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A no-carb diet is virtually impossible and highly inadvisable. Have you talked to your physician about drastically eliminating carbohydrates from your diet before you embark on a diet like this? Your body needs fuel, and not just from fats or proteins. You need a balanced diet to remain healthy, and good carbs are a part of that.

I have very strong feelings about low-carb diets because I think that people tend to go about them the wrong way. If you're going to eliminate things like white breads, refined sugar, refined flour and junk like that (think cinnamon rolls), then I think that's fantastic. Those things are terrible for you anyway. You'll lose weight, feel better and be much healthier overall.

But if you're going to go nuts and try to subsist on a diet of turkey and cheese and ranch dressing, then I would humbly suggest that you rethink your reasons for going on such a diet. It's a very high fat diet that contains almost no fiber: two big baddies. You will lose weight, but you'll feel lethargic, constipated and miserable as your body craves carbohydrates more and more every day.

Radical no- or low-carb diets like the Atkins Diet can help you lose a lot of weight, but at the potential expense of your health. And while you might fit into your skinny jeans, you will jeopardize your health and you simply won't feel good and I -- personally -- don't think that's a decent tradeoff.

You need to keep things like whole grains and fiber in your diet. They contain tons of antioxidants, keep you "regular," help prevent cancer and heart disease and even help prevent diabetes. They are highly important aspects of a healthy diet and are almost wholly absent from a no- or low-carb diet. Please make sure to do your research and talk to your doctor before you decide to do this.

A no-carb diet is virtually impossible and highly inadvisable.

Can I be president of your fan club?? People are looking for a magic bullet and I'm sorry but Atkins didn't have it. You can't completely eliminate carbs from your life. Your nervous system needs them for thought processes and you need them for energy and fiber.

My BF needs to adapt his diet to the glycemic index. I think this is a little different than low carb in that a person is permitted whole grains. They really are so important.

Any diet that prescribes cutting all of any one ingredient out of your diet is a fad.

Years ago, I did what could be described as a low flour diet. I didn't eat rice, potatoes, bread, baked sweet items or pasta. I did eat lots of fruits and veggies so it wasn't the same obsessive low-carb diet of today. I lost weight. It was a little more feasible but to deny myself the pleasure of a good sandwich or a bowl of pasta is excruciating.

There is nothing wrong with cashing in the majority of your simple carbs (refined sugar, white breads, etc) for the complex ones in whole grains. The problem I have with the low-carb (especially those long-term low carb things) is that they put so many normal, healthy foods into the "forbidden fruit" category, setting you up for failure.

If I'm feeling like trimming the carbs and calories down, I try to make sure that one of my meals isn't heavily loaded up on carbs. For example, for lunch I'll have soup and a handful of nuts. The issue that I have with low-carb is that you need the energy to exercise - and truly, that has to be part of the losing weight equation (and fitness isn't bad for general health either!).

I think that someone mentioned the glycemic index above - that is a great way to think about your carbs. The reason that carbs are bad is because it spikes your blood sugar and insulin does its thing to make your body store those carbs as fat. If you are eating whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruit, that spike is dulled so that your body can efficiently use the energy without storing it all away. It's only those processed carbs that are truly bad.

Here is a good glycemic index that will give you somewhere to start.

This one is pretty complete, and I like that it is organized by ranking. If you can't find a specific item on this list, you can search for it, there are lots of other similar charts. A note: this site is the English version of the French site, so there are some poorly translated words. Wherever you see "integral" it means whole, as in "integral wheat".

Basically anything BELOW 50 is the good stuff. If you completely eliminate everything from the red box, and eat as little as you can bear from the yellow box, and as much as you can from the green box, you'll be where you want to be, and you will still be eating balanced, fibre rich and nutritious foods.

As far as sweets go, I have discovered a great substitute for sugar and honey: agave syrup. It has a very low (relatively) glycemic index and glycemic load, so much so that it is actually recommended for people with diabetes, who can basically be killed by any other forms of sugar.

I hope this helps! Now, if only I could stick to this myself...... I've already violated the red zone multiple times today :(

I've lost 120 lbs on a modified low carb diet, talk to a nutrisionist about the type of diet a diabetic person would be put on and most importantly, do some research. cutting carbs out of your diet is a recipe for disaster! Just try to learn how to pick the right ones and most importantly learn the CORRECT portion size and stick to it. You can lose weight and eat Real food, just try to stay away from overly processed garbage and especially fast food. But more importantly, Dont deny yourself something you truly are craving. I ate chocolate almost everyday, just whatever you crave make it the BEST and just a small amount, and remind yourself, I can have more tomorrow.

My husband and I did the South Beach diet and were very happy with it. Basically, it starts art very low carb for two weeks. Then you start introducing good, whole grain carbs with the idea being that you will stick to this way of eating in the future. The result is a well balanced, healthy diet with plenty of good carbs, fruits, vegs, and low fat protein.

My husband and I did the South Beach diet ...

This is about the healthiest version of the low carb diet. It does not villify carrots and you get to eat whole grains. It makes the most sense for those of us (who me?) addicted to carbs who need to pare down the amounts of them we eat. Other great advice is to observe diets prescribed for diabetics. It's kind of the same battle - but a little more intense.

woops, accidentally posted too soon:

She usually marks which phase the recipes are best for, and she's got a wealth of features about South Beach. But overall, it's a food site, and a great place to find healthy, not terribly fussy dishes. I highly recommend it.

I did Atkins a couple of times. I love meat and it seemed like a great idea. Within days, I'd feel like I was walking around with a whole cow rotting inside of me. I lost weight, but man, I didn't like it.

Now, when I'm on a mission to lose, I go low-carb, but smarter. Grilled chicken breast, pork loin, flank steak, fish - lots of veggies, staying away from peas, potatoes and carrots, and any grains I put in my mouth are whole grain. Which is probably the smartest way to go food-wise anyway.

I appreciate the criticisms of many here, but on a modified low carb diet,even during "induction", one's diet can be healthy. Drinking loads of water,eating moderate quantities of salmon, chicken, pork, beef, eating lots of green veggies and limited quantities of nuts and cheese, I can't really see how it can be dramatically bad for you? I understand criticisms of the old Atkins lets-eat-loads-of-cheese-steaks-and-grease type of diet that is obviously kind of stupid, but I query the idea that cutting out carbs in all forms,including whole grains, is a really bad idea. I mean you can get fibre from alternative sources,you avoid any blood sugar spikes at all, and the stuff about your brain needing pasta and all that is nonsense - CNS tissue metabolises both glucose and ketone bodies. To think that there is no glucose in your blood is a misconception - when glycogen is broken down you get glucose, it's just a constant steady release. The reports of modified sensible low-carb eating tend to show that there is stabilising of blood sugar in those who find it hard to control levels,lower levels of triglycerides and better levels of HDL(good) cholesterol.