The A2K (virtual) Weight Loss Club !!

The Atkins diet gained a modicum of respectability this month when scientists reported that two clinical trials found the high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet did not cause disastrous increases in serum cholesterol and even reduced one or two cardiac risk factors.

The studies, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, compared the effects on weight loss and cardiovascular risk factors of the Atkins plan with the conventional low-fat, low-calorie diet recommended by most health experts. Both diets resulted in weight loss, but participants on the Atkins diet lost more weight, faster.

But it is too soon to jump on the Atkins bandwagon in hopes of achieving bathing-suit slimness by the Fourth of July. Yes, the diet does help obese people lose weight quickly, and those wanting to shed 10 pounds in the next four weeks could achieve that goal. But the research suggested that by Labor Day many, if not most, are likely to be back to their starting weight.

The first five to seven pounds lost on Atkins are not fat but water, released by the body when it gets little or no starch or sugar from food. So as soon as you are unable to resist that bun with your burger or summer's succulent sweet corn, a cooling ice cream cone, thirst-quenching watermelon or a bag of fries, those lost pounds are likely to come bounding back.