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As someone who has struggled with weight his whole life and recently found success, all I can say is be skeptical of anything that advocates eating an unbalanced diet. If you aren't prepared to follow a regimen for the rest of your life, then it's not a viable system. Besides, your body needs carbs, and you will be harming your health if you eliminate them from your diet.

I've lost over 100 lbs on Weight Watchers and am still losing. If you're not familiar with the system, essentially it stresses portion control and eating a balanced diet. There's nothing you are required to eat, and nothing you are prohibited from eating. You just have to use moderation and common sense. It's not so much what you eat, but how much. (BTW, WW isn't the only system to use this approach, but it's probably the best known and most readily available around the country.)

Fad diets always seem to offer a "magic bullet" approach. In Atkins' case, it's the idea that it's those nasty carbs that make people fat, not the fact that they just eat too much. That's partially because these diets need a hook or a gimmick to sell books, and partially because it lets people of the hook for their behavior. (In terms most Freepers can understand, it's the nutritional equivalent of demogoguery: "I'd be just fine if it weren't for those evil carbohydrates" Just substitute "rich Republican fat cats" for carbohydrates, and you'll see the psychological dynamic fad diets play on.)Forget the gimmicks and just eat a balanced diet with smaller portions, and increase your physical activity and you will lose weight. Or as a previous poster stated, just burn more calories than you take in. Simple, but certainly not always easy.

Good Luck!