And what are you adding to it and why? I see references to vinegar water.

Jalera
Vinegar water helps eliminate excess water/bloat. It's comprised of 1 teaspoon natural apple cider vinegar with the mother(purchased from a health food store) in 8 oz. water. You take it when you arise in the morning and before you go to bed at night. It has no carbs.

Otherwise I just drink water. I can't drink it ice cold. Usually I drink at least 120 oz. of water, some days more, some days less.

Generally people should drink at least 8-12 ounce glasses of water a day. That's 96 ounces.

I usually drink about 80oz a day. I drink it nice and cold. Nothing added to mine.

I make Kool-Aid with Splenda instead of sugar, and mix that hequal parts with sparkling water. Yumm! You've just made your own soda. The Mandarine/Tangerine is divine. You can't tell it from an orange soda. Except for the lack of sugar.

I have also learned about the properties of enzymes and have added back in fresh squeezed lemon juice. In restaurants, or at home, I just get a glass of nice cold water, sqeeze some lemon into it, and add Splenda. It's SO delicious, refreshing, and it seems to have some bonuses that water just doesn't have, at least for me.

I don't drink a lot of plain water, but of these two drinks I usually get a combined 100 or more ounces per day.

Melissa

i'm very afraid splenda will cause me to stall or even gain but i'm getting very tempted to try your idea Junky! sounds delish i will also pick up a bottle of apple cider vinegar too! thanks for the great guidance AGAIN zuleikaa!

i drink at least 8 glasses of fresh spring water, usually 10 max. water keeps me full and not hungry!

Stephy:
Please note CarbJunky is on Adkins. The rules are much different for her. Please take my advice, Zules advice, etc. and stay away from the AS except at RM.

whoa totally missed that...thanks or i would really messed up! whew

Please note CarbJunky is NOT on Atkins. CarbJunky has been doing CAD with no sugar. AS is one of those things that's YMMV. I don't have a problem with it, and I know many CAD followers who can have AS, caffeine, etc. outside of RM. I agree though, that if your weight loss isn't what you'd like it to be, or stalls for several weeks, then you should look at those things and think about dropping them for a while. Remember CAD is a bit different than CALP - and many people like to keep it that way.

Don't know where you got the idea that I'm doing Atkins. I haven't done that plan for over a month.

Melissa

What do you CALPer's think of sweeteners like Stevia - which is totally natural. Is that a no-no to you as well? Is anything remotely sweet outside of RM a no-no in your book?

Is this because it's your experience that it doesn't work for you, or are you speaking for ALL carb addicts. Of which, I am one. Severe. I can have sweets, and they don't cause cravings. The SUGAR does however. I can even have fruit and it doesn't cause cravings or stall my weight loss. Am I lucky, different than most carb addicts - fine. But, I am not the only one to have this experience, either. Flat out saying you can't have this because you are an addict - without that person doing their own experimenting with their personal addiction is a little heavy handed.

It's taken me years of trying different things, following different plans to the letter, then tweaking, to find what works best for me. Everyone needs to tweak now and then. Not all plans, followed to the letter, work for everyone, even those who are carb addicts.

I commend this lady who replied that Splenda caused her to stall, and wouldn't be able to try it. She told me that my idea wouldn't work for her. That's much different that saying - No! You shouldn't drink that outside of RM because you are an addict and that lady is on Atkins - don't listen to her.

I don't know why that bothers me so much, but WHY would anyone think I am on Atkins? And why would it make any difference what plan I am on if I am just sharing my experience.

Yeah - maybe my rules are different than anyone else's rules, but that's because I've made my own WOL here. I've taken what I've read in over a dozen books, what I've learned trying a dozen different plans a dozen different ways, and learning what's best for me, what does and doesn't work, what I can and can't tolerate, and made it into my plan. If that means it's not CAD, that's fine, but it's not Atkins either. I feel like I shouldn't have responded to this thread. I mean, really. I can't be the only carb addict who can have AS outside of RM. Just not possible.

I usually try to take things with a grain of salt, but the response by Jalera really bothered me. In many ways. As you can prolly tell.

Melissa

oh no

well, since i am a CAD newbie (and a failure in dieting), anything that might hinder my weight loss scares me half to death and i want CAD to work (since i am STILL a bit skeptical on CAD) very badly. when i heard AS may stall my weight loss, i got scared! AS might not stall me at all and i should really try things out for myself and make CAD work for me. but i also listen to the advice and tips i get from the veteran CAD'ers of this forum cause i'm just a novice . please don't cry

CarbJunky
There are many CADers who can have AS. There are many who can't. It is very much a YMMV thing. What I am telling people is that AS causes reactions in many CAs. Often the more severe a CA you are, the more things you react to.

Also, there is a big difference in not reacting to fruit, AS and other sweets and reacting to sugar. It suggests to me that you are not a Hellers' carbohydrate addict for which CAD/CALP was designed; a person who reacts with an insulin surge to the presence of carbs. Rather, IMHO, it looks like you are allergic to sugar. People can be allergic/sensitive to any food. Having a food you're allergic to such as sugar might not induce an insulin surge but it will definitely cause uncontrolled cravings for more. The same can be said for those allergic to wheat. Many take this as a sign that they are a carbohydrate addict when it's not so. Carb addicts experience pleasure when they ingest carbs though hunger can rebound in a couple of hours. Carb allergists on the other hand have an almost immediate and uncontrollable craving for the food they are allergic to. Instead of experiencing joy and satiety or feeling drugged and sluggish for a while, they experience uncontrollable need for the food they are allergic to and afterwards the symptoms of hangover, bloat, nauseau, diarrhea, fogginess, numbness, gas, and indigestion. Any one or all of these result from a food allergy.
There's a thread in the CAD/CALP forum on this: Carb Allergy vs Carb Addiction.

As you said, I think anyone starting a WOE should first do the plan as written and tweak as they listen to their bodies and learn more. This is not a one size fits all diet world and people should listen to their bodies and cobble together from many plans, if necessary, what works for them. There are many people who are lucky to find their answer in one plan. There are many more who are not.

Often I tell people who question whether they'll react to something to try it and see. But first I like for them to get a baseline of running the program clean. If they do so, they will be more in tune with their bodies and able to evaluate the effects of substances on their systems. On the other hand, I often see people who swear they are not affected by AS, diet sodas and lc products, yet they stall, have increased hunger, if not cravings, and uncontrolled RMs.

CarbJunky: I'm not sure where I got the idea you were on Adkins but I clearly did. Very sorry, certainly no offense was intended. I just wanted steph to be aware the AS are not as great an idea as some seem to think especially for Carb Addicts, as I think Zules post pointed out. Your profile shows your plan as ??? Would be interested in knowing what plan you are doing. Glad the AS doesn't effect you. I'd love to have a diet Pepsi twist right now but I know I'd be paying for it later in the way of cravings and obsessing about chocolate!!! Sorry again for the misunderstanding. Hope we can put this behind and help each other out.

Janice.

Janice
You got the idea because her plan description at the time said Atkins. It was the first thing I checked when I saw her post.

Just my .02 worth...

I drink Crystal Light all the time and it has not caused any problem for me so far. I think that everyone should try things to see what works the best for them.

As for the comment about CarbJunky being allergic to suagr...I don't understand that. If that was the case then she couldn't eat fruit either since it breaks down to fructose, which is essentially sugar.Where did you get this information? just curious.

Kristen
: )

Yeah, I'm a little confused about that allergy vs. addiction thing. I can have fruit, even bananas, but not refined sugar.

Also, my plan did say CAD/Sugarbusters. Right now it's ??? because I am experimenting with a raw food plan.

I'm still searching for the answer to which plan is right for me.

But whatever plan I end up with, it's going to be a no-refined sugar plan.

Melissa