OK are both these off limits? The sugar free soda is british but they have all sorts of flavors. It has no sugar but does have aspartame and another fake sweetner in it. I know it is not healthy at all but was just curious as if it was ok? It also has very little sodium in it and only 10 calories per serving. It seems to me close to fruit 2 o except maybe alot more artificial sweetner?

Then the Chai thing. Anyone else into this? Is there any acceptable instant brands out there. Right now I am finishing up a can of the home party Tastefully Simple brand which has way too much sugar in it.
If not no biggie as I love water and V8 juice and crystal light.
Thanks

How funny, I read the post and was thinking, "strange we can have diet soda, what's she talking about?" Depending on which region you are from in the US, all carbonated beverages like coke and pepsi are either soda or pop or soda pop. I think that's what we call flavored carbonated water or soda water. I don't think it's off limits. It might have a lot of sodium, which could cause you to retain water sometimes. Probably need to keep track of it as part of your 75 sweet treat calories a day.


Chai tea is ok also, as long as it's the sugar free/fat free kind. It's difficult here to find a good one that is both sf and ff. And I do mean one that tastes as good as the Starbucks full fat/full sugar chai tea lattes do. I think the concern with teas is that it contains caffeine. And I do believe we should be limiting our caffeine consumption. Even though I still have some occasionally. The ones that are just tea and spices should be ok.

Thanks and LOL as I am American I just live in the Uk and had found the section of the sugar free sodas so was curious. I love the fruit 2 o's and their sugar free soda here seem the same as those only carbonated. All it says on the label for sodium is "nil trace" LOL. Gotta love those kind of labels. I guess if I do have any it will be a small glass as a treat. Then I see we can have one diet coke for example a day so that is nice to know! Thanks again!

Pear Fairy, hi, I thought you might be in the UK from your post... Just wanted to add to what Sarayu said about the Chai Tea. If you can find Chai Tea tea bags (Good Earth is one brand here in US), these would be ok because they have no sugar or any sweetner in them. You can add Splenda if you like. I think the powdered ones have sugar in them but maybe you can find one that has a sugar substitute instead. I use the tea bags.

Pear Fairy, I found a SF/FF mix called Sweet Sippers for Chai, but haven't tried it yet as it has 60 cal, and I know I can't have my desserts for the day if I have that. You can use the tea bags and steep them in milk, then add Splenda for a good version.

You can have the diet soda too. The caffeine will slow your weight loss, so drink no more than two glasses (8 oz of soda for each glass) a day.

HTH!

I never thought about steeping the chai tea in milk instead of water! That's a great idea. I should try it. I'm just now getting used to the idea of milk in tea. It just seems so strange.

When I was a child growing up in the midwest the only way I ever had rice was with lots of butter and sugar as a dessert. When I hit college, they served it as a side dish, naked! What were they thinking? Rice isn't a starch, it's a dessert. My friends died laughing at me because I was so country.

Milk in tea is delicious, Sarah! I love it even in herbal tea, where it curdles, looks awful, tastes yummy!

Funny about the rice! Rice pudding is good, but I can't imagine putting sugar on regular rice! College is such a great place to learn about the way other people live. My friend Maari taught me to put soy sauce on my rice. My mom never served rice as a side dish unless we were having Chinese on top of it. Soy sauce on rice is really good.

LOL about the rice being a dessert we ate it the same way in MI. But of course I lived in Okinawa Japan for 6 years so I learned different there for sure! They even have it with green tea mixed in for breakfast like oatmeal! Thanks ladies for all the great ideas. Will keep my eyes out.

I believe, could be mistake as it has happened before, that Borders bookstores sell sugar free chai, etc. I make my own with skim milk and tea with spices.