You know I don't miss pop, I like my water, I just saw it and thought well that is kind of cool... if I were ever to buy it would only be for flavoring for my water. Unfortunately in canada I can't fine MIO so I have arizona ice tea that is 0/0/0 and I only have it as a treat after drinking my water 2 64 oz jugs.. I have a friend that is going cold turkey off his pop and if it was either a pop or the soda stream that one might be better then cheating. He has a few bottles a day so am a little worried about him. I am sure he can do it but... the pop thing is more of a habit and I think he may have a little problem with it. I actually challenged him (or he challenged himself) I was talking to him say that he will do better than another guy in the office (who has admitted to cheating a few times) I told him I bet after the first month he will lose more weight than the ohter guy.

Thanks everyone, just wanted your opinions about the soda stream as that seems to be the big "focus" at my no sugar shop.

Excellent, post, Pixlkitty! I think the whole topic of ph balance in our bodies is oversimplified or misinformed in some nutritional theories, including this one. Just my lowly opinion from reading I've done. Don't have a PhD or a chemist dad. Oh, yeah, & I agree - YOU ROCK!!

I too like plain water, and never really drank soda. It's hard for me to understand those that "need" it. I know someone doing the diet who says she deeply misses her Diet Coke and can barely live without it. I just don't get it.

Since we're already talking chemistry, I will add my two cents re: diet sodas.. Most of those contain phosporic acid, which helps with the carbonation. This is known to cause certain health issues, including calcium being leached from bones. Since we don't eat dairy on this diet and only get calcium from supplements (and some from green veggies), I think that's reason enough to avoid diet sodas. Note that i say all... including those that are sweetened with Splenda.

As for water flavoring, you might also consider just adding some extracts. I have orange and lemon that I use for baking. Sometimes I just add a few drops to either plain water or club soda. I realized that after buying the SodaStream ones. It was like a lightbulb went off - duh! I have these already in the spice drawer!!

So, with all the talk today of alkalinity and soda, I just had my lunch salad and I put balsamic vinegar on it for the first time since starting the diet. It felt decadent and I am feeling daring today. Also, I just 'bubbled' some water and put lemon/lime extract in it. Living wild!!

When i report back tomorrow that I have gained weight, everyone can laugh at my expense. Deal??

Joanne,
I've had a Soda Stream since my kids were small. (youngest is older than me now...30) They've evolved in appearance thru the years but the cartridges are the same, nice for anyone wondering if "I buy this will I be able to find refills." You can actually go to a soda distributer and buy gallons of syrup (I used to get root beer and sprite) and it will be cheaper than the soda stream brand. I use mine now to make carbonated water that I add about 1/4 cup to my IP chocolate drink and it tastes like a chocolate soda. I've thought about freezing an RTD in my ice cream freezer and adding it to the mix. (2 servings).

I have to try the chocolate soda idea. Very interesting...

We actually had a soda stream when I was 11 years old in Australia. They have been around forever.

For my husband, I buy a natural cola syrup or root beer syrup at Williams Sonoma. It has real sugar, no caffeine, and is relatively non-scary when it comes to soda ingredients. It's our happy medium (for him / I don't drink it) and he only has about one glass of soda per week.

I love that ya'll know so much. My coach said one or two diet sodas a week won't hurt anything, but I'm sensitive to aspertame, so if I do drink it, I use the diet Coke with Splenda.

Got my first order from nashau nutrition in today, and bagged up my food per day. I love having a little ziploc of what I'm eating for the day...makes the diet even easier, except mentally. Sometimes it's just such a battle between the "gimme" part of my brain and the rational part.

Yesterday, I wasn't thinking and was downing cold medicine like crazy. Stupid sugary stuff. Hopefully today will make up for it. I have my "yearly exam" June 30, and I've already lost 50 pounds since then (would be more if I hadn't leaped off the wagon to dip my toe in sugar water over and over), but I'm hoping for another 15 by then since I'm back on strict. I'm actually kind of excited/nervous about what my bloodwork will say. Last year the triglycerides and insulin levels were super high.

Hope you're all having a good day!

This is such a good post! Thanks. A lot. Would you consider taking it over to the Tips for Newbies?? And I have a question. Do you have any idea how using cider vinegar twice a day (say 45-60 g) works into the alkaline/acidic equation? I've been going on the assumption that it helps. But I could be dead wrong.

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Yes, I will post it on the newbie thread. No problem...

I have always heard that apple cider vinegar is great for health.. but, frankly, I am baffled. Why is white vinegar and apple cider vinegar allowed but red wine and balsamic vinegar not allowed? Other than the color, what is different? I think balsamic may be sweeter than others, and I know that it cooks down into a lovely sugary syrup, so that might be it. But, really, I am not sure. I will research and get back to you.

Here's the best place to check: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ Four tablespoons of cider vinegar (60 grams) has 13 calories, .55 carbohydrates and .24 grams of sugar. The same amount of balsamic vinegar has 56 calories, (!) 10.9 (!) grams of carbohydrates, and 9.57 g of sugars. That's a HUGE difference.

Hello, everyone! I have been away from these boards for awhile. I quit IP back in April. Just can't afford it anymore - plus I wasn't getting the results I was hoping for in the last 4 months. Anyway, I have struggled to stay on plan and was doing okay until about a month ago. I'm one of those people who doesn't outwardly show that I'm stressed - but boy, I realized a few days ago, that I have been trying to eat my way through my problems. I found out last month that I have macular degeneration in one eye, and I completely freaked out - inside - for about a week and a half. I have calmed down now after researching it a bit. On the 25th of May I had my first Lucentis treatment, which was freaking me out too. (It's an injection in the eye - once a month). It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I also learned that nutrition plays a big role in eye health (Eat your spinach, lades!), and I've revamped my daily supplement regimen to include Lutein & Resveratrol, to add to the Vitamin C, D, E, and fish oil I was already taking.

Anyway......I have gained 11 pounds back in the last few weeks. I actually braved the scale this morning. I got back on plan yesterday and it feels good. I still have some IP packets, so I have no excuse.

Are there any challenges planned? I didn't see anything posted, but I certainly need all the help I can get, since I don't have the accountability of my coach anymore.

Thank you. Goes to show you have to do the research. I was thinking "vinegar is vinegar..." That makes total sense now.

That Rouladin sounds really good. What kind of steak did you use?
Carol

I'm sorry to hear about your health issues! I find the nice thing about IP is that..yeah I'm stressed...but I have to eat from this list. It's easier to make myself stick to this strict of a regime. It's odd but I find it almost comforting, and it's definately less stress to figure out what I'm going to eat for dinner. I do have 4 children, but I have been cooking seperately for myself for over a year now, and for the past month and a half now..it's been easier to decide now that I have a list...don't know if that makes sense or not.

You may be a slow loser on IP, but you WERE losing!! Your health is important! You are important! You can do this!

Thanks for the encouragement. I do know that following the strict guidelines is helpful when under stress -- the problem is, I was somewhat off plan before I got the bad news, so I did a slow spiral out of control. I feel better able to cope now.

After all the birthday hoopla today, it's 9:55 PM in Berlin and I'm remembering what I was doing this day last year -- researching the IP program that I'd just stumbled on. Sheer, unadulterated, blind good luck. And it's the only program that made sense to me. I never reached my initial goal because, finally, I was told flat out it wasn't going to happen given hypothyroidism, a variety of pain medicines, and yada yada. Moreover, this past month has been really rough. My 100-year old father died and I'm just coming off of a nasty experience with the e. coli virus that's hit Germany. Day and a half in the hospital; huge gain from intravenous fluids and hospital "food".

I don't know whether I'll be successful reaching the goal below, but I'll never know unless I give it one last try. Seems like this anniversary is as good a time as any to see what can be done. My one addition to the program is place specific. I haven't driven a car since I left Hawai'i mid-January (thank heaven for great public transportation, feet, and lovely places to walk.) So the puppy-for-life and I are committed to 10,000 steps per day (or who drops first). And it's kind of fun starting over especially because I've finally found a really good European substitute for IP, which I can't get here.

The determined little chick is a tribute to PetiteandCute, and her success. The the added determination is because Aunt Sheshie is beating me to the draw.