Sweetners and Water Consumption with Crystal Lite

[jcoombs]

I am 10 weeks out from my show in August. I'm 42, 6'1", 257 and around 11%bf. Two of my meals consist of oatmeal and cream of wheat right now. During those meals I add 3-4 packs of Equal (yellow packs) since I gotta have it sweet tasting. Also, I am drinking around 1.5 gallons of water a day mixed with crystal lite. I have researched this till I'm blue in the face and can't find much info on if using sweeteners and water flavorings are bad for you (well they are bad for you but I can't find any info on if it spikes insulin and possibly slows your fat burning process down). Many people have mixed reviews on the water flavoring subject. Some say your body takes in the water with flavoring differently than just pure water. But, when I piss, it's clear so I'm know I'm hydrated. So, if anyone has any knowledge on this or past trial and error experiences please let me know. I need to figure out if cutting it all out is the best solution even though that would suck. Thanks for you time and insight.

 

[veaderko]

What I do when I am getting in prep is use splenda, and will use flavored BCAA's throughout the day to keep me drinking water, or add a full lemon to water with splenda. That is just me. Everyone does things different.

The bigger thing is just make sure you are constantly improving week to week with progress photos.

 

[jcoombs]

I appreciate the response. Good luck with your training.

 

[EWolfe08]

I don't think there is anything wrong with sweeteners or crystal light, flavored bcaa, etc. I use them all the way throughout prep, most people I think do.

 

[hewhoisripped]

Nothing wrong with artificial sweeteners or water flavoring. I love CL, helps me drink more water. I also have an addiction to diet sodas, and drink 2-3 cans a day year round. Only thing I will say is look into switching to a liquid based sweetener, since the powdered versions still have a small amount of calories, at which point I'd rather be using the real stuff.

 

[PuZo]

Nothing wrong but it shouldn't be that hard to drink that much water. Guess you have to train yourself to drink only water.

 

[brad1224]

go ahead brotha, just have to make sure there are no carbs or cals. be sure to make sure the bcaas your drink are carb free/sugar free, some may have a few carbs/surgar in them. amino efp is carb/sugar free and has a refreshing taste brotha.