Rating: 
Summary: Hope it works!
Review: I have read the book through twice and continue to re-read sections of it for motivation. The book was somewhat disorganized, but if you take the time to pick out the important information, it is filled with interesting information. I have been on the diet for 48 hours and would love to hear from others who are on it or just starting it also. I feel a little tired right now which I am sure my body is having major withdrawl from carbs and soft drinks.
Rating: 
Summary: Give it to me straight, Doc!
Review: Unlike most of the reviewers, I actually have not gone on this diet yet, at least this time. I did go on it about 20 years ago and lost about 50 pounds, the only negative effect being constipation. After years off being off that diet, and trying about 100 others, I have an unreal amount of weight to lose. So I picked up the new edition of the book and read it. The book is about 75% filler, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe that's not such a bad thing, but Dr. Atkins should have just cut to the chase and spent more time explaining what the diet actually is. The 14-day induction diet is explained well, but instead of going on and delineating what the main part of the diet will be after the two weeks, he launches into a bunch of garbage again. If he wants to write about yeast infections and stuff like that, he needs to put it in a different section. He doesn't make a clear distinction between the main phase of the diet and the maintenance phase. I consider myself pretty intelligent, but its going to take some work to find the wheat among the chaff. After I go on this diet, maybe I'll give the book a higher rating.
Rating: 
Summary: a misguided and dangerous diet plan
Review: First, let me say that yes, you will lose weight on this diet but only initially and temporarily unless you stay on this diet for the rest of your life, in which case you will increase your risk of dying from kidney failure or heart disease or liver disease. Remember too, simply because this book was written by someone with the two magic letters MD behind their name does NOT make him the Yoda of diet and nutrition. In fact, most medical schools today do not even require med students to take a single course in nutrition, and certainly no medical schools required a nutrition course 30 years ago when Atkins was in med school. If it had been required back then, this book would never have been written - assuming the motives behind writing this book were well-intended which I'm not so sure they were. That some "medical professionals" would endorse this diet simply amazes me. People must know that low cholesterol levels and low points on a scale are not the holy grails of good health. Your instincts should tell you that eating mostly fat and meat is not terribly healthy. Your doctor should tell you that this diet brings about weight loss through a process of ketosis (a very ungood thing) which is just as worrisome as high levels of cholesterol. However, if your instincts don't convince you and your doctor doesn't tell you, why not look at a group of people who are on the whole much slimmer than us Americans and have the highest life expectancy in the world, yet do the exact OPPOSITE of what Atkins recommends - This would be the Japanese, who eat mostly grains and fruits (carbohydrates) but very little fat and meat. Problem is, too many Americans want that quick fix diet without giving up bad habits, so all of these flavor of the month best-sellers just tell you what you want to hear - that you can eat as much of this or that to your heart's content and drop the pounds, become healthy, etc. However, the long term self sacrificing truth is that the healthiest solution to getting (and staying) fit and trim is to get off your duff and move and eat smaller portions from a variety of natural foods, and then move some more... Problem is, the truly healthy approach to dieting does not bring instant results and therefore does not sell as many books.
Rating:
Summary: Just another fad diet
Review: Just like any other fad diet, people will loose weight by cutting the carbohydrates from their diet. However, once people begin to add carbohydrates back into their diet, the weight returns. I have two friends who have followed the plan and when they "strayed" from the plan, they gained weight. What's the point of being able to have the sour cream when one can not have the potato! I found the diet far too restrictive. It sounded like an easy plan to follow from the start, but I quickly discovered how restrictive it was. It just goes to prove that the key to dieting is moderation and exercise. We all have the "tools" to do it without following any fad!
Rating:
Summary: this diet plan is great!
Review: this diet plan is wonderful. i've lost 40# in 5 months. i only put on 2# during the holidays but got right back on it and lost 4# more. its really worked wonderfully for me. i'm never hungary. my cholesterol is now in the normal area. my blood sugar is normal. i feel great!
Rating:
Summary: Great diet; mediocre writing
Review: This is the most luxurious, easy-to-stay-on, satisfying, and energy-boosting diet I have ever been on! I have lost 15 pounds in a month (with considerable (cheating)I might add) I still can't believe that I can eat all this meat and fat and still lose weight! (Although even steak gets old after awhile, so I'm trying to diversify with other meats cooked in different ways.) However, the book is not well written. The line of thought meanders and rambles. It would be a much better read if it were just more organized. But, somewhere amid the rambling, one can glean the gist. Atkins states his case well that carbohydrate and sugar restriction is the key to denying your body glucose fuel, thus forcing it to burn fat reserves. The diet itself works great, but you might get a copy of "Protein Power" if you want more comprehensible reading.
Rating: 
Summary: It works!
Review: I should be eating crow! I was a semi-vegetarian high carbohydrate know-it-all. Then I saw what this way of eating has done for friends & relatives. All the so called dietary experts & their "studies" (funded by the processed food industry) can't make the TRUTH go away. This diet works great. I already exercised regularly & followed the food pyramid to be healthy. Now I know that pyramid is for the birds. It's so great too sit down to a satisfying meal & feel satiated not starving 2 hour later. Now I exercise for enjoyment & to stay toned, not because I am battling the bulge. I am not at war with my body anymore, fighting cravings like I used to. I feel better & I am slim. Who could ask for anything more? I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to try this, even if you are already in shape, it makes you feel better, because carbs give you heartburn. My mom's acid reflux she suffered with for years went away after only 4 days doing Atkins! Ofcourse the drug companies don't want you to know that either. The book isn't a literary masterpiece but it is well worth the time to read it because it gives you the tools to get slim & feel great!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book! -- It works!
Review: I started the diet in October. I didn't want to do it, because it eliminate what I like to eat the most -- pasta (oh, and Taco Bell). Well, I tried it for my wife's sake and after she begged me to do it with her. So I did. Well, I WAS overweight by about 30 pounds. I shed 23 of those pounds in 2 weeks -- yes, the first couple od days, I felt down and out... but toward the end of the first week... I never felt better. I have since gone off the diet (for about a month now, and went back to eating Taco Bell and pasta) and haven't gained a pound. I'm now going back on the diet to shed those last pounds, and meet my "ideal" weight for my height. I started 3 days ago (my second time 20 grams of carbos a day), and I've already seen a 3 pound loss (some my say this is water weight variations, but this is how it was the first time I did it, so I know that isn't true). I'm not a big dietter, because of all the restrictions, but I wanted to do something about my weight before it really got out of hand... and this was it... I still get to eat my 3rd favorite food group (after the Taco Bell and Pasta food groups) and that is STEAKS! I really like the diet, and plan to go on it at 2 weeks intervals (2 weeks on it, 2 weeks off it, 2 weeks on it, and so on). I'm very happy with the results and my engery level is much higher now than it has been in the past.Remember that each diet is different and doesn't work for all people, and it may not work for you. But, I'd say that there is a majority of people here that have lost alot of weight, compared to those that haven't. I recommend this book highly!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Simple
Review: I started this diet in jan of 1999, after being on it for 1 year i can boast a weight loss of 100 pounds. the book was very informative, and the section on diabetics was great, both my parents are diabetic and i didnt want to end up with it also, i have more energy, i of course take supplements - vitamin and mineral, and i can also boast that i have not had even one virus or sickness in the year i have been on this way of eating. the only thing that didnt come about for me is the lack of hunger, i find i am hungry even after a large meal, that is my only problem with this diet, but i deal with it, and the weight loss far outways the hunger i still feel. i have gone from a size 22 in large womans clothes to a size 10 in the misses department. WOW- it was slow at first then the pounds started melting away, so dont give up if your having trouble at first- i was also feeling kind of sick the first two weeks but i feel it was carbo withdrawls, it went away and i feel great now.
Rating:
Summary: Doubt Removed
Review: The book is written down to the average persons level, it does skip around but the information is there if you are willing to look for it. Yes, the book does get a little commercial-oriented with a subdued ad worked into the text here and there but one statistic says we are exposed to 4,000 ads per day on average, one more isn't going to push anyone over the edge. I heard about this weight loss plan about 6 months ago and didn't believe a word of it. I wouldn't listen until I heard what two family members and a friend had to say about it. They lost weight quick without the hunger and increased energy. In just a month my cousin lost 30 pounds. There is not a "typical" menu for the day, that is the reason I changed my mind about this diet and decided to try it, you eat all you want but you only have to watch the types of foods you eat. There is no measuring or substituting, you eat what you are allowed when you are hungry.
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