A Question About Sugar

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Replies

  • Charlottesometimes23
    Options
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    Standard low carber response.

    No to pretty much all of it.

    Weight loss can occur without keeping carbs low, avoiding processed foods, and home cooking.

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    OP - it has probably already been said, but unless you have a medical condition that would make you sensitive to carbs or sugar then there is no need to limit, restrict them, etc.

    You can eat in a calorie deficit, eat sugar, and lose weight; consequently, you can eat in a calorie surplus, eliminate sugar, and gain weight...

    so just keep eating in a deficit.

    and in...for the sugar fear mongers...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    edited December 2014
    Options
    PRMinx wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    No. Just...no.


    and to the bolded part - overeating calories results in weight gain, "refined sugar" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with it...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    JoRocka wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    I seriously haven't had enough coffee to make it through all this drivel.

    BUT- I did catch that 1.) sugar doesn't matter.

    wait- back track

    processed sugar matters.

    did I get that right??

    yes...because natural is good and refined is evil ...
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    edited December 2014
    Options
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    No. Just...no.



    and to the bolded part - overeating calories results in weight gain, "refined sugar" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with it...

    That. And I'm pretty sure it's possible to enjoy intensely flavored food at home. Processed or not.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Options
    PRMinx wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    No. Just...no.

    this gets a hell no..

    and to the bolded part - overeating calories results in weight gain, "refined sugar" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with it...

    That. And I'm pretty sure it's possible to enjoy intensely flavored food at home. Processed or not.

    Might be a follower of Reverand Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker, who believed bland food was the way to health and salvation.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    Options
    tigersword wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    No. Just...no.

    this gets a hell no..

    and to the bolded part - overeating calories results in weight gain, "refined sugar" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with it...

    That. And I'm pretty sure it's possible to enjoy intensely flavored food at home. Processed or not.

    Might be a follower of Reverand Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker, who believed bland food was the way to health and salvation.

    That sounds so horrible.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Options
    tigersword wrote: »

    Might be a follower of Reverand Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker, who believed bland food was the way to health and salvation.


    PRMinx wrote: »

    That sounds so horrible.

    At least some good things came out of it . . . graham cracker crust for pies and S'mores!

  • ukaryote
    ukaryote Posts: 874 Member
    Options
    I understand that a calorie deficit is what is behind losing the weight. But where does sugar fit in? I try to be mindful of my sugar count

    Sugar is a carbohydrate, that's all. Usually it refers to sucrose, table sugar. I dropped the sugar counter from my list of things to watch (you can customize the list of things you watch)

    Assuming you keep track of your food and chose to eat healthier ( whatever that means to you: paleo, clean, vegan or just less), you will probably consume less sucrose.

    Keep logging. Keep exercising. It will work.

  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    Options
    earlnabby wrote: »
    tigersword wrote: »

    Might be a follower of Reverand Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker, who believed bland food was the way to health and salvation.


    PRMinx wrote: »

    That sounds so horrible.

    At least some good things came out of it . . . graham cracker crust for pies and S'mores!

    Graham crackers are delicious, indeed.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Options
    tigersword wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    No. Just...no.

    this gets a hell no..

    and to the bolded part - overeating calories results in weight gain, "refined sugar" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with it...

    That. And I'm pretty sure it's possible to enjoy intensely flavored food at home. Processed or not.

    Might be a follower of Reverand Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker, who believed bland food was the way to health and salvation.

    I though grahm crackers were a way to prevent sex drives? they were part of the abstinence plan or something?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    A quick question to the folks who have to watch their sugar intake due to diabetes etc.
    Do you have to avoid high amounts of fruits too?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Options
    Christine, a diabetic's life is all about proportion. The carb in the fruit would be paired with a protein at least, like some peanut butter or cheese. The sugar in the fruit is absorbed a little slower because of the fiber content so it is better. But I would not eat too much of anything.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    Options
    JoRocka wrote: »
    tigersword wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    PRMinx wrote: »
    Patttience wrote: »
    this is a very good question. First off, my advice is don't bother using the sugar counter at all unless you are a diagnosed diabetic. Nobody else needs to know their sugar count.

    What we all need to do is know our carb count. You should aim to keep your carb count low.

    The reason why i say the sugar counter is a waste of your interest is a) because there are more important factors and b), unless diabetic the body manages blood sugar levels naturally. If you just eat with your macros in an appropriate balance, you do not need to be concered about the sugar counter.

    the sugar counter makes no distinction between refined sugars and natural sugars and it is hte refined sugars only that you need to reduce. You can do this without any sort of counter at all. You need to put significant effort into reducing processed foods because these are the foods that have high levels of added/refined sugar.

    Why is refined sugar a problem? Because it intensifies the flavours of foods so that you ar enot happy with normal healthy food and prefer processed foods. Because it causes some people to over eat. And when you over eat refined sugar, it start the ball rolling and keep it rolling endlessly towards weight gain and ill health. Overeating causes imbalances in the hormones signalling systems in teh body. For instance leptin. People who eat a lot tend to develop leptin resistance which means your body can't help you restrict your eating at all because you are always hungry.

    Just reducing yoru calories will result in correcting of this problem however, so long as you eat a lot of refined sugar, you will struggle to reduce your calorie intake and maitain it long enough to lose the weight and reprogram yourself into better eating habits.

    The other things that you need to be eating more and don't when you eat too much refined/added sguars are vegetables and fruit and high fibre foods. Because meat is a strong flavoured food, people tend not to have any difficult eating eating enough meat and protein when they are also eating a lot of very unhealthy foods but fruit and vegetables tend to be less exciting to the palate becuase they have plainer flavours. To enjoy them, they would need to be eaten with other highly flavoursome foods.

    So when you cut out all the procesed foods, you can start to enjoy less intensely flavoured foods, though they still do need ot be prepared in such a way as to be tasty. Hence to be honest, steamed vegies and skinless chicken breast was never going to satisfy anyone in the long term.

    There are ways you can cook vegetables and other foods that are tasty adn interesting. Its important the food you eat to replace all the processed foods you may have eaten in teh past is tasty. So that suggests that people need to apply themselves to their cooking. Thsi is probalby one of hte hardest things for most dieters to do in this day and age when a) many can't cook b) most people are very busy and too tired too cook.

    But i promise you if you make the effort to prepare your own meals, avoid processed fodos as much as possible and increase your vegetables and fruit you will find losing weight easier. You will also find keeping hte weigh off long term more sustainable.

    People need to make a life long commitment to eating better. Its not enough just to do it for long enough to get hte weight off. If you don't commit to ongoing change, you will get fat again.

    No. Just...no.

    this gets a hell no..

    and to the bolded part - overeating calories results in weight gain, "refined sugar" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with it...

    That. And I'm pretty sure it's possible to enjoy intensely flavored food at home. Processed or not.

    Might be a follower of Reverand Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham cracker, who believed bland food was the way to health and salvation.

    I though grahm crackers were a way to prevent sex drives? they were part of the abstinence plan or something?

    I think that was the Kellogg family, wasn't it? Corn flakes were developed and served to individuals in the sanitarium with high libidos in order to help reduce it? History is so effing fascinating...

    ETA: the Kelloggs were followers of the Graham philosophies. Ah.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    Options
    A quick question to the folks who have to watch their sugar intake due to diabetes etc.
    Do you have to avoid high amounts of fruits too?

    I personally try to limit myself to 1-2 servings of fruit. At least with type 1, I am "allowed" to consume as many carbs as I want (I have a ratio that approximates how much insulin I need to inject per gram of carb I consume), but I still can experience extreme blood sugar spikes with certain foods (oatmeal and bananas are the worst). For some foods, such as bananas and watermelon (very high-GI fruits), it is easier for me to avoid that food all together than to try to figure out how to adjust my insulin dosage or injection timing for it.

    Even when I track my sugar, I don't panic if I go over. Typically, the days I go over are days where I ate a serving or two of fruit or had a lot of hypoglycemic episodes (and need to eat sugar to bring it up).
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    A quick question to the folks who have to watch their sugar intake due to diabetes etc.
    Do you have to avoid high amounts of fruits too?

    As a Type 2, I don't have to watch my sugar intake, just total carbs. My doctor recommended a max of 180 g daily and I currently have a goal of 160 which is 35% of my calories. It is up to me to decide how I want to spend those carbs and I do a mixture of grains, fruit, veggies, and the occasional sweet or alcoholic drink. I tend to only have one serving of fruit a day but I have never been much of a fruit eater. I would rather have veggies.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Thanks guys. I'm a fruitaholic. Particularly bananas and berries.
  • Jesslan_Rose
    Jesslan_Rose Posts: 137 Member
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    Thank you so much for your responses! I really appreciate the information you shared and I understand it much better now. I especially appreciated the added info about diabetics. I don't have diabetes, but my Mom has type 2. So that info helped me understand her diet needs much better. Thank you again!!
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Thank you so much for your responses! I really appreciate the information you shared and I understand it much better now. I especially appreciated the added info about diabetics. I don't have diabetes, but my Mom has type 2. So that info helped me understand her diet needs much better. Thank you again!!

    You are welcome. Good for you for trying to understand your mother's needs too. many family members think "oh, Mom has diabetes so I shouldn't make a dessert" but load the meal up on pasta, bread, fruit, etc. when a meal of meat, veggies, and a smallish serving of rice or potatoes and a small, light dessert would be better.

    Congrats also on losing as much as you have so far! I am sure you already know that genetics is the biggest risk factor for T2D and that weight, age, and diet are contributors. There is nothing you can do about your family (and the whole getting older thing), but getting a handle on the risk factors you CAN control before crossing that line is really, really good. I applaud you. I waited too long and was diagnosed a year ago. I am already off all meds and my T2D is diet and exercise controlled, but I wish I had started before my blood glucose numbers went too high.

  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    I'm a total newbie when it comes to counting calories. I've never done it before and still have a lot to learn so please excuse me if this is a stupid question.

    I understand that a calorie deficit is what is behind losing the weight. But where does sugar fit in? I try to be mindful of my sugar count, but it's sometimes over by a couple numbers or if I'm dealing with a lot of stress my calories could be under, but the sugar is way over. How does this affect my weight loss?

    Nope as long as you are achieving a deficit, it will not affect your weight loss.

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