It's been my experience, so far (and admittedly it's only been about six weeks since I started Atkins) that no other diet gets dumped on by the media and general (uninformed) public in the way that Atkins does. I know two women who have been on a 500 calorie per day diet touted by a local (Ontario) doctor for months, who have been so weak that they could barely walk, who have to go in to the local "diet administrator" for shots of vitamin B12, and who have paid out well over a thousand dollars each for the privilege, but no one expresses anything but admiration for their "determination" and "willpower". Not that I am trying to diminish their achievement -- I'm not. They have both lost weight, but I really wonder if what is essentially a starvation diet will teach them how to keep it off. Anyway, that's another story.

I haven't seen one disparaging report on this extremely restrictive diet, but every day the media seems to have at least one error-ridden and disapproving piece on Atkins. Anyone else have ideas on why Atkins seems to have a big bulls-eye painted on it?

(Deep breath) Okay, rant over.