[LilaH]

Hi
I am new here. I posted on the other bio thread. I started LAWL in September. I have been stuck for the last week or so. 188 on 10/25 then down to 186 on 10/31 then back up to 187 on 11/1. I will WI again today. I have been POP most of the time. I am using their vitamins,FB500, slimdown occasionally and the bars. I have done TO twice only lost a pound last time. The scale is moving back and forth not down. I have been concerned with the sugar in the bars. Any thoughts on sugar content of the bars. I am going to use another meal replacement drink instead of slimdown. But which one? I need some ideas. I did find the Knudsens juice drink. I will do it on Monday/Tues. Any thoughts are appreciated.

[bizlawchik]

Lila - Don't worry about being stuck for a week. It's frustrating, but it will happen. It just happened to me. I lost 3lb on TO, gained 1lb the next WI and then stayed the same for three more WI's. I was POP during this time. Next WI I was down 2.2. Be nice to your body (by staying OP, by not stressing, treat yourself to a good flavored tea in the evening) and the scale will move.

Also, I was very leery of the bars when I started since I had been eating all natural foods, no chemmicals, etc. But I decided when I signed up that since I was spending all this money, and making the commitment, I was going to buy into it it fully. I use their bars and supplements, with some of the substitutes on occasion. The program is proven to work in a healthy way. I can cut out the sugar/bars when I get to maintenance. You only have 36lb to lose. I had a lot more, and I figured that a year of eating "sugar bars" is still going to leave me healthier in the long run than a year of staying where I was, or yo-yo dieting.

[Mama Nicole]

Sugar gets a bad rep. Fruit is full of sugar. Much as we would like to think the sugar in fruit is somehow better, it is not. The benefit of fruit, is that is has other wonderful nutrients, like fiber and vitamins in their most natural state.......the state our bodies can most efficiently absorb them. Most products filled with sugar are lacking in nutrients. This is why they call them empty calories. They provide our bodies with a large amount of sugar, and no other useful nutrients. The LAWL bars have sugar, but they also have other vital nutrients. Do I think they are the best food choice......probably not. Do I use them.....why yes I do. I do because they are easy and yummy. I actually look forward to them everyday

I know how hard it is to wait, but the bottom line is, you have to wait to see real success. Cassi is so right.......if you can just work the program (and for me it works better with real food and w/o supplements), drink your water, and have confidence that this is going to work, and you will be ok. It is hard to appreciate small losses, but that is the goal of LAWL. I have said this before, but I will say it again. Go by how your favorite jeans fit you. Mine are already starting to fall down, and I have lost only 9 pounds To me, that is success. Now, can someone please remind me of what I just said when it is my turn to get stuck Have a POP day everyone!!!

[bizlawchik]

Nicole - Very good point about sugar, nutrients and the bars. And don't worry, we'll all be here to remind you when it's your turn to be stuck.

[Kimphin]

Lila - Slimfast Optima can replace a slimdown, I think (that's what I use).

Hang on there through this stall. All of us have, or will experience it, unfortunately. Some of us believe that our bodies 'remember' a weight we had stayed at for a while on the way up, and get hung up there on the way back down. It could be true, could be bunk, but that's our story and we're sticking to it!

In the meantime, you have all of us wishing you well!

[Boo'sMom]

I am not a nutritionist--but....I feel like the sugar in fruit (being natural) has to be better than processed sugar.

Anyone know more?? I am curious. APHIL--we need you!!!

[Mama Nicole]

There are many kinds of sugar....sucrose, lactose, fructose, and maltose. Sucrose is table sugar, lactose is the sugar found in milk, fructose is sugar from fruit, and maltose is super d duper sweet sugar. These are the ones I remember. My memory is not always so great. I took Nutrition, Bio-Chemistry, Microbiology, Physics, Anatomy and Physiology...all of those fun classes as part of my nursing degree. I am currently on break from school........and it has been a while since I have looked at these books (2 years). I will go see if I can find them

[Boo'sMom]

Dang Nicole--you are smart! Dr. Oz sure made some good points yesterday about the high-fructose corn syrup--yikes.

[Mama Nicole]

Lee Ann....here is a long technical expaination, but it is REALLY good information. You are right, fruit sugar is better for you in a way. I will paste the link at the bottom of this article.

"There are differences between the different sugars. When we eat
sucrose, our bodies quickly break it down into roughly equal parts of
glucose and fructose. Glucose is the sugar our bodies use for both
physical and mental energy. When our bodies sense an increase of
glucose in the blood, it immediately directs the pancreas to push
insulin into the blood stream. With the insulin, the body is able to
burn the glucose as energy. If there's too much glucose in the blood
stream to be used as energy, the glucose can be changed to glycogen,
the body's short-term storage energy supply. And if the glycogen pool
is already full, the body will turn it into long term storage in the
form of fat.
Different blood-sugar effects possible after
eating a high concentration of sucrose sugar.

Different blood-sugar effects possible after eating a high
concentration of sucrose sugar.
Depending on the condition of the pancreas, the above graph shows what
can happen when a person eats a lot of sucrose sweets at one time. In
each of the three cases, the large amount of sugar dramatically raises
the blood-sugar level but the results can be radically different if no
medication is given.
Eating a huge amount of sugar at once with it's resultant spike in the
blood-sugar level can cause stress to a weak pancreas as it struggles
to deliver enough insulin to bring down the blood-sugar to acceptable
levels.
This cycle is especially hard on people who have an abnormal
pancreas. If the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin that person
is considered diabetic. If it produces too much insulin they are
considered hypoglycemic. These people will generally suffer from an
abnormal glucose level depending on what their condition is. Checking
the graph to the right, when a person eats too much sugar (sucrose),
there is a resulting rapid increase in their blood sugar level. If
things are working normally, the pancreas produces just enough insulin
to bring the blood-sugar level back down to normal. If they are
diabetic and no medication is given, there isn't enough insulin
produced and the blood-sugar level remains elevated. In a hypoglycemic
person, as the blood-sugar level raises, their over-active pancreas
dumps too much insulin into the blood stream and they end up with low
blood sugar levels which creates it's own havoc.

Using fructose instead of sucrose puts a strong damper on many
of these problems. Your body can't use fructose without converting it
into glucose in the liver. Actually, most of the time, however, unless
your body needs to immediately increase it's blood-sugar level, the
liver changes fructose into glycogen first. We have already mentioned
glycogen which is the body's short term energy supply. A typical adult
will have as much as 3/4 pound of glycogen in their various tissues at
one time, mostly stored in the liver and muscles. As the glucose level
in the blood begins to drop, the liver can rapidly convert this stored
glycogen into glucose."

In short the reason why Fruit sugar is better for you than table sugar
is that by eating table sugar (Sucrose) our bodies go out of sync with
our sugar levels as the sugar is processed in the body extremely fast
and in doing this the body informs the pancreas to pump out insulin.
Someone with a weak pancreas will have a hard time doing this.

Fructose (Fruit sugar) is broken down more slowly which allows the
body more time to react to the sweetener that has been consumed. This
puts less stress on the body and also the pancreas which is good news
for diabetics as they too can have sweet tasting things but without
the worry of a sudden sugar spike.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=751591

Fruit is definitly a healthier choice for you than processed foods with sugars, but sugar, in whatever form, once it is broken down, is used by our bodies for energy.......whether it is used immediately, or stored (FAT) for later use.

And, I am by no means a nutritionist either.....but the science classes I have had really made an impact on me. It is really amazing how our bodies work. Again, I am no expert.......I just wanted to share the knowlege I do have

[Boo'sMom]

Thanks! I appreciate the information.

[LilaH]

Hey all thanks for the advice and encouragement. I had thought about the slimfast shakes vs slimdown because of the cost. Bought some today whenI left the COD. But I saw the Oprah/Dr. Oz show too. He was saying enriched flour and high fructose corn syrup were not good for you. And sugar from actual fruit was different. And that consuming too sugar just made you hungrier. So you see where I am going. If a bar has 22 grams of sugar like the honey nougat does it make me hungrier than a lower sugar one. And some of the snacks do have high fructose syrup like the cereal bars. So maybe I am learning to much and I need to focus on what I have lost already and just keep doing it.

[bizlawchik]

Lila - It looks like WI went well for you!

We all know where you're going with the sugar, and while I believe that the LA Slim Downs and Lites are higher in sugar and other junk that I don't want in my body, I know that the program is working for me and I am healthier than if I was still at my pre-LAWL weight. This is the program I chose, so I'm gonna stick wtih it. When maintenance is done, I will work on the sugar/chemical thing.

Just focus on the good you are doing, and know that this is the downfall of the program. If you name a plan, I can tell you the one thing that's not right. The sugar thing happens to be LAWL's.

Examples:
Weight Watchers - Counting Points allows you to have too many of one food and not enough of another (anyone ever use 10 points on beer and skip their fruits that day?)

Atkins - No carbs, not enough balanced food, hard to stick with for a lifetime.

Jenny Craig/Nutrisystem - Freeze dried and fake food don't allow you to learn to prepare meals on your own. Plus you still have to buy fruits and veggies.

Anyhoo... you get the picture.

You're doing great so far. Keep up the good work and focus on your accomplishments!

[Mama Nicole]

I don't think you can ever learn too much. Sometimes it is hard to sort through all of the information to get questions answered. I personally was very skeptical of the bars......and I think all food is definitley a healthier solution. But, I must admit, so far, I am going with the bars. I only bought 5 weeks total at my first sales pitch.......and I am trying to decide what I am going to do when I run out. I so want to have a healthy lifestyle, and just eat healthy foods out of habit. I don't want to use the bars as a crutch for life. You know, you can change your mind and ask for the all food plan if you would feel better about that. Cassi reminded me of the fact that you can change your mind. You can change it more than once too. I think you have made a great loss so far.........hang in there

[Mama Nicole]

Oh, and as far as the sugar......sometimes you need that little boost. Have you ever noticed that when you are on a super restrictive diet that you get really tired? You need to feel good to stick with the program. And, you want to get hungry and then eat the right foods. I don't know about you, but when my eating is out of control, I don't listen to the signals my body gives me on when to eat. On LAWL, when I first start to feel that hungry feeling......I eat. I just keep it within the exchanges allowed for the day, and I do not run out of food before the night is over. People that do not have a weight problem eat when they are hungry. I am so impressed with this program. Let's hope I still am after WI today..... I always try to remember......everything in moderation.

[LilaH]

Oh no I am not slamming the bars . I eat them everyday. They do taste good. I bought a bunch in bulk. I just mean SOME do have less sugar. So I have been trying to watch that too. The COD is helping with that. I asked which ones had less. I am trying to get over this slow slump you see. LAWL bars all have soy protein. That does help with the weight loss. I did lose at WI. I am averaging 2.4 pounds a week for 6 weeks. But each week the average is declining. I am impressed with almost everything about the program. The only down is the price. But I've sucked it up and paid it. So now they will just have to help me. Love this forum too.