Question: For long term success in maintaining a low-carb forever lifestyle, is it better to avoid dabbling in low(er)-carb treats that mimic the sweets I once craved, or is it better to expand my low-carb horizons to include more variety and keep things a little more interesting?

I know there is a lot of personal preference in the answer to this question, but I'd be interested to know your thoughts, especially from those of you who have lost a lot of weight and have kept it off. Since I was recently diagnosed as a diabetic, I'd be interested to hear a diabetics perspective on this issue.

For the first 100 days of my low-carb lifestyle conversion, I've pretty much stuck to the basics: Meats, cheese, eggs, LC veggies, some dairy and some nuts. I've avoided most things that would be considered sweets or treats and I have not tried making anything that would try to imitate the versatility of bread or a wrap. I have been able to stay on track 100% but admit that the diet is on the boring side.

The exception: Diet soda. I can't seem to do just water & coffee. We have a Sodastream machine and like some of their LC flavors (diet pink grapefruit, LC strawberry energy drink, diet lemonade, etc.). I even enjoy the bite of cold soda water with a few drops of lemon or lime juice. This treat has proved to be a help and not a hindrance as plain H2O just was not cutting it in the first few weeks.

Recently, my daughter has joined me in a low carb diet. She, however, dove into the recipe pages of this site and is wanting us to include some of these 'LC treats' that I had been avoiding. So far, we've done sugar free Jello with sugar free whipping cream -- and last night, we made a LC cheesecake. I had a 4 carb serving for breakfast this morning and it was really good. Perhaps too good. While it did not set off a sugar craving and I seem to remain in full control of my appetite today, I do see the potential pitfall of having more of it than I should for continued weight loss.

So I ask for your wisdom and experience... Am I creeping into an area that I should not go -- or -- is my daughter right in thinking that we need to make this diet a little more interesting?