BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb The Biggest Loser Challenge

Hi. I am a newbie to the forum and have joined the challenge. I am 5'4" and need to lose a minimum of 55 lbs. I currently weight 190. I need lots of encouragement as I have been successful in lots of weight loss programs, including an eight month medical fast, only to regain the weight plus add'l pounds. I just retired and am trying to focus on diet and exercise.

If anyone has low carb ideas for crunchy foods (other than celery), and sweets not containing malitol, I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks. Looking forward to working with all of you in the challenge. Betty

Betty - welcome to the forum!!

I find for crunchy foods that nuts are wonderful. Also, water chestnuts! There are also low carb chips out there that can be quite tasty with a good dip.

There are a TON of sweets out there that do not involve sugar alcohols. Splenda does an excellent job in many situations. I do want to suggest that you consider slowly weaning yourself off of sweets though. Your tongue really does change over time, so if you stop eating as many sweets, you will stop craving them as much.

The reason here is that if you are actively seeking sweets and you happen to be out at a friend's or for dinner, you will default to a high sugar alternative. On the other hand if you are happy with non-sweet things, it is far easier to get a substitute (like a cheese tray dessert) that is still good for you. It's a better long term solution.

Thanks Lisa. I really do want to wean off the sweets. They are my biggest downfall. I have been substituting splenda wherever I can.

I have been watching the biggest loser on TV during this week, coincidentally. It's so inspiring. I cry almost every time I watch this.

It really does work to eat fewer and fewer sweet things every week. It's like with salt - if you get used to a low salt diet, and then eat something with "normal" salt in it, it tastes too salty to you. You are now used to the low salt levels. So the same thing happens with sweets. If you get used to low sweet levels, you won't want "high sugar" sweets any more - they will literally taste too sugary to you.