Does CAD really work?
 

Please, some inspiration from those that have done it. Thanks.

Hi Bella- feel fre to look at all fo my posts (just click on my name and the choices come up)- I hav been doing this for 4.5 years and it has changed my life! I love CALP and think it is a fantastic plan- a plan I can live with. I have done it the CALP way with only veggies and protein for 2 CMs and salad/veggies/protein/carbs for RM in a balanced meal. No carbs outside RM- and I just do it. I am more flexible now- and eat more carbs- but I am still OP.
Please ask any questions and I'll try and answer.
E

Hi Bella- feel free to look at all of my posts (just click on my name and the choices come up)- I have been doing this for 4.5 years and it has changed my life! I love CALP and think it is a fantastic plan- a plan I can live with. I have done it the CALP way with only veggies and protein for 2 CMs and salad/veggies/protein/carbs for RM in a balanced meal. No carbs outside RM- and I just do it. I am more flexible now- and eat more carbs- but I am still OP.
Please ask any questions and I'll try and answer.
E

It completely worked for me. I lost about 40 pounds on the diet a couple of years ago, and have just went back on it. For me it is great because snacking throughout the day is what really gets me. I dont snack at all on this diet.
To be honest i dont do the whole 1/3 thing at the reward meal and i still lose weight. My only issue is that I am young, therefore i go out and drink and it sucks because it is breaking the diet. But i limit those nights so they don't make too much of an impact.

hi Lollipop-
welcome to this forum! This is a great place to learn abut and get support for the LC way of life. We have a small group of us on the CA plans. Please tell us all about you!
E

I am very carb sensitive, so CAD caused me huge cravings & I couldn't keep it up as a daily lifestyle, but one thing that does work (I follow PP/Atkins ~97% of the time) is the 60-minute limit to "excursions" from veryLC (<10% carbs). If I am in a social situation with more carb and fewer fat & protein options, I can eat a 60-minute CAD-style "reward meal" with no consequences if I get right back on vLC at the next meal. So you could say I follow CAD a couple of days a month, but PP/Atkins the rest of the time.

I'll tell ya for me, its the only thing that works. If you follow the plan, eat a BALANCED Reward Meal, drink your water, it will work. If you over-carb your RM or don't drink your water, you will be hungry and you will have cravings. I lost 46 pounds four years ago before the birth of my youngest child. I am finally disgusted enough with myself that I am back and I'm gonna stick with it this time. LC does not work for me. I'm hypoglycemic and the carbs make my sugar whacked. I am hungry all the time. CALP works.

Welcome to teh board ..... hope you will join us!

I have been a CADer for 10 years. It works. You have to be able to handle the gains and losses on the scale though. Some people get scared when they see the scale go up 4 pounds on CAD and say the diet doesn't work.

Would anyone care to start posting our food logs? I think it would help. I for one am a very big eater and I don't always balance. I just eat 1-2 cms and a rm or sometimes just one meal a day if I am not hungry.

hi-
look at the Hour Power #2 thread- I try and post most days. It is a good place to do your daily menus.
Thanks for being here-
E

Hi Enomarb, :wave:
Are you young? I found that the older I got the less the program worked for me. I'm 51 now. The last time I was 49 and I lost 10 pounds and then I was getting so lethargic and tired that I had to go off it. Did you have this problem? Any suggestions?

Hi May-
I am also 51, and had a hysterectomy and am hypothyroid and none of those things have stopped me!
I have more energy, not less, on CALP than before. I have no suggestions. PP is a great plan- and another one is Schwarzbein to heal your body. SBD is also excellent, and I guess it is a YMMV issue. I do eat lots of protein, veggies and do balance my RM much more than most people- works for me.
Please post so we can help. I do this for my health, adn don't focus on the weight as much. It is a slower plan, but for me it is a WOL.
HTH-
E

Don't get me wrong Eno, I loved the CAD, I'm just in a hurry to get the weight off, and I planned on going back on it as maintenance. I was losing a 1/2 pound a week on it..and I don't know why I got so tired on it. I suspect, I wasn't drinking enough water. Perimenopause? Maybe I wasn't eating enough at cm. I lost my appetite quite a bit, so sometimes I would just have an Atkins shake for my cm.

hi May-
I see you have Schearz on your plan tagline. She would not approve of the shake. I have literally never used a shake for a meal replacement, and never bought protein powder or atkins bake stuff. I did have some protein lc bars 2 years ago- ate one for an emergency meal replacement and felt so sick I threw the rest away. I really try and eat whole foods.
To me 1/2 lb a week is great- that means 5 months being 20 pounds less- and that's great. But other plans are faster. I wanted a plan I could stick with. I think using this to maintain is a great idea- glad you are here now to research things.
I lost my weight over about a year- first 35 lbs in a few months and the next 25 after 4 months of staying at 150. I love it!
E

Yeah, I know, Schwarz is not for anything "not natural". She doesn't even like 1/2 & 1/2. I use the Atkins shakes when I can't stomach another salad. I love vegetables but I don't like salad all that much. I know raw is best so I force myself every day to eat at least one big salad.

OMG, yesterday my cravings were so bad I wanted to go off low carb in the biggest way. Today, I seem better. I have two sons 16 & 18 who are of course skinny. My 18 year old is 6'4" and 170. He takes after me and my father who were always skinny..until mid life LOL. So of course they're bringing in all this junk like last night I was staring an apple pie in the face that my 16 year old wanted... trying to resist it...and I did, only because I'm gluten intolerant and I'm really trying to stay off wheat. I have much less stress and anxiety and menopausal depression, if I don't eat wheat. That's how it affects me. Foggy thinking also.
I'm changing my tagline because I do use CAD infrequently.
Check it out. :)