Ok, I admit it! I am a carbohydrate junkie! I have been my whole entire life! I LOVE pop, candy bars, and pretty much everything high in carbs so these past four days have been somewhat trying for me! What confuses me is Sugar-Free Jell-O & diet pop. There are no carbs in either but it is said not to comsume these foods/beverages. If the caffiene is an appetite issue, and I can handle it, what's the problem? I just can't give up drinking pop & it has taken a lot for me to convert to diet. I can't drink mass amounts of water - not a big water fan. I cannot live without something sweet while having my *time of the month*! Am I going to fail this diet even though I am eating nothing but eggs, meat, pork rinds, and salads with minimal dressing? I snack on Slim-Jim's and pork rinds, drink Diet Vanilla Coke, and have only had Sugar-Free Jell-O twice (monthyly thing, I have to). I have had pork chops (w/no breading) and steak with only salads for dinner & eggs with sausage or bacon for breakfast. Is this wrong? What in the world am I supposed to do? Believe me when I say that I have cut back extremely on my carbohydrate intake from three to four cans/bottles of regular non-diet pop daily, two packs of Twizzlers, at least one candy bar, etc. Am I doing this right?

Dear BonJoviFan,

In my opinion you are doing OK. I drank coffee and diet pop and ate sugar free jello during induction and still lost loads of weight. Other people will tell you different but in the end it's up to you.

You don't mention fish in your posting. Also keep the amount of salad stuff and veggies high.

Persevere with the water. Try putting a twist of lemon in it and some ice - it makes it taste like something!

In time the carvings will go away. Note that your TOM will make you hold onto water so don't expect to lose weight then.

Good luck. I'm sure you will succeed and then you will be healthier not to mention thinner.

Robert

Hi Atkins talks about no caffeine but i can not/will not give up caffeine.

I drank diet pop all the time in the beggining of my weight loss and lost quite well. I never ate much sugar free jello but I don't see why not expecially if its not like daily....

the reason they say don't eat these things is that for some people aspertame causes slower weight loss or stalling of weight loss........I have just recently given up aspertame as I am close to goal and I wanted to see if it would shake things up for me a bit..

I think you should do just fine...just remember to eat some carbs in the form of salad and low carb vegies

...sshh I don't drink much water but you probably shouldn't follow my example..lol

Good Luck it sounds like your eating plan is sound and you are motivated........go for it

Hi,

See if you can find this book at your bookstore:
The Secret to Low Carb Success!: How to Get the Most Out of Your Low Carbohydrate Diet
by Laura Richard

Here's the link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...how=-submittime

This book answers a *lot* of the questions you've asked, and has some great basic advice.

Basically, it appears that people respond differently to a few substances like aspartame. I still don't understand the coffee thing, but I need two cups a day. I tried giving it up when I started induction but let's just say it didn't take (very ugly story).

I regularly have low-carb jello with self-whipped cream plus Splenda. I appear to be having a normal induction. In fact, the nights I have more cream (1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup) I have posted the largest losses during my induction period. Go figure.

Bottom line: try it (the jello) and see if it interferes with weight loss. When/if weight loss stops, eliminate it and see if it changes anything.

I would also point out to you that you are probably in the worst period of time for carb cravings - the first three or four days. After about the fourth day the cravings pretty much completely go away except for some very low-intensity ones that are easily satisfied with protien or fat.

After induction there are *lots* of choices for treats: Atkins has even come out with a low-carb peanut-butter cup. Cheesecake is another popular favorite.

So don't worry, it gets better!

Good luck

Thanks for your replies. I did pick a bad time to start this diet but when I decided to do it, I just had to start, now or never. I don't think I am going to give up the diet pop, I can't ditch the caffiene just yet. I've done that before & it is as bad as failing with quitting smoking. As for the Sugar-Free Jell-O, I've had two little cups since starting induction and probably won't craze anything sweet by this weekend. I will look for the book that was suggested and hopefully get some good pointers from there! I am just trying to slim down a little before the summer. I haven't worn a bathing suit since before my 2-year-old was born & would love to look good enough to get into one this year! Thanks again for the advice! I'll keep close to this site for advice as I progress with my diet! Hopefully I will eventually be able to report some good weight loss news of my own!