started drinking some diet coke

[muzza]

hi guys im in 4th week of induction and i havent cheated but today i started drinking some caffeine free diet coke with ice .i just need sumthing more than 4 litres of water a day .i figure if i drink some diet coke with lots of ice then i can stick to this way of eating even better .any ideas guys ? or opinions thanks muz

[Georgiana]

In the book, Dr. Atkins included diet sodas sweetened with sucralose (Splenda) among the beverages allowed during Induction. However, you will have to count them towards your sweetener intake. As a rule of thumb, 8 oz of soda is 1 serving of sweetener (you are allowed 3 servings per day).

If the coke is sweetened with aspartame, then it is not so simple. Aspartame can trigger cravings and/or may stall some people, so it should be avoided whenever possible.

I have seen folks on the Board who are stalled by diet drinks. You could be one of them or not. If you decide to try any of these drinks, you will have to see how they work for you.

If you are just looking for something other than water to drink, there are better alternatives, imo. Did you check Sheila's website? She has a few Induction-friendly shake recipes there. Here's the link to the recipes page: Sheila's Low Carb, Atkins & Induction Friendly *ORIGINAL* Recipes Page!

[tbrown]

2 or 3 times a week I indulge in something to drink other than water. I have some caffeine free diet pepsi or I put a little crystal light in some sparkling mineral water. Its like a nice little treat every once in a while and while its only been 3 weeks I havent been affected by it

[liv]

I would worry abit about it. That fact that you have to have it suggests an addiction. Are you sure you want to feed this addiction.
If the addiction is to sugar, which it may be, you are trying to feed your sugar addiction rather than over coming it. We work on overcoming it on Atkins.
There are some that suggest that drinking artificially sweetened soft drinks are quite fattening because it stimulates our appetite as the brain tastes the "sugar" it will crave more and make you eat more.
Anyways - just food for thought.
Have you tried just sparkling water with some lemon in it - good, refreshing and different from plain water once in a while.

[planetclaire]

I have never been able to drink diet drinks without experiencing a stall, or even a gain. Its always temporary, but its disheartening.

Try Diet Rite sodas, they are made with splenda....those I can drink (sparingly!) without any adverse affects.

[mkline71]

Originally Posted by liv

I would worry abit about it. That fact that you have to have it suggests an addiction. Are you sure you want to feed this addiction.

Not sure I agree with this; I drink about 100 oz of water a day and every few days I'll have a Crystal Light(splenda kind) drink. Its not because I have an addiction its because sometimes something other than water with a meal is different and I like it.

Thanks

Mike

[tav]

I drink Diet Rite or the new Diet Coke w/Splenda. In fact, I drink around four per day. I met my goal (starting 245-50, now 190-92) in 19 weeks sticking on "induction" - in fact eating essentially the exact same foods each day - with the exception of cola which is in addition to 4 liters of water per day.

I might have an addiction, but I have no interest in stopping. Whether or not the consumption of Splenda-sweetened diet drinks stalled my weight loss I neither no nor care. I got to where I needed to be following a strict food intake, daily cardio and daily weight training. A swig or two of Diet Rite instead of a hunk of cheese to curb mid-morning/afternoon lags works for me. Whether or not you are impacted by diet colas is to be determined, but I just wanted to give you another perspective.

[msanjelpie]

I drink about 4 diet cokes a day... half with caffeine during the day and then without caffeine at night... I also rarely but when available drink diet Sunkist, diet Dr Pepper, Diet Pepsi, diet sprite and diet A&W Rootbeer... They are all zero carbs, so I count them as zero... I lose on average 7 lbs per month, and that's fine with me... Enjoy!

[liv]

I still think some people should work on shaking this addiction. Diet products seems to have the potentiality of making us fat. When you get to maintenance this may not be a sustainable lifestyle. At least think about it.

Also here we follow the rules in DANDR and we are limited to three sweeteners a day. Please do not encourage people to cheat.

[kibskix]

personally, i don't touch diet drinks anymore. and not because they cause cravings, or make me stall or gain. its because they're flat out bad for you. anyone who's ever had a stomach ulcer will know what it feels like when you start drinking too many sodas. it tears up your stomach lining the same way too much coffee and too much smoking does. i had an actively bleeding stomach ulcer years ago, and i cannot describe what kind of pain that was. to this day i can't drink more than one diet coke a week unless i want to have a stomach ache the rest of the day. i -feel- better drinking water. as far as stalling or gaining, the first time i did atkins years ago i had 1 diet rite a day. and it did lead to cravings. i consider them a 'gateway drug' lol. if you have that, its easier to talk yourself into having something else. why run the risk of the possibility of a stall just for 5 minutes of a diet coke?