Help Me Change My Lifestyle!

[I.Love.Sugar.]

Hello everyone,

You can call me Sugar, and like my username suggests, I'm addicted to the stuff. I just went to the doctor's last week for a check up and found out that I've gained 20 pounds in just two months, and I need to do something about it. I'm not exactly overweight, but I want to get down to the 130 lbs I was at a couple of months ago. I try to eat healthy for the most part, but the problem is that I'm surrounded by sweets. My family is addicted to ice cream, candy, cookies, soda...you name it! I can't help nabbing little goodies every so often, because the temptation is just too much!

I also have a bad habit of rewarding myself with sugary treats. For example, today was my last day of school, and to celebrate, I ate a couple brownies and downed a Pepsi. Yikes. But I don't know how to stop!

Also, I've been living a sedentary lifestyle for the last several months, which worries me greatly. Aside from the occasional hike and a dance class where we'd rarely dance, I've done nothing. And I feel horribly out of shape. I recently took up bike riding (much to my amusement, the motivating factor was that my dog agility instructor informed me that my border collie was a little on the heavy side, rather than someone telling ME I need to drop a few pounds). Hopefully I can change for the better, because I miss the active lifestyle I led a few years ago when I was still deeply involved with soccer.

I'm very interested in meeting some other people on these boards as well, and I hope I can be a help whenever possible. Thanks!

~Sugar

 

[Guest]

Hello I.Love.Sugar, I have a MAJOR SWEET TOOTH as well!!

Welcome to the Forum.

I know you can change for the better, it just depends on how badly you want it!

It's great that you've taken up biking too, how about getting in a walk every now and than? Take the dog too, I bet he/she will love you even more for it!!

I wouldn't try to completely restrict yourself with the sweets, and go cold turkey. Unless that is what you want. Find out new ways of celebration, by taking yourself horseback riding, or laser tag, paintball, something new you've never tried!! Reward yourself with something other than food!

Take Care

 

[Emiko]

Hi Sugar!

I agree with Runninggirl - I wouldn't even think about giving up something that is currently giving you pleasure (sugar) until you start adding other non-edible pleasures to your life. For some people, sugar has an opiate-like effect on the brain - it overrides your body's ability stay in homeostasis (the ability to regulate itself, in this case, the ability to regulate weight), similar to how your body maintains its temperature, for example. Combining sugar and fat in a precise way (it's the combo by the way, I suspect you are not addicted to downing sugar packets - tell me where I'm wrong . . .) can interfere with your satiety and hunger signals - you may be eating when you're not hungry, or you may not even be able to feel your hunger and satiety cues. Knowing this, you can start to shift your thinking about what you are eating: is it a drug or food (does it nourish you or does it give you a rush?). From what you wrote, it sounds like you do consider cookies, ice cream, etc. to be drugs (using the word "addicted" being the big tip-off, ;-) ). But this does not mean you are doomed to the life of being at the mercy of sugar and fat. You can totally change this!

Start by finding and adding non-edible rewards for yourself, it could be as simple as taking a 5-10 minute stroll around your neighborhood (if that appeals to you), buying a new song on itunes or one of my favorites is watching the sun set (I can see the ocean from my upper deck, so this is a super fabulous treat!). In the near future you can start cutting down the pleasure you receive from sugar and fat because you will already be getting pleasure from other sources - who wants to reduce pleasure?! At some point, you will want to work toward getting to a place where 10% of your food consumption will be "pleasure eats" and 90% of the time you will be eating for fuel.

Keep us posted - I'll be curious to know what sorts of non-edible rewards you come up with!

XO

 

[jen2]

I know how hard it is to turn that stuff away, But you have to practice it. You have to make substitutions for the sweets. Try making your own sweets using stevia. Stevia is natural,has no calories,carbs, or fat and is way sweeter than sugar and is ok for diabetics to use.

 

[Omega]

The advice that other people have given is excellent - finding non-food based rewards and learning to enjoy these as much as your current treats is an ideal way forward. This is particularly good if it is exercise based as it will help you lose the weight that you have gained and keep that weight off into the future.

In this imperfect world where we live you may feel that is a step too far in the short term. It is made particularly hard if watching family members indulging in foods that we would like ourselves.

You can buy sugar free sweets from supermarkets. I dont know about where you live - but here in the UK you can buy sugar free sweets from organisations like Weight Watchers too - you can get these here either by going to where a meeting is held or from their magazine / website. It may be worth you investigating that avenue if the range at your supermarket does not appeal.

Diet sodas are far from ideal since they contain a lot of chemicals - but they do your weight less harm than the regular stuff. They may be an intermediate step in moving over to healthier habits.

I make up sugar free jellies and they are very satisfying - and I often throw in some fresh fruit and make a really nice treat. You can buy a number of flavours and I extend that range by making up my own from sachets of gellatine crystals and sugar free drinks.

Fresh fruit is brilliant for satisfying a sweet tooth and filling you up. I eat a lot of it. They provide all sorts of good vitamins and nutrients too - but like all things contain calories which must be taken into account in matters of weight control.

 

[yodasmith]

Stay Away From Diet Sodas-Look Into Stevia

My advice would be to stay away from diet sodas because they contain artificial sweeteners that may cause fat storage and increase your desire for sweets. I agree you should look into stevia. I use SweetLeaf stevia. It has 0 calories, 0 carbs, and a 0 glycemic index and is the only stevia brand or sweetener on the market with all three properties! It's yummy in smoothies and cereal, and can be used in baking, though I still need to experiment with that. I love the SweetLeaf Stevia Plus! It's yummy and has added fiber, but remember, no calories! You can check them out at sweetleaf.com if you'd like. Stevia can also decrease your desire for sweets!