Don't forget that Dr Atkins' book states that it takes more calories to burn fat than to burn carbs so you can eat more cals (in the form of fat) than you can on a low cal/low fat diet.

I think that the fat that you're eating is being burned thru daily activities and body functions (just as it usually would but more are burned because there are no carbs to burn first) and once your body has burned all the cals you've ingested for the day, moves on to your fat stores (our ultimate goal). I am one of the believers that calories do matter, but that you can get away with eating more calories when you're in a fat burning mode than when you're in a carb burning mode. Also, by keeping your cals at a higher level your body doesn't feel threatened with starvation and readily burns the cals you're eating, assuming that since you've been eating regularly you will continue to do so and your body can assume it's safe to burn cals and doesn't need to hold on to them.

Hope that's clearer than mud. This is the explanation that makes sense to me.

N.

ps--another advantage is that the fat keeps you full and gives you food-satisfaction so you can stick to your plan.