This afternoon I picked up a copy of the weekend edition of a local paper (Saanich New). On page 5 I saw a headline...
"FAD DIET BINGE...The Atkins Diet has been around for years but has become the latest dieting fad only recently....."
Oh great, I though, more Atkins bashing but as I began to read the article became much more positive.
Let me quote a couple of sections...
"It's already the best-selling diet book in history. Now the surging popularity of the Atkins Diet is having an impact on Victoria's retail food market, with restaurant owners including low-carbohydrate entrees on their menus and grocery store owners stocking up on Atkins correct power bars. We have 6 Atkins items on our menu" says Alan Taylor, owner of Valentino's Cafe on Blanchard St. We started about 5 weeks ago based on customer requests....I'd say about a third of our business is based on Atkins related items."
"Grocery Plus, a family owned food store...started selling Atkins nutrition bars two weeks ago in response to customer demand." "They're selling pretty well. I've already had to fill up the whole rack".
The article goes on to say how at least half a dozen people at the paper are doing Atkins and that they Office Manager has lost more than 70lbs since January!
They briefly comment on the controversy over Atkins....a government run hotline for nutritional information said high protein diets can put stress on the kidneys, increase risk of gout, lead to oseoporosis, increase cholesterol and reduce the bodies ability to protect against cancer but goes on to say that there haven't been that many studies so they don't know the long term implications! A naturopath was quoted as saying that he had no problems with Atkins call to eliminate starch but that it didnt have enough fruit and vegetables.
All in all it was a very positive and fair article even if some of the criticism. It was sure nice to discover that they weren't just ignorantly bashing Atkins!

This is just the type of news I want to hear!!! While we can always order a plain steak with a salad in a restaurant, I would like to have some other choices for low carb. veggies, etc.
I know so many people who are now following Atkins. It used to be just women were on it, but I know several guys who are following the plan and having success. My hubby hasn't totally given up the carbs., but he has a friend who lost 30#, and so he really has been suppportive of me, and will ask if something is "legal". (His friend calls it the Askins diet, and eats low carbinators - he really thinks that is how they are pronounced)LOL!!!!

I found that Walmart has the best prices on the Atkins bars (.96 and 1.49), which is cheaper than the prices on-line. I haven't been buying them because I really want to stay away from the idea of eating candy and desserts as a WOL. So far I haven't had a lot of cravings. I bought several bars a few weeks ago, and I craved them knowing they were in the house just like I would a high carb candybar. So, out of sight, out of mind!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing the news!!!!