My Secret to Sustained Weight Loss.
Replies
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »But I crave steak like all the time. Am I gonna die?
Yes, but so are vegans...6 -
I use sweetner in pancakes. Doesn't give me cravings.0
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I have diet soda on days where I feel hungry because the carbonation helps hold me up until next meal. They do the exact opposite of inducing cravings or hunger. Am I a freak of nature?
Look, if it works better to cut artificial sweeteners because of some mental connections and associations you have that could lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, it's perfectly fine to make a choice to cut them. I avoid unrestricted access to nuts for the same reasons (despite news booming everywhere on the interwebs about them being great for dieting). Now to make generalizations that everyone should avoid artificial sweeteners because somehow they make people fat, that's what people here are being against.
Knowing how research works we know that:
- Media sites tend to embellish and sensationalize for views
- Observational studies often show correlations and nothing more, many other factors or even reverse relationships could be at play
- Controlled trials report net averages. Individual responses within that average can vary greatly.
So, by all means do what works for you, but please don't generalize it.6 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
So here's an opposing anecdote: I find diet sodas satisfying and they don't make me hungrier at all - in fact, quite the opposite. They also don't cause me any cravings for sweets. I drink them daily and have throughout my weight loss - almost 70 pounds of it to date.
Studies linking diet soda to obesity are showing correlation, not causation. Fat people drink diet soda, therefore diet soda must make you fat. Using the same logic, I could say that I see a lot of fat people exercising, therefore exercise makes you fat. Neither statement is correct.13 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
So here's an opposing anecdote: I find diet sodas satisfying and they don't make me hungrier at all - in fact, quite the opposite. They also don't cause me any cravings for sweets. I drink them daily and have throughout my weight loss - almost 70 pounds of it to date.
Studies linking diet soda to obesity are showing correlation, not causation. Fat people drink diet soda, therefore diet soda must make you fat. Using the same logic, I could say that I see a lot of fat people exercising, therefore exercise makes you fat. Neither statement is correct.
That doesn't explain why artificial sweeteners make mice eat more. There have been repeated studies on this subject that do show causation. Artificial sweeteners affect hunger hormones.
If it works for you, that's fine. Individuals can have dramatically different responses to the same foods, but statistically over a group of people, swapping to artificial sweeteners is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss.2 -
rheddmobile wrote: »ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
So here's an opposing anecdote: I find diet sodas satisfying and they don't make me hungrier at all - in fact, quite the opposite. They also don't cause me any cravings for sweets. I drink them daily and have throughout my weight loss - almost 70 pounds of it to date.
Studies linking diet soda to obesity are showing correlation, not causation. Fat people drink diet soda, therefore diet soda must make you fat. Using the same logic, I could say that I see a lot of fat people exercising, therefore exercise makes you fat. Neither statement is correct.
That doesn't explain why artificial sweeteners make mice eat more. There have been repeated studies on this subject that do show causation. Artificial sweeteners affect hunger hormones.
If it works for you, that's fine. Individuals can have dramatically different responses to the same foods, but statistically over a group of people,
swapping to artificial sweeteners is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss.
How?
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rheddmobile wrote: »ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
So here's an opposing anecdote: I find diet sodas satisfying and they don't make me hungrier at all - in fact, quite the opposite. They also don't cause me any cravings for sweets. I drink them daily and have throughout my weight loss - almost 70 pounds of it to date.
Studies linking diet soda to obesity are showing correlation, not causation. Fat people drink diet soda, therefore diet soda must make you fat. Using the same logic, I could say that I see a lot of fat people exercising, therefore exercise makes you fat. Neither statement is correct.
That doesn't explain why artificial sweeteners make mice eat more. There have been repeated studies on this subject that do show causation. Artificial sweeteners affect hunger hormones.
If it works for you, that's fine. Individuals can have dramatically different responses to the same foods, but statistically over a group of people, swapping to artificial sweeteners is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss.
Please link the studies.5 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
Mmm I no longer drink regular Coke but have at least a couple of glasses of diet daily and I'm definitely no where nearly as fat as I was.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/
Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings --Neuroscience 2010
It's not the calories, or whether artificial sweeteners are harmful chemicals (which they are not in the volumes of regular consumption), but the brain's desire for sweet.
From personal experience, eat less sweet things for an extended period and you no longer desire sweet things. Your taste (and brain) becomes more sensitised to sweet and requires less sweet things to satisfy it.
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ginalove1960 wrote: »Artificial sweeteners have been repeatedly scientifically proven to increase cravings for sweets, and that's why I avoid them. I rarely partake of alcohol because I don't like it that much and it has too many empty calories.
still waiting for your scientific articles??3 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »It's been all over the news and the internet.
LOL. That's your "scientifically proven"? Guess I am an exception then. Artificial sweeteners have absolutely no impact on desire for sweets. Go figure.1 -
craigo3154 wrote: »https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/
Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings --Neuroscience 2010
It's not the calories, or whether artificial sweeteners are harmful chemicals (which they are not in the volumes of regular consumption), but the brain's desire for sweet.
From personal experience, eat less sweet things for an extended period and you no longer desire sweet things. Your taste (and brain) becomes more sensitised to sweet and requires less sweet things to satisfy it.
Technically a review, not a study - but it uses and cites studies, and is (at least IMO) very layperson-accessible. Here are some parts that I found particularly interesting:But do artificial sweeteners actually help reduce weight?
Surprisingly, epidemiologic data suggest the contrary. Several large scale prospective cohort studies found positive correlation between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. The San Antonio Heart Study examined 3,682 adults over a seven- to eight-year period in the 1980s [18]. When matched for initial body mass index (BMI), gender, ethnicity, and diet, drinkers of artificially sweetened beverages consistently had higher BMIs at the follow-up, with dose dependence on the amount of consumption. Average BMI gain was +1.01 kg/m2 for control and 1.78 kg/m2 for people in the third quartile for artificially sweetened beverage consumption. The American Cancer Society study conducted in early 1980s included 78,694 women who were highly homogenous with regard to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and lack of preexisting conditions [19]. At one-year follow-up, 2.7 percent to 7.1 percent more regular artificial sweetener users gained weight compared to non-users matched by initial weight. The difference in the amount gained between the two groups was less than two pounds, albeit statistically significant. Saccharin use was also associated with eight-year weight gain in 31,940 women from the Nurses’ Health Study conducted in the 1970s [20].Preload experiments generally have found that sweet taste, whether delivered by sugar or artificial sweeteners, enhanced human appetite. Aspartame-sweetened water, but not aspartame capsule, increased subjective appetite rating in normal weight adult males [33]. Aspartame also increased subjective hunger ratings compared to glucose or water [34]. Glucose preload reduced the perceived pleasantness of sucrose, but aspartame did not [34]. In another study, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and saccharin were all associated with heightened motivation to eat and more items selected on a food preference list [35]. Aspartame had the most pronounced effect, possibly because it does not have a bitter aftertaste. Unlike glucose or sucrose, which decreased the energy intake at the test meal, artificial sweetener preloads either had no effect [33,35] or increased subsequent energy intake [36,37]. Those findings suggest that the calorie contained in natural sweeteners may trigger a response to keep the overall energy consumption constant.
Human research must rely on subjective ratings and voluntary dietary control. Rodent models helped elucidate how artificial sweeteners contribute to energy balance. Rats conditioned with saccharin supplement had significantly elevated total energy intake and gained more weight with increased body adiposity compared to controls conditioned with glucose [38]. Saccharin-conditioned rats also failed to curb their chow intake following a sweet pre-meal. When a flavor was arbitrarily associated with high or low caloric content, rats ate more chow following a pre-meal with the flavor predictive of low caloric content [39]. These studies pose a hypothesis: Inconsistent coupling between sweet taste and caloric content can lead to compensatory overeating and positive energy balance.
Emphasis added; what this suggests to me is that artificial sweeteners make intuitive eating / intuitive calorie maintenance more difficult, and more likely to result in maintenance or gain rather than loss. However, weighing solids and measuring liquids, and recording & logging those calories (as often suggested on the boards here) would offset that.
I did not see a study that had adults eat similar meals, one with a diet soda, one with water, one with regular soda, and then have them rate their satisfaction afterward and their perceived hunger an hour later, two hours later, and five hours later. That's something I'd love to find!4 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »Artificial sweeteners have been repeatedly scientifically proven to increase cravings for sweets, and that's why I avoid them. I rarely partake of alcohol because I don't like it that much and it has too many empty calories.
But do they for you? This stuff is not "this has been proven to be true for literally every person on planet earth".2 -
clicketykeys wrote: »Emphasis added; what this suggests to me is that artificial sweeteners make intuitive eating / intuitive calorie maintenance more difficult, and more likely to result in maintenance or gain rather than loss. However, weighing solids and measuring liquids, and recording & logging those calories (as often suggested on the boards here) would offset that.
As mentioned. Most likely no difference in the MFP weight loss phase where measuring and tracking is strongly encouraged. Likely difference is later in maintenance and the slow creep back of weight when reverting to intuitive eating.
If a person has psychologically (neurologically) suppressed or reset the desire for sweet tastes, logically they are less likely to fall back into a habit of eating sweet foods once weight management is no longer in the forefront of their daily routine.clicketykeys wrote: »I did not see a study that had adults eat similar meals, one with a diet soda, one with water, one with regular soda, and then have them rate their satisfaction afterward and their perceived hunger an hour later, two hours later, and five hours later. That's something I'd love to find!
I too would like to see such a study. I would expect such a study to turn up very little difference in hunger/satisfaction. Whether there are short term cravings for sweet that are not satisfied by artificial sweeteners would be a different study.
However, it's not the immediate or short term effects that are the real issue here. It's the longer term 2-10 years AFTER target weight achieved (and the NHS study conducted in the 70's may be relevant to this point, though a more recent study would be nice).
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There are limits to rating perceived hunger too. Interesting study would be having them eat that for lunch and then seeing what they actually eat for dinner.
I think people vary on the extent to which artificial sweeteners affect hunger, maybe related to how much caloric beverages reduce appetite (some seem to have this happen, others do not).
I also think the correlation studies are problematic because the people who switch to diet are most likely to be the ones who perceive that they have to do more to watch weight or have struggled with weight gain (or who want to drink more soda, perhaps).0 -
I dont like the taste of anything diet yuuccckkk. I dont use any artificial sweeteners because l dont like them. That being said, l do like sugar, alcohol, and fat...in moderation. The OP was just trying to share her methods with us, until this got into a artificial sweeteners debate. OP is just parroting back what we have all heard about them from Dr Oz, the internet, certain research studies, that l have no proof of haha, etc. It is her opinion and lm cool with that. I think if u like it and it works for you...go for it. Dont need proof of scientific research to know that, aaannnnddd dont need proof of scientific research to know that eating a deficit will help you to loose weight.0
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ginalove1960 wrote: »Artificial sweeteners have been repeatedly scientifically proven to increase cravings for sweets, and that's why I avoid them. I rarely partake of alcohol because I don't like it that much and it has too many empty calories.
Pretty blanket statement...I enjoy a diet root beer most evenings and don't get cravings for sweets. Maybe it's an issue for some, but it's not an issue for a whole lot of other people I'd imagine.
Just a personal observation, but I hypothesize that the biggest issue with artificial sweeteners and diet drinks, etc is that people think they're being good with that and they justify over indulging elsewhere.3 -
My Secrets to Weight Loss:
1. Logging my food, every bite, after weighing on a food scale and making sure the nutrition info I am using is accurate....so that I do not go over my calorie limit for the day. Wash, rinse, repeat.
2. Drinking enough water so that I do not retain fluid (I do retain a lot of water esp. in summer.) For me, that's about 64-100 oz per day of water and other beverages including black coffee and sometimes a little wine. For others, the amount of water may vary. But I have found if I drink much less than 64 oz of water per day, I swell like a balloon, and on some days I need to be close to 100 oz.
TL/DR Version: eating less calories per day than I burn.
I drink Sprite Zero in the summer when I want sweet fizzy, but I also drink club soda with lemon too. Neither one makes me crave more sweets. Often I crave sweets simply because I am thirsty or hungry, and I tell myself "Drink some cold water." Or, "Eat a hard boiled egg instead of that bowl of ice cream," OR..."Have a bowl of ice cream but log it and know you may have to have less dinner or snacks tonight. OR "Have a bowl of ice cream, log it, enjoy it, and make sure you don't go over your calories tomorrow." Easy peasy, stress free. Oh, and I do drink wine, allow for it in my calories, because without it, someone would get hurt.
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A doctor, high protein, no carbs, lil sugar and eating every four hours I hope to have lost 24 pounds by Thursday so that my average is six pounds a month, however it is too close to call!!!
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For me, I can most definitely say it does not cause sugar cravings or make me go off my diet. Maybe some, but no one I know that drinks diet soda has this problem either.0
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I've been at a normal weight for over 30 years of my adult life while drinking alcohol almost daily.
Artificial sweeteners do not make me crave sweets. I don't really like them in many things but when I am craving something sweet artificial sweets can get rid of the craving.0 -
Did someone mention Dr. Oz?
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When will you tell us your secret?0
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BMI 18.7 and drink coke zero every day basically. Also diet coke is the drink of choice for many anorexics.....5
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ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
wow. lbs dropping off you like water? from eliminating zero calories from your diet? wish i could do that.8 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »It's been all over the news and the internet.
Do you believe everything you hear on the news or read on the internet? Yikes.1 -
ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
While this is true from what I've read, it's not simply because they're drinking diet soda that is making them just as fat...it's because the rest of their diet isn't in order and they're still over consuming calories in general.
I mentioned it before, but in my general observations, a lot of people who drink diet soda think they're being good...but they overindulge elsewhere. Like they get the double bacon cheeseburger and large fry, but it's all good because they're washing it down with a diet coke...never mind that they're still eating a substantial amount of calories.5 -
I think @wow29 means they want their loss to be a total of 24 lbs by Thursday, which will give them an average of 6 lbs lost per month.1
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cwolfman13 wrote: »ginalove1960 wrote: »Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.
While this is true from what I've read, it's not simply because they're drinking diet soda that is making them just as fat...it's because the rest of their diet isn't in order and they're still over consuming calories in general.
I mentioned it before, but in my general observations, a lot of people who drink diet soda think they're being good...but they overindulge elsewhere. Like they get the double bacon cheeseburger and large fry, but it's all good because they're washing it down with a diet coke...never mind that they're still eating a substantial amount of calories.
you mean a diet coke with my supersized double quarter pounder meal at MD's is over doing it? I only had two egg mcmuffins and hash browns for breakfast cuz the are two for $3.2
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