Artificial Sweetners ? Are there carbs in them?

Fullsterkur_woman

You aren't going to put a dent in your daily calories with artificial sweeteners I wouldn't worry about it. If it is that concerning you can use aspartame as that is a dipeptide, no carbs there.

What exactly do you think is in Equal? It's aspartame. And maltodextrin filler. A carb.

Splenda, exactly the same. All powdered sweetener packets contain maltodextrin filler. Even Truvia.

You can buy liquid sucralose drops online; I use those for tea sometimes. Then again, I also use raw honey from my bees sometimes too, because that's how I roll.

Did I say "splenda"? Did I say "Equal"? I believe i said aspartame, which you can also buy.

Calmate, cabrón. I apologize for my incorrect assumption. I have never heard of buying straight aspartame before, just liquid sucralose. Given the availability of that, and its better taste to me, I went for that option. I recognize other people might have different taste preferences, so it's good to know there are options. Thank you for clarifying! :drinker:

Fullsterkur_woman

Also why do you eat so little? Just looking at April and there were many days where you ate 300-800 per day and exercised on top of that. That's much more of a concern than your artificial sweetener consumption.

I know I'm going to feel the wrath of this comment but, that's just how much I'm hungry for each day. I have a very stressful job that has be on the go a lot and I eat when I can. Don't worry everyone it's not an eating disorder concern, but in my mind I'm eating less than I'm burning and I'm still not losing weight, so I'm doing something wrong.

Everyone is going to say "eat more", which is fine, I will try to do that, but in the past I've always gained from doing that. I'm literally trying to lose 10 pounds, tops, and can't do it.

At what intake do you start gaining? And what sort of gain are we talking - like an actual gain over 6 weeks or water weight and glycogen from the sudden increase in calories? If you genuinely don't feel hungry then you need to start overriding your hunger cues with common sense. Your current intake, if accurate (i.e. you weigh food not just estimate), poses serious health risks. Please see a doctor asap.

I'm gaining over 6 weeks and occasional water weight gain as well. In just a few day period my weight will fluctuate between 133 and 143. It's so frustrating, I just want to be at a steady weight. I recently lost about 30 pounds last summer, but now I've gained 10 back and can't lose it again. I'm only 5'4'' and was happy at 125 or so.

So, you already know that a fluctuation of 10 pounds in just a few days can only be mostly water. Unless you ate 35,000 extra calories you're not reporting, and whereas I'm sure I could accomplish that in a few days, I know most people can't!

You said you're not under a doctor's supervision, so it's time to go. You need a regular superchem metabolic panel and you need your thyroid checked. And you need to show your doctor your food log for the past several months. He or she will have input on that, I guarantee it.

Your job sounds stressful. If you're not sleeping enough, and most people don't, you probably have a lot of cortisol and other stress hormones hindering your progress.

You probably need a reverse diet to get yourself back on an even keel so that you can eat enough to sustain you and still lose weight. Yes, you will gain weight at first. But you can do it now, or you can do it later when you get fed up of only eating 700 calories a day (then 600, etc.) and not losing weight.

You could probably also do with a vacation. And taking up yoga.

RenaTX

You say you have a sweet tooth and you are using an artificial sweetner to satisfy that. I get it because I use to have to have sugar a lot. From what I understand those artificial sweetners will make you crave more sugar. It would probably do you good to start weaning yourself off of them. I'm not quoting any of this as a fact but from my own experience. Once I stopped eating so much sugar I stopped craving it. There was of course a bit of a struggle for a while but it was only for a short time.

If you can't just go without it then perhaps use something more natural like stevia? I use it for my coffee plus 1/4 tsp of real sugar and got use to it like this. Now coffee such as Starbucks which I use to love is way too sweet!

I won't kid and think that stevia will keep you from craving sugar . I think it has the same affect on the brain as say equal but it's at least natural. Powdered stevia is cut with maltodextrin usually to help it from clumping plus to cut down the sweetness a bit so I use liquid stevia instead.

There is a lot of side effects with splenda and equal. I use to use them and found that they were the source of my migraines.

Fullsterkur_woman

I just want to ask you a couple of clarifying questions, please.

I won't kid and think that stevia will keep you from craving sugar . I think it has the same affect on the brain as say equal but it's at least natural.

I don't really understand what "natural" has to do with it. That is a term that has no legal definition whatsoever, and the FDA discourages producers from using it. What is it about stevia that you think makes it better than other low-calorie sweeteners?

There is a lot of side effects with splenda and equal.

I am not arguing with your personal experience, which you can claim if you wish, but I don't agree that therefore you can claim that there are a lot of side effects (implying that they are there for everyone or just many people) with Splenda and Equal. Unless you provide some peer-reviewed studies to back up that claim, that is.

RenaTX

I just want to ask you a couple of clarifying questions, please.

I won't kid and think that stevia will keep you from craving sugar . I think it has the same affect on the brain as say equal but it's at least natural.

I don't really understand what "natural" has to do with it. That is a term that has no legal definition whatsoever, and the FDA discourages producers from using it. What is it about stevia that you think makes it better than other low-calorie sweeteners?

HI.
You are correct there is no legal term. I claim stevia to be natural because it's from a plant. I'm growing it currently in my garden, I can take a leaf of it and eat it and it tastes like what I get from the liquid version. Equal and Splenda are an end result of something I'm not familiar with. I can't grow an Equal plant or a Splenda plant I don't think.

There is a lot of side effects with splenda and equal.

I am not arguing with your personal experience, which you can claim if you wish, but I don't agree that therefore you can claim that there are a lot of side effects (implying that they are there for everyone or just many people) with Splenda and Equal. Unless you provide some peer-reviewed studies to back up that claim, that is.

That's fine. I didn't post to ask you to agree with me nor am I here to argue with anyone. My goal was to give my opinion and my personal experience. I brought up a concern and a suggestion to the OP as to what I think may help her with her sugar cravings based on my own experience.

I'm fine that you have a different opinion and perhaps experience. I don't feel the need to back up my experiences with a bunch of articles to support what I am saying. I'm pretty sure that for whatever I post could be argued against as well. For any claim made out there I'm sure both supporting and non supporting information can be found. I have no personal agenda against Equal and Splenda so it doesn't benefit me to argue with people or try and discourage others from using it . Whether someone uses it or not doesn't impact me.

I will admit it's hard to figure people's tone here when done in written word so my apologies if I come off the wrong way to you. so If you are genuinely interested and not just trying to argue under the guise of "I am not arguing with your personal experience" and "... clarifying questions ..." then I consider the fact that you are an intelligent woman and perhaps can find any information you want / need by using Google or whatever source you consider reputable .

I consider the OP an intelligent person as well and if what I said sparked any concern or interest I'm sure she could investigate my claims herself. We all should always do our own research and come to our own conclusions with anything of which is said on the internet anyways.