The most important thing I can tell you, if you want to lose weight, is that you cannot feed freely on protein and
fat. Contrary to Atkins, South Beach, The Zone, etc. – whenever unlimited feeding low carbohydrate diets have
been studied – all the weight loss happens in the first 2 months, then you just weight cycle. The first week on
Atkins, the average patient eats 700-1100 calories a day, which is fine for weight loss. By week 8, the average
patient is freely feeding on over 3000 calories a day, and weight loss stops. If you want to lose weight quickly
enough to stay motivated on any diet, you have to keep your calories under 1500 a day. You’ll lose faster on
1000 calories a day. You’ll lose even faster on 500 calories a day. The problem is that 500 calories a day is
almost no food, so you have to pick and choose what you eat very carefully. The usual culprits that stop low
carbohydrate diet weight loss, by taking calories to stupid, are cheese, ribs and nuts. At 100 calories per ounce,
cheese is a caloric nightmare. Eat the topping on a pizza, and you can easily eat over 2000 calories. A single
slab of ribs can contain over 3000 calories. And a 4 ounce bag of nuts can be over 500 calories.