins diet, not just read it. I reread the book, and though the concepts were interesting, it was very frustrating! The book is horribly organized and Atkins rambles and raves on about the evil AMA, and constantly talks about how his diet is so great because you can have as much steak, bacon and eggs as you want. Guess what, not everyone wants all of that stuff! I've heard Atkins speak on radio talk shows and he is so defensive and empassioned that you get the sense that he is completely close-minded. As far as the diet itself, I have been following a low-carb diet which mirrors his for the past two months. I have only lost 5 lbs on the scale, but I've also been lifting weights and so I'm sure that I have lost way more than 5 lbs in body fat. More importantly, I feel more energetic and healthy than I have felt in my many years on low-fat diets! I am never hungry, never craving foods in between meals, don't need as much sleep as I used to. Generally I feel awesome! What I would urge you to do whether you are open to low-carb diets or not is to check out OTHER books! Unfortunately Atkins is the most well known adherent of this diet, and his hostile and commercialized persona does is cause a disservice. But there are many other MUCH better books out there. In particular I would highly recommend "Protein Power" or "The Protein Power Lifeplan" by Dr.'s Michael and Mary Eades. These books are well organized even with summaries at the end of each chapter! They are level-headed, detailed in terms of the science and physiology, and refreshingly admit to not knowing all the answers and even being wrong sometimes! They also emphsize healthy choices for your carbs like veggies as opposed to cheese, something Atkins does not do at all. I'm always dismayed reading reviews of people who vehemently put down these diets simply because they are not "politically correct." Unless you've been on such a diet yourself for at least a month or so, or know others who have been, don't spout the standard line about how these diets are dangerous fads or crazy theories. The whole idea behind fat and cholesterol being factors in causing obesity, heart disease etc. (as opposed to insulin levels as suggested by low-carb diets) is simply a hypothesis itself, and one that has never been proven despite many studies.
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Summary: This book changed my life!
Review: I lost 40 lb. in 3 months thanks to Dr. Atkins. And I've kept this weight off for a little over year now without effort. The change in metabolism is a bit tough to handle the first few weeks of the diet. And my cholesterol went up for the first couple of months but eventually plunged to new lows. My triglycerides are now rock bottom too. My long term digestive problems are gone. My bad knees and bad back have mended. And my hypoglycemic episodes (periodic shakes) are gone too. I find it much easier and more fun to take my exercise daily. And I now feel more positive and energetic than I have in years. The notion that you must eat only meat and cheese on this diet has been over inflated by Atkins critics. One I reached my goal weight I gradually reintroduced carbs to the point of balance. And I must say that I am having more fun eating lobster, fried eggs, bacon, pate, exotic cheeses, flax seed and/or olive oils, protein shakes, macadamias, walnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds, almond butter, almond flour pancakes with splenda sweetened maple syrup, various berries, sugar free cheese cake, low-carb chocolate candy bars et. al. than I was eating green salads, celery sticks, boiled fish, pasta and potatoes. Thanks to Atkins I can actually go out to a restaurant now and eat a 'real' meal. I was on a low fat diet for years and did not not lose a pound. In fact, I was gradually gaining weight from year to year. I was also preoccupied with cravings for all of the foods that I was not allowed to have on a low fat diet. I find it much easier to stay on a low-carb diet because I've completely lost interest in all of the foods I am now supposed to avoid. I think that I've lost interest in food with high concentrations of carbohydrates because my body no longer uses carbs the way did before. And I believe that anybody who is obese and thinks that he or she cannot live without the bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes et. al. had better think again. Once I got beyond the difficult induction period, the Atkin's diet got very easy to do. I think Atkins is a hell of a lot more fun than the conventional low-fat alternative. I am healthier and stronger now than I've been since I was a teenager (I'm 48 now). And I owe it all to Dr. Atkins and this wonderful little book. Don't do what many others have done: Don't skim this book and walk away with half a notion of how it really works. Read it all and read it well!
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