The single, largest culprit in your attempt to lose weight

[Johnsmith1003]

I felt compelled to write this thread for those who are still questioning dieting and the sort. I was right along there with you all and so I took some classes to learn it can't be just kale salads and egg whites. What I've concluded is those who want to lose weight can and should do two things; get rid of soda and enriched breads. Actually soda isn't good for anyone at any time and both soda and enriched white breads (most pizza crusts, breads, pastries, bagels) spike the insulin in the body, creating an insulin resistance and taking the excess sugars and storing it as fat. High Fructose Corn Syrup is the breakthrough of today's danger. It's in soda, ketchup, candy and countless other processed stuff. Enriched breads strip the wheat of fiber and good nutrients then becomes simple sugars. Try to opt for water instead, or sugar free tea and coffee. Sugars such as these are not utilized by the body for energy, they are stored directly to fat without a chance of helping (unless you just ran a triathlon and your glucose/glycogen stores are depleted fully). Also, look for 100% whole wheat bread (there are really good options out there) and some pizzas offer whole wheat crust options too. If I had to sum up everything I've learned, it's SUGAR. Sugar is composed as a fat and a carb, something that isn't seen in any other organic food we eat. Sugar is physically addicting because since your brain naturally 'hungers' for foods that would help meet the bodies nutritional needs, it falsely sees sugar as a means to meet that demand so you never get tired of it. The dopamine receptors in your brain go crazy, that's why that ice cream is comfort food after a long day. Men should only be eating 37.5 grams of sugar per day max, and a can of soda exceeds that by far, women even less at 25/daily. I would argue bacon and other fried foods are a much better option for dieters than candy bars. Choose sugar free energy drinks if that's your niche but if I had to pick one very specific culprit for the obesity epidemic, it's sugar (especially HFCS). It is tough for the first week if you are tamed to it, and may even experience a 'carb flu' by feeling crappy you don't have your fix, but get your carbohydrates from other, better sources. After a month you'll ever wonder why you haven't done it previuosly, and feel LOADS better physically and mentally, not to mention the inevitable weight loss. If I had to go one step further, I would say balance 3-5 daily meals with 50% carbs 30% protein and 20% fat and add all the vegetables in when you can. Try for leaner meats such as fish and chicken instead of red meats too.

 

my two cents.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Johnsmith1003

[loveboid]

I agree. You should have seen my mother when I threw away her pies that had partially hydrogenated soybean oil (another post). She said, "I need that!" Yeah, I know mom, you're addicted to sugar.

 

There's a good book called Sugar Blues I highly recommend.