Three Questions

[Waterbabe_Helena]

1. The only way I seem to get through the Atkins day is by chewing sugarfree gum. On the packet it says no sugar but 45g of carbs. How does this affect me? Am I ingesting those carbs or is it just if you swallow. (I don't swallow).


2. How terrible is it if I have a 27g of carbs wholemeal pitta bread some days? I just crave them sometimes (not every day).


3. How comes my Japanese lodger who weighs about 7 stone (84lb) eats vast quantities of food, and drinks a lot of alcohol every day? I saw her today serving herself the biggest plate of spaghetti you have ever seen. There was enough for about 10 people, and she ate the lot. She also eats one-kilogram cottage pies and lasagnes.

Yeah OK no.3 is obvious - because we all have difference metabolisms, but I just wanted to get my anger off my chest

[Jace]

Re: Three Questions

1. Most sugarfree gum has sugar alcohols instead of sugar. Some people are affected by them and some aren'. That's something you need to find out by trial and error.

2. Yes IF you are on the appropriate rung in OWL or in the Pre-/Maintenance phase and it's within your daily carb limit. Under any other circumstances...nope. They aren't part of Atkins if you're in the induction phase or below the appropriate OWL rung. People going off and doing the plan their own way tends not to work.

3. I call those kind of people "Tube socks with aspirations"

Best of luck!



~Far la bella figura.

[Lyssie]

Re: Three Questions

Exactly what he said. I still count sugar alcohols as carbs just to be safe.

[sadie147]

Re: Three Questions

45g's of sugar alcohols seems like alot for gum, usually there's only 3 or 4 per piece, could that perhaps be the whole pack? 45g's of sugar alcohols would most likely cause serious gastric distress in most. What is the brand maybe we can find something on the web?

I would stick with Induction Helena, just keep in mind that it is not forever. From your past posts and history etc, I think you should do a clean 14 day induction, then move onto owl. OWL is exacatly that ONGOING weight loss, it does not mean you will lose slower or stop losing, but it will give you the opportunity to eventually add back some foods that you might miss if you can tolerate them.

Remember, this is for life, the time you will spend on induction and OWL is just a short time in the grand scheme of things, you will get there and have a bit more freedom once you do.


HTH.

[Sera]

Re: Three Questions

I would stay away from the gums if you are indeed still on induction, do it clean because if sugar alcohols do cause a problem for you, your induction could've easily been a waste of time.
I miss by chewing gum too, believe me but seeing the carbs on the package, I decided to stay far away from them.

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Re: Three Questions

What can I do about my incessant, irresistible need to chew "something"?
The gum is great cos I chew one piece for about 2 hours, then get a fresh one.

The other big reason is that eating meat and fat I don't like the taste and texture and the gum is all minty and fresh and makes my mouth taste good.

Thirdly, getting the sweetness from gum seems to be what is keeping me off sugary things.

So, 2 days back on Atkins, struggling to stay on plan, and somehow I will have to give up my sugarfree gum??? HEEELP!

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Re: Three Questions

My current chew is Orbit complete. 60g carbs for 100g of gum. Weight of gum - not given. Total weight of packet - not given. All it says about the contents is "14 pieces".

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Re: Three Questions

60g of carbs of which sugars 0g polyols 60g.

[sadie147]

Re: Three Questions

100g's of gum is alot of gum. We get that gum here as well and it lists as 1.9 g's per piece..here is the nutrional info from their site:

Nutrition Facts Serving size 1 piece (1.9g) Calories 5Amount per serving %DV* Total Fat0g 0% Sodium0mg 0% Total Carb 1g 1% Sugars 0g Sugar Alcohol 1g Protein 0g

http://www.wrigley.com/wrigley/produ...utritional.asp

I really doubt 1g of sugar alcohols in a piece of gum is going to stall you, I've always chewed s/f gum without issue.

[Grant]

Re: Three Questions

I don't know what that means, my Orbit is Citrusmint sugarfree gum. It has 1 g sugar alcohol per piece.

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Re: Three Questions

So it's all right for me to use it then?

[ValidRouge]

Re: Three Questions

Thirdly, getting the sweetness from gum seems to be what is keeping me off sugary things. HEEELP!

Helena, I'm going to be blunt with you here. I ABSOLUTELY, perhaps fanatically disagree with your point of view regarding the gum and all that other stuff you're talking about in the original post that is not allowed during induction. This is the ADDICT in you talking.

If I went from rolling my own smokes (10 per day) to smoking light brand, filtered cigarettes (20 per day) I CANNOT CLAIM THAT I'M QUITTING SMOKING, can I? No.

Continuing to eat gum and all that substitute junk food is NOT doing yourself any good, but only continuing a form of self TORTURE! STOP. Do the plan the way it was intended. The plan INTENDS for you to BREAK this vicious vicious cycle you are on with sugar and insulin and obesity.

So, your arguments are that it is low carb, blah blah! Yeah, okay. Let's talk a bit about something called the Cephalic Insulin Response. I experience this ALL the time, and struggle with it ALL THE TIME.
1. Something artificially sweetened passes over your tongue
2. Your taste buds tell the brain "Sugar coming"
3. Your brain releases insulin to transport the sugar from your blood
4. The insulin gets there only to find NO SUGAR. So, it takes out what little glucose is there (not a lot because you are low-carbing)
5. insulin sends a signal to the brain...NEED SUGAR
6. Brain sends a craving for something sweet.
7. The rational brain says "I can't have sugar. So, I'll have another piece of gum"
8. artificially sweetened gum passes over your tongue
9. taste buds tell the brain sugar coming
10 brain releases MORE insulin
11. insulin takes pretty much all sugar/glucose out of the blood
13. Now we've got a situation of hypoglycemia (LOW BLOOD SUGAR) with symptoms of irritability
12. body starts SCREAMING for sugar
13. You chew some MORE gum, or go for some sugar free chocolate, or start binge eating on anything sweet tasting you can find and this cycle keeps getting worse and worse until you cave!

Don't DO THIS to yourself.

I've seen your posts in your journal, and in this thread and others. I remember when you were here before...you are stuck in the SAME RUT. It's not going to work YOUR WAY. It's NOT. So, if you want to lose the weight, you've got to change the way you're thinking. Let's focus instead of on how you are going to fail...and start focusing on how you are going to WIN. Let's focus instead of on how you can't have <insert food here>, to what you CAN have. Every day, every single day, I count my blessings that I found Atkins. That I can eat good tasting...NO, DELICIOUS, DECADENT food, while those other poor souls out there who don't know about Atkins are stuck eating their rice cakes. Or, the people out there who are slowly poisoning themselves because they won't break the addiction once and for all.

Yes, I KNOW it's hard. I do. Go check out MY journal and see the struggles I've had....that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US on here has had. Then go look at the goalies and see where they FOCUS. And go look at the induction forum and see how many people who've posted there are still here. Look at the way they approach the plan. Those who are doing it right...they are here, they are losing. The ones who are just He*l bent on doing it their way...well, they aren't here. You've got to decide where YOU are going to be.

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Re: Three Questions

No problem Joy, I like blunt. I appreciate your post very much, with one small niggle. I am not saying and have never said that I intend to do it my way and then complain when it does not work, so I think you are being unfair on me.

What I am trying to do is to find a way to make this plan work for me. I am trying to steer my cravings for certain foods or behaviours into those foods and behaviours that won't do me as much harm. I am trying to discover a way to stay on plan, and if that means the odd frankenfood well surely that is better than eating a bar of chocolate or a potato?

I have been trying to stick to Atkins for several years now, and for some reason that I cannot fathom, I always go off plan. Is it so terrible for me to be trying to search for a way to make this WOE work for me?

If I was in the mindset of being determined to "do it my own way", I would not be on here asking questions!

I've read a lot of people's Fitdays over the years and have definitely seen them using various things to prop themselves up, for example Diet Coke, that kind of thing. And they are losing.

I personally don't think it is so terrible for me to be trying to find ways to make this WOE work for me, and looking for ways to make it easier for me. I do think that you are a rare woman of amazing willpower, because you have overcome your struggles. Some of us have a harder time because of our childhoods, our bad habits, our psychological makeup.

But I really appreciate that you care enough to write such a long answer to my question. That's nice of you.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Three Questions

I can have excuses, or I can have results. I cannot have both.

[julirama723]

Re: Three Questions

Joy said it best, "I can have excuses or I can have results. I cannot have both."

Just say NO. It will be easier. It's like any other addiction. How on EARTH could an alcoholic remain sober if they continued to drink, just light beer or wine though, no shots, for instance? Would their body know that it was not the "hard stuff?" NO! The body would respond to that alcohol the same way it responds to any other type of alcohol. What if a heroin addict decided to use methadone instead as their addiction? The body is going to respond to the drug just as eagerly as it responded to the original drug. The only way to break the cycle of addiction is to do it cold turkey.

So, that means no sweets, no gum, no desserts. Not indefinitely, but perhaps until your body is ready. That could be 2 weeks, that could be 2 months, that could be 2 years. Whatever it takes is what you need to do. And don't try to rush it. If you're not ready, you're not ready. Don't force it, or else you'll be back from square one. I see people who allow themselves this or that, and soon it snowballs into a cheat here or a cheat there, and then eventually, they fall off the wagon for good. I want you to be a success, I want you to stick around. So give up the gum for right now, it's the best thing.

The people I see who either disappear or come back time after time are the ones who try to make it "work for them." There is only one way to do the plan--the way it was MEANT to be done. If I were to tweak rules here and there, or do things that aren't helping my body but are giving me hedonistic pleasure, I wouldn't be doing Atkins, I'd be doing Julikins.

It may sound harsh and it may feel unfair, but in your situation, I think you need to give up the gum and kill that sweet tooth. No ifs, ands, or butts.