The earth may crack when I try to walk on it afterwards!

Yes, those were American smarties, made in Canada though - reading this off the empty bag left over from this past weekend - www.smarties.com

They ARE pure sugar! Not just any sugar though but dextrose - a glucose polymer. Breaks down to glucose very quickly and is absorbed by the muscles, requiring no processing in the liver, that's why I've chosen it. Maltodextrin works just as well, to be found in Sweet Tarts - another something found in the candy isle, but I like the taste of smarties better.

I used to carb with Myoplex or Met-Rx and realized that a) it has way too much salt, and b) if I get a simple no-frills protein powder and eat smarties on top of that, I'll save... oh, about $50 a weekend! Made the switch and realized just how much that salt had been screwing me up. In fact, I also realized that the reason why in the past I could not sustain more than 4-5 weeks of CKD in a row was because I was cutting carbups way too short - being freaked out by the water retention from the salt, I was not eating enough carbs.

The reason why English smarties would inflate me like a balloon is, I imagine, the saturated fat in the chocolate. To me that's been another reason why I used to dread carbups - Monday mornings I'd be bloated to all hell.

I'm not inviting anyone to compete in a smarties-eating contest, but if you are having problems with water retention and fat regain during carbups, check for the type of carbs you're eating, the salt, and the sat fat. I definitely stay away from fructose and sucrose.

This past weekend I ate 5 lbs and actually went for a run on Sunday night!