Sugar has been making loud and sloppy tracks through my mind lately. I don't have a huge sweet tooth, but I do enjoy certain things....and other certain things too much to even bring them in the house.I admit that I have been dancing around with sugar for, ummm, a couple of years now. Dancing in this case = justifying, rationalizing, lots of buts when I do the aforementioned activities.
I am divided, conflicted, because:
1. I love it, and 2. My body hates it.
Ahhhh, the sweet treats that most of us indulge in now and then...a candy bar, a chocolate donut, circus peanuts, peanut butter cups, stuff like that. But, over the last 18 months I've noticed that whenever I eat something sweet like that, the enjoyment is pretty short lived. It doesn't take long before I end up feeling like I'm carrying around a giant bolder, or I just wanna curl up for a nap. Or, I get a bad headache. I've gotten to the point where the price just feels too high.
And, speaking of high prices, this leads to another topic heavy on my mind.
If you've been reading my blog for the last several weeks, you know that I have had my struggles with the scale. While I am getting stronger, building muscle no doubt, getting on the scale is like riding a roller coaster.
And, I'm getting discouraged.
I want off the ride.
And, I don't remember even buying this ticket.
I feel like the longer it takes me to get my weight down and under control, the higher the price I will pay with compromised health.
I'm not giving up, but am wondering what I'm doing wrong. The dips in weight bring their own brand of exhilaration only to be followed by the dreaded climb right back up the track. Two steps forward, one step back.
A friend of mine knew of my struggle and introduced me to the Jorge Cruise Belly Fat Cure program. Simply explained, Jorge is a sugar nazi!!! And, after reading the first couple of chapters of his book "The Belly Fat Cure", I understand why.
Jorge believes that we have waaaay too many grams of sugar in our daily diet (coming in the form of white flour found in lots of prepared food as well as many low fat foods), and that by limiting it, our cravings for copious amounts of both sugar and other carbs are calmed. He also believes that this is primarily where belly fat comes from, thus the name.
{Even if you are completely satisfied with the program you are following to lose weight (or maintain it), you owe it to yourself and your family to pick up this book. There is some really good information that I think everyone should have. Nobody is paying me to say this, either.}
For me, knowing how sugar already affects me, and since type 2 diabetes runs in my family, I have declared sugar as my new enemy. I'm thinking I might give Jorge's program the old college try.
If you've had any experience with this program, I'd love to hear about it. Or, if you have issues with sugar, what are you doing to keep it under control? According to many health experts, sugar is far more dangerous to our health than fat.
Committed more than ever,
Cheryl
As a kind of comment on only one aspect of sugar, we NEVER buy ice cream any more. We make it at home because it's easy and we can actually make HEALTHY ice cream, too. You can really feel GOOD about eating sweets!
ReplyDeleteWe either freeze some fruit (after chopping it up a little!) and then blend it together with raw- or almond- milk, with a few drops of SweetLeaf vanilla stevia, OR we go through the slightly-more complex method of heating a bunch of raw milk, eggs, a vanilla bean, and stevia (powdered) to make a really rich and delicious variety.
Personally, I'm to the point where I can only BARELY tell when stevia is used. In fact, using the fruit-method, you can't tell there's stevia at all (because, of course, the fruit is sweet to begin with).
In the end, you're pretty much eating a bunch of fruit or (good) milk and eggs. But it covers the sweet spot, and that's what it's all about.
I think that lots of added sugar is bad, but naturally occuring sugars can be okay in moderation. All carbsare ultimatly broken down to glucose, so to cut off all "sugar" would be impossible. Giving up the soda, cookies, cakes, sugary cereals and yogurt is a very good idea. An apple, sweet potato or whole grain slice of bread are good. I hope in reducing sugar, he isn't suggesting to leave out these foods as well.
ReplyDelete@PsychicLunch - Hubby has an ice cream maker along with a very cool book on all kinds of ice creams, sorbets, etc. Time to dig that out I think!
ReplyDelete@Pamela - The program is basically a proponent of high fiber and only consuming 15 grams of sugar & 120 grams of carbs a day. It does NOT eliminate them all, but I was surprised to learn that some veggies actually have a fair amount of sugar in them...like my all-time favorites, tomatoes and bell peppers! What do you think?
Before having the kids, I was following an eating program similar to the American Heart Assoc diet. I did not totally cut out sugar, as they suggested, cause my personal opinion was that other sweeteners aren't as good for me, taste horrid, and I wanted to adjust my lifestyle to a new normal--not just follow a diet plan till I was done with it, then scramble back to old habits. I used sugar in my coffee every morning, and 1-2 times a week, I'd have a small amt of something sweet--a dessert at a friend's house, or some chocolate milk.
ReplyDeleteIt was eye opening to me about 3-4 months into following this plan. I went on a weekend trip with a friend--and when we stopped for gas, we both had the munchies. I gave myself permission to grab a candy bar--but none of them looked good to me. I wandered around the store--munchies and all--but nothing excited me. I walked out with nothing. And as I walked to the car, I remembered the bag of apples I'd stashed behind my seat--and my mouth started salivating at the thought of a crisp, juicy apple! I laughed--I had permission to eat junk and nothing sounded good--but the apple was so exciting and delicious! I knew then that limiting sugar would also limit my desires for sugary things--limit my cravings to things that were good for me.
Now, I am trying to get back there, trying to eat healthy and live healthy and be healthy. One step at a time!
BTW--YAH for 14 lbs lost!!!!!!!! HOW EXCITING!!!!!! I'd give my left foot for 14 lbs gone! ;) one step at a time.....
Love ya!
Jen
So excited to see how your journey with BFC goes! The plan has really worked for me and is really a way of life and not a diet. It makes SO much sense and is so easy to do once you have a few low sugar, super high fiber items. Good luck!
ReplyDelete@Jen, I LOVE that story! I think its very interesting how when we set our minds just how strong and resolute we are.
ReplyDelete@Amber, So glad to meet you and explore further BFC! It makes sense to me too, and I know I can use some work on getting fiber into my daily diet. I'm sure I'll be seein' you around!