Fed up challenge
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PatriciaMcCamley wrote: »Lol yea follow a food challenge based on a terrible documentary that's based on bad science. That'll end well haha
I am simply cutting out added sugar, I titled this "fed up challenge" because I thought that it's similar to what I'm doing. Sugars are not benefiting my health so why keep them? I am not actually doing it as a challenge type thing, I am just wanting to get rid of sugars because I think I can benefit from not eating crap. There is no reason to comment on here with your negativity.
You don't have to cut out sugars, I'm not telling you what I think you should and shouldn't do with your diet so why are you commenting on here telling me it's a bad idea?
I would be okay with you telling me why sugar is good for me but if you don't give me legitimate feed back that can help me than I have no interest. So please tell me why is cutting sugar bad? How does my body gain anything from it? I eat fruit so I have natural sugars, but I don't understand why I shouldn't cut them out.
First off, calling anything with added sugars "crap" is extremely ignorant of nutrition as a whole.
I'll second this.
As I mentioned, I don't add sugar very often, but there are genuine reasons that someone might add a bit of sugar to a recipe and most often it adds very few calories and just a bit of taste. It doesn't transform the food from healthy to "crap." This is why the distorted focus on "sugar=evil" and not simply nutrition bothers me.
For example, I have a good Italian cookbook that does recommend a tsp of sugar in a red sauce. This is traditional, to cut acid. I don't think it's necessary if you add lots of veggies and I tend to be sensitive to sweet in my savory dishes and usually don't like it, so I've never done that, but if I did it wouldn't make a good sauce "crap." (Nor would it make much of a difference to the grams of sugar in a serving of the sauce.)
Similarly, I've played around with rhubarb sauces and really like tart, so I usually temper them only by cooking or with cherries or strawberries, but I've done rhubarb sauces in the past that used sugar and I don't see why adding a bit of sugar (after which there's still less sugar than in most fruit) would make any dish with them "crap."
I don't like oatmeal sweetened, but if that's how you like your oats, you shouldn't think adding a touch of sugar removes the nutrition.
There are various homemade BBQ and hot sauces (as well as commercial sauces) that use sugar in small quantities. Again, say you made a fish and veggies dish with some sauce--why "crap"? Not healthy anymore?
Smoked salmon usually uses a little sugar in the process -- not healthy as a result?
It's common to add a little bread to gazpacho--does that make what is typically a low cal vegetable-based (and delicious) soup "unhealthy," because there's a bit of sugar in the bread sometimes?
And, of course, a homemade apple or cherry pie will involve sugar. I can see why this should be eaten in moderation and after getting in good nutritious meals and within calories, but is it really "crap"? I am not offended if you want to call my pie such, but I wouldn't have said that to my grandma.
Finally, I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe on MFP (I don't make them often since I eat baked goods pretty sparingly). There are fewer grams of sugar in the cookie than in an apple. (The highest number of calories in the cookie come from butter, sugar is a relatively small contributor.) To say the "problem" with the cookie (if one thinks there is a problem) is sugar and ignore the overall make-up of the cookie seems to me misleading, and that's one reason I think this focus on sugar is really not a helpful one.
That said, like I said I did go without added sugar for a period of time and if you find it difficult you might as well experiment with it and maybe expand your horizon and see if it makes a difference to you. I would be open to the possibility that if you perceive a difference it's due to more whole-foods-based cooking and less highly processed stuff overall, and not simply sugar.0 -
I just want to say I love your posts, @lemurcat12. They just make sense.0
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Thank you!0
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PatriciaMcCamley wrote: »Lol yea follow a food challenge based on a terrible documentary that's based on bad science. That'll end well haha
I am simply cutting out added sugar, I titled this "fed up challenge" because I thought that it's similar to what I'm doing. Sugars are not benefiting my health so why keep them? I am not actually doing it as a challenge type thing, I am just wanting to get rid of sugars because I think I can benefit from not eating crap. There is no reason to comment on here with your negativity.
You don't have to cut out sugars, I'm not telling you what I think you should and shouldn't do with your diet so why are you commenting on here telling me it's a bad idea?
I would be okay with you telling me why sugar is good for me but if you don't give me legitimate feed back that can help me than I have no interest. So please tell me why is cutting sugar bad? How does my body gain anything from it? I eat fruit so I have natural sugars, but I don't understand why I shouldn't cut them out.
First off, calling anything with added sugars "crap" is extremely ignorant of nutrition as a whole.
To answer your question, cutting should only be done if it must be done. The reason for this is that restrictive diets are inherently troublesome. Unless you legitimately plan to completely avoid "added sugars" for the rest of your life, then don't restrict them now. What happens when you do that is that when you inevitably eat something sweet like a cookie or a brownie or chocolate, you will binge and you will binge hard. It happens to everyone that tries to eliminate sugar from their diet and it will happen to you. The amount of time it takes varies based on willpower but it will happen. You develop unhealthy eating habits and what started as a challenge becomes unhealthy. If you stop treating sugar like something that's unhealthy and start treating it like what it actually is (an extremely efficient fuel source) then maybe you might have a better relationship with it. Sugar is not bad, insulin is not bad. If you're eating at maintenance or in a deficit, sugar does not cause fat gain, it restores glycogen in the muscles and liver. As far as your natural sugars, do you really think they are different on a molecular level than "added sugars". Your body recognizes and responds to them in the same way.
I understand what you are saying and yes me using the word "crap" was just from the lack of vocabulary, I overuse that word and I apologize for that. That does make sense I guess I just have always been told (before watching fed up and whatnot) that sugar is horrible and I grew up with a fear of becoming overweight because of how some people in my life talked to me about it. I thought sugar was the issue, that's why I wanted to cut it out. I may end up just eating little of it and not cut it out.
I really do appreciate your reply, this is the type of response that I enjoy instead of the one you posted earlier. Thank you, and I can see how cutting it out can back fire pretty bad.
(Sorry if I rambled I'm tired and just was hopping on here before going to bed)
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lemurcat12 wrote: »PatriciaMcCamley wrote: »Lol yea follow a food challenge based on a terrible documentary that's based on bad science. That'll end well haha
I am simply cutting out added sugar, I titled this "fed up challenge" because I thought that it's similar to what I'm doing. Sugars are not benefiting my health so why keep them? I am not actually doing it as a challenge type thing, I am just wanting to get rid of sugars because I think I can benefit from not eating crap. There is no reason to comment on here with your negativity.
You don't have to cut out sugars, I'm not telling you what I think you should and shouldn't do with your diet so why are you commenting on here telling me it's a bad idea?
I would be okay with you telling me why sugar is good for me but if you don't give me legitimate feed back that can help me than I have no interest. So please tell me why is cutting sugar bad? How does my body gain anything from it? I eat fruit so I have natural sugars, but I don't understand why I shouldn't cut them out.
First off, calling anything with added sugars "crap" is extremely ignorant of nutrition as a whole.
I'll second this.
As I mentioned, I don't add sugar very often, but there are genuine reasons that someone might add a bit of sugar to a recipe and most often it adds very few calories and just a bit of taste. It doesn't transform the food from healthy to "crap." This is why the distorted focus on "sugar=evil" and not simply nutrition bothers me.
For example, I have a good Italian cookbook that does recommend a tsp of sugar in a red sauce. This is traditional, to cut acid. I don't think it's necessary if you add lots of veggies and I tend to be sensitive to sweet in my savory dishes and usually don't like it, so I've never done that, but if I did it wouldn't make a good sauce "crap." (Nor would it make much of a difference to the grams of sugar in a serving of the sauce.)
Similarly, I've played around with rhubarb sauces and really like tart, so I usually temper them only by cooking or with cherries or strawberries, but I've done rhubarb sauces in the past that used sugar and I don't see why adding a bit of sugar (after which there's still less sugar than in most fruit) would make any dish with them "crap."
I don't like oatmeal sweetened, but if that's how you like your oats, you shouldn't think adding a touch of sugar removes the nutrition.
There are various homemade BBQ and hot sauces (as well as commercial sauces) that use sugar in small quantities. Again, say you made a fish and veggies dish with some sauce--why "crap"? Not healthy anymore?
Smoked salmon usually uses a little sugar in the process -- not healthy as a result?
It's common to add a little bread to gazpacho--does that make what is typically a low cal vegetable-based (and delicious) soup "unhealthy," because there's a bit of sugar in the bread sometimes?
And, of course, a homemade apple or cherry pie will involve sugar. I can see why this should be eaten in moderation and after getting in good nutritious meals and within calories, but is it really "crap"? I am not offended if you want to call my pie such, but I wouldn't have said that to my grandma.
Finally, I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe on MFP (I don't make them often since I eat baked goods pretty sparingly). There are fewer grams of sugar in the cookie than in an apple. (The highest number of calories in the cookie come from butter, sugar is a relatively small contributor.) To say the "problem" with the cookie (if one thinks there is a problem) is sugar and ignore the overall make-up of the cookie seems to me misleading, and that's one reason I think this focus on sugar is really not a helpful one.
That said, like I said I did go without added sugar for a period of time and if you find it difficult you might as well experiment with it and maybe expand your horizon and see if it makes a difference to you. I would be open to the possibility that if you perceive a difference it's due to more whole-foods-based cooking and less highly processed stuff overall, and not simply sugar.
I apologize for using the word crap for my addictive for sugary foods, i just use that word often as don't think much of it. I understand what you mean, and I know I shouldn't think of sugar as an evil thing, but I still want to cut back on it but maybe not cut it completely out. I'll take your advice along with @AJ_G and I am glad you both took the time to reply. Thank you.
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Thanks, I do watch my calories along with sugar intake.The problem with added sugar is the calories . It's excess calories that leads to excess weight and associated health conditions
It's not the sugar per se unless you are diabetic / have a medical condition and even then it's tracking not elimination
So if you want to avoid adding sugar in order to cut your calories then cooking from fresh and reading package nutrition is one way ...although if you're doing that may as well just focus on the calories IMHO 0 -
Thanks lol I may have to try the Stevia drops, I don't think I've ever heard of that but I am a bit tired so that makes me forgetful lol. Thank you very much for the advicenvsmomketo wrote: »Paleo sites might be good for you to use. There's not much sugar added and the flours used are generally almond and coconut, which are lower in carbs and higher in protein. I've seen some really tastey paleo vegetable recipes like peppers stuffed with sausage and diced veggies (like onions and celery).
I find cooking extra so I can eat leftovers for another meal is helpful. Steak for dinner and then cut up steak on a spinach salad the next day. KWIM?
Sweetening with Stevia drops can be a good way to sweeten up a recipe without sugar. The drps are very sweet though. For example, I just need 1 drop in acup of coffee. I made coconut flour blueberry muffins from my kids the other day with about 25 drops of stevia. They said it was very sweet, and they are picky about me reducing tehir sugars. LOL
Good luck. I'm sure you'll have great success.
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Hmm people may tell you it's silly, i think it's awesome,I don't see how a ton of added sugar does anyone any good.
I think I don't eat added sugar at all, well there was this vegan iced cacao thing..but y aknow, I don't drink soda or juices or stuff,also I don't eat candies or cake and at home we haven't had sugar in aaaages cos mom is a diabetic and I don't think it's really necessary,and my aunt eats only junkish food,what a combo eh?
I'd go for steveia leaves,or agave syrup thingie if you do need to sweet something up.
When I want a sweet thing I eat some fruit0 -
Katzedernacht wrote: »Hmm people may tell you it's silly, i think it's awesome,I don't see how a ton of added sugar does anyone any good.
I think I don't eat added sugar at all, well there was this vegan iced cacao thing..but y aknow, I don't drink soda or juices or stuff,also I don't eat candies or cake and at home we haven't had sugar in aaaages cos mom is a diabetic and I don't think it's really necessary,and my aunt eats only junkish food,what a combo eh?
I'd go for steveia leaves,or agave syrup thingie if you do need to sweet something up.
When I want a sweet thing I eat some fruit
Thank you for the advice
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And, of course, a homemade apple or cherry pie will involve sugar. I can see why this should be eaten in moderation and after getting in good nutritious meals and within calories, but is it really "crap"? I am not offended if you want to call my pie such, but I wouldn't have said that to my grandma.
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A homemade apple pie need not involve sugar. Maybe there is a small amount in the refrigerator pie crusts I buy, but I often make apple pie with no added sweeteners, just cinnamon. And they are delicious!
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And, of course, a homemade apple or cherry pie will involve sugar. I can see why this should be eaten in moderation and after getting in good nutritious meals and within calories, but is it really "crap"? I am not offended if you want to call my pie such, but I wouldn't have said that to my grandma.
[/quote]
A homemade apple pie need not involve sugar. Maybe there is a small amount in the refrigerator pie crusts I buy, but I often make apple pie with no added sweeteners, just cinnamon. And they are delicious!
[/quote]
All of mine do (I make my own crusts--I consider a good homemade crust the crucial element in any good pie--and don't include sugar in them, though, just loads of butter). I seriously doubt that means that my diet is less healthy overall. (And I don't think they would be as good with no sugar at all, sorry, or at least they'd be a different sort of food item. But whatever floats your boat--I think it's kind of weird to switch a pie from "crap" to not based on whether it has some sugar, when there are far more calories from other sources in most pies (like butter or lard, for those into the lard pie crust thing, as some of my more intense baker friends are).)0 -
Bam! After my six month plateau, I dropped added sugar and my once a week fast food. Here is my weight loss from March 23, 2014 to present.
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blazincajun wrote: »Bam! After my six month plateau, I dropped added sugar and my once a week fast food. Here is my weight loss from March 23, 2014 to present.
Wow great job 0 -
PatriciaMcCamley wrote: »
Thanks lol I may have to try the Stevia drops, I don't think I've ever heard of that but I am a bit tired so that makes me forgetful lol. Thank you very much for the advicenvsmomketo wrote: »Paleo sites might be good for you to use. There's not much sugar added and the flours used are generally almond and coconut, which are lower in carbs and higher in protein. I've seen some really tastey paleo vegetable recipes like peppers stuffed with sausage and diced veggies (like onions and celery).
I find cooking extra so I can eat leftovers for another meal is helpful. Steak for dinner and then cut up steak on a spinach salad the next day. KWIM?
Sweetening with Stevia drops can be a good way to sweeten up a recipe without sugar. The drps are very sweet though. For example, I just need 1 drop in acup of coffee. I made coconut flour blueberry muffins from my kids the other day with about 25 drops of stevia. They said it was very sweet, and they are picky about me reducing tehir sugars. LOL
Good luck. I'm sure you'll have great success.
you can also grow your own and use the leaves for tea sweeteners. I have both the packets and the plant at my house0 -
Yes, cutting calories below maintenance will have that effect.blazincajun wrote: »Bam! After my six month plateau, I dropped added sugar and my once a week fast food. Here is my weight loss from March 23, 2014 to present.
I think 99% of the recipes for savory dishes you can find anywhere online or in a book won't have any added sugar. I certainly don't add sugar to grilled chicken, pan-seared pork, tacos, etc.
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PatriciaMcCamley wrote: »so in trying to eat absolutely no added sugars and I'm only on day three of this life style change and I don't have many good recipes that don't have any sugar.
There are a few I love like roasted eggplant and salsa, baked peppers, asparagus, seafood and stuff like that. I just want some more things to try out anyone have any good ideas or tips? Maybe some things I should try out that don't have added sugars (like some things to replace bread other than wraps).
Thank you.
Use recipe but don't put the sugar in0 -
PatriciaMcCamley wrote: »Lol yea follow a food challenge based on a terrible documentary that's based on bad science. That'll end well haha
I am simply cutting out added sugar, I titled this "fed up challenge" because I thought that it's similar to what I'm doing. Sugars are not benefiting my health so why keep them? I am not actually doing it as a challenge type thing, I am just wanting to get rid of sugars because I think I can benefit from not eating crap. There is no reason to comment on here with your negativity.
You don't have to cut out sugars, I'm not telling you what I think you should and shouldn't do with your diet so why are you commenting on here telling me it's a bad idea?
I would be okay with you telling me why sugar is good for me but if you don't give me legitimate feed back that can help me than I have no interest. So please tell me why is cutting sugar bad? How does my body gain anything from it? I eat fruit so I have natural sugars, but I don't understand why I shouldn't cut them out.
First off, calling anything with added sugars "crap" is extremely ignorant of nutrition as a whole.
To answer your question, cutting should only be done if it must be done. The reason for this is that restrictive diets are inherently troublesome. Unless you legitimately plan to completely avoid "added sugars" for the rest of your life, then don't restrict them now. What happens when you do that is that when you inevitably eat something sweet like a cookie or a brownie or chocolate, you will binge and you will binge hard. It happens to everyone that tries to eliminate sugar from their diet and it will happen to you. The amount of time it takes varies based on willpower but it will happen. You develop unhealthy eating habits and what started as a challenge becomes unhealthy. If you stop treating sugar like something that's unhealthy and start treating it like what it actually is (an extremely efficient fuel source) then maybe you might have a better relationship with it. Sugar is not bad, insulin is not bad. If you're eating at maintenance or in a deficit, sugar does not cause fat gain, it restores glycogen in the muscles and liver. As far as your natural sugars, do you really think they are different on a molecular level than "added sugars". Your body recognizes and responds to them in the same way.
The bolded part: really?? No, It doesn't happen to everybody; maybe it happened to you. I restricted sugar, including fruit, alcohol and dairy for six months and it reset me to good health. I am now much more mindful of these things when I do consume them. There has not been a single binge. Totally eliminating certain foods for a period of time has helped me observe how I feel with and without them. Don't let people tell you you have a messed up relationship with food just because you want to eliminate something, even if it's just for a couple of months.
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Katzedernacht wrote: »Hmm people may tell you it's silly, i think it's awesome,I don't see how a ton of added sugar does anyone any good.
I think I don't eat added sugar at all, well there was this vegan iced cacao thing..but y aknow, I don't drink soda or juices or stuff,also I don't eat candies or cake and at home we haven't had sugar in aaaages cos mom is a diabetic and I don't think it's really necessary,and my aunt eats only junkish food,what a combo eh?
I'd go for steveia leaves,or agave syrup thingie if you do need to sweet something up.
When I want a sweet thing I eat some fruit
Most people don't think a ton of added sugar is good, because it uses up all of their calories. However, a little added sugar goes a long way. I need to add ~3.5tsp of sugar for 2 whole pizzas. That comes out to a whopping 3.5 calories per slice. But, without the added sugar the yeast wouldn't activate and I wouldn't have wonderfully tasty crust.
Also, if you dislike High Fructose Corn Syrup, the very LAST thing you should be suggesting is Agave Nectar. HFCS is typically ~55% Fructose, 45% glucose (there are other versions like HFCS90 which is 90% Fructose). The reason people don't like HFCS is because it has more Fructose than regular sugar (Sucrose, which is 50%/50%). Agave Nectar is ~90% Fructose, 10% glucose. If you just don't like any additional sugar you shouldn't be suggesting any form of Fructose/Glucose sweetener.0 -
Recipes without added sugar are easy. Even if you also eliminate breads/pasta, still pretty easy.
Stew - meat, onions, root vegetables
Stir fry - same ingredients, cooked differently
Soup - same ingredients, cooked differently
Hummus and veggie sticks
Baked salmon with roasted vegetables
Grilled chicken with salad and roasted fruit for dessert
Gumbo
Chicken marsala over spaghetti squash
Roast turkey with baked sweet potatoes
Filey mignon topped with blue cheese crumbles and greek salad
Grilled swordfish, mango chipotle salsa and salad
Crab legs and sweet potato fries
Bell peppers stuffed tuna salad
omelets or fritatas0 -
If you are willing to bake your own bread, here is a recipe for a Ukrainian bread called Arnaut. If you like you can adjust the proportions of whole and white flour (I have gone all the way to full whole grain and it works just fine). I usually make the proof the night before, add the rest of the ingredients in the morning and kneed and bake when I get home from work, but you can do this much faster if needed.
Ingredients:
500 g flour plus extra for dusting (mix 150 g whole wheat and the rest white flour)
3 g yeast
8 g salt (you could go with less but it needs some to stop the yeast process)
water
Proof:
mix together 125 g flour, 250 g water and 3 g yeast with a whisk, cover the bowl with a cloth and leave somewhere warm for at least 4 hours (overnight works best).
Dough:
Add the rest of the flour, salt and around 125 g water (this will depend on the absorbency of your flour. You want the dough to be manageable but not dry. If it's too wet you can always add more flour while kneading). Mix everything really well together so that all your dry ingredients are wet. Now you have some options. If you want to bake it soon you can mix it again in 20 minutes, knead once in another 40, form into a ball and lay on your baking sheet to rise for another 60 minutes. If you are busy at work all day, you can just leave it someplace warm. The yeast will keep working the dough for you and develop better flavors IMO. When you get home, knead the dough and form into a ball, let rise for 60 minutes. either way, bake at 400 F for 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing and enjoy!
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