Sugar Free Roll Call

[Eloise]

Hey Turn... what I decided to do lately is write down everything I eat in an old fashioned diary for a while including the time.
What I quickly discovered is that I am eat about every 2 hours all day long. (Little me piggy). What I am eating is not the issue, it is the frequency.
That said, this little exercise has helped me a lot so I now try to stick to breakfast, lunch & dinner and evening snack.
I have to agree with NS on the calorie counting, don't we have enough to keep track of these days?

And I cannot complain about the last 2 pounds I want to loose because I didn't make much effort to rid myself of the first 18.
I think my body is just starting to even out after a year of no wine. Pretty quick if you look at the big picture I think.

[NoSugar]

Not only is calorie counting a pain, it doesn't seem reasonable to me that we can accurately balance energy intake and energy output. It would be as if we had to consciously regulate breathing. How would people have even evolved if we had to keep track of that?! As anyone who has tried knows, trying to keep track of calories in and out can consume most of your day! The calorie counts on packaged foods have a huge error variance and besides - the number is what you get when you burn the food in a bomb calorimeter. Our bodies are much more complex than that.

What matters in my opinion is the biochemical/hormonal environment that develops in response to the food we eat. If insulin and leptin (and probably other hormones) levels are high because of the foods being eaten and the body has become resistant to those hormones, a person cannot lose weight (almost) no matter how little they eat because the signals present are to store, not burn, fat. So a person with hundreds of thousands of calories on their body can't access if for energy if the body chemistry isn't right. So, the overweight or obese person feels real hunger in spite of the apparent abundance of energy they carry - they are literally starving in the face of abundance.

[NoSugar]

I came across this today:http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/3...-change-course
Reading stuff like this helps keep me on the track I want to be on. Hope you guys are doing well!

[Eloise]

Hey how are things NS? Turnagain?
I am doing fine avoiding sugar, feel so much better for it too. It really does take a long time to get the hang of this, worth it though!
Hope all is well!!

[NoSugar]

Hey, El, good to see you! I'm doing fine - trying to get my SIL into the cult at the moment :wink:...

[LilBit]

Hey, NS! Chiming in...I'm somewhere around Day 5 NS, I think. The reason I'm not sure is that there are a few things in my diet that raise some question marks:

Erythritol (plant-based sweetener). I only use a tsp of Erythritol in my coffee, and it's zero GI, but is it still technically a sugar?

Sweet potatoes. These are lower GI than regular potatoes, but are they allowed?

Unsweetened almond milk. I use this to make a smoothie with frozen bananas, unsweetened cocoa, and a few drops of vanilla extract/Stevia. It's so good -- like banana/chocolate ice cream.

Any thoughts on my new "vices?"

[NoSugar]

Hi, LilBit
Glad you're giving SF a try! The good news is the rules are a bit more flexible :smile:. You can experiment a bit and see what works for you. I personally don't use sweeteners because for me they keep the taste for "sweet" alive. This way, things like berries seem amazingly sweet on their own. Even cashews seem really sweet. Other people use sweeteners, honey, maple syrup, etc. It kind of depends on your goals. I eat sweet potatoes and other starchy veggies sometimes - just not tons or every day. If eating the things you listed help you not eat junky processed food and you feel fine, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Unlike with AL, even 80- 90% SF may be just fine for you. Take care, NS

[Ginger999]

NS, very informative article. I've been staying away from processed sugars but still enjoying some sweets made with honey or mable syrup. I just love my treat at the end of the day! I really enjoy an apple with almond butter for dipping too though.

[LilBit]

Thanks, NS. I notice that the small amounts of Erythritol that I use taste sweeter to me every day that passes, so I'm using less and less. Maybe I'll be able to wean myself off it entirely. It's mostly to take the bitter edge off my morning coffee, which they'll have to pry from my cold, dead hands, heehee. I like the 80-90% idea for sugar, but agree that if something tastes sweet, it gets that old reaction/craving going.

SF is definitely a worthwhile pursuit, especially if you're prone to ADD tendencies like me. Thank you for letting me ride along on the No Sugar Train. :victorious:

[NoSugar]

Maybe a little cream in your coffee to take the edge off?

[LilBit]

Yeah, I'm going non-dairy as part of my diet revamp. 'Have been experimenting with almond milk, soy milk, etc. but it's not the same. Coffee is Sacred. 'Can only defile it so much.

[NoSugar]

Some people use coconut cream. I cook with it but haven't tried it in coffee.

[Ginger999]

I use coconut milk and love it.

[Turnagain]

Popping in to say HI to all you sweet thangs! I'm doing really good on the NO processed sugar thing in my life....In the past month or so, I've had just one desert - a frozen yogurt bar that actually tasted...um....tasteless!

I will pop back in now and then....getting sugar out of my life has been a key part of the overall healing I've been doing. AL and sugar are one and the same in terms of the funadmental damage that's done to our system - I mean, all AL metabolizes as sugar, right?

Don't know how it works in other countries, but here in the US so many of us of a certain age were raised on processed sugar. Thinking back to my early wonder years, I can remember sitting in front of the TV on Saturday morning watching cartoons and eating handful after handful of Capn Crunch right out of the box. By the time the Bugs Bunny Variety Hour was over, I was one wound up wabbit with a belly ache like Sylvester the puddy tat after swallowing a flock of tweety birds!

I'm not expectin' overnight miracles here....but I am committed to putting in the effort and the time to let my body get better. I do appreciate the support we give to each other in this process.

Th-th-th-that's all folks!

[Eloise]

Nice to see the discussion and how folks are doing well.
Since I started baking with honey I do not have that constant self quetioning ' how am I doing?' because I really have eliminated the element of chance. if I want a cookie I have a honey cookie and usually just one or two.
I also do not second guess my decision or feel like I am missing out. I feel quit liberated actually!