I found the basics of the list below somewhere, but can’t remember where,  so thank you to the source whoever you may be  I’ve also added some of my own since as Sugaraholics we have some special concerns.

I found that as soon as I quit weighing often and tracking my food most days, I would begin to get in trouble.  Weighing regularly means that you must keep in mind the nature of the 1-3 pound weight fluctuation on any given day and look at the overall trend. For instance, if I eat cured ham, a high salt food, I will easily weigh 3-4 pounds more the next morning. Most people weight about 2-3 pounds more in the evening that first thing in the morning.  So, to avoid becoming a slave of the scale, remember it can be affected by what you eat, the environmental pressure, and many other things.  For me, the scale is a tool, and each morning I step on my scale, it is a reminder of what I have worked hard to achieve and what I want to continue to do.

Tracking my food is also essential for me. I have a hearty appetite, even when I’m sick; the only times I have not wanted to eat were the very few times when I was depressed about something serious, and when I get an upset stomach.  I suppose having a good appetite is a good thing in the grand evolutionary scheme of things, but for someone who has to watch every bite that goes in, it can mean I easily can eat more than I need without really over-eating as most people understand it.  So entering my food and watching the counts of calories, carbs, protein, fat mount up, reminds me that while I might enjoy eating three ounces of nuts, in order to lose or maintain I can only eat one ounce.

Also, my regular tracking shows me the potential problems, like foods that I need to keep an eye on; for instance, if I start eating too much of a particular food that may create cravings, and the triggers vary for each person. Recently, I noticed that I was adding carrots far more than I ever had before, and since carrots are fairly carb rich for people like me, I have to remember to use them as a little flavoring, but not allow the calories-carbs to build up in using them. Lots of people get into this with 80% or more dark chocolate, which is low sugar, but can still create cravings for carb sensitive people.

You might want to compile your own list of things you know you need to do, and you can modify it as you go along.  The one thing that seems absolutely certain is that the main reason people fail to maintain their weight loss on paleo-low carb diets is that they gradually go back to the habits that got them over-weight and/or unhealthy in the first place.  Stephen Gullo called in the FQ Principle, when first the Frequency, then the Quantity, of problem foods increases.  Having a few tips under your belt means you won’t fall into that trap.

Yours in the on-going work,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Weight loss & maintenance success tips:
Avoid sugars, starch, artificial sweeteners
Weigh daily                                                                                                                                     Know calorie & carb counts
Journal food (I’m a fan of Livestrong.com)                                                                    Weigh/measure food
Learn portion sizes
Nurture support (spouses/partners/kids are very important)
Exercise for good blood flow to brain and for muscle strength
Be accountable                                                                                                                                Don’t make excuses
Persistence is key
Envision your goals
Positive mindset
Make better choices
Maintain motivation
Exercise for better health- mind and body
Be passionate to lose
Think thin
Practice better habits like no eating while watching TV.
Choose health over immediate gratification
Make health and weightless a priority                                                                                     Remember you want and deserve to be healthy, lean, and fit.

I took myself off for a much needed short retreat in order to recharge my brain, mind, spirit, self; i.e., the whole me.  For years I was unable to get away for “me time” though I strongly felt the need for it. Now with just my husband and myself at home, and with his support, I can go off to the lakeside cabin in the Poconos and live in great simplicity, spend my days free of any demands of work, house, family, community.  I often use a portion of this time for a few days of fasting* to clean out the debris accumulated over the long portion of my life when I was ingesting far too many pesticides, herbicides, and of course the ever present sugars.  I grew up among orchards where DDT was heavily in use, and fasting is one way of helping to eliminate such toxic substances from the body. So for a week I had only mineral water, and weak green tea, and felt the freedom I’ve come to enjoy in not having any time spent on food. I do admit that this is far easier when in a place where there is no food, but I have done several short fasts at home with no problem.

My point in this post, though, is not about the fasting, but the reflection time I had which gave me a chance to really look back at the last few years and review the path I’ve been on as my body was changing so dramatically, and all the hard work at regaining control.

In general I think our need for control, or sense of control, is often mainly a form of self-deception, but when it comes to one’s body and health, then exerting control seems to me a very good thing. I am the only person who puts food into my mouth, or sends me to exercise, or to do most things. As I have written before, my most challenging times were when I listened to the people saying things like: have some cookies-ice cream-pasta, etc, life is too short, enjoy it; being too strict is a set up for failure; you have to have carbs for good health; and other such platitudes in support of the SAD status quo. I learned that this was really about having the deprivation mindset, and, as long as I felt deprived, I continued to try to eat “just a little” then suffer the devastating consequences.

During my retreat, as I read and wrote, I reflected that the biggest achievement for me in this area of health was accepting that my brain/body react to sugars-starch-most artificial sweeteners just like an alcoholic’s brain/body react to alcohol, and no one would be so stupid as to tell an alcoholic that a little is okay, or that life is too short to not have some champagne or a highball occasionally.  Once I had that as a given, it became my security, then my certainty that finally I had both the knowledge and the tools to get on with my life and not have constant cravings interfering with my days, and the constant struggle with weight. What freedom!

Socrates said that the greatest lesson in life for any person is to “know thyself.”  I personally believe this is the greatest spiritual lesson, and it is also the greatest practical lesson for how to live life more fully. I feel healthier and happier and more productive now now than at almost any time in my life.  Life is once again truly joyful, for I don’t every day get up and look in the mirror at what seemed my greatest failure, and the one that was apt to lead me to an early death if it continued unchecked.

The Buddhists teach that our suffering comes from desire or attachment to things that we cannot have, but they also teach that we are not exempt from trying to learn the source and nature of our condition, be it physical or mental.  My life will always have plenty of ups and downs, but at least I don’t have to go through it with a foggy brain, an overweight body, and that deeply felt sadness that I was not living as fully as I might.

Well, I could go on, but mainly I want to encourage anyone reading this that whatever supposed deprivation some people might think I have in terms of food, I have so much more in terms of feeling good about myself again. I finally don’t have to worry about the food part any more; I just do what works for me. That’s enough.

Yours on the path,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

*Note: Fasting, as in water only, should only be done after you learn something about it, not just on a whim, for then you will understand the physical processes, and also enjoy it more for understanding the benefits. Weight loss is not normally one of the benefits, though, since the metabolism is lowered during the fast, and though a person will lose about a pound a day, as soon as you begin to eat, even if you are careful and eat well, most people will quickly regain the weight. I do know of a couple people who lost weight and kept if off by maintaining a very strict low calorie, low carb diet for many weeks after. But the main value of a fast is the cleansing and giving the digestive system a rest.

Gary Taubes wrote an article* for the New York Time Sunday Magazine, 10/2/11, on artificial sweeteners, though he did not address the most prevalent in soft drinks, aspartame, and concludes he prefers stevia as the one natural alternative. I don’t disagree as to their safety, but like many others, the super sweet nature of the artificial sweeteners can be a trigger for those of us who are extremely insulin resistant, hypoglycemic, or hyperinsulinemic. I know my own cravings markedly reduced when I gave up the artificial sweeteners. As mentioned in previous posts, with sweeteners at 200 to 600 times sweeter than sugar, our brain is getting the message that loads of calories will be forthcoming, and when they don’t come, then cravings only increase. If I ever use artificially sweetened foods or drinks, I make sure there are plenty of fats and protein to give the satiation the sweet is promising.
Again, each of us has different tolerances, and if you can use artificial sweets without cravings developing, then that’s great for you. Same for sugars, all but high fructose corn syrup which is one sweetener no one should consume who has weight issues, or wants to avoid them.
* http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/10/02/magazine/29mag-food-issue.html?scp=1&sq=food%20and%20drink,%20Times%20magazine,%20October%202,%202011&st=cse#/health

Below is a recently published study on fructose-sugar consumption with the link to other studies that are in the U.S. Library of Medicine in brackets at the end. (For more information on sugar consumption go to this post: https://sugaraholics.com/2011/07/13/sugar-is-ravaging-our-population/)

This is, by the way, a very large study.  For all that the closing comments say that the consumption of the sugar fructose–to the tune of over a third of sugar consumed–cannot be conclusively linked to metabolic syndrome, etc., this is the nature of scientific studies to say what they learned without claiming too much since that is practically impossible in humans anyway. It took decades of suits to finally condemn cigarettes as cancer causing simply because there was no way to absolutely prove that the people did not have some predisposition for lung cancer since there are some few people who get lung cancer who never smoked. Despite the fact that lung cancer went from being a very rare occurrence to one of the major diseases as smoking increased. But people knew smoking was bad without a study; it was clear to anyone who did smoke that sucking super-heated smoke into your lungs wasn’t a good idea, and that nicotine is highly addictive.

So, as I read the study, the main point is that humans who for most of our human history got a very small amount of refined sugars or starches (and no artificial sweeteners!), are now consuming over a third of calories in sugars. And—they are looking purely at the sugar fructose, not the other sugars and carbohydrates like grains that are sugar in the body.

If I take a look at my diet from my 20s, I know that I would have fit neatly into this study, the difference being that HFCS was just then being introduced and not the ubiquitous additive it is now. While I was still a normal weight, I was paving the road to eventually getting overweight and developing hypoglycemia and insulin resistance. Thank goodness I learned about Atkins or I have no doubt that by now I would have been diabetic.  I ate cereal with milk aka sugar with sugar, lots of bread aka sugar, French fries aka sugar, lots of burgers aka mostly sugar and protein, daily desserts, usually cookies, cakes, pies aka fat and sugar—and more, with sugar nearly always prominently in the meals. The only bad habit I didn’t have was soda, mainly because I didn’t get it much growing up and didn’t develop a strong liking for it. When I got into my 30s-40s it was the “heart healthy” whole grains much promoted by Jane Brody, et al, which meant that I ate even more sugars as grains, but with a lot less fat and protein—turns out as Gary Taubes has so beautifully shown us to have been a very bad idea.

If you haven’t already done so it might be a good idea to think about how much sugar you did eat or still eat, or how much your children are consuming. We didn’t get into this obesity epidemic with eating habits that are good; we got here with an ever increasing amount of sugars in virtually all our foods.

Yours in learning,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Food Chem Toxicol. 2011 Aug 25. [Epub ahead of print]

Fructose and non-fructose sugar intakes in the US population and their associations with indicators of metabolic syndrome.

Sun SZ, Anderson GH, Flickinger BD, Williamson-Hughes PS, Empie MW.

Source

Office of Compliance and Ethics, Archer Daniels Midland Company, 1001 North Brush College Road, Decatur, IL 62521, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Relationships of sugar intakes with indicators of metabolic syndrome are important concerns for public health and safety. For individuals, dietary intake data for fructose and other sugars are limited.

METHOD:

Descriptive statistics. The data from 25,506 subjects, aged 12-80yr, contained in the NHANES 1999-2006 databases were analyzed for sugar intakes and health parameters.

RESULTS:

Dietary fructose was almost always consumed with other sugars. On average, fructose provided 37% of total simple sugar intake and 9% of energy intake. In more than 97% of individuals studied, fructose caloric contribution was lower than that of non-fructose sugars. Fructose and non-fructose sugar intakes had no positive association with blood concentrations of TG, HDL cholesterol, glycohemoglobin, uric acid, blood pressure, waist circumference, and BMI in the adults studied (aged 19 to 80yr, n=17,749).

CONCLUSION:Daily fructose intakes with the American diet averaged approximately 37% of total sugars and 9% of daily energy. Fructose was rarely consumed solely or in excess over non-fructose sugars. Fructose and non-fructose sugar ordinary consumption was not positively associated with indicators of metabolic syndrome, uric acid and BMI. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21889564]

Sugar is Ravaging our Population

Tba

Stress has been written about extensively as one of the major causes of illness and it is also one of the major causes of sugar cravings, and over-eating in general, since when we have a lot of stress our bodies are telling us to give some relief. Relief can be rest, something many of us don’t get enough of, or it can be in heightened cravings for food, especially sweets and starches that give us a quick lift in energy.  Dopamine seems to be the key, for it rises or falls accordingly as we have more or less stress, be it real or perceived.

I live on the east coast and recently we had to deal with the ravages of Hurricane Irene; while we are about twenty five miles from the shore, just the concern over high winds, downed trees, etc, created quite a lot of stress.  In my area power was off for two days, and for thousands is still off, which means a whole host of problems like inability to cook, keep food in freezers from melting, etc. I’m in the country, on a well, so no water. Fortunately, with the good forecasting, we filled our tubs with water and could handle most household concerns.

Stress, both real and self-imposed, is a major problem for those who are sugaraholics, for all people under stress have to deal with problems of one sort or another. Sleep is a major, since it often goes out the door with high stress; anger management is another effect; increased anxiety is the one that usually leads to our desire for comfort foods.

The long and short of it is to recognize if you are under unusual stress. One confounding issue is that stress can be caused by the very same things identified as symptoms, so a person can get in a self-perpetuating cycle of stress related symptoms.  Lack of sleep stresses the body which causes the body to react by further inhibiting sleep; a real catch-22.

If you find yourself repeatedly giving in to cravings, look to what may be stressing in your life. Deal with that, and often the cravings will go away.  I’m still working on this one myself, since like many people I’m a past master of worrying about this and that, regardless of my ability to change things. I try to meditate and find time to get away to myself, and recommend this to anyone who is experiencing a lot of stress. A walk, listening to music, engaging in a hobby, and so on; these are all great stress relievers.

Just remember, that eating sugar-starch-artificial sweeteners will only increase your stress since most of us immediately have guilt over such responsive eating episode.

Working the plan and believe the plan will work for me.

Yours,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

My summer is proving to be very busy and I am not as diligent with this blog, but then I note all my favorite blogs seem to be in the same boat. We are in summer mode, a generally carefree time when we enjoy the great, warm weather; when we get out to go to visit the local sites, the beach, or visit family and friends we don’t see during the school year, and so forth. I know my life functions around the school year calendar even though my children are grown, for that is how most of our society operates. Summer is high season for doing all the things we can’t once the school year begins; which affects not only those with children, but those of us without children or whose children have officially fledged.

What with vacations, quick trips here and there, the summer becomes both busy and challenging to those of us sugaraholics who struggle with all the obvious and hidden sugars to be found in the summertime foods. Fruit tends to be a big challenge for me since fruit we were told ad nauseum is good for you. But for those whose hypothalamus goes into high gear at any kind of sugar, too much fruit can upset the best laid plans of even the best of dieters.  Desserts proliferate in all seasons, but the summer heat brings out the trickier sort, like ice cream, which, though good if homemade or of a very low sugar variety like the So Delicious coconut milk kind, can still upset the balance and cause a lot of cravings.

The heat is also a factor for many since it can be enervating, and when we are in a low mood we are always more vulnerable; which is also part of the problem with alcohol.  That cooling lite beer, gin and tonic, chilled white wine, or scotch and soda lowers our mood and makes us more susceptible to indulgences we will soon regret.

My best strategy is to accept that I will sometimes want my long time favorite ice cream, so instead of trying to banish the thoughts of it, I envision getting it, enjoying it for the few moments, then—and this is the critical point—imagining how I will feel after I eat it, for I always feel the same, unhappy, bad experience after I eat what I know will give me even more cravings, and interfere with my goal to lose and keep off excess fat.

The summertime blues can be episodic or for other reasons be a regular phenomenon, but it need not keep us from abiding by our desire to not give in to the foods that we know will only make us blue-er still.  This is the best of times to get out for a quick walk, a bike ride, an afternoon at the park, etc. Take advantage of the options the summer affords, and remember: You will never regret a sugary food you do not eat.

Off for a walk………

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Food asceticism is among rising tide of ideas about how to be free of the sugar-starch-artificial sweetener demons. Food asceticism develops out of the notion that our taste buds are in effect being overly stimulated by the high level of tastiness; so, we are being unnaturally clued to over-eat in a way primitive humans would not. Let’s face it, raw or poorly cooked meat that is unseasoned with so much as salt, and roots and berries that were very low in starch or sugar compared to foods we eat nowadays, would not have been nearly as stimulating to the primitive region of the brain that governs cravings.  Of course, to them it would have been tasty no doubt, but the triggers would have been far less excited compared to our modern brains. We who have been on a steady diet of highly sweetened and seasoned foods since before birth now have a high need for those stronger, deeper tastes.

The idea then behind food asceticism is to limit the strong seasonings and flavors to retrain the brain. When I first thought about this I wanted to reject it, but as I considered this idea further, I realized that I certainly don’t crave many sweet or starchy foods, or plain sugar water–though if we keep taking in such a substance we will learn to like it according to Cornell food scientist and author of Mindless Eating, Professor Brian Wansink. Still the thought of eating something with low flavor is not appealing. I have a friend, by way of contrast, who likes what I consider very bland foods compared to the spicy, rich flavors I’ve always enjoyed. Still, for most of us, meat without salt is pretty bland, as are most vegetables, and many foods would not be so appealing without their load of salt, spices, sugar, sweeteners.

Food asceticism is about deliberately toning down the number of foods one eats, and the savory-sweet-sour-hot-unami type flavorings or tastes.  I have decided to work on this for a while, since I still have a few pounds I’d like to lose—thanks to a couple weeks of vacation!—and do believe the simplicity of a few basic foods, lightly seasoned might have merit.

If you, like me, have always counted on highly flavored foods, you might want to consider this to help lose some weight.  I see this as a temporary goal, for food should be enjoyed, but if I can learn to enjoy my food with a bit less of the strong flavors so much the better.

The way I understand it, we will crave less if the food is less strongly flavored. Whether this is true I don’t know, but it does have the ring of truth about it. Consider the foods you most want when you have binged. Chances are good that you think of the flavor more than the texture, though some textures are appealing. Some people love smooth and creamy foods, while others like crunchy, sharp foods (this is me).  I think of brownies with walnuts, one of my long time favorite sweet foods, but I never liked brownies without walnuts since that seemed to be a “weaker” taste, and I liked the crunch of the nuts. So I’m making a list of my former favorite binge foods and making notes of what made them so appealing to me. Also, this relates to how we combine foods; I never wanted Oreos unless I had a glass of milk. So was I craving the milk or the Oreos? My belief is that the milk was a kind of transport for the Oreos, and enhanced their flavor. Of course, the milk also doubled the sugar load!

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you view flavors and the idea of food asceticism as a tool to break addiction to sugar-starch-artificial sweeteners.

Yours in search for answers,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Blog post 7/6/11 (somehow deleted this, so reposting)

When President Roosevelt developed what was then known as Infantile Paralysis, or polio, there was a lot of attention drawn to what was a widespread disease, and many researchers devoted untold hours to finding a cure for that terrible disease which caused varying levels of paralysis in mostly children. Jonas Salk was the physician researcher came up with the vaccine that many children remember being inoculated with in the 1950s.

This came to mind when a friend of my spouse who is morbidly obese was arguing with my lean spouse who does primal/paleo eating as I do. While my spouse is not the sugaraholic I am, he knows that he will begin to want those foods if he starts eating them, and he lost more than thirty-five pounds getting off the sugars, starches, artificial sweeteners along with me. His friend, I’ll call him Bob, believes in the calories-in-calories-out false theory, about what causes weight gain or loss, so well debunked by Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat, along with Mark Sisson, Mark Harris, and many others. Why does Bob hold on to what so clearly fails for him time and again; he is a Weight Watchers rerun. Having heard for years what he orders at their weekly breakfast meeting tells me that he can’t let go of his childhood food loves.

Bob is convinced, for this is what he wants to believe, that pancakes, fruit, bread, and all manner of high starch and sugar foods are fine as long as he eats egg substitutes and avoids fats. He has a kind of infantile paralysis that does not let him move forward. He doesn’t want to read or hear anything that will change his mind, though he weighs nearly 300lbs on a 5’10” frame.

The sad part that is most bothersome for me in this is that when polio was raging through the country, no amount of money or resources was held back in order to find a cure. Now, though, when diabetes has doubled world wide since 1980, we find there is very little money for research on various foods or diets that is not being provided by the big food conglomerates who only accept what supports their ends. Very little independent money is available to researchers to get anything like independent results. We need to get past this fund crunch, for it was mostly American tax dollars that found cures like polio, smallpox, antibiotics like penicillin, etc. Our health care system is being heavily burdened by the diseases of over-weight and diabetes, and something will eventually have to give.

I have my areas of infantile paralysis, too, but they have more to do with liking fire flies, and watching reruns of Bewitched. Food is something we should remember is medicine, fuel, and not just comfort. However, while I no longer eat the foods I once thought of as childhood comfort foods, I now know that what I eat is truly good for me, and that is its own mature kind of comfort.

Ever learning,

Nan aka Sugarbaby