Hello all!
My name is Amy. I have been doing Atkins for about a week and half now. My questions are 1) on induction, is it ok to drink diet soda such as 7-up, sprite and caffiene free diet coke.
I have heard that these drinks can make your blood suger spike, even thou it has no "real" suger in it. I have read the rule to induction and it only mentions splenda base products.

2) I saw in the store the other day a 1 net carb soy milk made with splenda, is it okay to have this during induction.

Thank you for all the help!

Amy

Welcome Amy!

Personally, I would avoid diet soda. Atkins does stress avoiding aspartame as a sweetener. Aspartame is used in most diet soft drinks. I know Diet-Rite uses Splenda and there may be other brands, too. But most diet drinks also contain citric acid and that slowed me down a little. It was hard for me to get over the soft-drink hump, but now I don't even miss it. Water really should be your main drink, perhaps adding some iced green tea. But use of splenda-sweetened soft drinks are more of a YMMV (your mileage may vary) thing. Try it and see how your body responds. One thing I do sometimes is to add DaVinci's Sugar-Free syrup (splenda - 0 carbs) to Club Soda. Occasionally, I will add some cream to the mix.

I have never tried soy milk. I do use the Hood low carb dairy "milk", which is excellent, especially the chocolate flavor.

The real key to induction, and the whole program, really, is to use all natural foods. You only have another 1/2 week to go. Perhaps try to get through induction then try adding some of these other foods, like lc milk and splenda-sweetened soft drinks and watch your body's response closely.

Visit often and let us know how you are doing!

__________________
Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135

Hi Amy - welcome to the forum. (Love your posting name)
Regarding soft drinks: I have heard from a number of sources that aspartame does spike insulin and slow weight loss. It even slows low fat dieters. I drink Diet Rite and Hansens sodas. They have no sodium, no citric acid, and sweeten with Splenda.

The only input I would have on the soy milk is that I've read in several places that soy slows down the thyroid and can stall weight loss. Personally, I use it sparingly.

Hope that helps.

This is a very encouraging forum so stick around.
Karen

__________________

hello amy-

folks generally figure out what works for them after some experimenting. personally, on induction, i would try to avoid most sodas and dairy, just for that time.

it also is helpful to stay away from the sodas a bit while you are building up your water intake, because that's very important and you have to kind of train yourself to get there, you know?

i also know lots of people will use diet sodas like a treat...i've seen people mention diet soda and whipped cream, for example, making a lc float kind of, to deal with sweet cravings.

personally, for induction, i'm with alida: the simplier, more natural, the better. but if you decide that having an occassional diet soda or milk product is going to help keep you on track, then, well...you have to make the call yourself, you know.

it gets much easier when you're done with induction, which you almost are anyway. you can start adding in stuff a little at a time and really expand your menu.

__________________

I couldn't live without Fresca when I first started. I knew that aspartame was the devil but I still drank it. I had no trouble with stalling or cravings at that time. Since then I have now switched to Diet Rite since it has the Splenda. I don't drink as much because I don't like it as much, which is good. The new 7up, the pink stuff, is made with Splenda. But it does have 3 carbs for a can (I think).

As for milk I use the Hood chocolate milk with my cereal when I have it. I wouldn't drink it on it's own but with cereal it is good. I imagine making a shake with it would be good as well.

__________________
Noël


Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strengths.