Eight pounds is good. But definitely watch out on the Atkins plan. You're a young woman, so it's probably not too dangerous for you, but the high fat/high protein plan can really run people's cholesterol up sky high, and the younger ones feel self conscious about the ketosis breath they have. I have patients who do Atkins, and they always lose weight and report that it's easy, but their blood lipids never look healthy while they're on it. They get kidney stones, too. They also tend to gain back rebound weight real easily when they add carbs back in or if they fall off the wagon. I try to urge them more toward The Zone diet or the South Beach plan if they want a popular book diet. That way they're getting complex carbs along the way, which keeps them from craving simple carbs while they're dieting but also keeps them from rebound gaining so bad when they fall off the wagon or end the diet. What I really like for them to do is go to Weight Watchers and keep going for the rest of their lives, but few ever do that.