I'll add to the cholesterol discussion, which is when I had high cholesterol it was because my triglycerides were REALLY REALLY high.

From what I've discovered, high trigs are actually not caused by high protein diets, but rather by a high amounts of refined carbohydrates in the diet.

When I eliminated those from my regular day to day diet, my cholesterol levels plummeted. My trigs are really low, my HDL is normal and my LDL is normal. (My total cholesterol is now 116).

I think if your bloodwork shows that your HDL and LDL are high, but your trigs are normal, then chances are, you are probably eating too much cholesterol in your diet. But if your trigs are high, then chances are, it's your refined carbs that are making it higher than it should be.

What's also important to note is that some people have naturally high cholesterol, while others need to change their diet AND exercise.

I'm not a fan of Atkins per se, but I don't think it causes high cholesterol at all to eat that way.

I think the best thing you can do is monitor your results and figure out what works best for your body.

I am doing semi-low carb and for me as Kaplod brilliantly pointed out it is sustainable. When I go off plan and eat more carbs and sugar my body and mind go crazy with hunger and craving. It takes about three days of on plan eating to get back to feeling good.

The carbs I do eat are healthy like little gluten free crackers that I love. 15 crackers for 20 grams of carbs, oatmeal or 1/2 cup of Uncle Sam's Cereal with 1/2 and 1/2 and truvia. My tastebuds are so reset that that tastes like a hot fudge sundae to me now. Also veggies and whole wheat pitas but sadly almost no fruit because of the sugar in them.

I am 57 years old and have dieted half my life. This is the first time that I am totally satisfied and slowly losing weight. So far I have lost over 50 LBS. At the clinic they said I was 255.5 June of 2009. Last week after a holiday binge I was at 202.

I also have insulin resistance so I think the low carb thing is whats making the differance. I do have to admit I can't do Aitkins its just too extreme for me.

About the cholesterol I had a test last week and am hoping to see a drop despite the higher fat proteins. Which technically makes sense as I was eating lots of baked goods and high fat treats just not much protein before. I'm also curious about what my glucose was as it was around 100 two years in a row.

I'm with Rana on the trigs experience. My cholesterol has been borderline normal (the highest) to normal (the usual.) But my trigs are usually "higher than what we want."

It wasn't til this last year or so that I read about PCOS and carbs and trigs, which made me more open to thinking about a 40-30-30 split.

A.