The reason that it is unfathomable to you that someone would not eat carbohydrates for the rest of his or her life is that we are a nation of sugar addicts (which includes starches that turn to sugar). Recent studies have shown that sugar is as addictive to heroin, yet it is 100% legal, available to children, and largely unregulated. In the not-too-distant future, we're going to suddenly "discover" that sugar is as harmful as cigarettes, and at the root of almost all the obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure that has become an epidemic in our society.

The reason Atkins and South Beach ended up being "fads" were because they work, but that most people have not been able to conquer the addiction that creates the need for them. So people went on them for the short-term, saw results (and their friends saw the results which caused more and more people to join them). But the pull of addiction was so strong, that most people either gave up before they reached their goal weight -- or reached their goal weight and thus thought they had conquered their carb addiction. This led to binging behavior, which caused people to put on even more weight, and more quickly, than ever before, since they needed an ever-increasing amount of carbs to feed that addiction.

We know this happens with alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs, and so we regulate them in an attempt to discourage the addiction from ever forming or at least forestall it until adulthood. But what kid isn't given candy from the earliest age? What poor person doesn't believe that cheap sugars and starches (junk food) is all they can afford? Why is it easy to gorge on a whole bag of chips or candy, yet still be hungry, yet we can't gorge on a whole bag of spinach or broccoli. Sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup is added to so many foods that don't even need it to create the addiction, just as nicotine was added to cigarettes.

Step back from the idea of Atkins or South Beach or any other diet plan -- the plan is not as important as whether you're allowed to eat addictive foods or not. If it's a low-carb plan, there's a chance that you will be able to break the pattern of addiction and reduce the cravings that we've been falsely taught to believe are hunger. If it's not, then while portion control can temporarily help, it's not a long-term solution, especially if it involves reducing fat which causes you to be satiated with smaller portions. (Try eating a one-pound hamburger and a one-pound bag of chips or box of chocolates-- believe me, the former is much harder.)

There's a reason that alcoholics aren't allowed a couple of drinks a day (even though a drink or two, especially of wine, might be good for your health). Most people can't successfully kick smoking without ultimately completely weaning themselves from nicotine. Yet we expect people who are surrounded by sugar and empty carbs to lose weight and constantly fault their lack of "willpower." That fundamentally misunderstands and willfully ignores the nature of carb addiction, and doesn't contribute to solving the health and obesity problems we have as a society.