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I'm starting Week #2 of cutting sugar and wheat flour out of my diet. It is pretty significant the changes I notice in myself when I do. Specifically:
> I sleep better
> I have more energy
> I'm not so hungry all the time
> I don't get low-blood sugar jitters if I go without food
> I'm mentally sharper
> It's easier to not eat when I'm not hungry
It's not easy getting off the sugar and simple-carb crazy train. I'm still battling cravings, though after my first week, I'm finding it easier to talk myself out of them. When I was eating a lot of snack foods, I'd try asking myself why I'm feeling the need to eat something sweet. My answer was usually, "Who the hell cares, just give me the Oreos." Now when a craving hits, I ask myself the same question, and though I don't really have an answer, just asking makes the craving disappear.
Years ago, I read a book by David Kessler titled, "The End Of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite". Much of the book is about how the snack food industry engineers their products so people crave and eat more (Lays Potato Chips - You Can't Have Just One). They literally R&D their food so that people will eat the whole bag, then come back tomorrow for another bag. I really believe this is true. No, not all people are simple-carb sensitive. Plenty of people can eat it in moderation without problems. Just like plenty of people out there drink without becoming alcoholics. For most of my life, I was one of those people. But somewhere along the line, I think I fed my body enough of it that chemical changes started happening, maybe it's insulin resistance, I don't know. All I know is I used to be able to eat one or two Oreos. Now, give me the opportunity, and I'll eat the whole box.
Three years of trying to eat sugar and bread only in moderation has been a colossal failure. Thus, I'm doing with sugar and wheat flour what I did with cigarettes, and trying to give them up completely. Quitting was easy. Sticking with it only time will tell.
I'm curious to know if anyone has kept up a sugar-free/flour-free diet for any length of time. Have any of you tried and failed? Thoughts? Comments?
I'm starting Week #2 of cutting sugar and wheat flour out of my diet. It is pretty significant the changes I notice in myself when I do. Specifically:
> I sleep better
> I have more energy
> I'm not so hungry all the time
> I don't get low-blood sugar jitters if I go without food
> I'm mentally sharper
> It's easier to not eat when I'm not hungry
It's not easy getting off the sugar and simple-carb crazy train. I'm still battling cravings, though after my first week, I'm finding it easier to talk myself out of them. When I was eating a lot of snack foods, I'd try asking myself why I'm feeling the need to eat something sweet. My answer was usually, "Who the hell cares, just give me the Oreos." Now when a craving hits, I ask myself the same question, and though I don't really have an answer, just asking makes the craving disappear.
Years ago, I read a book by David Kessler titled, "The End Of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite". Much of the book is about how the snack food industry engineers their products so people crave and eat more (Lays Potato Chips - You Can't Have Just One). They literally R&D their food so that people will eat the whole bag, then come back tomorrow for another bag. I really believe this is true. No, not all people are simple-carb sensitive. Plenty of people can eat it in moderation without problems. Just like plenty of people out there drink without becoming alcoholics. For most of my life, I was one of those people. But somewhere along the line, I think I fed my body enough of it that chemical changes started happening, maybe it's insulin resistance, I don't know. All I know is I used to be able to eat one or two Oreos. Now, give me the opportunity, and I'll eat the whole box.
Three years of trying to eat sugar and bread only in moderation has been a colossal failure. Thus, I'm doing with sugar and wheat flour what I did with cigarettes, and trying to give them up completely. Quitting was easy. Sticking with it only time will tell.
I'm curious to know if anyone has kept up a sugar-free/flour-free diet for any length of time. Have any of you tried and failed? Thoughts? Comments?
I go in phases with sugar and bread. I diet a bit harder (little to no flour or sugar) for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the year and try and get leaner.
My core meals year round stay the same, each meal is about 50g protein and about 30-60 grams of complex carbs (I eat 6x per day) and then when I am dieting harder, that is all I eat. The rest of the time I won't pass up some ice cream occasionally, a PBJ when I'm hungry, etc. I notice little to no difference how I feel either way (though aesthetically I look a bit better when I eat cleaner) I think because I have all my normal meals healthy, and then when I do eat "extra" I do it in moderation, and it's at most maybe one meal a day...
The biggest difference I think is for people that eat most all their meals of simple carbs, minimal protein, etc. I think that given I eat 42 times/wk, if maybe 2 or 3 of those meals (when I'm not strict) are more simple carbs and such, it's no big deal..
Thanks for the reply. I know I used to be able to eat sugar and simple-carbs in moderation. Then I quit smoking and started eating a lot of candy in order to kick the habit. I think the over-indulgence over a long period of time (more than a year) has really screwed my system up. I've been reading about insulin resistance. My mother being a Type 2 diabetic, it's not a far reach to think I'm in a high risk group for that.
I think the moral of the story is if you can keep your sugar intake in moderation, keep it that way. Make the effort to not indulge too often while that's still an easy thing to do. Boy, if I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't have been so flippant about what I ate. Reversing it all now is an absolute battle.
You're only on week 2, give it time It will certainly get easier and the results will show even more.
My dad actually told me recently he went to the doctor and he was labeled "at risk" for type 2 diabetes based on his blood work. Kind of surprising beings he eats very very healthy. He's like me, where he may indulge in some sweets on occasion, but as a whole eats very healthy and he stays very thin, exercises, etc.
I was trying very hard to gain weight a while back and eating TONS of candy to do such. It started messing with my blood sugar terribly. What I thought were anxiety attacks were actually low blood sugar. Having low blood sugar to the point of mild dizziness and a light cold sweat is a very alarming feeling. I cut back on the junk in the effort to gain weight and it got better.
You're only on week 2, give it time It will certainly get easier and the results will show even more.
Thanks! I hope you're right!
Quote:
Originally Posted by houstan-dan
My dad actually told me recently he went to the doctor and he was labeled "at risk" for type 2 diabetes based on his blood work. Kind of surprising beings he eats very very healthy. He's like me, where he may indulge in some sweets on occasion, but as a whole eats very healthy and he stays very thin, exercises, etc.
Yikes, that is scary, especially since it doesn't sound like he can point to his weight or diet as the culprit. I hope he finds a way to stay on the right side of that diagnosis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by houstan-dan
I was trying very hard to gain weight a while back and eating TONS of candy to do such. It started messing with my blood sugar terribly. What I thought were anxiety attacks were actually low blood sugar. Having low blood sugar to the point of mild dizziness and a light cold sweat is a very alarming feeling. I cut back on the junk in the effort to gain weight and it got better.
It is. It's very distressing, and I've gotten a little disoriented during them which is scary as heck. It's one of my motivators to keep eating healthy as, like you, I don't have those spells at all if I eat right.
> I sleep better
> I have more energy
> I'm not so hungry all the time
> I don't get low-blood sugar jitters if I go without food
> I'm mentally sharper
> It's easier to not eat when I'm not hungry
I'm not surprised.
I cut out the majority of sugar and refined flour while in my teens. I recently cut out all sugar (never having anything with sugar in it) and I found my energy increased. I have always eaten whole grains. I recently started eating a lot of cashews (raw), followed by more eggs and avocado. Not only do I feel better physically but mentally too and I've been battling depression (and grief). I should add that there is pro-biotics involved too. I have always taken care of my health and now that is paying off.
I'm curious to know if anyone has kept up a sugar-free/flour-free diet for any length of time. Have any of you tried and failed? Thoughts? Comments?
I dont really have a "sugar free" diet, but I DEFINITELY have a "very low sugar" diet. Been this way really for more than 10 years. If I were to make a Top Ten list of my favorite foods, Birthday/Wedding Cake and Oreo Double Stuf would be in the top 5. I LOVE them. But I dont eat them, or shall I say I rarely eat them.
It really is just a mindset thing. I'll go to the market and see the cake section or pass the aisle that has the Oreo double stuf and everytime I say to myself "Ooooooooh.." or "Mmmmmmmmm" but I keep walking. I do this because I place a higher value on my health and well being than just a few moments of "Mmmm, this tastes good". Flour (aka Breads) I rarely eat as well. Sure I'll have a almond butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat every now and then as a "treat/snack" but thats it on the breads.
Once a person can switch their mental mindset to "I eat to live" instead of "I live to eat" great changes occur. Its been 2.5 years at least since last time I had soda of any kind. I had a slice of birthday cake last week at my daughter's friend's 7 year birthday party, but that is probably the only time I had cake this year. I dont need to eat food to feel good since I have hobbies, friends and a wonderful wife to do that for me. Food, it pretty much 100% fuel to me. Well, except for dark and/or craft beer.
Good luck with keeping up the sugar free, no bread lifestyle, its quite admirable and you will absolutely feel great doing it. Just keep up the exercise.
I think giving up anything ultimately starts as a mindset thing. Alcoholics can't quit drinking until they've made up their minds they really need to. Same with drugs and smoking. But deciding to and actually doing it range in difficulty that is as unique as the person making the decision. It would be nice if everyone could just say, "I'm not going to eat that." If it were that simple for everyone, there wouldn't be an obesity problem in the US, as I don't know a solitary person who chooses to be fat and unhealthy. But boiling it down to laziness dismisses a situation that for most is actually a complex web of long-buried emotional issues, haywire body chemistry, culture, family pressures, and a food industry dead set on keeping people fat.
I spent three years having Weight Watchers try to convince me that I can eat sugar and snacks in moderation. Any time I suggested cutting it out they all but told me that's a recipe for disaster. And what I got from all their advice was an extra 30 lbs. I finally realized that for me (not everyone, but me) that's the equivalent of trying to convince an alcoholic they can have an occasional beer. It's taken me a long time to realize that practicing abstinence when it comes to sugar and bread is actually easier than trying to work it into my diet in reasonable quantities. When you make the rule black-and-white, there's no internal debate anymore. But so many things work against that. For one thing, the food industry is spending millions making sure we DON'T eat reasonable quantities of their products. Then we have a food pyramid telling us that bread and cereal are not only necessary, but should be the foundation of our diet. And heaven forbid you tell friends and family that you've cut out sugar and flour. They react like you're committing slow suicide, then tell you you can't possibly maintain that "crazy eating" for any length of time.
I really believe this country needs a culture shake-up when it comes to sugar and processed foods. But until (if) that happens, people with a weakness for it will continue to be swimming upstream. Think about it. No one tells a smoker they NEED to keep smoking. But a person cutting out cake is a freak. People shove it in your face and insist you can have "just a little". Like you're ruining their party by not having any. How successful would a smoker be trying to quit in that environment? The culture makes it extremely hard, and dismissing it as a simple thing doesn't help anyone. Acknowledging the difficulty and offering encouragement that it can be done is significantly more helpful.
It would be nice if everyone could just say, "I'm not going to eat that." If it were that simple for everyone, there wouldn't be an obesity problem in the US, as I don't know a solitary person who chooses to be fat and unhealthy. But boiling it down to laziness dismisses a situation that for most is actually a complex web of long-buried emotional issues, haywire body chemistry, culture, family pressures, and a food industry dead set on keeping people fat.
That is the thing, it REALLY SHOULD BE THAT EASY FOR EVERYONE!!! If it isnt, then the second part of your post that I bolded comes into play which speaks of mental instability and mental illness. Its also why I hear a lot of people saying "Oh, my medication/prescription for my depression.....". Stop looking at food as managed mental health modifiers. Get a hobby, find some passion in life and do that, then you would stop looking to sugar as something that "just makes me feel better when I give in to my craving for it". I say this because as a coach/trainer, I have gotten people to fix their lives by doing this. Just friggin' STOP buying it, and stop eating it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoriBee62
I spent three years having Weight Watchers try to convince me that I can eat sugar and snacks in moderation.
Moderation is a very very bad word. People say "All things in moderation. LOL" and I say "b.s." NEVER use the word "moderation" when speaking of diet, health, fitness. The bad things just need to stop right away. Cold turkey. You dont say to a teen who cuts themselves everyday "well, if you cut back to every other day you'll be doing, you know, all things in moderation". You dont tell an alcoholic who drinks whiskey at breakfast, lunch and dinner to "Just do it at breakfast, you know, all things in moderation". Same goes for the other super harmful thing that kills us slowly - sugar. Just STOP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoriBee62
I really believe this country needs a culture shake-up when it comes to sugar and processed foods.
Totally agree with you on this. But people need and must start with themselves first. They need to stop with the excuses of blaming things on the media, advertisers, too many fast food places close to them, convenience, or "I cant afford to eat healthy" etc. because those are all just b.s. excuses.
That is the thing, it REALLY SHOULD BE THAT EASY FOR EVERYONE!!! If it isnt, then the second part of your post that I bolded comes into play which speaks of mental instability and mental illness.
OMG, thank you KG! That explains it! 2/3 of the American public is insane. I knew it all along. Thanks for the boost to my confidence.
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It will certainly get easier and the results will show even more. 
I knew it all along. Thanks for the boost to my confidence. 
