Welcome, Monkeygod! I just wanted to chime in here and say I consider myself semi-vegetarian. I do love chicken and seafood and eggs but only have red meat once in a while. I've been following Atkins for three months now and have lost 20 pounds (forever, darn it!). I love all kinds of salad and cooked vegetables, olives, avocados, etc. - I'd say that's at least 70% of my diet. You don't have to eat a meat heavy diet. In fact, excess protein will inhibit weight loss. Atkins or general low carb is thought of as high protein, but it's actually moderate. In the beginning, "high" fat is stressed so your body gets used to burning it for fuel, but as time wears on you can moderate that, too, relying mostly on the fats that occur naturally in food but still not being afraid to cook your eggs in butter, etc.

Best of luck to you on your journey, and glad you joined us here. This is a great place for support and information.