Fad diets are unsustainable for life, not to mention not much fun. Counting grams of carbohydrate and other nutrients every day of my life? That would take all the enjoyment out of eating and cooking, which I really enjoy. I eat mainly what I want, but I happen to like vegetables a lot, so a huge volume of what I eat consists of the kind of vegetables that I guess the Atkins crowd calls "low glycemic index" or something like that. I have long suspected that there is a whole lot of overlap between obese people and people who don't REALLY like vegetables. I consider bread, pasta, rice, tortillas, sugary foods, fried foods, etc., to be the equivalent of candy--if I eat them, it's as a special treat, not part of my everyday fare. Grains--some but very much in moderation. It doesn't take a nutritional scientist to have a layperson's understanding that the body is as as happy to convert white bread into something your body stores as unneeded energy reserves as it is a candy bar. I suppose my diet is lower in carbohydrates than the average American's, but it's also lower in fat, and consequently, probably fewer daily calories. So who knows whether it's the total calorie intake or something more mysterious involving this decade's chosen villain, carbohydrates. I don't care, so long as I maintain my weight and overall health. Seems like a common-sense way to live to me, not a "diet," and I am happy to eat as I have been for the rest of my life.