My wife and I started doing Atkins a few weeks ago and the results are noticeable, to say the least. I generally balk at diets of any sort on principle because I have been in superior physical shape my entire adult life, and the fact is, all you need to do is something to get your heart rate above 150 for 5 minutes a day and you can eat anything you want while burning calories in your sleep.
Even so, several years ago I suffered a severe energy that planted me in front of the screen all this time, and it catches up to you. I'm about back to the point where I can exercise the way I want to again, but at age 37 a whole lot of sitting for extended periods of time just doesn't do you any favors.
All I know is, for a variety of reasons, Atkins works. Prior to using it I only ate once a day and was still gaining weight. Carbs are all hidden sugar (1 medium potato = 1/4c of processed sugar), and when one slice of whole grain bread constitutes your entire Atkins induction carbs intake for a day, you pay a lot more attention to it.
I had the headaches for awhile too, but I think they were mostly because I dumped my quadruple espresso with its corresponding sugar injection every morning. After several days they stopped.
What has sucked though, is with a veg diet there really aren't a whole lot of things you can eat on Atkins. Basically means my protein intake consists entirely of eggs and tofu. Good thing I make a mean omelet.
Don't get me wrong though: Well as the diet works my bottom line goal is to build up to an adequate enough exercise level again to get off this infernal diet. Sure it works, but it's nowhere close to fun.
