just completed my first week, 14 pounds lighter, and now i'm getting real serious after finding this forum, so thank you in advance for that guys, makes me feel i'm not alone..

1. bought so ketostix today, did the test, and it was purple... the scale goes from 0 - 16 (16 being the largest concentration of ketones), and my test was just a couple of shades lighter then this, so does this mean i am doing things right this time?

2. found an absolutely delicious low carb curry sauce, BUT altho it only has 4g ECC, 3g of this is sugar, is this a danger to my progress on induction, and should i wait until i finish induction to have it again (only had it once)?

3. decaf coffee is adviced, and tonight i had 1/2 small bottle of diet coke, then a friend told me it had caffeine in it, so i stopped drinking it, is this a problem?

4. to combat the not so nice breath (which i havent really noticed to be honest) i am having no sugar chewing gum and mints, but these contain polyols, is this acceptable as it also acts as an appetitesuppressant for me personally (not that i'm really feeling hungry, coz i'm not)?

5. I can sense in my heart that this place is going to be an absolute godsend, and by way of a "thank you" i would like to make a donation of a few £'s, how can i do this?

sorry for so many questions, but i feel that this is my time now, 40 in 14 months, 2 young boys who run (well amble really) me ragged, and i wanna be able to keep up with them...

hope someone can help, altho i'm 100% certain someone WILL be able to.. lol..

all the best..

Tony