Is it just down to the aspartame

[cookiecate]

Thank you everyone for your support. I have been using FitDay everyday and drinking several litres of water everyday. I have had no peanuts and the aspartame has gone from the diet too. Today I had lost 4.6lbs which I am very happy with also I am sleeping extremely well which is magic. I did read that aspartame can cause sleep problems. Thank you again for your support you really really helped and I feel much better than I did a week ago.

[liv]

That is wonderful news. Thanks for letting us know.
You rock for sticking to it.

[cookiecate]

I am really grateful to you all for pointing out what I needed to do. Now I have passed this onto my husband who was also drinking too much aspartame, eating peanuts and not drinking enough water. This is his first day and he has suffered a few whooshies and feels quite good this evening.

[cookiecate]

Just to let everyone know that everything is working out well, I am still feeling on top of the world. Water consumption is still high with no aspartame except a little that is in the sugar free jelly which is all I can get my hands on in the supermarket over here. I haven't had any nuts and I have been sleeping like a baby and I don't mean waking up every couple of hours to be fed. I have been sleeping really well.

I am not going to talk too much about my husband just to say his new nickname is Flapjack and I was very annoyed with him, however he is back on the bandwagon drinking plenty of water and behaving (I think) like a real Dr Atkins New Diet Revolutionary.

[TitianWasp]

Just an aside, aspartame is really nasty stuff. When I first started Atkins, I was drinking crystal light (by the gallon - and yes, I know now that it was too many sweeteners), and getting fierce, dizzy headaches. I thought it was Induction Flu, or just Atkins itself and almost went off the plan, but once I cut out the crystal light, suddenly the dizziness went away. I use splenda or nothing now, and haven't had a problem since.

[cookiecate]

That is very interesting Titian Wasp, I knew that aspertame was not one of artificial sweetners recommended however, I must say I thought a sweetner was sweetner. In England most things artificially sweetened use aspartame that includes the fruit drink I use diluted with water and the gelatine desserts (jello). However, I have read a lot of horror stories about aspartame just like yours and I can say that since I have stopped taking it in I have felt 100% better. Thing is sucralose is so much more expensive so to keep the products cheap they use aspartame.

Listening to you guys has put me straight and for that I am grateful. I do miss my nuts. I looked at macadamia nuts yesterday and they are expensive which I suppose stops you eating too many.

[liv]

I don't people realize how few nuts we can actually eat on Atkins. It is very important to take care and follow the advice too.

Perhaps you are ready to try OWL if you are pining for different food choices?
Have you looked into it yet.

[cookiecate]

Yes liv, I have, just today I was looking through my book first thing is to add some more vegetables to our menu then some cheese and I understand that you must keep to just 5g of carbs each week and that I should add one food group at a time. I think I will have to encourage myself to miss out on the nuts you are right there I cannot stop at 1oz.

I find that being hydrated I don't feel hungry, and I always have some boiled eggs around to snack on or sometimes even a spoonful of cream will do the trick.

[joesabido]

Cookiecate,

You can take with you 2oz of pepper jack cheese in a small ziplock bag, it's a great snack!

1 - Make sure it's zero-carb. There's a Pepper Jack cheese that is zero-carb, the brand name is "GRAND TETON". As a side note, ironically the brand name in spanish could be translated as "large man with big boobs"

2 - Count each ounce of cheese as 1g of carb, even if it is zero-carb.

TitianWasp,

With all due respect ma'm, I think you're hot, honest.

[cookiecate]

I like the sound of that but I will have to look around for it here in the UK we are really very behind with the low carb foods over here. Everything is low fat and loads of sugar. I was looking on a can of Slim Fast and sugar is the second ingredient.

Thanks Joe, I quite agree young TitianWasp is very pretty.