I have been doing Atkins forever and I never gain weight but I did figure out that you cannot lose weight while eating the bars more than once in a while. I think that the bars carb count keep you above your critical carb limit but only a bit and once you are done losing or ready to maintain for a while you can eat them as much as you want or can afford. I found out when I was stuck at 130 for months and months. I ate a lot of bars. Then one day I ran out and couldn't replace them for several days. I don't remember why. I dropped to 127. It was too much of a coincidence to ignore. Now, I firmly believe that you can maintain with the bars and lose without them. But what a great thing to know that you can have sweets again. I believe that once you lose weight on Atkins, you can eat as much Atkins as you want with virtually no risk of gaining it back. It seems impossible to gain without that insulin in the blood wooshing that fat into my thighs. Pass it on.