Hi all, I have been having a go at CAD the past few days and admit i'm finding it a struggle. I have been craving badly, struggling to stay on track, hungry, tired, cranky, bloated, etc. Now I know they say it takes a few days to adjust and I haven't given it a fair amount of time yet, but i'm starting to fear i am gong to totally lose focus if i don't come back to Atkins.

I am also diabetic and my blood sugar levels have soared to almost pre LC levels in just 3 days. That means more insulin pumping around my body which equals hunger and weight gain.

I am curious if anyone else here has tried CAD/CALP from Atkins and returned to Atkins.

Pleae don't think i am criticising the CAD plan, it works great for some, this is an individual thing and perhaps my diabetes means CAD is not for me. I'm just curious to get input from others here.

Thanks

I havn't exactly failed CAD. I did notice however that from eating too many refined carbs I got alot of my old "symptoms" back. My skin broke out, I felt bloated and so on. Now I kind of do both. I stick to the CAD rules of no snacking and typically have CAD ok CM's. my reward meal though is low carb with maybe some fruit or an Atkins bagle added. My entire day is still low carb.

From what I've seen on the bored here, many find they won't lose on CAD if they have alot of sugar and so on. Even the book sugegsts avoiding sugars and sticking to more complex carbs, though they are a bit outdated on thier thinking of what a complex carb is.

You might try sticking to CAD a little longer while cutting out artificial sweetners in the day, and making sure RM is very balanced and doesn't include refined sugars. It's hard to get a good idea of how well a diet works in just a few days. It really needs a couple of weeks for your body to get used to change and work itsellf out. If you really can't commit to the two weeks, then Atkins agian may be the answer. Switching back may be hard though as your body will have the cravings and demand a RM at the end of the day some nights

I looked at my life and realized I am not willing to change my schedule enough to meet the demands of that plan. Also suspect strongly that the RM isn't going to be enough--never have been able to "push away" from the table if there are carbs involved. Good luck.

What were you hoping CAD would be an answer for?

I did CAD long ago, before they revised the reward meal. I never did lose much weight on that plan after the first two weeks.

I did. Now back on CAD-like and am losing.. Lost 2 lbs just in last 7 days which is pretty good for me. I have my REWARD meal which includes a starchy carb...never any sugar if I can help it....and 2 low-carb meals during the day. I don't snack, don't need to...and that plus the lower-calorie combo is helping me tremendously...I feel that Goal is now very possible before bathing-suit weather.

you talking to me? it did me in....I am sure my own life stress helped but I never knew how lucky I was to find Atkins until I strayed.... it WAS fun to be able to eat whatever but I felt like a lunatic protecting my hour each day and I had to eat so much in that hour that I felt lik my stomach would burst. I do a lot better on Atkins because I can graze all day and lose weight easier this way. we are ALL different though so thank god there are different plans.

I was on CAD first and it was great....the main to remember with is...is its not atkins with a RM...
I had a hard time with that, I would have atkins bars for lunch etc...which just threw things off for me...so in anycase ... it is a great plan and there are some major success stories from the group there...

I am sticking to atkins...although having some salad with pizza for a RM would be nice!!

Thank you all for your replies. My morning blood sugar went up to 11.5 (from 7.0) so I guess I just can't be trusted.

LadyBelle, I like your approach. I am going to do a clean Atkins induction for 2 weeks.. get back on track. I liked some of the things I learned on CAD. I was thinking that saving any AS products and adding one piece of low GI fruit to a low carb meal for one hour might be an interesting test once this induction is done.

CAD is a great program for some. I lost some weight on it a few years ago, but it caused me to have gall bladder problems, so I had to stop doing it. I also ate too much at the reward meal. Atkins works much better for me!

I tried CAD for a few days earlier this month. Unfortunately, it sent my blood sugar soaring. I also gained 5 pounds. My reward meals were fruit NOT sugar or bread. My blood sugars are slowly coming back into line since I have been back on Atkins. CAD just isn't for me, I guess.