I am on Atkins and I have to tell you I hate it sooo much! I have been on it for a long time well 6 months with no cheats, the a huge break and now coming back it really has make me frustrated I don't cheat and and don't lose but have gained!

But anyway what is the difference between the cad diet and atkins? or maybe do you think I should look into the southbeach diet?

I am probably not the one to answer this question b/c I am not good with all the scientific stuff.

CAD basically controls your insulin levels. It works for people that are carb addicts, its not for everyone. Have you taken the CA test at the top? You need to answer the questions as if you weren't on a diet, how you felt before when you ate carbs.

CAD consists of two CMs (crave-reducing meals) which are extremely low carb compared to Atkins. We don't subtract fiber or so the net carbs thing. We just go by the "acceptable foods" list in the book. CMs are basically protein, low carb veggies and fat, nothing extra.

Then we have one meal that is considered our RM (reward meal). You can have carbs at this meal. The Hellers stress balance so its best to start with protein, veggies and then add a carb. The RM must be timed from the first bite you take, it cannot for any reason go over an hour. After an hour your body realeases a second bout of insulin and you would becoming very cravey again.

This diet takes away that nagging hunger and cravings, which makes it so livable. That and the fact that you can go out to eat or to a friend's house and time it as your RM and no one even knows that you are on a diet.

If your interested in CAD or CALP I'd suggest getting the book. It explains it in detail. I know they run about 5-10$ at Walmart.

I hope this helps, maybe some of the more knowledgable folks will chime in

sounds very nice! I took the test a while back and I am COMPLETELY a carb addict!

I think with CAD you do not normally hit ketosis so you aren't going to have that feeling ( personally I never liked it ) of no hunger . You still get hungry , it is just be a more normal hunger rather than carb cravings 24/7. But if you do cheat or eat something that is iffy ( like cottage cheses , brocolli ) the carb cravings can come back.

One of the CAD plans has a snack included , but in general its much stricter on snacking than atkins. But after about the 3rd day I had no urge to snack between meals.

brocoli, I never heard of that not being aloud!??!!

hehe - broccoli has quite a lot of carbs (for a CAD meal) so is best kept for the Reward meal.
Its important to understand that CAD is not just Atkins with a reward meal - its a different approach - your two CM meals must be extremely low carb i.e. you can only choose things with less than 4gms carbs per serve.

At your RM you can choose a really nice balance of yummy foods and have a little bit of whatever you feel like really. as long as carbs, protein, and LC veggies are in equal balance (33%/33%/33%) you're okay (and the carb portion can be a bit whatever carb you've been wanting!)

it really depends whether having the carbs is going to set off cravings as some find it does, or whether you can't possibly live another day without being able to have some carbs. I personally find it a GREAT plan that fits my lifestyle perfectly and allows me to eat out with friends and socialise while still losing weight - and no one really even knows

Can you post a normal daily meal plan?

I guess I am just not getting this, I want to see if I like it before I buy the book!

To me it sounds way more difficult than atkins!

Anyone? what does this reward meal consist of?

My reward meal consist of a large (4 cups) salad with a couple PB and Js, some cerial, cookies, high protein bars...

I started yesterday, after 6 months on Atkins, but I'll post what I ate yesterday:

both cm's were just protein & veg

my rm was a salad with ranch, green beans with butter, steak and a bowl of cereal (granola..its what i've been craving the past few months) with milk on top.

no weight gain this morning.. no bloating..i feel fine .....and theres a TON of carbs in granola.

you know, I've been wanting a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats, but I don't know how to balance it at rm. Any suggestions. Also, has anyone heard of using apple cider vinegar to help lose weight. I've been reading on other sites that some have had success and some haven't. Just want to know other peoples opinions, my friends, on this site. Bye ya'll. Amy

My bowl of cereal was my carb at RM. Portion-wise it looked to be about the same size as my protein and vegetable.

so you eat what lets say chicken aor some other protien all day then one meal you eat cereal?

I know I posted this before but can you just post what you would eat in a normal day!

for breakfast, lunch and dninner and if you have snacks what you would eat for snacks!

A reward meal can that be like SF yorgurt with some strawberries, and dare I say it granola? That is my favorite breakfast but I can't have it on atkins, the prolem I have with atkins is I do the plan usually on induction levels for about 2 months, though the fist time I did induction levels I stayed on them for 4 months losing 30 pounds YAY but as soon as I add in any carbs to move up I get HORRIBLE cravings and feel pissed off( sorry for the colorful words) all day and get angry really easy, I need something that wont have me going up and down like that! Do you think this is the right move for me?

Thanks for all your help sorry if I am getting annoying!

Hey Meghan, you're not getting annoying, you're just frustrated like I am, it sounds like. I was never able to stay on Atkins, because I could never do without carbs, that's why I like CAD. I can eat them for reward meal. The problem I have, though, is going overboard with carbs at RM. I do find, though, that I am maintaining my weight eating this way, which is not at all a bad thing. I want to lose about 15 more pds. I need to balance my RM better. Here is what I eat everyday.
B-usually nothing or a couple of fried eggs, water
L-1 can tuna or 2 slice turkey or grilled chicken sandwich minus bun, water
D-usually unbalanced, too many carbs, and too many portions, probably two plates of food. Ugh. I need help controlling my RM's. Bye, Amy

Man maybe I eat too mush your day seems like your not eating very much food!
Or maybe you would be able to balance your dinner better if you ate more during the morning and lunch if I don't eat in the morning I end up ending really way too much at night, just and idea from what happens with me!

I think I may switch to cad though, do you think I can lose the rest of my weight, I am really at 145 right now I gained 5 in the last three weeks UGH! so 15 to go which everyone says is really hard nice I am in my normal weight range I just want a little less tummy bulge LOL!