drinks

madismum · Post by **madismum** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:30 pm

i'm new here and quite excited to quit the sweets! i have a horrible addiction to chocolate. i can deal with that, but i am wondering what i can drink. is low fat and/or fat free milk acceptable? and what about those little packets you can add to your water? theyre sugar free and i know that means nothing since it is still made of sugar, but regular water is so... for lack of a better word... yucky. help!

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:44 pm

You probably AREN'T actually ADDICTED to chocolate. I'll concede that you probably are very, very habituated to consuming it. (I certainly am!)

(I say this, 'cause it's just a ground bean. Let's not give it too much power).

I would not consider a sugar-free chocolate drink an S. That being said, I don't use them because of the "No Sweets" N-day habit I want cemented. It TASTES sweet. I want my taste buds not to expect sweeter than fruit Mon-Fri. (This is why I won't drink an appletini during the week, and have added the sweeter zinfindels to this list for myself. If it's alcholic and doesn't have enough "bite" to force me to SIP, it's an S for me).

There's nothing WRONG with taking it slowly when rehabituating your eating patterns. If you think a sugar-free hot chocolate would do it for you as you're getting the habits down, it's probably not gonna hurt you.

I do use the crystal lite packets you can add to water sometimes, but not often. I'm trying to get myself OFF artificial sweetners.

rose · Post by **rose** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:46 pm

Milk, even whole fat, is ok. (unless you really drink A LOT of milk in which case perhaps low fat would be more prudent).

I drink a lot of unsweetend herbal tea. Natural powerful flavors like mint and liquorice don't require sugar at all to be palatable. I had trouble with the other flavors at first but now I have gotten used to them. But any mixture with mint or liquorice in it is less likely to have anything artificial in it because they are naturally so powerful.

In hot weather I also drink a lot of Antesite (don't know whether it is widely available) which is a very concentrated liquorice extract flavored with anis or mint extract (no added sugar). Two or three drops in a glass of water are enough.

Edit: forgot to mention that I allow myself a single, small cup of watered-down (not too sweet) hot chocolate a day around 4pm IF I feel bored/tired/sick enough to really want one (meaning: I don't have it everyday).
Anyway No-S is "no sweets", not "no sugar". Lots of people add sugar to their cereals or their coffee. A limited amount of hot chocolate is not unlike coffee.
However solid chocolate is clearly a sweet. Unless it's bitter enough that you don't want to eat it

(I have actually considered having a single small square of bitter chocolate a day for health reasons but never got around to trying it. Perhaps it's just as well. No need to risk crashing my N-day habits.)

JustAnnie · Post by **JustAnnie** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:47 pm

I can really drain the diet soda. If left unchecked, I could probably drink about a dozen cans a day. I now only allow them on "S" days and drink water, black coffee and unsweet tea on "NoS" days. It took a while to train myself to do this, but knowing I can have my soda on the weekends helps to get me through. BTW.....I have been known to order ice water with extra lemon at restaurants on "NoS" days. I squeeze the lemon into my water, add some Splenda and have a pseudo lemonade that is refreshing and not too unhealthy. It is also FREE at most restaurants....another plus considering today's dining out prices.

BrightAngel · Post by **BrightAngel** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:50 pm

I drink unlimited hot tea and iced tea sweetened with splenda or other artificial sweeteners,
and any other zero calorie (or near zero calorie) beverage I want, including diet cokes and crystal light.

Airen08 · Post by **Airen08** » Mon May 12, 2008 6:05 pm

I drink water all day long. I average about 8-12 cups a day. I do use the Crystal Light To Go Packets. That's about all I drink. I use skim milk on my cereal and drink water the rest of the day. It's working for me!

DebbiAnn · Post by **DebbiAnn** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:09 pm

I have been using artificial sweeteners since their inseption. around 1970s. I heard about saceran causing prostate cancer in male rats. Well I'm 63 and I am just fine. but maybe thats because I am neither a rat or a male or both.

I like a diet coke with lunch. usually cafine free (blood pressure) and I love those crystal lite packets to go. They make dringing water so much easier. I also think they help with hunger in the late afternoon.

I think there are some chemicals in most things now a days. Unless you grow everything yourself, you cant escape them

Debbi

blueskighs · Post by **blueskighs** » Tue May 13, 2008 5:23 am

most things give me headaches, artificial sweetners green tea...
I stick with water,

Blueskighs

flipturn · Post by **flipturn** » Tue May 13, 2008 3:38 pm

When I was a college sophomore and home on vacation, my father commented that I drank a lot of diet soda. I never drank another one. Gosh, I wish that he had also observed that I ate a lot of cookies! He probably did, and it seemed too hard to cut back on the Pepperidge Farm habit. Diet soda was actually easy to give up, and I have never missed it. I drink 'fizzy' water or the plain stuff with lemon.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue May 13, 2008 4:02 pm

I drink mostly water, tea and coffee. Hot tea is sweetened with less than a teaspoon of sugar, coffee and iced tea are unsweetened (I don't know why, that's just the way I prefer them). I often put a slice of lemon or lime in water, but not all the time.

Some days I drink cafe au lait with breakfast or in the afternoon. It will have some sugar.

On the weekends and on the summer holidays, I might have a regular Coke -- or two.

I don't drink milk and I don't drink diet or artificially flavored anything. I think they taste really bad.

Amyliz · Post by **Amyliz** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:12 pm

I love to drink flavored seltzer water during - its delicious.
i often add a splash of juice (the no added sugar kind)

check it out if you're looking for soda alternatives!

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:31 pm

I drink water with lemon, and occasionally "fizzy water." I also like unsweetened herbal teas (the "zinger" ones taste good plain to me - hot or cold).

The rule is "no sweets," not "no sugar." So I do have sugar in my coffee, and don't give it a second thought. I don't do artificial sweeteners anymore, but that's a personal choice, not a No-S dictum.

You know, you're beginning a journey toward health, but you're at the beginning. You may make some changes now, and then later decide that you want to make further changes. If the flavor packets are an improvement over some of your other choices, then be content. You're trying to do BETTER, not suddenly be PERFECT. So work on the "core habits" and don't sweat the details right now. Not everyone will do things the same way.

Good luck.

Writer110 · Post by **Writer110** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:29 am

Oooh! I love the idea of fizzy water! I had forgotten about that!

Usually during my afternoon slump I've been having an ice decaf with half & half- but I secretly know the little bit of caffeine is affecting my sleep. What a great alternative.