Hi CS,

I did the Atkins diet way back in the mid 80's when it first came out. It worked for me. I lost a good amount of weight very quickly and kept it off by simply going back to healthy, balanced eating habits but also cutting back on white carbs (pasta, white rice, white bread, etc) and replacing them with wholemeal and brown rice options.

It is really important to follow the three stages of the Atkins diet and not just take on the first stage and try to stay there indefinitely. The first stage is the kick-start stage, and then you move to the weight loss stage, before going to the weight maintenance stage.

I think that the majority of bad press you will read or hear about the Atkins diet is based on people seeing the information about the first stage and thinking that that is the whole diet. (I get tired of seeing half-baked opinions on the Atkins diets which show that the people reviewing it haven't bothered to get the full information.)

Atkins reviewed and modified his original diet plan and it is better now, I think. I think that his original idea of cutting back on highly refined carbs is very beneficial, and if his radical approach helps people to re-think and re-engineer their eating habits for the long term, then I think it works. But it is a weight loss diet and the weight loss stages are not meant to be used for the rest of your life. Once your desired weight is achieved, the weight maintenance eating habits are good.

I liked having Greek salads. That also worked for me. I found that a salad with a small amount of protein, like feta cheese or egg or legumes, and a variety of good greens e.g lettuce, spinach, etc with the light dressing of olive oil and lemon juice made a balanced and surprisingly satisfying meal.

Also, avocados have good fats, not like animal fats.

It's all in eating a good, healthy balanced diet, and I think that in modern society there are way too many processed carbs available. The percentage that many people eat is too high. Lots of fruit & veges, a little protein, and a more balanced percentage of good carbs seems a good way to go. And adding more fibre and beans/legumes to the mix is important too.

I'm getting very creative about adding beans/legumes to meals. My favourite is using mashed butter beans from a can, instead of mashed potato, as a base for fritters or salmon patties, with lots of grated veges added, and I add an egg to bind it. Bake it in the oven instead of frying in lots of oil. Yum!

One of my favourite eating plans is the the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet.

Note: The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia's national science agency. Scientists evaluated a whole range of diets and developed a healthy, balanced eating plan by tweaking the best bits of all the diets.

Good luck with your eating plan.

Also, my hubby & I are trying Michael Mosley's 2 non-consecutive fast days per week. We're impressed with the changes Mosley found in cholesterol, blood pressure, heart health etc, so we're optimistic. We've been on it for about a month now. (I annoy my hubby by calling the fast day Starvin' Marvin day, or Marvin day for short. Think South Park.)

Helen