Thank you Eno for your post and the suggestion about the journals. I did not know about that!
Officially im starting tomorrow since today did not go so well!

Delone

I have been reading here and feel inspired to try CAD again. I followed it for a long time several years ago... I wasn't very successful since I know (and knew then) that my RMs were not very balanced. Since then, I have done Atkins and carb cycling and just basic LC. Last January, I did Atkins Fat Fast and finally lost down to my goal of 145# and even got below that for a while.

I used carb cycling for a while after that and did good except for my high carb Saturdays and getting too many carbs and sugar which would make me gain 5# overnight and then I'd fight the rest of the week to get it off... Since I wasn't really trying to lose a lot more, it wasn't such a big deal, but over time, it started catching up to me...

I've tried fat fast again and then Atkins Induction and upped my calories considerably... along with my fat... Unfortunately, that backfired on me! On my 1 year goal anniversary this year, I was 145.5# after fat fasting back down a couple of lbs prior to that... Then I did the Atkins and increased my fat and tried staying with it as long as I could. I felt good on it, but now my weight is at 154# and I realize that is not gonna work for me! I was going to go back to carb cycling, but I keep reading my CAD and CALP books and reading things here and now that I KNOW how to control things better, I think I need to give it another chance.

I am glad you post your food, Eno! That is a big plus to me so I can try to figure out the correct balance.

I do use mayo, but am wondering if Lite mayo is better for CMs or if I should stick with regular. I think I can hang with this pretty well. I started several days ago and have lost 1#, which doesn't sound like a lot, but even if it is slower going than fat fasting, I'm okay with it.

I'm with you, Tokenyanke. My diet pattern and weight issues are somewhat similar, though hadn't tried fat fast or cycling, but did do Atkins and South Beach. When I was on CAD about a decade ago, it worked extremely well, but when I have retried it recently (this is my second attempt in a year), it doesn't seem to work for losing weight. (And why I gave it up in the first place I'll never know!) For past two weeks, I cut out the carbs during RMs, but continue to follow many of the basic principles of CAD (one hour meals, CM veggies, cut back on cheese/dairy) and lost a few pounds finally. I'm not sure what to do now. I had thought about carb cycling, but am a bit concerned about the chance of throwing my metabolism even more out of whack than it is now. I might try an RM with carbs tonight and see what happens.

Menu
Breakfast: eggs with green peppers, mushrooms, sausage, and brie (first cheese in a while)
Lunch: roasted turkey, salad
RM Dinner: lentils with red beans, roasted turkey, salad, escarole with mushrooms.

I think it's in our nature to just keep trying different things cause we always think something might work better. The carb cycling was great for me as long as I planned ahead and really stuck to the plan, but it got to where once I had something sweet or carby on my HC day, I didn't want to stop. The good thing with CAD/CALP is the 60 minute limit and I have been away from the sweets enough lately so they aren't tempting me and I think I'll be able to limit them a lot better now that I know I can live without them!

I don't see this as a quick weight loss for me at all, so I'm trying to wrap my mind around it and do my best.

I'm approaching carb cycling cautiously. I thought I would use the CAD system to incorporate them - only eating carbs in the RM. This morning down a pound, after balanced RM last night, but we'll see where I stand in a couple days. If I can lose on average about a pound a week, I would be very satisfied. The tricky part is I'm going out of the country next week and have no idea what the cuisine is like where I'm going. But it's only for a week, so if I stray, I don't think it will be a total disaster. Fortunately, I am not a drinker and don't crave sweets (except chocolate occasionally). I hear the national food is potatoes and corn - two things I'm not fond of to begin with.

Breakfast - eggs, sausage
Lunch and dinner - visiting my oldest son today (yay!) and we'll be eating out.

S,

I was back up 1# this morning... But we brought home Quiznos steak subs last night for dinner... (There really wasn't a whole lot of meat on it so I had to add in some more protein to balance things out better.) I only ate a small one but it had dipping sauce and it tasted like it was mostly sodium! So, I had very little of it, but I'm sure it probably got me since I was really thirsty the rest of the evening. I'm also pretty sure that wheat is a problem for me, which is one reason I like staying LC... keeps me away from it most of the time. I have started making the Revolution Rolls (Atkins) and those have been a lifesaver to me cause then I at least "feel" like I'm getting something really special and can make burgers and sandwiches with them.

I think that since Saturdays were my HC (high carb) days before that I am going to make them my "treat" days now... RM only, of course... But if I want something sugary or w/ wheat, that will be the day I have them. The rest of the week, I may throw in some homemade LC treats(like Atkins pumpkin pie, which I make in muffin pans so they are smaller than an actual piece of pie, but still enough to make me happy).

I hope you will have a good time on your trip next week. It may be a bit of a challenge for you foodwise, but I'm sure you'll figure things out and will be fine.

I just finished and egg sandwich (w/ rev rolls) w/ mayo and 1 slice of nitrate free bacon. Very satisfying! Now I'm drinking some 75% decaf coffee (black).

Congrats on the 1# down, S. I feel the same way... If I could just lose 1# a week on this, I'd be satisfied. Maybe once I get the hang of it all and my body adjusts, it'll start coming off.

hi Cindy and S-
very interesting posts- it sounds like you are in similar places and can really help each other! Glad you are here!
Cindy- what is a Rev Roll? About the mayo- I use Dukes regular. Here it is the only one with no sugar at all. I stay away from all low-fat low-cal foods, as they add HFCS lots of times to make up for the lost fat. I also use lots of olive oil.
I do think the balance is key- I have noticed that what I eat for maintaining is better balanced thatn some people's regular RMs.
that said-
yesterday: CM 2 eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon, coffee, 1t cheddar.
CM: (out)- chicken on a bed of grens with sauteed muchrooms, scallions, dressing, cheese.
RM (out): olives, celery, cheese spread, caesar salad no croutons, 1 slice (small) buttered bread, 3 crackers(very small), 10 ounce rib eye steak, spinach, 1/4 sweet potato, 1 glass red wine, water.
today
CM(out) 2 scrambled eggs, 2 turkey sausage patties
CM:leftover chicken breast, 1/2 avocado, salad
RM(planned): leftover chicken cooked in olive oil, peppers, and garlic; spinach, salad, 1/2 roll, ice cream?Or yogurt? [DH will also have pasta- I could care less- and a beer or wine. He will have the icecream- I haven't had any and it is in the freezer all week- so I'll decide.]

Just to share- I went out for yesterday's lunch, dinner an today's breakfast.CARB CITY- and it is tempting. It is soooo easy to juset say screw it I want ---. Instead I said "this is just fuel- by not eating the carbs I keep my body healthy" and ordered what was posted. I know I can havea the carbs at RM- balanced by the protein and veggies. Love the way I feel and look too much to stop!
E

Hi Eno!

I use only Dukes Mayo as well! It's the best!

Rev rolls (Revolution Rolls) are great. They are very similar to Drs. Hellers' Carb Addicts Complementary Bread but without the soy flour and they are done as rolls instead of a loaf of bread. I've also found that using cream cheese instead of cottage cheese makes them better.

Basically, I separate 3 eggs and I beat the whites w/ 1/4 tsp cream of tartar until they are stiff.

Then, I take the 3 yolks, 3 T. cream cheese (or cottage cheese) and 1 pkt stevia and I mix those together and then fold them into the whites w/o breaking the whites down... they should still be fluffy.

I spray a teflon cookie sheet with Pam and then start "building" the rolls a tablespoon at a time being careful not to break the mixture down or let it get "soupy". Keep building them up until they are 1-1/2-2" high. Atkins says it makes 6 rolls, but I always end up making 7 and they are plenty big enough for me.

Bake them in a 300 degree oven for about 45 minutes and then remove from the cookie sheet right away so they don't "stick" as they cool.

Each one only has .5 gm of carb and you can use them for sandwiches or burgers or whatever you want. I've read of some who use them in desserts, etc. They really are quite functional! Someone has said they use egg rings to bake theirs in the make them "perfect". I've looked in several stores including WalMart but haven't found any yet.

Needless to say, the Rev rolls became a staple recently when I was trying Atkins cause at least I felt like I was "cheating" and getting some carbs even though I wasn't!

I use VCO (virgin coconut oil) and olive oil to cook with. I prefer the VCO.

Today I've done well, but it's not RM yet. For lunch I took some leftover canned chicken from yesterday's lunch and 1 hard boiled egg and chopped it up and put them in lettuce leaves w/ some blue cheese dressing and made "wraps".

Tonight we'll have grilled pork chops (nice big thick ones!), sweet potato (I will have 1/3-1/2 of one), salad, steamed veggies and not sure what else yet.

I'm sort of disappointed that there aren't more CAD/CALP people on this forum. I've done some searches online and haven't found any other good ones, either.

Your past couple days food sounds great, Eno. I'm glad you are able to resist those temptations. I know it won't be hard for me to stay on this plan. I don't really have a problem sticking with a plan... it's just finding a plan that will work that is my problem. I workout daily so exercise isn't a problem either. I do have endometriosis and am in perimenopause (age 46) so those are my only 2 real "problems" to deal with... not on any meds and I take vitamins and supplements.

So, I'll let ya know how things go! I'm very hopeful though.

Here's my RM for today: 1 thick pork chop, 1/2 sweet potato w/ butter and 1 tsp brown sugar splenda, lg salad w/ blue cheese dressing, steamed veggies, 1 mini Atkins pumpkin pie w/ 1T whipped cream, 1 Atkins chocolate ball and 1 Girl Scout SF chocolate chip cookie.

It was good and I'm plenty full but not stuffed.

Still 155# this am. I thought that I'd at least see a loss to finish off my first week. I'm a bit discouraged with this and not sure what to do.

Hi T and E,

Another pound down today! Last two days were 'carb up" days - in other words, regular CAD. But I was hungry all day and had my RM in the early afternoon (otherwise I would be tempted to snack). That worked. What a coincidence that you, Tokenyanke, and I were stuck at the same weight - 155. I made adjustments - little dairy (especially cream in my coffee and cheese), and cut back on sweets. I seem to have developed a sensitivity to caffeine as well and probably will cut it out. It makes me jittery. As an Atkinsite as well, there is a temptation to mix the two diets together. You might want to try a slightly plainer RM - 1/3,1/3,1/3 balance (meaning volume, not carb counts) between carbs, protein, CM veggies, with two cups of salad, for a while and see what happens. The one thing I noticed when I had success with this diet before, was that there was very little room for variation (which may have contributed to my original relapse).
Yesterday
Breakfast - omelet
Lunch - leftover protein, no veggies (and felt hungry all day)
RM - salad with bacon, steak, cauliflower, polenta with red beans, 1/3 cup chopped walnuts with tbls white choc chips.

Today
Breakfast - omelet
lunch probably nicoise salad
dinner - salad, steak, steamed green beans, brown rice pilaf.

hi-
cindi, the one recommendation I'd make (if you are interested) is to try and cut out all the atkins things you are having with AS. There are lots and lots of us who get affected by the AS.
To me, your RM last night sounded great- but I wonder if you had the whole sweet potato and skipped the rest of the pseudocarbs? And just kep on doing this- it is not a quick fix. The rev rolls sound great- maybe track to see your weight if you have themdaily or not? I never made any of the recipes in CALP or Atkins so I wouldn't know. 155 is not a terrible place to be stuck- if you are feeling good. I was at 150 for months- and was very happy- and the weight just started coming off again. I swear I did nothing different- I was still on CALP/CAHHP and having a pretty balanced RM and clean CMs. I only started adding more carbs into RM when I hit 125 and really wanted to stop losing. I know it sounds strange, but I was freaking out that I was still losing and wanted to stop!This is in my old posts from 2004- all in there (LOL!).

I also agree that I wish more people whould do this plan, but it has no publicity or press so it never reached an escape velocity to take off like Atkins. It also has negative comments on lots of atkins places that call it atkins with a cheat meal, or a carb binge. Sooo untrue. I love this WOL and have also been on other forums but like this one the best by far. I think that posting not only helps me maintain, but I feel like I am trying to give something back by being available to others.

CM: 2 eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon, cheddar, black coffee
CM(already in the fridge):chicken and salad, water
RM(Planned):salad, burger on a biscuit, green beans. [DH will also have barley- he loves all kinds of grains- and ice cream. I had the ice cream last night- okay but I'd rather have a biscuit today.I 'm putting what DH adds onto my menu so people can see how flexible this plan is.]

Good Morning! I had a 3.4 lb. loss so I'm thrilled! The little changes finally seem to be falling into place!

Not sure what today's RM will be. I'm trying to use up what I know DS won't eat while we are gone this week!

Eno, I just added in the revolution rolls recently and they are a nice addition to the CM's. I usually have it with my breakfast with a little cream cheese spread on it.

Cindi, I think your body is adjusting to the change in plan. You should really try to give it at least a couple of weeks if you can. I know it's hard at first but as Eno said, this isn't a fast weight loss plan but it's one that can be done for life. You may have to do some tweaks at your RM to see what works best for you.

Thanks to all of you for your input. I will have to do some experimenting.

The only thing with the Atkins things are that I use mostly stevia, which is supposed to be totally natural vs. splenda or as, but I guess it could still bother me, too. Some things are so hard to figure out!

It's been an absolutely crazy day for me today. I am soooooo tired! Can't wait to get to bed.

Thanks again for all your help.

Broccoli is not considered a comp veggie... why not? Same carb count as anything else. Anyone know? And congrats Mammagiff on your success! Keep on going!

RM last night: steak/salad/broc...black beans, two squares of dark choc.
break - eggs something
lunch- salad with leftover steak
dinner - roast chicken, green beans, salad, three bean salad