Also, the idea of eating as much fat and meat as you want sounds very appealing, until you actually pay attention to how pervasive carbohydrates are in one's regular diet. According to Atkins, you need to keep your carb intake to less than 24 grams (I think) per day during induction. You can blow that just by eating an orange or two. I can't eat fruit during this diet? Are you mad?

I think the most discouraging thing for most people who want to lose weight is the patience required. It can take months if not years for people to become overweight. They eat properly and exercise for two weeks and don't see any significant improvement, all the while thinking "I'm always craving food and exercise is so uncomfortable," entirely missing the point that it will take them more time than that to burn off the extra fat.

Geeks and science-minded folks can take heart in a simple mantra that may help them stay the course over the months: If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight.