Monday Check-in and Sugar Free Chocolate.

Mondays are my weigh-in day.  The other day I was at 49 lbs lost and so I thought that I would be able to be beyond the 50lb mark by today.  Unfortunately no, in fact I gained a pound and am currently at 48 lbs lost.  We all know weight fluctuates day by day so I am not upset by this.  But a little disappointed. I was hoping this would be a celebration blog.  50lbs being quite a milestone and all.



I am still very happy with this loss and know that it will turn around any day. 

I also know why I only lost 2 lbs this week.   Sugar free chocolate.  

Many companies now make sugar free chocolate.   I have seen or tried Reses Cups, York Peppermint Patties, Hershery bars and then Russell Stovers makes about 10 different types, everything from Carmel Pecan to Truffles.

These sweet treats are are made with sugar alcohols like Malitol or Soribitol or with Sucralose. 

Lets talk sugar alcohols for a minute.   Most of them are naturally occurring in fruits, vegetables or even in wood. 

They are carbohydrates but they are harder for the intestine to digest so they don't spike blood sugar levels.  This makes them ideal for diabetics and also can be useful for low carb diets.

Because of the way these are absorbed, many low carb resources say to deduct the content of sugar alcohol from the carb total. For example lets say the item says it has 22 grams of carbs and has 21 grams of sugar alcohol.  You can deduct the 21 from the 22 and treat it as1 net carb.

This works for some.   Apparently it doesn't work for me.  I had some sugar free chocolate for the past 2 days and today the scale is up.


I also find that when I allow myself these treats, I crave more treats. I have a hard time eating just one or two. I also seem to eat more of everything else.

I had suspected it was causing my prior plateaus so I had given them up a few weeks ago and that is when the scale started to move again in the right direction.  

So, as of today, no more of these treats for a while.  I am going to get back into a state where I am losing every day and then just to be scientific about it. I am going to eat some of these and see if again I go up or plateau then I will know for sure and give away the rest of the chocolates that I have to a diabetic friend.

Have a fantastic day!