Lose weight the fun way.

Posted on March 27, 2015

Sugar! There's songs about sugar, people are called Sugar, places are named Sugar (like Sugar Grove). Sugar! Tons has been written about it and its virtues and its vices. I read a statistic a few years ago that the average American consumes 100 POUNDS per year per person. I remember thinking I don't eat that much sugar: I didn't drink soda pop, I didn't put sugar in my coffee or sprinkle it on my food, I didn't eat much candy. What I didn't realize is how much sugar I was eating in my "healthy" and "natural" foods, disguised in words ending in "ose", or with labels saying "No added sugar". My cereal, my yogurt, my salad dressings, fruit juices, even canned/jarred products like soup and spaghetti......ALL CHOCKFUL OF SUGAR. So I thought I wasn't eating much sugar, only to discover that I was consuming it in major ways in my "healthy" choices.

I'm still learning about sugar and its adverse impact on me. Just this week, I looked on the back of the Chobani greek yogurt (which my husband prefers) to see it had 16 grams of sugar in it, which surprised me. (I was glad I had switched to FAGE plain greek yogurt). I wandered through my grocery store just looking at foods to see what the sugar content was on products that sounded healthy, natural or organic. Stonyfield Organic fat-free yogurt french vanilla had 25 grams of SUGAR in it. Ocean Spray 100% cranberry juice had 36 grams of sugar in one cup. Smart Start Strong Heart cereal had 14 grams in a cup. Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup had 13 grams of sugar and a ton of salt. If a product said fat-free or lite, it was usually stuffed full with sugar.

SO....for the next two weeks, I'm focusing on eating foods that are real, unprocessed, and without sugar and salt. Any sugar I eat will come from fruit only. It's not about depriving myself, it's about eating foods that are good for me, that provide fuel and energy, that go through my digestive system well, and that taste good. It's about changing my taste buds to prefer foods without sugar. It's about removing the triggers that cause me to want to binge eat (and yes, sugar is a major trigger for me). Hopefully, as a bonus to eating healthy and well, I will some good results on the scale, too.

Care to join me in cutting out the sugar by eating real, unprocessed foods? Give it a try with me. I can change what I crave, especially with help from my friends.

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Natalove

03/27/2015 1:41PM

I know, right! I've quit buying "low-fat" items because they're loaded with sugar. I rather eat fatty things, like some REAL mayo with my boiled egg from time to time. (15g of sugar less than the low fat yoghurt mayo one! WHAT) I buy raw veggies for the whole week and use seasonings sparingly. I didn't completely steer away from sugar (I use honey and agave syrup in my oatmeal and I sometimes binge on fruits), but sticking to 90% veggie diet helps tremendously. I will definitely reward myself with some jelly beans this weekend though! It's been too long!

Sally B and Travis like this comment.

Sally B.

03/27/2015 1:06PM

Hey Sally B! I'm in.

Sally B and Travis like this comment.

Sally B

This caught me offguard....another Sally B. YAY! I'm planning my meals right now and will head to the grocery store a little later

Pam

03/27/2015 1:03PM

It has made a difference for me, I am in. The first month was hard but once I set my mind, i got over it.

Travis likes this comment.

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Sally B

Pam, that's great results. I've been up and down with my eating habits for years. If I had it figured out, I probably wouldn't be overweight.

Pam

Yeah me to on that. I lucked up with the Skogg's system first thing he said no sugar

Travis

03/27/2015 12:53PM

Amen Sister! This is a change my family made a while back. It has been an awesome change with awesome results both physically and mentally as well. We have 2 kids that are diagnosed with horrible ADD, when we removed sugar completely out of their diet amazingly they no longer needed medication. Makes one think, is it really ADD or is it a major side effect of Sugar... as they say the "cocaine of the food world". Keep the white refined anything out, and good things happen. Thanks for sharing.

Emily M. and Sally B like this comment.

Sally B

My mom was a real food person (I didn't realize how good I had it). When I was growing up in the 60s, she refused to let me eat much processed foods, convinced that (to quote Mom) "it made Sally hyper". I was skinny until after I had children and got lazy about eating like my mom fed us. Fast food and not enough veggies and exercise helped contribute to me gaining almost 80 pounds.