Sugar addiction....

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Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Convenience

    personal preference....I would rather eat some strawberries, chocolate protein powder, and peanut butter blended together..tastes better than a candy bar IMO...
  • sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    I love chocolate covered strawberries, covers both good and bad sugars!!
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Convenience

    Was just thinking that lol... I never walked into a gas station and found strawberries but I always walked out with a couple Reese's peanut butter cups and a King Size Snickers.....
  • sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Convenience

    personal preference....I would rather eat some strawberries, chocolate protein powder, and peanut butter blended together..tastes better than a candy bar IMO...

    Now that sounds yummy!!!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Guess I should have titled this post "Need ideas for cutting down on my love of sweet treats"

    as long as you are under your calorie goal, who cares? I personally do not eat a lot of sweet treats but that is just me...

    Let's just say I would eat only sweets if I could get away with it. I don't think 1400 calories of sweets per day would be good lol. My love for these things is that strong!!

    from an overall health perspective it would probably not be that great..but if 1400 was a 500 cal deficit for you then yes, you would lose weight..
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
    I do. A few actually :) Prediabetes, insulin resistance, and PCOS.

    My doctor is open minded about allowing me to "treat" myself by regulating my diet. He said he'd give me 6 months and if there was no improvement from doing it "my way," then he would like me to try "his way." His way is with pills.

    I'm 3 months in, down 33 lbs, fasting glucose is now normal and A1C showed a marked improvement in my most recent labwork.

    He's been impressed thus far with my progress.
    This is the only reason anyone should restrict sugars.
  • ajaxe432
    ajaxe432 Posts: 608 Member
    A lot of people are being flippant about this post, but sugar CAN be addictive. There are several studies to back that up. I have personally added to that pool of research when I did a study with rats using cocaine or cookie dough to study reward processing. Sugar can be as rewarding as cocaine if you eat it often enough, and in large quantities.

    I recommend taking the sugar out of your house, away from your work space, anywhere you usually see it. I find that turning on catchy music and singing/dancing around for a little while will distract me long enough to forget about how much I feel like bingeing on cookies. The less you eat, the less you'll crave. Good luck!
    Which studies? Are any on humans or all on rats?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Convenience

    Was just thinking that lol... I never walked into a gas station and found strawberries but I always walked out with a couple Reese's peanut butter cups and a King Size Snickers.....

    LOL I do not see too many gas stations with a produce section ....
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Eat dates. Middle-eastern people eat these as a dessert. They're extremely sweet, but much better for you than candy or soda and definitely help wean you off the refined sugars that can cause addiction. It's a good transition food if you're looking to cut down on sweets altogether, which does promotes feelings of overall well-being.

    1 date has 16g of sugar...
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Deliciousness
  • JoyeII
    JoyeII Posts: 240 Member
    I do. A few actually :) Prediabetes, insulin resistance, and PCOS.

    My doctor is open minded about allowing me to "treat" myself by regulating my diet. He said he'd give me 6 months and if there was no improvement from doing it "my way," then he would like me to try "his way." His way is with pills.

    I'm 3 months in, down 33 lbs, fasting glucose is now normal and A1C showed a marked improvement in my most recent labwork.

    He's been impressed thus far with my progress.
    This is the only reason anyone should restrict sugars.

    Thank you :) And that baby is adorable!
  • Jenlwb
    Jenlwb Posts: 682 Member
    Well I can't give you any hard science, AprilMae, but I can tell you how I did it. I have a major sweet tooth (i won't call it an addiction), I just like sweet stuff. I took most of it out of my diet, no candy bars, cereal bars and sweets, cakes or desserts on the whole. I have the occasional diet coke, and nightly I have a little piece of 70/85% dark choc. I replaced all my usual snacks with almonds, homemade popcorn and a little fruit.

    After a week or so I stopped craving them so much. I've lost a few pounds too possibly because my snacks are lower calorie, and my stomach is flatter. I don't go overboard, when the situation demands it i will have a little something (celebrations etc), and I can't eat greek yogurt without a little honey, but i use less than i used to. On my birthday I had cake and was then able to go back to my new lower-sugar ways without drama.

    Perhaps it's possible to change our tastes?
  • I do. A few actually :) Prediabetes, insulin resistance, and PCOS.

    My doctor is open minded about allowing me to "treat" myself by regulating my diet. He said he'd give me 6 months and if there was no improvement from doing it "my way," then he would like me to try "his way." His way is with pills.

    I'm 3 months in, down 33 lbs, fasting glucose is now normal and A1C showed a marked improvement in my most recent labwork.

    He's been impressed thus far with my progress.

    Great work and awesome progress!!
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
    Anyone that tells you that all sugar is the same is delusional. "I got fat from eating too much fruit!" said no one, ever.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Convenience

    personal preference....I would rather eat some strawberries, chocolate protein powder, and peanut butter blended together..tastes better than a candy bar IMO...

    I love frozen grapes more than I do ice cream (ducks and hides a moment)....but it still boils down to availability and convenience. If I'm craving something sweet and I'm on the go, a candy bar would have been what I'd have turned to. (Now it'd be the Nature Valley bars because they soooooo good!).

    That's how most things work. It's not that most actually crave the candy bar, just something sweet and in a world were time has become rush rush rush...convenience tends to override the realization of what we really want and our thought processes on even how much we want.
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,890 Member
    When did you finally realize you had a problem?

    When it started affecting your work, when you sold your TV for a sugar cube, or when you gave a bj for a sugar packet?

    I literally just burst out laughing sitting at my desk here at work
    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    sugar is sugar...doesn't matter if it comes from a candy bar or a strawberry...

    And yet for many people candy bars are far more tempting to eat than strawberries. Why?

    Convenience

    Was just thinking that lol... I never walked into a gas station and found strawberries but I always walked out with a couple Reese's peanut butter cups and a King Size Snickers.....

    LOL I do not see too many gas stations with a produce section ....

    Ah but they are stepping up their game.... I walk into a gas station last week on a trip that had sushi in the cooler right next to the ready to eat cold lunchmeat subs.. and bananas on a rack by the register so they are trying..... lol
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Anyone that tells you that all sugar is the same is delusional. "I got fat from eating too much fruit!" said no one, ever.
    Because it's nearly impossible to overeat fruit on its own, plus it has no fat in it.

    It isn't the sugar in a candy bar that's the problem. It's the rest of it, uncluding the number of calories. And it's a lot easier to eat 500 calories in candy bars (two Snickers, for example) than 500 calories in strawberries (I think my stomach might rupture first).
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    Convenience

    I assure you, if you were to put a plate of candy bars in front of me next to a plate of strawberries, it would not be convenience driving me to eat the candy bars.

    It is simply that the candy bars are much more pleasurable to eat.
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
    Anyone that tells you that all sugar is the same is delusional. "I got fat from eating too much fruit!" said no one, ever.
    "I got fat from eating candy bars" say many people who are dishonest about their overall diet habits.
  • ajaxe432
    ajaxe432 Posts: 608 Member
    Anyone that tells you that all sugar is the same is delusional. "I got fat from eating too much fruit!" said no one, ever.
    Oh boy, out of no where with the accusations that certain people are delusional. Way to jump in man:)
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    Was just thinking that lol... I never walked into a gas station and found strawberries but I always walked out with a couple Reese's peanut butter cups and a King Size Snickers.....

    But even if you did, which one would most people pick?

    If I had to choose between eating Snickers or fruit, I'd pick the Snickers every time. Snickers just taste awesome whereas fruit is just good.
  • cadaverousbones
    cadaverousbones Posts: 421 Member
    Too bad people on this website think its funny to make jokes of peoples serious questions.


    Try to cut back on foods that are processed and have added sugar. Look for "no sugar added" on packages. Fruits have natural sugar so you can't avoid that. Your taste buds change over time so if you eat a piece of fruit instead of a candy bar over time your taste buds will think the fruit is really sweet. Also start getting dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Use natural sweeteners like stevia or agave or even sugar in the raw instead of white sugar/sweet and low type of stuff. Good luck!
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    When did you finally realize you had a problem?

    When it started affecting your work, when you sold your TV for a sugar cube, or when you gave a bj for a sugar packet?

    My first husband divorced me over my sugar addiction. :grumble:
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    1 date has 16g of sugar...

    And an Oreo cookie only has 13 grams of sugar.

    But Oreos are far more compelling to eat than dates. Why?
  • Anyone that tells you that all sugar is the same is delusional. "I got fat from eating too much fruit!" said no one, ever.
    "I got fat from eating candy bars" say many people who are dishonest about their overall diet habits.

    I got fat from eating too many sweets and not exercising. :ohwell:
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
    1 date has 16g of sugar...

    And an Oreo cookie only has 13 grams of sugar.

    But Oreos are far more compelling to eat than dates. Why?
    Because dates are disgusting.
    The combination of sugar and fat is one of the most appealing tastes.
  • When did you finally realize you had a problem?

    When it started affecting your work, when you sold your TV for a sugar cube, or when you gave a bj for a sugar packet?

    My first husband divorced me over my sugar addiction. :grumble:

    :(
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Too bad people on this website think its funny to make jokes of peoples serious questions.
    The OP got some jokes and some helpful information. She isn't upset. Why are you?