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Mutlu
by Gary E. Andrews - 04/15/24 07:08 PM
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Leafs
by Gary E. Andrews - 04/05/24 01:49 PM
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Okay--this is off-topic, but, I finally came up with an issue that bugged me so much I set up a blog page about it. I always said I wouldn't blog. But here I go. I think I'm addicted to sugar. I've gone without any for four days, and the cravings are awful! So as I've tried to come down from this sugar high--I've tried to find sugar-free foods safe for a recovering addict like me to eat. :-) There's sugar in all sorts of weird places I didn't expect to find it... which I wrote about in my new blog today. If you could read and leave me a comment or two, if it's interesting enough to you, that would be so nice! You can also (please) add this link to wherever you might keep blog links: http://livesugar-free.blogspot.com/Thank you!! Any support you can offer me as I go through this (twitters and giggles are acceptable, I expect a few), I appreciate it! I wouldn't laugh at *you* if you were trying to quit smoking or coming down off of heroin, so keep that in mind, K? Linda
Last edited by Linda P. Adams; 04/19/07 05:01 AM.
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Have you tried more fruit in your diet? All of thems got natural sugars, so it's still sweet... Don't think I could live without fruit.
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I read somewhere that there are certain chemicals in sugar and salt that sends the brain a message craving for more making them quite addictive. Chocolate is particularly bad for this. The body needs salts and sugars etc to work properly. A healthy balanced diet is essential to a healthy lifestyle and sugar and salt are a necessary part of that diet. However just about anything in excess is bad for you. If you eat sensibly and only have very sugary or salty things occasionaly these cravings will soon go away. It is better to ween yourself of bad things gradually rather than going cold turkey and relapsing. Too much sugar causes obesity and possible diabetes. Too much salt causes liver and kidney problems. A point of warning though to little salt and sugar can be just about as bad.
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Every year around the holidays, I get addicted to sugar and I totally get what you mean.
This year, to counteract the usual problem, I really concentrated on reducing my refined sugar intake. I'm glad I did. I kept it going all winter too and ended up dropping a size as a bonus benefit.
Refined sugar is as strong a drug in my opininon as some restricted substances.
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I love sweets too,I'm trying to cut back but it's not easy.Some people love salt,not me,sugar is my thing.I don't go overboard with it,but I feel I need something sweet after each meal.I'm trying some of those artificial sweetners but some of them are really bad for you,worst than sugar.
Anything that taste good,don't eat it,it may be bad for you.LOL
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Hello,
I'm Mike and I'm a sugarholic.
My cholesterol is 110. My blood pressure is 113 over 67. My blood sugar runs 80 to 100. My heartbeat at rest is under 60.
But my triglycerides? 1,648. I'm hypotriglyceremic. My liver doesn't throw off triglycerides. Add to that, I just love sugar.
So I asked my doctor, how bad is that triglyceride level? He said it could kill me. So, no alcohol, no processed sugar. I eat like a rabbit. Also, I've got to burn those trikes out of my system, so I exercise like a hamster. Both are not enough yet, I need medicine, so I take pills like Jerry Garcia.
I got the results from my current blood test Tuesday. 364. Over a year and It's down from 1,648. When I get it under 200, I go off the medicine and try to manage it with diet and exercise.
I believe that the media's obsession with fat over the past few decades will soon become an obsession with processed sugar.
All the Best, Mike
P.S., I'm not looking for ideas or strategies. Yes, I have a healthy cynicism, but that includes a distrust of internet advice as well as a rejection of blindly following medical advice.
You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash It's only music. -niteshift Mike Dunbar Music
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I have a Laotian friend who is a sushi chef. He once told me that his secret to moist chicken breast is to marinate it in sugar and water. That could be where the sugar in the chicken comes from. Just a guess. Also I like sugar in desserts but I can't have it in a drink. Too syrupy. I drink diet cola and black coffee. Ben
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Hi Mike You take it easy, dont joke about with your health. The media are a pain in the proverbial about healthy issues. First they say it is bad for you then they encourage you to eat more. My grandfather had it sussed. The only fast food he liked was what he could catch. "If I catch it, kill it and cook and eat it then I know it is all right." was his motto. He liked a drink in moderation, a smoke in moderation and a liking for spicy foods in moderation. He was experimenting with international cuisine in the 1950s when I was just a boy. Nobody had heard of garlic never mind used it, and pasta, pizzas, curries and chinese food were from another planet. He liked them all and could make a meal from just about anything. He said eat little and often and never the same meal twice in a row. Lots of fruit and veg and plenty exercise. He lived well into his eighties. That is the kind of advice I like.
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Have you tried more fruit in your diet? All of thems got natural sugars, so it's still sweet... Don't think I could live without fruit. Thanks, Tom! Yep, I keep plenty of fruit in my diet (fresh or natural). I'd have a terrible time going "fruit free" --which would be silly. But I'm not "craving" them the way I want the junky stuff, so it can't be the same substance. I've heard the saying "fruit is nature's candy." Cool. Linda
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Hi Christine! Thank you! It's nice to know I'm not alone. (That's a thanks to everyone responding, BTW!) Glad to know avoiding the refined ones works out for you. That gives me hope. Once I've kicked the addiction factor, I hope I can still have cheesecake (with honey, or agave, or something) once in a while! Yay! Linda Every year around the holidays, I get addicted to sugar and I totally get what you mean.
This year, to counteract the usual problem, I really concentrated on reducing my refined sugar intake. I'm glad I did. I kept it going all winter too and ended up dropping a size as a bonus benefit.
Refined sugar is as strong a drug in my opininon as some restricted substances.
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Hi Everett! I get that "now I need something sweet" urge after a meal too. I heard somewhere that a SMALL (REALLY SMALL, as in an after dinner mint) amount of sugar aids the digestion. I haven't read a scientific study on that, though. LOL, thanks for the joke, too. Linda I love sweets too,I'm trying to cut back but it's not easy.Some people love salt,not me,sugar is my thing.I don't go overboard with it,but I feel I need something sweet after each meal.I'm trying some of those artificial sweetners but some of them are really bad for you,worst than sugar.
Anything that taste good,don't eat it,it may be bad for you.LOL
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I read somewhere that there are certain chemicals in sugar and salt that sends the brain a message craving for more making them quite addictive. Chocolate is particularly bad for this. That is probably true. Sounds like it! Feels like it! The body needs salts and sugars etc to work properly. A healthy balanced diet is essential to a healthy lifestyle and sugar and salt are a necessary part of that diet. Exactly--which is where we run into trouble. Just like someone with an overeating disorder (not a problem for me, thank goodness), you can't just go cold turkey and never touch it again. There are still sugars (in good forms) in milk and fruits, which I'm eating enough of to get the "good" parts I physically need out of them. But it's doubtful anyone's body requires it in the form of corn syrup. LOL Salt, too. Exactly. Back in ancient times, Roman soldiers were paid in salt, because it was that important. Good points all around. (That's where the phrase "worth his salt" came from.) My grandfather had it sussed. The only fast food he liked was what he could catch. "If I catch it, kill it and cook and eat it then I know it is all right."
....He liked them all and could make a meal from just about anything. He said eat little and often and never the same meal twice in a row. Lots of fruit and veg and plenty exercise. He lived well into his eighties. That is the kind of advice I like. Your grandfather sounds like a wise man. Good counsel. Thanks for posting in, I appreciate your thoughts, Jim! Linda
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I have a Laotian friend who is a sushi chef. He once told me that his secret to moist chicken breast is to marinate it in sugar and water. That could be where the sugar in the chicken comes from. Just a guess. Also I like sugar in desserts but I can't have it in a drink. Too syrupy. I drink diet cola and black coffee. Ben Ben, that's really interesting. I can't do syrupy either -- don't like Kool-Aid or pop much because they're much too sweet. Which is partly why I'm surprised by my body's reaction to some voluntary "time off" from sugar! Wow. Today the desperate craving feeling has tapered off a bit, thank goodness. Thanks for posting! Linda
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And Mike, thanks for writing in, and joining me in standing up in this quest. I feel like I'm eating like a rabbit. What are your favorite sugar-free rabbity foods? My numbers sound A LOT like yours, except I don't have the triglyceride issue (yet--I'm sure it would develop in time). Congratulations on getting the numbers down so far!! That's wonderful. Glad to know it's working out! Any recipes you've figured out, going through this, please do share. And thank you for being there with me. It will be interesting to see what dietary frenzy the media picks up next. You got that right. Thanks for listening! Linda Hello,
I'm Mike and I'm a sugarholic.
....
I believe that the media's obsession with fat over the past few decades will soon become an obsession with processed sugar.
All the Best, Mike
P.S., I'm not looking for ideas or strategies. Yes, I have a healthy cynicism, but that includes a distrust of internet advice as well as a rejection of blindly following medical advice.
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Linda, You might want to try to get some recipe books by Nathan Pritikin. There are several websites devoted to Pritikins diet and exercise program. I have three books. The desert recipies use mostly concentrated frozen apple juice as a sweetener. They have a good cheesecake recipe using cottage cheese (blended or put in a food processer to smoothen) and apple juice. I tried it once. Tasted like cheescake to me. I also made their sweet potato based salad dressing, really good and no processed sugar. Ben
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Thanks Ben ..I am going to look into this Pritikins diet .I don't know about the exercise part (lol) But the recipes sound interesting.
RIKY
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Mike:I don't eat like a rabbit but I loved eating rabbits,the chocolate kind that you get at Easter.LOL
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Sugar!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Honey Honey! You are my Candy, Girl, and you've got me wanting,,,,,,MORE SUGAR!
I always have dark chocolate with me at all times. And, one square doesn't cut it. That's a tease.
Coffee is bitter without it. Tea is fine somehow by itself, (me being half English maybe why?).
Like my mother with her salt addiction, a doctor told her because her blood pressure has always been perfect, (89 now too!), that her body must need that mineral. So it is so that I must need chocolate! BUT, I get the kind with lower sugar, (various brands of dark only). One was 99% pure. Too low of sugar though.
Honey Honey Honey I've got sugar in my tummy And I feel like,,,,,,,,,,OH! Never mind.
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Hello I am Larry,
I don't drink ( never have ) I don't smoke ( never have ) I don't take drugs ( again never have ) but I am totally addicted to sugar.
Like Mike above ( we are almost identical ) My cholesterol is also 110. My blood pressure is 113 over 67. My blood sugar runs 80 to 100. My heartbeat at rest is under 60.
But my triglycerides? 1,050. I'm hypotriglyceremic. My liver doesn't throw off triglycerides either.
So I asked my doctor, how bad is that triglyceride level? He said it could kill me. I need medicine, I have been told it's a genetic trait of my family, So I also take pills like Jerry Garcia.
I got the results from my last blood test 214. Over a year and It's down from 1,050. I may never get it under 200, and I was told I will never be able to go off the medicine.
I ALSO believe that the media's obsession with fat over the past few decades will soon become an obsession with processed sugar.
WOW, I thought I was alone in this battle. It's wierd to find I am not alone either....
All the Best, Larry
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Hi Larry, Thanks for speaking up. It's good not to be alone, isn't it? Hey, new picture! Cool. Wasn't your hair long in your last one? I don't know what my triglycerides are, but my doctor hasn't mentioned it. I've had lots of blood work done recently due to my thyroid and some temporary anemia. So I expect if it was high, she would have told me. Hmmm... I'll check on that. My cravings are down today a good deal. My daughter walked around with an old-fashioned donut though, and I took a TINY nibble from it. :-) (fingernail-size, if that?) Couldn't help but taste it. But the aftertaste was gross. Bleh! And if it was anything BUT my favorite type of donut, I could have passed. hehe. Hey, we're all in this together--look at that! Who knew? Linda
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Hey Linda a good doughnut once in a while never hurt anyone. Just remember the once in a while part. Try not to think about and analyse what you eat. My wife DOES THAT. She examines the tins and packets to see what they contain and usually it puts her off buying or eating it. If she carries on like that she may get a real problem. She prefers making things from scratch "Because you know what is in it" which is fine but a bit of junk food every now and then will not affect a good normal diet. As I said before a good balanced diet and plenty of fruit and veg plus regular excersise is "what the doctor ordered" LOL JIM
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White sugar is a "refined" carbohydrate. That means the sugar has been refined away from the fiber Ma Nature bound it to, in her infinite wisdom. When you eat natural sources, fruits and vegetables, you have to digest the carbs away from the fiber. You get little drips of it into your blood. The fiber carries some of it through you without ever entering your blood. Your pancreas responds to sugar with little drips of insulin. Nature planned it that way, little drips of sugar, little drips of insulin. Man, a dumb--- who proves it every day, can I get an Amen, decided he had a better idea and refined it, pre-digested it for you. ("You," not him; he knows what it does and he doesn't use it, and warns his family and friends.) Refined white sugar and refined white flour, a starch that turns to sugar, flood into your bloodstream. Your pancreas tries to keep up with a flood of insulin. That ain't natural. Insulin causes the cells in artery walls to swell up. That closes the opening your heart has to pump blood through; smaller opening, higher blood pressure. The tightly packed walls are hard for nutrients to penetrate. Cholesterol and nutrients build up on the walls, plaque. They get inflamed when white blood cells come to help and end up trapped in the artery wall, until the infection erupts and sends a clot to slam shut circulation somewhere. Atherosclerosis, heart disease, number one killer of you. (Not him, remember.) Insulin, a powerful hormone, commands your liver to produce cholesterol for energy uptake in the cells of your body, but, if there's no demand in those cells, because all you're doing is sitting there, cholesterol stores energy as fat. Some 90% of the cholesterol in your blood test is from your liver, not from your food, animal cholesterol, but produced on command by insulin, which was produced in response to sugar. After a while, the tissues outside swollen arteries die of malnutrition, seen in diabetics, amputating toes, feet, legs, and dying. Your pancreas is ineffective in delivering sugar to cells, resistant to it since there's no demand in your cells. Your immune system, unable to enact laws to make food companies stop poisoning you, unable to stop your hand from putting these foods in your mouth, recognizes the pancreas as the enemy and destroys it. Your own immune system. See what insanity that is? Yet, that's nature's answer to man's stupidity. Hydrates are volatile substances. High fructose (frook-tose) didn't exist a few decades ago. In the 1980's sugar prices went up. Everyone started using high-fructose corn syrup. Soda pop consumption increased 300%. Does that tell you anything? Did they find 300% more customers? Or did their customers suddenly find they wanted, needed, had to have 300% more than before? From 1990 to year 2000 diabetes increased 60%. Does that tell you anything? Heart disease, hardened arteries, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a host of other diseases, 82% of all diseases according to the American Medical Association, are caused by food. Microwaves destroy 80% of the nutrients in your food. Maybe that's why you're still hungry after eating. Foods are mineral deficient, since the dirt they're grown in has been used over and over for the last century, depleting 60 minerals, putting back 3,nitrogren, phosphorus,and potassium (NPK, I think). Over 147 diseases are from calcium deficiency alone, cancer among them. Dr. Paul Warburg got a Nobel Prize for proving cancer grows in the absence of oxygen. A Dr. Reese (I think) reversed terminal cancer with increased calcium, which neutralized the acidic conditions caused by modern "foods," the poisonous substances killing millions in the early 21st century. When healthy primitive tribes start eating like Americans eat, they get the same diseases we get. Getting free is hard. It's everywhere. Tomato ketchup? Nope. Corn ketchup. Read the label. Nice healthy salad? Not with the corn syrup dressing. Dipping sauces, processed salads, beans, breads, crackers, yogurt, it's everywhere! Read the labels. Keep working on it. The cravings cease, and then you start to find the natural foods and that's what you crave. The other stuff will always be there. They want your money and are willing to kill you to get it. And you'll backslide. Just get back on the wagon and start again on the road to better health. Oh, and if you doubt there's something wrong with your food supply, guess what the two best-selling over-the-counter products are? Antacids and (ahem) things for the other end. Why can't you "digest" your food? Did you body forget? Is it "indigestion" or that the pressure is so great at the bottom of your stomach the valve at the top can't hold it closed? It learned to do that a kazillion years ago. What's changed that it can't do it now? Salt, by the way, is what forms gastric acid, triggering that valve to stay closed. There is no scientific study cited anywhere that says salt is bad for you. Your doctor only knows how to put you on the pills the pharmaceutical companies that "own" the medical schools taught him to put you on. They don't cure; only "treat," and keep you $$$ coming back, until you die.
There will always be another song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com
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Big Jim,
Your wife seems fine to me and shouldn't develop a problem. I think it's responsible to know the ingredients of the fuel you're putting into your body. It's amazing where you find funky ingredients.... like sugar as an ingredient in a fast food salad....lol.. or beef fat as a basic ingredient in a McDonald's french fry.
When you can choose a more natural option when comparing products side by side, why not? Like her, I cook extensively from scratch. Tastes better, better for you, easy portion control, good for the budget and a fun creative outlet besides.
Our bodies have evolved to process the certain foods our ancestors have consumed for thousands of years. Our bodies don't really know what to do with some of the new chemical constructions that pass for real food.
Although I am totally with you in thinking that everything should be balanced. It's no big deal to treat the sensual aspect of the taste experience with a dish of ice cream or a treat of some kind. As a matter of fact, I think it's spiritually necessary. It's the daily consumption of too many 'good things' that usually leads to problems.
A personal theory I have is that some obese people today are actually eating themselves hungry. I used to be over 210lbs, so I feel like I have some personal insight. I'm about 65 pounds lighter now.... go vegetarians! (only major lifestyle change to make the difference).
One of the things I noticed after I started being more aware of the fuel I was using, is that before I made more nutritional choices, I never seemed to feel satiated. After I lost some weight, I began to be aware of my body specifically asking for certain foods. My theory is that until the body's nutritional needs are met, it continues to trigger food cravings, trying to induce the consumption of a necessary component.
Consuming nutritionally vacant foods, the cravings are never satisfied, so the body triggers the desire to eat again. After I went veggie, I feel more satisfied with much less. Quality, not quantity, I guess.
I'm not a doctor, nor do I have any scientific back up for this.... I just know what I feel like my body went through.
Peace, Christine
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Hey Linda, I don't really care for sugar free candy. I don't even like sugar substitute in coffee or tea, though I do drink diet soda. It's a numbers game. If I have one sweetroll, then it's like walking backwards in a cross country race with my opponent, Mr. Death, laughing at my heels (maybe a little dramatic, but it helps keep me focused ). Also, I've found that I don't do anything in moderation. I'm an orbs to the wall, dyed in the wool sugarholic. I won't eat one mint after dinner, I'll eat the whole bowl. So I try to set some "real world" rules. For starters, I don't add sugar, honey, or sweetener to anything. I won't drink anything with sugar in it. No sweet rolls, donuts, or even muffins. I eat store bread, whole grain, and I'm sure it has some sugar. I eat cereal, but I read the labels and try to keep it to minimum sugar. The sugars I get most of are from fresh fruits and vegetables, of which I eat a lot. I even use sugar free jam with my natural, no sugar added, peanut butter sandwiches. The condiments are like stealth weapons, as Gary outlines above. I stick with good old mustard and use vinegar and olive oil for my salads. Larry, We're not alone! Yep, same story as mine. It's a tough one, isn't it? Especially because all the other numbers are good. Hang in their bud. All the Best, Mike
You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash It's only music. -niteshift Mike Dunbar Music
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I wish Macdonalds and all the other manufacturers read the last couple or three posts. Unfortunately we the consumer are programmed to eat what they make. If it is cheaper to produce and it tastes better then you sell more and make more profits. That is all they are interested in and to hell with health. In the UK Macdonalds were asked to make their fast food more healthy following complaints from parents with obese and unhealthy kids addicted to Macdonalds. So they sold a few apples and oranges and added a few lettuce leaves to their burgers. BIG DEAL I watched an American program about seriously fat people who could barely walk. In a special clinic they were getting stomach staples and other cringy things done to them but still sneakily sending out for pizzas and macdonalds. One guy turned seriously ill and they called an ambulance. He was so heavy they could not get him out of bed and had to call for the Fire dept to help. A reinforced stretcher had to be sent for and the door removed to get him out. When he was released from hospital and returned he immediately got a fellow patient to get him fast food as he was unable to walk and had been stuck in bed for several years due to his obesity. However on the other side of the coin we have the likes of Karen Carpenter with serious eating disorders which are just as unhealthy through a compulsion not to eat. Yaaargh what is the world coming to.
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Good GRIEF!
I tell myself .... I can control it. ( yeah right ) I am sure Mikes probably done this too...
So I eat just one piece of candy. By the time I catch myself eating another piece I have already eatin several more.
Darn! It's an addiction and It's damn hard to control like Mike I can't do just one.
I have found thats it easier to keep myself occupied doing something else and stay away from source ( whatever it may be )
Sometimes I rationalize the problem, I don't drink, smoke or do drugs so I deserve a reward or treat right? Nope Darn!!
It really sucks when you really enjoy something that to most folks and for the most part is harmless... to most folks... except.. to folks like us it can be deadly....
And it's not like I am an un healthy person...
All the other numbers are excellent. I am not even over weight.. It just does not seem fair.. but who ever said life was fair
I just love sweet stuff so much...darn, darn, darn and like Mike I can tell if it's a fake or substitute and frankly I am more afraid of what long term effects fake stuff will do to my health then the sugar.. wierd huh?
Larry
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All right, Larry and everybody, Since I started this, let's see if we can break it down a bit. I had the flu over the weekend and didn't get to reply to everyone yet, but thank you each and all for your thoughtful and informative posts! Now that I feel like eating again... I just started reading a book today by Marla Cilley called "Body Clutter" (google on Amazon, if you're interested, it's there) which I can tell is going to pull me along on some difficult mental pathways. This one's not a diet book. It's a "why do we eat when we're not hungry" sort of book. About loving yourself enough to care for the only body you're going to get. Ahhh-ha! So she would ask us all why it is we eat when we're not hungry. If hunger isn't the problem--food isn't the solution. But yeah, I do it too. And when it's not hunger, I'm probably not headed for the green salad and carrot sticks either--I'm out for chocolate!! Watch out! Larry--she'd also say what you need are BABYSTEPS in the right direction. If you normally eat 5 desserts a day, try eating 4. If you normally don't count your portion sizes (don't know how much you ate, oops the whole pan of brownies is gone) then start measuring to figure out what you ARE eating. That sort of thing. Pick something that sounds reasonable AND doable... (not "kick sugar out of my life cold-turkey") ... and slowly slowly make it work for you. Sounds like you have--by avoiding and distraction, those are good techniques. She also goes by "FlyLady" --she's a remarkable Southern woman with a good chunk of horse sense. For me--I'm afraid I may have to treat it the same as a recovering alcoholic has to treat alcohol. Don't go to bars = Don't go to bakeries . Get a support system... all that good stuff. Just to update--yeah, I'm coming off the flu, but--my cravings are much easier today. All I kept down ON the flu was apple juice and white bread (and I'm sure the white bread had a bit of sugar), but that didn't trigger any massive cravings. (good) Another friend wrote me and said it takes 10 days to clear the sugar out of your system. After that, and esp. the longer you go eating healthy, whole foods, you'll REALLY notice feeling crummy when you eat the sugar. I noticed that already with high-fructose corn syrup, which I've avoided for a while. I hadn't had any in a month or more and I had to have a yummy-looking danish. It gave me a headache and I felt lethargic, "brain foggy" and sick the rest of the day. Bleh! Not worth it! So let me know how it goes, K? Linda
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If it is cheaper to produce and it tastes better then you sell more and make more profits. That is all they are interested in and to hell with health. In the UK Macdonalds were asked to make their fast food more healthy following complaints from parents with obese and unhealthy kids addicted to Macdonalds. So they sold a few apples and oranges and added a few lettuce leaves to their burgers. BIG DEAL
Amen to that, Jim! Hear, hear. Follow the money trails. Where do they lead? Obesity, weight loss, and health costs related to obesity total up at least $130 BILLION a year in America alone. OUCH! What motivation do any of them have to help us lose the weight (i.e. stop eating too much of their food) and keep it off, when they're raking in the dough? Yeah. Linda
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Hey Mike, Sounds like you have a great plan. Good work! I'm learning to eat salad plain. It's not bad. Just seems odd. I can do some things in moderation--but if I'm not careful, soon I'm back to the old patterns of dessert with (or for!) every meal. Eeek! So for now, I'm on the same program as you. Lots of fruits, veggies and nuts. I hope/figure the longer I go without it, the less tolerant my body will be of it once I try something sugary again. I've noticed that already, over the past couple of years. The more I put healthy things in, the less I'm able to enjoy the old stuff I used to. Even Oreos don't taste good anymore. They taste salty and weird and make me sick. I used to be able to eat a whole bag all by myself. I won't mention how fast. LOL Linda Hey Linda, I don't really care for sugar free candy. I don't even like sugar substitute in coffee or tea, though I do drink diet soda. It's a numbers game. If I have one sweetroll, then it's like walking backwards in a cross country race with my opponent, Mr. Death, laughing at my heels (maybe a little dramatic, but it helps keep me focused ). Also, I've found that I don't do anything in moderation. I'm an orbs to the wall, dyed in the wool sugarholic. I won't eat one mint after dinner, I'll eat the whole bowl. So I try to set some "real world" rules.
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Hi Christine, Thank you for sharing your experience! Very cool story, and I believe you're right on. The past 2-3 years or so, I've been slowly working to eat healthier and feed my family better. Going fully sugar-free is a new thing I'm trying (for myself, not asking any of my family to come with me!), but is another step in a long process. I've also noticed that as I'm more willing to put healthy fuel in, my body gets more vocal about what it DOES want for fuel. Right now, that's bananas. Not my favorite fruit, but they're ok. And sharp cheese (not mild or mozarrella). Whatever's in that, my body needs it. Go figure. But if it's a reasonably healthy food, I'll go ahead and feed it what it seems to want. Congratulations to you in slimming down 65 lbs! I also have lost about that much since my last child was born (5 yrs ago) but have hit a maintenance plateau, or whatever you call that spot from which one can't seem to budge any further. I've been this size for about 2 years. Which is OK with me, but I'd still like to be healthier, have more energy, and move around better. Linda A personal theory I have is that some obese people today are actually eating themselves hungry. I used to be over 210lbs, so I feel like I have some personal insight. I'm about 65 pounds lighter now.... go vegetarians! (only major lifestyle change to make the difference).
One of the things I noticed after I started being more aware of the fuel I was using, is that before I made more nutritional choices, I never seemed to feel satiated. After I lost some weight, I began to be aware of my body specifically asking for certain foods. My theory is that until the body's nutritional needs are met, it continues to trigger food cravings, trying to induce the consumption of a necessary component.
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Gary, thank you so much for posting your informative essay. Here's an AMEN from me! Makes loads of sense. I appreciate both the science and the statistics--eye-opening and scary. Linda White sugar is a "refined" carbohydrate. That means the sugar has been refined away from the fiber Ma Nature bound it to, in her infinite wisdom. When you eat natural sources, fruits and vegetables, you have to digest the carbs away from the fiber. You get little drips of it into your blood. The fiber carries some of it through you without ever entering your blood. Your pancreas responds to sugar with little drips of insulin. Nature planned it that way, little drips of sugar, little drips of insulin. Man, a dumb--- who proves it every day, can I get an Amen, decided he had a better idea and refined it
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Hi All, Like Mike I stay away from sugar as much as possible. I eat healthy foods and like Mike I find myself reading the labels on every product. It's hard to find something without sugar or some sort of sweetneer and salt as well.
For me substitutes have been fruit and veggies. I love fruit but I also have hard time staying away from any Bakery.. I have learned to avoid them. and like all of you ( should i fall off the wagon ] when I do eat pure sugar stuff ..Boy do I pay for it Later.
This battle will go on for life. But I feel like I am winning. Just wish the craving would go away... and like Linda...I LOVE CHOCOLATE.. I can smell it from a distance Oh my it's sad to enjoy something so much that can hurt you.
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Hi all, Bumping this one since we've had some new folks come in. Just wondering if anyone else shares this challenge?
I'm doing OK with it so far. I "fell off the wagon" a couple weeks ago, but realized what I was doing when I caught myself with a brownie in my mouth for breakfast! OOOPS! Since then I've hopped back on. I feel SO MUCH BETTER without eating the sugar, I can't even tell you. And yes, I *paid* for the brownie weekend, with sluggishness, fatigue, and brain fog. BLEH!
All right. Back to your regular programming!
Linda
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Hi Linda,
I'm continuing on my attempt to cut down on sugar as well.
I got a bit sabotaged when my father in law gave me a pound of candy shop fudge for my birthday...lol... I've been a little too fond of cookies ever since.
But, it's all about balance. You just do the best you can.
I realized last fall that every holiday season I get readdicted to sugar and I spend the whole month of January trying to kick it.
So, this year, I really limited my other sugar intake to compensate and I didn't have the same problem. I kept the low sugar going all winter and have dropped another 10 pounds.
Peace, Christine
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Hi Christine! Ohhhhhh yeah. A pound of fudge would totally sabotage me, too! That's pretty great on the ten pounds! Congratulations! If my scale's not teasing me this morning, I'm down 20 pounds since January! (15 since going off sugar) We have company for the next week or so, so I made cookies last night knowing they'd be gone soon. I used raw cane sugar and brown sugar, and a multigrain natural flour. Cookie dough is a real soft spot for me too--so I *DID* taste it! Probably had 1-2 cookie's worth. I wondered how that would hit me... but it was GOOOOOooooooood and worth it. LOL. Today I'm fine--not craving more sugar, and not feeling foggy or sluggish, so I'm glad to know I didn't overdo it. Now if I could get the REST of my family to hop on board...! Linda
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Another poison to avoid is mono-sodium glutamate (MSG). There are no naturally obese mice or rats. To make them obese so they can study obesity they inject them at birth with, you guessed it, MSG. It triples their insulin production, making them obese. Sounds like the end of the experiment, but they're not out to educate you. They want to sell you pills to pretend to treat all the problems you'll have if you're ignorant of the poisons in your food supply. Now, can you read the label and spot the MSG? Well, yeah, if it says 'MSG' or spells it out. But if it says 'hydrogenated' or 'citric acid' added, guess what is added or created in that process? You're getting good at this. MSG. Now, combine these unknown doses of MSG, corn syrup, fiberless sugar and starch, the starches of potatoes and other foods, and it's easy to get overdoses of these volatile substances that flip the switch to fat storage, instead of fat burning. The FDA and AMA admitted a few years back the Atkins diet that first made a splash in 1972 because it worked was accurate science. People proved it both ways, stopping the fiberless sugar intake, losing millions of pounds, then going back to consuming the poisons and regaining the excess weight and the diseases that go with it. Again, in the 1990's, people went on the Atkins diet, or what they thought it was, and lost the weight. They then went back on the crap and regained. So many people did it in 1970's and 1990's it was written off as a fad or craze, not as accurate science. People said, "That diet's dangerous." I ask, "How dangerous is the diet you're on?" The danger is in not knowing what the real diet regimen entails. It's not just beef, as one young lady thought and ended up with blocked bowels in the hospital. The Atkins regimen focuses on protein foods, meat, fish, fowl, a variety of nuts, plus cooked vegetables, salads (beware the corn syrup dressings), some hard cheeses, cottage cheese. There are other foods. I forget. And it's not an all you can eat diet. Rational portions, meat the size of a personal check, or as big as your hand is reasonable. Six of them is not. This carbohydrate omission diet flips the switch to fat-burning mode. You'll get bad breath from the ketones resulting from the burning of fat. This is a state of Ketosis, which, if it went on too long, could be harmful. But you're only going to do it until you reach a desired weight, near your final goal weight. Then you're going to add back some natural foods, slow-digesting carbohydrates like fruits. These will interrupt ketosis. You add back a little and see if you continue to lose weight. If you don't you can eliminate some of the carbs to restart the process. When you get to your goal weight, you add back some carbs, the natural ones, slow-carbs, to maintain the weight you want. You never, never go back to the volatile sugars, the man-made substances that your tongue loves and every other cell in your body hates. This is self-defense against an enemy that is killing you like... something that kills lots of something. Fight back. When the 1990's Atkins craze hit, sale of pasta (fiberless white flour) dropped 5%. They had a big meeting to try and get you back. Candy bars that were 89 cents or a dollar, suddenly were 4 for a dollar. Oreos dropped from $3.98 to $2.00. And they won. Tons of people went back, pun intended. Fight back. Educate your friends and loved ones. Nobody else will do it, not the AMA, the FDA, or the PTA. You are the answer.
There will always be another song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com
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