I try to keep down the sugar, but it is very difficult.....................
There are so many sugar substitutes it should not be hard. There are questions about some of the more common ones like Aspartame, but now there are completely organic/herbal ones like Stevia and Monks Fruit. The first time I tried Atkins in 2006 after my husband died of Alzheimers I had gone up to 165 lbs because I would have to get this 200 lb man back into bed at 4 am when he wanted to go out and walk the city streets. I was a little under 5’5” and after a year of careful eating I was down to 155 lbs. Then I visited family and saw an Atkins diet book. The scientific rationale made sense, and there ws lots of good Atkins info on line. In 3 months I lost another 15 lbs to 140, and then more slowly to 130. Then life got complicated and more stressful again and I crept back to 150. Last January I got serious and started Atkins at 20 carbs a day. I got back to 135, but have really been moving very slowly to 128. My stable weight from late teens to childbearing at 31 had been 123 lbs. I don’t know if I will make to there, but am eating 30 to 50 grams of carbs a day now.
I have started eating Chia seed pudding. I put 2 tablespoons of seeds in a dish, add 1/4 cup of 1/2 and 1/2 milk/cream. Stir it every few minutes while the seeds absorb the liquid, add a little more liquid if needed. Add a packet of Monks Fruit sweetner, a few drops of Vanilla or a dash of Cinnamon, and sometimes a teaspoon of sugar free jam or jelly. Chew thoroughly to break up the tiny seeds to get the nourishment inside. Chia is very nutritious. The Indians used to carry a small bag of dry seeds to chew on during long trips.