Sugar Alcohols!

[katytorres]

Another question I have is about sugar alcohols - I read that you need to count them as 1/2 or something like that - but in the bars/shakes/etc. that are ATKINS labeled, they subtract them from the total carb count.

What is right? I just think it's weird that Atkins would sell something that is marketed at 2 net effective carbs when really that's not the case.

Thoughts?

Thanks you!

[liv]

They want to sell that stuff. So they have decided to do it that way. But our cumulated experience here tells us those products are iffy and stall some of us. Shakes are staler for me.
And yes the sugar alchols is another area that is interesting. Many people will absorb the carbs in them so the suggestion is to count half of the sugar alchols towards your total carbs of the day.

(PS are you eating drinking all this - this may be why you have problems with losing. Remember not more than three servings of sweetener a day and some of us cannot even do that)

[DarlingBri]

Katy, I don't mean this harshly at all but from your two posts I think you might be missing some key information that would be helpful to you.

The Atkins Diet Bulletin Board follows the 2002 edition of New Diet Revolution. The plan was changed after Atkin's death to include bars and shakes and other stuff not legal in that edition.

Your best bet is to plan meals with fresh, whole foods and ignore bars, shakes, sugar-free Jello and processed lo-carb foods. They will be filled with more things than *I* think a person can really keep track of at the beginning - sugar alcohols, illegal sweetners under 18 different names, etc. You are trying to maintain steady blood sugars here, and falling into one of those holes without realising it can stall you day in and day out.

People confuse the fact that Atkins is "easy" to eat on once you get going and think that means it isn't strict. It is very strict. Plan your day's meals in advance and add it all up on FitDay to make sure you're in range. Eat 3 cups of vegetables from the approved list(s) only, in the correct proportions; limit cheese to 3 - 4 oz; use cream instead of milk; and fill the rest of your diet with generous amounts of fatty meat and eggs.

I'll be honest and tell you that I have found it harder than I thought to get on-plan, and I had a lot of help from a hard-core, traditional Atkins friend and from this board. I blew out the first day because I didn't understand how to snack (extra cup of lettuce, no; extra fried egg, yes.) I blew out the second day because I bought a brand of pickles that has sugar added. I finally got it right with my Day 3 menu, though!

If you consider that you are going to eat this way for the rest of your life, a couple of days or even a week of getting it wrong at the beginning will not make any difference in a year. Restart with a clean, by-the-book, measured and tracked induction and you'll be off to the very best start you can give yourself

I truly believe that the most important thing at the beginning is not to count weight loss but to get your menus right. Get your menu right and the pounds will look after themselves