I thought this article was interesting -- and it made me happy, because I'm focusing only on exercise and calorie counting but still eating things like french fries and bacon when I have "room" for them

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/588799

"Fewer Calories Equals Less Weight, Regardless of Carb, Fat, or Protein Content

from Heartwire — a professional news service of WebMD

Shelley Wood

February 26, 2009 (Boston, Massachusetts) — It may be one of the most commonsense observations ever to be validated in a diet study: people lose weight if they eat fewer calories, regardless of where those calories come from [1]. That's the upshot of a two-year study by Dr Frank Sacks (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA) and colleagues, published in the February 26, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine..."

I think it's important to remember that for some people where the calories come from, can matter. Lower carb works best for me, because high carb foods trigger an insanely intense cycle of hunger and cravings. Now, I know those cravings don't FORCE me eat more calories, but they sure make it more difficult not to. So while calorie restriction is the ultimate cause of weight loss, if carb restriction makes calorie restriction easier for some folks, then low carb is probably a better diet for those folks. If a person can lose weight by calorie counting alone, then they should do that.

Yeah pretty cool I read that yesterday. It also said that it doesn't really matter what kind of diet you use they all work as long as you take in less calories than you put out.

Kinda common sense really ...