So in order to stuff myself with all these fruits and veggies, I've taken to replacing chocolate or other candy with a slice of angel food cake topped with fruit and whipped cream for dessert at night. Just curious, are you ladies trying to cut sugar out altogether, or are you trying to practice moderation/healthier choices? What about other things like carbs? Moderation or elimination? And is your choice a long-term one, or a short-term one you will evaluate once you reach your weight goals?
The movie Fed Up was a real eye opener. Studies show that sugar is more addictive than cocaine! And it's everywhere - pretty much all processed foods have it. Of course we know candy. cakes and cookies do, and kids cereals, but look at your greek yogurt, salad dressing, spaghetti sauce, whole wheat crackers, bread, just about everything. Low fat products tend to have more sugar added than regular fat products, to make up for the missing flavor. Things like corn flakes, white bread and pasta, even orange juice, are processed just like plain sugar by your liver. At the end of the movie they recommend a 10-day sugar detox. They claim this is the key to end the obesity epidemic in America.
ReplyDeletehttp://katiecouric.com/features/take-the-fed-up-challenge/
http://katiecouric.com/features/what-you-need-to-know-before-starting-the-fed-up-challenge/
Now, what am I doing? I'm trying to significantly reduce my intake of processed foods and added sugar. I'm not ready to give up my one cup of morning coffee with milk and sugar. And as I have mentioned before, I did eliminate certain things from my diet entirely for the competition before, and it always backfired by making me binge on them later. So now I'm trying a more gradual approach for the long term.
personally, I am aiming for a life free from all added sugar, processed foods, and basically any calories that do not pack a nutritional punch. I lived this way for almost two years...stayed at a really healthy weight, felt energetic, did not get sick, etc...then, for my 50th birthday, I stepped back onto that slippery slope. For the last year, I have gradually added crap back into my diet...and gained 10 pounds. Big bummer.
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to stay off the bad stuff forever. It is a lofty goal but I am going for it!!
I'm trying the moderation approach. I know that if I tell myself I can't have something, I'll want it more, and then completely go off the rails. So paying better attention in general, and moderation in all things, is my goal.
ReplyDeletemmmm, angel food cake...cake...cupcake...wait, I think I just drifted off. Sorry. I'm also about moderation, although I'm a carb-for-life kind of girl. I keep my carb intake reasonable on a daily basis (for me that's about 130 net carbs daily) which automatically reduces my sugar intake. I'm with Maria though: leave my coffee alone. It's my only consistent source of caffeine in the day. My weight loss and body transformation has gone well so far with this approach!
ReplyDeleteI'm aiming to cut out desserts on most days. Aside from those, I don't eat much sugar anyway. I also don't eat that many carbs except when I slip up and eat chips. It's hard at first to cut out the desserts and sugars, but then it gets easier. I think I feel better without them. Also trying to cut out alcohol most days due to the sugars and negative effect on weight loss. That is the hardest for me. I like my glass of wine or my beer...
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to cut out pasta/bread/rice and processed sugars. I do tend to get a lot of 'sugar' in my fruits and vegetables. I'm not willing to limit that because it becomes too restrictive. I also am trying to keep white and sweet potatoes and corn in the diet as I want lots of variety just less processed carbs. I've also heard from others that they benefit from less gluten.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part for me is certain sweets. I do believe that sugar is addictive. I've managed to cut way back but keeping good chocolate out of my diet is really hard. I have a harder time giving it up than giving up booze. Oddly I have also found that I really miss having a grilled cheese sandwich-so occasionaly I let myself have the bread and do that, but I'm not sure that is working for me.
I think the biggest bummer is hearing everyone else say how much better they feel but I'm not noticing that-even when I really stayed away from the processed carbs for 2 weeks.