Well, here goes:

I used to post and read here often, when I was on the diet before. I had lost nearly 30 pounds, when I got discouraged and for some (albeit illogical) reason, I decided to rebel against the Atkins diet. Now, with much of the weight regained, I am kicking myself for not staying the course. However, the wife and I got back on 6 days ago and have been doing pretty well, until...

I got this wicked sweet tooth! Man, I tried drinking water, taking chromium pills (only gave them a day to work, though, that may be part of the problem), and eating more meats than I thought I could stomach. Still I craved, so I gave in, and had an Atkins IceCream Bar (3 net carbs). My only concern about this splurge is that, although it is an Atkins product and low in net carbs, I'm pretty sure that no where in the list of acceptable foods for Induction does it mention "low carb icecream bars."

Has anyone else used these low-carb desserts or candies during Induction? Aside from causing more cravings (which it did not seem to do for me), what harm could really come of one ice cream bar? I need to know. I know the rules, but my copy of Atkins book is several years old, and I fear (or rather hope) that maybe he made some mention of using low carb treats to satisfy cravings.

Thanks to all who post, not just in response to this, but to everyone's questions...they are very important to us prodigal dieters.

I won't preach the company line to you....I will tell you like it is.

Everybody is different, plain and simple. ME Personally that ice cream bar would have no different effect than eating 3 grams worth of lettuce. Those type of "bars" don't stall me or slow me down. What you did was better than eating a bag of MandM's...so I commend you there. However, I wouldn't make a habit out of eating a bunch of those thigns because they might affect you differntly.

Ok. I'm going to give you the company line.

It's more than a "craving" or a "sweet tooth". It's an addiction. Until you get a grasp on that concept, it will always be in control of YOU.

Hopefully, there will come a time in your life where the pain of being unhealthy and overweight will "outweigh" the pain of the sweet tooth. Where losing weight becomes more important than how many ice cream bars you can have.

You really need to examine your "whys" in your food issues. Are you the sum total of the things you eat?

Induction is all about jump starting your weight loss and ridding yourself of cravings. If you feed the cravings they will never go away. Even artificial sugar bothers some people, me being one of them. My suggestion would be to do a clean 2 week Induction and then if you want to add some sugar free treats and see how they affect you, do. Good luck!

I have never been a big sweet eater, but sometimes . . .

I enjoy a Diet Rite red raspberry soda with a dollup of heavy cream in it. Tastes rich and satisfying. (Diet Rite has no caffine or sodium, and is sweetened with sucralose. Still probably not a good idea on induction, so I compensate by feeling guilty.)

And, yeah, the poster who said it was an addiction is right. Don't let us catch you, wearing shabby clothes, squatting behind garbage cans in a dark alley injecting M&Ms into your veins with a hypodermic needle.

But hey ! It was only 3 carbs. One time. Good luck.

OhGal, it's interesting that you speak of sweets as an "addiction" and not just a normal part of life. I never really thought of it as an addiction, but perhaps I should treat it as one. In that case, I can see where abstinance would be the only reliable method of breaking the addiction. But doesn't everyone fall off from time to time (and I'm not making excuses or trying to share blame)? Do the addictions come back after you've been free for a while, or do they never really go away? I'll admit that it would be nice to be free of cravings.

Not sure how this bar will affect me. I woke up with no cravings, so I'm hoping that all will be well, and that ketosis is doing its job. I guess the scales will be the real test of it all.

Thanks for the replys, everyone.

Doesn't everyone fall off? Absolutely! It's all part of the recovery process.
Do they come back? Depends. Alot of times people have strong emotional ties with sweets. Discovery is the key. Once you ldiscover your personal associations you make with food, it makes it easier to abstain from it.

Do they never really go away? Depends on how deep that association is.

I can tell you that have been substantially minimized for me, the further I get from processed food. But every once in awhile I still get that same tape playing in my head of those old rationalizations.

As with all things, YMMV.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, but your post brought up something that I've been playing with in my head and trying to figure out.....

I did a relatively clean two week induction (except for eating nuts) last spring. Then I tried some lc sweet treats, first with Atkins bars, then other sf candies, cakes, etc. Now the odd thing is, I never used to crave sweets. I was a Cheetos, potato chips, pretzels, fried food junkie. Never ate desserts. Occasionally got into a bad habit of eating ice cream late at night. I've never liked soft drinks. But otherwise, I couldn't have cared less about things with sugar in them.

So I honestly don't believe that I am a carbohydrate "addict". (Though I believe that many folks on this forum are.) As far as I can tell, I'm not especially insulin resistant. I've just always eaten too much food given the amount of physical activity in my daily life. Plus I've likely screwed up my metabolism by doing yo-yo diets throughout my life.


Now here's the puzzling part: I now have about 8 bags of Russell Stover sf or lc candy in my cabinet. I eat about one "serving" a day. It's not as though I "crave" chocolate.....It's much more of an emotional thing, I think. I can't have my beloved chips. So what am I going to "treat" myself with? One bite makes me feel as though I have done something "nice" for myself, and then I might eat the other half of the candy 4 hours later.

Have I become an artificial sweetener addict? Will I ever stop eating this stuff? (I do get tired of certain flavours/kinds after a while, and switch to something else.) I'm not so concerned about these hampering my weight loss as the fact that it seems silly to be eating something I never used to want. Plus they are not cheap. And it seems immature of me to be "rewarding" myself with candy.

It's all a substitute for the Cheetos, etc. I've tried to Atkins crunchers, Just the Cheese crackers, etc. and don't care for them. Sorry to have ranted on for so long here, but it's been in my head lately.

Kay

Kay,

I think the key, here, is this phrase:


Why do treats HAVE to be food? I'm not trying to be a smart~ss, here, just something to think about. I had this association from WAY back. My grandmother would give me my daily "treat" (usually a cookie), just for being a good girl that day.
Now, I'm not saying you SHOULDN'T treat yourself, you absolutely SHOULD, but where's the link between treats and food for you, and what else will do to give you that comfort feeling? When you figure that one out, I think you may have a better handle on your latest "puzzle".

I'm a sugar addict with all the baggage of any other type of addict. I've been sugar free since Jan 1, 2003. I'm sure I've had hidden sugar in stuff I've eaten over the past year but not knowingly. I do indulge in SF candy and icecream but they do sometimes bring all those old cravings back so I quit them as well for a while. I credit them for not letting myself hide behind that garbage can in the ally injecting myself with M&Ms And I didn't use on induction. Induction can help clean those cravings out.

Ohgal: I agree with you. That's one reason I decided to put it down in black and white. And also because, lurking there inside all my verbiage, was the notion that for me, at least, the hard part of losing and maintaining weight feels more like needing to break bad behavioral patterns rather than a physical addiction.

I do know that a treat shouldn't have to be food. There are many other treats in my life. But there I am, walking through the kitchen to let the cat out or in (about a hundred times a day!), and I think, hey, it's only .5 carbs, why not?

It occurs to me that maybe the kitchen isn't the best place for those little bags of sf candies?

Kay

I think you're on to something, Kay!

Strange you should mention such things. I just today brought in a variety of low carb cookies I made so that the people at work could consume them, and I wouldn't have them at home.

Strange - I loved baking (before LC), but I could take it or leave it in the consumption department (perhaps would have one to try, but leave the rest for others). So, why did I make them? Guess I saw all these recipes and people talking about eating sweets (albeit LC ones), and thought I should join?!

So, we're back to "why". Perhaps it's emotional, or wanting to "fit in" (we're back to pre-LC attitudes, there). But, I've determined, I don't want to "waste" my carb count per day (even if it's 3 g per cookie) on something I don't really want (or need) (physically or emotionally).

I happen to like fresh vegetables (with or without dip), and nuts and seeds. I've never even been a real snacker at night when my hubby was (perhaps I would join him for pate and crackers, but not usually chips and pop). I just couldn't seem to get around eating a meal and not that long later - needing a snack.

So . . . I've given them away. I would even have thrown them out if I wasn't pretty sure that the people here will eat almost anything if it's free (I managed to get rid of a "ton" of Halloween candy here, too).

The freezer will have room for "real" food, and I will be happy

I do commend you that when you did give in to the craving, it was something that wasn't going to do too much damage. That's a good thing!
You are right to be concerned about this affecting you long term, especially since you haven't figured out why you "rebelled" last time. Maybe it's connected?
Just because you can't have something, might make you want it all the more.

TarHeel- you asked if you had become addicted to artificial sweeteners, well, I think I have!
I CRAVE diet soda sometimes. And I mean a vicious craving. I was a diet soda drinker even before my LC days, and it is the hardest thing to give up. If I let myself have one, then I'll drink it every day until I can knock some sense into my self. Luckily, maltitol and other SA's don't trigger cravings for me, or make me feel crummy, so I can have SOME sweeties.