No sugar til January 2nd

lemurcat12

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

The low carb forum is a sensible suggestion because the OP is looking for people to join her. I can guarantee that instead of a bunch of nos, nopes and memes she'd make friends, get encouragement and motivation (and a place to check in) from the monthly challenge thread.

It's a friendly, welcoming group for anyone -- low carb or not -- which is not something that can be found here on the main forums. Which is a shame.

It's closed. Last time I peeked in (before it was closed) it certainly did not feel welcoming.

I'd think the "clean eating" group is a much better match, or a vegan group.

WinoGelato

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

The low carb forum is a sensible suggestion because the OP is looking for people to join her. I can guarantee that instead of a bunch of nos, nopes and memes she'd make friends, get encouragement and motivation (and a place to check in) from the monthly challenge thread.

It's a friendly, welcoming group for anyone -- low carb or not -- which is not something that can be found here on the main forums. Which is a shame.

I disagree with that. I think there is a lot of helpful advice on the main forums. Most of the people on my friends list I have encountered initially through the main forums and respect for one another's point of view.

Additionally, as I've mentioned, I think the OP's parameters are pretty vague and may not in fact be compatible with each other (ie going vegan and cutting out all sugar), and as @lemurcat12 has pointed out I'm not convinced that what she meant by "no junk" was directly aligned with LC. So I do think that rather than shepherding her off to a group where she will get encouragement and atta girls, keeping topics like this in the main forum with some clarifying question about what OP meant, what her specific goals are, etc - may help open up a variety of suggestions to help her achieve those goals.

Sued0nim

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Pretty much all the high cal sweets I get tempted by during the holidays are off the table anyway on a vegan diet. The cheese at wine and cheese parties, the pie, the cake, the cookies, the chocolate. Even the latkes, not to mention the sour cream I like with them. You can make vegan versions of most of this stuff, but it takes more effort so wouldn't be the same kind of easy temptation.

And in case this sounds negative, let me just say that I love the holidays.

I was thinking fruits and veg tbh

AlabasterVerve

WinoGelato wrote: »

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

The low carb forum is a sensible suggestion because the OP is looking for people to join her. I can guarantee that instead of a bunch of nos, nopes and memes she'd make friends, get encouragement and motivation (and a place to check in) from the monthly challenge thread.

It's a friendly, welcoming group for anyone -- low carb or not -- which is not something that can be found here on the main forums. Which is a shame.

I disagree with that. I think there is a lot of helpful advice on the main forums. Most of the people on my friends list I have encountered initially through the main forums and respect for one another's point of view.

Additionally, as I've mentioned, I think the OP's parameters are pretty vague and may not in fact be compatible with each other (ie going vegan and cutting out all sugar), and as @lemurcat12 has pointed out I'm not convinced that what she meant by "no junk" was directly aligned with LC. So I do think that rather than shepherding her off to a group where she will get encouragement and atta girls, keeping topics like this in the main forum with some clarifying question about what OP meant, what her specific goals are, etc - may help open up a variety of suggestions to help her achieve those goals.

I know exactly what she means when she says "I've been allowing myself too many sweets lately and need to break the habit" -- and I dare say everyone else in the low carb forum does as well -- it's not incompatible with any eating plan and anywhere else in the world it would be considered a perfectly sensible thing to do.

The topic is already in the main forum so there is no downside to suggesting a support group as well -- that's all part of the "variety of suggestions" no?

blankiefinder

lemurcat12 wrote: »

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

The low carb forum is a sensible suggestion because the OP is looking for people to join her. I can guarantee that instead of a bunch of nos, nopes and memes she'd make friends, get encouragement and motivation (and a place to check in) from the monthly challenge thread.

It's a friendly, welcoming group for anyone -- low carb or not -- which is not something that can be found here on the main forums. Which is a shame.

It's closed. Last time I peeked in (before it was closed) it certainly did not feel welcoming.

I'd think the "clean eating" group is a much better match, or a vegan group.

I think the clean eating group is an excellent suggestion for someone wanting to cut back on the junk. Personally, I preferred to go the route of allowing small treats but that was just what worked for me. A few squares of high quality dark chocolate per day almost always fit into my calorie allotment and macros.

kgeyser

lemurcat12 wrote: »

We disagree about the obvious assumption within ketomom's comment.

And I also disagree that there is likely to be any similarity in eating style or that hanging out in a low carb forum if one is not low carb would be a sensible thing to do merely because one was trying to focus on eating a nutrient-dense (and "no junk") diet. For example, cutting out "sugar" for the keto world tends to include fruit (or most fruits), limiting carrots and beets, and often is used broadly to encompass all carbs (since they become sugar in the body). Many people limit or cut out added sugar without being low carb, and not all low carbers do (and many who do use things like stevia or other artificial sweeteners, which would likely be among that OP is avoiding). But I suppose this goes with the point WinoGelato made above, which is that "junk" is probably too vague to allow for meaningful comments.

Anyway, if we all agree that "no junk" doesn't mean "low carb," then we are in agreement about the important stuff, so no need to argue.

I think the obvious assumption has less to do with the actual comment and more to do with personal perceptions of the source. Regardless, I don't think suggesting the low carb is not a sensible suggestion - one does not have to eat low carb in order to benefit from some of the ideas. Take what you need and leave the rest, as people often say around here. Just because someone else may choose to eliminate certain foods from their diet as one aspect of their way of eating doesn't mean that someone else can't benefit from ideas where dietary practices overlap.

lemurcat12

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

I know exactly what she means when she says "I've been allowing myself too many sweets lately and need to break the habit" -- and I dare say everyone else in the low carb forum does as well -- it's not incompatible with any eating plan and anywhere else in the world it would be considered a perfectly sensible thing to do.

Yes, that part of what she said is not ambiguous and everyone understands it. And most of us have dealt with it -- it's not a low carb specific thing. For example, as I mentioned upthread, I cut out added sugar last January. I did not, however, go low carb as a result, and I'm not even vegan. (And I certainly did not think it would improve the health of my diet to cut out fruit or worry about how many carbs might be in root vegetables or winter squash. Thus, I do not think that "I want to break my habit of overeating sweet things" = low carb.)

Moreover, OP also said that she wants to cut out "junk" (whatever that means), and we know she's cutting out meat and eggs and dairy. I realize that in low carb lingo junk seems to mean carbs (despite cwolfman's excellent points above) but many people do not define it so generally, on the one hand, and on the other many (including the USDA) include saturated fat as "empty calories" so might well consider cheese or pork rinds or bacon or whatever is in a fat bomb or coffee with hundreds of calories of oil or cream or butter to be "junk" too. Not saying I do -- I don't use the term "junk" for the most part -- but it is hardly difficult to imagine.

In any case, no need to debate this here if we all agree that "junk" is not, in fact, equivalent to "carbs."

lemurcat12

kgeyser wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

We disagree about the obvious assumption within ketomom's comment.

And I also disagree that there is likely to be any similarity in eating style or that hanging out in a low carb forum if one is not low carb would be a sensible thing to do merely because one was trying to focus on eating a nutrient-dense (and "no junk") diet. For example, cutting out "sugar" for the keto world tends to include fruit (or most fruits), limiting carrots and beets, and often is used broadly to encompass all carbs (since they become sugar in the body). Many people limit or cut out added sugar without being low carb, and not all low carbers do (and many who do use things like stevia or other artificial sweeteners, which would likely be among that OP is avoiding). But I suppose this goes with the point WinoGelato made above, which is that "junk" is probably too vague to allow for meaningful comments.

Anyway, if we all agree that "no junk" doesn't mean "low carb," then we are in agreement about the important stuff, so no need to argue.

I think the obvious assumption has less to do with the actual comment and more to do with personal perceptions of the source. Regardless, I don't think suggesting the low carb is not a sensible suggestion - one does not have to eat low carb in order to benefit from some of the ideas. Take what you need and leave the rest, as people often say around here. Just because someone else may choose to eliminate certain foods from their diet as one aspect of their way of eating doesn't mean that someone else can't benefit from ideas where dietary practices overlap.

Let's see, there are lots of people on the general forum who try to eat a nutrient dense diet and include some lower nutrient things in small numbers.

Then there are lots of people who are trying to do a vegan diet and many of those are also really focused on nutrition. Some, not all, cut out "junk" as they define it, whereas others don't really define foods that way and simply try to eat an overall healthy diet.

There are also the "clean eaters," who pretty much do what OP seems to want to do, and have a group.

There are also many time period focused challenges (I'm in one, have been in others) that tend to have the participants set their own goals and encourage each other.

And then we come to the low carb group, which is focused on reducing the # of carbs one eats and in some cases (but quite often not) also on eating an overall healthful diet (beyond lowering carbs). Many or most think that fruit is to be avoided, whole grains of course, oats, legumes (or eaten only in tiny quantities), etc. Many or most include lots of foods that others might consider "junk" in their diets.

Given just these 5 options, and I'm sure there are many more, and given that OP can certainly take what she likes and dismiss the rest, low carb still seems like the worst or least well fitting option. I know we are supposed to pretend like "low carb" means "cares more about nutrition than others," but of course that's not true. As cwolfman pointed out, carbs are often high in nutrients and sought out by people concerned about eating a healthful diet. Saying "I want to cut out junk" by no means should be taken to mean "I want to go low carb." Anyone who thinks carbs are mostly "junk" is uneducated about nutrition.

Sued0nim

kgeyser wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

We disagree about the obvious assumption within ketomom's comment.

And I also disagree that there is likely to be any similarity in eating style or that hanging out in a low carb forum if one is not low carb would be a sensible thing to do merely because one was trying to focus on eating a nutrient-dense (and "no junk") diet. For example, cutting out "sugar" for the keto world tends to include fruit (or most fruits), limiting carrots and beets, and often is used broadly to encompass all carbs (since they become sugar in the body). Many people limit or cut out added sugar without being low carb, and not all low carbers do (and many who do use things like stevia or other artificial sweeteners, which would likely be among that OP is avoiding). But I suppose this goes with the point WinoGelato made above, which is that "junk" is probably too vague to allow for meaningful comments.

Anyway, if we all agree that "no junk" doesn't mean "low carb," then we are in agreement about the important stuff, so no need to argue.

I think the obvious assumption has less to do with the actual comment and more to do with personal perceptions of the source. Regardless, I don't think suggesting the low carb is not a sensible suggestion - one does not have to eat low carb in order to benefit from some of the ideas. Take what you need and leave the rest, as people often say around here. Just because someone else may choose to eliminate certain foods from their diet as one aspect of their way of eating doesn't mean that someone else can't benefit from ideas where dietary practices overlap.

That is an intensely convoluted rationalisation for a referral to an irrelevant group based on the op's stated requirements

nvmomketo

I based my welcome to join the LowCarbDaily on the OP's statement:

natalienwilson9 wrote: »

I've been allowing myself too many sweets and need to break the habit. Anyone wanna join me?

I think of sweets as carbs, although it is possible the OP meant too many sugar substitutes in their protein or fats.

The OP asked if anyone wanted to join her, and it appeared not many did, so I thought the LowCarberDaily could be a source of support. It is a good place to find recipes and support if cutting sweets.

lemurcat12

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/133-clean-eating-group

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100425-eating-to-live

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/109696-vegan-vegetarian-whole-food-eaters-unite

There are probably many others that seem a better fit for a vegan who says she wants to cut out "junk food." Again, there is nothing about doing low carb that requires you to cut out "junk food." Lots of foods people would consider such are low carb/high fat.

nvmomketo

lemurcat12 wrote: »

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/133-clean-eating-group

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100425-eating-to-live

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/109696-vegan-vegetarian-whole-food-eaters-unite

There are probably many others that seem a better fit for a vegan who says she wants to cut out "junk food." Again, there is nothing about doing low carb that requires you to cut out "junk food." Lots of foods people would consider such are low carb/high fat.

That may be true.

I never said she needed to cut out "junk". I'm sure the OP will the support she wants somewhere.

PeachyCarol

I didn't eat sweets for quite a few years as a vegetarian, but I certainly did not qualify as eating a low carbohydrate diet.

I think the OP would find more support or people with similar diets in a clean eating group where people are eating plant based, carbohydrate-rich diets. A vegan/vegetarian support group or eat to live are both good suggestions.

SLLRunner

giasbash6260 wrote: »

I have been sugar-free for 14 years, it's so worth it and friggin' tasty!! You just have to expand your horizons!

I'm trying to figure out how you were sugar free. Fruits, veggies, milks, and many other foods have sugar in them.

Do you mean you have eaten no added sugar in 14 years? Even that seems an impossible feat.

natalienwilson9 wrote: »

So today I've decided that I will have no junk for a month! I've been allowing myself too many sweets and need to break the habit. Anyone wanna join me?

Will you please define junk?

In my opinion, there is no junk there is only food. Lots of good food.

I just had the most amazing Steve's dairy free salted caramel ice cream. Yesterday I had a different kind of ice cream, and the day before too.

Have you considered moderating your sweets? Maybe have a serving a day or something?

vivmom2014

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why is it assumed that "no junk" = "low carb"?

It's that superiority thing, of course.

SLLRunner

PeachyCarol wrote: »

I didn't eat sweets for quite a few years as a vegetarian, but I certainly did not qualify as eating a low carbohydrate diet.

I think the OP would find more support or people with similar diets in a clean eating group where people are eating plant based, carbohydrate-rich diets. A vegan/vegetarian support group or eat to live are both good suggestions.

Same here. I have never been low carb before, and I avoided all cakes, cookies, candies, chips, and the like, for several years.

Low carb and cutting out sugar are not synonymous.

GaleHawkins

giasbash6260 wrote: »

I have been sugar-free for 14 years, it's so worth it and friggin' tasty!! You just have to expand your horizons!

14 years is a long time and a record perhaps on MFP.