I'm one of those people who likes a diet for its results and how good it makes me feel - yet I am very interested in and need to be convinced by the science behind it as well.

My views on Atkins and similar diets is that the basic structure is likely to work well for almost anyone who needs to lose weight but that most of us will tweak it in some way to make it work for us as individuals - we're all unique in our own way, after all.

I am actually not too bad at maintaining weight - once I'd put it all on, I just never really got it off but it tended to stay around the same level. My intentions for maintaining my goal weight (once I get there) are to basically live the low carb life and centre my eating around protein, fats, vegetables, and some fruits - but not to go crazy and beat myself up if I have a piece of bread or small serve of pasta or even chocolate or icecream (don't anybody shoot me of kick me out of the forum!!!) once or twice a month. I'm not sure that I'll have the strength to avoid these foods altogether for the rest of my life - they're everywhere! What I do know is that I have a sure fire plan to attack cravings or lose a couple of pounds if things go pear-shaped on special occasions or holidays and so on.

I agree with what everyone says (esp rustpot) about the food industry (and I think the medical profession and dietary industry) having a vested interest in keeping everyone eating high carb low fat food. Just about every second product I pick up in a supermarket says "97% fat free" or "new low fat formula" - this stuff has MORE carbs that it's high fat version! I wish I could go in there and see "5g carb per serve" or "new sugar-free formula"!

Rebecca