Feel free to add me. I was sleeved 10/5/16

Sugar and carbs are not all bad, and not all alcohol turns to sugar.

Yes, everyone needs to limit their sugar and carb intake for health. There are so many diets, and such a variety of options that it's important to figure out what's best for your body. I will absolutely agree that too much of either makes me feel lethargic, bloated and gross. Sugars, I try to keep as low as possible. I try to only eat natural sugars (fruits and veggies). I will use artificial sweeteners, but not often. I was never a big "sweets" person, so that's really not an issue for me. Carbs, if I go under 50g a day, I feel horrible. I keep them between 60 - 75 grams most days. On days I'm running, I bump that up to a max of 100.

Alcohol. It is a macronutrient the body does not need. It has seven calories per gram. There are several problems with alcohol. About 20% is absorbed through the stomach. So, right off the bat, your body is getting 1.4 calories per gram consumed. The other 80% is absorbed in the small intestines. The liver knows that alcohol is a toxin and prioritizes the filtering of it. In doing so, it's ~500 other duties get delayed, including the metabolism of fats, carbs and proteins; meaning they end up getting stored for later usage.

All alcohol is *not* converted to sugar. Distilled alcohols have no carbs, it is not processed into sugars. The problem is as stated above, plus a few more things. Most people mix in sugary drinks with their alcohol, so you have the calories and carbs (sugars) with those. Plus, while drinking, people tend to graze and don't always make the best decisions. Alcohol that does have carbs, is a double whammy.

I'm putting all this in, not to be bitchy or argumentative, but to make sure information is out there.

Preaching to the Choir....

I remember going to a seminar on weight loss and hearing the scientific evidence of how our brains operate on sugar and how close it is to that of a brain on certain drugs! Processed sugar (not natural) is a drug and it is probably why obesity is so rampant in the US and growing in the world.

I know for me, like many of you, when I eat sugar, I feel bad. I feel tired, foggy, etc... it is just plain BAD for me. Right now because I have the sugar out of my system, I am not craving it right now... I never want to go back. I am afraid to even have the one taste because I fear where it could lead me... and so I am not eating it now. I have been, however incorporating berries and fruit back in my world... slowly (I just got the go ahead for raw fruits and veggies) and I look forward to the continued learning of good solid natural eating.

If you ever have a chance check out Dr. Hyman and Diabesity....

http://www.anewdayanewme.com/dr-mark-hyman-seven-steps-to-reverse-diabesity/

I saw him on TV and was convinced it was my problem! Just my two cents!

@Elyseinchi, I'm fully on-board with the "sugar is evil" train. Do yourself a favor, don't get started on processed sugar if you can avoid it. It will suck you back in. Around the holiday's, a cookie here & there turned into me craving sweets. I manage to control it for the most part, but find myself thinking about it in what I consider an unhealthy manner. My wife brought home some of those Caramel Cadbury Eggs and last night I couldn't resist eating one even though I wasn't even hungry.

I have no doubt whatsoever that sugar acts like a drug in your brain. It also has many of the same physiological effects as drugs on your body such as feeling tired, foggy, etc. Coming down from sugar has many similarities to people coming down from drugs.

And it's funny how eating natural sugar such as fruits doesn't create the same effect as processed sugar. Makes you wonder what they are doing to refined sugar, corn syrup and other sweeteners that makes them so addictive. Hmmm....