The All-New Atkins Advantage: The 12-Week Low-Carb ... (ISBN 0312331290)

Well-written, accurate, and easy-to-follow:
The low-carb diet has been evolving over the last 10-15 years as the nutritional power and availability of vegetables have increased. I can't understand a dieter like Delores Haze today. I've been on low-carb for 7 years and have almost never had a "hunk o' meat and veg" for dinner. Tonight I had a delicious stir-fry with broccoli, red and white onions, snow peas, grated carrots, large, vine-ripened tomato slices, cut-up chicken sausage and diced fresh chicken from my last evening's dinner. I cook this slowly in extra-virgin olive oil and a splash of canola oil. Absolutely no seasoning is needed. I made a lot and it's a good thing. Both my younger kids had friends over and they had seconds and thirds. "We never get food like this at home" was a typical comment. Interestingly, nobody even noticed that the meal was very low in net carbs. So, my suggestion to Delores is to put a bit of effort into your dieting and you'll be amazed at how much delicious variety you can eat. I do agree with Delores (and others) who experience headaches a few days into the diet. However, she is incorrect to say that using addiction terminology is wrong. It is, in fact, right on. Just watch very heavy people gorging on ice cream, candy, cake, cookies, and Grape-Nuts (yes, they have a huge amount of sugar disguised as barley malt). Why do they do it? They really need to, physically and mentally. That's addiction. Like all addicts, when they gorge on their addictive substance (that first drink of alcohol, the first bite of ice cream, that big bowl of Grape-Nuts, etc.) they feel great. But we all now what happens down the line. So, get through the headaches (mine came on after three days and did not fully disappear until about ten days). That was seven years ago and I don't remember ever having another headache. I do remember effortlessly losing 65 pounds (it's still all off), controlling my blood pressure without medication, and dropping my frighteningly high fasting triglycerides (over 400) to 89. Oh and my cholesterol did nothing. It was at 155 when I started and it has been at 155 (plus or minus 10) the whole time. With my HDL at 60+, I'm not worried. Bottom line: If you are creative and determined, the low-carb diet is a very easy one to follow and this book, with all its delicious recipes, sensible advice on exercise, and an excellent overall discussion of why low-carb works is a great place to start.

Wow, what an improvement over the old atkins...:
I just spent several hours reading this "all new" atkins program and I am truly impressed. The book emphasizes all the healthy reasons to do this program and holds your hand for 12 weeks. It has continual motivational tips and ideas to prevent back sliding and to achieve a long term healthy weight and lifestyle. As for a recent post who gave it 2 stars because of "bad" vegetable oils encouraged...hmmm I'm confused... when did olive oil, flax seed oil and avocado in moderation become harmful and bad? I don't think so. I highly recommend this book!

Wrong Fats:
I picked up this book to look at it in the book store and did what I always do when I look at a new diet book, look at what fats they recommend. After seeing that they recommended the tired old vegetable oils that are all wrong for us........I slammed the book shut and put it right back on the shelf. These vegetable oils are one of the reasons our country is so sick. If they don't recommend coconut oil and other healthy fats from the past, then I know I should be careful about trusting anything else they say. Most of those oils in the grocery store are bad news and it is hard for me to believe people still recommend them. It is common sense to note that these oils were not around until recent decades and our bodies are rejecting them. What did generations before us eat without getting heart disease and cancer? Not these highly processed fats. Even though Atkins should get some credit for making everyone aware of what carbs can do to us, hence the two stars, I was hoping this book would be updated with new info as a way of improving on the old Atkins diet. I was disappointed. To understand what fats are healthy read "Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol" (Paperback) by Mary G. Enig

Falls short of "Classic" atkins books:
Previous Atkins books went much more into detail the science behind how the low carb diet works. this one just gives a brief overview. The rest of the book is simply recipies and stretching excercies. The Akins books of old were much more informative. I have read all of the diet books written by Dr. Atkins and suggest to anyone interested in his diet to read one of the books he actually wrote. The 2002 edition will surfice.

Helpful Book:
This book had a few more suggestions than the first to come out.There are a few that were new to me and would have helped me at the beginning better if I would have known.It recommends exercise while the other book didn't.A lot of it is the same thing but you do get a lot of different ideas also.