Unsurprising, really. Atkins has known about this for a long time. I tried Atkins, and I was amazed, actually.

Day one - I decided to try Atkins and began eating nothing but high fat foods. Omelets, bacon cheeseburgers (no bun) essentially I was eating what dieticians (who are incompetents) would call "heart attack on a plate." I decided I wouldn't rely on the bathroom scale, body fat calipers or any other fat measuring device. I decided the eyes would have it, and rely only on what I saw in the bathroom mirror. And I would start every day by examining myself carefully in the mirror.

Day Two - Looking in the mirror before I began eating, I actually thought I looked fatter. I knew this was going to happen, though, since Atkins said it would take three days for the body to stop using carbs and start using fat for fuel. So, undaunted, I had a huge omelet for breakfast. And turned myself into a carnivore for the day (save a salad, sans croutons).

Day Three - Looking heavier than before, but still undaunted, since this was my last day for storing fat and using carbs for fuel. I kept right on eating my artery clogging death menu. Who needs orange juice? I was going to start the day with a glass of bacon grease! I ate as much as I wanted and enjoyed every bite.

Day Four - Ding! Ding! Ding! The transition happened! It worked! I looked in the mirror and was thinner than I was on day one! Yee-hah!

I continued to lose as I stayed with the diet, but there was one drawback to it all. I simply couldn't stay with it. I never went hungry. In fact, I could gorge myself, but the taste of things that I missed were overpowering.

Fortunately, I did find an alternative that appears to work just as well as Atkins. It's called "The Carb-Addict's Diet."

Basically, it works the same as the Atkins, but with one critical difference. You don't deny yourself ANY food you like.

Two meals are equal portions (just use your eyes, not the scale weighing each portion to the ounce) of high protein, no carb food, and a serving of low carb vegetables (broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, celery, peppers, cauliflower etc.)

Then one meal is called the "reward meal." It starts with a salad, like Atkins, and it includes the portion of high-protein, no carb food, and the low carb vegetables, and another equal portion of ANYTHING, and I do mean ANYTHING.

To me, this was a godsend. The psychological benefits the Carb-addict's diet vs. Atkins were so vastly better, I would never do Atkins again, even if I needed to.

On the Atkins diet, you can walk down the street and see someone eating ice cream and you think, "I can never have that again." On the Carb-Addict's diet, you can say, "That looks good. Maybe I'll have that tomorrow." Or "today" if you haven't eaten your reward meal yet.

Look at Eskimos, folks. Those people are exclusively carnivores. Yet they are leaner and have less instance of heart disease than we do. The French are also very big on high-protein low carbs. Fat French people simply don't exist.

On the other hand, let's look at those that rely heavily on carbs... such as the Italians, where pasta is served with every meal. And we all know that in Italy, the definition of "skinny" is anyone slimmer than Chris Farley.

You have seen an eskimo out of its Parka?!?!?!?! Blasfeeeeeeeeeeeeem!

Nah - I have done the atkins thing. Hella effective... but hella hard to stay with. Eventually, most "Atkinsers" morph thier diet into something similar to the diet you mentioned.... Which does in fact reduce the effectiveness of the diet. Its slows it down....

but - it is maintainable. More so than true atkins at least.

Another possibly effective alternative to the Atkins diet is known as "Ketogenic Dieting" check it out at http://www.idietnow.com/ketogenicdiet/