Cutting down on sugar intake?

cockroachfarm

cockroachfarm

Joined
Jan 6, 2001
Messages
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I want to lose a couple of pounds from my svelte 6-foot-three, 245lb frame. ;) Just to prove to myself that I can do it (and it would certainly please my doctor who hasn't really ever hounded me about being overweight.) I drink about 5 cups of coffee a day, with milk and 2 teaspoons of refined sugar.

As in most things involving personal discipline, I figure starting with small steps will lead to bigger steps (so right now, I don't want to consider drinking it black; that will be the next step; the third will be no coffee at all). I said SMALL steps, right?

I've never been able to quit ANYTHING "cold turkey" - except smoking (weird, eh?). So trying to decrease my sugar intake, even a tiny bit for now, is first on my list.

1. How big a factor is sugar intake on weight gain?

2. What kind of sugar substitute are you taking that I might consider? FWIW, I can't take Aspartame or NutraSweet in ANYTHING - they make me nauseous! :barf: I'm willing to buy one of everything at the supermarket just to test them and see what agrees with me and what "tastes" OK.

TIA! :)
 
You just have to get used to it..it's something that I have tried to cut down on, too. If you drink coke, or other sugar heavy soft drinks, giving these up first will help a lot.
 
SPLENDA! Tastes like sugar, less at least 15 calories per teaspoon. I use it in my coffee every morning. Now you won't need to quit your coffee... the people around you in the morning will probably thank me! ;)
 
Splenda is one of the ones I haven't tried. Will do so tonight. (I don't have to give up sodas - because I don't drink any. I drink coffee, tea, water, or juice. And the occasional drop of Glenmorangie. ;) )
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(I realize this wouldn't be a major adjustment in lifestyle for most people, but for me it's a start. Who knows what this could encourage me to give up next! :) )
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I'm diabetic and I have started using Splenda and it does taste just like sugar to me, I also often use small amounts of raw sugar in my breakfast tea, after finally getting off coffee again.
 
hate to be the one to tell you, but a shot of that Glenmorangie each night will be one of the most effective ways to gain weight. Alcohol is brutal. If it is just the occasional drop, it's not that bad, but a shot/night (or more) is a diet killer.

I do feel for you, becasue I like the taste of malt whisky too much.

You might also check your fruit juices. Some of them are amazingly sugar-rich. And I am referring to the real juices, not juice drinks. For example, you are better off with OJ than grape juice.
 
cockroachfarm said:
I want to lose a couple of pounds from my svelte 6-foot-three, 245lb frame. ;) Just to prove to myself that I can do it (and it would certainly please my doctor who hasn't really ever hounded me about being overweight.) I drink about 5 cups of coffee a day, with milk and 2 teaspoons of refined sugar.

As in most things involving personal discipline, I figure starting with small steps will lead to bigger steps (so right now, I don't want to consider drinking it black; that will be the next step; the third will be no coffee at all). I said SMALL steps, right?

I've never been able to quit ANYTHING "cold turkey" - except smoking (weird, eh?). So trying to decrease my sugar intake, even a tiny bit for now, is first on my list.

1. How big a factor is sugar intake on weight gain?

2. What kind of sugar substitute are you taking that I might consider? FWIW, I can't take Aspartame or NutraSweet in ANYTHING - they make me nauseous! :barf: I'm willing to buy one of everything at the supermarket just to test them and see what agrees with me and what "tastes" OK.

TIA! :)
Click to expand...

My doctor read me off about high sugar . I'm like you ,substitutes would gag a maggot ! I merely cut back & used a bit of honey as a sweetener. Too, I cut my bread intake by about 25 percent. Since late July I'm at 206 1/2 ,down from 218. I was 6'4 before 2 spinal surgeries & old age. I'm about 6'2 & very broad so doc never mentioned weight,just high blood sugar.
Discipline,as you said,worked for me .

Uncle Alan
 
I feel for you Holger!!! They are right about Splenda and I had to do it too but mine was for too much salt SO everything had to go. Get a bag of carrots :barf: white grapes :) bananas :) and see what Slim Fast offers! They are expensive but it's all in control. I going to Hardees tommorow though!!! :D I weigh in at 145 and 5'6 so that's not bad.
 
As a diabetic, I didn't have to give up sugar in my coffee because I didn't use any, but i did have to switch to black, leaving out that milk.

Juice and alcohol will boost your blood sugar rapidly. Not good. (A small glass of OJ has the juice of several oranges.)

Cut way back on bread. Even one piece of bread at night will leave me with a high blood glucose count in the morning.
 
The real answer is not to worry about the sugar in your coffee, it is too low in calories to be a big deal. Sugar only contains 16 calories per teaspoon. Your 10 teaspoons of sugar a day is only 160 calories. That is about the calories that you would find in one canned soft drink.

So I would suggest you first worry about prepared food items. One ounce of chips (the smallest vending machine size) has at least 160 calories and also has harmful fats. Any candy bar will have more calories than all of your coffee. Any fancy coffee that you get from Starbucks will be even more loaded with calories and fat. French fries and burgers are heavy in the calories.

Check online for a calorie counter and punch in various things that you routinely eat. I bet you could find a way to pull 500 calories out of your diet without messing with your coffee.

Another thing that you could do is to switch to a whole bean coffee that has a built in flavor. These are lower in sugar, but higher in aroma ergo higher in taste. Try beans with hazelnut flavoring.
 
shaldag said:
hate to be the one to tell you, but a shot of that Glenmorangie each night will be one of the most effective ways to gain weight.......
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LOL! Right after I wrote that I started wondering who'd be the first to mention alcohol intake as related to weight gain. :D

By the "occasional drop" I meant maybe a couple of ounces - a month! :o Sorry to have misled you - but I'm not much of a drinker. I just buy myself a decent bottle of Scotch every time I complete a major project for a client. Trying to build up a nice little "collection" of different brands to have available when we have guests (something that I actively discourage! ;) )
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Hrm. Doesn't sound like you are *THAT* overweight...a bit yes...but not horribly. Also, I don't really think your sugar intake is the problem. It sounds more like a lack of exercise, or a over-indulgence in amount of food, or a metabolism problem. Easiest is metabolism.....

Do you eat breakfast? Or are you like most busy adults and only really eat one good meal a day? If you are, and this meal is dinner. You can actually lose weight without changing anything except actually eating a bit of breakfast....this is why.

If you only really eat dinner, your body's metabolism goes into what is called "starvation mode" Which means, even though you are eating enough food for dinner, there is such a long period between meals that your body *thinks* it is being deprived and slows down the metabolism to conserve energy and convert any extra into fat. If you eat a bit of breakfast each morning, you cut the delay between meals in half and your metabolism moves from "starvation" to "normal function" and stops conserving all that extra energy and is happy to get rid of it. This is one of the very few instances where actually eating a touch more per day (at the right time) can make you lose weight.

Lack of exercise.

Do you sit in an office all day? Or do you do physical labor that keeps you mostly still without aerobic benefit (IE: speeding up your heart, breathing, circulation significantly)? If so, a 5-10 minute speedwalk per day or even every other day can work wonders that seem magical.

Over-indulgence.

If you're eating too much per day...well...simply put...eat less. But it is a little more complex than that. You still need a balanced diet...just cut down the portion size of each item. A dietician can help a lot here, even the cheap/free guy at the local health department.
 
Splenda's Sour Side Effects

Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent shrinkage)
Enlarged liver and kidneys
Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
Reduced growth rate
Decreased red blood cell count
Diarrhea

I like my poison in Sweet 'n Low form. Drink more water ;)
 
Complete BS. Those "side effects" came about from feeding almost pure sucralose to rats. Splenda contains less than 1% sucralose, and in an entire sugarbowl you get micrograms of Sucralose.
I guess if you were to eat an amount equal to the size of your head every single day, these "side effects" might be relevant.

Where exactly did you find these side effects?




severtecher said:
Splenda's Sour Side Effects

Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent shrinkage)
Enlarged liver and kidneys
Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
Reduced growth rate
Decreased red blood cell count
Diarrhea

I like my poison in Sweet 'n Low form. Drink more water ;)
Click to expand...
 
severtecher said:
Splenda's Sour Side Effects

Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent shrinkage)
Enlarged liver and kidneys
Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
Reduced growth rate
Decreased red blood cell count
Diarrhea

I like my poison in Sweet 'n Low form. Drink more water ;)
Click to expand...


Doesn't the thymus gland naturally atrophy after its peak development during puberty?
 
Sryth said:
.....It sounds more like a lack of exercise, or a over-indulgence in amount of food, or a metabolism problem....
Click to expand...

Right on the money, sir. :)

RE: Exercise -- August of last year I started walking on a daily basis (nothing major, just 4 miles each morning) - every day, rain or shine. Man, did THAT take willpower for the first two weeks - for a man with no willpower. ;) But about the third week I actually started looking forward to it each morning. By the end of the year I was losing about 2 pounds each month - and they didn't sneak back, even with no major changes in my food intake.

Then I went to SHOT Show in February - and developed a severe case of plantar fasciitis (6 hours walking in dress shoes on a concrete floor). It's dogged me ever since; to the point where I could barely walk from my bed to the bathroom in the morning. Not much incentive for going out and walking. I suffered all summer and finally got some anti-inflammatory last month because I just couldn't live with the pain. I'm almost back to normal and, with a set of proper orthotics on the way, I think I can resume my walking program next month.

Thanks for all the suggestions and info, everyone. :thumbup:
 
I have two tales to tell - one about coffee and one about losing weight.

I used to drink a ton of "regular" coffee. Once, the church I was attending was going into a season of fasting and prayer, and I wanted to participate in the fast. (here's where some folks may my logic kind of funny, be that as it may). At the time I was working nights, college during the day, and when I say I drank coffee I mean 8-10 cups a day, easily. So I figured...without the milk and sugar, coffee is really just black water (with dissolved stimulants, of course). No calories = not food = I can drink black coffee and stay on my fast ! I never went back to lightened or sweetened coffee after that. I will admit that some of the stronger brews (starbucks) or flavored blends can benefit by a shot of milk to mellow the flavor, but other than that I find even milk "too sweet" for my coffee. But if you drink a lot, the milk (fat) and sugar (empty calories) do add up. Forget it if you drink half/half or cream.

In January I made a real decision to lose weight and overall get healthier. I started at 6'1" and 218. I am down to 185. Instead of drinking coffee all day, I drink one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and fill the rest of my day with teas - black, flavored, green, herbal. No milk or sweeteners. I always have a 16 oz. hot cup of something on my desk, and O probably go through 8 a day. Tea has too many benefits to list, and I still feed my cafeine jones, but in smaller doses.

The key to my weight loss - eat less, exercise more. i don't work out as much as I should, but I control my calories. One of the big helps is nutrition bars. Clif bars, Zone bars, Balance bars. They all have the same concept - a 40-30-30 mix of carbs, fat, protein in a not-bad tasting 200-220 calorie bar. I usually get through the day with 2 of these, and maybe a small cupful of dry kashi cereal. That gets me to dinner on 400-500 cals. I have a normal dinner, no dessert, and try to have a 20-30 min. workout (bike, stepper, or weights).

I should warn you, you need to learn that hunger is your friend. Get used to feeling slightly hungry. When you're hungry, that means you are losing weight. Feed your hunger, not your eyes or stomach. What I mean is, when the hunger comes, a 200 calorie bar is enough to stave off the pangs for a few hours and keep you going, instead of a 600 calorie lunch that sits in your belly all day.

Good luck.
 
For your health it is more important to exercise than to lose weight. It is also more important to consume some of the right stuff than to reduce your calorie input. So find a way to get exercise that is easy on your feet. Maybe you could ride a bike rather than walk. Maybe find a gym with a swimming pool. Be sure that you get something like salmon or fish oil in your diet. Switch to olive oil in your cooking and in your salad dressing. Eat some almonds or hazelnuts every day.

Four years ago my routine was walking every day down to the local salad bar for a low fat, low calorie, high fiber diet. One morning I had a heart attack. After study I figured out that my diet was lacking some elements of the Mediterranean diet. The big items were fish, olive oil, and nuts. Other things that are good for your heart are about one alcoholic drink a day (no more and no less) and dark semi-sweet chocolate. I also wasn't consuming either of those at the time of my heart attack. The one thing that I was consuming a lot of was coffee. I had a 24 ounce cup of coffee in my hand when my chest pains started. I have had to switch to decaf. That isn't bad if you get fresh roasted whole bean decaf.

If there is any history of heart disease in your family, particularly a brother or sister, you should start eating and exercising to avoid risk. Heart attacks are pretty common in your 40's and the problem starts years earlier. I thought that I was living healthy and had mine at age 52. That is the most common age for a man's first heart attack and the same age that my mother died of hers. If you have a family history of heart disease ask your doctor if you should start on the baby aspirin regimen.
 
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