I am doing the SS diet now .... got a little bored with Atkins after 8 weeks. But she is really emphatic about no caffeine - does it really interfere with the weight loss?

With Atkins, a couple cups of coffee didn't affect my weight loss at all, at least in the beginning. Same with wine. I thought they were forbidden mainly because of "good health" concerns. But I have run into a stall, and would like to get back on track.

Should I switch to (yawn) decaf?

I have been very successful SS and having no more than 2 cups of coffee a day. I believe it is important for your allover health to limit caffeine. Therefore if you could avoid it yes. But as I said for me, a cup or two hasn't affected my results.

Thanks for your reply, AHughes - glad to hear it hasn't bothered you, either! And it seems SS has really worked for you, which is very encouraging. Have you been on it long?

I think the main thing is to keep it interesting, and I like the SS recipes & variety. I'm not a big fan of home shopping tv, like QVC & HSN, but if I catch Suzanne on there, it does inspire me to keep it going.

Best wishes to you!

Hi, I have been doing it for about 3 months. I was on holiday therefore I was a bit off schedule. But I didn't gain any weight which was most important.
I live in Australia and do not have access to all of the US cable shows, but I can imagine they would be inspiring. I find it important to try and keep the menus varied and also not to get too bogged down with too many foods that are high in fat. The cheese/red meats should be limited.
It is good to keep everything in moderation.
Keep it up!

Now that you are not doing the carb/sugar highs and lows you might find that you don't NEED that caffeine to keep you awake anyway. My hubby swore he couldn't live without his tea and espresso to keep up his busy schedule, but after just two weeks of low carbing he isn't missing it at all. Just getting enough sleep at night and not having those blood sugar dives has done the trick for him. I'm SO pleased about this since his doctor told him he needed to cut the caffeine because of GI problems.

Not to lecture, but remember caffeine can be a physical addiction, so is it YOU who wants it or that monkey on your back?