Cheat sheet.(Blockbuster diets)

Cheat sheet

Blockbuster diets like Atkins, South Beach, and the Zone can work wonders -- if you know how to bend the rules. Successful dieters dish out their top tips and snacking secrets. By Christine Muhlke

There's one at every cocktail party: the woman you haven't seen in months who suddenly reappears -- two sizes smaller. "How did you do it?" you ask, flagging down a waiter with deep-fried spring rolls. "Oh," she says breezily. "Atkins." (Or South Beach. Or the Zone. Or Weight Watchers.) "It's easy once you get the hang of it!" You plaster a fake smile on your face, remembering each of the five pounds you gained on Atkins. The top diets have sold so many millions of books, it seems like they should come with a money-back guarantee. But the difference between the winners who lose and the losers who don't is balancing the restrictions with some flexibility. Let's face it, a diet is a bore unless you discover the loopholes -- and you're not going to learn those semi-illegal maneuvers in the chapter summaries. The least miserable (and least likely to cheat) dieters we know reveal how they lived, learned, and lost.

ATKINS It's no surprise that the fat- and protein- indulgent Atkins diet is threatening to bankrupt pasta manufacturers across the country. "This is the most luxurious diet ever," says Los Angeles jewelry designer Catrina Gregory. "When I was on it, I had nine kinds of artisanal cheese in my fridge at all times and lived on bunless In-N-Out burgers. And I didn't have to exercise." Amen. Catrina gregory lost 14 pounds in three months by following Atkins religiously, but with her own twists. * First and foremost, she says, "don't do Atkins unless you're really prepared to follow it. Otherwise, you're just eating a lot of fat and protein, and it'll backfire on your ass -- literally. Use the website to brush up on the guidelines." * Buy the Atkins bars in bulk, and keep some at home, in your desk, in your gym bag, handbag, boyfriend's house -- "wherever you tend to get hungry and eat junk," Gregory says. * To survive the…