Traded in the Atkins for a gym membership. Atkins/low carb works for me, but I noticed long ago that it seems to work mostly by boring you into eating very low calories--after the initial gorging on cheese and bacon I usually averaged 1200-1500 calories per day.
Instead I'm now shooting for 2000 fairly balanced calories/day with an emphasis on protein and fewer carbohydrates than most people eat, though I don't deny myself artificial sweeteners. That's coupled with at least half an hour to an hour of cardiovascular training daily, though, depending on whether I lift that day or not. I lift weights four times per week (large movement upper-body, large movement lower-body, break, then repeat, then two more breaks.) On the lifting days I do half an hour of cardio. On the active rest days I do an hour.
