I was just wondering what the purpose of everything being sugar free was? I've been drinking Carnation Instant Breakfast shakes and I don't think it's the sugar free kind so is this going to be some sort of detriment to my weight loss etc? I mean I understand if you were to overdo it on the sugar and eat pies etc all day but what exactly is the point of avoiding all sugar with the band??

Oh, what an innocent question and what a debate it can cause, lol.

Personally, I dont think everything must be sugar free.

Firstly, i dont think artificial sweetener is the answer, what you need to do is retrain your taste buds to prefer less sweet things and when you do have something sweet, eat the real thing and keep it as a treat. Think about it, people eat artificial sweetener at EVERY single meal just about and that is not a healthy diet. What is healthy is fresh fruit (naturally sweet), vegies and non processed foods. What is healthy to drink is plain Water. The odd sweet drink is fine, just not everytime you drink something. Get used to natural or greek yogurt, not sweet fruit flavoured ones all the time, have ice cream once a month and eat the real thing, not artificially sweetened low fat ice cream every day etc.

But there's loads of people who really do support and follow a low carb lifestyle and of course, sugar is avoided at all costs, as a bad white carb. Personally, I dont subscribe to it, I think there's as many problems with low carb as there are with low fat/high carb and that moderation in all things is probably the safest diet to follow. Which means sugar - occasionally - and non sweet foods most of the time.

Dont forget potatoes, white bread, white rice are pretty much just sugar, only not sweet.

I agree. I don't personally subscribe to the sugar free low carb thing. It may work for some but there are sooooo many foods that make me wanna puke when I taste them that I'd hardly ever be able to eat at all if I didn't have carbs and some sugar in my diet. I'm not saying I go out and scarf down a pint of ben & jerry's either. I think there's a happy medium for everything.

What Jacqui & Stephanie said. Ditto. As long as you're not a total sweet tooth hardcore junkie, it doesn't matter much. You're not going to be able to eat enough of a fattening thing to do too much damage. That said, if you puree mars bars and woof them down regularly, you've got a problem, me thinks. I've had Splenda in my coffee for years and I'm just used to that. I don't like sugar in my coffee anymore. I don't like real coke anymore. The after taste of all that sugar is just yuk. You feel like your tastebuds have been violated. Having said that, I'll occasionally enjoy one or three balls of Lindor white chocolate with the gooey centre. I was doing that for awhile, but I just realised I haven't had any in months. Guess you change.

I do low carb often because I like it. But when I'm going for sweets, I go for "real" sugar. When I go for fat I go for the real stuff. I think it's personal choice.

What they all said :tongue2:. It's choices, I CHOOSE to not eat high calorie/low nutrition foods. But when I choose to have something sweet, I want the 'REAL' thing.

It's choosing the 'right' things 90 percent of the time, and being honest with yourself. The band is a great tool, but reality still is calories in/calories out wins the battle. My question to myself always is....is the taste of <fill in any food choice here> worth the work it'll take on my part at the gym to negate the calories involved? Usually these days the answer is 'no', before the band it was 'gym, what's a gym' ROFL.:wub:

I think things as far as carnation instant breakfast goes, the sugar free has about half the calories. I buy both kinds, whichever is available when I am shopping but if I have the sugar kind for breakfast I just make sure I subtract those calories somewhere else during the day.

My doctor told me the main reason they want us to choose SF products is because sugar makes you crave more sugar or other carbs. It's about breaking the cycle, but I agree with everyone else. In moderation you should be able to eat anything you want.

jachut-your post was so perfect! I agree totally. I have been using agave necter for a sweetener and it does not cause an insulin response as other sugars do. My nutritionist is ok with it but offered Stevia as an alternative - and it's natural- in fact I grew it in my garden last year and I'm in a hard zone 3. I don't like the truvia brand but stevia itself is ok in small does (it can leave a bit of an after taste). It tends to be a bit hard to find though in my experience and I have no researched it to find out if it would have an assoc. insulin response (that creates the subsequent hunger issues). It is sugar free though and agave necter is 60 calories per tablespoon so you must use the later sparingly. I just figured now was a great opportunity to go fully organtic and healthy like I've always wanted, but could not afford in my consumed quantities!:tt1:

"Sugar-free" items make me horribly sick so I asked my doc and nut and they both said no big deal to eat the stuff that is not sugar free.