I used to adhere to the common phrase, “Everything in moderation.” I don’t anymore, because I’ve found through personal experience it isn’t true and doesn’t work! One of the most significant “aha moments” I’ve had in the last couple of years is that sugar is enemy #1! The day I came to the realization that my health is far more important than indulging in sugary desserts, I began to make real and lasting progress.
One of the more frustrating things in life, for me, is that not everyone gains weight really fast from eating copious, or in my case – small, amounts of sugar. I don’t really know why for sure, but I suspect it is due to genetic make-up. Some people are just built to burn through whatever calories come their way. Problem is, in the case of sugar, it really doesn’t matter whether you pack on the pounds from eating it. If too much is consumed, it will eventually evidence itself in other forms, including: dental carries, loss of bone density (which is really much the same thing), diabetes, heart disease and cancer (blanket statement alert!). I know not everyone (maybe not even most health officials) attributes the last three things on that list to sugar consumption, but in my view they ought to at least consider it as a possibility.
At this point I could go off on a tangent about all the evils of sugar, but I’ll reserve that for a slightly more scholarly future post on sugar and other sweeteners. For now I’ll focus on what I KNOW to be true: when I don’t eat sweeteners of any kind (save for small amounts of uncoooked honey and pure maple syrup) my appetite and my weight are stable. When I had lots of extra weight to lose, cutting sugar caused my weight to start dropping quickly. The more I cut the faster it dropped.
I’m kind of an obsessive “weigh-er.” I weigh myself just about every morning and every night. It’s kind of just a habit now, but I initially started doing it a while ago because I wanted to better understand how my weight responded to various things I ate. The one predominant thing I’ve noticed is that when I eat sugar, other sweeteners, things made with white flour or white rice, I gain several pounds the next day. Granted, I gain weight more quickly than the average person to be sure, but if this sounds anything like your struggles, I’d highly recommend you cut as much sugar as possible out of your diet as fast as possible. You will not regret doing so!
If your consumption of sugar and other sweeteners is quite high, then this is going to be difficult…but look on the bright side, if you can knock sweeteners out of your diet, you’ll be one BIG step towards success! Also, you are not alone if your consumption of sugar is high. Here is a chart that shows the average consumption of both sugar and high fructose corn syrup over the last 30 years. The chart is actually provided by a major maker of HFCS, and they think the stuff is awesome. I couldn’t disagree more, so I’m not going to provide the link. Their website doesn’t need any undue traffic. HFCS is of the devil (IMO)…but, alas I digress. Here’s the graph:
One thing to be aware of when reading this graph is the numbers here take into account the amount of sugar and HFCS sold, but not necessarily the amount actually consumed. It is difficult to estimate how much soda, for example, gets thrown away after getting a refill and not finishing it at McDonald’s. Basically, food that is thrown away is the wild card. Still, most people tend to finish desserts…at least I do anyway! Bottom line: we are consuming a lot more sweeteners than we used to and that isn’t good for our health. Another statistic that I’ve read in numerous places is that the average American consumes about 1/2 a cup of sugar a day! The American Heart Association is now recommending 6 teaspoons for women and 9 for men as a maximum (ONE 12 oz. can of soda has about 8 tsp!)! I recommend you stop eating it altogether. It simply isn’t worth the health problems it causes. Still, I’ll take a drastic reduction if you are willing to at least try that.
Reducing sweetener intake is pretty difficult. There are many obstacles to overcome: 1) It’s prevalence in most processed foods 2) Addiction to the “ups” 3) Constant presence in social situations like work, parties, etc. 4) It tastes good 5) Saying “goodbye” to some of our favorite foods 6) Getting through the first couple of weeks without it is quite difficult…just to name a few.
The benefits of reducing sweetener intake, per my personal experience, are also numerous: 1) Saying “goodbye” to the seesawing number on the scale 2) Seeing the number on the scale plummet faster than you thought possible 3) Gaining a stable appetite that makes it easy to turn down dessert 4) Retraining the taste buds to prefer the natural sugars in things like honey and fruit 5) Saying “hello” again to produce. 6) No longer having to deal with the “ups” or the “downs” 7) Feeling better in every way about yourself…and the list could go on and on. Try it, you’ll see.
Here are the steps I recommend you take. You might need to try one per week and focus on making it a habit if you are in need of doing all of this:
1) Stop drinking soda. Just stop. Even the “diet” stuff is bad for you. Studies show that people who drink diet sodas are at least as heavy as those who drink regular. That’s likely because drinking diet leads most people to think they can now indulge in other sweet things since they “saved the calories.” The reality is diet sodas are crammed with chemicals, not to mention drugs (caffine) that are designed to make you want to drink one after another. Tell yourself it is okay if you never drink one again. You don’t need to be loyal to your favorite brand. They don’t care about your health. They care about making money…even if it kills you…and it will. Drink water instead. You will be so shocked at how much better you will feel if you make this one simple decision! I own stock in Pepsi and I still want you to stop drinking it!
2) Stop drinking fruity drinks from the juice aisle. If it didn’t start out in the fridge at the store, just don’t drink it. I don’t care if it is V8…just don’t. Look at the ingredients on anything in that aisle. Not good. Even if it did start out in the fridge, make sure there is no sweeteners in the ingredients. Best not to buy store bought juice. Make your own if you instist on drinking it. Better yet, stick to water and eat the actual fruit!
3) Go through your cupboards, fridge and pantry. Read ALL the labels, even the ones you presume to be healthy. See how many of the foods have the following caloric sweeteners as ingredients: white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn sweetener, fruit juice concentrate, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, glucose, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar,and syrup. Also look for all the artificial sweeteners: saccharin (Sweet & Low), aspartame (Nutrasweet or Equal), acesulfame-K, sucralose (Splenda) and neotame. Surprised how many things contain multiple sugar sources? You’d do yourself a huge favor if you throw all these foods away. Don’t worry about the waste. Worry about your waist and more importantly your health. At least begin the slow process of replacing the products you use one at a time with products that don’t have so much sugar. If any of these ingredients show up in the first 2 ingredients on the list, then you really should consider throwing it away. At the very least, avoid buying it again!
Sugar really is that bad and it really is difficult to eliminate it from your diet. The good news is that once you do, you’ll feel a TON better than you ever thought possible. Trust me, I’ve been on both sides.
Please feel free to open a discussion with comments on this subject. If you comment on facebook, I’d appreciate it if you also click through to the actual blog and leave the comment there too!
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