I confess that I was struggling with CAD, so I decided to spread my carbs throughout the day and stay under 40g. Day 3 and 4 have been rough. I caved a little today and went up to about 60g. I guess I just put myself back to square one by doing that.

Does anyone have tips about how to get through the first week?

"Does anyone have tips about how to get through the first week?"

One Meal at at Time. Every new day can be considered "square one" - follow your plan to the best of your ability each day, do the same the next day - even if you stray.

there you go, those are my tips. Little words on a computer screen.

Do you have a plan spelled out or just want to eat 40g of carbohydrate thru out the day?

Hi. 60 isn't bad; there's nothing wrong with having a bit of a maintenance-type of day.

When I started out, I cut back gradually on carbs.

I'd suggest keeping a journal here or elsewhere where you're jotting down what you're eating, even if you don't want to weigh and measure. It can be handy when you're trying to figure things out down the road. It can also help keep you on track, accountable, and honest with yourself about what foods you should and shouldn't be eating.

Best of luck.

Welcome, Carly. I checked your previous posts to find your weight loss goals and why you picked CAD, but your first posts here did not really explain except that you had the old book. There's a low carb program for everyone...maybe look around this forum at some other options?

Some of us here had difficulty with the CAD program itself, found that it was harder to "Moderate" the consumption of Carbs rather than "Abstain" from carbs...especially in the first Weeks. Why the Atkins program has an Induction phase...it is easier for some to remove carbs at once, immediately get the Appetite lowering benefit of ketosis, and then slowly add carbs back as you can tolerate.

Consider looking around at the newer resources, tons of free info on ketogenic diets now, example: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto

All the best,

Tips:
Be prepared:
Have on-plan snack food ready to grab. Have plenty on-plan food in the house to make meals. Some people even find it helpful to batch cook, then they have something to pop in the microwave fast when they are hungry and willpower is giving up on them.

Use things like coffee, flavored tea, sugar free chewing gum, diet soda, and investing in hobbies to keep you busy all to keep you from putting things in your mouth things you shouldn't. (Caveat: some people report that artificial sweeteners can cause hungries or cravings, but for me, it legit keeps me compliant and that is what it takes for me to stay on-plan. Consistency is key.)

CAD doesnt work for me either.

The closer you can stay to 15-20 carbs a day the less likely to trigger cravings.

Suggestion. Have an allowable LC option ready and available.

With time, a lot of time eating LC, I found I could eat a dinner meal with something special, a CAD meal abd it didnot cause a craving!! BUT it had to be followed by a VLC day and NO reward meal. To have that reward meal on day two was disaster....cravings triggered! I learned , to have sucess, to stay VLC and make lc desserts. The desserts are an occassional treat, not everyday.

Good luck, dont quit, you'll find what works for you.

Keep in mind that one obstacle to sticking with it is simply boredom. You may be, like many of us, under stay-at-home orders. Time stretches out, and the fridge beckons.

If you have access, consider some "legal" snack foods. In my early days with Atkins (decades ago) I found that pork rinds dipped in a bit of legal salad dressing quickly quashed that snack attack. Dill pickle not bad. Or coffee with heavy cream--but don't overdo it.

I've long since learned that snacks are not necessary. But knowing you can (legally) have something takes the edge off learning a new way of eating.

Best wishes.

I found the best way to handle cravings was to not feed the beast.

When it comes to food, "indulging myself" did not work because some foods were creating the problems I was trying to solve. Most people seem to have some trigger food, or even an intolerance, which will sabotage our efforts. This can also have profound effects on our mood, too.

For me, it's about what carbs I eat, just as much as how many.

Great tips and reminders!

I haven't chosen a particular plan. I just thought I would keep my carbs under 40g per day. I will give up the obvious offenders (grains and sugar).


I am thinking of giving up dairy...not sure yet. I have a reason for that. I probably need to start journal so I can share more.

Have any of you ever had a "hunch" that a particular food was not your friend?

Alright, I am going to get a game plan together so I can keep moving forward.

You might want to keep your carbs under 20 or at most 30g to start. Many of us find that >30 puts us into hunger & cravings mode, making it harder to stick to the diet.

I followed up my hunches with an elimination diet. In addition to all grains & sugar, I found that dairy proteins (I can handle dairy fat - ghee or butter) and legumes cause me inflammation. Dairy affects my sinuses mainly & causes headaches - I used Sudafed, Claritin & Aspirin or Tylenol daily for nearly 20 years to breathe easily and stop my head from pounding, but now use one or the other only a few times a year. Legumes cause me joint & muscle pain. One Tbsp of peanut butter will cause the bursae in my wrists and knuckles to bulge out in less than an hour (but PB does not cause me any respiratory problems). A meal of legumes will cause pain in my elbows, hips & knees for hours or days.

Curiously, the foods that cause these bad reactions are my trigger foods that I binged on – grains, sugar, ice cream, peanut butter. By avoiding them, and keeping my total carbs under 30g in maintenance (20g while losing), I now have a “normal” appetite for my good foods, with no cravings or urges to binge on crap if I keep it out of the house.

This is an extremely important point when starting on a low carb journey. The fact that you are now making some very different food choices enables you to expose and discover those specific foods that are causing problems. Like deirdra, I discovered that peanuts (legumes) and then certain tree nuts were causing me problems despite that fact that many Paleo and low carb approaches encourage the consumption of nuts. Dairy also, as I can consume heavy cream and butter, but I have to be careful with certain cheeses. Use this time for discovery and be patient, as your metabolism is transitioning and adjusting, so you'll experience what I refer to as a "metabolic revolt" during this adaptation where the body will crave what it no longer is getting. This is normal and temporary; although, to set a time frame for when this is over is not productive, as everyone experiences it over different periods of time. Staying consistent with your new eating approach enables this transition to occur sooner rather than being prolonged. Also, get your salt and electrolytes, as they help your metabolism adjust during this time. Be aware that you will enjoy this journey as you adapt.

Update: I had some serious carbs after I started this thread, but today is day 3 of being at 35g. I am not having cravings like before, but I have no energy. I am using potassium salt and trying to take it easy. How long does the energy dip last?

Best solution is more water and salt, easiest way to take that is one cup of salty broth both mid morning and afternoon. More tips:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb...lu-side-effects

If you treat your Keto-Adaption with that, many have said about 3-5 days that a surge in energy occurs as your metabolism switches from glucose burning to fat burning.

January of 2018 I was suffering my worst autoimmune flare ever. This was in the midst of a terrible virus making the rounds, putting DH really low down, making me miserable while I shouldered a bigger burden of errands and housework. The stress was incredible and I knew my carb load had crept up, but something more was going on.

I went on a complete elimination diet, basic beef/salt/water for three weeks. My body responded immediately and things got dramatically better. With this encouragement, I carefully added every single food to my new eating plan, one at a time. This is what I am living now.

NO to all:

• sugar, except certain small amounts buffered by fat
• gluten, which had misleading names
• corn, which turns out is a cross-reactor with gluten
• lectins, which I had never realized and covers a lot of territory
• soy, wherever it lurked in the food supply
• nightshades, which became obvious once in isolation

VERY LIMITED:

• fiber, even stuff like salad greens
• plant toxins, since I didn't realize there were so many of them
• unfermented dairy, stick to high fat types like cream

Issues in category:

• chicken, except dark meat from pastured sources
• fruit, okay in low-sugar botanical-fruit forms like berries, cherries, cucumber, olives, a bit of tomato sauce (can't explain, but I'm grateful)
• nuts, okay except legumes like cashews and peanuts
• sweeteners, erythritol or monk fruit seem okay, but still keep it low and infrequent
• snacks, are just a bad idea, I can have fruit with a meal but not alone

I am listing it all out so you can see just how dangerous "normal" can be to a sensitive person. We all know the damage the SAD can do, but so many foods even common in cultural traditions can be so much more damaging than they used to be.

Sure, our ancestors may have done okay on beans and rice, but now these foods are covered in pesticides and Round-Up. They aren't prepared in ways like soaking or sprouting or fermenting, which lessened a person's lectin load. Now it's both barrels aimed right at our digestion.

Just to show you what's left, here's my Happy List.

• SEAFOOD, which is mostly canned in my location, frozen shrimp, all of which is helped by Primal Kitchen products
• EGGS, which are pasture-raised and versatile and I make sandwiches as omelettes
• MEAT, at this point that's humane-raised ground beef and pork cuz finance
• COLD CUTS; which are mostly fermented, that's my story and I'm sticking to it
• CHEESE, which is fermented and I can so deal with that
• SOUR CREAM and CREAM CHEESE, which is a new staple, from salad dressings to keto cheesecake
• NUTS, which lets me have flours too, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, macadamias
• BERRIES and CHERRIES, which have long been my favorite fruits, love it when a biological plan comes together
• PICKLES AND OLIVES; and what else goes so well with cheese?
• SALAD: which is an excellent carrier for all kinds of goodies, and seems to be the one veg I can deal with
• CHOCOLATE and COFFEE, thank the heavens!

I have never eaten better, or felt better, than before. So I don't focus on what I'm giving up, unless I'm going to include stuff like headaches, joint pain, poor sleep, gastric distress, brain fog, anxiety, autoimmune flares, and oh yeah: blowing past my weight loss goals.

I'm now at the lowest weight of my entire adult life. Effortlessly.

I'll pile on. I've heard and experienced this...




Yes, start with the food you like BEST - this is hard to hear but a great place to get going and get to the point quickly.

Mine was first Alcohol (eliminated), then probably Jasmine Rice (eliminated) and lately Artificial Sweeteners (eliminated)

You can do it backwards and start with the small ones but I'm glad I took the big bites first, otherwise I'd likely be dead - literally.