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This is SUCH a rough diet, no? ;-)

Strawberries and cream--sounds real rough there :)

BTW this week my aunt was talking about the South Beach diet vs. the Atkins diet; any opinions on that?

For me, Atkins is easier, mostly because I would rather cut my carbs to almost nothing than have their carb-categories... actually what I use is an Atkins variant called "the Protein Power Plan", which I think has a less strict induction phase.

Plus, South Beach Diet doesn't like the 'low-carb' chocolates and ice creams, so I understand.

I think they're both good, but depends on the person. South Beach is a little like a condensed version of Atkins with more emphasis on foods that are low in saturated fat...i.e. it discourages bacon and such. Otherwise, it's a bit like you took all the steps of Atkins and put them closer together. As I understand it, eventually on Atkins you can have fruit and whole grains and beans and all that, but with South Beach you can have almost ALL veggies and beans right away, and fruits and whole grains after the first few weeks. Like I'm already eating oatmeal for breakfast some of the time, and if I wanted to, I could try adding some brown rice to meals. And we don't do ketosis...I don't completely understand that process, but that's a bit part of Atkins, I think.

Because it's condensed, I'd say South Beach MIGHT not work as quickly for people with a lot to lose. Seems like most of the success stories I've heard about South Beach are for people who only had thirty pounds or so to lose. But they both get you to about the same place in the end.

Jen, feel free to correct my errors! ;-)