Adelante, re: "I was thinking of Protein Power but I'm really don't think I could hold to only 20g carbs a day. 75 to 100 is more like it for me."

In Protein Power's Phase I Intervention, the Drs. Eades recommend eating no more than 7-10g effective carbs (carbs minus fiber grams) per meal, to total no more than 40 grams of effective carbs per day --not 20g, that's Atkins induction. The Drs. Eades developed this stage of the diet to address health issues...serious insulin resistance, blood pressure elevation, blood sugar elevation, poor lipid profiles (bad cholesterol ratios), weight loss in excess of 20% of current body weight, etc.

In Phase II Intervention, PP raises the daily recommended carb limit to 55g effective carbs, and relaxes the per-meal or one-time consumption recommendation to between 12-15g ECC. This always made more sense to me than Atkins "add five grams of carbs per week until you gain"--it gives you a steady number to aim at/average per day, and avoids a weekly emphasis on the scale (which can really derail people). The Phase II intervention is designed for people who have normalized blood sugars and lipids and have minimal signs of insulin resistance, but who wish to eat healthier, build lean muscle mass, or have less than 20% of their body weight to lose. It's also designed for people who are at goal and wish to gradually transistion to maintenance carb levels, which vary by individual. For me, weight maintenance carb levels are close to my my recommended protein minimum of around 80g/day.

I found it pretty easy to average 40g ECC per day, even on vegetarian menu days, for the first two years that I followed PP. Right now, I'm averaging about 60-80g ECC per day, but at the moment I'm under doctors' orders to maintain my current weight (I'm in chemo--no weight loss allowed!) Gotta tell you--that advice is really a mental shift! Some days, all I can stomach are carbs, but I've been trying to concentrate on whole grains and lentils/beans and avoid processed carbs. OTOH, some days the only appealing thing is a pecan butter cookie--and in this instance, I go for it. Then other days, *all* I want is protein. When those days hit, it seems I eat every 2-3 hours, and it's usually eggs, fermented dairy, lentil crackers or cheese paired with veggies, half a whole wheat croissant or pita, or melon/berries. My numbers are still coming out with a weekly average of between 60 and 80g ECC...right where I figured they'd start out when I moved to maintenance.

I did CAD for about a year in the early 90s. I didn't lose weight, but I didn't gain any either (I was between 160-165lbs; today I weigh 155 after a high in 2002 of between 206-212 lbs and a pre-chemo low of 150.) CAD was easier to follow while travelling than exchange plan dieting, and since I was travelling a lot, I stuck with it. However, my typical reward meal was at night, and I found it produced a lot of hypoglycemia-like symptoms...I would wake up shaky and weak, and never really 'catch up' to my normal self 'til about noon. I'd have been smarter, maybe, to have my reward meal for breakfast. Ah well--hindsight.

Anyhow, on PP, any hypoglycemia tendencies I had just disappeared. I'm sure that spreading my carb intake out over the course of the day instead of concentrating most of it at one meal is responsible for the improvement. If you don't have more than 20% of your body weight to lose, and you don't have any hypoglycemia or insulin resistance or blood sugar issues, PP at Phase II Intervention (55g ECC) might be a better fit for you than the lower carb Phase I intervention. However, if CADL is working, go for it!