Thoughts on Low Carb Products
Couchpotato39
Posts: 691 Member
I have been LCHF for about 2.5 months. It has worked really well so far. I started using the Atkins protein shakes last month on a 2-3 times a week basis and I have some of the Atkins "candy bars" on hand at work in case I have a major sugar craving. My question to the group is do you think that eating/drinking these products has an impact on you (alcohol sugars make you crave actual sugar or that eating "fake food" makes you crave other processed foods)? I don't plan on making a habit of using these but was curious as to how they impact others.
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I tend to get a craving from just sweet taste of it's too sweet. Occasionally I have a quest bar for breakfast but I will only have half of it. The first time I had one, it was a chocolate fudge flavor and I felt like it triggered some cravings. I don't have any trouble if I only eat half and only have it once or twice a week.
But this will depend entirely on you. You may be able to eat them more regularly with no issues.0 -
The only sugar alcohol that doesn't cause me to have an insulin related crash after is Sweet Leaf Stevia. Even erithyritol seems to have that reaction in me. Aspartame tastes like crap but doesn't seem to have that effect, not fully at least, but it does generate cravings, too. For me, sugar alcohols tear up my stomach/gastro distress and send me down the cravings rabbit hole. Please keep them. I've yet to be so desperate. I keep pepperoni, cheese, nuts, and tea as snacks at my office, and the occasional piece of 86% chocolate (72% if I raid my guy's stash...).0
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I stopped drinking the Atkins shakes and switched to LC protein powder, mainly due to the cost. The sugar alcohols in some of the other products don't always agree with my stomach, so I try to use them as little as possible. Those peanut butter cups are awfully yummy, though!0
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Before adding Atkins bars (and other artificially sweetened foods) each day for a month.
May 2014
Weekly rate: -0.38 kg
A month of artifically sweetened foods (1+ servings per day)
June 2014
Weekly rate: +0.42 kg
And here is the month after, when I cut them back out.
July 2014
Weekly rate: -0.61 kg
My results were clear enough for me. All weight are in kg.0 -
For me, the sweet just breeds a craving for sweet. I have one available if I should have a diabetic emergency (haven't had one since surgery, so I'm hopeful I'm done with T2), but it just sits there and looks at me. I give it the finger once or twice a day and it continues to sit there.0
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@FIT_Goat That's pretty convincing that they are not a good idea. Thanks everyone for your comments!0
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In case anyone wants to do the math:
Trend weights
May 1: 75.1 kg (165.2 lbs) {lost average of 0.429 kg/week -472 calories/day}
June 1: 73.2 kg (161.0 lbs) {gain average of 0.420 kg/week +462 calories/day}
July 1: 75.0 kg (165.0 lbs) {lost average of 0.632 kg/week -695 calories/day}
August 1: 72.2 kg (157.4 lbs)
I am not sure about why the numbers above are different. I was on my phone. I probably messed some of the numbers up.
Now, I did eat more calories each day in June. Not 934 calories more, but around 500 more each day. I eat ad libitum. That is, I always eat when I am hungry and eat as much as I want. Eating sweets made me more hungry and my eating went up. The change in my weight loss was pretty extreme. It is likely there is water weight associated with this to a fair degree, especially when you consider the results of July. My eating was back to where it was before, but I lost a bunch more than expected.
In any case, artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols cause me to eat more. That's undeniable. They also have a prolonged negative effect on my scale weight. The amount of that effect that is water compared to that of actual fat gain is debatable. The extra eating is enough for me to stop them.
Now, if you consider that the extra calories means I should have been only slowly gaining weight for June, and average to total loss across just the 62 days of May and July... the average rate is right back around 0.3 kg/week (-360 calories/day). With the setback from slight gains in June, this would suggest the same weight loss rate for May and July. My calories in July were back to near what they were in May, it could just have been persistent water weight in June. Maybe it was the extra fiber holding onto water (tons of fiber in most sweetened artificial stuff).
Anyway, it's not a perfect example. And, it's not as "certain" as it appears. It's enough for me to avoid the sweet stuff, but I can't really say it will cause gain or problems for most people. That's especially true if you calorie-restrict as well as low-carb, since you won't see the rise in calories from increased desire from the sweets.
Edit: In the graphs, scale weight is the diamonds above or below the red line. The red line is the trend line of the weights. You can get an idea of how much variation and swings I saw on the scale, even on the months I was losing weight. If you're using pounds, remember those changes in pounds would be slightly more than double what they show as here.0 -
I stay away from "frankenfood" as much as possible. Every once in awhile if I get a mad craving, I will get the "Atkins" version (like PB cups or something)- but it is very rare. I find real food works best.
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Wow FIT_goat that's pretty amazing. Thanks for posting all that info!0
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Couchpotato39 wrote: »I have been LCHF for about 2.5 months. It has worked really well so far. I started using the Atkins protein shakes last month on a 2-3 times a week basis and I have some of the Atkins "candy bars" on hand at work in case I have a major sugar craving. My question to the group is do you think that eating/drinking these products has an impact on you (alcohol sugars make you crave actual sugar or that eating "fake food" makes you crave other processed foods)? I don't plan on making a habit of using these but was curious as to how they impact others.
I have plenty of thots on these. All bad. My thoughts are don't use them. Fake, processed, soy junk. If you have to have them for emergencies, fine but I think it's a mistake to live off them. I also think Dr. Atkins would be turning in his grave to see what's become of the Atkins diet. They are highly processed and taste like plastic to me once I got used to eating real (homemade) food, for the most part.
On one hand: a piece of steak or chicken and fresh grilled veggies, maybe asparagus or zucchini. On the other hand a plastic soy filled fake too sweet artificially flavored bar or shake.
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I have also been eating the bars and meals. I am a high school teacher and they are so handy to throw in a microwave or eat between classes. What else would you suggest I can eat in 30 minutes, with no kitchen to prep it?0
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My lunch today was a whole avocado, a burger patty (precooked, bought at a grocery store in a 2-pack on my walk from the train station) and a slice of cheese. I nuked the burger on a plate, with the cheese on top, cut the avocado in half and ate it with a spoon. Feeling pretty full now. What do you have time to prepare at home and pack for the week's lunches? That helps keep me in line sometimes.0
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I'm choosing not to do fake food. I bought some bars..... Power Bars, for times when I need a chocolate fix. I can have a small slice of it when I need something sweet. Never eating the entire bar in a day. I'm only on day 5 of this woe, but have made the decision not to intro any processed foods.0
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I eat them. I wish i could avoid them, but it's just not practical for me to meal prep each week and be in college. Bars and shakes can live in my backpack for aWhile without going bad.0
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I eat them from time to time, and usually eat the no sugar added ice cream, which doesn't cause any issues for me. I did have problems when I ate a few quest bars one week, I felt intensely hungry those days. I don't know if it was directly caused by the bars, or if it was them taking the place of something else, or if I was just more hungry naturally that week. I since stopped eating them and haven't felt cravings like that again.0
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My lunch today was a whole avocado, a burger patty (precooked, bought at a grocery store in a 2-pack on my walk from the train station) and a slice of cheese. I nuked the burger on a plate, with the cheese on top, cut the avocado in half and ate it with a spoon. Feeling pretty full now. What do you have time to prepare at home and pack for the week's lunches? That helps keep me in line sometimes.
Pre cooked and frozen stew, chili, soup, stuffed peppers, prepped salad.
I make 1-5 dishes every weekend (depending on how much I feel like cooking), portion and freeze. Easy weekday meals!
If you do like to cook during the week, pack up a portion of dinner for lunch the following day. I do this with stir fry, zoodles with sauce, or stuffed vegetables that don't freeze well like zucchini boats, stuffed spaghetti squash, or stuffed eggplant.0 -
When I first did Atkins in 1999, I started with salad, meat, cheese, etc, but then I found the bars, shakes, and candies. It wasn't long before I was relying on them instead of real foods. It also stalled my weight loss.
This time around, I started out with real food, but tried a few bars (which tasted like wax) and a shake (which was toooo sweet and needed to be watered down). The candies gave me the runs.
They are a definite no-no for me.
(Oh, and the frozen meals have wheat and wheat products, so be careful.)0 -
greenautumn17 wrote: »When I first did Atkins in 1999, I started with salad, meat, cheese, etc, but then I found the bars, shakes, and candies. It wasn't long before I was relying on them instead of real foods. It also stalled my weight loss.
This time around, I started out with real food, but tried a few bars (which tasted like wax) and a shake (which was toooo sweet and needed to be watered down). The candies gave me the runs.
They are a definite no-no for me....
Firmly agree, same experiences.
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"Queenmunchy wrote: »Pre cooked and frozen stew, chili, soup, stuffed peppers, prepped salad.
I make 1-5 dishes every weekend (depending on how much I feel like cooking), portion and freeze. Easy weekday meals!
If you do like to cook during the week, pack up a portion of dinner for lunch the following day. I do this with stir fry, zoodles with sauce, or stuffed vegetables that don't freeze well like zucchini boats, stuffed spaghetti squash, or stuffed eggplant.
This is what my girls (one in college, one a student teacher) do. They pack up dinner's leftovers for lunch. I hardly have any leftovers anymore!
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