In a word, no you don't. For every rule that's made, there's another rule made to be broken. The simple truth is the Atkins diet plan will help you lose weight like a like a popped balloon loses air. But it isn't something that can be sustained over an extended period of time.

If you're going to a wedding a week from this Tuesday and you need to lose a quick ten pounds, hit the Atkins diet and push yourself into the gym. You will lose the weight.

The great part about it is this: by the time you reach the wedding, you can eat mostly what you want without looking horrible that night. And if you have the willpower the very next day to get back on the Atkins diet, then no harm, no foul.

If you cannot jump back on immediately, there will be a price to pay. That balloon might all of its air back, and then some.

But losing weight is more than getting ready for a wedding. Atkins can certainly be used as a quick fix, but what if you're trying to lose weight and keep it off?

My first advice is, join a gym. The Atkins weight loss plan helps you dig into your fat storage. By joining a gym and working out regularly you help the diet work even better. You can use the advantage of your body's ketogenic state (caused by eating almost no carbohydrates) to your fitness advantage.

By speeding up your metabolism over time, you can transition, and ease yourself off the Atkins diet, and push into a more conventional eating formula. Perhaps the Zone Diet, for example.

In summary, there is more than one way to lose weight. The Atkins weight loss plan is one way, and it does work. However, it will probably not be the last diet plan you engage in. Include a fitness routine no matter how small, and you're guaranteed an easier time bridging the weight loss gap.