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no sugar or flour, food addiction?

brenn24179
brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
edited October 2021 in Debate Club
Do you think there is food addiction? Some people say dont eat sugar or flour. That seems like a hard way to live, not ever having a cookie? They say they dont struggle. What do you think? I know I keep gaining and losing the same 5 pounds, it is still a struggle for me. I would like to not struggle but giving up sugar and four seems so hard.
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Replies

  • mjc614900
    mjc614900 Posts: 30 Member
    I lost 25 pounds through Vida counseling. I have been at 130 for five months. I monitor my sugar intake. If I have frozen strawberries I put sugar on them. If I have oatmeal I put in sugar. A cookie? I evaluate what I want to eat, and make it fit into my daily eating goals. What is holding me back now is lack of running on a treadmill for three miles a day. We will never be able to cut sugar and flour our of our diet - so I fit them in in moderation. No more than two slices of whole wheat bread a day, but usually only one.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    There's no such thing as food addiction as far as i am concerned. I don't know anyone who can't stop eating broccoli or beans or any vegetable. We just like sweet things. Our ancestors liked sweet things. Sugar gives us and our brains energy. So we have evolved to eat sugary things .It used to be fruits, now it's cookies and pastries. That being said, i don't have a problem moderating myself. I may eat a whole pack of cookies, or i may eat just 1 cookie. Every day is different. It depends on how i've slept, what else i've eaten, where i am in my monthly cycle hormonally,etc.
    I would not enjoy life if i had to completely cut off an entire group of products out of my life.

    Eating a whole pack of cookies and that is moderating yourself?

    Carry on.

    If you have the calories or make a conscious decision to eat a whole pack of cookies rather than being UNABLE to stop eating cookies? Might not be moderating that time but it's sure choosing NOT to moderate, vs not beign ABLE to moderate.

    Heck, I ate a whole pint of ben and jerry's this weekend. Was it moderation? No. Does that mean I can't moderate? No. It means I was very active, had a lot of calories 'to spare' and made a choice. I'm a grown up. W e're allowed to do that.

    I would argue this is still moderation. Moderation is not only about the amount, but the frequency and the calorie budget too. If you have enough calories to fit in a whole pack of cookies, it probably doesn't happen daily and you're probably making an informed choice to eat it within your calories vs losing control and going way over calories. That's still moderation (defined as the avoidance of excess) in my book. Those cookies are not "excess", they're right within the plan.

    Honestly I agree with you and almost said as much but I could see the argument to that coming and I am just too tired for it today, LOL.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,495 Member
    edited October 2021
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    There's no such thing as food addiction as far as i am concerned. I don't know anyone who can't stop eating broccoli or beans or any vegetable. We just like sweet things. Our ancestors liked sweet things. Sugar gives us and our brains energy. So we have evolved to eat sugary things .It used to be fruits, now it's cookies and pastries. That being said, i don't have a problem moderating myself. I may eat a whole pack of cookies, or i may eat just 1 cookie. Every day is different. It depends on how i've slept, what else i've eaten, where i am in my monthly cycle hormonally,etc.
    I would not enjoy life if i had to completely cut off an entire group of products out of my life.

    Eating a whole pack of cookies and that is moderating yourself?

    Carry on.

    yes it is. There are packs that only have 6 cookies inside. If i have a cup a of milk, i can easily finish those 6 cookies in 5 minutes or less. So, if i have the calories ,and i have covered all my other needs for the day,and i feel like it, i may eat the whole pack. Just like i will eat a whole domino's pizza by myself. But other than that pizza i won't be eating anything else for the day. It's still a choice if i 'm willing to eat a whole pizza and nothing else, or half a pizza and a ''proper'' meal the rest of my day. I am not addicted to it. I can choose to eat or not eat it.
    For referance, i eat a domino's pizza about once every 3 months, and i think the last time i ate a whole pack of cookies was about 8 months ago.
    Right now I have about 6 packs of cookies in my pantry .They've been sitting there for close to 4 months. About once a month i open a pack and eat 4 cookies a day for 4 days. So to answer your question, yes it is moderating as far as i see it.

    Maybe a snowflake or 2 out the but I have never been around a normal weight adult and I've seen eat or they claim to eat whole pizzas at a sitting.

    Ever, not just as a "splurge". Seems like a train ticket to weight issues. Just my opinion, I'm sure others will have ones that differ.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,176 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    @ninerbuff
    Call it what you will.
    Disorder/ obsession / addiction.
    People that are morbidly obese need to be weaned off of highly processed carbs/ sugar/ fatty/ salty foods.
    Along with councilling for their 'disorder'
    I believe OP is actually in weight maintenance, gaining/losing the same 5 pounds, not morbidly obese, so very different scenario.

    There was a long thread in Debate about whether food addiction is real. This isn't that thread.

    Now that I'm a device that makes figuring it out easy: There have been lots of the bolded. If someone wants to debate the addiction question (vs. help OP), maybe go there.

    The most recent is probably this one:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10822150/why-is-food-addiction-so-controversial

    A few random other semi-similar past ones (the ones that ran longer):

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10388272/addiction-versus-dependence
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10226257/food-addiction-a-different-perspective
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10650107/fast-food-addiction-can-anyone-else-relate
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10371298/sugar-addiction-like-drug-abuse-study-reveals/p1
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10548746/sugar-addiction-myths

    Have fun.