I have just finished reading the Heller's book and I believe that this diet is for me. I would just like some reassurance that it does actually work. I would love for everyone to post your results for me. Starting weight and how much you lost and how long it took you. I would love to know.
Thanks,
Cindy

My starting weight was 350 and I now weigh 259. It took me three years with time out in the winter for SAD and some additional gained weight.

Check out some of the journals of the CAD/CALP members, especially Sheilarayes, she's almost at goal.

I have been on it for almost a month and have lost 15 lbs.

But what I personally feel is one of the best rewards of this plan, is that I am rarely hungry, and if I am it is because my body actually needs food. And also because my cravings have simply disappeared. Vanished, gone without a trace... Lol, it is amazing.

I hope you do well on this woe!!! Good Luck!

I switched from Atkins about mid-June of this year. At that point I had lost about 6 pounds on a month of Atkins. I have lost another 14 (give or take) since switching to CAD.

I didn't have a lot to lose, only 26 lbs total. My journal shows my week by week stats. It's been a pretty slow road for me, but I have been 25 pounds overweight (which is a lot for a small person) for more than 10 years so it's a real thrill for me to have gone down 3 sizes. I'm very happy on this plan - I can stick with it forever if I have to.

Good luck to you.

I did CAD for two years before I tried Atkins then I did Atkins for around 10 months. CAD for was very successful as I have gone from 265 pounds to 207. It has taken 3 years but I feel I can do this forever. I lost the bulk of my weight off CAD. Before I tried CAD I was thinking of going to have my stomach banded. I could not understand why I was so hungry all the time. I am sure you will find it very successful

I've been doing CAD for one whole week now after switching from Atkins where I had successfully lost weight. I haven't lost weight on CAD. I haven't gained weight on CAD. I feel more "normal" eating this way than I did on Atkins. I felt it was a good time for me to switch with it being right before the holidays. This gives me the opportunity to sit down at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and eat the same things that everyone else is eating. If I had stayed on Atkins, I could have enjoyed the turkey, ham, salad and some of the vegetables. That is not the way I want to eat for the rest of my life.

In all likelihood I will go back to pure Atkins at the first of the year to rapidly lose the rest of the weight I want to lose and then I will switch to CAD forever. If anyone wants to cluck their tongue at me because I switch plans, I will just advise them to "read the book" where it is expressly written that sometimes that is exactly what needs to be done. And besides, it's my decision to make. Just like it is going to be my decision to stick to CAD once the weight is gone. And who knows, maybe some of the weight will move after a few weeks doing CAD and I won't want to switch back.

The thing is, find what is right for you and tweak it to fit your body. Just like pantyhose, these diets (translate that into "way of eating") do not come in one size fits all regardless of what anyone would have you believe. Different things work for different people. Find some role models and read their journals to see what worked for them and what didn't and emulate it if you want but make your own decision as to whether it is for you or not. I believe I would have lost weight if I had done nothing more than give up.....dessert, or bread, or potatoes; not all at once like you do on Atkins. It's just that I lose it so much faster when I either give it all up on Atkins. Hopefully, I will lose some on CAD but to be honest, I am happy with CAD at this point in my life because I felt deprived on Atkins. I don't feel deprived of anything on CAD but to Atkins' credit, I believe I needed the discipline of Atkins in order to do CAD successfully or I might have been tempted to cheat on my CM's. I am not tempted to cheat now and I am thankful to Atkins for that.

Enough from me..........

Twinkle:

I won't cluck my tongue at you :-)

Do what's best for you. Just be healthy, that's all.

Cindy,
I just began a week ago, and I thought I weighed 186 or so (last doctors visit) but I didn't know my start weight because I had no scale at home until this weekend. Anyway, I jumped on at 173, so I believe I lost five or more pounds in one week.

I should mention that I am also breastfeeding my son, who is seven months old. My doc told me to eat 1800 calories a day if I planned on dieting. I am sure I get that much with the RW and all, but with CAD I have stopped craving more more more cake cookies and pie....

Check out my journal if you want to buddy up!

Hi Cindy,

I've been on CAD for 2 weeks now and i've lost about 8 lbs. I also started out on Atkins, I like this much better. I don't have cravings at all, I used to be the worst late night eater. For two weeks now I haven't eaten a thing after my RM. The first few days it was a little hard but now I do it without even thinking. Everyone around me can be eating and it won't bother me a bit. Good luck to you, hopefully you will like this WOE as much as everyone elso on this board!

I have been doing CAD for 2 weeks now and lost 3 lbs. I find it easy to do as long as you watch your RM and not overdo it and eat enough during your two CM's not to snack in between. I did Atkins for 7 months (losing 27 lbs) but towards the end was not feeling physically well, was bored with menu, had a hard time not cheating, etc.. My energy level is returning and I have begun to exercise again...so I know this is the plan for me.

Good luck!

I'm back on CAD. Unfortunately the first time I overdid the RMs and ended up making things worse and even gaining some weight. Since then a medication I was taking "helped" me put on 20 more lbs. I've gone from being overweight to obese and am NOT happy about it. So this time I'm doing CAD as the book says but am being much more careful about what I eat for RMs. Not to say I don't eat dessert, but if I do then that's the only high carb. food for that meal. My mainstay is a hearty soup filled with LC veggies and meat and either a couple of scones (biscuits) or dessert, not both. With LC pancakes for breakfast and cheese with fresh veggies for dinner, my cravings are reduced. Even though I know it's mainly waterloss, seeing 5 lbs. loss by the scale in four days is heartening! Brigit-Carol

Cindy...
Im only in my 2 nd week CAD. Have done Atkins 15 months without success,(ie, all my weight lost in induction) but it was great training for how to put a CM together

I have been transformed these past 2 weeks. From being hunry all the time, Im satisfied all the time. From no energy, Im going about my day singing and dancing

Scale the same but for once I dont care. I feel so great, I am sure the scale weight will come off. Tape measure tells me 1/2 " off both upper arms and thighs so just waiting for it to come off the scale, too

Twinkle....does it matter what plan we do as long as it works and we're happy ? No, I dont think so, its all low carb/insulin control after all. Your point about the Atkins/CAD discipline is a good one, and I think applies to me, too.... as in my first comment

Plum I so agree with what you are saying. Its like those words are coming out of my mouth!! I have control for the first time in life and it feels so good

Cindy....it works. Just do it.

I was on Atkins for 2 months lost about 6 Kilos (13 pounds) I then switched to CAD nearly 2 weeks ago, since then I’ve increased a loss of ½ pound / week to about 2 pounds / week.
To say the least I was surprised. But I’m convinced CAD is the most pleasant LC WOE there is.
Just do it I don’t even follow the exact rules, eg I don’t start RM with salad, and I DO use protein shakes. And it still works for me. Find something that works for you and stick to it.

-Jake