Are diet soft drinks aloud, I can't find anything in any of the books about them, I have been on the zone for one month and am happy. I like the almonds a little too much and am going to snack on blueberries instead.

Water should be your mainstay beverage. I would stay away from anything but water for at least a few weeks and then try adding back in a little bit at a time to see how it goes, but never exceeding water intake. Your post made it sound like your snacks was only almonds or blueberries. Your snack should be in the 40 30 30 ratio. ie 1 block blueberries, 1 block almonds and 1 block of protein together.

Hot rod, click here to read my answer to diet pop in an earlier thread. (I did real research and everything! :o ) [url]http://forum.drsears.com/viewtopic....;/url] I live on almonds, friend. If you feel you're eating too many, simply count out a portion, eat them, and give yourself three minutes to feel full.

Thanks for the input, I have not had the diet stuff yet, but with summer coming I was just wondering. As for the blueberries and almonds I have yogart with them for my snacks. Yes, the almonds do make you full. I was used to snacking before I went on the diet so will have to control my snacking now, it is a bad habit, hey!!

I'm crazy for nuts too. I east the rest of the snack just to get at the nuts.

I drink a glass of fat free milk (skim milk) and eat 1 block of nuts.

When I have diet sodas I only have them with food. The Insulin Resistance Diet (sorry, I know it's not a Zone book, but it's close...), recommends you drink any artificially sweetened drinks with a meal to blunt any insulin surge. This works for me. The protein/carbs I eat with the soda don't cause any cravings, but when I drink a can of diet pop by itself, I get hungry a very short time later.

Soda can depend on the kind. Sears says that nutrasweet can raise blood sugar (I've noticed it when I am not eating at the same time--blood sugar skyrockets.) Splenda brand is not supposed to raise blood sugar. Diet Rite brand uses Splenda. There may be others. I drink it for variety (not a lot, though, acid is very bad for toothe enamel) , and it works for me. Ronica

Try "waist-watchers" soda, it too uses Splenda as a sweetener.

I partake in a PEPSI occassionally so I'm no angel but the below links have some interesting reading pertaining soda beverages http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html http://www.unhinderedliving.com/soda.html http://www.nycclash.com/Cabinet/Pop...Belly.html I don't mean to sound like the bearer of bad news, and I don't feel I've presented all the information available or both sides of the story. I'm not here to banish pop - I just thought you might find some information in the material provided. I can definitely say, however, I have never, nor will ever drink diet sodas.

Zone4me, I couldn't believe what I saw at the dorway.com site. Aspartame is basically a deadly poison!! I will certainly be avoiding it like the plague from now on. Fortunately I didn't use it much anyway. BUT it is in 9000 different foods, so kinda hard to avoid!! But now I'll save some money on pop! I think you did a lot of people a big favor when you posted that site!! You sure did me! Thanks a whole lot!! Bob

You're welcome Bob. I was suprised to be introduced to this information as well. My high school biology teacher opened my eyes to alot of bad foods but sometimes habits are hard to break. Here are more links from more informed sources if you would like to read more information. I tried to balance both pro and con (however it is much easier to find con than pro) Con - http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/ Con - http://www.nexusmagazine.com/Aspartame.html Con - http://www.sweetpoison.com/ Pro - http://www.aspartame.org/