Can you give a quote where Dr. Atkins actually said that calories do not matter or are you just repeating what you have heard? I suspect it is the latter since I don't think Dr. Atkins ever said that. What he said was that people can eat more calories and still lose weight on Atkins than on a low fat diet. This is caused both by the wasting of calories through the ejection from the body of incompletely burned ketones and also by the extra protein calories, which take more energy to prepare for use than does carbohydrate. In short, the laws of thermodynamics absolutely do apply but most dieticians don't understand them in terms of human nutrition.

Dr Atkins also said that protein and fat are more filling than carbohydrates so most people on his plan actually eat less calories.

Also, I have never seen a picture of Dr. Atkins in which I would describe him as a "fat guy." If you have any, feel free to post them along with the elusive "calories don't matter" quotes.