The Atkins diet works like any other diet, by reducing the total number of calories you eat in a day. Since you are cutting out carbohydrates, which make up close to half the calories of most people's diet, you can eat a lot more fat and protein.

I haven't been on the Atkins diet. It's not for everybody, but some people seem to have success with it.

My suggestion would be to keep track of your calories and nutrition by signing up for an account on an online diet journal or download free diet software like CRON-O-Meter which you can get at http://spaz.ca/cronometer/ . For an online journal I like the USDA Mypyramidtracker web site. Fitday.com is another popular one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mypyramidtracker

Mystic, My husband and I use Atkins to control his TypeII diabetes and my insulin resistance. It does not reduce caloric intake; on the contrary, most people find that they take in more calories.

Atkins is NOT a NO carbohydrates way of eating - it's a LOW carbohydrates way of eating. Some systems in the body require carbs and cannot operate on stored fat - brain, eyes, heart.

Dietary fat (eaten fat) is not stored as fat. Everything we eat, to some extent is converted, simply speaking, to sugar (glucose, glycogen, all the words you've read over the years).

All (100%) of the carbohydrates you eat (starches, simple sugars, complex sugard) are converted to "sugar." Only 56% of proteins (meats, other) are converted to "sugar." Only 10% of your fat intake is converted to sugar.

If you take in more carbs (think of it like filling your car's gas tank) than your body burns (normal activity, exercise, everything you physically DO), the remaining carbs convert to fat in order to be stored.

Now, if you eat only a few carbs (never fewer than 15 grams of carbs per day; usually 15-20 to start), eat lots of fat (yes, all the bacon you want), and have steak, shrimp cocktail, some salad, allowed veggies...your body will be forced to burn stored bodyfat in order to give you the fuel it needs to do your normal life.

You do not have to exercise. I promise. I won't say that weightloss wouldn't be faster if you did, but many physically-impaired people can lose weight simply by increasing the fat and protein intake and reducing and being picky about the carbs you do eat.

Read the book, understand it, and follow it. It works.