Not looking for anyone's POV on whether it is good for me or not, just wondering if I need to count it towards my 3 packet daily allowance. The can says 0 carbs. I tolerate all of the artificial sweeteners very well--no headaches or cravings for sweets.

I've read in other threads that a can of diet soda has .9 carbs. Other people say it's half a carb. I don't really know for certain. I figure if you have two of them, you should count that as 1 carb anyhow.

I try to only have 1 can a day or one giant cup of tea and then water the rest of the day. That way I won't go over my allowances. But now I am worried I am getting too many carbs from vegables of all things. I like to have a meal salad at lunch and then a side salad and another vegable at dinner. Three cups adds up fast. I think I am going to switch to tuna with boiled egg and a pickle for lunch. Maybe 2 cans of tuna.

I drink diet cokes...a couple a day and then the rest of the day I drink water. I dont count it as carbs when I drink it. I'm sure someone will say I'm doing wrong by this but I lost 40 pounds back in 2003 and drank diet sodas every day and rarely even drank water then...so THERE! LOL!

I think it all depends on how it effects YOU not anyone else!

Thanks! I feel that I am really lucky in that I can tolerate artificial sweeteners with no side effects. I can't even imagine how it kicks off sugar cravings for some people when, for me, it satisfies my desire for a regular soda. Especially the Diet Coke with Splenda. Woo doggie it is good.

Oh JG! That makes me feel so much better since I greatly value your input. Honestly I have been thinking since last night where i can cut more carbs and vegables are my only significant source of carbs.

So you guys dont limit the amount of veggies in your salad? geez...I probably could have been having more salad that I have been what type of lettuce...does it really matter? I like romaine the best. Do you guys eat tomatoes? I will have like one tommy toe tomato in mine....hmmmm...maybe I need to bump up my salad volume some.

Honey....I'm the same way about my diet coke...it really satisfies a sweet craving and doesnt induce one. I really love my water these days the best though. Water just seems to make you feel better...if that makes sense?

Not measuring my salad has not really been a conscious decision. I just felt like non-starchy ones were good so I could eat them without worry. I like butter lettuce best, followed by red and green leaf and then romaine. I am such a lettuce snob and I despise iceberg. For my dinner side salad, I use about 1/4 cup tomato and a bit of feta cheese with 2 carb/serving dressing. i can't believe I am living without croutons!

I also don't even worry about portions or carb counts of the non-starchy green-type veggies...lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts, etc....and just eat until I'm satisfied. I doubt I ever seriously go over the allotted amount anyway, but I don't get hung-up on specific amounts or measurements....as the carbs from those veggies never seem to cause me a problem.

The carbs that really seem to be the most problematic for me, aside from cheese, are those in the form of hidden sugars in anything. For instance, I try to stay away from any sort of cold cuts or processed meats for that reason...anything that's not the original food in its purest form. I even avoid salad dressings for that reason.

One thing I love but am afraid to try until I hit goal is veggie burgers. I love the Boca grilled vegetable veggie burgers but worry that there might be something hidden in them since they're processed. Has anyone tried them and run into any problems?

deena

Ooh speaking of burgies, we have a place in town that serves organic grass fed beef in a little lettuce diaper. Ohmygoodness it is so good even though they use iceberg lettuce.

Honeyb, I forgot to mention this regarding the issue of diet soda. Technically speaking, what creates the actual carbs in the packets of artificial sweeteners is the maltodextrin they have to add in order to change the liquid sucralose (or aspartame or saccharine) into the form of a powder. So technically, the liquid form does not have carbs.....and theoretically, therefore, things like diet soda and diet jello should not contain carbs since they probably use the liquid form of the artificial sweetener, not the powdered form.

And because the regulations are such that they are only compelled to document anything that contains 1 carb or more, they round the 0.5 mg. carb in a pack of sweetener off to zero.
Also....one cannot just buy liquid sucralose (Splenda) in a store and this has to be purchased off the internet.

This is why many do not experience problems with the diet soda and jello. But then there are those like me who end up with a sensitivity to the sweetener itself.....and of course, the issue of using chemicals at all....or anything sweet at all.

But technically, the carbs (or most of the carbs) comes from the maltodextrin added to make it into the form of a powder.

deena

Thank you for that post, Deena! I'm really glad to learn more about that! I've been reading this and that on the internet, and people are kind of arguing about how many carbs a diet soda really has, and I couldn't figure out who was right so I just thought, to play it safe, I'll count it as half a carb. It must seem silly to most people who aren't low-carbing, to worry about fractions of a carb but goshdarn it, sometimes I really really want that carb for something else, LOL!