You should read page 143 of Atkins book. He says calories do count. He says not to count calories, and that following a controlled carbohydrate program allows you to consume more calories then on a lowfat-high carb diet, however if you consume more calories then you expend you're not going to lose weight. I think moderation is the key, the less calories we eat (without going into starvation mode) the more we're going to lose.