Hey Ron-
I started out looking to do South Beach. After reading this NG and examining
both W'sOE I have come to using Atkins. I'm sure down  the road I will be
tayloring Atkins to fit me more personally but for now I'm following it
closely.
What made me decide on Atkins was the potential for eating too many carbs on
SB. Because he adds in things like fruit and oatmeal so early on, I think I
would just slide right back into eating those things and worse. You really
have to look at both and decide which one you'll stick to. I find Atkins
very easy this time around. I tried it a few years back, when I had about 20
pounds to lose and I couldn't get through even 1 week. This time, I stuck it
out through the Inuction Flu and I'm so glad I did. I've been losing at a
good rate, have never been hungry and have few cravings. If you cook both
plans are easy to follow and this NG is blessed with many fine cooks who are
willing to share their recipes and experience.
Hope this helps. Good luck. Let us know what you decide and join in the
discussion. If you're not used to usenet, just remember that people are
often blunt. Some of the folks here seem cranky and mean, but they're really
trying to be helpful. So give them the benefit of the doubt and your blood
pressure won't skyrocket.

I would recommend reading both of the books and developing your own opinion
about what would fit best in your lifestyle.

I've read both books.  While there is a lot of good information in the South
Beach Diet book, I don't think it is for me.  IMO it takes a lot more
personal will power and personal choice to follow it.  Reading the ideas
behind SB has its basis in good/bad carbs, glycemic index, and mixing foods
for slower absorption into the body and more stable blood chemistry.  The
'rules' are a lot more blurred than most diets.

Personally, I like Atkins more.  It seems to have more of a set plan, less
of a 'thinking man' diet.  Follow the set rules and you'll do well.

I've been low-carbing for a week now (and toying with it for a month),
and I had that same thought before I started.

I read Atkins and South Beach.  What I'm eating right now is more
Atkins-y than South Beach-y, but I'm incorporating principles of both
to decide what I eat.  Here are some things I decided:

- Trans-fat is a bad thing.  I try not to eat it.
- I need to never let myself get too hungry, or I will have trouble
controlling what I eat.
- It's better to eat saturated fat than simple carbs.  If a wad of
cream cheese will stop me from downing that sugar-laden chocolate bar,
eat the cream cheese.
- In these first two weeks, carbs are dangerous.  Be careful with
them.  I'm picking only carbs that come with a lot of fiber right now.

I'm likely to stay a bit more Atkins-y as I go.  I am allergic to
quite a lot of raw fruits and veggies, so going with fewer fruits
isn't that much of a sacrifice.  (I *am* looking forward to next week
when I can add grapes back to my diet, though!)

I'm not very much into weighing and measuring, so I'm not actually
counting my carbs as Atkins directs.  But judging from my keto strips,
I'm well into ketosis so I'm not overeating those.  I'm using the
South Beach food lists to guide my choices for carbs.  Next week I
plan to add some friut and high fiber bread, and find out how carbs
affect me.

At this point, I feel that I'm too new to tell others what to do.  I
hope that these thoughts help you decide, though!