Is diet soda OK?

[cindilou]

hello everyone i am very very new at this so just wanted to say hi. I was wondering if diet soda is okay or not I think that is the hardest thing for me and also i need some tips for making it quick because i am a very busy person and the prep time is very important.. My boys/work/and husband have me very busy lol

[Ginasfuntime]

well guess what i have learned after doing this wrong.

that you can drink diet sodas so long as they are caffeine free
because the caffeine causes spikes in your glucose
stick it out this diet has worked wonders for me i have lost so far 64 pounds 20 during my first 2 weeks

[Richt]

Hi Cindilou.

Diet Soda is only permitted on this way of eating (drinking), if it is sweetened by splenda. Diet Rite Soda is the only one allowed. And even when drinking that, you must count it towards your daily sweetener allowance and also make sure that you drink your correct quantity of water ON TOP of that. Not instead of.

Most diet soda's are sweetened with Aspartame. and that is a really common staller in a number of people. Splenda is ok.

Btw, I am moving this thread to the Atkins Main Forum, as you will get more responses that way.

Best Wishes

Rich

[shrinkdieter]

Howdy Cindy-

I can't really add anything to what Rich said (he covered it pretty comprehensively there), but essentially, yes, diet sodas are OK, drink up!

Just between you and me, I've never understood why Atkins insisted people avoid aspartame. I personally think his reasoning (clinical or otherwise) on this point was a little weak. Just my opinion: if you want to drink aspartame-laden soda that's probably not going to stall you (it never did me).

Dr. Atkins' stated logic regarding avoiding caffeine makes more sense to me, however - one of caffeine's properties is to affect (generally increase) glucose metabolism, therefore potentially interfering with weight loss. Again, from personal experience, although I strictly avoided caffeine during Induction, I do consume caffeine fairly regularly on my customized low-carb plan, and my weight loss has not been impeded at all.

Anyways, nice to be back lounging around here.

-Shrinky

[Richt]

Originally Posted by shrinkdieter

Howdy Cindy-

I can't really add anything to what Rich said (he covered it pretty comprehensively there), but essentially, yes, diet sodas are OK, drink up!



-Shrinky

Strictly speaking, just those that are sweetened with Splenda are allowed.

[not2late]

RE: cooking prep since you had a question about that too....

Set aside at least an hour on a weekend and do your weekly prep. We have alot of time-pressed Atkineers around here and they have lots of tips. Here are a few that I remember from other threads..

Grab and go food: keep in refrigerator
1. Boiled eggs- boil a dozen at a time
2. Vegetable sticks, vegetable slices-portion them into 1 cup portions and pack them in plastic bags
3. Cheese-cut into 1 ounce cubes and pack into plastic bags or in containers.
4. Meat
--Bacon: cook a pound of bacon at time and keep in the frig; reheat or use as is
--Grilled meat: cook extra meat, and store for quick salad or omelette additions
5. Breakfast squares: make a crustless quiche, divide into squares or wedges.
6. Leftovers: These are a godsend! You can eat leftovers for breakfast, instead of eggs, and lunch, instead of a boring salad with some meat sprinkled on top. I particularly like chicken wings and porkchops for breakfast.

Family dinners:
Prepare a meat and veg dish everyone can eat (like a pot roast and steamed green beans or a chicken vegetable stew). Cook carby side dishes for the people that want it.

I recently purchased a slow cooker and I love it. I don't like cooking appliances left on when I'm not around to monitor them, so I do the slow cooking in the evening or overnight. It's easy: toss the ingredients into the slow cooker, cover, flip the switch. After it's cooked, I cool the food, and reheat it when I get home. In fact, I'm cooking tomorrow's brunch as I'm typing this post. And tomorrow night, I'll be cooking my contribution for Sunday Easter dinner at my mom's house.

[slimndown]

Originally Posted by Richt

Diet Rite Soda is the only one allowed.
Rich

Richt is a great inspiration to this WOE and knows his stuff, but I have to beg to differ on this one. There are other sodas out there that are sweetened with splenda. Most Diet Shasta sodas are. The bottom line is: it must be sweetened with splenda and each serving counts as 1 carb (regardless of what the can says) and it also counts toward your allowance of 3 servings of sweetener per day.

BTW - Last night I found an AWESOME drink called Cascadia. It is a "soda" that is carbonated water, real fruit juices and splenda. It also is just 1 carb per serving and comes in all sort of wonderful flavors. I found it at my nearest grocery store but if you don't find it in yours and want to try it, I'm sure it can be ordered online.

[Richt]

Can I just hold my hands up and say that I live in England, and Diet rite is the only US soft drink that I was aware of.

Many apologies for leading people up the wrong path. Obviously there are others now.

Rich

one word on diet soda..ok a few words..
why bother if you are trying to improve your health? ..it is a huge waste of money and why drink it when you have all this good free water around you?

[sunflowergrl]

If you want to 'do Atkins', than I think staying away from aspertame is very important. Diet Soda sweetened with Splenda must count towards your 3 sweetener a day limit, not your water intake. This IS an Atkins diet board, so we follow what Dr. Atkins said to do.