After having to many LC treats and what not over the holidays I put on a small amount of weight. It's not bothering me as much as it should becaus eI am still the lowest I have ever been in my life, though I would like to lose more. I went from bouncing around 131-132 to 136-138.

What is upsetting me is I seemed to have turned into a carb addict, even though I am eating LC. I do fine during the day, but in the evening Isnack like crazy. It starts as genuine hunger, but I keep going.

I've been looking at the carb addicts diet in order to get the snacking under control. It looks li ke a doable plan and I am eager to start.

The trouble is we are going to a family reuniun in a small CO town. We leave Wensday, having lunch in Cheyenne, then come back Sunday morning. There isn't even a walmart, the closest being an hour away in Ft. Morgan or Sterling. I have no idea what the food choices will be as I havn't met most of this part of the family *SO's Mother's side* and we will be staying at his ggrandmothers. My plan was to take a bunch of shakes and bars to at least nibble before meals if ther eisn't much there I can eat. That would be a no-no on CAD though.

My question is, should I go ahead and start CAD for the next 2 days as I am excited to start, then just do my best while visiting family? Or should I stick toAtkins and just try to control my snacking for the next few days and wait CAD until I get back? My main concern would b e to start CAD and before I can get blood chemistry balanced have to go off and end up doing more damage by doing the program then not.

Why do you want to do CAD? Eating carbs as part of the reward meal could make things even worse. If I were you I'd do a 'back to basics' plan. 4 days on Stillmans then back to Atkins induction.

Stillmans (meat, eggs, fish only - low fat, no carbs) is the best appetite surpressant I've ever come across.

I'm certainly not an expert but I too have been intrigued with CAD and may move that direction after losing the bulk of my weight. In the meantime, I have on two occasions since going back to Atkins, employed the "reward meal" concept because of social situations and had no problems.

I am fortunate tho - I've had no uncontrollable carb cravings so far. I feel for you because in my recent previous life, I would have days where I felt, for lack of a better term - like a bottomless pit. I don't know if if was my brain or my body that short circuited the satiety cue but it was miserable.

I love Wyoming by the way - Buffalo is the best! Spent many a summer in my youth on my uncle's ranch in Ranchester.

I don't think stillmans would work fo rme. Just protien with no fats and no carbs doesn't supress my appitite. Instead I'm left hungry, unsatisfied, and even more likely to grab extra food.

I have tried going back to basics with a KISS version of Atkins, but that doesn't adress the snacking issue as I am having legal LC foods. I am also close to goal, though I have lowered it to 125. I don't want to have to do stillman's for the rest of my life. I would rather hash out a plan that works for me and I can stick to and maintain. Most of the people I see who have problems maintaining or gaining it all back did induciton and extream measures like stillmans to lower the weight, then have no idea to do once the weight is gone.

this may be something you thought of already, but are you sure you are getting enough calories? i looked at your fitday, and yesterday you only consumed 44% of the calories you burned. that's pretty low. perhaps you are just REALLY hungry. maybe you should try eating more calories spread evenly throughout the day. perhaps that would stave off the evening snacking?

Yesterdays fitday only has breakfast, lunch and maybe dinner. It leaves out the snacking :P

origionaly that's why I didn't try to control the snacking. I knew I needed more calories and I wasn't gaining weight, but then it got to an out of control point.

Enna - I'm origionaly from Sheridan. Pretty much between ranchester and buffalo. Ya know that big town ya'll probably had to come to for groceries (jk)

I'd suggest staying low-carb altogether until you get back. CAD is an adjustment, and IMO the change will be easier when you're in your own surroundings. If I can't stay on CAD as written for whatever reason, I stay lc until I can settle back into the routine.

I've decided to re-start CAD on the 1st, since it worked for me when nothing else would.

The first few days were kind of hard, as I was so used to snacking, but once I stopped the constant nibbling during the day, my nighttime cravings were GONE.

I've never tried Stillman's but as an official 'switchee' from Atkins to CALP I can attest to CALP's appetite suppressing capabilities even without benefit of ketosis. On Atkins I used to snack a lot, and never counted calories which is probably why I hit a stall. Now I stick to my three meals a day and I rarely find myself hungry or craving food in between. I also lost four pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas, officially breaking a four month stall.

Potatofree is right that you are better off waiting until you get home before switching plans. And I know you've heard this before, but even on Atkins, I'd be wary of the bars and shakes except for 'emergency' situations where there is absolutely nothing else to eat. I used a lot of artificial sweeteners on Atkins and in retrospect I realize that they caused me to crave sweets and treats all day long. It wasn't until I reluctantly gave up artificial sweeteners and diet sodas outside of my CALP reward meal, that the cravings truly went away.

I bet you're not in ketosis. You need to increase your fat "good fat" and a little more protein. You're eating carbs and that's making you get out of sync.
Again, what supplements are you taking and when?
On the trip, pack some smoked salmon, tuna in oil, a good hard cheese, some canned chicken, mayo, hard boiled eggs, almonds, macadamia nuts, cream cheese and celery sticks, peanut butter (without sugar), Atkin's bars, Atkins shakes, make a bag salad, make a home made dressing to add to the salad, take a tablespoon of Udo's Oil three times a day, take some heavy cream, De Vinchi's syrup and some soda water to make a Italian Cream soda. 1-3 tablespoons of De Vinchi's syrup (sugar free), 1-3 tablespoons of heavy cream, crushed ice and fill glass with soda water. Hard salami and cheese.
Come on guys what else can one take on a road trip?

I forgot to start the above out by saying, just stay with ATKINS. And get your food balanced out. That means a good breakfast, a possible snack, a good lunch, a possible snack and a good dinner. I bet you're going too long without eating and are not getting a proper balance of fat, protein, carb ratio.

Atkins is a wonderful plan and is how I've lost this much. I would like to explore othe rLC plans and find one that suits me best however. What will probably happen for maintanance is I combine plans to figure out what best suits me. This is something for life, so I want to figure out what I can live with and maintain with forever. I was having 70% of calories from fat, adiquet protien and under 20g net carbs. I also ate around every 2-3 hours having 4 small meals a day (was 5-6 on BFL) I was not eating a ton of carbs. You're lists of foods to take on the road trip is more then double the carbs I was currently eating :P While I was having alot of veggies, with all the fiber they maybe got to 15 net a day at most. I don't have cheese, splenda, processed foods or other sources of hidden carbs either.

I do know the finer points of Atkins that's how I lost the 40 some pounds I have and have gotten close to goal weight. Since I am within 10 pounds of goal, I should probably be on premaintanance which means no ketosis anyway.

With CAD though I can eat my breakfast and lunch pretty much the way I am now. The reward meal though would allow me alot more flexability when dining out or away if I be very careful to follow the rules. The ban on snacking also forces me into not doing instead of trying to figure out if I'm actually hungry or not (ok lazy way out I know). I can also have the foods that are tempting me to snack within the boundries of the reward meal, satisfying the craving without having to break plan or have problems when I do. btw I don't crave cake and so on, it's mainly things like soynut butter, peanut butter and such. I crave moderate carb OWL ok foods, not high carb foods.

Again I am only looking into CAD. It may turn out that I can't do 3 meals a day (though they do have one plan that does allow 1-2 snacks I may be able to do), without getting hungry because of going to long between foods. I also don't agree with them that what you have for supper the night before will provide you with enough energy for the morning and breakfast isn't always nessecary.

The heavy cream and cheese would be out as I don't eat dairy. I will on rare occasions have a small amount of cheese, but any more then that kicks me out of ketosis fast and sets of massive cravings. Cream was the only thing I found myself unable to control on.

As for the almonds, macadamias ect, that would be adding carbs :P (yes i know nuts aren't much) If I can I may buy a bag of premade salad there. There is no way I could pack all that food with me however. I would like my salads if nothing else and willprobably get some if they don't have it. I'll have around $30 is all though period as I am having financial problems (whole end of year student loan issues, you college kids know the drill)

It's not to much a road trip. The actual drive is only 2-3 hours. It's the staying there for 4 days that will be the problem. There is no way to get a cooler in the car as 2 small children in car seats, enough clothing to last 2 adults 4 days and 2 children 6 (anyone who has kids knows what I mean) toys, books, Mom's toys and books, and so on will be taking up the room. We are also taking my SO's 2-door (though it does have a larger trunk, yeahh) so he can have family help doing some things to it while we're there.

I also avoid smoked salmon, salami (never liked that anyway) and other processed foods. During induction (the two week real one) I would have smoked salmon and feta omlettes for breakfast almost every morning. I found cutting those out and following the candidia restrictions for the most part not only helped with weight loss, but acid reflux and bowl problems.


I've been trying to wean myself off some and am too broke to buy others. Typicaly what I have now is

Before meals
L-Carnatine 500 mg.
Hydroxylean (this probably does keep me out of ketosis. I can't blame the eating patterns on it though as they started days before I recieved the new suppliment)
Before I was taking herbal genasis and tried 2 weeks of trim spa because it had that certain kind of fiber that was suposed to help. I didn't notice enough difference to justify the price however.

After breakfast
Twin labs one a day (yeast and sugar free)
green tea extract
St. John's Wort
Calcium
Magnesium
Pottasium (out now)
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
CLA (also out now)
Fish pills (out)

After lunch
CLA, Fish and Potassium if I had them
Green tea extract
St. John's Wort
Co Q-10

After Dinner
CLA, Fish, Potassium again
Calcium
St. John's Wort

Occasionaly before bed
Melatonin and Yeast fighters

I also have the strong L-Glutamine in powder form I take when I remember it or if I experience sugar cravings which is rare. I stopped the L-carnatine when I finished BFL challange 1.

Told you I was the queen of suppliments :P

You don't want to be in ketosis in maintenance anyway.... isn't the purpose of OWL to gradually get to the point where your weight loss stops and you find the level where you can stay at your goal weight without gaining?

Anyhoo... I think one reason I did so well on CAD (and have chosen to return to it) is the "no snacking" rule.... in the CAD books it speaks to people getting an insulin rollercoaster from constant snacking, even on lc foods..and having it build in effect all day until your cravings at night become unbearable...and that was ME. After the first few days, I was a new woman. No more binging (albeit mostly on lc foods) at night...and faster weight loss.

It also did help me realize I was snacking out of habit, boredom, and simply because it was THERE...which is also where the Dr Phil book comes in, but that's another thread!

I've read CAD (not CALP) with an eye toward seeing how it would suit me as a maintenance-type plan, and I decided I was better off sticking with Atkins. There are a couple of principles in it that I like, but they were pretty much things I was already doing, and they weren't the least bit incompatible with Atkins. So here's an Atkins perspective on CAD -- again, I haven't studied it extensively, and these are just my opinions and observations.

The meal schedule is one of the things I find really appealing about CAD, though the overall plan as written is a bit complex for my tastes. I've never been a snacker, and I think that's been a critical factor in my success with Atkins -- like I said on the mini-meal thread a couple weeks back, I don't tend to eat less at meals to compensate for between-meal snacks. And I think after-dinner snacking is something that should be avoided no matter what plan you're on, because it never leads to any good. I also like the idea that if you're going to eat something off-plan, confine it to a single meal and balance it out with good-for-you foods.

However, I have some reservations about the RM concept, both as it deals with insulin management and with the problem of bingeing. CAD works really well for some people, but I've seen it send a lot of other people completely off the rails. I know a couple of CADders on here avoid certain foods (i.e. sugar) even at RMs, and to me that tends to argue that CAD is not always the best answer to sugar addiction. My limited observation suggests that starch-lovers do better on it, and that people who go into it because they're craving sugar don't generally do well, but maybe Potatofree would have more and better input here.

I also still don't understand how it's OK to spike your insulin way up high once a day, but bad to send it on barely-noticeable increases from LC snacks or even diet drinks. I know they say that eating the RM within the hour and balancing the carbs are the keys to good insulin management, but I don't think I buy that, because I know I still feel a sugar rush/crash if I eat something high-GI even if it's balanced and consumed according to CAD rules. That's pretty much what I do when I do cheat at Christmas and suchlike -- eat a balanced meal, with *one* serving of something high-carb -- and I always feel the reaction. I have some cravings, too, as a result -- nothing too hard to overcome, just "oh, another piece of that would be nice", but they're still there. On the contrary, I drink, well, let's just say more than one diet coke per day, and not with meals, and I don't notice perceptible insulin reactions or cravings on a routine basis.

I think it also depends on how addicted to carbs you really are, and that's hard to tell with the self-test. People tend to evaluate themselves a llittle more to extremes on tests like that -- I've taken it and tested as moderate to severe, even though I think I'm weakly addicted if at all. Having a temporary snacking problem doesn't necessarily mean you're a carb addict, especially if it's a recent development, and my understanding is that CAD isn't a plan for non-addicts.

You don't have to do CAD just to do the no-snacking thing, you know -- the Atkins police will not come and take you away if you don't eat snacks. Eat your dinner, clean up your kitchen, and be done for the day. It's helpful just to have lots of nibbly foods in the fridge, and to cook filling, satisfying, well-balanced meals. I know you've been doing the mini-meal thing for a while, and sometimes it's helpful just to shake things up a bit. Why not just switch to three squares/no snacks for a while, rather than swap plans entirely?