I nearly forgot to take a picture of my yummy Chai Latte tonight… I’m afraid it was nearly finished by the time I remembered.

Don’t be looking for a recipe on this one. I discovered this at the store just today:

Of course I’ve had the almond milk before, it was the Sugar Free Chai Tea Latte that I’d never heard of.

Here’s a close up of the label:

I’ve mixed a 1/2 cup serving of the Chai Latte with a 1/2 of the almond milk and heated it up in the microwave. It would be just as good over ice I think.

My sweet cup of tea is just 1.5 carbs.

I checked and sure enough, you can find this brand on Amazon: Sugar Free Oregon Chai

See this awesome looking sandwich? It’s made with Julian Bakery’s Carb Zero Bread.

When I saw this bread advertised on Facebook back in early Spring I could not wait to give it a try. I wrote the company and begged for a sample as soon as it was ready for sale and they graciously agreed. They sent me a loaf of both the regular and cinnamon bread.

This bread has ZERO net carbs.

Each slice has 9 grams of carbohydrates - all fiber - it’s totally legal for the low carb lifestyle. There is also 9 grams of protein in there.

I ate a sandwich made with this bread three days straight (and had some of their cinnamon bread toasted for breakfast) and didn’t stall or fall out of ketosis.

When you first try it you will notice a different texture - but it’s not a bad thing. It is not dry and grainy. The bread is soft, moist and makes a great sandwich.

The cinnamon bread is not sweet though it has some stevia in it - I added my own sweetener on top for my morning toast. While I’m not as wild about it as the regular bread - it’s a nice change in the morning.

Thanks to Julian Bakery for the chance to review!

AnuMed-Intl reached out to us via Twitter and offered an opportunity to review their Stevia products. This couldn’t have come at a better time as I had just made a pointed decision to reduce my artificial sweetener intake.

They sent us a 100 pack of assorted flavor packets and the three liquid bottles you see in the picture. So generous! I couldn’t wait to give it a try in my morning coffee.

I gave the Caramel Delicioso the first taste and liked the rich caramel flavor. The package warns that one packet is equal to two teaspoons of sugar and it was indeed very sweet. I think my tastebuds have adjusted to less sweetness over the last couple of months so it was especially striking. My next cup I used less than a full packet and enjoyed it more.

Next I tried the Creamy Vanilla drops. I liked how easy it was to choose my sweetness level by counting out fewer drops. Today I used the Stevia Natural drops (no flavor) to see if the flavorings were covering up any unusual tastes. My coffee tastes just great.

When I think just two months ago I was grieving over the loss of real sugar in my coffee - I wonder if I had moved directly from sugar to stevia how I would have felt about it. Impossible to say. Moving from Splenda to stevia is definitely not going to be difficult.

I haven’t tried the fruity flavors they sent me yet, when I get a chance to I’ll come update you on my opinions about them.

P.S. Other than receiving the free product, we did not receive payment for this post.

Water, water, water! Are you so tired of people gabbing at you about the important of water to your weight loss?

It’s just so darned important it doesn’t hurt for it to be mentioned now and then. I’ve found if I don’t monitor my water intake I’ll easily fall away from getting what I should so being reminded is a good thing.

I just bought a Brita Water Pitcher, it’s my first ever. I used to be a bottled water buyer and I dropped the habit over this past winter. I live in an area that has good water so there’s no real reason to worry about the water - yet I have a ‘thing’ about plain drinking tap water. I’ll drink it when it’s been made into coffee and I’ll drink it mixed with Crystal Light or something like that - but if its plain jane water, I just can’t drink it down.

The Brita pitcher is my solution. I’m happier knowing my good city water has been filtered right before it hits my lips.

How Much Water Do We Need?

Eight 8oz glasses of water, right?

Oh the opinions I’ve heard and read about this!

I read somewhere that I should drink an ounce of water for every two pounds of my weight. So 300 pounds = 150 ounces? Yikes!

I’ve heard that you shouldn’t count caffeinated beverages in your total ounces because it acts as a diuretic. It makes sense doesn’t it?

Whatever is true, most of us aren’t getting enough. When I spent an evening in the ER recently the nurse told me that most people who come in are dehydrated - whether there’s an obvious reason or not. (They expect someone with severe flu to be dehydrated, but not someone with a broken arm.)

The best measure I’ve heard so far is this: If your pee is dark, you’re not drinking enough. A well hydrated body expels pale yellow or nearly clear urine.

From a hydration point of view, almost all non-caffeinated fluid is good - but from a low carb perspective, I understand that Pure Water is King.

I’ve decided to drop Crystal Light for a few weeks to see if giving it up helps me with my weight loss while low carbing. I was drinking a lot of it every day so I know all of those one carb servings were stacking up.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

I bought the Brita 42556 Grand 80-Ounce Water Filtration Pitcher from Amazon.

Wow, did you know that you get a little package of free goodies when you register on the Atkins website?

I wanted access to some of their online tools so I clicked on the register link and voila: Three Free Atkins bars and a handy little Carb Counter booklet.

The package came fast, just seven days after I registered.

I have already tried their Chocolate Peanut butter bar, which I’ll admit I don’t love. It’s not bad, it’s just not great.

Today I tried the Caramel Chocolate Peanut Nougat Bar. Takes a bit like a Snickers - not bad at all! In a couple days I’ll give the Caramel Nut Chewy Bar a try.