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Same here. I looooove sugar. Interestingly, I rarely drink it, like soda or even juice, but I just love candy, especially chocolate and hard candy. It makes me feel so happy, sick as that sounds!
Yep same here. I never drink soda and don't even sweeten my coffee. I have to eat my sugar and I think a big part of the pleasure is the mouth feel.
A "huge hit of calories" makes me feel stuffed and lethargic regardless of what I eat. Overeating calories is never a good idea and makes few of us feel good except perhaps while we are consuming them. This is the "sick" part of overeating...we know the unwelcomed consequences but do it anyway. I don't go in for any of that ridiculous caveman garbage. Our overweight population has more to do with advertising than ancestry.
That's what I mean--we feel good while we're eating them, even when we know we're going to feel stuffed and lethargic later. It's not "caveman garbage," although I like the phrase. It's evolution. And yes, advertising and the easy availability of food have contributed to the epidemic. But if our brains/bodies/hormones weren't sending us signals to consume calories, the advertising would not be as successful.
He calls it conditioned hypereating, and here's how he says it works. When someone consumes a sugary, fatty food they enjoy, it stimulates endorphins, chemicals in the brain that signal a pleasurable experience. Those chemicals stimulate us to eat more of that type of food -- and also calm us down and make us feel good.
The brain also releases dopamine, which motivates us to pursue more of that food. And cues steer us back to it, too: the sight of the food, a road lined with familiar restaurants, perhaps a vending machine that sells a favorite candy bar. The food becomes a habit. We don't realize why we're eating it and why we can't control our appetite for it.
That's what I mean--we feel good while we're eating them, even when we know we're going to feel stuffed and lethargic later. It's not "caveman garbage," although I like the phrase. It's evolution. And yes, advertising and the easy availability of food have contributed to the epidemic. But if our brains/bodies/hormones weren't sending us signals to consume calories, the advertising would not be as successful.
Well he had me until the part about not being able to control our craving for sugar (quote: "We don't realize why we're eating it and why we can't control our appetite for it"). ...I simply don't believe that for one minute. We can control it. Many of us do control it. That "victim" theory is ridiculous. Humans can do almost anything they want to...overcome anything just about....we all can control our compulsions whether they are physically or mentally based if we truly want to.
"I am not a victim and I can overcome my compulsions." Everyone say this 10 times and carry on.
Well he had me until the part about not being able to control our craving for sugar (quote: "We don't realize why we're eating it and why we can't control our appetite for it"). ...I simply don't believe that for one minute. We can control it. Many of us do control it. That "victim" theory is ridiculous. Humans can do almost anything they want to...overcome anything just about....we all can control our compulsions whether they are physically or mentally based if we truly want to.
"I am not a victim and I can overcome my compulsions." Everyone say this 10 times and carry on.
Sure, but the cravings don't come out of nowhere. It's not the devil on your shoulder telling you, "hey, it's okay, have another cookie." There are actual things going in your body that are making you crave sugar -- we can all agree on that, can't we? If there's a way to eliminate or at least minimize the cravings from even happening, then that's a worthy goal. What I see sometimes is the idea that overwhelming sugar cravings are part of life, you just have to tough it out. They're not normal, they're often indicative that something needs fixed.
Tribal - I did agree about why we crave sugar, etc. - read my post again - I said that the doctor's statement that was posted above mine "had me" (that means I agree with the statement) up to the point where he said that we can't control our sugar cravings.
We all have cravings and impulses that are not healthy - all kinds of cravings and impulses....I love shoes - I could buy 10 pair of shoes a week, new shoes make me feel great - they must trigger some chemical in my brain - but there would be negative consequences to our bank account and our closet space if I indulged my cravings for shoes every time I saw a cute pair of shoes so I average 2 new pair a month so I've learned to control my impulse as I have learned to control my sugar cravings.
Instead of so much explaining as to why many of us love and crave sugar, why not be more encouraging about self control, alternatives to eating sugar, less victim-mentality, etc.? That's all I'm saying.
Tribal - I did agree about why we crave sugar, etc. - read my post again - I said that the doctor's statement that was posted above mine "had me" (that means I agree with the statement) up to the point where he said that we can't control our sugar cravings.
We all have cravings and impulses that are not healthy - all kinds of cravings and impulses....I love shoes - I could buy 10 pair of shoes a week, new shoes make me feel great - they must trigger some chemical in my brain - but there would be negative consequences to our bank account and our closet space if I indulged my cravings for shoes every time I saw a cute pair of shoes so I average 2 new pair a month so I've learned to control my impulse as I have learned to control my sugar cravings.
Instead of so much explaining as to why many of us love and crave sugar, why not be more encouraging about self control, alternatives to eating sugar, less victim-mentality, etc.? That's all I'm saying.
I agree with you 100%. I spend most of my days wanting, but not eating sugar. I have long conversations with myself about why I shouldn't eat it and most of the time I don't.
However, if someone is truly craving sugar, the way a starving person craves food, or a thirsty person craves water, I'm not sure how far self-control and impulse control can get you. I don't know if scientists even completely understand how it is that we crave anything-- whether it's water, food, sex or chocolate. But the desires for food, water and sex ensure our survival as individuals and as a species and they are amazingly strong. If someone has been conditioned to crave sweet or fatty foods with the same intensity that people in adverse conditions crave food or water, self-control will not be any more useful than telling a starving person that they can't eat a banquet set out before them. With no threat of immediate punishment hanging over him or her, the starving person is going to eat.
Coming full circle on this thread--yes, it's a simple as "eat less and move more." But the "eat less" part can be tricky since the same brain that is telling you "Eat" is also telling you "Don't eat." And this is not to say that it's hopeless. People can and do retrain their brains over time to stop craving high-calorie foods. But, as other have said, just because it's simple doesn't make it easy.
What happens to the people like me who eat pretty healthy, hold back from sweets, lots of fruits and veggies, I even juice once or twice a day mixtures of fruits and vegetables.
I do have Starbucks in my life =/ but I have reduced the size and removed the whipped cream. Many times I get a tea instead. I mainly go for the human interaction.
I can't move more. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis along with a host of other things and for the last few years, it hurts pretty much to move more. I am on Humira times the last 4 months or so, so I am getting a little better, and I also take a chemotherapy Methotrexate once a week as well.
In all honesty, I am not quite sure I am eating enough. I forget to eat breakfast and sometimes even lunch and don't notice it til almost dinner time. There are 2 medicines that I take that are known to cause weight gain and I am going to try and get off of one of them as it does not seem to be working. The other one is staying right where it is as it is for my Epilepsy.
I lost quite a bit of weight one time doing the Atkins diet and a lot of walking. This was when my RA was not so bad. Most all exercise hurts my joints. I used to be pretty active but when it pains you to move, it is kind of hard.
Hun, the title of this thread was sort of tongue in cheek and in response to a common mantra that I read often on this forum. The truth is I believe that there's so much more to it and when women get to "a certain age," everything that used to work to lose weight no longer does. I'm not saying it's impossible but that we must experiment b/c things have changed. Often, people who've been thin most of their lives will start to gain a little weight and almost without thinking about it make little adjustments that get them back on track, but many of us have been fighting with more than 5 lbs for a long time and now we know that the health problems will kick us in the butt if we don't get it off, but it feels almost impossible, due to hormones or RA or joint problems, etc. And as stated above, many of us are fighting an incredible sugar addiction--I used to think I was the only one but now I realize that I have lots of company.
As for fighting that sugar addiction, only one thing works for me and that's total abstinence. I think I've said it before but it bears repeating. I have to be 100% determined to do this, treat it as alcoholism, and shut my eyes to it for quite awhile. It's building the determination though and then keeping it which is hard--harder than not eating it really. After a few weeks I can be quite blind to it so I know that it does get easier.
I will state too that I get a bit, mmm, disgruntled, when folks come on here and state that the way they lost weight is the only way to do it. There are too many variations on people for me to believe that and what works for one will not always work for another. I can't imagine myself counting cals the rest of my life or keeping a food diary for any consistent length of time though both are great ideas I'm sure. Also, I've found that keeping the carb count down is good for me but that I soon get bored with low carbing. It's best for me to stick with eating only when hungry and working with that but for another it will be a bust. Let's just accept that we're all partly right and we're all partly wrong and as Americans (if you are) we're all probably more wrong than right or we wouldn't even be here.
So, it's not as simple as eat less, move more, unless you're a healthy 20 yo and even then there are complicating factors, like the fact that you got overweight in the first place probably means you threw your metabolism off and your body now craves a certain amount of food.
when women get to "a certain age," everything that used to work to lose weight no longer does.
Categorically untrue. It still does work. It just works differently. In fact, when a child becomes a teenager, whatever worked for them as a child, won't work *the same way* during, or after adolescence. People go through phases in their lives, and this has nothing to do with medical problems. I mean just the normal process of aging.
When you experience the normal process of aging, your physiological requirements change. They do not go away. You still need to eat "a certain amount" and move "a certain amount" in order to maintain physical health and fitness. The exact amount will change as you age, but the fact of the matter will not.
You might need to exercise more now, or eat fewer of this, or do more cardio than before, or spend less time in front of the computer, or spend -more- time sleeping, or consume more vegetables...but the end result will still be the same: if your body burns off more than it takes in, after all is said and done, after all the variables are considered - you will lose weight. If your body burnoff and intake are the same, after all variables are considered, you will maintain. If your burnoff is more than your intake, after all the variables are considered, you will lose.
These facts of physiology will not change. Only the variables will change. But that's because they're varaiables.
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