I've tried both as well and wound up gaining weight on CAD. It didn't help the cravings, either as I found that I was always looking forward to that reward meal where I could have whatever goodie I was craving. Limiting my consumption to such foods to once a day wasn't helping me crave them any less than before and actually made it more difficult for me to stay away from them the rest of the day. For me it's almost equivalent to telling an alcoholic or drug addict, "You can still have what you're addicted to, but only for one hour each day". It just didn't work for me. I know that it has worked well for others, but perhaps their addictions weren't as strong as mine or they have much more willpower than I do.
If you were used to making desserts and such from a box mix, I can see where making low carb treats would be more of a chore, but since I was already in the habit of making any baked goods or sweets homemade, it's not really any more difficult to make them low carb. I made a low carb cheesecake last night and it didn't take more than 15 minutes to put together and get into the oven and that was with a couple of interruptions from the kids. Meals are also really no more work than before since I rarely made anything from a mix or a box before. If anything, it's less work because I'm not having to mess with rice, noodles or potatoes....just meats and veggies.