I have been reading with much interest the boards, and have a few questions hopefully someone can answer. This is day 7 of the Induction diet for me and have lost about 7 pds.
1. My Keto stix have not reached the purple, but remain in about the middle. Is this OK?
2. I am borderline diebetic, take no meds for it. Blood sugar thismorning 77 (The first time I have taken it) Is this normal? Or what is the normal BS for being on low car. diet?
3. What desserts or sweet treats can I have other than sugarless jello/whipped cream (Sugarless)?
I think the support you are giving people is great.
Jude

1) You do not really want the darkest purple reading as that could be signaling dehydration. Darker does not necessarily mean better at this point

2) Not sure. Perhaps someone else could help out on this one.

3) The purpose of induction is to break the addiction to sweets and to detox your system. I know many will say sugar free jello, with home made whipped cream topping is okay. But if you can go without it for 2 weeks do try. It would be much better as artificial sweeteners have been known to trigger insulin releases in some individuals. After induction you can start introducing berries into the diet

I can answer 2 out three of your questions:

1. Some of us never get the stick past pink and unfortunately those sticks are not always a true indicator of whether or not your are in ketosis. You should look for other signs: metallicy taste/breath, stronger smelling urine, losing weight and inches (especially), lessened appetite and no carb cravings. These are better indicators of ketosis than those sticks.

2. Sorry - can't answer the diabetic question.

3. I believe that you are NOT suppose to eat SF Jello (it contains asparateme) during induction (first 2 weeks of Atkins). Splenda is the only permitted sweetener (although you can make your own SF jello using Knox gelatin, Davinici or other Splenda SF Syrup). Even things like SF chocolate bars are to be avoided since Malitol (sugar alcohols) can reek havoc and in some cases, stall you out. I love my cream cheese, little Davinci syrup or even just a little splenda...smoosh together...tastes like cheesecake.

Watch the whipped cream too....the canned stuff contains sugar...although very little...depending on how much you eat it can impact you.

Note that the first 10 lbs or so is mostly water although you are on the right track and I wish you success!

Jude, you're doing a great job so far!

As for the jello...I'd reccommend doing without too. If you absolutely have to have something sweet, try some salami and cream cheese, or some ham. Some "sweet" type of protein with some creamy stuff usally helps me. And the idea is to start satisfying those sweet cravings with something other than "sweets".

Later you can have plenty of "mock" things...even some of those little "treat" bars once in a blue moon...

Good luck.

Hey, guys, thanks for the imput. As you can tell, I am having a hard time with the sweet thing. I don't crave them as much as I thought and perhaps it is just a habit thing. I will give up the jello for a while. I have made cream cheese with chipped beef and they are good. What about eating nuts? They have that sweet taste.
Jude

Sorry, nuts are a NO NO during induction - that includes peanut butter but after you finish Induction then you can have some - - as long as you stay away from PB that has sugar or corn syrup (you have to stick to Natural PB).

Good luck!

Yeah becareful of the nuts.

During induction they are a no no. Afterwards, in moderation. It is soooooo easy to get carried away with eating them. I have caught myself munching away and end up going through half a can before I know it.

If you can, buy the unsalted kind because the added salt on the nuts will help your body retain water. Which is exactly what we don't need

I guess that's what I could say, NUTS! I better read the book again. I think I'm doing what I was hoping was right. This is hard because I was a wanna be vegitarian, eating very little meat. But, I was just gaining weight, so this must be right.
Thanks
Jude

Hey Jude!!!!! After you've finished induction, I have a 'treat' for you. Unfortunately, I can't remember who posted it, but I am not the originator of this little goodie!
Take an 8 oz block of cream cheese and cut it into about 20 pieces, take any flavor of S/F jello and put it in a bowl. Roll the cream cheese in ball shape and then roll them in the bowl with the jello grains. Set them on a plate and there you go......2 of the little balls are under 1 gram - very satisfying. Mine keep in the refrig (under Saran) for about a week.
Kay

Mattsgram, Thanks for the great idea. I'm saving that one. I'll think I'm eating chocolate covered cherries. Any other treat ideas out there? Of course, for after 14 day induction.
Jude

There really aren't any sweet treats allowed during induction. Here are the induction allowable foods for you to check out.

http://atkinscenter.com/Archive/2001/12/15-464579.html

Although a diet root beer with a bit of heavy cream has a root beer float kind of taste.

And there are MANY low carb non sweet snacks... these are just a few I thought of.

microwaved pepperoni chips
string cheese (remember though only 3-4 oz daily)
veggies dipped in full fat (low carb) dressings or stuffed with a little cream cheese
cup of decaf or herbal tea
tuna, shrimp, chicken salads
deviled eggs

Just eat and get past the craving and you'll do fine.

Hey Jude....

for the blood sugar -- anything under 126 is great. As far specifically what LC members usually measure - I am not sure.

But make sure keep a diary for all the measurements you get... try to do it at the same time everyday .... that would be great information to share with your doctor and with us.

Dr. Atkins writes about how the blood sugar levels should even out..... and by being on this diet they don't go sky high and low-low... this would be an interesting little experiment.

Take care,
M-

I had not visited the Adkins link you introduced me to. It is great. It answers a lot of questions. A lot clearer than the book I read. It must not have been the latest book.
And I'm glad to hear about the blood sugar. I will monitor it to see how the diet affects the lever.
Thanks
Jude

Jude...

Take it from a 10 year diabetic...77 for a fasting blood sugar is excellent!

I've been fortunate in the "sweets department" since the beginning, thanks to my son's penchant for making cheesecake. We've had that throughout the diet as a low-carb treat. He makes a crustless version with Splenda that's about 5 carbs for one/eighth of a pie.

Times when I crave ice cream, I take a measured amount of ricotta cheese, add Splenda, *sometimes* add melted baking chocolate in small amounts. The chocolate version is almost like choc-chip ice cream; the non-choc version is good, too. Vanilla flavoring could help with the vanilla version, but I never wanted to spend the carb on it. Measure everything, but it's a really satisfying sweet. (Induction? I don't remember if ricotta was one of the no-no's.)