I don't count calories at all ... it's one of the things that I like best about this plan. And I have lost on this plan. Just remember, that you can only expect to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week - it's slower than Atkins, but so far, I've found it's more consistent.

When I was on Atkins, I entered everything into fitday every day. After being on CAD for a couple of weeks, I did enter one day's totals into fitday, just to see how much I was eating compared to Atkins. There wasn't much difference. Although you can eat a generous Reward Meal, if you look at the suggested menus, the CMs that the Hellers describe are smaller than similar meals on Atkins. And of course, there is no snacking allowed! Many of the snack foods I ate on Atkins are only allowed at RMs on CAD (nuts, LC choc, etc).