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That's actually what the carnivore and keto diets are all about - cutting out sugar completely. As you know, an addict cannot have "just one".
You're so right. When I was determined to quit cigarettes, I thought I could just taper down gradually. Didn't work. I got down to 1 or 2 but found I spent way too much of my time thinking and yearning for those two cigarettes...had to go fully off the cigs to successfully quit..
I suppose I like sugar quite a bit, too. But not addicted. I have one small square of dark chocolate a day after lunch. Don't want more...the one square satisfies. Go figure...
(but that' all the sweet treats in my house. I don't trust myself if there was a bag of M&Ms or something like that.. why challenge my will power...??)
Exactly! I quit drinking 25 years ago. I quit smoking 13 years ago. It's easier when you can never have a drink or a cigarette again, but you have to eat. This is what is hard.
Yes, food can become an addiction and one does need to eat. However, behavior changes are possible, and just like any other change in behavior, it requires discipline, practice and commitment.
I gave up regular drinking of soda 20 years ago. If I have 1 per month now, that would be a lot. I used to drink huge sodas all the time when I was younger. I am sure it did its damage on other parts of my body beside my weight. I now drink water almost exclusively (other than my morning coffee). I also essentially gave up milk years ago with the exception of a bit in my coffee. I believe these two omissions from my diet have been big factors in helping me now weigh the same weight I did 40 years ago.
I also read food labels carefully. I am especially vigilant in looking at added sugar and sodium levels. If I am buying a prepared food and the sodium content exceeds 300 mg or so per serving I put it right back. Some popular items have sodium levels of 800 to 1000 mg or more per serving!
Any nutritionist will tell you to walk the perimeter of the store and stay away from the interior aisles. This is because the perimeter aisles have largely unprepared foods, fresh fruits and vegetables. This is where the majority of one's shopping should take place as the majority of the interior aisles are filled with packaged and highly processed foods loaded with salt, sugar and manufactured fats (oils).
I try to eat wild caught salmon, free range chicken, and other lean meats along with fruits, vegetables and whole grains as much as possible. I also look carefully at portion size and participate in intermittent fasting to reset my metabolism and my gut. The fasting has conditioned my brain and reduced craving for snacks between meals.
I try to eat wild caught salmon, free range chicken, and other lean meats along with fruits, vegetables and whole grains as much as possible. I also look carefully at portion size and participate in intermittent fasting to reset my metabolism and my gut. The fasting has conditioned my brain and reduced craving for snacks between meals.
This is what I've been doing for the past two weeks and it's working, along with increasing my physical activity. I'm not obese but could stand to lose 15-20 pounds. When I started I was afraid I would go nuts (aka hangry) or struggle with low blood sugar during the fast, but I'm managing just fine. I already ate healthy/low fat, but was overeating. I cut out the gluttony and have one hearty meal around noon and then a lighter meal like a salad for dinner. No more eating after 6pm.
I think a person can change if they want to, and face up to it. I used to crave sugar but decided I didn't want to be addicted like that. It took some time, but I quit desiring sugar at all. Now, it repels me. Someone will say, "oh you have so much willpower". No, I don't. I just don't like it anymore.
My husband is thin, and I'm average. But we don't snack and rarely eat any processed foods. We make everything from scratch, even our bread. I never even feel hunger. We have one meal of maybe a sandwich, and the other meal is just yogurt and fruit and nuts. Totally satisfying.
Point being, you can get used to anything. You can train yourself to a new lifestyle. But you have to want to.
I had lunch with my very obese niece and her very obese partner. She spent the hour detailing her bad joints, bad spine, couldn't stand for very long, breast reduction and so forth. Many trips to the doctor on Medicaid. And she's only 31 but laughs about feeling so old at her age. She said she needs special accommodations at her part-time job. I feel bad for her, but she seems OK with it. (although who knows what's going on inside)
The normalization of obesity is not a step in the right direction.
It would take a giant concerted effort like turning smoking around. But I can't see that happening in our politically correct society.
Point being, you can get used to anything. You can train yourself to a new lifestyle. But you have to want to.
Kind of like with anything: If it gets bad enough or if you hit bottom you'll find the will to change. For me, I finally got tired of all my pants being too tight and refuse to take the easy way out by just buying bigger pants. That's just adding fuel to the fire.
I'm also saving money on food by skipping breakfast and snacks. Maybe $15-20 a week?
Kind of like with anything: If it gets bad enough or if you hit bottom you'll find the will to change. For me, I finally got tired of all my pants being too tight and refuse to take the easy way out by just buying bigger pants. That's just adding fuel to the fire.
I'm also saving money on food by skipping breakfast and snacks. Maybe $15-20 a week?
I have some pants that haven't fit me for about 10 years lol. Now at 5'5 130 lbs Im not fat...but I just don't think I'll ever be 120 again.
^^ I have a pair of Control Pants that I've kept forever to use as a gauge, even though I don't wear them as part of my wardrobe anymore. When they get too tight that's the signal that I need to stop eating like a pig.
^^ I have a pair of Control Pants that I've kept forever to use as a gauge, even though I don't wear them as part of my wardrobe anymore. When they get too tight that's the signal that I need to stop eating like a pig.
One observation I made about Europeans is that they tend to dress nicer than us. You will see them in suits, during the day, going to work whereas we will be in loose fitting, home body style clothing. If you wear tight fitting clothing, you notice right away when you're gaining weight whereas it will take a lot longer for you to realize that if you were clothing that can stretch with you.
One observation I made about Europeans is that they tend to dress nicer than us. You will see them in suits, during the day, going to work whereas we will be in loose fitting, home body style clothing. If you wear tight fitting clothing, you notice right away when you're gaining weight whereas it will take a lot longer for you to realize that if you were clothing that can stretch with you.
I think that depends on where you live. In NYC in the industry in which I work (engineering) suits and business attire are still a thing, but I see that in a lot of parts of the country, people now go to work dressed much more casually. I think you're right about fitted clothing setting off the alarm bells faster than stretchy stuff. If my black dress slacks are too tight, I immediately think, "NO, I am NOT going to buy a bigger size!"
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