welcome esw, you will do fine on this as it is not extreme. I started very lowcarb but suffered depression and constipation and had a diverticulosis flare-up but knew I couldn't go back to the low-fat thing , hungry all the time. so I experimented and found "life without bread" nby Wolfgang Lutz...that gave me 'permission' to up the carbs to 72 a day and for some reason that was good for me...eventually began to feel less depressed and eating fruit and small amounts of whole grain took care of the other problem. as I said before, not as fast on the weight loss as Atkins but just that little bit of whole grains and fruit made the difference for me. I think the difference is I am just not as hungry so I don't snack like I used to either..i did have to watch certain things, the nuts are very calorie dense but I eat a handful sometimes with my homemade yogurt and berries.....(my sundae) kind of long-winded here so I will close...just try to forget everything you knew about "dieting" and ENJOY!